Embers Ad Infinitum

Having been saved and acknowledged, Miens had the intention of repaying the favor. He immediately said to Shang Jianyao, “If you really want to join our Furnace Church, make a trip to Tarnan. I’ll write a letter for you to bring to His Excellency Li Zhe. I’ll inform him about your friendliness, sincerity, and the help you rendered.”

Upon seeing that Tarnan was somewhere they were heading toward to begin with, Jiang Baimian didn’t stop Shang Jianyao with her eyes and let him do whatever he wanted.

“Alright, alright.” Shang Jianyao agreed without hesitation. As he spoke, he even took out a piece of paper and a pen as if he wanted to say, “Quick, write it now.”

Miens was a little stunned. It wasn’t that he was just being polite, but everyone seemed to have proper matters to discuss. How could he write one on the spot?

Jiang Baimian quickly resolved his embarrassment and asked, “Apart from your Linhai Alliance, what other large factions does Tarnan have?”

“None,” Miens replied almost without thinking. “Apart from us being neighbors with Mechanical Paradise and having a good relationship with them, the other large factions either don’t know of Tarnan’s existence or can only trade through some small and medium factions recognized by Mechanical Paradise.”

For example, Redstone Collection and Weed City—which is relatively special in First City’s sphere of influence? Jiang Baimian gained further understanding of Redstone Collection as a smuggling node.

She smiled and said, “Mechanical Paradise sure is careful.”

“Actually, there’s nothing special about Tarnan other than the increased number of robots, machines, and electronic products.” Miens didn’t understand why Mechanical Paradise would do so.

A howling cold wind tore through the valley at this moment, making Miens and the other Omnidirectional Commerce members tremble.

Upon seeing this, Jiang Baimian exclaimed, “Seriously, I was so focused on chatting that I forgot that all of you are wearing only a single shirt!”

Their coats had been taken away by the bandits after they were captured.

With that said, Jiang Baimian pointed to the side with her chin. “Fortunately, we don’t lack clothes and supplies. Yes, bury the corpses in passing as payment.”

There were many dead bandits in the area.

As for those who were seriously injured and hadn’t died for the time being, the Old Task Force had been heading south all the way. They were getting short on medical supplies, so they treated them as if they were already dead.

Miens had the intention of taking the corpses’ clothes, but he was too embarrassed to say anything. According to the rules of the area between Mechanical Paradise and the Linhai Alliance, they were spoils of war. Only those who had contributed could enjoy them.

To his surprise, the valiant and beautiful woman opposite him was not only willing to use the clothes on the corpses to help them, but she also gave them the supplies that the bandits couldn’t take away in their panic.

“I-I can’t do that.” Miens hesitated for a moment before waving his hand.

This didn’t mean that he was moral, noble, and unwilling to take advantage of others. It was just that the team in front of him was powerful. If they offended them slightly and didn’t perform well, they might not be able to leave this valley.

Jiang Baimian smiled. “You’re welcome. If you keep wearing this, you’ll freeze to death tonight. Also, you don’t have any food or cars. How are you going to leave in the future? Uh, those machines are your goods, right?”

She was referring to the portable computers that filled one of the cars. They were thin, white or black, and they shimmered with a lustrous luster.

“Yes.” Miens thought for a moment and said, “We won’t stand on ceremony with clothes, food, and cars; we really have no choice. Take away those portable computers as our gratitude.”

“That’s too much.” Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and said, “Let’s do it according to Ruin Hunter rules. For such a mission, we’ll take about 30% of the supplies.”

Jiang Baimian didn’t deliberately appear generous because she might have to gather supplies to exchange for Lehman’s equipment in the future.

After an intense ‘negotiation,’ the payment was finally fixed at 40%.

At this point, Miens heaved a sigh of relief and beckoned his companions over to the corpses.

Just as he bent down, he suddenly exclaimed, “He threw it just like that? He really doesn’t know how to cherish things!”

Shang Jianyao ran over and asked curiously, “What is it?”

Miens picked up a small, blue cloth bag, the kind that could be held with one hand. “My spice bag—it’s filled with good stuff! Apart from our Linhai Alliance, where else can you find so many spices? The bandits initially thought that it was gold, chips, or high-performance batteries, so they directly took it away.”

Shang Jianyao asked with bright eyes, “Do you use it when eating?”

“Yes, some are used for cooking the soup base, and some are used for the sauce dip. Everyone chooses different combinations based on their preferences,” Miens replied in a slightly sacred tone.

Upon seeing that nothing was happening, Jiang Baimian cast her gaze at Long Yuehong. “You can take off the exoskeleton. A normal level of alert will do.”

They had to conserve electricity! There was no sun today, so they were planning to use the spare battery for the jeep.

After Long Yuehong removed the exoskeleton with Shang Jianyao’s help, Jiang Baimian walked to Bai Chen’s side and looked at the bandits squatting on the ground. “You bandits call yourselves Mountain Fox?”

“Yes.”

“Yes,” the bandits replied eagerly.

“What’s your boss’s name?” Jiang Baimian picked up the Death rocket launcher with one hand, leaving the bandits, Miens, and the others speechless.

This strength was nothing ridiculous. Instead, it looked very relaxed.

A blond-haired bandit snapped to his senses and quickly said, “Panania.”

“Will he come back to redeem you?” Jiang Baimian smiled.

The bandits fell silent for a few seconds before answering nonuniformly. “Probably.”

“Maybe.”

“Perhaps.”

They had seen many captives that nobody had ransomed; those people didn’t end up well. They were either killed directly to avoid food wastage, brought along as food reserves, or sold to human traffickers.

Jiang Baimian didn’t comment and asked, “If you snatch something, where will you trade them?”

“We go to Tarnan if we can go there. Those robots are fair and trustworthy, and they can maintain order,” replied the blond-haired bandit before any of his companions could.

While Jiang Baimian asked for information, Long Yuehong finally removed the exoskeleton and placed it back onto the jeep’s backseat.

He then switched positions with Shang Jianyao. One of them held an assault rifle and was in charge of guarding the area. The other went to the stream to draw water and used the solar charger to boil it.

After the water boiled, Long Yuehong anxiously but patiently waited until the water temperature dropped significantly before pouring it into their waterskins.

After doing this, he held the waterskin and gulped it down. At this moment, he felt that the water was exceedingly delicious and intoxicating.

After drinking half a waterskin in one go, Long Yuehong wiped his mouth in satisfaction and looked around.

At this moment, Miens and the others had already buried the corpses. They changed into the bandits’ coats and wrapped themselves up tightly.

While cooking with the coal and other supplies left behind by the bandits, they sensed Long Yuehong’s gaze.

After lowering their heads and conversing for a while, Miens walked toward Jiang Baimian and the others and smiled. “Do you want to join us in our meal? Those bandits left behind a goat, some potatoes, and plenty of ingredients.”

The bandits had come to this valley to prepare lunch.

Shang Jianyao first signaled Jiang Baimian with his eyes before agreeing. “Alright.”

“We can also see what your Holy Communion is like,” Jiang Baimian said with a smile.

Long Yuehong subconsciously wanted to raise his hand and wipe the corners of his mouth, but he immediately remembered that he wasn’t Shang Jianyao.

Jiang Baimian and the others watched as Miens and the others skillfully sliced off the meat, deboned it, and boiled the soup before scattering different spices.

Toward the end, a rich fragrance lingered in their noses. It didn’t dissipate, no matter how the cold wind blew in the valley.

Upon seeing that his companions had mostly finished processing the ingredients, Miens asked Shang Jianyao and the others what they liked. He also took their lunch boxes and used soup as a base to match the various carefully selected condiments.

Before long, Shang Jianyao picked up a thin piece of freshly cooked mutton, rolled it in his dip, and placed it in his mouth.

“…S-so delicious…” he praised vaguely.

Long Yuehong’s heart palpitated when he heard that. He immediately picked up a piece of mutton and placed it into the iron pot that the bandits left behind.

At this moment, a female employee from Omnidirectional Commerce stuffed her freshly scalded mutton into Long Yuehong’s bowl.

“Give it a try,” she said with a smile.

“Th-there’s no need.” Long Yuehong immediately felt a little awkward.

The female employees of Omnidirectional Commerce traveled the Ashlands all year round and had Hunter statuses. Although they had previously been molested by bandits, they quickly recovered and no longer felt depressed.

They discovered that their savior—who had descended like a deity—was a young man after he removed the exoskeleton. He was not short, and he had a clean face, leaving them with a good impression of him. Therefore, they took the opportunity to strike up a conversation with Long Yuehong while they prepared lunch.

The more passionate they were, the more reserved Long Yuehong became. He even wanted to ask why they weren’t going for Shang Jianyao.

Back then, Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian were seriously learning hotpot techniques from Miens without looking anywhere else.

Since the meat was already in his bowl, Long Yuehong couldn’t bring himself to refuse it. After dipping it in the sauce, he stuffed the mutton into his mouth.

The tenderness of the meat, the saltiness from the salt, and the strange feeling of all kinds of spices mixed together erupted in Long Yuehong’s mouth instantly, making him wolf down the food involuntarily.

This lunch was a joyous one for both the guests and hosts. Jiang Baimian and Bai Chen loved the soft potato slices.

During this process, they also chatted with Miens and the others about the Linhai Alliance. They learned that this large faction had sufficient supplies in a relative sense. Although the lower-class citizens still lived difficult lives and were only slightly better than the wilderness nomads in small settlements, the middle-class citizens had already begun paying attention to their choice of food and clothing.

Miens and the others hadn’t only escaped danger, but they also had a full meal and retrieved most of their supplies. After their meal, they couldn’t restrain their gratitude. They walked to the empty space by the stream one after another and danced a dance that praised the Kalendaria.

“How pious…” Jiang Baimian had just laughed when she realized that Shang Jianyao had joined them and was dancing in a way no different from them.

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