Embers Ad Infinitum

More than a week later, the military-green jeep drove over a charred piece of land.

Collapsed houses and lush, abnormal vegetation could be seen everywhere. Occasionally, strange beasts and Ruin Hunters—who used all kinds of transportation—passed by.

“This area suffered the most damage when the Old World was destroyed.” In the passenger seat, Bai Chen looked out the window and sighed with emotion. “However, it was near this area that humans established the first city in the New Calendar.”

In Pangu Biology’s textbooks, they only mentioned that First City was the first city built by humans using the Old World ruins. They didn’t mention that its neighboring area was the area with the most damage. This fascinated Long Yuehong as he muttered to himself, “They probably suffered a lot back then and paid a huge price…”

But it was not destroyed.

Jiang Baimian—who was driving—echoed, “Yes. Regardless of what First City has become, they deserve our praise for being able to survive the apocalypse and rebuilding a civilization that belongs to humans.”

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Shang Jianyao clapped.

“What’s there to applaud?” Jiang Baimian was a little peeved.

Shang Jianyao replied truthfully, “Your words reminded me of the teachers in school.”

“Are you allowed to clap in class?” Jiang Baimian replied angrily.

Shang Jianyao glanced at her side profile. “In addition to lessons, there’s also morning assembly.”

He had a look that said, ‘Have you never been to school?’

Jiang Baimian ground her teeth and cast her gaze ahead.

As the jeep drove quickly, a wide river that amazed Long Yuehong appeared in front of them.

Red River—the longest and widest river in the Ashlands.

Its waves didn’t look that clean. From time to time, green seaweed and all kinds of trash floated above it.

On its other side were buildings that weren’t tall. Chimneys stood tall as they spewed grayish-white or rust-yellow gases upward.

This made the entire sky appear foggy. Even though it was not evening yet, the lighting was rather dim.

A commotion sounded as two dark helicopters flew across the sky.

Further away, unmanned drones circled back and forth, patrolling their territory.

Long Yuehong held his breath.

This meant that they had arrived at First City’s capital, First City.

After leaving Weed City, apart from going to a wilderness nomad settlement on the way to replenish their food supplies, the Old Task Force spent most of their time traversing the wilderness.

Although First City was known as the largest faction in the Ashlands and had the largest population, it could only control settlements of various sizes, places that could be called cities, areas around them that could be farmed or had mineral resources, and important transportation routes.

For the wilderness, mountains, forests, swamps, and ruins, they were beyond First City’s reach. Therefore, the Old Task Force had only encountered many Ruin Hunters along the way and had never encountered First City’s official army.

Now, they were finally about to officially make contact with the largest faction in the Ashlands.

In the jeep, apart from Shang Jianyao’s unconcealed excitement, Jiang Baimian and the others more or less revealed a certain level of anticipation. Even Genava—the smart bot—followed his program’s analysis and made himself appear more excited.

After going downstream along the Red River for a while, the forest-like chimneys gradually became sparse. High buildings made of steel and concrete rose from the ground; there were also a large number of ordinary buildings between them. This combined to outline a real city.

It was not much inferior to Swamp Ruin 1.

“How many people can live here?” Long Yuehong asked wistfully.

“It’s said that it can accommodate around a million people.” Bai Chen couldn’t give a precise number because First City’s statistics department didn’t know either. Furthermore, there were many hunters and caravans coming and going here. The flow of people here could be considered the highest in the Ashlands.

As they spoke, the Old Task Force saw a bridge. It could accommodate eight cars traveling side by side, and it connected the wastelands and mountains on Red River’s north bank to First City.

On both ends of the bridge were fully armed regular troops, each with more than 100 people.

They wore dark-gray helmets and uniforms of the same color. They had many machine guns mounted and used a few dark-green armored vehicles to build a simple fortification on the bridge, leaving only an opening for two ordinary vehicles.

Every person in every car had to stop when they passed through the gap and undergo a relatively strict inspection.

According to the information provided by the company before the team set off, Jiang Baimian knew that light weapons could be brought into the city. Heavy weapons were confiscated, as were other contraband items.

Unfortunately, military exoskeletons were a military-controlled item.

Of course, the Old Task Force could also choose to take a detour and head to the Red River’s south river. However, the other entrances to First City were also guarded by troops, and there were also various aircraft monitoring the area from the sky.

Long Yuehong wasn’t nervous about this and only glanced at Shang Jianyao. With Inference Clowning around, what place can’t we enter?

The military-green jeep continued forward and quickly got in line.

Jiang Baimian stepped on the brakes and looked out.

On the charred ground around them, many humans in old clothes were squatting or standing.

Some of them were bona fide Red River people. Their eye sockets were sunken, and their hair was striking. Some had darker brown skin, and their eyes were black; they were lean.

The latter was a branch of the Ashlandics that had migrated to the Red River Zone. They were called Red Coasters.

In First City, most of them had citizenship.

Upon seeing Jiang Baimian roll down the window, a Red Coaster—who was at most 1.65 meters tall—stood up and walked to the Old Task Force.

His black hair had obvious natural curls, and his dark-brown face had a fawning smile. “Do you need help?”

He spoke in authentic Red River language. Authentic referred to his First City accent.

Jiang Baimian raised her eyebrows and didn’t answer.

The Red Coaster looked around and suppressed his voice. “I have a way to let you enter the city without being examined. I just need some payment.”

He rubbed his index finger and thumb as though he was counting notes.

Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and exchanged looks with Bai Chen and the others. She then said to the fellow outside the window in Red River language, “How may I address you?”

“Jadi,” the Red Coaster replied with a smile.

“How much is needed?” Jiang Baimian continued asking.

“Fifty Oray.” Jadi gave the price. “It’s very cheap.”

Jiang Baimian pretended to think for a few seconds before saying, “What should we do?”

Jadi’s smile became even more obvious. “Follow me and wait somewhere else first.”

Jiang Baimian turned the steering wheel and got the jeep to follow the ‘guide’ as they slowly drove toward a ruin by the Red River.

There was nobody here, and it seemed very quiet.

Jadi pointed at a relatively intact roadside house and said, “Have a seat and wait. I’ll discuss with the guards to decide when you can enter the city.”

There were tables, chairs, and other furniture in the room.

Jiang Baimian looked at both sides of the room and opened the door without hesitation.

With a sincere smile, Jadi watched the Old Task Force members alight one after another.

When Genava’s tall black body entered his vision, his expression instantly changed.

At this moment, Jiang Baimian pointed at the house by the side of the road. “You can get your companions to come out.”

Jadi tried his best to smile. “What are you talking about? I don’t understand what you mean.”

Just as he said that, Long Yuehong had already opened the trunk, carried the rocket launcher, and aimed in the direction Jiang Baimian pointed.

After a brief silence, four to five people came out. They were all Red Coasters with dark-brown skin, and they held slightly old assault rifles and mini submachine guns.

“You guys are very enthusiastic,” Shang Jianyao said with a smile.

Jadi tried his best to explain, “This is only a little protection for our own safety.”

Shang Jianyao walked over and—with his height advantage—stretched out his hands to massage Jadi’s shoulders. He then asked in a very friendly tone, “Does it feel good? Do you want me to use more strength?”

The corners of Jiang Baimian and the others’ mouths twitched slightly. They didn’t know what problem it was this time or if he had recently watched some Old World entertainment.

However, Jadi inexplicably felt fear. He couldn’t control himself any longer and shouted, “P-put the guns down!”

The Red Coasters slowly bent down, lowered the guns in their hands, and raised their hands.

Shang Jianyao continued massaging Jadi’s shoulders and gently asked, “What do you plan on doing if we don’t enter these ruins?”

“I-I’ll help you bribe the guards and get them to do a simple check of your car,” Jadi replied nervously.

Shang Jianyao smiled and asked, “How many people do you usually mug?”

“N-not many. Most people don’t fall for it and don’t come over,” Jadi said with a crying face.

At this moment, Jiang Baimian asked curiously, “How much Oray do you need to bribe the guards?”

“Twenty to thirty is enough,” Jadi replied in fear.

Shang Jianyao’s expression changed suddenly. He kicked the fellow and took out the pistol at his waist. “You wanted 50 from us. You unscrupulous merchant!”

Upon seeing the black muzzle aimed at him, Jadi almost couldn’t control his bladder and peed his pants.

“I-it’s only robbery. We don’t harm anyone,” he quickly shouted his grievance.

Shang Jianyao suddenly smiled, pulled him up, and patted the dust off his body. “Don’t be afraid. We’re very friendly, but we still have some questions to ask you.”

At this point, Jiang Baimian couldn’t help but raise her hand to cover her face. This fellow is so dramatic!

Jadi looked at his companions—who were being stared at by the robot—and tried his best to smile. “Please speak.”

“Are the guards here easily bribed?” Jiang Baimian ‘helped’ Shang Jianyao ask.

Jadi quickly nodded. “As long as it’s not a big problem, they prefer Oray. In any case, only the higher-ups benefit from any contraband they find. Oray is real to ordinary citizens like them.”