Embers Ad Infinitum

After waiting for a while, Jiang Baimian heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that the email had been delivered successfully. She leaned back in her chair.

What happened next was not her problem.

“I only hope that the company deals with it quickly and doesn’t leave any latent problems…” Jiang Baimian muttered to herself. She turned around, bent down, picked up the blue flask beside her, and prepared to fill her cup.

She shook the flask twice and realized that it was much lighter than expected.

There’s no more water… Jiang Baimian shook her head. She walked out of the study and into the living room with the flask.

“Why did you coop up in the room the moment you came back?” Jiang Baimian’s mother, Xue Sumei, immediately nagged when she saw her.

Jiang Baimian didn’t mind and replied with a smile, “Isn’t this love for my profession?”

With that said, she changed the topic. “Mom, your new hairstyle looks good.”

A hair salon was specially provided on the 349th floor. Of course, the residential zones of the other floors above the 349th floor had similar facilities. However, they were relatively simple. Usually, they only did the most basic hairstyling and haircuts. Only during festive seasons would they carry out special services like hair-perming.

Xue Sumei subconsciously touched her sideburns and asked with a smile, “Is that so? I did it this afternoon. Didn’t you see it when you came back?”

Xue Sumei had very few wrinkles on her face. She looked prim and proper, and her hair was curled into waves. She looked several years younger than she actually was.

“I’m giving Dad a chance. I can’t discover it before he does.” Jiang Baimian lied with her eyes open.

Jiang Baimian successfully changed the topic to Jiang Wenfeng.

As expected, Xue Sumei began to complain about household trivialities. She complained that Jiang Wenfeng spent every day in the cotton field for the past month and had come back smelling bad.

As she spoke, Xue Sumei glared at Jiang Baimian. “Why am I talking about this to you? Let me tell you something. Little Zhao is very satisfied with you. Why aren’t you a little more enthusiastic?”

“I’ll wait for the company to assign me. I’ll get married when the company assigns me one.” Jiang Baimian used the company as a ‘shield.’

“You can get married first. There’s no rush to have children.” Xue Sumei tried to reason with her.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door.

“Who is it?” Jiang Baimian replied loudly. She took the opportunity to shake off her mother and ran for the door.

Outside the door was a man in a grayish-green uniform. He was in his thirties and did not wear a badge. His skin was bronze, and there were signs of the elements on his face. There was a clear scar at the corner of the man’s eye, making him look rather fierce.

“Chen Xinyan…” Jiang Baimian recognized the visitor and smiled. “Has management begun taking action?”

Opposite her was a friend she had met not long after joining the Security Department. Back then, Chen Xinyan—who had also undergone genetic modification—was in the Special Forces.

He was later transferred to a brigade directly under management because of his outstanding performance in several operations. He was currently a company OC, a D8.

Chen Xinyan nodded. “Yes. The mission I assigned to myself is to protect the key witnesses.”

At this point, he laughed. “Even though you don’t really need protection.”

“The main reason is that I can’t legally carry a gun.” Jiang Baimian turned her head slightly and sensed the area. “You brought a team?”

Although the brigade directly under management was definitely smaller than those assigned to field operations, the team still had more than ten people.

“It’s also to prevent chaos,” Chen Xinyan explained simply.

Jiang Baimian smiled and made way before pointing at the living room. “Come in and have a seat then. I’ll wait to hear about the operation’s progress from you.”

Xue Sumei looked over for a while. Although she was curious about what had happened, she still took the initiative to retreat to the bedroom.

…

In a certain room, amidst the scattered flashlight beams.

Yue Qifan picked up a dark-blue landline telephone and carefully dialed a particular number.

“Hello.” A familiar voice sounded from the other end.

Yue Qifan quickly reported, “Sir, the operation has failed. The target was very vigilant.”

The other party fell silent for two seconds before asking, “Were you exposed?”

“No. I happened to wipe away the memories of our contact and battle. He doesn’t remember me attacking him and only thinks that I’m an employee who passed by. Besides, I lowered the brim of my hat and had altered my looks,” Yue Qifan said quickly.

The other party fell silent again, but he quickly suppressed his voice and said unhurriedly, “Don’t take any further action. I’ll deal with the rest.”

“Yes, Sir.” Yue Qifan heaved a sigh of relief.

…

On the 478th floor, at the intersection of Zone A and Zone B.

Two teams—which were directly under management—spread out and controlled the area in secret.

The leader confirmed the situation with his pacemaker, measured the distance between him and Xiong Ming’s room, and gave the order. “Take action immediately and resolve this as quickly as possible without giving the target a chance to react.”

Just as he said that, the four members in gas masks immediately bent down and rushed forward.

In just a few seconds, they arrived outside Xiong Ming’s room.

Then, one person slammed open the door, and the other threw a grenade containing anesthetic gas. The two of them aimed their guns inside, prepared to launch a second wave of attacks.

With a slightly dull explosion, the gas spread out in the relatively small space.

With a thud, the sound of something heavy collapsing to the ground came from inside.

The two operatives waited for a few seconds before carefully entering the room. They then speedily carried out the unconscious Xiong Ming.

Someone who knew Xiong Ming went up to take a look and quickly straightened his body. “Sir, target confirmed!”

The leader nodded and waved his hand. “Bring him back for interrogation.”

He then looked around and methodically issued a follow-up order. “Biochemical section, neutralize the residual anesthetic gas.

“Support section, calm down the residents of this area.”

“Everyone else, retreat immediately!”

…

On the fifth floor of the underground building, in a room in the Administrative Zone.

Xiong Ming woke up and realized that he was sitting behind a table. His hands were cuffed to the armrests on both sides of the chair.

On the other side of the table was a calm, middle-aged man.

This man was stripped clean and wore all kinds of portable medical equipment. He looked like a human who had undergone cybernetic modification.

Beside him was professional resuscitation equipment.

“Are you all that afraid of me?” Xiong Ming’s panic and aggrieved mood suddenly eased. He never imagined that a Blessed of a deity like him would be captured so easily. Back then, he didn’t have the time to do anything.

Looking at Xiong Ming’s wooden eyes, the middle-aged man calmly replied, “As the saying goes, it’s better to be prepared.”

Xiong Ming fell silent for two seconds before he suddenly smiled. “What do you want to know?”

“Oh?” The middle-aged man expressed his doubts.

Xiong Ming wanted to lean back, but he was restrained by the handcuffs. He could only smile without changing his posture. “I don’t think any organization will refuse a Neo-Human’s surrender. My abilities and my process of obtaining them will definitely be very useful to you.”

The middle-aged man fell silent for a moment before saying, “You’re very clear-minded. As a parishioner, shouldn’t you be very fanatical?”

Xiong Ming laughed. “I only believe in the Arbiter of Fate. The other parishioners have nothing to do with me.”

The middle-aged man slowly exhaled and said, “Then tell me who is Doctor of the Church Deceased’s Return? Which other Doctors of the Church’s true identity do you know?”

Without waiting for Xiong Ming to answer, he added, “Don’t lie. Don’t tell me you believe that there aren’t other Awakened in such a large organization like the company?”

Xiong Ming’s expression changed slightly and became serious. “Since I’ve made a decision, I won’t hide anything from you.”

…

In Room 12 of the 349th floor’s Zone C, a melodic ringtone sounded at Jiang Baimian’s home.

Chen Xinyan spoke before Jiang Baimian could get up. “This should be a call for me.”

“Looks like there’s good news.” Jiang Baimian smiled.

Chen Xinyan then picked up the telephone on the small table beside him and briefly introduced himself. After quietly listening for a while, he put down the phone and turned his head to Jiang Baimian.

“We’ve already confirmed the identity of Deceased’s Return. Strategy Committee’s Surveillance PIC, Zhang Zicong—a D9 employee.”

“Surveillance PIC? As expected…” Jiang Baimian was not surprised at all. She had long suspected that a Life Ritual member was hiding in the Surveillance Department and that their rank was not low.

Otherwise, it would’ve been impossible for Xiong Ming to have a clear grasp of the surveillance cameras’ operation and devise a seemingly perfect plan. Shen Du’s report wouldn’t have been discovered in such a timely manner either.

The reason why there was nothing wrong with Shang Jianyao’s conversation with Jiang Baimian was that they always discussed it in the Old Task Force’s room—a place without any surveillance.

The only problem now was how the Life Ritual parish made Shen Du fall ill in such a timely manner.

Chen Xinyan glanced at Jiang Baimian’s expression and asked with a smile, “You seem to have expected this?”

“I had some guesses, but I couldn’t be sure. There are too many things that I can’t explain. Therefore, I didn’t get my team members to continue investigating. It’s too easy to be exposed.” Jiang Baimian’s eyes darted around slightly. “It’s no wonder the Guide said that the Doctor of the Church has always been paying attention to all of you the entire time. That sentence really has a deeper meaning…”

At this point, she suddenly thought of something. “Shang Jianyao was chatting outside when he went to look for Xiong Ming. There had to be cameras around!”

Chen Xinyan tersely acknowledged it. “Don’t worry. When I came over, my colleagues had already gone over to protect him.”

…

Shang Jianyao sat behind a desk by the window. He looked down at his clothes under the light of the street lamps outside.

He pressed the small hole around his left shoulder and muttered to himself, “When did this tear?”

He suddenly sensed something and looked up.

He then saw a figure jump over.

It was a middle-aged woman wearing a polyester shirt. Her face was extremely warped, and her body was severely hunched. Her eyes were turbid and bloodshot like those of a crazy beast.

Ren Jie.

Guide Ren Jie.

…

In the PIC’s office in the Strategy Committee’s Surveillance Department.

With a bang, the members of the management’s brigade slammed open the door.

With the help of the light inside, they saw a figure.

This figure wore a black top, black pants, and black leather shoes. The figure was hanging from the ceiling and gently swaying due to the door’s opening.