Embers Ad Infinitum

Jiang Baimian looked down at the underground parking lot’s entrance from the top of a building relatively close to the lakeside villa.

“I just reconnoitered with Shang Jianyao. There are many people inside; this means that Anhebus lives here today.”

“You can’t blindly believe such a claim.” Shang Jianyao seized the opportunity to say this.

Long Yuehong wanted to agree with him with “yeah, yeah,” but he ultimately restrained himself.

Jiang Baimian didn’t lose her temper and took the opportunity to educate her team members. “Under normal circumstances, I definitely wouldn’t dare make such a judgment. With the Redstone townsfolk’s vigilance and their own conditions, it’s very likely that Anhebus will gather a portion of his subordinates somewhere and disguise himself as being there.

“But things are different now. Baz exposed his and Helvig’s plot and made him take the blame for colluding with the mountain monsters and betraying Redstone Collection. We all know that this is true. Under this premise, as a believer of Eidolon Nun, Anhebus will definitely lack a sense of security and be constantly vigilant against accidents.

“Based on this logic, Anhebus will definitely strengthen the defense around him while he seeks a solution. Once something goes wrong, he will rely on numbers to stall for time and take the opportunity to escape Redstone Collection.”

Bai Chen echoed, “The more afraid a normal human is, the more they will keep all the strength they can wield by their side.”

Long Yuehong gradually understood. “At a time like this, Anhebus definitely won’t dare to scatter his subordinates and get them to disguise themselves elsewhere. This is because he’s not on guard against us but the Vigilance Church. There’s a high chance that the people around him will directly betray his hiding spot, easily destroying his plans. In that case, he might as well keep everyone by his side. At the very least, he can compel some of them to stall for time.”

Jiang Baimian nodded slightly. “That’s about it.”

Shang Jianyao raised another possibility. “Anhebus can put his subordinates from Redstone Collection in one place and hide himself and the foreign refugees in another. Those refugees shouldn’t be believers of Eidolon Nun, so they won’t betray him.”

“That’s right.” Jiang Baimian nodded in approval. “If Anhebus isn’t a resident of Redstone Collection and a parishioner of the Vigilance Church, he might very well choose to do so. But with his vigilance, will he be completely at ease with the foreign refugees? It’s not like he can make ‘friends’ like you and make Lopez trustworthy.”

Bai Chen recalled and said, “I’ve seen too many small factions that rely very much on mercenaries. The best outcome is for them to be robbed by the mercenaries before being protected.”

Yes, if Anhebus was prepared to escape, he would definitely bring along the supplies he had accumulated over the years. Why didn’t the foreign refugees directly snatch from him and leave Redstone Collection to go elsewhere? The Ashlands is huge, and he has so many supplies in his hands. There are plenty of places for him to survive in… Long Yuehong confirmed what choices Anhebus wouldn’t make after some thought.

“Alright.” Jiang Baimian clapped her hands. “We’ll take turns monitoring the lakeside parking lot and observe the changes while waiting for an opportunity.”

As she spoke, she picked up the military binoculars beside her and handed them to Long Yuehong. “You first.”

Long Yuehong excitedly took the binoculars. As he walked to the railing where the window frame had fallen, he asked in confusion, “Why don’t we directly get Shang Jianyao to go knock on their door and ‘make friends’ with Anhebus? In any case, that batch of firearms has already become a hot potato. It’s better to leave it to us to deal with.”

Jiang Baimian smiled. “This is to prevent you from relying too much on Shang Jianyao’s abilities. Try your best to use normal methods if you can resolve them using normal methods. This can effectively improve the lot of you. Besides, you’ve seen the chaos in Redstone Collection. It’s good to have more trump cards.”

Team Leader, there’s no need to say ‘the lot of you.’ You can directly say my electronic card number… Long Yuehong replied silently in his heart.

While he monitored the lakeside parking lot, Jiang Baimian spoke to Shang Jianyao and Bai Chen. “Find a place to sit down and conserve your energy.”

The sky gradually darkened after repeated shifts, and the winter night arrived early.

The Old Task Force had already changed their binoculars and started using night-vision goggles.

Around 10 p.m., Bai Chen—who was in charge of surveillance—whispered, “There’s movement.”

She didn’t deliberately raise her voice because she knew that her team leader could determine the situation by observing Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong’s reactions.

As expected, Jiang Baimian followed when Long Yuehong and Shang Jianyao walked to the window.

With the help of the night-vision goggles that allowed them to see into the distance, they realized that two cars had driven out of the lakeside parking lot.

One was the earthen-yellow, all-terrain vehicle that Lopez had previously been in, and the other was a light truck with red and black colors.

The two cars drove east of the city ruin along the relatively intact roads.

Jiang Baimian guessed thoughtfully, “Are they getting the foreign refugees to retrieve that batch of firearms in preparation to donate them to the town guards?”

“Shall we chase after them?” Long Yuehong was a little excited.

They could find the batch of firearms if they tailed them. If they found the firearms, they would have a chance to exchange them for a military exoskeleton. If they exchanged for a military exoskeleton, it would greatly enhance his survivability.

Jiang Baimian laughed. “How? If we go downstairs now, they would’ve driven far away and escaped my range.”

As she spoke, she sighed. “Unfortunately, I didn’t exchange for a drone with Xu Liyan back in Weed City. Otherwise, things would’ve been much simpler.”

Back then, they had wanted to save up supplies to exchange for a military exoskeleton. A drone was useless to the Old Task Force most of the time.

Long Yuehong asked in concern, “Then, what should we do?”

“Find a place to ambush them and wait for their return.” Jiang Baimian had long thought of a plan.

Long Yuehong nodded before showing his confusion. “But there’s more than one road to the lakeside parking lot.”

Nobody stipulated that the foreign refugees had to return the way they came. It was more likely that they were sufficiently vigilant and would switch paths for their return trip.

“This depends on your running speed.” Shang Jianyao looked like he wanted to race Long Yuehong.

Uh, does this mean that we should observe the foreign refugees’ return route in advance from the high tower before running down and speedily set up an ambush? Long Yuehong guessed Shang Jianyao’s thoughts.

After a few seconds, he reacted. “Why don’t we leave one person upstairs and set up ambushes with the other three!?”

We have walkie-talkies! How simple is this!?

“That’s a plan, but we have to consider the possibility of them constantly changing their route. In that case, we still have to keep running around according to our latest observations.” Jiang Baimian smiled. “There are better solutions now.”

Without waiting for Long Yuehong to ask, she directly said, “We’ll ambush outside the lakeside parking lot entrance. No matter which route they take, they have to enter the underground parking lot through the entrance.”

Long Yuehong stammered, “B-but there are many of Anhebus’s subordinates hiding around the entrance. W-we don’t have enough manpower.”

This was the enemy’s base camp! Who would ambush at the other party’s headquarters?

Jiang Baimian smiled. “That will have to depend on battle strategy. Strategies are schemes that come from thinking.”

…

After confirming that the all-terrain vehicle and light truck were returning to the lakeside area, the Old Task Force members followed Jiang Baimian’s instructions and descended from the tall building. They then infiltrated a low building not far from the underground parking lot.

Although this building wasn’t destroyed by the war, it clearly lacked subsequent maintenance. Its walls were mottled, and glass was everywhere.

“Remember your mission?” Jiang Baimian asked again.

Of course, she was asking Long Yuehong while looking at him.

“Yes,” Long Yuehong replied with a suppressed voice as he carried the Death rocket launcher. He had already roughly understood his team leader’s plan and found it magical and unbelievable. But after careful thought, he realized that it matched the reality of Redstone Collection and Anhebus’s gang. It was a plan that most likely wouldn’t work in other places, but it had a high chance of being effective here.

Jiang Baimian then looked around. “Take your positions!”

After they entered their designated positions, time seemed to slow down. The clouds in the sky moved bit by bit, making the ground sometimes dark and sometimes bright.

In the yellow all-terrain vehicle, Lopez held the walkie-talkie and made the light truck behind him change its route.

This was his third time changing paths in order to avoid any possible ambush.

Although he was tall and muscular and looked like a barbarian with more muscles than brains, this was only superficial. Furthermore, years of formal training and a refugee lifestyle had given him sufficient experience to know what to do depending on the occasion.

After driving for a few minutes, the lakeside area entered his sights.

Upon seeing the underground parking lot’s entrance approaching, Lopez put down the walkie-talkie and leaned back in the passenger seat. He then heaved a sigh of relief.

They were safe here. There were countless hidden sentries here, and the number of armed personnel in the underground parking lot was astonishing.

On the third floor of the low building to the left of the vehicle, Bai Chen wore night-vision goggles and had an Orange rifle mounted as she aimed at the red-and-black light truck.

After calculating the distance, she pulled the trigger.

With a puff, the bullet accurately drilled into the light truck’s front wheel.

The tire burst and deflated. The truck—which was originally driving normally—suddenly tilted, making the driver frantically spin the wheel.

With a screeching sound, the truck stopped.

In the yellow, all-terrain vehicle ahead, Lopez was shocked and angry. He raised his light machine gun.

The hidden sentries in the lakeside parking lot also reacted.

At this moment, a voice that didn’t sound like a human’s sounded from the right side of the short building.

“I’m the Church’s Harbinger, here for the matter of Anhebus’s collusion with the mountain monsters! We have completed the investigations. Anhebus committed the act because he was deceived by foreign refugees. The evidence is on that truck! All Redstone townsfolk, give up resisting and standby to await orders!”

Ever since Lopez returned from the cathedral at noon, Baz’s accusation had gradually spread among the Redstone townsfolk under Anhebus. They didn’t blindly believe it, but they didn’t blindly not believe it either.

At this moment, they hesitated when they heard the loudspeaker repeatedly play the content.

As Eidolon Nun’s believers, they clearly trusted the Church more and were more willing to listen to the bishop and Harbinger. Furthermore, they were only dealing with foreign refugees, not themselves.

Lopez’s mind buzzed when he heard the radio’s contents. He suspected that Anhebus had betrayed them and wanted to use them as scapegoats!

Without hesitation, Lopez pushed open the door, held the light machine gun, and called for the other foreign refugees to charge toward the loudspeaker.

To them, there were only two choices: The first was to disperse the group of ambushers and identify them as the Ashlanders who were impersonating the Church’s troops—it didn’t matter if it wasn’t the case. It was to buy time!

The second was to break out of the encirclement immediately and drive away.

In his haste, Lopez instinctively believed that they were most likely fake due to the fact that the Harbinger didn’t report his name. Therefore, he chose the first option.