Embers Ad Infinitum

News of a third Heartless outbreak, the hotel owner’s solemn expression, and the broadcast that there wouldn’t be water in the evening… This collectively formed an indescribable and intriguing atmosphere. It made the four carbon-based Old Task Force members maintain silence, and none of them spoke for a moment.

Ugo stroked his blond hair, and his expression returned to normal. He grumbled and anxiously said to Jiang Baimian and the others, “Quick, fill up the basins and buckets in the bathroom. If you want to shower, do so quickly.”

As he spoke, he walked to the back of the lobby on the first floor as if he wanted to prepare for the water rationing. He acted so ordinarily as if he was long used to such matters.

This caught Jiang Baimian and the others—who were planning on asking about the recent Heartless outbreak—by surprise.

They ultimately decided to listen to the boss to collect and store away the necessary water before washing away the filth and fatigue they had accumulated along the way.

After the Old Task Force was done, the sun was already setting in the west and was about to reach the horizon.

“We won’t do anything official tonight. We’ll go out and find something to eat before returning to sleep. Rest, charge up, and do system maintenance,” Jiang Baimian said, looking at Genava for her last sentence.

Every room here had a separate electric clock, either new, old, or pieced together.

As the others nodded, Shang Jianyao had already taken the lead to walk to the door.

Jiang Baimian then pulled him back.

“Wait a minute,” Jiang Baimian snapped. “Little White and I have to put on makeup first. No, we have to disguise ourselves.”

They naturally didn’t put on makeup to make themselves look better and more beautiful. Instead, they did so to make themselves look ordinary and less eye-catching.

Bai Chen shook her head. “I’ll pass.”

She had lived in First City before and knew that female Ashlandic nomads like her were relatively common.

Jiang Baimian looked at her and smiled. “Do you want to be recognized at a glance?”

Bai Chen fell silent for a few seconds before nodding.

“Count me in!” Shang Jianyao said.

Jiang Baimian glanced at him and ignored him. She knew that if she retorted, Shang Jianyao would definitely respond with the theory that boys had to protect themselves when they were out or give an odd ‘reason.’

They quickly settled these matters and randomly found a restaurant along Green Olive Zone’s Labe Street.

The restaurant’s name was very simple; it was called ‘Akson.’ This was an ancient name for a region in the Red River Zone.

It was said that among the people who established First City, the majority came from Akson.

The boss also took on waiter duties. Wearing a linen shirt, he was relatively tall and muscular. He looked to be in his forties, and he had black hair and blue eyes.

Jiang Baimian scanned the area and asked, “Do you have a menu?”

The boss shook his head. “This isn’t the Red Wolf Zone. Today, there’s only sweet vegetable mixed soup, black bread, pork sausages, and potatoes.”

He only mentioned potatoes and not the specific dish because there were several methods for cooking potatoes.

“We’ll have one of everything.” Shang Jianyao made his choice with a serious expression.

When Jiang Baimian touched her pocket, Bai Chen asked for the price. A full meal would almost empty the rest of the team’s Oray.

We have to seriously earn money tomorrow. Uh, we’ll get a sum of money from the company’s intelligence agents first… Jiang Baimian sat down and began ordering.

During this process, Long Yuehong didn’t give up and asked, “Is there no fresh meat?”

“We only get a little every day. It’s sold out by noon,” the restaurant owner explained simply. “It’s not like we’re in the Red Wolf Zone.”

As the sweet vegetable mixed soup had been prepared long ago and the pork sausages only needed a little heating up, only the mashed potatoes took some time. The Old Task Force quickly had dinner.

The sky wasn’t completely dark yet, and the sun was still hanging over the horizon, scattering its afterglow.

“This sweet vegetable mixed soup tastes a little strange.” Long Yuehong picked up the spoon and scooped a mouthful of soup.

This was different from the palettes of Pangu Biology personnel. It was thick and sweet.

Shang Jianyao didn’t echo him and focused on dealing with the sliced pork sausages.

Although these weren’t considered delicious, they were still pretty good for the four carbon-based lifeforms of the Old Task Force—they were sick of eating canned food, compressed biscuits, and energy bars.

As they ate voraciously, waves of voices sounded from the distance. “We want land!”

“We want work!”

“We want to live!”

Long Yuehong curiously turned his body and cast his gaze outside the restaurant.

Before long, a large group of people passed the street. Some held wooden signs, and some held pieces of paper. On them were words in Red River language: ‘We want land,’ ‘We want work,’ and ‘We want to live.’

These people were typical Red River people. They had blond or chestnut hair and blue or green eyes. Their shirts and coats were very old, but they were washed relatively cleanly. Their faces were more or less ruddy.

“What are these people doing?” Long Yuehong asked in confusion. They appear to be demanding something?

As they were the only customers in Akson Restaurant, the burly boss casually replied, “Those people are demonstrating.”

“Demonstrating?” Jiang Baimian had only read this term in books.

First City was indeed different.

“Demonstrating?” Shang Jianyao seemed to find this very interesting.

The restaurant owner said disdainfully, “These are the descendants of those old citizens. They didn’t work hard and lost the farmland outside the city, but they aren’t willing to work in the western suburbs. They only want the Senate to start a war or establish a new settlement in the wilderness so that they can receive land or public office.”

First City’s situation was very problematic. The factory area was actually further west of the Red River, so much so that wastewater would flow through the city.

This was also a pragmatic issue. To the east and north of First City were heavily polluted places with many severely mutated creatures. Factories couldn’t be built; in contrast, there was a large number of fertile farmlands in the southeast and south.

At the same time, the local climate was a little chaotic due to the Old World’s destruction. The wind direction often went from east to west all year round, and places like the Golden Apple Zone—which was southeast of the city—relied on the water coming from a Red River distributary, the Wei River. Therefore, the situation continued.

Long Yuehong came to a realization after hearing the restaurant owner’s answer. “They’re lazy, but they don’t want to suffer either…”

At this moment, Shang Jianyao suddenly asked, “Why did so many people lose their fields at the same time due to not working hard?”

While they were conversing, the demonstration had yet to end.

The restaurant owner fell silent for a moment before saying, “With so many citizens, there will always be some who are lazy and don’t work hard.”

Jiang Baimian signaled Shang Jianyao with her eyes to stop him from asking. In order to shut this fellow up, she forked a few pieces of pork sausage onto his plate.

Long Yuehong looked around and finally decided to focus on his meal.

The shouting—”We want land” and “We want work”—gradually faded away as if they had entered the Red Wolf Zone.

Perhaps due to their hunger, the Old Task Force quickly finished dinner like a sweeping storm.

Jiang Baimian looked at the situation and thought for a moment. “Let’s walk around.”

It’s time for Team Leader’s favorite observation of the environment and to gain familiarity with the terrain… Long Yuehong wasn’t surprised.

“Alright!” Shang Jianyao—who had eaten his fill—was excited, and Genava mimicked his reaction.

Bai Chen didn’t say that she was already familiar with this area because she hadn’t been here for a long time. She wasn’t sure if there were any changes, so she had to reassess the area before she could feel at ease.

The five Old Task Force members strolled down Labe Street as if they were having their after-meal stroll and walked toward the Red Wolf Zone.

Under the dim sky, they saw many people hurrying back and forth. They seemed very busy, but their expressions were rather numb.

From time to time, people with fierce expressions or groups of three to five sized them up, but they looked away when they saw Genava—whose eyes were glowing red.

Upon seeing Third Avenue—which separated the Green Olive Zone and the Red Wolf Zone—Jiang Baimian and the others heard a commotion.

They looked over and saw a figure standing atop a skyscraper. His body was rather hunched as he warily faced someone on the other side.

Bang!

After a gunshot, the figure fell backward and fell from the roof, crashing heavily to the ground.

As blood quickly gushed out, Long Yuehong heard someone sigh behind him. “It’s the fourth one…”

At this moment, the sun had completely sunk beneath the horizon, and a large number of lights lit up all over First City.

The Milky Way above Third Avenue was reflected, and stars dotted around it.