Embers Ad Infinitum

After a few seconds, Jiang Baimian asked in confusion, “But Butler Ulrich said that Lars is missing. Why don’t you look at the photo again and determine if it’s this person?”

As she spoke, she stood up, placed the photo Lehman had given her on the coffee table, and pushed it toward DiMarco.

This was definitely rude elsewhere, but in Redstone Collection, this was respect for others.

Wariness was necessary.

DiMarco uncrossed his right leg, bent down, and picked up the photo. “How can I remember wrong? Isn’t this Lars? Ulrich doesn’t know about this. I have a few long-time masked servants with me, and they are under my command only.”

He casually looked at the photo and placed it in his pocket.

“Alright.” Jiang Baimian didn’t harp on the matter. Lehman was the one who had to eventually confirm the matter.

“Last question.” She raised her index finger, indicating that she was certain of her words.

DiMarco nodded slightly. “Speak.”

Jiang Baimian deliberated over her words and asked, “Did you reveal to the merfolk and mountain monsters that Bishop Renato was urgently transferred back to the Vigilance Church’s headquarters?”

Her question was very direct, but it didn’t carry a questioning tone.

DiMarco clasped his hands and laughed. “I’ll talk to the new bishop about this matter when he arrives.”

He didn’t admit it, but he didn’t deny it either. To Jiang Baimian and the others, this was almost equivalent to giving an affirmative answer. Furthermore, he was fearless and didn’t care about letting it be known at all!

But if that’s the case, why did he execute Butler Carl? Could there be another reason? That child’s real father? Jiang Baimian’s thoughts involuntarily wandered before she quickly retracted them.

She subconsciously glanced at Shang Jianyao and realized that her companion was leaning forward slightly as if he were about to pounce forward.

At this moment, DiMarco straightened his body. “Let’s call it a day.”

Since the other party had already spoken so bluntly, Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and the others naturally couldn’t continue hanging around. They stood up at the same time and politely bade farewell.

When she was about to reach the door, Jiang Baimian suddenly thought of something and turned her head to ask, “Mr. DiMarco, was it your people who attacked us with rocket launchers and forced us to continue investigating the firearms case?”

DiMarco—who was wearing a black, white-patterned mask—remained seated on the sofa and nodded. “It was Carl who ordered it. He didn’t want to hurt you; he only wanted to give you a little stimulation. The more those fellows on the ground obtain, the more greedy they become. We need to teach them a lesson.”

“So, you also sent someone to kill Helvig?” Jiang Baimian turned to glance at Shang Jianyao and changed the topic.

DiMarco chuckled. “I’d considered it, but he died before I could make up my mind. There’s no need for me to lie about such a trivial matter. Even if I admit it, it won’t harm me.”

Jiang Baimian tersely acknowledged his words. “Aren’t you afraid that Redstone Collection’s Ashlanders and Red River people will join forces to attack the Underground Ark?”

DiMarco’s gaze slowly swept across the four people from the Old Task Force before he calmly said, “If not for the Church, whoever I want Redstone Collection’s owner to be will be the owner of Redstone Collection. The merfolk and mountain monsters are no exception.”

At this moment, Long Yuehong and the others could hear the extreme confidence in DiMarco’s voice.

Dimarco believed that the Underground Ark could easily finish off the Ashlanders and Red River people in the city ruin.

“The Church’s armed forces don’t seem especially strong…” Jiang Baimian deliberately replied. She didn’t mention that the Bishop and the Harbinger were the Vigilance Church’s key strength in Redstone Collection. She wanted to see if she could use this opportunity to learn about the Awakened from DiMarco.

DiMarco laughed. Although he was wearing a mask, his laughter betrayed him. “Not all Kalendarium like Eidolon Nun like to watch their cathedral.”

Ah? It directly rose to the Kalendarium level? Jiang Baimian was shocked. This was different from the answer she expected, but it seemed more explosive.

If not for the fact that she had personally experienced the ‘gaze behind the door,’ she definitely would’ve thought that DiMarco was joking and pointing out the excessive ‘vigilance.’ Now, she believed that the other party had most likely encountered Eidolon Nun’s gaze.

“Why do you say that?” It was Shang Jianyao who spoke; he was very interested in this.

DiMarco laughed. “Can’t you tell from some of the Church’s Awakened? They are always overly sensitive; they are either very easily angered, very self-conscious, or extremely vigilant. They will overreact at the slightest provocation. In contrast, how can the vigilant Eidolon Nun not vigilantly watch her cathedrals and guard against potential accidents?”

“I see…” Jiang Baimian gained a new understanding of the price that those in Eidolon Nun’s domain paid. She even suspected that the price was unconsciously and unavoidably a result of the corresponding Kalendaria’s ‘bestowing’ of ‘Their’ powers.

Of course, this was only a guess. It couldn’t explain everything for the time being.

DiMarco seemed to think of something and added with a smile, “If you can’t find the murderer responsible for Helvig’s death amongst his enemies, you can consider it from this perspective. Maybe he only had a small quarrel with someone, or maybe he only made a few jokes before the other party marked him for it and killed him at the first opportunity.”

Jiang Baimian asked in enlightenment, “An angry person like Brand?”

“Something like that.” DiMarco dismissed them again. “You have asked enough questions.”

Jiang Baimian didn’t stay any longer. She pulled open the red wooden door and walked back to the corridor that was also carpeted.

They then followed Ulrich to the elevator lobby.

As they walked, Shang Jianyao trailed at the back of the team.

Jiang Baimian glanced at him and happened to meet his gaze.

Jiang Baimian sighed helplessly.

They soon arrived at the elevator and entered the lift carriage.

At this moment, DiMarco—who was wearing a black, white-patterned mask—also left the room and met up with the guards, including the two who wore military exoskeletons.

Shang Jianyao suddenly turned around and took off the grenade on his belt. Then, he abruptly took a step forward and shouted, “This is a gift for you on behalf of Redstone Collection’s townsfolk!”

As he shouted, the muscles on his right arm bulged. He used all his strength to throw the grenade at DiMarco and the others.

The two guards wearing the exoskeletons and the six other guards reacted at the same time. Some wanted to use the auxiliary system to blow up the grenade mid-flight. Some subconsciously raised their hands, prepared to fire at the elevator. Others pounced at DiMarco, wanting to throw their master into the room.

However, all of their hands instantly lost their ‘senses’ at that moment, preventing them from doing what they wanted.

Only two of them barely executed their thoughts and slammed DiMarco into the room. He staggered and almost fell.

Bam!

The grenade landed on the carpet, but it didn’t explode. This was because Shang Jianyao did not pull the ring at all.

At this moment, he had already retreated into the elevator. He raised his hands, covered his eyes from both sides, and bowed at DiMarco and the others.

The next second, the elevator door closed in front of him.

Upon seeing this, the guards were stunned.

…

In the elevator, Ulrich—who was in charge of leading the way—was shocked and angry. “You guys?”

“I’m just scaring them and giving them some stimulation. It wouldn’t explode,” Shang Jianyao replied with a smile.

Ulrich calmed down and looked at the pistol Jiang Baimian was pointing at him. He asked in confusion, “Why would you do that? Help Redstone Collection’s residents uphold justice? But they haven’t decided what to do yet.”

Shang Jianyao smiled. “This is one aspect. Their decision has nothing to do with what I want to do.”

At this point, he laughed again. “On the other hand, our team leader said that we have to use the same method to scare the people who used rocket launchers to scare us. We didn’t bring any rocket launchers. The environment here is cramped, so we can only use grenades.”

The elevator door opened as they spoke, and they returned to the basement.

As Jiang Baimian walked out of the elevator, she replied in exasperation and amusement, “There’s no need to say my name at a time like this. Just say that you want to do it yourself.”

Although she said that, she secretly gave Shang Jianyao a thumbs up. Our Old Task Force will definitely take revenge. It won’t be excessive, but it won’t be lacking either!

…

In the reception room, DiMarco—who was wearing a black, white-patterned mask—stood up.

“Master, are you alright?” asked a guard anxiously.

They had already discovered that the grenade didn’t have its ring pulled out and wouldn’t explode.

DiMarco looked in the direction of the elevator and shook his head. “I’m fine.”

…

Ulrich did not expect such a reason. He immediately wondered if the other party had gone crazy.

Since there was no major problem, he was unwilling to spend another second with them. He quickly pressed the button to escape this group of people.

At the same time, Long Yuehong expressed his opinion of Shang Jianyao. “You were really cool!”

The feeling of an eye for an eye was great!

Although Bai Chen didn’t say anything, it was obvious from her attitude when she kept helping Shang Jianyao guard the surroundings.

After the elevator door closed, Jiang Baimian glanced at Harbinger Song He—who was walking over from afar—and asked Shang Jianyao curiously, “Why did you end with saluting using the Anti-intellectualism Church’s method? Framing them?”

Shang Jianyao frankly replied, “I thought about it; this method results in the greatest ridicule.”

“…” Jiang Baimian said helplessly, “Why didn’t you awaken the powers of Provocation?”

…

DiMarco had already gone deep underground and returned to his room. Apart from him, there was nobody else here.

In his black priest uniform, he casually took out the picture of Lars that Lehman had provided and looked down.

In the photo, Lars had short, flaxen hair, light-blue eyes, a high nose bridge, a light beard at the corners of his mouth, and a small cyan birthmark on his forehead.

“Heh.” DiMarco laughed and threw the photo into the trash can. He then walked to the full-body mirror and prepared to change into his home clothes.

At this moment, a guard outside the door reported, “Master, the people sent to the lakeside have returned. They said that they have confirmed that nothing abnormal has happened on the island from their remote surveillance.”

“Got it.” DiMarco nodded gently.

With that said, he raised his right hand and took off his mask. The full-body mirror in front of him quickly reflected his face.

Under his flaxen hair were light-blue eyes, a high nose bridge, a cyan birthmark on his forehead, and a slightly pleasant and mocking smile.

At the same time, he gently spat out a name. “Yama Tiger…”