Embers Ad Infinitum

Theodore and Wall were no strangers to the name ‘Father.’

The assassination of Elder Sols had embarrassed the Hand of Order. The middle and upper echelons were so ashamed that they couldn’t raise their heads in front of nobles for a long time.

It wasn’t that they had never thought of capturing the cult’s elite, nor did they slack off. But no matter how they tried, they couldn’t find the real Father. The combination of Memory Tampering and Hypnosis allowed this Awakened—who had yet to truly grow to his full potential—to escape the scene like a drop of water returning to the sea. There was no way to lock onto him.

The Hand of Order had used many Awakened and used all kinds of methods, but they could only capture fake Fathers and ordinary puppets that couldn’t even be considered fake Fathers.

Today, they suddenly saw Father’s corpse.

The corpse was even arranged to look as if it were repenting. There was a piece of paper that admitted to being guilty plastered across its chest.

The knowledgeable Wall and Theodore doubted their eyes at this moment. Is it that easy to find the real Father and kill him?

After a few seconds, Wall muttered, “Could it be that it’s still a fake Father…”

Theodore’s eyes darted around as he turned his head and glanced at his colleague. “It’s impossible for the person who killed him not to confirm it. Since he dares to write it this way, he definitely has a high level of confidence.”

Wall admitted that Theodore made sense, but he was unwilling to say so. He muttered, “If I were the Anti-intellectualism Church’s Shepherd Bouillon, I would immediately introduce another Father and say that the one who died now is fake.”

Theodore coldly replied, “It’s not like we haven’t gathered the real Father’s fingerprints. Wouldn’t it be clear if we compare them?”

It was a clue left behind by the real Father in the assassination of Elder Sols. At the same time, there were also some other biological materials.

As he spoke, Theodore strode toward the corpse that was leaning against the wall with its head slightly lowered.

Wall followed closely behind.

Just as they approached, they saw two people on the ground around a bend in the alley.

These two people looked a little similar to corpses. There was also a piece of paper stuck to their chests respectively.

On the paper was the same sentence: “We are accomplices.”

“The fake Fathers were also captured…” Wall muttered in surprise.

Father has been wiped out by someone? Theodore looked at the two puppets before looking back at the corpse. He was momentarily at a loss for words.

He quickly thought of the Anti-intellectualism Church’s recent activity and the tense situation in First City. He immediately sneered and said, “Father seems to have offended someone or a faction he shouldn’t have offended.”

Wall quietly stared at the corpse for a while before slowly exhaling. “Quick, report this to Officer Delion and get him to confirm it with the specialists.”

Delion was the Orderly Officer of First City’s Golden Apple Zone and Theodore’s immediate superior. But due to this zone’s special nature, he was of the same rank as the city’s enforcers and only listened to the Hand of Order’s orders.

Similarly, if Theodore and Konstanz were transferred to another zone, they could directly become Orderly Officers. If they were willing to go to large settlements at the border, they could also become the highest-ranking officers that maintained a city’s order.

Theodore didn’t retort and nodded. “I hope it’s the real Father.”

…

After disguising, evacuating separately, and getting into the rented, crimson SUV in the distance, Long Yuehong asked in disbelief, “We really killed Father?”

“When he saw that he couldn’t escape, all he hoped was for death.” Jiang Baimian never felt the need to respect the dead. She scoffed and said, “Does he think we care about that? What we wanted was for him to die!”

Shang Jianyao echoed as well, “Once you join the Anti-intellectualism Church, your intelligence will become that of a nobody.”

Long Yuehong heaved a sigh of relief and raised a question he was too embarrassed to ask. “Team Leader, why did we have to use a fake fire to force out the real Father? Actually, we can think of a way to blow up the water pipes here or block the sewers in Alpha Building. That way, the real Father—who has been suffering from chronic diarrhea—will definitely take the initiative to go downstairs and head to the public bathroom. It’s not something he can hold in or have his puppet use the bathroom in his stead.”

This time, it wasn’t Jiang Baimian who was in charge of explaining but Bai Chen. “That will give the real Father plenty of time to disguise himself. Although wearing a pair of sunglasses in the middle of the day is more suspicious, he still has other ways to hide his relatively obvious characteristics. When the time came, it’d be very difficult for us to distinguish him based on his unsteady footsteps, inclination to lean forward, and staggering gait.

“Although not many people have such characteristics, there won’t be only a handful. Only by using a fake fire can Father feel the urgency and not have the time to do anything further.”

Disasters like floods and fires showed no mercy; it might be difficult for him to escape if he was delayed for even a second. Although the real Father felt that he had transcended mortals, he wouldn’t imagine that he was immune to fire. It was impossible for him to be hypnotized or have his memories tampered with unless he had already become a mechanical monk.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Shang Jianyao clapped for Bai Chen.

After the applause subsided, Bai Chen added, “It’s not that there’s no other way, but I don’t agree with blowing up the main water pipe. Water is very precious.”

At this moment, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao nodded at the same time. They clearly thought so too.

“Which safe house are we going to next?” Long Yuehong raised a new question.

As Shang Jianyao shook the small bag containing his harvest, he firmly said, “Send a telegram. I want to tell my good brother, Xu Liyan, so that he doesn’t have to worry about the real Father anymore.”

“Yes, send one to Councilor Zhao as well. Follow the situation up with him to prevent him from making mistakes when communicating with General Phocas.” When choices were amenable, Jiang Baimian always chose to be a good Ruin Hunter that tied matters up in a bow.

…

Weed City, Castellan Manor.

Xu Liyan had just woken up for an afternoon nap when he saw a trusted aide waiting outside.

“Castellan, there’s a telegram for you.” The aide handed over a piece of paper with both hands.

Xu Liyan took it and asked, “Who sent it?”

The aide secretly looked at the castellan’s expression. “It’s… It’s from Zhang Qubing…”

Xu Liyan’s forehead throbbed as he quickly read the paper in his hand.

This telegram had very little content and only informed him of one matter: “There’s no need for further worry. We’ve already eliminated the real Father.”

This… Xu Liyan was stunned. He had always felt that revenge on the real Father was a long-term and arduous goal. As for the Qian Bai Team, they had completed this matter not long after arriving in First City!

After quite some time, Xu Liyan muttered to himself, From the looks of it, they are also elites among the elites in Pangu Biology. They are in the upper echelons of all combat squads…

…

Weed City, Zhao Manor.

Zhao Zhengqi—who was vexing over how to deal with his second son—saw his eldest son, Zhao Yide, quickly walk in.

“Dad, a telegram from those people!” he said anxiously.

Zhao Zhengqi frowned. “Didn’t we end it all? Why are they sending a telegram over?”

He didn’t want to worsen things.

Zhao Yide gulped and said, “Th-they killed the real Father!”

“What?” Zhao Zhengqi couldn’t control his volume. He hurriedly took the telegram from his eldest son and read it a few times.

The real Father’s horror was something he had experienced from Elder Sols’s death and Weed City’s riot. It made him unable to muster the courage to fall out with the Anti-intellectualism Church completely.

But in just a few days, the Qian Bai Team had found the real Father—who was universally deemed to be difficult to find—and killed him.

Phew… Zhao Zhengqi exhaled and sighed. “Their abilities are terrifying, and their background isn’t simple either.”

They were actually not afraid of a behemoth like the Anti-intellectualism Church.

…

In the general’s residence, Phocas also received the information his subordinate had submitted.

“The real Father is dead?” The lion-like general couldn’t hide his smile. “This rat—who always likes to hide in the sewers—seems to have encountered its nemesis…”

In another spot, a figure violently threw the cup in his hand away and shattered it on the ground.

…

“Phew, I’m done.” Jiang Baimian exhaled.

“We haven’t reported it to the company,” reminded Bai Chen.

“That’s true.” Jiang Baimian nodded slightly and thought about how to write the telegram.

After a few seconds, the corners of her mouth curled up. “There’s no need to be so detailed. It’s better to be simpler.”

“In any case, the company won’t reward us for this matter.” Shang Jianyao agreed.

Long Yuehong actually found his words reasonable. He then heaved a sigh of relief when he saw Genava nod gently.

Jiang Baimian quickly drafted the telegram to Pangu Biology. There were only four words: “Father has been killed.”