Embers Ad Infinitum

Amidst the drizzle, the jeep—which had been given a military-green camouflage coat—slowed down and drove toward Pangu Biology’s entrance.

Long Yuehong and the others couldn’t help but feel excited when they saw the entrance—which they had only seen a few times but were extremely familiar with.

After wandering outside for months, they were finally back home.

Shang Jianyao even raised his hand and wiped the corners of his mouth.

After they left Redstone Collection, their destination was Pangu Biology. They didn’t stop anywhere along the way and only went to one relatively large settlement for food resupplies.

Furthermore, compared to when they first came out, the team’s strength had increased significantly because they no longer had to worry about any ambush from Life Ritual. Therefore, they didn’t take any detours. They only avoided places that allowed for easy ambushes out of precaution.

This effectively reduced the time it took for them to return.

As the silver-white door to Pangu Biology opened, Jiang Baimian immediately realized that the layout was very different from before.

In addition to the Security Department employees—who originally numbered 20—there were now 30. There were also two new security cameras.

Jiang Baimian rolled down the window, stuck her head out, and asked without hiding her confusion, “What’s wrong?”

Liu Chengkun—who was in charge of the entrance area—walked over with a smile when he saw an acquaintance. “Yo, isn’t this Mianmian?”

This Security Department D8-rank captain was in his thirties. His skin was bronze, and he had distinct edges and corners to his face.

“…” Jiang Baimian was momentarily at a loss for words when faced with a nickname she had long become unfamiliar with.

Almost at the same time, she heard a ‘low’ chuckle coming from the backseat.

Shang Jianyao then ‘suppressed’ his voice and said to Bai Chen in the passenger seat, “A nickname like Mianmian is nothing like Big White.”

Bai Chen pursed her lips and didn’t answer, but the muscles on her face seemed to tremble slightly.

Jiang Baimian took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. She pulled the hand brake and pushed open the door to get out of the car.

She looked at Liu Chengkun and smiled. “Captain Liu, what’s wrong? Why the increase in security all of a sudden?”

Sigh, blame it on my luck. This fellow in front of me is my brother’s good friend!

Liu Chengkun glanced at Shang Jianyao, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen—who had alighted from the car—and smiled. “It’s all because someone caused trouble. A team that went out for fieldwork returned before the new year. When they handed over their spoils, a rash young man hid two things without giving them to his team leader. In the end, one of the items apparently had some latent problem, causing small-scale chaos. Fortunately, it was quickly resolved.

“The board of directors held the minister accountable for this matter. The minister was also very angry. After the new year, he changed the rules and requested for additional search and registration posts at the entrance. He wanted teams that returned to the company to hand over all the items right here and would only return them after review.”

Pangu Biology had previously been less strict with personal items. They were allowed in after a preliminary inspection at the door. The corresponding teams’ team leaders and platoon commanders would then be in charge of supervising the members during the handover of items that they brought back.

Jiang Baimian frowned and sighed. “Seriously, isn’t this giving everyone trouble?”

The reason she said that was that she happened to have an item she wanted to hide. She didn’t want to hand over the green night pearl that had condensed DiMarco’s aura.

“That’s right. That unlucky b*stard was demoted three ranks.” Liu Chengkun shook his head and smiled. “Alright, please cooperate.”

“Okay.” Jiang Baimian didn’t object. She called out to Long Yuehong, Bai Chen, and Shang Jianyao and opened the jeep’s trunk.

During this process, she signaled to Shang Jianyao with her eyes.

Shang Jianyao had already stuffed his left hand into his pocket. He stood there and watched his team leader and Long Yuehong move the two wooden crates down without helping.

“What’s this?” Liu Chengkun and the Security Department employees he had gathered for inspection asked curiously.

According to their experience, the items brought back by employees during fieldwork were usually random trinkets. Most of them were cardboard boxes filled with canned food. Even if there were large items, they wouldn’t specially get a wooden crate to store them.

Jiang Baimian deliberately smiled. “Open it yourselves.”

Liu Chengkun didn’t stand on ceremony. After all, this was his job. He bent down and lifted one of the wooden crates’ lids.

“This…” Liu Chengkun was immediately shocked by the items that came into view. This… This is actually a f*cking military exoskeleton!

The next second, he heard gasps.

His subordinate opened another wooden crate. Inside was also a military exoskeleton, and it looked like a newer model!

While the inspectors’ gazes were attracted, Jiang Baimian turned her head to glance at Shang Jianyao.

Shang Jianyao took out his left hand and nodded with a smile.

Phew. Jiang Baimian heaved a sigh of relief.

A few seconds later, Liu Chengkun finally returned to his senses and pointed at the two military exoskeletons. “W-where did you get this?”

The company didn’t have many of such high-quality mechanical electronics and military killing machines. They were a rare sight when it came to allocations, but Jiang Baimian’s four-man team actually had two!

“One was exchanged from completing a Hunter’s mission, and the other was seized,” Jiang Baimian explained simply.

Liu Chengkun and the Security Department employees beside him felt like they were listening to Greek. Their minds were filled with the words: ‘I don’t believe you.’

They had all been out in the field, and some of them even had Ruin Hunter identities. However, they had never found a Hunter mission that allowed for the exchange of a military exoskeleton!

As for seizing one, they could still comprehend the possibility. After all, Jiang Baimian’s team already had a military exoskeleton and had the corresponding strength.

Liu Chengkun fell silent for a few seconds before opening his mouth. “You guys sure had an eventful experience while outfield.”

He gave up on asking about the details because the person Jiang Baimian needed to report to was not him but Deputy Minister Xenny.

“We’re just short of saving all of humanity,” Shang Jianyao replied with a smile.

Liu Chengkun laughed involuntarily and said to his subordinates, “Alright, don’t just look. Check them one by one, classify them, and register them.”

With the two military exoskeletons in front of them, the batch of portable computers that the Old Task Force later produced naturally didn’t surprise everyone. The computers were cleared in the preliminary search without any trouble and were placed to the side to await review.

During this process, Jiang Baimian and the others also took out the items on them.

Liu Chengkun and the others returned the Old Task Force’s previously registered and reviewed items to them on the spot according to the network data.

One of the Security Department employees picked up an ordinary glass ball and casually asked Shang Jianyao, “Aren’t things like this everywhere? What’s the point of bringing it back?”

Such items were indeed rare in Pangu Biology’s underground building, but in the Ashlands, such items—which couldn’t be eaten, worn, or used—could only be given to children as toys. Almost nobody deliberately gathered them.

There were plenty of similar glass spheres among the numerous city ruins. Most of them were better-looking than Shang Jianyao’s.

Shang Jianyao sincerely replied, “It’s a keepsake.”

“Heh heh, which lady gave it to you?” joked the Security Department employee and put down the glass sphere. After the preliminary inspection, he signaled for Shang Jianyao to walk through the scanner.

After easily completing the process, Jiang Baimian drove the empty jeep to its original parking lot and led the team back to their office on the 647th floor.

After showering, they changed into clean clothes and walked to the elevator again.

According to the telegram’s instructions, they needed to meet the Old Task Force’s deputy minister—Xenny—before dinner.

Upon seeing the elevator approaching, Jiang Baimian looked at Long Yuehong thoughtfully. “Ask actively if you don’t understand anything later.”

“Yes, Team Leader!” Long Yuehong almost patted his chest and promised.

On their way back, they had already discussed the things to take note of when meeting their boss. One of them was: It was better to ask the deputy minister questions than to be asked by her!

For the Old Task Force—which had its own tiny secrets such as hiding the matter of saving Genava and the taking down of DiMarco—reducing the number of questions Deputy Minister Xenny could ask would effectively reduce the risk of exposure.

“Can I ask?” Shang Jianyao actively wanted to participate.

“For you… forget it.” Jiang Baimian’s frown relaxed again. She was afraid of exposing the fact that Shang Jianyao’s ‘condition’ was worse than the doctor’s report.

At the same time, she was also afraid that Xenny would embarrass herself due to her exasperation with Shang Jianyao. If that happened, she might end up in trouble in the future.

Before long, the Old Task Force arrived on the 646th floor and knocked on Deputy Minister Xenny’s door. Then, they sat on the long sofa side by side according to the instructions.

Xenny—who was well-dressed, had chestnut hair, and a gentle smile—walked to the armchair with a sky-blue porcelain teacup. As she sat down, she smiled. “I heard you guys brought back two military exoskeletons? Very impressive.”

Jiang Baimian didn’t immediately answer the question and smiled in anticipation. “Minister, you previously said that if we obtained a military exoskeleton ourselves, you can make the decision to leave it with our team.”

Xenny touched her forehead and smiled. “I didn’t expect you to get two of them in one go. Sigh, many people now know about it and want to get one for their team. Just now, a brigade commander called me to talk about this. You guys have placed me at a disadvantage.”

“I can help you persuade them.” Shang Jianyao volunteered.

Xenny could understand the Old Task Force’s anxiety and asked with a smile, “How do we plan on persuading them? Using your muscles?”

He’s a professional in this regard… Jiang Baimian replied inwardly.

Without giving them a chance to speak, Xenny nodded. “Fortunately, I can still withstand this bit of pressure. When there are no problems with the review, the two military exoskeletons will be part of your inventory. You can use them for missions outside. Did you guys modify that jeep as well? It’ll be your exclusive vehicle in the future.”

“Yes! Thank you, Minister!” Jiang Baimian didn’t hide her joy. At the same time, she secretly pinched Shang Jianyao’s forearm with her right hand to stop him from saying anything excessive such as: “Thank you for not breaking us up.”

With this conversation, the atmosphere became much more harmonious.

Xenny looked around and said, “Give me a verbal report of this mission first.”