Embers Ad Infinitum

In DiMarco’s room, which had suffered two rounds of attack.

More and more electric arcs appeared from Jiang Baimian’s left palm as the light grew brighter.

Clap!

This silver-white bolt of lightning suddenly erupted and flew to every corner of the room, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws.

The arcs of light interweaved into an inescapable net that covered the area.

The weak but abnormal electric field that enveloped the entire room was thrown into chaos. It shattered and was torn apart, quickly melting away like snow under the blazing sun.

The coldness and darkness weakened significantly, and the flashlights in their hands became less dim.

The devastating electric bolts landed on Long Yuehong and Bai Chen, jolting them so much that their bodies convulsed slightly. Then, their curled lips unknowingly relaxed.

Jiang Baimian also didn’t escape this indiscriminate ‘electric shock.’ The hair on the back of her neck stood on end.

Her eyes gradually lost their deepness and returned to normal.

As a metal robot, Genava inevitably absorbed a large amount of electricity. The silver snakes darted across his body, but he was fine.

This was a problem that they had considered during the planning phase. Otherwise, there would definitely be two more lines of content in Smart Bot’s Deployment Manual: “Do not be out during a thunderstorm.”

“Don’t stand beside carbon-based humans when there’s lightning and thunder.”

Back then, Jiang Baimian had to open a partition before injecting an electric current into the key socket that resulted in the disciplinary robot’s power overload.

The yellowish-green night pearl in Shang Jianyao’s palm was also struck by two electric currents. It clearly trembled and became unstable, but it quickly returned to normal.

…

In the Sea of Origins, on the sunny island with mountains and rivers.

DiMarco—who was as large as a mountain—suddenly became extremely blurry. He was like a reflection on the water surface as waves undulated, distorted, broke, and recombined.

His aura instantly weakened, and his body rapidly shrank. He quickly returned to his normal size.

At this moment, Shang Jianyao—who had been deprived of his five senses—stood in his spot in a daze as if he had become a wooden stake.

In order not to give the other party a chance to catch his breath or counterattack, DiMarco forced himself to focus and stretched out his right hand again.

He weakly made a proclamation. “Consciousness Deprivation!”

The various Shang Jianyaos turned blurry as they vanished from the island like a dream. However, eight Shang Jianyaos remained standing in their spots. They only turned illusory for a moment before returning to normal.

“This…” DiMarco’s pupils dilated. He believed that it was unlikely that he failed to ‘strip’ away the target’s consciousness, even if a large number of his ’embodiments’ had been shattered by the electric current and placed him in a relatively weak state.

It had to be known that not only was there a level difference between the two of them, but DiMarco had also taken away his adversary’s five senses in a prescribed order in a bid to ensure that the final blow would be foolproof.

To his surprise, the result was completely unexpected.

The failure of Consciousness Deprivation also resulted in the previous effects disappearing. The Shang Jianyaos saw the middle-aged man in the Old World’s black priest outfit and bonnet of the same color.

They laughed, and one of the representatives said, “You really aren’t up to it.”

Upon hearing this vaguely familiar sentence, DiMarco came to a realization. In his weakened state, he couldn’t suppress his violent rage any longer and blurted out, “Did you use your abilities to influence me during our conversation?”

“That’s right.” Shang Jianyao—who was carrying a single-target rocket launcher—smiled and said, “I knew that my abilities definitely wouldn’t have much of an impact on you, so I could only make attempts as early as possible, hoping to deepen the effects with the passage of time and the situation’s development. Do you need me to repeat myself?”

The two Shang Jianyao stretcher-bearers spoke one after another. “Your performance isn’t up to it…”

“You can’t actually have each DiMarco say something different.”

Shang Jianyao—who was wearing a white coat—concluded, “So…”

Therefore, DiMarco subconsciously believed that he wasn’t as crazy as Shang Jianyao or as strong as he imagined. In this confrontation of pure consciousness, self-awareness would undoubtedly affect the strength and effects of his abilities.

After DiMarco was affected by the outside world and weakened, this perception was greatly enhanced.

“You!” DiMarco seemed to be very prone to anger.

The assault rifle-wielding Shang Jianyao beamed as well. “Are you thinking that you shouldn’t have said so much to me and should’ve gone all out from the beginning to finish me off? When did you have the illusion that you are only affected by my ability when there’s a conversation?”

As soon as DiMarco invaded Shang Jianyao’s mind world and stepped foot on this island, Shang Jianyao used Corny Person on him! However, there was a difference in levels between the two parties. Shang Jianyao’s full-powered use of Corny Person only made DiMarco prouder, more smug, and more eager to showcase himself.

DiMarco no longer showed his rage. Although his brutal temperament remained, a smile appeared on his face. “Then, why are you saying so much now? Don’t you know that my consciousness recovery is far better than yours?”

As he spoke, DiMarco’s weakness faded significantly!

The small speaker-wielding Shang Jianyao smiled back. “Because I’m waiting for it!”

A ball of yellowish-green light suddenly appeared in his hand, quickly condensing into a night pearl the size of a fish eye.

At this moment, there was no longer any light escaping Shang Jianyao’s palm in the real world. There was only an ordinary glass sphere left.

Since the aura obtained from the Mind Corridor could be brought into the real world and combined with items before settling in, it could naturally return to the mind world!

Shang Jianyao had made preliminary confirmation when studying the night pearl’s effects.

Upon seeing this, DiMarco couldn’t hide his surprise. “Are you crazy? It’s fine if it’s used in the Mind Corridor or the real world, but who would bring someone else’s aura into their own consciousness? This is your Sea of Origins. Aren’t you afraid that the owner of the aura will descend onto your mind island in reverse?”

Shang Jianyao—who was holding the small speaker and the night pearl—raised his eyebrows. “Really? I didn’t know.”

Upon hearing this answer, DiMarco had the urge to vomit blood. Fortunately, he was in a consciousness state and didn’t have a corporeal body.

Shang Jianyao—who was holding the small speaker and the night pearl—smiled as if he wasn’t worried at all. The Shang Jianyaos said with a smile, “Since you’ve already come in, it doesn’t matter if there’s one more.”

Looking at the smiles of the different Shang Jiangyaos, DiMarco felt that the other party truly might’ve gone crazy.

The next second, Shang Jianyao—who was holding the small speaker—crushed the yellowish-green night pearl in his hand, allowing its remaining strength to erupt without reservation.

In an instant, the entire mind island was enveloped by a yellowish-green glow.

DiMarco’s figure was also dyed this color, and a door suddenly appeared in front of him.

It was an illusory white door that was half-closed; it was ajar.

Behind the door was darkness. A female figure could be vaguely seen watching everything from the darkness.

Indescribable fear surfaced in DiMarco’s heart, making him uncontrollably shout in horror, “No!”

…

In DiMarco’s room.

With the stimulation of the electric current, Jiang Baimian regained control of her body. However, she could still sense that the consciousness which had affected her hadn’t completely disappeared. It could make a comeback at any moment.

But this didn’t stop her from thinking. With her previous experience, she understood one thing: The person killed by the Old Task Force’s two rounds of attacks was indeed Lehman’s lover—Lars—but he was also the Underground Ark’s owner, DiMarco!

This was a monster that was closer to an Eternal! He could strip off his consciousness, but he didn’t become a mechanical monk by uploading his consciousness onto a special chip. Instead, he could occupy other people’s bodies!

Recalling the past described by the Ark guards, Jiang Baimian connected the dots from a different angle. Every previous Underground Ark owner might be the same person. It’s this monster named DiMarco! His uniqueness comes from his Awakened abilities.

The reason every Ark’s owner has a large number of partners and many children while encouraging servants and guards to become life partners—acting as if he likes new life very much—is that he wants to rely on the law of large numbers to select a body that’s more suitable for occupation. This often happens among those who are related to him by blood.

After his youngest son died, the main reason for DiMarco’s sudden madness might very well be that apart from this child, there was nobody in the entire Ark that was suitable for his occupation. This way, even if he forcefully possessed a body, he could only last for a short period of time. The body he used back then—the one named DiMarco—had most likely begun to deteriorate. It couldn’t be used for long.

At the end of his rope, it was inevitable that he did perverse acts and became increasingly brutal. He even wanted his guards and servants—who had had children—to give birth to his children.

Later, Lars’s appearance gave DiMarco hope. Not only did he have DiMarco’s hair and eyes, but he was also very suitable for occupation. Therefore, DiMarco calmed down. Not long after, his mistress became pregnant with a new life…

This was a guess that Jiang Baimian made based on her previous experience and past situation. It was a guess that could truly explain all the details.

At this moment, Genava had already approached the slightly conscious Long Yuehong and Bai Chen, prepared to knock them out.

Upon seeing this, Jiang Baimian couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. Our Operation Beheading did succeed, but we only killed one of DiMarco’s bodies… Wait a minute. Lars is dead, and the child in the stomach of DiMarco’s mistress hasn’t been born yet. This means that he doesn’t have a physical body that he can occupy now. It won’t be long before his consciousness dissipates… But he actually didn’t flare up or show the brutality that the Ark guards described… Could it be that he has found someone else to occupy after Lars? Or can one of us play this role? As Jiang Baimian’s thoughts raced, she suddenly cast her gaze at Shang Jianyao.

At this moment, Shang Jianyao opened his mouth and shouted in horror, “No!”

A blurry figure separated from his body—a figure wearing a black priest outfit and bonnet of the same color.