Embers Ad Infinitum

“Look at this!” Long Yuehong shouted in a trembling voice.

Bai Chen and Genava cast their gazes over and fixed their gazes on the short-filter cigarette butts.

“Flagship cigarettes.” Genava’s eyes flashed red.

Long Yuehong heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that. He was just worried that he had recognized the wrong item and had prematurely celebrated, but he didn’t have such worries now.

Genava had definitely said that after careful analysis and comparison.

Bai Chen didn’t say a word. She had already stretched out her hand and started rummaging through the pile of trash.

She quickly found many items, including packaging of Ralph candy, empty wrappers, and the hand-ground coffee residue.

“We can preliminarily judge that it’s the real Father.” Bai Chen looked up and exchanged looks with Long Yuehong and Genava.

She couldn’t help but smile. After repeated failures, disappointment, and exhaustion, the Old Task Force finally caught the real Father’s tail!

They had firmly caught it!

Long Yuehong couldn’t hide the joy on his face and quickly said, “Quickly, get Team Leader and Shang Jianyao over.”

In about ten minutes, Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian rushed over and saw the ‘evidence.’

Shang Jianyao immediately smiled and sang, “Hey, I really miss you…”

“Stop!” Jiang Baimian stopped his performance and beamed. “It’s not time to celebrate yet. When we capture the real Father or kill him, I’ll allow you to sing in front of him or his corpse for five minutes!”

“I also want the small speaker and Old Ge to sing it together. Surround sound.” Shang Jianyao made his request.

Jiang Baimian exhaled and looked around. “We can only say that we have obtained some level of progress. What we need to consider next is how to find the real Father in this building.”

Long Yuehong looked at Alpha Building—which was 27 stories tall—again. “Act as sheriffs and search each unit?”

Residing in the building were a large number of companies, Chamber of Commerce employees, and tenants.

Bai Chen shook her head. “I’m afraid that won’t do. I suspect that there are a large number of ‘puppets’ in the building. They usually work and live like normal people, but they will immediately transform into the real Father’s eyes and ears when they discover any abnormalities.”

“Yes, there’s no way to avoid this.” Jiang Baimian simply gave an example. “For example, when we knock on one family’s door and use the excuse of investigating a case to search for the real Father, there might be a pair of eyes quietly watching everything from the peephole opposite or diagonally across the hallway. They might then use an agreed-upon method to warn the real Father.”

Genava gave the results of his analysis. “After eliminating similar methods, there’s only one choice left: Let the real Father come out himself.”

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Shang Jianyao clapped for smart bot Old Ge.

The red light in Genava’s eyes flickered a few times.

Jiang Baimian laughed as well. “We have to create a scene that forces the real Father to come out.”

…

At 2 p.m. the next day, the disguised Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and Genava infiltrated Alpha Building and entered an empty room on the third floor.

Shang Jianyao walked to the window, cleared the tables and chairs, and did some additional work to the marble floor.

Genava then threw down the sack on his back and poured half of the items inside into the empty area. These were all flammable objects that easily produced smoke.

Jiang Baimian then wore a gas mask, drew a few matches, and threw them at the pile of items.

Gradually, sparks began to spread as black smoke quickly filled the air.

Before long, the flames blazed upward. As they were surrounded by a deliberate barricade, they didn’t spread out.

The thick smoke quickly triggered the alarm on the ceiling, and sirens quickly echoed in the entire Alpha Building.

Genava—who had long hacked the surveillance system here—raised his flamethrower and spewed flames out the window. He also made the corresponding screens play out scenes edited from the Old World’s entertainment, making the surveillance personnel believe that a big fire had already started and that the building’s fire-fighting capabilities couldn’t extinguish it.

As the Old Task Force had expected, a voice quickly shouted from the building’s intercom. “Attention please: The building is on fire. Everyone, please evacuate in an orderly manner! Do not use the elevators! Those on higher floors can head to the rooftop and await evacuation.”

This voice spread to every corner of Alpha Building, making the company employees and apartment residents rush into the stairwell and keep going down.

The ones who went out the fastest saw flames and black smoke billowing out of a window on the third floor. Therefore, they were sure that a fire had started.

On the rooftop of the building opposite Alpha Building, Long Yuehong held the Orange rifle and observed everyone rushing out of the building’s main entrance with a fixed scope.

In contrast, Bai Chen was in charge of the back exit.

Long Yuehong—who was acting alone for the first time—couldn’t help but feel a little nervous and uneasy. However, he—who was no longer a rookie—knew how to deal with such emotions.

He took two deep breaths in, but he didn’t relax his surveillance of Alpha Building’s main entrance.

Amidst the chaos, Long Yuehong’s eyes suddenly lit up.

The figure sandwiched in the middle of the group matched the real Father’s characteristics very well. He was about the same height as his team leader, and he had relatively dark eye circles. He looked rather exhausted, and he leaned forward slightly when walking.

He looked to be in his late twenties. He wore a black shirt and pants, and he had short black hair. He looked Ashlandic, but his facial features were relatively deep. As he walked, he consciously used the surrounding buildings and crowd to avoid any snipers from above.

Long Yuehong traced the person with his gaze as he reported through the walkie-talkie. “Target spotted. Target spotted. Walking in the direction of Hurst Apartments.”

After shouting, Long Yuehong relaxed significantly and focused on aiming at the person suspected to be the real Father.

At this moment, he—who had followed his team leader’s instructions and didn’t give up on monitoring Alpha Building’s main entrance—noticed another person from the corner of his eye.

This person was also in his late twenties. He wore a black shirt and pants, and he had short black hair. He was between 1.75 to 1.8 meters tall, and he had dark eye circles. His expression was also filled with fatigue. At this moment, he was slightly burying his head as he leaned forward and quickly walked in another direction.

Apart from his looks that weren’t too similar to the previous one, he also matched all the characteristics of the real Father!

This… There’s nothing wrong with the real Father. He’s just an asshole. Long Yuehong couldn’t help but use a term he had learned from the Old World’s entertainment.

He quickly informed his team leader of the new discovery through the walkie-talkie. “Another suspected target has appeared! He left in the opposite direction of Hurst Apartments!”

He only hoped that the team leader and the others could split up in time to intercept the two.

The current situation made him unsure if he should fire.

Ignoring the fact that the two of them were consciously searching for cover and preventing a distant snipe, Long Yuehong found it a little difficult to take action because there was definitely a puppet and an innocent between them.

…

The person heading to Hurst Apartments reached the intersection and suddenly turned around, walking toward the Red Wolf Zone.

At this moment, a figure in a dark-green military uniform jumped out of the alley beside him.

He was 1.9 meters tall, and his entire body had a silver-black metallic luster. He was the smart bot, Genava.

Looking at the target suspected to be the real Father in front of him, Genava didn’t let Shang Jianyao down. He played the voice he had recorded in advance. “You have two choices now: First, follow me to that alley. Second, have me beat you up and be dragged into that alley.”

The eyes of the target—who was suspected to be the real Father—suddenly froze.

…

In the opposite direction of Hurst Apartments, the other suspected target rushed to a café as if he wanted to pass through it and leave through the back door.

A gunshot suddenly sounded, and a bullet struck the spot in front of him.

He rolled on the ground and hid by the mailbox beside him. He then saw a beaming Shang Jianyao in sunglasses.

“Heh, I really miss you…” A song sounded from Shang Jianyao’s tactical backpack at the right time.

…

Upon noticing that both sides seemed to have intercepted the target, Long Yuehong exhaled again and reported the situation to Bai Chen.

At this moment, the thick smoke on the third floor began to fade. There were no longer any surging flames.

Bai Chen didn’t relax because of Shang Jianyao, Jiang Baimian, and Genava’s relative success. She maintained the status of monitoring the back exit.

Another group of people fled through the back exit. Among them was a figure wearing a beanie, who kept his head lowered. His gait was inclined forward, and his footsteps were a little unsteady.

Bai Chen’s heart palpitated as she focused completely on him. She then saw the obvious dark circles under his eyes and the unconcealed fatigue on his face.

“Another suspected target has appeared at the back door,” Bai Chen calmly reported.

F*ck… At this moment, this was the only thought in Long Yuehong’s mind.