Embers Ad Infinitum

Shang Jianyao strode forward and said to the robot guard, “Look, you are human, and so am I.”

Before he could finish speaking, the smart robot’s blue eyes lit up.

This left Shang Jianyao’s subsequent ‘inference’ stuck in his throat as if he was prepared to consider his words again.

At this moment, the smart bot sighed with emotion. “You are the first carbon-based human I’ve encountered who is willing to admit that we smart bots are humans.” As he spoke, he stretched out his right hand.

As Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and the others were a little stunned, Shang Jianyao ‘habitually’ stretched out his right hand and gripped the cold, silver-black metallic palm.

“Look for me if you need anything in the future.” The smart bot shook Shang Jianyao’s hand heavily. “My name is Alpha Stuart.”

“Alright!” Shang Jianyao agreed without hesitation. “From now on, we are friends.”

“Yes, yes, yes—friends!” Alpha was very happy about this.

You made friends without Inference Clowning? Jiang Baimian suddenly had the thought that this might be an illusion.

Shang Jianyao turned around and concluded in all seriousness, “I can confirm that there are no problems.”

For the sake of caution, Jiang Baimian chatted with the two humans—who were following Alpha—and confirmed their identities.

After doing this, they handed the layout of the fortifications to Alpha and the others. They then drove themselves and slowly moved to Tarnan as they constantly confirmed the road conditions.

…

8:30 a.m. in a large conference room at Town Hall.

Zhou Yue, Li Zhe, Mike, the other locals in charge of the various religions, the Hunter’s Guild President Gu Bo, Bai Xiao’s team, the Qian Bai Team, and Genava—the robot guard captain—were gathered here, prepared to discuss their encounters.

This was to share the experiences they had with the Superior Heartless and seek inspiration.

Bai Xiao—who had half of his cranium shimmering with a metallic glow—spoke on behalf of his team about their experiences and discoveries after entering the mountain.

Genava—who had already received the news—sighed heavily again.

“May they rest in peace.” Tarnan’s mayor sighed and turned to look at Jiang Baimian and the others. “You seem to have been affected by illusions several times?”

“Yes.” Jiang Baimian nodded slightly.

To be honest, she didn’t understand Genava’s grief and heaviness. From what she knew, smart bots wouldn’t ‘die’ so easily. They should have backup copies of their main program or core modules. When the time came, they could find the components and reassemble them.

They would be good as new without needing to wait long.

This wasn’t a good time to study this problem. Jiang Baimian tersely acknowledged it. “Let me make it simple.”

Just as she said that, Shang Jianyao had already opened his tactical backpack. Then, he took out a blue and white speaker and handed it to her.

“…” Jiang Baimian was momentarily at a loss for words.

“The audio here is very good. There’s no need for this.” Genava stopped this behavior.

Most importantly, there were microphones on the conference table, but they were relatively far from Jiang Baimian.

After Shang Jianyao put away the loudspeaker, Jiang Baimian adjusted her mood and described the fake Bai Xiao’s team, the ‘death experience,’ and the hallucination of Jiang Xiaoyue jumping off a building.

Jiang Baimian didn’t mention the matter regarding Long Yuehong’s hallucination. She only used a similar case that she had fabricated to explain the corresponding situation. After all, the goal of this meeting was to share their encounters, let others understand the situation, and come up with a plan. There was no need to tell them all the details.

As long as they could achieve this goal, it didn’t matter if the case was fabricated.

“Jiang Xiaoyue…” Bai Xiao, Lin Tong, Lei, and Zhang Shaopeng looked at each other and shook their heads at the same time, indicating that they had never heard of this name before.

Jiang Baimian focused on Zhou Yue, but the abbess of Nanke Convent wore a blank expression.

Clearly, she didn’t know why the Superior Heartless had created the illusion of Jiang Xiaoyue jumping off a building.

The fiery-red robed Li Zhe, Mike—who was no longer wearing an apron—and the others were the same.

Genava suddenly spoke in a tone as though he was reading a script. “Jiang Xiaoyue, a popular idol in the Old World. Her career suffered a blow when she dated a middle-aged, married tycoon, Cai Mingde. She committed suicide by jumping off a building in her own home…”

This… Long Yuehong and the others were stunned.

After Genava finished explaining what an idol was, Shang Jianyao was the first to react, not Jiang Baimian. He clasped his hands, gave up clapping, and sighed. “It’s indeed a tragedy.”

At this moment, Jiang Baimian finally came to a realization.

Mechanical Paradise contains plenty of electronic data from the Old World. Genava found information regarding Jiang Xiaoyue through the built-in or wireless database after a brief search. From the looks of it, they really know a lot… Jiang Baimian was filled with anticipation for the ‘exchange’ with the Source Brain.

“This actually happened in real life…” Zhou Yue couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. “I thought this was the content of one of the Old World’s drama serials—something the Superior Heartless watched before contracting the disease.”

Drama serial… Abbess Zhou, you and the lady boss should have something in common. Maybe you can become good friends… The only problem is that you won’t recognize this friend by simply turning your head…

As Jiang Baimian muttered silently, Lin Tong from Bai Xiao’s team frowned and asked, “What has this got to do with the Superior Heartless?”

“I don’t know. There are too many possibilities,” Genava replied honestly.

Jiang Baimian immediately added, “Officer Genava, please print a copy of all the information regarding Jiang Xiaoyue later. We want to see if we can extract any useful information from it. If we can resolve the Superior Heartless’s obsession, he might give up on Tarnan.”

“No problem.” Genava moved his metal neck. “We will also do the corresponding data analysis.”

“Give us a copy too,” said Bai Xiao.

Zhou Yue and the others also expressed their desire to have a copy.

After their exchange, they confirmed that the Superior Heartless had an abnormal obsession with Tarnan. They hoped to find clues from the various situations presented by the illusions.

Genava agreed to all their requests.

After Zhou Yue, Li Zhe, and the others finished sharing their encounters, Genava concluded, “Our current strategy is still mainly defense. We shall prevent the target from entering Tarnan while we await the Clam Dragon Church’s specialist or our Mechanical Paradise’s reinforcements to deal with him.”

“Dream Protector…” Zhou Yue corrected him softly.

This wasn’t some specialist.

Genava nodded. “Yes, a specialist dealing in illusions and dreams.”

Zhou Yue didn’t retort and tersely acknowledged it. “He’ll take at most three days to arrive.”

Everything is but a dream. Why so serious?

…

Serene Dream Hotel.

The Old Task Force slept until noon. After a simple meal, they saw a few auxiliary robots arrive.

They turned their feet into wheels and transported a large pile of information into Room 221.

“That much?” Jiang Baimian was a little surprised.

“Yes,” said the lead auxiliary robot in an obviously electronic synthetic voice. “Officer Genava has already removed the repeated data.”

It feels like the living room is about to be filled… Long Yuehong’s first thought wasn’t about the copious amount of information regarding an idol in the Old World but that it was a waste of paper.

In the Ashlands, apart from a few places like Tarnan, paper was also a valuable resource. After all, it wasn’t an important item for production.

Shang Jianyao said seriously, “We forgot to tell Genava that we have a computer.”

The lead auxiliary robot was stunned. “You should’ve said so earlier…”

“But even if we didn’t say anything, it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to provide a few temporary computers, right?” Jiang Baimian asked in exasperation and amusement.

The lead auxiliary robot immediately replied, “You had requested printed copies. We were following your request.”

“That’s just my habitual choice of words. You should’ve confirmed it with us…” Jiang Baimian stopped before she could finish.

This was because she had figured something out. Why are you arguing with a few robots? Why are you trying to reason with them?

“We don’t have this program,” said the lead auxiliary robot. “If you need the electronic data now, we can provide it.”

“Alright.” Jiang Baimian felt that it was more convenient to read it on the computer. She could search, compare, and label it.

In the subsequent period, the Old Task Force would occasionally flip through the paper material or search the electronic data, hoping to discover valuable information from the various useless information about an Old World idol.

As she read, Bai Chen suddenly said, “Jiang Xiaoyue didn’t die.”

Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and Long Yuehong cast their gazes over at the same time. They were still studying Jiang Xiaoyue’s early experiences.

“After she jumped off the building, she didn’t die on the spot. She was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment and became a vegetable.” Bai Chen briefly described the news she had read.

Jiang Baimian typed a few words and searched for the corresponding electronic data.

She soon saw a series of information: “Jiang Xiaoyue remains in critical condition. Might end up as a vegetable.”

“The attending doctor privately disclosed that the chances of Jiang Xiaoyue regaining consciousness are very low…”

“Jiang Xiaoyue’s parents are seeking help from foreign medical institutions…”

“Will the nation’s most eligible bachelorette wake up after her three-year coma?”

“…”

As she browsed, Jiang Baimian heard Long Yuehong sigh.

“Such a beautiful lady actually became a vegetable.”

Vegetable… Jiang Baimian frowned slightly, inexplicably finding this matter familiar.

At this moment, Shang Jianyao asked, “What happened next?”

“Can’t you check it out yourself…” Jiang Baimian subconsciously replied. As she spoke, she began searching for Jiang Xiaoyue’s final outcome to see if she had successfully woken up or eventually died.

As she searched, Jiang Baimian discovered a thread that seemed to be an informal forum exchange.

The content of this thread was: “Reliable news, reliable news. Jiang Xiaoyue’s parents signed a volunteer agreement and have transferred her to a certain hospital in the north to receive experimental treatment. They hope to wake her up…”

Volunteer agreement… A certain hospital… Vegetable… Experimental treatment… Jiang Baimian read these keywords repeatedly.

Suddenly, she stood up and said to Shang Jianyao and the others, “D-do you still remember that medical record? The one you found in the steelworks factory ruins!”

The medical record belonged to a woman named Fan Wensi. She had ‘recently’ seen her son constantly. Her son had long been in a car accident and had become a vegetable. He was sent north as a volunteer for experimental treatment.

This was very similar to Jiang Xiaoyue’s situation!

The possible connection between the two made Jiang Baimian’s body tremble slightly and her scalp tingle.