Embers Ad Infinitum

Shang Jianyao briefly recounted his experience on the island and concluded, “There were no difficulties or monsters. Maybe they were hiding to discuss how to surrender decently.”

Jiang Baimian ignored Shang Jianyao’s last sentence and muttered to herself, “This is indeed strange. What kind of psychological trauma will it be?”

As she spoke, she looked back at Shang Jianyao and suggested, “Give it a few more shots and see if there are any changes.”

There was no other solution. Due to the lacking conditions, they could only attempt to gather information.

Long Yuehong—who was beside Shang Jianyao—smiled. “That ‘island ‘looks like it’s used for resting and vacations.”

“Probably not. Every ‘island’ in the Sea of Origins definitely has its meaning.” Jiang Baimian looked at Long Yuehong and laughed. “If it were you, I can guess what mentality this ‘island’ corresponds to and determine what will happen next.”

“What is it?” Shang Jianyao was curious.

Long Yuehong tried to stop her but failed.

Jiang Baimian smiled and said, “It’s Little Red’s fear of his will being corroded and disintegrated. Think about it. A sunny island, a warm sea breeze, a spacious and beautiful house, all kinds of food, no lack of supplies, a beautiful wife, all his relatives, friends, and outsiders that often visit. All of these combined will definitely make Little Red forget his lofty ambitions and wear down his will to work hard.”

With all of this in place, why should I work hard? Isn’t this my goal? Long Yuehong didn’t dare to speak his ‘mind.’

“He might think that this is a gift from the Kalendaria,” Shang Jianyao said helpfully.

This time, Long Yuehong didn’t retort. He only softly corrected a mistake. “Heavens.”

He didn’t believe in any Kalendaria, so it was naturally a gift from the heavens.

Jiang Baimian knew when to stop and didn’t continue the topic. She thoughtfully said to Shang Jianyao, “Did that island really corrode your will?”

“I just found it very boring,” Shang Jianyao replied truthfully.

Upon seeing that nothing would come out from the discussion for the time being, Jiang Baimian picked up the walkie-talkie, pressed the button, and spoke to the car behind. “Did you hear the Ruin Hunter’s reminder?”

Although she wasn’t sure if it was a Ruin Hunter team, everyone they encountered in the wilderness could temporarily be called Ruin Hunters.

Jorgensen held the spare walkie-talkie that Bai Chen had thrown at him when they set off and replied eagerly, “Loud and clear. However, there’s no need to worry. That place is very close to Tarnan. Once the people from Mechanical Paradise receive the news, they will send their smart robot guards to eliminate the threat. They aren’t afraid of any Superior Heartless.”

They probably aren’t afraid of Awakened as well… Jiang Baimian silently muttered and directly asked, “How long will this take?”

“I don’t know. It depends on when Tarnan receives the news,” Jorgensen replied honestly.

Jiang Baimian fell silent for a moment. “Is there any other way to bypass that area?”

“Yes, but it will take more than half a day. The road is in terrible condition, and vehicles like trucks can’t traverse those routes. However, it shouldn’t be a problem for our two vehicles.” Jorgensen tried his best to play the role of a guide.

He didn’t want to have his hands tied behind his back like his companions.

As they waited for the car behind to overtake them, Long Yuehong couldn’t help but be a little worried. What if the Superior Heartless changes locations and happens to appear on our new route?

This wasn’t a real beast that would have a fixed area of activity. Even beasts could ‘move’ when they were agitated.

Long Yuehong didn’t raise the question because he was afraid that the mere mention of it would make it come true.

When the time came, Shang Jianyao would definitely ‘sigh’ in schadenfreude.

“Sigh, this is the power of having a bad name.”

…

Perhaps it was because Long Yuehong had held back his question, but the Old Task Force didn’t encounter any accidents on their subsequent journey. However, because the road was in terrible condition, the cars drove very slowly. Obstacles needed to be cleared from time to time, so they wasted a lot of time.

After crossing an old stone bridge in the evening, Jorgensen reported through the walkie-talkie. “We are half an hour’s drive south away from Tarnan.”

It went so smoothly? Long Yuehong couldn’t believe it.

Amidst his anxiety, the subsequent development had gone smoothly. After it was almost completely dark, the Old Task Force and their ‘servant army’ arrived at Tarnan.

This was a small city that spanned the river. There were not many towering buildings, and the roads were grayish-white, neat, and intact.

“We were blessed by Lady Luck.” Jiang Baimian could finally say this.

“Wrong,” Shang Jianyao retorted. “It’s Lucky Little Red’s blessing.”

“How did he bless us?” Jiang Baimian replied.

The driving Shang Jianyao smiled. “He didn’t say anything.”

Enough, you two… Long Yuehong weakly shouted inwardly.

Fortunately, as the car entered Tarnan, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao’s attention was focused on this small city dominated by smart robots.

On both sides of the clean and tidy cement road were street lamps. Under the black night sky, they emitted a bright glow like stars reflected on the ground.

Beyond the sidewalk were buildings that didn’t have many floors. At a glance, the tallest building only had 15 to 16 floors.

These buildings formed a half-closed courtyard. Although the outer walls were old, they were very clean. No plants grew out of the cracks.

This reminded Long Yuehong, Bai Chen, and the others of Swamp Ruin 1. This was what it looked like after the lights were switched on. However, it was on a larger scale and looked more shocking.

At this moment, a red truck in a slightly complicated frame turned from the intersection and stopped beside an extinguished street lamp.

The small truck underwent a strange change the next second. First, it slowly propped itself up before stretching out its various components and restructuring certain parts.

About 30 to 40 seconds later, it slowly transformed into a five to six-meter-tall robot.

It then quickly but in a surprisingly steady manner removed the broken street lamp and repaired the circuit.

When the four Old Task Force members in the jeep saw this, they gaped their mouths and didn’t come to their senses for a long time.

The only difference between them was that their respective emotions were focused on different things.

Shang Jianyao was excited, curious, and agitated. Jiang Baimian was surprised, inspired, and eager. Bai Chen was stunned, shocked, and confused. Long Yuehong was alarmed, puzzled, and amazed.

Upon seeing the car behind slow down, Jorgensen picked up the walkie-talkie and said, “Don’t worry. This is Tarnan’s repair robot; it’s clumsy, inflexible, and not good at combat.”

“But it can transform into a car!” Shang Jianyao’s voice sounded through Jiang Baimian’s walkie-talkie.

That was enough!

Jiang Baimian retracted her gaze and exhaled. “Take us to Mayor Genava first.”

“Alright.” Jorgensen tried to introduce the area in detail. “This is west of the river, the area where Mechanical Paradise robots are active… After crossing the bridge and arriving east of the river, that’s the place specially reserved for humans… Mayor Genava’s house is by the bridge west of the river…”

As he spoke, he instructed the driving bandit to their destination.

He naturally couldn’t drive the entire day when traversing mountain roads. After obtaining Jiang Baimian and the others’ approval, he released a companion he could deal with and took turns driving with him.

The city was not large. In less than ten minutes, the Old Task Force arrived at a relatively new bridge.

On the right side of the bridge, in the area by the river, stood individual buildings. They were all hidden by trees. Some of the doors even had lawns that were still green in winter.

“You are looking for the white one.” Jorgensen got his companion to stop the car and opened the door to do the introductions.

Under the illumination of the street lamps by the side of the road, Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and the others barely saw the smart robot settlement. They also saw a group of people walking over from the bridge’s end.

The Mountain Fox bandits’ leader, Panania, held his bull-horned helmet and said to his subordinate, “Things are always better when you talk to Officer Genava directly. We suffered f*cking heavy losses this time. I don’t even know how we can survive the winter if we don’t sell our supplies as soon as possible!

“Those unscrupulous merchants will definitely lower their offers when they see our wretched states. These robots are still the fairest. Although they won’t give us too much, they won’t cheat us of our dues.”

As they spoke, they turned into Riverfront Road and prepared to walk to the residence of the robot mayor, Genava.

At this moment, they saw a few familiar figures under the street lamps’ illumination. These were the companions they had previously abandoned, as well as the people who had caused their team to suffer heavy losses!

Although they hadn’t encountered Shang Jianyao back then and couldn’t clearly see Long Yuehong through the exoskeleton’s helmet, the beautiful woman carrying the rocket launcher left a deep impression on them.

On one side was blood and fire, and on the other was a picturesque beauty.

Alarm bells sounded in their minds. Without thinking, they took out their weapons and assumed defensive postures.

Jiang Baimian—who had discovered them in advance—quickly scanned the area and muttered to herself, “Fourteen…”

She then said to Shang Jianyao, “You take the front; we’ll take the rear.”

It meant that he was in charge of the nine in front. Little White, Little Red, and Jiang Baimian would suppress the five at the back.

This was very simple.

When the atmosphere instantly became a one-sided, hostile showdown, Jorgensen and the others trembled a little. They didn’t know if they should obey the orders issued by their current ‘masters’ to resist their boss or take the opportunity to counterattack and escape their shackles. Or were they to ignore everything else and not stand between the two parties—it would result in them being shot to death.

The next second, a black surveillance camera beside a street lamp emitted an electronic voice. “Private fights are prohibited in Tarnan. Please put down your weapons immediately. Those in violation of the rules will have to bear the consequences.”

Upon hearing this, the bandits heaved a sigh of relief. Fortunately, we are in Tarnan.

Just as this thought flashed through their minds, they saw Shang Jianyao rush to the street lamp, raise his head, and excitedly urge, “Say more, say more!”

The talking surveillance camera fell silent as if it had never encountered such a request. There was no corresponding content in its database.

</di