Embers Ad Infinitum

Upon seeing that the Qian Bai Team wasn’t speaking, Wild Pigeon Bar’s boss, Cai Yi, thought that they didn’t know what it meant to slaughter a pig. He quickly explained, “This is a tradition in President Gu’s hometown in the north. It existed before the Old World was destroyed. Although most of our people come from the Linhai Alliance, there are also people like President Gu. The corresponding customs have mixed into our culture.

“To put it simply, pigs will be slaughtered every year for a celebration, and various parts of its body will be made into different dishes. For example, pork belly can be cut into pieces and cooked with pickled vegetables. Heh heh, there aren’t many fresh vegetables in winter. They are all pickled vegetables that were pickled in advance. This is convenient for preservation and very refreshing. Really, it’s excellent when it’s paired with pork belly.

“Yes, it can also be used to make blood sausages. The blood sausage is filled with blood and then injected with a filler of minced meat and spices before cooking. After all, the people from Furnace Church don’t have much of anything else except for spices…”

Upon hearing Cai Yi’s description, Long Yuehong, Shang Jianyao, and the others gulped.

“Cut it out. We haven’t eaten yet.” Jiang Baimian stopped the boss from talking without action. “Why don’t you cook a dish like this for us today?”

“Alright!” Cai Yi agreed readily. He then reminded, “The version made with frozen meat is definitely inferior.”

“It’s fine.” Shang Jianyao looked as if he wanted the dishes served right that very minute.

While waiting for the boss to cook, the Old Task Force played billiards again. This time, Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong had already gotten skilled at it and could play an interesting game.

As there wasn’t much meat that had been frozen in advance, Cai Yi first made pickled vegetables and pork belly. He then made a few bowls of rice to fill Shang Jianyao and the others’ stomachs before preparing other dishes.

“The meat smells so good…” Jiang Baimian picked up a piece of pork belly and placed it in her mouth before chewing. “It’s sour and helps clear the cloyed taste. It’s especially appetizing. ”

Bai Chen ate a mouthful of meat and a mouthful of rice. She glanced at Long Yuehong and Shang Jianyao, who were busy eating. “Pure boiled meat is also very delicious and especially fragrant. However, it can’t be made using wild beast meat.”

When she was a wilderness nomad, she didn’t have that much seasoning. Sometimes, she didn’t even have salt. It wasn’t easy for her to get a piece of meat, but she couldn’t preserve it. Therefore, she boiled it in plain water, removed the grease, and ate it on the spot.

“Mmm.” Shang Jianyao vaguely expressed his approval.

As they enjoyed their meal, four people entered the bar. This was Bai Xiao’s team, which they had met a few times.

Lin Tong—who had black hair and a gentle bearing—sniffed. “Smells great…” As she spoke, her gaze had already locked onto the Old Task Force members—who had a large pot of food in front of them.

Lin Tong walked to Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao’s side and asked a question as she stared at the pot of pickled vegetables and pork belly. “Can we buy fresh food in this bar?”

Jiang Baimian laughed. “We previously saved the boss; he’s treating us.”

“Is that so…” Lin Tong revealed obvious disappointment.

“Why don’t we eat together?” Jiang Baimian invited.

“There’s no need for that? The boss is only treating the four of you.” Although Lin Tong said that, her feet didn’t move at all.

Jiang Baimian smiled and said, “It’s fine. The boss cooked four servings anyway. I’ll open some more canned food; everyone can share.”

“Then, open our cans.” Lin Tong seemed to be waiting for this sentence as she sat down.

Upon seeing this, Bai Xiao, Lei, and Zhang Shaopeng glanced at the pot of pickled vegetables and pork belly before sitting down.

Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong politely went to the kitchen and brought out bowls and chopsticks for them.

As they waited for the rice to be served, Lin Tong praised them—whether it was sincere or out of politeness was unknown. “You are now famous in Tarnan. You even finished off such a powerful Superior Heartless.”

Bai Xiao—whose cranium shimmered with a metallic glow—nodded. “We’d thought of many solutions and formulated many plans, but we had zero confidence.”

It seems like you still have some confidence in your strength… You still had the intention of finishing off the other party despite getting lost in the illusion… Jiang Baimian muttered to herself and smiled. “We mainly relied on the Clam Dragon Church. We only provided some guesses.”

“No, no, no. In my eyes, brains are more important than strength.” Lin Tong expressed her opinion.

At this moment, they were handed their rice. At the same time, they stopped talking and stretched out their chopsticks.

After finishing the pot of pickled vegetables and pork belly, the eight of them chatted while waiting for the subsequent dishes.

Jiang Baimian casually asked, “You guys made a killing, right? You can probably receive ten non-smart bots from finding the missing robots.”

“It’s still alright,” Lin Tong said humbly. “We can exchange them for many supplies when we bring them back to First City, but how we bring them back is a problem.”

“You come from First City?” Bai Chen interrupted and asked.

“Yes,” replied the purplish-red-eyed Bai Xiao frankly.

The straight knife on his back had already been removed and was leaning to the side.

Lin Tong smiled and added, “We call ourselves Ruin Hunters, but we’re actually a research team that serves First City.”

We call ourselves Ruin Hunters, but we’re actually an investigation team that’s investigating the cause of the Old World’s destruction… Jiang Baimian muttered inwardly and thoughtfully asked, “Biology?”

“Yes.” Lin Tong nodded. “I mainly study genetics and nerves. I came to Mount Chilar to capture a mutated creature, a Lightning Ferret, and study its neurological abnormalities.”

“I don’t understand either. Why do we have to come over during the winter?” Lei—who had been maintaining a gentle smile—muttered softly.

Lin Tong’s expression turned serious. “The allowance for winter trips is higher.”

Upon hearing this, the four people from the Old Task Force suddenly felt an affinity with this lady.

As expected, they were all teams that served large factions. It was already instinctual for them to take advantage of the organization.

At this moment, Shang Jianyao looked at Bai Xiao and asked enviously, “Your mechanical modification was done in First City?”

“Fortunately, I was in First City back then,” Bai Xiao replied concisely.

“He was attacked back then and was seriously injured. He might not have survived without the modifications,” Lin Tong added.

Jiang Baimian empathized with him and asked with a smile, “Then, have you taken revenge?”

“It being still there means I haven’t.” Bai Xiao pointed at the irregular shrapnel embedded in his forehead.

As the exact modification was definitely the other party’s secret, Jiang Baimian ended the topic and chatted about something else.

After a while, Cai Yi served two dishes. One was sweet-and-sour meat, while the other was steamed salami.

“Do you want some alcohol?” He knew that the two Ruin Hunters in front of him were very strong, so he deliberately tried to curry favor. “It’s on me, but it’s only fruit wine. It won’t make you drunk.”

“Sure!” Just as Lin Tong said that, she looked around and smiled at Bai Xiao, Lei, and Zhang Shaopeng. “I’ll just drink a little, a little.”

Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling… Jiang Baimian muttered when she saw this.

More than ten minutes later, Lin Tong held a cup that only had a shallow layer of liquid left. Her face was flushed as she said to the four Old Task Force members while wobbling about, “If you have… the chance… I’ll treat you to a meal… in First City!”

Jiang Baimian glanced at Bai Xiao and the others and realized that they wore helpless expressions.

“Alright!” Shang Jianyao happily agreed to Lin Tong’s invitation.

After having their fill, the two teams waved goodbye and returned home.

…

After washing up, Jiang Baimian returned to the living room and saw Shang Jianyao sitting in a chair, deep in thought.

Jiang Baimian wiped her hair with a towel and casually asked, “What’s wrong?”

Shang Jianyao said regretfully, “The mission ended too early. There’s no allowance for fresh ingredients.”

When they previously took on missions related to the Superior Heartless, Genava had promised to prepare fresh ingredients for them. But clearly, this could only be obtained during the mission’s execution period.

“That’s right…” Long Yuehong—who was studying the computer—felt a little regretful when he recalled this matter.

Jiang Baimian was stunned for a moment. “Forget it. We won’t be staying here for long anyway.”

Shang Jianyao maintained his thoughtful expression and continued, “I wonder when the Furnace Church’s baptism ritual will be restarted…”

Due to the Superior Heartless’s appearance, the Furnace Church’s recent induction was postponed.

“You can ask them later. I hope they can keep up with our schedule.” To be honest, Jiang Baimian was still tempted to participate in the sauna baptism.

Shang Jianyao nodded slightly and said, “I communicated with that island several times, but it didn’t work.”

“Huh?” The topic jumped too quickly. Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen couldn’t keep up with his train of thought.

Were you in that pose and talking nonsense just to talk about this? Are you the shy and awkward Shang Jianyao now? Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and said, “You might have to conduct an in-depth self-analysis on what fear that island represents. We can only give certain suggestions; we can’t replace you.”

She, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen then shared their guesses.

…

In the dead of night, Shang Jianyao sat up and lay on the bed, hiding his body in the darkness. He stared out into the sparse street lamps for a while before slowly raising his hand to massage his temples.

In the shimmering Sea of Origins, Shang Jianyao stepped foot on the sunny, green island again.

He sat cross-legged on the beach and focused on the ‘sea’ in front of him.

After an unknown period of time, Shang Jianyao lowered his head, stretched out his right hand, and wrote a word in the yellow sand: “Loneliness.”

He stared at the word for a few seconds before reaching out to wipe it away. He then wrote: “Fear of being meaningless?”

The last question mark was slanted and large.

After looking at it for a while, Shang Jianyao erased this sentence.

Just like that, he wrote, wiped, and wrote. He changed countless terms and short sentences.

As time passed, Shang Jianyao—who had been in a daze for a long time—wrote a sentence on the beach with his finger again: “Afraid of losing everything I have?”