Embers Ad Infinitum

Jiang Baimian and the others were a little dumbfounded by Long Yuehong’s question. Only Shang Jianyao thought for a moment and replied seriously, “He might not know.”

Xiaochong didn’t know that the Green Olive Zone often had water and electricity outages.

This time, Jiang Baimian stood on Long Yuehong’s side. “It’s normal not to know about this early on, but once you live in the Green Olive Zone for a few days—not even more than a week—you will definitely know that this place often suffers from power outages. It’s been a while since the customer at the bathhouse encountered Slumber Cat.”

She meant that even if Xiaochong had chosen to live in the most chaotic Green Olive Zone—where he would go under the radar during his initial arrival at First City—he should’ve moved to Red Wolf Zone, Golden Grain Zone, and other places by now.

“If Xiaochong is indeed related to the Heartless outbreak in these few blocks, he won’t be too far from here.” Genava’s chip did rapid calculations and eliminated all kinds of impossibilities.

This judgment was based on a certain logic: If Xiaochong could influence a large area, the previous Heartless disease cases wouldn’t be so concentrated spatially.

Upon hearing Genava, Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and Bai Chen cast their gazes at the hotel window.

They stood in the room. Through the not-so-clean glass, they could also see the Third Avenue that separated the Green Olive Zone and the Red Wolf Zone.

At this moment, a group of people marched obstreperously, shouting, “We want land!” and “We want work!”

“Xiaochong is in the few blocks around Third Avenue?” Long Yuehong reacted.

“That’s possible.” Jiang Baimian nodded slightly.

Shang Jianyao said, “Xiaochong’s train of thought isn’t too normal either. It might not follow our expectations.”

That’s why he’s your good friend? Long Yuehong criticized inwardly and said awkwardly, “If Xiaochong is in those few blocks, it will be more troublesome. It’s safer there, making it virtually impossible to check each household. Besides, it’s not that easy to have power outages.”

The main reason why it was difficult to carry out an investigation on each household was that they were in a relatively tight situation. The Old Task Force had to hide from the Anti-intellectualism Church. If they pretended to be sheriffs and entered a fixed area for more than ten days in a row to visit different residents, it was very easy for them to be targeted.

Jiang Baimian smiled after hearing Long Yuehong’s words. “If those blocks don’t suffer from power outages, we’ll make it suffer one. The hospital is relatively far away anyway.”

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Shang Jianyao suddenly clapped.

Looking at his team leader’s pleasing smile, Long Yuehong suddenly had a feeling that they might really be villains.

…

The next day, 3 p.m.

Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen separately went to the top of two buildings that allowed them to see the target area. They used binoculars to monitor different areas.

“Ten, nine, eight…” Shang Jianyao began counting down ritualistically.

Just as he shouted ‘one,’ the few blocks near Third Avenue in the Red Wolf Zone suddenly suffered a power outage. In the few spots that had light bulbs installed, none of them could resist the sunlight.

The reason the Old Task Force chose to have a power outage in the afternoon instead of nighttime was that Xiaochong gamed 24 hours a day. It wouldn’t be fixed at a particular period. If they had a power outage at night, it would be pitch-black everywhere.

The difficulty of monitoring the area would rise exponentially for Jiang Baimian and company.

In addition, most of the people in the Red Wolf Zone were at work during this period. It wouldn’t affect the Old Task Force’s observation. At night, especially after the power outage, it was unknown how many people would enter the streets. With the Old Task Force’s manpower, they couldn’t keep track of everyone.

After confirming that there was indeed a blackout in the target area, Shang Jianyao praised, “Old Ge is really punctual. He’s never a second too late. We carbon-based people really can’t compare to him in this regard.”

“I can.” Jiang Baimian raised her left hand. She meant that she had an auxiliary chip that could also make her actions precise to the second.

As she spoke, she didn’t get distracted. She continued using the binoculars to observe the target area and see if anything had changed.

Shang Jianyao was the same.

One by one, people—who had left the building and entered the street—entered their sights.

More than ten minutes later, Jiang Baimian heard Bai Chen’s report. “Didn’t discover anyone suspected to be Xiaochong. No anomalies in the rooms.”

“Same here,” Jiang Baimian replied.

At this moment, Genava had also finished watching the surveillance footage copied from Ugo Hotel. “There are no creatures suspected to be Xiaochong, Slumber Cat, or Nightmare Horse.”

“It seems like Xiaochong’s train of thought is indeed different from normal people…” Jiang Baimian sighed with emotion in a low voice. “Hey, if it were you, what would you do?”

Shang Jianyao thought for a moment and said, “I’d throw a die and let the heavens decide. When I don’t even know where I’ll choose, the people who want to find me won’t know either.”

Jiang Baimian wanted to say, “What would you do if your luck at dice sucked and provided you the option of having an enemy as a neighbor?” But after careful consideration, she felt that it wasn’t a problem.

Similar wrong answers could be eliminated before throwing the die.

“We can only guess bit by bit based on the range of the Heartless disease outbreak this time…” Jiang Baimian exhaled.

Xiaochong’s connection with the Heartless outbreak was only a guess.

At this moment, Shang Jianyao suddenly became excited. “I see him! I see him!”

“Xiaochong?” Jiang Baimian quickly turned the binoculars to where Shang Jianyao was looking.

Through Shang Jianyao’s ‘guidance,’ she finally locked onto a person.

This person was in his forties. He wore a dark robe and had long black hair. He also had a very elegant beard around his mouth.

He wasn’t Xiaochong, but he was also an acquaintance of the Old Task Force. Furthermore, he knew Xiaochong to a certain extent.

Du Heng!

The mysterious powerhouse—who claimed to be an antiquarian and historian—that had just become an Official Hunter, Du Heng!

“He chased Xiaochong all the way to First City?” Jiang Baimian nodded slightly. This made her further confirm that Xiaochong had come to First City.

“Shall we go and greet him?” Shang Jianyao suggested excitedly.

“Let’s wait and observe a little longer.” Jiang Baimian didn’t want to waste the power outage she had worked so hard to create.

After the maintenance personnel handled the malfunction and restored the power supply, they still didn’t discover Xiaochong or any abnormalities.

Jiang Baimian didn’t stop Shang Jianyao any longer. She took the elevator down with him and quickly rushed to the street where Du Heng was.

The two of them were relatively lucky—Du Heng had yet to leave when they arrived.

In fact, they weren’t too worried even if Du Heng left because Bai Chen and Long Yuehong remained on the roof to observe the mysterious expert’s whereabouts.

Upon seeing Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian approach, Du Heng—who was definitely a handsome man in his youth—laughed. “I was wondering who was watching me. So it’s you guys.”

He spoke in Ashlandic.

Aren’t you too sharp? We even disguised ourselves… Jiang Baimian smiled and said, “It’s inevitable to be excited when meeting an old friend in a foreign land.”

“That’s right, that’s right.” Shang Jianyao agreed deeply.

They also switched back to Ashlandic.

Du Heng looked up at the tall building where Bai Chen and Long Yuehong were and smiled. “Let your companions come over as well. I ate your roasted rabbit last time, so I have to treat you to something good this time.”

“Quick, there’s a feast!” Shang Jianyao immediately informed Long Yuehong, Bai Chen, and Genava through the walkie-talkie.

The Old Task Force quickly gathered and invited Du Heng to board one of the cars. Under the other party’s guidance, they chatted and laughed as they drove to a certain spot in the Red Wolf Zone.

In the other car, Long Yuehong suddenly sighed.

“What’s wrong?” Bai Chen—who was driving—turned her head.

Long Yuehong looked ahead and said with a complicated tone, “Du Heng is an acquaintance of ours, and so is Han Wanghuo. Seeing that Du Heng is doing so well, I’m even more worried about Han Wanghuo. I wonder how he’s doing…”

…

In the Green Olive Zone, in a rented apartment with poor lighting.

The originally thin and tall Han Wanghuo looked thinner than before.

He poured out two tablets and gulped down a cup of clear water.

After checking the pistol and rifle he carried with him, Han Wanghuo walked out of the room with a slightly gloomy expression. He then drove his car and arrived at Antanna Street.

This time, he didn’t go to Dr. Metz’s clinic. Instead, he relied on his rich experience to find the underground black market and meet a businessman with the means to acquire human organs.

“Do you have hearts?” Han Wanghuo asked bluntly.

“Yes, I have all kinds of organs that you would need. I can’t guarantee where they come from because I don’t know either. I won’t delve into these things. It will make my conscience prick, and if I don’t do it, there will be plenty of people doing it.” The black market merchant was amiable, and he went on and on for no reason.

He was a young Ashlandic, looking around 25 years old. He was 1.75 meters tall and looked a little scholarly.

Han Wanghuo fell silent for a few seconds before asking, “Are there any hearts from volunteers?”

“Volunteers?” The black market merchant laughed. “You’re already at the point where you need to change your organs. This is the Ashlands, so why do you care if it’s voluntary?”

The muscles on Han Wanghuo’s face twitched slightly as he asked, “Are there?”

“Yes, but not many. The probability of a successful match is very low.” The black market merchant shook his head.

Han Wanghuo slowly exhaled and said, “Let’s see if it’s compatible first.”