Embers Ad Infinitum

Although Jiang Baimian had a certain premonition when Bai Chen asked if it was Oray from First City, she was still a little stunned when she heard the Source Brain reveal a series of identities.

Bai Chen felt that this seemed to be fate. They couldn’t avoid First City no matter what happened.

The Source Brain didn’t wait for them to calm down and continued speaking in a flat voice. “If you want to investigate the other research institutes and figure out the Heartless disease’s source, you can go to First City and find his descendants to see if they left behind any clues. As the Chief Scientist of the Third Research Institute, he had very high authority before the Old World was destroyed. He had access to more secrets than me.”

As Jiang Baimian’s thoughts raced, she sincerely replied, “Thank you.”

At this moment, she had three choices in their future undertakings. The first was to head to First City and find Oray Ubis—or rather, Maximian’s descendants. She wanted to see if this Third Research Institute’s Chief Scientist—First City’s first citizen and dictator—had left behind any last words.

In the last few years of his life, Oray Ubis—who had firmly wielded authority in First City—had briefly declared himself emperor. Back then, the Senate had been marginalized. It was equivalent to the First City Council, which was only in charge of the city’s daily operations.

The second was to chase after Qiao Chu and obtain clues from this commissioner of the Eighth Research Institute.

The third was to attempt to raise her clearance level and see if there was anything worth excavating inside Pangu Biology.

Jiang Baimian now suspected that Pangu Biology’s original form was also one of the research institutes, just like how Mechanical Paradise originated from the Third Research Institute.

Of course, these directions weren’t mutually exclusive. They could all be taken.

The Source Brain didn’t say anything else. Its voice rose and fell with the changes in the virtual vortex on the screen. “Any further questions?”

Just as it said that, Shang Jianyao took a few steps forward and took out a slightly thick and tough piece of paper from his pocket. He spoke a little quickly and asked, “Have you seen this person?”

Jiang Baimian looked over and realized that Shang Jianyao was holding a photo.

The photo seemed to come from electronic card information inside Pangu Biology; it appeared very standard. On it was a man in his thirties. He had a relatively refined bearing, and his black hair was not short. It was combed rather neatly, and his appearance resembled Shang Jianyao’s.

Jiang Baimian realized what was happening and shut her mouth.

The Source Brain scanned the picture with the many cameras’ help and replied, “No.”

If it said no, it definitely didn’t. There was no possibility of forgetting or neglecting it.

Shang Jianyao looked at the vortex on the large screen and fell silent for a few seconds before putting away the photo.

“Thank you.” As he muttered, he retreated to his original spot step by step.

The Source Brain’s mature voice echoed again. “It’s about time. I’ll give you a final reminder.”

“Please speak,” Jiang Baimian quickly replied.

The vortex on the large screen slowly undulated. “It’s very dangerous to investigate the reason for the Old World’s destruction. It’s not like nobody has done it before, but they either disappeared or died. None of them ended well. You should be able to understand what this means: Someone is secretly stifling all efforts to find the truth.

“It might’ve been relatively smooth for you previously, and you didn’t encounter any obstacles. But after locking onto the Heartless disease’s source as your main focus of investigation, it might result in danger. When the time comes, not one of you might survive. Please be prepared to deal with such changes. Don’t be careless.”

Although Jiang Baimian was already mentally prepared when she formed the Old Task Force, nobody had ever directly pointed out the danger like the Source Brain.

The Old Task Force might be facing a force that had once destroyed the Old World!

This shortened Jiang Baimian and Bai Chen’s breathing. Long Yuehong also felt suffocated.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Shang Jianyao replied with a smile. “It will save us a lot of trouble if they take the initiative to jump forward.”

That’s true… As long as we can avoid the first wave of attacks and capture the personnel sent by that force, we can follow the clues and figure out the matter clearly. When the time comes, the company can join forces with large factions like First City to encircle the target… Jiang Baimian became much more optimistic when she heard Shang Jianyao’s words.

Of course, she also knew that the final outcome might not be as she wished. What if the various large factions besieged Pangu Biology?

Furthermore, she was also considering another matter. When she returned to the company to rest up, she would ask Bai Chen and Long Yuehong if they wanted to continue staying in the Old Task Force.

If they didn’t want to, she would fight for another chance to transfer them out.

The Source Brain didn’t retort Shang Jianyao’s words and said with an emotionless voice, “I hope you can maintain such a mentality in the future. Alright, it’s time.”

Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen replied in unison, “Thank you for your answers.”

They had previously discussed the problem of manners and believed that they couldn’t act disrespectful just because the other party wasn’t human.

The vortex on the large screen rose and fell twice before slowly subsiding. There was no longer any light.

“Let’s go back.” Jiang Baimian looked around and walked to the meeting room’s door first.

After leaving and bidding Genava farewell, they took the elevator and returned to the town hall building’s ground floor.

Just as Bai Chen sat in the driver’s seat, she saw a slightly complicated, black seven-seater car turn in and stop in front of the building.

The door opened silently, and five robots with blue eyes walked out. Unlike the smart bots in town, their uniforms were pure black.

Jiang Baimian watched the robots enter the town hall and thoughtfully said, “Reinforcements sent by Mechanical Paradise?”

Before the Superior Heartless was dealt with, Genava had requested reinforcements from Mechanical Paradise’s headquarters.

“They actually didn’t come in a helicopter.” Shang Jianyao indicated that the reinforcements weren’t professional enough.

Tarnan had a special hangar. They had seen it before, so they knew that Mechanical Paradise had many planes.

“Maybe it wasn’t necessary later on.” Long Yuehong exposited his understanding.

To them, this wasn’t something worth paying attention to. They quickly gave up on the discussion and returned to River East.

…

After sending the information provided by the Source Brain back to Pangu Biology, Jiang Baimian heaved a sigh of relief.

She leaned back in her chair and smiled. “Next is to buy food and prepare to return.”

Pangu Biology didn’t have a trade representative in Tarnan, so they couldn’t get the company to gather supplies. They could only do the work themselves.

Of course, after returning to the company, they would definitely be reimbursed according to the corresponding prices. It wouldn’t let them waste their harvests.

“I’m just afraid…” Long Yuehong had just said those words when he saw Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and Bai Chen look at him in unison.

He exclaimed tersely and instinctively shut his mouth.

Jiang Baimian could guess what he was worried about and smiled to comfort him. “They won’t directly send us to First City; it will take some time. We’ve been out for so long. If we don’t return and rest up, there will be problems regardless of our mental or spiritual state. Since the company has previously indicated that we can return, it means that the internal matters have basically been resolved. There’s no excuse.”

“That’s good, that’s good.” Long Yuehong was the team’s most homesick person.

Without waiting for Shang Jianyao to tease Long Yuehong, Jiang Baimian thoughtfully added, “Besides, we can’t believe whatever the Source Brain says. Although it might not lie, it might not have told us everything and has plans of instigating us to investigate other research institutes. Therefore, we still have to return to the company to see if we can apply for access to the relevant information and make the best preparations. We have someone backing us after all.”

“Yes, yes.” Long Yuehong indicated that they had to return to the company.

“Yes, we can’t blindly believe it.” Shang Jianyao once again transformed into an honorary believer of the Vigilance Church—in a unilateral sense of the word.

Bai Chen didn’t say anything and watched them discuss.

When Shang Jianyao diverted the topic to the dishes they should order for their first meal after returning to the company, she finally couldn’t help but raise a suggestion.

As there was still the Tarnan townsfolk’s gratitude banquet and the Furnace Church’s baptism ceremony, the Old Task Force was in no rush to gather food for the return trip. They leisurely flipped through the Old World books they had bought and looked at the small amount of Old World entertainment that Shang Jianyao had shamelessly copied from the lady boss, Aynor.

Bai Chen was still a little afraid of this.

Jiang Baimian was worried that her team members would degenerate. Not only did she limit them by frequency, but she also reviewed and selected the content.

She was very afraid that taking in the entertainment would be like adding wings to a tiger when it came to Shang Jianyao.

In the evening, they went out for a stroll toward Riverfront Avenue to shop, search for food, and choose supplies.

As soon as she turned into the busiest street, Jiang Baimian acutely realized that something was amiss.

The number of robots patrolling had increased significantly! Be it smart bots or the corresponding auxiliary robots, there were many more than usual.

“What happened?” Jiang Baimian muttered to herself in confusion.

She was just about to ask a local she was familiar with when she saw Shang Jianyao walk to a robot guard in a dark-green military uniform and ask, “Alpha, what happened?”

Alpha… Alpha Stuart? The smart bot that Shang Jianyao befriended? Shang Jianyao actually recognized it… Jiang Baimian was slightly surprised. For these smart bots, she felt that she would be a little face-blind if she didn’t have the auxiliary chip to help record their characteristics.

Alpha answered Shang Jianyao’s question with a heavy tone, “The Disciplinary Chamber sent a team over to review Officer Genava’s humanization.”

Ah? Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen were a little confused and puzzled.