Embers Ad Infinitum

Upon seeing Song He, Jiang Baimian roughly recounted the conversation between her team and Han Wanghuo.

After Song He heard that, he sighed. “In my eyes, he’s a real human. What a pity…”

Jiang Baimian didn’t know if Song He was sad that Han Wanghuo had finally decided to leave, or if he was sad that he didn’t dare to take the next step to become bishop. He couldn’t offer a promise to persuade Han Wanghuo to stay, so he could only sigh.

After Song He sighed, he shook his head and smiled. “It’s no wonder that despite my repeated requests for Han Wanghuo to find a lady in Redstone Collection, he was unwilling to do so. He said that a sheriff would definitely offend many people and that it would put his wife in danger. He said it was better to wait until the town guards were truly established and until a public security law that everyone is willing to acknowledge and obey is established. He said he would consider it after saving up a sufficient sum of money and resigning as sheriff.”

It was obvious that Han Wanghuo was afraid that his scales would be seen by people close to him, so he would rather not get married.

“Liar!” Shang Jianyao said with emotion.

Jiang Baimian knew why Shang Jianyao said that. He had previously treated Han Wanghuo as his bosom buddy because of his belief of ‘how can family be possible without public security.’ Of course, this was only a one-sided confidant.

At the thought of this, Jiang Baimian casually consoled him. “At the very least, Han Wanghuo is very serious and hardworking when it comes to maintaining order in Redstone Collection and fulfilling his duties as sheriff and town guard captain.”

At this moment, Long Yuehong suddenly thought of a question. “Then, why didn’t he find a Subhuman to marry before he came to Redstone Collection? In the Ashlands, it’s better to have two people helping each other than be alone.”

This way, there wouldn’t be any discrimination.

As the others thought about the answer, Bai Chen calmly said, “He might not fancy other Subhumans.”

Jiang Baimian was stunned for a moment before strongly agreeing. “That’s true.”

Although Han Wanghuo was a Subhuman, he always treated himself as a real human deep down. Therefore, he naturally looked down on other Subhumans. At most, he had sufficient sympathy, friendliness, and understanding for them. However, marriage was off the table.

In a sense, he was also a racist. However, he stood on the human side while naturally showing mercy to other races.

Long Yuehong thought about the merfolk and expressed his understanding of Han Wanghuo.

If Han Wanghuo were to find a female murloc to be his wife, Long Yuehong felt that it was better for him to remain single.

As for the mountain monsters, he could barely accept them. At most, they wouldn’t kiss much.

Upon seeing that the conversation was getting off-topic, Song He returned to the topic at hand. “Therefore, your final conclusion is that Han Wanghuo didn’t betray the information to the Subhuman Alliance?”

“Based on preliminary conclusions.” Jiang Baimian didn’t give a definite answer. “I can only say that based on the current situation, Han Wanghuo has no reason to betray Redstone Collection considering his motives and position. But as the investigation progresses, there might be new clues. When the time comes, there might be different answers.”

Her words were flawless, leaving Song He stunned.

He thought for a few seconds before suddenly smiling. “I was wondering why it sounded so familiar. Isn’t this what I often say when reporting to headquarters? It seems like you guys are also from an organization…”

Only when one reached a certain scale and had an internally well-functioning organization would such an ‘official style’ of speaking appear.

Jiang Baimian didn’t expect herself to expose a little of their background. She could only laugh dryly. “Ruin Hunters will also be careful when dealing with clients with a certain background.”

The two parties exchanged a few words on this topic, but they tacitly didn’t mention whether they wanted to restrict Han Wanghuo’s actions. They treated it as if the other party had been cleared of suspicion.

“I’ll chat with Han Wanghuo again later and see if I can dispel his thoughts of leaving.” Finally, Song He expressed his attitude.

If you don’t use your amiable powers, there’s a high chance that it won’t work… Jiang Baimian tersely acknowledged his words and said, “Harbinger Song, we have a suspect in mind. I would like to request permission to make contact with them.”

“Request?” Song He thought for a moment and asked, “Someone from the Underground Ark?”

You are smart. Years of life experience have really filled you with wisdom… Jiang Baimian frankly replied, “Yes, it’s best if we can get in touch with Mr. DiMarco directly.”

Song He hesitated and said, “The Underground Ark has a high status in the Church. I can’t force them. Well, I’ll first try to get Mr. DiMarco’s butlers to come to the cathedral and have a chat with them. I’ll report to headquarters if I discover any problems.”

“Do you need our help?” Jiang Baimian was eager to give it a try.

Song He glanced at them suspiciously. “Not for the time being. Wait here.”

They were now in the corridor behind the main hall—a small living room with sofas, coffee tables, and chairs. The walls here were also painted red and mixed with gold.

After watching Song He leave, Jiang Baimian sighed. “Unfortunately, I shouldn’t have mentioned this. I should’ve gone straight to the elevator downstairs and made contact with the Underground Ark. Act before getting permission!”

As long as they had non-video interactions, there were infinite possibilities.

After many experiments, Shang Jianyao confirmed that Inference Clowning couldn’t expand its range of influence through overly complicated electronic products. All he could use now was a loudspeaker.

“That’s right.” Shang Jianyao indicated that he thought so too.

Bai Chen looked at them and reminded them, “Didn’t you do this to maintain a good relationship with the Vigilance Church?”

Upon thinking of the gaze behind the door, Jiang Baimian nodded with a pained expression. “We can’t be too willful when facing such a religion.”

Fortunately, she was wearing a mask, so no one could see her expression.

“You defeated the fake Father,” Shang Jianyao pointed out.

Jiang Baimian chuckled. “How can the Anti-intellectualism Church be the same as the Vigilance Church?”

At least Last Man didn’t seem to ‘observe’ his territory like Eidolon Nun did. Furthermore, the Old Task Force had never broken into the Anti-intellectualism Church’s formal cathedral.

After chatting and laughing for a while, Jiang Baimian suddenly looked up at the ventilation duct in the small living room.

Shang Jianyao quickly became excited and shouted, “I found you!”

The ventilation duct’s mesh was quickly removed. Viel stuck out his freckled face and looked down with his green eyes. “Do you want to investigate the Underground Ark? I heard Harbinger Song contact DiMarco’s butler.”

Jiang Baimian smiled and replied, “Do you have information that you want to sell to us?”

Viel revealed his signature smile. “Beg me, and I’ll tell you.”

Just as he said that, Shang Jianyao suddenly jumped up and rushed over. Shang Jianyao then jumped with the help of the chair and grabbed the panels on both sides of the ventilation duct.

This scared Viel into retracting his body and retreating a long distance. He then anxiously asked with abnormal anger, “What are you doing?”

Shang Jianyao looked up and smiled. “Catch you, tie you up, and then beg you.”

“…” Viel frowned at this fellow, unable to understand his logic.

Jiang Baimian and the others had no intention of stopping their interaction. They seemed happy to see it happen.

Viel quickly retreated until he was almost in another section of the ventilation duct before he stopped.

He looked at the entrance that was illuminated by light, hesitated, and said loudly, “The Underground Ark’s guards mentioned something during their idle chat: DiMarco is a very violent person. No matter what mistakes the servants make, they will be executed as long as he happens to see it or discover it. Sometimes, they will be killed if they encounter him in a bad mood, even if they don’t make any mistakes.”

Upon hearing this information, Jiang Baimian frowned slightly and resolved her previous doubts.

Why would the Underground Ark periodically buy and train servants? Considering the scale of the Underground Ark, it would be enough to get a batch of servants every decade or so. Due to DiMarco’s brutality, the servants are depleted at an astonishing rate, so they need to be replenished regularly? As Jiang Baimian’s thoughts raced, she signaled for Shang Jianyao to come down.

She then asked in the direction of the vent, “Where are the corpses of the dead servants?”

It’s impossible for so many corpses to be piled up in the Underground Ark’s cold storage, right?

Viel’s voice echoed in the ventilation duct. “The Underground Ark has another exit near the mountain range. The corpses seem to be buried nearby.”

Another exit means another entrance… Jiang Baimian was just about to continue asking when Viel shouted, “That’s all I know. You guys lucked out!”

His voice gradually faded as if he had already used the ventilation duct to move elsewhere.

The Old Task Force looked at each other and waited for a while before finally waiting for Harbinger Song He to return.

Song He spoke without much change in expression. “I’ve already spoken to Mr. DiMarco’s three butlers face-to-face. I’ve preliminarily confirmed that they didn’t reveal anything to the merfolk or the mountain monsters about Bishop Renato. In the entire Underground Ark, apart from them, only Mr. DiMarco knows about this. As for whether Mr. DiMarco has told anyone else, they don’t know.”

Jiang Baimian deliberated and asked, “Can I have a chat with Mr. DiMarco via a video call?”

“No.” Song He shook his head. “Unless a new bishop arrives.”

This disappointed the Old Task Force; they could only investigate the others on the list.

At noon, they returned to the hotel camp and used the ingredients they had bought to cook their meals.

While they were busy, the smuggler from United Industries, Lehman, visited them again.

This merchant—who looked like a Red River farmer and had a clear brandy nose—rubbed his hands and spoke in awkward Ashlandic. “I heard from my friend that you seem to be investigating DiMarco of the Underground Ark?”

“It’s a mission we previously accepted that has something to do with Mr. DiMarco,” Jiang Baimian replied immediately.

Lehman smiled and said, “Perhaps you aren’t aware that the matter I want to entrust you with happens to be related to the Underground Ark.”