In just a few moments, Jadis extended her hand and lowered the pistol in the old man's hand, then gave him a slight nod.
The old man bowed respectfully to Jadis, then turned around and slowly walked toward the container, disappearing from Jason's view.
After the old man left, Jadis raised the weapon in her hand, and Jason finally heard her speak for the first time since they met.
"You... what do you really mean?"
Jason looked at Jadis indifferently, then extended both hands and pointed. "I'm someone who can help you."
"Tell me who you are," Jadis asked again, using the same tone, words, and expression as before.
"You already know, don't you?"
Jason lowered his gaze and pointed to the pocket of his coat before slowly reaching in and pulling out a piece of paper he had prepared in advance, handing it to the woman.
Jadis took the paper carefully, looked intently at Jason, and then slowly unfolded it. As she opened the sheet, a pattern drawn in black ink appeared, and her pupils contracted unnaturally. She was all too familiar with that pattern of three interlocking rings!
She lifted her head and looked back at Jason, her scrutinizing eyes scanning him. She thought carefully about the situation that was unfolding.
For this meeting, Jason had taken off his jacket and deliberately put on a full black combat uniform to confuse Jadis and prevent her from confirming his identity as a fake.
"Are you... one of them?" Seeing that he had fully captured her attention, Jason remained silent, didn't admit anything, and simply said, "That's something you need to figure out. So now, I suppose we can talk calmly, right?"
Jadis had lowered her weapon since seeing the logo on the paper Jason handed her. Now that she believed he might be related to—or part of—that mysterious organization, she showed a better attitude toward him.
Her tone suddenly returned to normal, but she spoke slowly, as if she hadn't spoken in a long time and struggled to finish a sentence at once.
Jason wasn't in a rush. He looked at Jadis with a neutral expression and began his plan to deceive this cunning woman.
"Let me introduce myself again. You can call me Jason. I came here because I wanted to talk to you about something important."
"What is it?"
The brief exchange made Jadis speak a little more fluently. Seeing the confused look on her face, Jason began to speak.
"Jadis..."
"I must say, that's a good name..."
Jason knew this woman was very cautious, and he needed to be extremely careful with what he said next. If Jadis noticed anything unusual, it was very likely their conversation would end before it even began.
On the surface, Jason pretended to be indifferent, but in reality, countless thoughts ran through his mind.
"Tell me, Jadis... do you want to join them?"
Jadis' expression wasn't as calm as before. Joining the CRM had been her obsession. Even after the Salvation Army wiped out her people, she clung to that obsession to survive.
"Can you really get me in?"
"Of course."
Jadis looked at Jason strangely. Instead of asking more questions about that subject, she changed the direction of the conversation.
"Why are you helping me?"
Jason raised his hand and wiggled his fingers, showing his black gloves.
He definitely wasn't going to tell her the reason—especially not to someone so untrustworthy.
"I have my own reasons. All you need is a golden ticket to join them, right?"
"What's the ticket?"
Jadis moved closer to Jason, genuinely intrigued by the "ticket" he mentioned.
"Do you think a B is enough for your ticket?"
"A B?"
"With just a B, it would be impossible..."
"Then it has to be an A. But I still think a B should be enough."
Jason walked to the back of the vehicle and dropped suitcase after suitcase to the ground, then looked at Jadis, who had an unusual expression, and added again, "The radio frequency has been set. I'll turn it on every night, and when I have news, I'll contact you very soon."
"Then I'll give you any information I have whenever something new comes up," Jadis said suddenly, her eyes locked on Jason. "You're not one of them, are you?"
With a neutral face, Jason replied, "It doesn't matter whether I am or not. What matters is that I know them better than you do. This doesn't harm you or me. So, this is a win-win deal."
"If you want to work with me, to ensure everything goes smoothly, I'll bring you a B sometime within a month to a year. All you need to do is stay alive and stop pointing your guns at strangers."
"Why don't you contact them directly?" Jadis asked again, uncertain.
"Of course I can. But in that case, you wouldn't benefit at all. Are you really sure you want me to do that?"
Shrinking slightly, Jadis understood the meaning behind his actions. Jason only wanted to contact that mysterious organization through her, but for some reason, he seemed unwilling to expose himself.
Seeing she remained silent, Jason spoke again. "So? Do we have a deal?"
Jadis hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she couldn't resist the temptation and said, "Deal. But I still have one condition."
Seeing Jason stop and wait for her to speak, Jadis pointed out, "I need a stockpile of food so I don't have to go out and risk my life, and I also need a batch of weapons to defend my shelter."
"I'll send someone today to bring the supplies."
Without waiting to see Jadis' reaction, Jason got into the car, started the engine, and quickly drove out of sight.
Jadis crouched down and picked up the bag from the ground. Ignoring the weapons and ammunition inside, she took out the radio, hid it in her pocket, and then walked toward the container entrance carrying the weapons bag.
The corners of her mouth lifted slightly—clearly satisfied with the unexpected delivery of resources that had arrived at her door.
On the road, Jason turned on the music and sang along to a song. He had gained a lot today. If he managed to get trusted people into the CRM—whether B or A—he might eventually have his own inside that organization.
But this could turn out to be extremely risky, so he needed to carefully think through what to do next with the tools he had obtained so far.