Embers Ad Infinitum

As the Heartless were still fighting each other and Jiang Baimian only cared about the direction without distinguishing her path, she chose not to stop. Moreover, the range of her abilities was large, and there was no need to mention her equipment. Therefore, after repelling three waves of attacks, she successfully broke out of the small city that appeared to be in the New World in reality.

Of course, this was a little far from the target location she had expected. This meant that she would deviate even if she only cared about the right direction.

Thankfully, this was within her expectations, so she wasn’t depressed. She looked at the layout of the terrain and circled around the periphery of the city.

She drew an arc in less than ten minutes of running and saw the heavy iron-black door at the tunnel entrance.

Thankfully… She heaved a sigh of relief.

She quickly pushed open the door, walked to Shang Jianyao’s side, and kneeled on one knee.

Jiang Baimian quickly went through the process and saw Shang Jianyao, but before she could speak, the guy waved his right hand. “I happen to have something to discuss with you!”

“Me too.” Seeing that Shang Jianyao was still alive and kicking, Jiang Baimian’s strung-up heart immediately felt relieved.

Shang Jianyao was very humble this time. “You first.”

Jiang Baimian didn’t refuse and said directly, “I found something in that vortex-shaped building…”

She started from the human brains and the corresponding post-stick notes to the corpses of Zhao Danlin and Winst Garland and the area she couldn’t enter yet.

“I bumped into Winst Garland!” Shang Jianyao clapped his hands.

If it weren’t for the fact that his posture didn’t allow it, he definitely would’ve slapped his thigh.

“You ran into him?” Jiang Baimian had thought that Shang Jianyao would be in danger after the chaos began, but she never expected him to face the suspected Kalendaria, Winst Garland, so quickly.

“Yeah.” Shang Jianyao sighed. “He threatened me while eating the bear biscuits. Thankfully, Subhuti helped me out for a while, allowing me to escape successfully.”

At this point, he emphasized, “Winst Garland is suspected to be April’s Kalendaria, Shadow of Distortion.”

“I guessed it.” Jiang Baimian was very calm. “If that’s the case, the Eighth Research Institute’s administrative director, Zhao Danlin, is very likely Big Boss.”

“Wow.” Shang Jianyao sighed in amazement. “As expected of Big Boss.”

He then raised a question. “But as the administrator of the Eighth Research Institute, how did she become Pangu Biology’s Big Boss? It’s as different as night and day.”

Jiang Baimian combined her prior guesses and thought for a moment before saying, “Big Boss is in charge of the communication between the Eighth Research Institute and the other research institutes. There’s a high chance that she knew about the underground building and knew that a group of people was doing genetic research. When she became a Kalendaria, and considering how she was dead with her body unpreserved, she came up with the intention of establishing Pangu Biology and preparing a perfect body for herself. Eh, it’s also a way to rear stock in captivity.”

Pangu Biology’s employees didn’t immediately enter the underground building after the Old World was destroyed. They also experienced the outbreak of the Heartless disease and the chaos. Later on, under the guidance of some people, they hid underground and established Pangu Biology.

In terms of timing, this matched Jiang Baimian’s guess.

“Right, right, right!” Shang Jianyao immediately agreed. “Truth said that Big Boss has prepared a batch of compatible bodies for the Kalendarium and quasi-Kalendaria who want to leave the New World.”

“Truth told you this?” Jiang Baimian was surprised.

“He said a lot…” Shang Jianyao suddenly froze before saying angrily, “He lied to me!”

It would be abnormal if he didn’t lie to you… Jiang Baimian murmured inwardly. She asked cooperatively, “What did he lie to you about?”

“He said that before obtaining a compatible body, he and the Kalendarium were deities—creatures that were completely different from humans. Therefore, the extraction of human consciousness is just a law of nature,” Shang Jianyao said indignantly. “He also said that there are only 13 Kalendaria positions. Under normal circumstances, it’s impossible for anyone to replace them. Therefore, they can suppress all Awakened and establish an order that’s conducive to human survival and development. Liar!”

From the looks of it, every Kalendaria’s domain corresponded to a certain part of the human brain. And because the functions of different parts of the human brain intersected, the abilities controlled by different Kalendarium would overlap to a certain extent.

After stripping away the mysticism content and leaving only science… Be it Shang Jianyao or Jiang Baimian, they couldn’t find a reason why an Awakened definitely couldn’t become a Kalendaria.

As long as he could develop the corresponding areas of his brain step by step and raise his strength to the extreme, he had a chance of becoming a Kalendaria.

As for how to develop it, the Eighth Research Institute’s results definitely had the corresponding content. It was just that there was a higher risk and probability of failure. Otherwise, the Kalendarium wouldn’t have lost their bodies in that disaster.

“If this secret gets out, no matter how many Kalendarium are behind the various factions, those Awakened in the Mind Corridor will be tempted. When that happens, the Eighth Research Institute will become a public enemy. It will be a crime to hold such a treasure.” Jiang Baimian sighed sincerely.

The path to apotheosis was right there. Most people wouldn’t be able to withstand the temptation.

Shang Jianyao felt enlightened. “No wonder Vice President said that if the secret they are guarding is leaked, the Ashlands will fall into eternal chaos and endless calamity.”

“This is only a possibility. In the end, a small number of people will become deities and rule over the remaining ignorant people. As for how many people will die in the process, nobody knows,” Jiang Baimian said based on her experience and feelings.

She didn’t have the time to do an in-depth analysis.

Without giving Shang Jianyao a chance to digress, Jiang Baimian took the initiative to ask, “What else did Truth tell you? Why did he tell you these things?”

Shang Jianyao quickly told her the key points of his conversation with Truth.

“There’s a certain level of credibility, but the details are definitely filled with a large number of lies,” Jiang Baimian stated bluntly. “It should be true that a portion of the Kalendarium wants to break free of the New World’s restraints and return to the Ashlands. It’s most likely true that Big Boss has prepared a batch of compatible bodies for them. As for the rest, there are either some embellishments or just casual promises. At the very least, I think they still have the intention of escaping Master Zhuang’s suppression. Once they are no longer suppressed by Master Zhuang, nobody can predict what these Kalendarium—who have long mutated into non-humans—will do.”

Due to her lack of understanding, other than the lie that the Kalendarium were gods to begin with, she didn’t elaborate on what were the lies that Truth might’ve told Shang Jianyao.

“Then, what should we do next?” Shang Jianyao asked habitually.

Jiang Baimian tersely acknowledged it. “After hearing what those who want the status quo changed are saying, you definitely have to understand the reason for maintaining the status quo. Get both sides of the story. The more you understand the situation, the more you know what decision to make.”

Clap! Clap! Clap! 

Shang Jianyao clapped. “Good idea.”

After the praise, he changed the topic. “However, those Kalendarium who want to maintain the status quo can’t wait to skin me alive and absorb my psychic force the moment they see me. They don’t give me a chance to communicate!”

“That’s true…” Jiang Baimian wasn’t stumped by the difficulty of this reality. As she deliberated, she said, “Some of the Kalendarium who want to maintain the status quo are friendly to us. For example, Shattered Mirror. She’s very likely to be Lin Sui. If you encounter her, you can try communicating with her. Also, you can understand why Subhuti is leaning toward changing the status quo. Yes, it’s very strange that he made the monks give up their bodies to enter the New World. Finally, you have to ask Master Zhuang’s friendly personality directly why he established that order and bound the Kalendarium.”

“Understood,” Shang Jianyao replied in high spirits. “I’ll do it now.”

In order to ensure that her mind wouldn’t be exhausted in the next few hours, Jiang Baimian didn’t dare to keep the communication up for too long. She nodded and said, “Alright.”

She was about to cut the contact with her consciousness when Shang Jianyao suddenly raised his hand. “Wait!”

When he saw her look over, he quickly explained, “Did you just say that the abilities of the Awakened come from the development of the brain and that the area you can’t enter at the moment might very well be hiding a high-precision product that stimulates the brain and induces humans to enter the Deity’s Forbidden Zone?”

Jiang Baimian was stunned for a moment before the corners of her mouth twitched. “You just realized?”

That was clearly the main point of everything she shared!

Shang Jianyao smiled. “I’m just making confirmation. In a while, bring my body to the vortex-shaped building. When you can enter that area, see if you can use the experimental results there to stimulate my brain and promote me to the level of a Kalendaria from the New World.”

Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and said, “Alright.”

She then added, “I almost forgot to say that I’ll carry your body to the Second Research Zone. I don’t want to waste time traveling back and forth every time we communicate.”

It would be fine if she was bad with directions. With the help of the military exoskeleton, a round trip took less than ten minutes.

Unfortunately, there were no ifs.

“Perfect!” Shang Jianyao smiled and waved his hand. “All the best!”

After the conversation ended, Jiang Baimian carried Shang Jianyao’s body on the back of the military exoskeleton and secured it tightly with a strap. Then, she checked the biological agents such as FECA and glanced at the crate containing the nuclear warhead.

She picked it up and held it in front of her with her left hand. Jiang Baimian then turned to the tunnel exit.

She hesitated for a few seconds, sighed softly, and ran to the small city.

…

In the maze, Shang Jianyao slowed down and opened the doors on both sides that were of different colors.

He didn’t encounter anyone despite opening all those doors.

After walking for more than ten minutes, his gaze suddenly froze.

A blood-red door appeared at the end of the aisle in front of him.

“Where are they? Where are they?” Shang Jianyao was very disappointed. “Were they all obstructed? I can’t even find someone to chat with!”