Embers Ad Infinitum

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Shang Jianyao applauded Yama Tiger. “That’s some nice thinking.”

He then said, “Those people are also locked up here but on different floors.”

“As expected…” Yama Tiger slowly exhaled and said in an abnormally weak voice, “You can visit them. They should have encountered something similar to me.”

Shang Jianyao agreed and said in anticipation, “One of them might’ve seen the criminal before.”

He had always been a proactive person. He immediately bade Yama Tiger farewell and headed to another floor.

After making his rounds, Shang Jianyao gained a preliminary understanding of the other people’s situations. They were either the batch of New World powerhouses who had advanced rather early or the kind that ruled over their own territories. The thing they had in common was that they lacked the corresponding understanding of the New World. Furthermore, they didn’t have friends who could help them when they first arrived.

“What a bully!” Shang Jianyao felt pained.

Compared to the New World powerhouses who formed alliances and had factions backing them, Yama Tiger and the others were like innocent sheep when they first arrived. They were timid, lonely, ignorant, and naive. They were indeed ‘weaker’ and were the best targets for attacks.

Back then, there was a high chance that they didn’t know that every lamp represented a New World resident and lacked sufficient vigilance against the lights around them.

The Shang Jianyao that abhorred evil said, “The assailant might not be as strong as we imagined. He attacked Yama Tiger and the others while they didn’t know much about the New World and lacked allies. He probably used this building’s uniqueness to imprison them later.”

“But no matter what, he should be stronger than Yama Tiger and the others,” said the honest Shang Jianyao.

If the perception range of both parties was very close, it was impossible for Yama Tiger and the others to be controlled without sensing anything.

The Shang Jianyaos discussed this matter for a while before the rash one impatiently said, “There’s nothing new here. Let’s go elsewhere.”

He looked like he wanted to quickly go to all the places he needed to go before riding on Xiaochong’s coattails failed.

The calm and rational Shang Jianyao and the ruthless Shang Jianyao also didn’t want to continue staying in this rather strange mall. They agreed to leave immediately.

They took the escalator down and went straight to the exit.

On the floor where Yama Tiger was imprisoned, a figure suddenly walked out from the darkness.

He didn’t light up any lights. He slowly walked to the railing and looked down at the ground floor where Shang Jianyao was.

At this moment, the light representing Shang Jianyao shone on the protective glass on each floor; they were more or less bright or dark.

This outlined the figure’s appearance; he looked to be in his late twenties. His hair was neatly combed, and he wore a formal gray suit with black stripes and small, round glasses—Wu Meng!

Wu Meng’s face was mostly concealed by the darkness, and only his glasses reflected a little light.

As Shang Jianyao left, moving the lights with him, he fused with the darkness again.

…

After staying in the company for two to three days, Long Yuehong and Bai Chen applied for an opportunity to go for outfield training. The reason was that they needed to be prepared to receive Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao—who had headed for the Eighth Research Institute’s headquarters.

In the morning, they seriously carried out different projects according to the plan. When the sun reached overhead, they drove the SUV that had been assigned to them and arrived at an abandoned building complex.

Although there was a path inside, Bai Chen and Long Yuehong still left the car outside and found a hidden spot to park it. They then put on their military exoskeletons and walked into the small ruin.

After circling around several buildings, they stopped.

“Check if the exoskeleton is bugged,” Bai Chen said to Long Yuehong.

“Yes, yes.” Long Yuehong did it seriously.

After confirming that things were fine, they came to a collapsed high-rise building. They easily relied on the military exoskeleton and the protrusions and depressions on the outer walls to reach the rooftop.

There were gravel and cracks everywhere.

Bai Chen walked to a collapsed wall, bent down, and dug out two items. One was a radio transceiver, and the other was a recording pen.

The recording pen had a certain sentence that Shang Jianyao had recorded in advance. It held power that could affect many people at once. As the power was fused into the words and not the recording pen, Long Yuehong and Bai Chen wouldn’t be directly affected when holding it.

Furthermore, if Shang Jianyao successfully entered the New World, he could provide some help by locking onto the remnant powers when Bai Chen and Long Yuehong played the recording.

In other words, Bai Chen and Long Yuehong could use the recording pen’s words to influence others even if they weren’t Awakened.

This was an arrangement Jiang Baimian had made when the Old Task Force separated.

Bai Chen switched on the radio transceiver and sent a telegram to Genava.

Before long, Old Ge replied to them with a concise message: “Situation confirmed. Make preparations.”

According to the agreement, the situation here referred to the fact that the Kalendarium and New World powerhouses would absorb human consciousness, bringing about the Heartless disease.

This also meant that Pangu Biology’s employees were indeed livestock reared by the Arbiter of Fate.

Bai Chen and Long Yuehong looked at each other and fell silent.

After a while, Long Yuehong exhaled and said, “Let’s abandon our fantasies and prepare for battle.”

Upon seeing his wife’s surprise, he smiled bitterly. “It’s impossible for me to keep running away. I can’t feign ignorance when the truth is before me.”

“Yeah.” Bai Chen nodded and said, “Hey should’ve already entered the New World.”

Otherwise, Genava wouldn’t have sounded so certain.

“That’s right.” Long Yuehong sighed. At this point, he suddenly thought of something and came to a realization. “I finally understand why that white wolf bewitched batches of humans into Wasteland Ruin 13.”

It was food for the sealed Wu Meng!

In order to hide the fact that New World powerhouses extracted human consciousness, Wu Meng implanted different thoughts in those people and made them choose different ways of committing suicide.

“Yes, some things aren’t complicated at all once you know the truth.” Bai Chen shared the same feelings. She then sent a telegram back to Genava and told him that the two of them would begin preparations. He also had to move somewhere close to Pangu Biology as agreed.

At the same time, Long Yuehong picked up the recording pen and stuffed it into his pocket.

After doing this, the two of them buried the radio transceiver again and left the abandoned building complex.

To them, the next problem facing them was bringing the recording pen back to the company.

…

After wandering around the New World for a few days, the increasingly bold Shang Jianyao ventured deep into the area around the tower.

He quickly passed through an intersection and saw two windows facing the street lit up in the dark street ahead.

“Let’s go over and ask about the situation.” The rash Shang Jianyao strode over.

He was filled with confidence.

When he came close, his eyes lit up as he muttered to himself, “Café!”

This was a complete café. Several lights were lit inside, and two people were sitting by one of the windows, chatting.

One of them was a lady in a thin and elegant white dress with golden wavy hair. The other was a man. He wore a formal black suit, a white shirt, and a dark tie. He was clearly over 60, and there were obvious wrinkles on his face. His eyes were brownish-yellow, and his hair was thin and white.

Shang Jianyao was immediately excited.

These were acquaintances!

He waved his right hand and shouted, “Flora, Barnard!

“Flora, Barnard!”

The two people were none other than Flora and Barnard, whom Shang Jianyao had encountered in a New World projection somewhere in Ceningmis. The former had once been a director of the Orange Company, and the latter was the first Red River president of the Linhai Alliance.

They had kindly reminded Shang Jianyao never to enter the New World.

Upon hearing Shang Jianyao’s shout, the surprised Flora turned her body with difficulty and looked out.

Her cheeks were thin, and her eyes were as blue as the sea. She was undoubtedly a beauty in her youth, but there were a few wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. She looked to be in her forties.

Upon seeing Barnard and Flora look over, Shang Jianyao excitedly came outside the café and pushed open the door.

Upon seeing Shang Jianyao come in front of him, Barnard—whose left side was trembling—asked in confusion, “You are?”

Shang Jianyao sincerely thanked him. “Some time ago, you guys reminded me not to enter the New World.”

Flora recalled the matter and grumbled, “Then, why did you come in?”

Shang Jianyao replied loudly, “How am I to completely resolve the New World’s problem if I don’t enter?”

Flora and Barnard’s expressions changed drastically. One hurriedly looked at the café owner, and the other looked around, afraid that others had heard him.