Embers Ad Infinitum

On the other side of the hotel camp, in the slave merchant—Huo Zhi’s room.

He looked at the glass window and muttered to himself, “The team that approached us just now actually has a robot. I can’t underestimate their strength…”

After pondering for a few seconds, Huo Zhi said to his subordinate, “Ah Qiang, go and find out about this team before it’s completely dark. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Ah Qiang was relatively short and looked rather muscular. He said awkwardly, “Boss, I know you’re being careful. You’re afraid that they didn’t come over to check us out for no reason, but Redstone Collection is closed at this time. Where can I find people? The people here hide so much that even ghosts can’t find them.”

Huo Zhi knew that this wasn’t Ah Qiang giving excuses. He thought for a moment and said, “Go to the Vigilance Cathedral and ask the guards we are familiar with.”

They often needed to send the slaves outside the Underground Ark. They would definitely pass by the Vigilance Cathedral during this period.

“Yes, Boss.” Ah Qiang didn’t say anything else. He went out and found a car before heading north of the city ruin.

Huo Zhi sat down and patiently waited for his trusted aide to return.

After the sun completely set and darkness enveloped the land, Ah Qiang’s car finally appeared at the hotel camp’s entrance.

He alighted from the car with a solemn expression and entered Huo Zhi’s room. Then, he looked around and suppressed his voice. “Boss, that team has a tremendous background!”

“What do you mean?” Huo Zhi stood up.

Ah Qiang gulped and said, “A guard in the cathedral told me that the team had previously finished off a very powerful Awakened and saved the entire Redstone Collection from the Subhuman Alliance. If you insist on making a comparison, it will be that they can destroy the Redstone Collection that’s without the Vigilance Church. And back then, they didn’t have a robot!”

“This…” Huo Zhi forgot to blink when he heard that. As far as he knew, although Redstone Collection had many internal conflicts, their firepower was sufficiently strong even without the Vigilance Church’s protection. They were definitely ranked first in the Lake of Wrath and could easily crush countless caravans like his.

A four-person team could actually be compared to such a large settlement?

After a moment of silence, Huo Zhi asked in confirmation, “Does this include the Underground Ark’s power?”

“Probably not,” Ah Qiang replied truthfully. “The cathedral’s people aren’t too sure about the Underground Ark’s true strength.”

Huo Zhi slowly nodded and hissed. “Regardless of whether the cathedral guards are bragging, the team opposite us isn’t simple. It should be the kind that can destroy a settlement with four to five people. Maybe all of them have reached the Senior Hunter level. They aren’t much worse than the unbelievable Ruin Hunter teams we know of.”

At this point, Huo Zhi exhaled. “Fortunately, a team of this caliber definitely wouldn’t eye what we have. There are only dozens of slaves. Even if Mr. DiMarco offers a high price, it won’t be something that can be exchanged for supplies that they’re interested in. They probably sensed the disturbance and habitually came over to take a look to confirm the situation.”

Ah Qiang was convinced by his boss and asked worriedly, “Then, are we still going to get everyone out for a lecture tomorrow morning?”

“There’s no need.” Huo Zhi shook his head without hesitation. “I’ll go into their room myself and tell them off one by one. I mustn’t disturb the team.”

As he spoke, he subconsciously lowered his voice a little.

Upon seeing that Ah Qiang still seemed a little worried, Huo Zhi smiled and said, “How can such a team deal with us just for dozens of slaves? With their status, would they lack slaves?”

Ah Qiang tersely acknowledged it. “I’ll arrange for the night patrols.”

…

In the middle of the night, Jiang Baimian woke up in a daze. She flipped over and grabbed the waterskin on the bedside table.

At this moment, she saw a figure sitting quietly on the bed opposite her.

Jiang Baimian instantly snapped out of her reverie. She looked over and realized that it was indeed Shang Jianyao.

“Why aren’t you sleeping yet?” Jiang Baimian asked in surprise and amusement.

Shang Jianyao propped himself up with both hands on the bed and forcefully turned his body around. Under the faint moonlight shining in from the window, he replied with bright eyes, “I’m thinking of a feasible plan.”

Jiang Baimian didn’t know what comment to give and casually said, “How serious…”

She then asked, “Any ideas?”

Shang Jianyao shook his head. “Not yet.”

“Oh…” Jiang Baimian felt relieved.

Before she could finish speaking, Shang Jianyao added, “There’s too much inspiration.”

“…” The smile on Jiang Baimian’s face became a little forced.

Shang Jianyao continued, “I’m now considering this matter together with the clearing of the third island. Didn’t we say that it’s about being afraid that nothing can be changed despite me giving up everything? Then, I should do something difficult in reality in a bid to change some unbearable cruelty. Saving all of humanity naturally starts with saving small groups and initiating small changes. When the time comes, I hope I’ll gain something that can be fed back to the mind world.”

Jiang Baimian quietly listened. She hugged her blanket and adjusted her posture to lie down more comfortably.

“That’s… not a bad idea,” she said truthfully. “The key to defeating the third island might really be to connect with reality and break the doubts in your heart through realistic affirmation.”

At this point, she changed the topic. “However, there’s no need to pick such a difficult matter from the beginning, right?”

Shang Jianyao smiled, his face hazy in the moonlight. “It’s not like I’m considering a feasible plan just to defeat the third island. This is only something in passing.”

At this moment, Jiang Baimian inexplicably felt that his smile was like a child’s. It was very clean and pure.

Jiang Baimian opened her mouth and closed it again. After a long time, she grumbled, “You can wait until morning to think about it. It’s already so late; quickly go to sleep and rest well so that you can come up with a good solution.”

She originally wanted to pull out a pillow and throw it at Shang Jianyao to raise the strength of her words, but she gave up on the idea after considering that there was only one pillow.

“Okay.” Shang Jianyao thought for a moment and nodded.

Thud!

He fell straight down and stretched his legs.

Jiang Baimian wrapped the blanket tightly around her and changed her posture to have her back face the bed opposite her.

In the quiet night, she suddenly whispered, “Sometimes, I really envy your purity…”

Shang Jianyao replied in a serious tone, “This was exchanged with a doctor’s certificate.”

“…” Jiang Baimian chose to close her eyes.

…

The next morning, the Old Task Force had a simple breakfast. Under the gazes of the Redstone town residents—who were repairing the hotel camp’s faulty circuits—they drove the jeep toward the underground mall in the park.

This was their original plan—to visit the Visa Trading Company and discuss the matter regarding high-performance batteries.

The person on duty at the Visa Trading Company was still the lady wearing the green ghost mask yet was as timid as a rabbit.

“G-good morning.” Clearly, the lady recognized the former Redstone Collection hegemon.

Jiang Baimian smiled and asked, “Which butler is here today?”

“Butler Ulrich,” the lady in charge of the reception replied honestly.

The person in question… As Jiang Baimian sighed wistfully at her good luck, she pressed down on the elegant monk mask on her face. “Please pass on the message. We want to visit Mr. Ulrich.”

“Alright.” The lady hurriedly took out her walkie-talkie and avoided Shang Jianyao and the others. It was unknown who she spoke to.

Genava—who was wearing sunglasses—looked at her figure that was mostly blocked by the wall and asked Jiang Baimian and the others, “Do you need me to repeat their conversation?”

“You can hear them?” Shang Jianyao asked with a curious face. Unfortunately, this was covered by the monkey mask.

Genava nodded. “This distance and this volume are within my monitoring range.”

As Jiang Baimian sighed in amusement that the Old Task Force’s average hearing had improved, she thoughtfully asked, “Do you usually take the initiative to monitor your surroundings?”

“Not in a safe environment. We will when carrying out missions or when in similar situations,” Genava replied in a concise manner. “The main reason why we don’t activate it is to conserve electricity and protect the batteries. The endurance and life cycle of high-performance batteries are still one of the key factors that restrict the number of smart bots and societal development. Therefore, the Source Brain has been searching for information regarding the Old World in the field of nuclear power miniaturization, ultra-high-efficiency battery technology, and controllable nuclear fusion research. It hopes to turn this into reality.”

As expected of a smart bot. He can repeat almost every word he heard before… It’s impressive to have a large database and advanced search algorithm… Long Yuehong deeply admired Genava’s ‘memory.’

At this moment, the lady in charge of reception at the Visa Trading Company walked back. Her body trembled as if she were facing her nemesis. “Butler Ulrich has invited you to the meeting room.”

Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and the others followed the directions and found a conference room, where a long table, ten-plus chairs, and an LCD screen were set up here.

The lady in charge of reception switched on the LCD screen. After adjusting the settings, she left the room and closed the door.

Genava then said, “This is a product of our Mechanical Paradise…”

Before he could finish speaking, he saw Shang Jianyao raise his index finger to his mouth and shushed him.

Genava immediately stopped talking.

Two to three seconds later, a serious man in his forties—wearing a black suit and a black bow tie—appeared on the LCD screen. He was none other than one of DiMarco’s butlers, Ulrich.

“Mr. Butler, aren’t you in the company?” Jiang Baimian asked in amusement.

Ulrich calmly replied, “There are Awakened among you, and you have shown great aggression.”

Back when Shang Jianyao restrained DiMarco’s guards, he had exposed his Hands Immobility. As for aggression, it undoubtedly referred to Shang Jianyao’s terrifying act of throwing a grenade.

At this point, Ulrich clasped his hands and placed them on his chest. He then took a step back. “Distance is our friend.”