Embers Ad Infinitum

Two days? Jiang Baimian recalled and said, “There were instances of Viel not appearing for several days in the past as well.”

It was during the Vigilance Church’s hiding Mass.

“Yes.” Song He didn’t mention Viel again and asked, “Are you here to gather food?”

From a normal person’s perspective, the Qian Bai Team had definitely returned to Redstone Collection to replenish their food stores for their return journey.

“No, we were able to exchange for many cans of different flavors in Tarnan,” Jiang Baimian said with a smile.

She glanced at the newly-appointed bishop, Antonella—who was about to leave the prayer hall without anyone noticing—and continued, “We’re mainly here to exchange for high-performance batteries. Harbinger Song, as you can tell, we obtained a new robot.”

Genava—who was wearing sunglasses—was tall and ‘muscular.’ He had very special characteristics and was an existence that no one would ignore.

“You can go to DiMarco’s butler—Ulrich—or Anhebus for that.” Song He took the initiative to provide directions.

“That’s what we did.” Jiang Baimian described her encounter today and said, “Things seem a little troublesome. We can only hope that the Underground Ark can squeeze out more batteries.”

“Oh right.” Jiang Baimian seemed to make some connections because of this topic and asked casually, “Has Mr. DiMarco met Bishop Antonella after he took office?”

Dressed in a black cloak, Antonella—who had walked a distance to the side—subconsciously stopped.

Song He looked back at him and simply replied, “They had a video call.”

“Oh…” Shang Jianyao answered in a tone that was difficult to analyze.

At the very least, Genava’s database currently didn’t have the ability to analyze it.

This fellow can always come up with some new tricks… Jiang Baimian’s thoughts raced. As if she didn’t realize that Bishop Antonella was still in the hall, she ‘helped’ him complain. “Even Church bishops can’t communicate with DiMarco face-to-face? Back then, he was actually willing to meet us to understand Lake Heart Island’s situation. It’s unbelievable.”

Team Leader, your acting isn’t bad either. Your coordination with Shang Jianyao’s ‘oh’ is flawless… Long Yuehong was speechless, but he found it funny. He suspected that his team leader had drawn on the wisdom from Old World drama serials.

Therefore, the Old World’s entertainment isn’t all bad… Long Yuehong subconsciously glanced at Bai Chen.

Bai Chen’s expression was a little solemn as if she found Jiang Baimian even more difficult to deal with.

Antonella turned around and said in a loud voice, “All the previous bishops had a video chat with Mr. DiMarco. Furthermore, His Excellency Saint Sigmund entered the Ark and spoke to Mr. DiMarco in person at basement two.”

Jiang Baimian was waiting for this opportunity to ask, “Did His Excellency Saint Sigmund say anything after his return?”

Upon hearing this question and recalling the previous conversation, Song He glanced at Jiang Baimian and the others and nodded indiscernibly as if he understood something.

As it wasn’t anything confidential, Antonella didn’t hide anything. He recalled and said, “His Excellency Saint Sigmund told us that as long as the Underground Ark’s owner still believes in Eidolon Nun and hasn’t truly rocked Redstone Collection’s stability, we shouldn’t interfere with the Underground Ark’s internal affairs.”

That sounds a little strange… With Jiang Baimian’s sharp senses, she directly identified certain problems.

The Vigilance Church’s Terror Bishop used the words ‘Underground Ark’s owner,’ not ‘DiMarco!’

There were two explanations: First, this was a long-term policy the Vigilance Church had with regards to the Underground Ark. It wouldn’t change just because of a sudden change of owner.

Second, the Vigilance Church didn’t care who the Underground Ark’s owner was. Be it DiMarco, his child, or anyone else, it was only a symbol. As long as they could satisfy the requirements of having faith in Eidolon Nun and not rocking Redstone Collection’s stability, it was fine.

The two explanations had a lot in common. The replacement of the Underground Ark’s owner was an internal matter that wouldn’t attract the Vigilance Church’s interference. Of course, the premise was that the new Ark owner believed in Eidolon Nun and wouldn’t rock Redstone Collection’s stability.

This was the attitude that Jiang Baimian wanted to obtain from the Vigilance Church. However, she was still a little confused about this. She felt that the Terror Bishop was being too direct and obvious.

Could it be that using the words ‘Underground Ark’s owner’ to replace ‘DiMarco’ implies something else? Jiang Baimian couldn’t momentarily figure out the reason for it, but this didn’t stop her from taking the opportunity to give the target an eyeful.

She frowned and asked in confusion, “But DiMarco previously wanted to introduce merfolk and mountain monsters to purge Redstone Collection. Doesn’t this rock Redstone Collection’s stability?”

Antonella was momentarily speechless.

Song He smiled and said, “Let’s not pursue the past. We have to cast our sights on the future.”

Jiang Baimian knew when to stop and smiled. “This is your Church’s matter. I was just feeling indignant and that it was unjust. Please don’t take offense.”

Team Leader’s genteel tone is clearly influenced by the Old World dramas… Long Yuehong began to seriously consider a question—how much of the Old World’s entertainment has Team Leader secretly watched behind our backs?

After chatting for a while, the Old Task Force bade farewell and got into the jeep.

Jiang Baimian looked ahead and instructed, “Go to Iron Mountain’s Ark exit.”

As Genava had yet to gather a map of this area, Bai Chen was in charge of driving.

“Why are we going there?” Long Yuehong was a little surprised.

Shang Jianyao then sang, “Searching, finding, finding friends…”

“Find a mole,” Jiang Baimian explained.

Long Yuehong wasn’t stupid. He immediately understood that they were up to something.

He said worriedly and nervously, “Team Leader, are we really going to deal with the Underground Ark?”

We are only a five-person team. How can we do something that even a company might not be able to do? Aren’t you feeling too inflated? Team Leader, I’ve always believed that you’re very reliable!

Jiang Baimian helplessly exhaled and smiled. “Shang Jianyao and Genava provided a feasible plan, so I have to keep my promise. Don’t worry; we definitely have to take it one step at a time. Once there are any conditions that we can’t satisfy in between, we will stop immediately. Yes, it’s the same if we don’t succeed in three days. We are still being pursued by Mechanical Paradise, so we can’t stay in Redstone Collection for too long.”

The latter half of the sentence was directed at Shang Jianyao and Genava.

After a pause, Jiang Baimian turned to look at Bai Chen. “Little White, Little Red, do you have any objections? If you object, I’ll consider it seriously. With me here, everyone has equal weight.”

To be honest, Jiang Baimian felt rather conflicted. She hoped that Bai Chen and Long Yuehong would object to the plan so that she could use this opportunity to dispel Shang Jianyao’s thoughts, but she didn’t hint to them of her bias.

She sighed at the thought of those hopeful eyes.

Bai Chen fell silent for a long time, so long that Jiang Baimian thought she didn’t want to comment. Finally, she looked at the road ahead and calmly said, “If a reasonable termination condition is set up, we can give it a shot.”

Tsk, she doesn’t look like the experienced wilderness nomad who always plays safe, Little White… She’s doing this to maintain a sense of camaraderie? Jiang Baimian didn’t comment and turned to look at Long Yuehong.

Long Yuehong suddenly felt the pressure and stammered, “I believe in your judgment.”

You say it like… Jiang Baimian suddenly felt the pressure on her shoulders increase.

Shang Jianyao clapped. “Four votes in favor, one forfeit. Pass!”

“When did I agree to it?” Jiang Baimian asked in amusement.

Shang Jianyao smiled. “In your heart.”

Jiang Baimian raised her left eyebrow and didn’t respond.

…

Iron Mountain, near the valley cave where the Underground Ark’s entrance was hidden.

The Old Task Force members monitored it the entire afternoon and didn’t discover anyone coming out.

Long Yuehong looked up at the setting sun and inhaled the cold mountain air. “It’s almost dark. It’s about time to head back, right?”

It was great that nothing happened.

Shang Jianyao turned his head to look at him and heaved a sigh of relief. “You finally said that.”

“What do you mean?” Long Yuehong felt insulted.

“There.” Shang Jianyao pointed at the cave entrance with his chin.

Two figures in olive-green clothes carried a very bloated sack and walked out with heavy footsteps.

“…” Long Yuehong was a little dumbfounded by this scene.

“They were walking out before you spoke.” Jiang Baimian consoled him when she saw this.

“That’s right…” Long Yuehong came to a realization.

With these two people’s speed, it would take at least two to three minutes to get from the Underground Ark’s exit to the cave entrance. Shang Jianyao must’ve sensed it long ago before he said that it was about time to head back.

Shang Jianyao didn’t deny it, and his tone became a little more ‘shocked.’ “In other words, your words affected what happened a few minutes ago? You can change the past now?”

Long Yuehong deeply understood why his team leader always ignored Shang Jianyao.

As the two Underground Ark guards moved toward the burial ground, Bai Chen whispered, “There’s more than one corpse in the sack.”

If it were just a single corpse, they wouldn’t have had such a hard time carrying it.

Jiang Baimian naturally could tell. She fell silent for two seconds before turning to Shang Jianyao. “Go.”

Shang Jianyao pressed down on the furry mask on his face and jumped down from above, landing in front of the two Underground Ark guards.

Thud!

The two guards reflexively released the sack in their hands and let it smash to the ground, producing a heavy thud.

They were just about to draw their guns when they realized that their wrists couldn’t complete the action.

At this moment, they froze in their spots in shock and panic.

As Shang Jianyao spun the Ice Moss, he smiled and said, “There’s no need to be nervous. I’m here to make friends.”

The two guards were just about to escape when they saw the spinning pistol in the enemy’s hand suddenly stop. The black muzzle was aimed at them.