Embers Ad Infinitum

Upon hearing Shang Jianyao’s question, Jiang Baimian tersely replied, “I don’t know about that. He’s still different from the people you’ve previously used Inference Clowning on. I found it surprising that it could produce an effect and break the illusion.”

The interaction of illusions was more like a conscious artificial intelligence mechanism. Shang Jianyao had no experience with the effects to expect, and Jiang Baimian couldn’t figure it out either.

Long Yuehong couldn’t help but say, “There’s no need to make friends with him. It’s enough that he doesn’t target us.”

If Shang Jianyao became friends with such a powerful Superior Heartless, what would happen? Wouldn’t he be able to walk around in Tarnan, bully whoever he wanted, and prank whoever he wanted? Long Yuehong had wet his pants in front of the other members of the team, leaving him with a certain psychological trauma.

“Let’s hope so.” Jiang Baimian looked around the pitch-black night and the lights that dotted it. “Continue to be on duty.”

Shang Jianyao leaned against the jeep in disappointment.

As time passed, Bai Chen suddenly said, “Look over there.”

Jiang Baimian and the others followed the preset plan and looked at the area Bai Chen was monitoring in a ‘think twice before acting’ manner.

At some point in time, buildings that weren’t too tall had appeared.

These buildings formed the Old World’s so-called ‘estate,’ ‘community,’ or ‘block.’ They were hidden amidst the greenery.

At this moment, the night made everything there appear blurry. Only the light coming from the glass windows gave off a sense of security and warmth.

“This… should be an illusion, right?” Long Yuehong muttered to himself hesitantly.

“Apart from illusions, nobody can build such an estate in just a few seconds,” Jiang Baimian replied firmly.

“It’s still a dream.” Shang Jianyao ‘helped’ Jiang Baimian complete her explanation.

They were all very sure that the estate ahead didn’t belong to Tarnan. It had appeared out of thin air.

Jiang Baimian looked at the quiet residential estate and voiced her doubts. “Why did the Superior Heartless create an illusion that we can see through at a glance?”

Shang Jianyao nodded thoughtfully. “He wants to greet us? He thinks I’m already a friend?”

Jiang Baimian wanted to retort, but she swallowed her words.

“That’s possible.” Bai Chen actually supported Shang Jianyao’s theory. After all, she had seen the magical aspects of Inference Clowning.

“Then, how should I respond?” Shang Jianyao was in a dilemma.

“Let’s wait and see first.” Jiang Baimian decided to adopt a safe strategy.

Just as she said that, all the lights in the neighborhood went out at the same time.

No, there was one light that remained—like a lone boat in the vast lake. It quietly emitted a yellowish glow, becoming the most eye-catching thing in the night.

“That Superior Heartless wants us to enter that room?” Jiang Baimian guessed the meaning of this change.

She was referring to the room with the only remaining lamp.

“Oh…” Shang Jianyao came to a realization. “He wants to invite us to his house as guests.”

“Don’t move.” Jiang Baimian stopped Shang Jianyao’s eagerness. “If you were affected by such a simple illusion and stepped on a land mine, I would definitely write ‘this person died of stupidity’ on your epitaph.”

The Old Task Force had set up many land mines and traps around them. With them being in an illusion, who knew if their bearings and distance were wrong.

“I don’t think he has any ill intentions,” Shang Jianyao said sincerely. With that said, he turned to glance at Long Yuehong.

“Go by yourself if you want to be a scout!” Long Yuehong replied warily.

“Alright!” Shang Jianyao seemed to be waiting for this answer before Jiang Baimian grabbed him.

There’s such a trick? Long Yuehong was a little dumbfounded.

At this moment, the dark residential estate in front of them enlarged, and the distance between them instantly shortened.

In just a few seconds, Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and the others were in the estate, just under the building with the lone light.

“How enthusiastic…” Shang Jianyao praised sincerely. As he spoke, he sighed. “Unfortunately, he wants to eat people and has eaten many people. Otherwise, I really can befriend him.”

You still have a bottom line… Jiang Baimian muttered inwardly before warning him, “Don’t move first. He will take the initiative to let us in if we need to. He will take the initiative to let us see what we need to see.”

“Yes.” Long Yuehong felt that this suited his thoughts.

Jiang Baimian’s words were quickly confirmed. The four Old Task Force members were directly ‘transferred’ into the building.

During this process, they felt like they were climbing a building and taking an elevator.

Before long, they arrived at the top floor, which was the 11th floor.

There was only one unit here. The door was wide and long, vermilion red in color.

The windows high up in the corridor shone with weak light, making figures appear. They were all humans—men and women, young and old. They wore different clothes, but they also embodied the Old World’s style.

At this moment, they were squeezing at the door, prying into the room from every crack like lunatics.

“W-what are they doing?” Long Yuehong was confused.

“Is this a manifestation of the Superior Heartless’s subconscious madness?” Jiang Baimian tried to explain it from a psychological perspective.

Shang Jianyao shook his head and said seriously, “This means that something is happening inside…”

Before he could finish speaking, the four Old Task Force members ‘tore’ through the vermilion door that didn’t appear corporeal and entered.

Long Yuehong subconsciously looked back.

Pairs of eyes seemed to be watching from the cracks in the door.

Hiss… Long Yuehong inexplicably felt a chill run down his spine.

At this moment, Jiang Baimian and the others looked past the astonishingly spacious living room to a floor-to-ceiling window.

The floor-to-ceiling window was immersed in darkness, and human faces were tightly glued to them.

Their expressions were warped, and their eyes flickered with an unknown glow.

It was as if there were a platform outside the window. These people had squeezed there and were peeping into the room through the window.

On the other side, a figure sat on a railing by an open glass window.

She was a slender woman. Her long black hair was disheveled, and her face was covered by the darkness, making it difficult to see her clearly.

At this moment, the woman was sobbing as she kept repeating, “Are you bent on wanting me dead… Are you bent on wanting me dead…?”

“No,” Shang Jianyao answered.

However, the woman ignored him. She suddenly propped herself up and jumped out of the window.

Shang Jianyao stretched out his hand, but he couldn’t reach her because of the distance.

At this moment, Jiang Baimian—who knew that this was an illusion—was looking around.

She saw a tablet computer on the ground not far away.

The computer was on, blinking. There were photos and words on it.

The photo seemed to show a woman in a hat getting into a car. The words were: “Popular idol, Jiang[1] Xiaoyue, on a trip with a middle-aged tycoon.”

Thud!

The woman—who had jumped out of the window—had fallen heavily to the ground.

The entire illusion instantly warped. Long Yuehong, Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, Bai Chen, and the others felt their thoughts being sucked away by a vortex. It felt as if their souls were about to leave their bodies.

They felt uncontrollable horror as if they were facing a darkness that could devour their lives.

Gradually, their consciousness began to fade.

Phew… Jiang Baimian struggled to ‘wake up’ and realized that she was still beside the jeep. Her surroundings were pitch black, and only the light bulb that illuminated the mirrors and wooden sign was lit.

She subconsciously glanced at Shang Jianyao and realized that this fellow seemed to be prepared to nudge her.

“Have you escaped the illusion?” Jiang Baimian asked as she took two steps forward and tried to wake Bai Chen up.

“Yes.” Shang Jianyao turned his body and shook Long Yuehong.

Long Yuehong quickly snapped to his senses and felt very dizzy.

After a few seconds, he came to a realization. “Stop! Stop shaking!”

“You’re awake?” Shang Jianyao asked regretfully as if he had many unused plans.

Long Yuehong quickly replied in a daze, “Yes.”

Upon seeing that the team members were fine, Jiang Baimian heaved a sigh of relief and muttered to herself, “What did that illusion represent?”

“That should be a scene from the Old World,” Bai Chen said after some thought. “Is the Superior Heartless related to that popular idol, Jiang Xiaoyue?”

“You saw the news on the computer as well?” Jiang Baimian asked in confirmation. “But that Superior Heartless is in his eighties or nineties? It doesn’t seem like it… Yes, there’s no precedent that states that Superior Heartless can live longer. At most, they can live a little longer than ordinary Heartless. Uh, except for Xiaochong.”

After humans became Heartless, their life expectancy undoubtedly decreased greatly due to changes in their living environment, physical conditions, and other aspects.

After Jiang Baimian described what she had seen, Shang Jianyao nodded. “He might be Jiang Xiaoyue’s son.”

“…” Jiang Baimian asked, “Then, why is he obsessed with entering Tarnan?”

“This is Jiang Xiaoyue’s hometown, where he grew up.” Shang Jianyao suddenly sighed.

“…I almost believed you,” Jiang Baimian said in amusement. “Did you get this inspiration from the merfolks, mountain monsters, and the Heartless in Swamp Ruin 1?”

“It’s not impossible.” Long Yuehong supported Shang Jianyao this time.

Jiang Baimian shook her head. “But it’s too much of a coincidence. It’s impossible that most of the things we encounter are based on the same reason, right?”

Without sufficient clues, Long Yuehong and Bai Chen couldn’t answer this question.

After an intense discussion, the Old Task Force finally decided to report this matter and see what the various religions and Mechanical Paradise thought.

Perhaps Nanke Convent’s Abbess Zhou could figure out something.

After a long time, the sky gradually lit up, and morning arrived.

After more than ten minutes, a robot guard member and two humans came from Tarnan with many auxiliary robots, prepared to take over.

When they approached, Jiang Baimian glanced at Shang Jianyao. “Go.”

[1] [Annotation text missing]