Embers Ad Infinitum

Hearing Gnawa's words, Jiang Baimian opened his mouth, but said nothing.

She has remembered that one of the core settings of Gnawa is:

Protect humanity and serve humanity.

Long Yuehong said subconsciously:

"They don't necessarily feed on humans..."

As he spoke, he fell silent.

At this time, Shang Jianyao and Bai Chen passed under the naked corpses that were drying high in the cave and came to the depths that were already a mess.

Bai Chen scanned around and was not moved at all by the situation here. He just made a simple comment:

"A complete group of 'careless people'."

This is the wording habit of wilderness wanderers. They feel that using "tribe" and "tribe" to describe small societies composed of "careless people" is an insult to humanity, and they prefer to use "group" to refer to this situation. .

Jiang Baimian quickly recovered, frowned and said:

"Among the dozens of 'unintentional people', there are two 'high-level unintentional people' who have awakened their abilities. In terms of proportion, the abnormality is obvious.

"This cannot be explained simply by using special cases and the probability of natural mutations. There must be a certain reason behind it."

How rare "high-level careless people" are can be seen from the fact that An Ruxiang and Wu Shoushi, a team of ruin hunters, were not very wary of similar things when they explored the ruins of Swamp No. 1.

"Unless this is what's left of the tens of thousands of 'unintentional people'." Bai Chen helped Jiang Baimian fill in the loopholes in his logic.

In a place like Swamp No. 1 Ruins, in addition to the specialness brought by Xiao Chong, the number of "Heartless People" is enough to support the birth of multiple "Higher Heartless People".

Jiang Baimian said "hmm":

"Let's search here separately, examine the bodies, and see if we can find any clues."

Long Yuehong gathered her mood and cooperated with Bai Chen to search every corner of the cave.

After a long time, Gnawa reported the preliminary autopsy results:

"There are no pinholes left on these bodies, no signs of surgery."

This preliminarily rules out the possibility that scientific experiments caused abnormalities in this group of "unintentional people".

Because we have to do experiments, regular blood analysis and comparison are inevitable steps, and there is a high probability that some traces will remain.

Sometimes, it is also a solution to use surgery to judge the experimental effect.

Shang Jianyao squatted next to a corpse, put the back of his hand on his chin and said:

"Almost all the bodies showed traces of radiation, including the presence of lymphoma, among other things."

"You still understand this?" Long Yuehong was a little surprised.

Shang Jianyao pointed at Gennava:

"You can always trust Lao Ge."

Gnawa had already communicated with him about this situation just now.

He forced it.

Bai Chen pursed his lips and said:

“This explains nothing.

"Many of the areas where 'unintentional persons' operate are places with serious pollution. Otherwise, they would have been completely eliminated by the regular armies of powerful forces."

"Not necessarily." The honest Shang Jianyao began to retort, "Aren't the big forces not able to control so many wilderness wanderer settlements? They have limited manpower and there are too many places suitable for hiding."

"But most of those wilderness wanderer settlements are in places where the environment is relatively harsh and people can barely survive. They are relatively suitable for farming and the water resources are not polluted. They are all occupied by big forces." Long Yuehong Gang Bai Chen replied.

Jiang Baimian clapped his hands and said:

"Okay, okay, let's continue the search."

Seven or eight minutes later, Jiang Baimian squatted next to a mutilated corpse, touched the metal decoration of his blue striped trousers, and said to himself:

"It has strong magnetism..."

"Is this a trend in the old world?" Shang Jianyao came over with a curious look on his face, "People of different genders wear pants with different magnetic poles. Once men and women get close to a certain level, they will be directly attracted to each other. So, if there is no Good impression, please keep enough distance?"

What kind of idea is this... Jiang Baimian admitted that he couldn't keep up with Wei's ideas at all.

Fortunately, she didn't need to waste her brains thinking about how to respond to this guy. The "smart" Gennava had already said:

"I also found this problem.

"The metal decorations on the clothes and pants of several corpses were magnetized."

Jiang Baimian's eyes moved slightly, stood up and said:

"Is this because they wore the original clothes, and the remaining 'Heartless' replaced them with those of the Wilderness Wanderers?"

So, one is magnetic and one is not.

Jiang Baimian's guess was quickly confirmed, because Long Yuehong and Bai Chen found bats, daggers, kitchen knives, iron rods and other items near another exit of the cave.

Among these, as long as they are metal, there is more or less residual magnetization.

Based on this, Jiang Baimian gave his own guess:

"This group of 'unintentional people' should come from a place with heavy pollution, where there is a strong magnetic field for some reason.

"However, it is currently impossible to tell whether they originally settled there or whether they were passing through during migration."

"The number of 'higher unintentional ones' among them is obviously higher. Is it because they are affected by the strong magnetic field?" Long Yuehong was more concerned about this issue.

Shang Jianyao laughed:

“You can go and try.

"Maybe it will succeed?"

I'm not stupid... Long Yuehong muttered in his heart.

The more Shang Jian Yao said, the more excited he became:

"If it really works, you can find someone to try to see if awakening ability can be inherited..."

Uh... Long Yuehong hesitated to speak.

"Hey." Jiang Baimian interrupted Shang Jianyao's imagination, "It's been so many years since the Awakened Ones appeared. If it can be inherited, do you think the company will let you and me stay single?"

"Maybe it's just a lack of suitable matching." Shang Jianyao tried to insist.

Jiang Baimian ignored him, looked around and said:

"We are now going to other nearby wilderness wanderer settlements to find out where there are areas with heavy pollution and disordered magnetic fields.

"Well, bury all the bodies here. Bury them deeper. Take away all the valuable items. Don't waste them. They can be traded later."

…………

In a wilderness wanderer settlement located in the ruins of the city, several members of the "Old Tune Team" met the leader known as the Elder.

——This settlement relied on the original city's sewer system and developed a society of nearly 300 people.

Their main diet consists of edible mosses and mushrooms, and the environment in the sewers and hidden recesses of urban ruins is suitable only for these plants.

Therefore, as soon as Shang Jianyao met the elder, his first question was:

"Is it tasty?

“Are mushrooms and moss delicious?”

The elder was in his forties, had a messy brown beard, and his eyes seemed a little short-sighted.

He smiled slightly proudly:

“These have been selected for generations, so taste is definitely not an issue.”

After saying that, as if he was afraid that the "old tune team" would be concerned about it, he pulled up his blue coarse cloth and added:

"There is a problem with the yield. We have planted it in so many places, but there is still not enough to eat."

Frankly speaking, if these outsiders had not found the door directly and showed great strength, he would definitely not receive them.

Jiang Baimian asked with great interest:

"Mr. Dawson, normal mushrooms and moss shouldn't be able to be grown this way, right?"

Dawson rubbed his hands unconsciously:

"There used to be a research institute here that specialized in improving mushrooms and mosses. We found the information they left behind and experimented for a long time.

“I’m still working on that.”

Bang bang bang, Shang Jianyao clapped and said:

"That's awesome. Can we exchange canned meat for your mushrooms and moss later?"

Dawson was startled for a moment, then said with joy:

"good."

Long Yuehong suddenly felt a little scared:

"Besides mushrooms and moss, what else do you usually eat?"

He originally wanted to ask if anything bad would happen if he ate too many mushrooms and moss, but he thought that the other party would definitely not answer truthfully, so he gave up the idea and planned to have Gnawa quantitatively test whether there was any toxicity.

Dawson replied not caring too much:

"We also organize hunting trips, and mushrooms and moss attract rats."

After chatting for a while, Jiang Baimian glanced at the rusty pipes outside and asked tentatively:

"Mr. Dawson, are there places in the surrounding area that are relatively polluted and have very disordered magnetic fields?"

Dawson asked in confusion:

"What is a magnetic field?"

"..." Jiang Baimian quickly adjusted, "This is where the metal you carry will become heavier..."

Dawson recalled:

"There's no place like this around."

Long Yuehong, Bai Chen and others were disappointed, and Dawson changed the subject:

"But we once had a hunting team that went to places far to the west, and there was the situation you described there..."

You're gasping for breath... Long Yuehong couldn't help but cursed.

Dawson continued:

"But I advise you not to go. It will be very uncomfortable to stay there for a long time. There is also a very powerful bandit group nearby. They are called 'Zorro' and they have dozens of artillery!"