With the number of awakened people owned by the Eighth Research Institute, it is completely reasonable to make such an exaggerated battle for a large transaction...... However, this is mainly my personal guess, based on the fact that the ice sheet is the sphere of influence of the Eighth Research Institute, it is only right to put any problems on their heads first...... Jiang Baimian, who lowered his eyes, looked at Smith and the others again, and asked:
"Have you confirmed the situation near the square?
"For example, are there a lot of driving marks?"
Around the square, covered with snow, a team of dozens of cars cannot appear "out of thin air", and disappear "out of thin air", it will definitely leave evidence of tires crushing the snow.
Smith replied with a wry smile:
"If there were, we wouldn't be in a daze here and don't know what to do.
"We have wandered in the northern part of the gray earth, and we have seen the awakened ones, and we have them ourselves."
What he meant was that there were no signs of other vehicles around the square, and the goods escorted by their group of "rootless" were as if they had evaporated.
Shang Jianyao jumped up on the spot and jumped five or six meters high using a military exoskeleton device.
Then, during the time he was in the air, he relied on his condescending advantage to quickly review the situation around the square.
Snow covers the roads, streets, and abandoned vehicle surfaces, turning everything into pure white.
On top of the pure white, except for the route of the "Rootless" convoy into the ruins of this city, there were no wheel traces at all, only a few human footprints.
This was obviously left behind by Smith and the others looking for clues separately.
And they seemed to have been in the ruins of this city for several days, so much so that the original wheel traces were mostly covered by a snowfall a few days ago.
That is, there are really no new vehicle driving tracks in the surrounding area.
Pawn! Shang Jianyao fell back to the ground in a pair of slightly dull eyes.
He asked at Smith:
"Are you sure it is the supplies that were missing last night?
"Could it be earlier?"
Smith thought about it for a while, exchanged a few words with the other "rootless ones", shook his head and said:
"That's what we remember."
He answered not too surely, because since there is such a thing as mass memory deletion, there may be large-scale memory tampering.
"Even on the day Smith and the others arrived, the supplies were picked up, and the subsequent experiences were forged memories, and it was impossible for the vehicles transporting the supplies to step on the snow without leaving a trace." Jiang Baimian refuted the speculation made by Shang Jianyao.
Shang Jianyao laughed:
"I mean, those wheel marks were not left by Smith and the others, but by the group that took the supplies. Smith and the others actually arrived here earlier, and the corresponding traces have been completely buried in several heavy snows."
"Although this is indeed possible, it is too complicated, and it is not as simple, convenient, fast and trouble-free as directly deleting memories on a large scale." Jiang Baimian said so, or turned on the walkie-talkie that came with the military exoskeleton device, and ordered his teammates in the distance, "Lao Ge, Xiaohong, Xiaobai, you go to the intersection in front of you, follow the tire traces in reverse, and see where the vehicle is going."
What she didn't say was that even if that group of people did not have the ability to delete memories on a large scale, they only had the conditions for tampering, and they would not make it more difficult, forging memories that lasted for a few days, at most after completing the "transaction", modifying the memories that only involved one or two hours of experience.
People have a tendency to be lazy, and no one will toss themselves when there is no obvious difference between the two plans.
Shang Jianyao just said that casually, turned around and forgot about it, and happily chatted with Smith and the others about the abnormalities they felt might have.
He even asked the other party what gasoline he liked to make perfume and if he had any special dishes.
Finally, Jiang Baimian waited for Gnawa's reply:
"The traces of the vehicle are heading south, do you want to continue tracking?"
"Not for the time being." Jiang Baimian calmly gave the order.
She turned to Smith and others:
"These vehicle traces should be your own."
"How can they move so many supplies without a car...... Smith once again showed confusion.
Even if the other party uses helicopters that do not rely much on the venue, they will have to dispatch many in one go, and it makes no sense that no trace will be left.
With the environment and weather of the ice field, it is barely possible to send people by helicopter for short distances, and traveling long distances to transport supplies is because they think they are not dying fast enough.
"Is the base of that group of people nearby?" Jiang Baimian was also thinking in this direction.
Without waiting for Smith and other "rootless people" to respond, Shang Jianyao smiled:
"The answer is simple, I know what's going on."
"Tell me." Jiang Baimian exhaled with the mentality of hearing "magical ideas".
The so-called "magical ideas" are the abbreviation of the strange ideas of mentally ill people.
Shang Jianyao casually pointed to the snow on a street near the square:
"If it were me, after the main body of the convoy left, I would take a car away, 'interfering with matter', manipulating the snow, and burying all traces."
This...... On the one hand, Jiang Baimian felt that this was a bit absurd, just like the characters in the old world entertainment materials whose hair could fly and their postures could be handsome when they appeared, because someone was blowing with an electric fan next to them.
In addition to the relatively large mental consumption, this is more reliable than the previous speculations.
The only problem is that the Awakened of the "End" realm has the ability to "interfere with electromagnetism".
However, it is normal for the other party to at least be an awakened person who has explored the depths of the "Mind Corridor" and has the ability to "interfere with matter".
Thinking of this, Jiang Baimian asked Shang Jianyao:
"How long can you manipulate the snow like this?"
If it can only last for less than an hour, then the "old tune group" can use this square as a dot, draw a large circle outward, and look for traces of the convoy in a circle.
Shang Jianyao looked at the trucks and RVs of the "rootless" and estimated:
"Two or three hours."
This is difficult...... Jiang Baimian frowned slightly.
After all, since the latter entered the depths of the "Mind Corridor", he was "addicted" to going to room "506", peeking at "102" and "205", and never explored other rooms.
Drawing a circle based on the distance of two or three hours driven by a convoy is too broad, and the time spent and the electricity consumed are multiplied.
As time drags on, considering the weather conditions of the ice field, there may be another heavy snowfall.
Besides, the opposite side may not only send an awakened person at the "Spiritual Corridor" level to "pick up" the supplies.
If it is really the Eighth Research Institute, with the wealth of their number of awakened people, they can completely do such a thing.
Jiang Baimian suppressed the urge to find traces with water grinding and decided to get clues from another direction.
She looked at Smith and the others.
"Where did you take on this business?"
Although the appearance, name, and image characteristics of the cargo owner have been deleted, Jiang Baimian believes that the large-scale settlement set off by the "Rootless" team involves the transportation and loading of many materials, and involves a large number of other things.
This doesn't affect anything.
Smith quickly replied:
"Gerstburg."
This is a large settlement belonging to the "White Knights", near the ice field area.
"Hmm......" Jiang Baimian silently wrote down the name, planning to go back there and see if he could find some clues.
At this time, Shang Jianyao comforted his good brothers:
"You don't have to worry, anyway, I can't remember the owner, what's the difference between losing and not losing materials?
"At most, I will lose half of the freight, so I will treat this trip as a trip at public expense."
Although Smith didn't understand the old-world phrase of publicly-funded travel, he still understood the meaning, nodded and said:
"That's all there is to it."
Jiang Baimian thought for a while and asked:
"Do you know a human city that was in ruins more than ten years ago?"
She roughly described the situation where Shang Jianyao's father finally appeared.
Smith laughed and said:
"I know!
"When it was not destroyed by the 'heartless disease', we often transported supplies to trade."
Speaking of this, Smith's expression became serious:
"Where do you want to go?"
"Yes!" Shang Jianyao replied without hesitation, "We are not outsiders, please tell us the specific location."
Smith frowned:
"I don't recommend you go."
"Why?" Shang Jianyao asked.
Smith looked at him and Jiang Baimian separately and said:
"Many relic hunters have tried to go there to hunt for treasure, but few have made it back alive.
"It is said that there is a 'heartless disease' virus everywhere, and if you enter, you can get infected, and it is very easy to get infected."
(End of this chapter)