Embers Ad Infinitum

Gu Bo was a thin and small old man. His white hair was a little sparse, but his dark-brown eyes were still spirited.

He wore a black tweed top and held a silver metal thermos in his hand. He pointed across the desk and said, “Have a seat, please.”

Long Yuehong and Bai Chen nodded politely, pulled out a chair each, and sat down.

“How may I help you?” Gu Bo’s Ashlandic accent was slightly different from the local dialect.

Long Yuehong and Bai Chen determined that this local president of the Hunter’s Guild was a first-generation or second-generation Tarnan resident from another area.

“President Gu, we have something to consult you on,” Long Yuehong replied politely.

Gu Bo laughed. “Shouldn’t you issue a mission first and let me decide if I want to accept it based on the payment? News or information is valuable.”

“…” Long Yuehong was momentarily speechless. He could only sigh with emotion at how senior hunters and local presidents were indeed professionals.

Bai Chen calmly replied, “You can first listen to our questions before deciding how much payment you want. This doesn’t need to be done through the guild.”

Gu Bo twisted open the thermos and drank from it. “These old bones of mine are afraid that you’ll go back on your word and not pay me. Not only will I not be in the green when the time comes, but I might even find myself in trouble. I might end up getting beaten up instead of getting paid.”

Upon seeing that Gu Bo was becoming more and more ridiculous, Long Yuehong suddenly missed Shang Jianyao.

At such a time, he could definitely lead the conversation astray.

Bai Chen looked at Gu Bo and asked, “Would a local Chief Hunter be afraid of this?”

Long Yuehong had inquired about Gu Bo last night and learned that he was originally a Senior Hunter. After becoming president, he was even given the honorary title of Chief Hunter.

“A good man doesn’t mention his past achievements.” Gu Bo mocked himself. “As for humans, their bodies aren’t much to speak of once they get older.”

After joking, he restrained his expression. “Speak. I’ll decide how to deal with it when I know the question.”

Long Yuehong took out a fountain pen and a palm-sized notebook. As he recorded the contents, he asked, “President Gu, do you still remember Maximian?”

“Huh?” Gu Bo wore a blank look.

Long Yuehong quickly highlighted the key points. “Early in the New Calendar, the person that Mechanical Paradise placed a bounty on.”

Gu Bo sank into his memories and said after a while, “Him? It’s been decades. Why are you asking about him? Could it be that you have clues about him and are his descendants?”

You sure have an imagination… Long Yuehong criticized inwardly and simply explained, “We want to seek an audience with the Source Brain and are hoping to offer something that Mechanical Paradise would be interested in.”

“Then, you might as well save up metal ores and make a large transaction with Mechanical Paradise. That might still give you a chance.” Gu Bo felt that the young man’s sudden idea was completely unrealistic. “It’s been decades since the search for Maximian. Maybe he’s already dead.”

“We’re only in charge of this direction.” Bai Chen’s words stopped Gu Bo’s persuasion.

Gu Bo unscrewed the thermos cap again, took a sip of water, and moistened his throat. “Then, I’ll be frank—I don’t need your payment. I didn’t find any clues back then, so this person definitely isn’t in Mount Chilar. Even if he is, he’s most likely in the stomach of some beast or Heartless.”

Long Yuehong recorded Gu Bo’s answer and asked, “What kind of person is he? What was written on Mechanical Paradise’s bounty announcement back then?”

“What kind of person is he?” Gu Bo recalled and said, “There was a photo back then, and there were some descriptions… This person was more than 1.80 meters tall, and his body was very muscular. His hair was golden, and his eyes were light blue. His nose was slightly large, and he looked alright. It’s said that he had undergone genetic optimization…”

In certain places, genetic enhancement was also known as genetic optimization. This was a technology that had made breakthrough progress before the Old World was destroyed. However, it had later been lost to most human factions. Only Pangu Biology and the White Knights continued on this path, improving it and making it sufficiently mature.

As Long Yuehong quickly recorded the information, Gu Bo continued, “I think he looks more like a warrior than a scientist, but Mechanical Paradise’s bounty notice specially emphasized his identity.

“Apart from this, the notice had nothing of value. It only said that Mechanical Paradise would satisfy any one request of yours if you found this person as long as it didn’t involve the survivability of Mechanical Paradise and it has the ability to complete it.”

Give me a robot army. I want to save the world… Upon hearing ‘any request,’ Long Yuehong couldn’t help but simulate Shang Jianyao’s train of thought. However, he felt that this idea was too ordinary after some thought.

It didn’t evoke enough of Shang Jianyao’s vibes.

At this moment, Bai Chen asked, “It only said to find the person and didn’t mention why?”

“No.” Gu Bo shook his head.

“Then, did they emphasize protecting certain things or tracking down certain information?” Bai Chen asked.

“None as well. It just said to try our best to ensure the target’s survival.” Gu Bo still had some impression of this. If there were such requests, he would’ve changed the direction of the investigation back then and wouldn’t have walked into a dead end.

“Jot this down,” Bai Chen instructed Long Yuehong.

Based on her experience, she could make a preliminary judgment. Mechanical Paradise’s bounty for Maximian was mainly directed at him or what he had done in the past, not the information or items he might’ve had on him.

She and Long Yuehong asked a few more questions, but Gu Bo couldn’t remember much after so many years. Hence, he couldn’t provide more information.

After politely bidding farewell and leaving the Hunter’s Guild, Long Yuehong and Bai Chen walked in the direction of the Furnace Church. They were prepared to rendezvous with Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao and discuss what to do next.

As they walked, Long Yuehong was a little surprised to discover that there were still many stalls by the side of the road. The lower shutters of the outlets on both sides of the street were tightly shut with nobody running them apart from those with the signboards like ‘XXX Chamber of Commerce’ or ‘XXX Provision Store.’

He curiously walked to a stall and asked the stall owner, “Why don’t you use a street stall and stay here under the sun and rain?”

As he had been to Weed City, he knew the concept of a street stall. He remembered that Redstone Collection had provided one piece of information: In Tarnan, ownerless outlets could be occupied by others, and they couldn’t apply for property rights from the smart robots without long-term use.

The stall owner was a woman in her thirties with rough skin. Her face was a little tanned from the sun.

She spoke in a rather clumsy Ashlandic accent that resembled Redstone Collection’s. “I still have to repair and clean it myself. How can I have so many supplies to invest in it? In any case, the robots don’t care if we set up stalls by the road. I’ll hold a large umbrella when it rains. Besides, I can also use the electric lights for free.”

As she spoke, she pointed at the street lamp above her.

Uh, does one have to pay a fee once they occupy a shop and apply for power? Long Yuehong nodded in understanding.

As he had asked the other party a question, he was embarrassed to turn around and leave. He squatted down and looked at the stall owner’s goods.

There were books left behind from the Old World. The paper had turned yellow, and there were also jade, diamond jewelry, and miscellaneous items from the Old World.

After some thought, Long Yuehong asked Bai Chen—who had squatted down with him, “If I wish to gift something to a female elder, which do you think is better?”

“Your mom?” Bai Chen easily interpreted Long Yuehong’s true meaning.

“Yes.” This wasn’t anything shameful, so Long Yuehong frankly admitted it.

At this moment, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao—who had left Furnace Cathedral—saw their teammates. They quickly approached and squatted down.

After hearing Long Yuehong’s request, Jiang Baimian laughed. “I can give you special permission to exchange some supplies for jewelry. You can deduct them from your contribution points when you return.”

Bai Chen pointed at a green jadeite bracelet and said, “At your mother’s age, she might prefer such things. Although it doesn’t look that good now, it will look more lustrous after prolonged wearing. The few female Ruin Hunters I knew in the past wore them because they couldn’t sell them. Later, I realized that they looked pretty good.”

“Yes, yes, yes.” The stall owner quickly echoed Bai Chen’s words.

Jiang Baimian didn’t have much knowledge in this regard. Furthermore, she preferred shiny diamonds. Therefore, she didn’t raise any objections and cast her gaze at the books.

She realized that Shang Jianyao had already picked up a book and was reading it attentively.

What are you reading? Jiang Baimian curiously lowered her head and glanced at the cover of the book in Shang Jianyao’s hand.

The title soon appeared in her eyes: “An Actor Prepares.”

“…” Jiang Baimian wanted to say something, but she didn’t know what to say.

After a round of bargaining, they exchanged one can for the jadeite bracelet, one can for four books, and the remaining three books were chosen by Jiang Baimian.

After a simple and insipid lunch, the Old Task Force didn’t go out because they had nothing else to do. They took a nap and occupied a chair (sofa) each to read the books they had just bought.

Time always flew by when one was having fun. Just as evening was about to arrive, a commotion suddenly sounded in the distance.

Long Yuehong looked in the direction of the sound and muttered to himself in confusion, “What happened?”

“Let’s go take a look.” Jiang Baimian felt that it was time to stretch her body.

The four of them then left the Serene Dream Hotel and walked to Riverfront Avenue.

Before long, they discovered the source of the commotion—the Hunter’s Guild.

The commotion had subsided by this point, but many people were still gathered there. Their expressions were a little solemn.

Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and the others walked into the guild and immediately saw the mission fixed on the large screen: “…Investigate the matter regarding the Superior Heartless in the southwestern mountains…”

Didn’t Genava send the robot guards to resolve it? Jiang Baimian looked around in confusion and quickly found a line of description.

“…communication with ten robot guards has been lost…”

</di