Embers Ad Infinitum

Without waiting for Bai Chen and Long Yuehong’s response, Yan Miao sighed and said, “He’s a Subhuman, so how can it be that easy to find a suitable heart? Even if he’s a normal human, it still depends on luck! I have many customers here who haven’t found a suitable organ after waiting for two to three years. Heh heh, there aren’t any others who have waited longer. If a match doesn’t appear, it basically means death, or they will use other methods.

“Why are you looking for him? Does he owe you a lot of money? Did he cheat you? He doesn’t look like he has any background. Although he looks fierce, he’s quite amiable…”

There’s no need to say so much… Long Yuehong gradually felt like a large swarm of mosquitoes were buzzing in his ears.

Bai Chen nodded and inquired, “Do you know where he lives?”

Yan Miao laughed. “I do want to know, but he’s unwilling to tell me. Everyone who comes to the black market knows that they mustn’t expose their true identities and addresses here. You will never be able to imagine how many nasty people are hiding in Antanna Street. Even a dog squatting by the roadside pooping might have once tailed an unlucky person, pounced on him, dragged him into a quiet alley, and eaten him.”

This time, Long Yuehong didn’t mind that Yan Miao was talkative because it was rather interesting.

There were many mutated creatures in the Ashlands. A dog could also be very dangerous.

In the Green Olive Zone, stray animals were food in the residents’ eyes. A dog really couldn’t survive without some abilities.

Bai Chen then asked, “Can I buy his compatibility information?”

Yan Miao stopped smiling and said seriously, “It doesn’t seem like it’s your first time here in Antanna Street. You should’ve heard of me. Don’t you know that I became an organ merchant that’s relatively famous in First City because of my tight lips and integrity?”

At this point, he smiled and said, “Even if I wanted to scam you, I would do so openly—in a way that you would willingly accept it.”

Bai Chen ended the topic and asked about the illegal organ merchants in First City.

After leaving the underground black market, Long Yuehong sighed and said, “Old Han sure is unlucky.”

From the fact that Yan Miao could say keywords like ‘Subhuman’ and ‘heart,’ they could confirm that the other party had really met Han Wanghuo.

In the area where organ transactions were most active, Han Wanghuo had failed to find a match. It was obvious what kind of results he would have with other channels.

“There’s still us and mechanical hearts,” Bai Chen said calmly.

The slave trader, Eugene—who had captured her—previously had a mechanical artificial heart transplant. Although this technology seemed to have many problems and had all kinds of side effects, it was completely sufficient to maintain one’s life and even give one explosive power that exceeded that of an ordinary person.

Isn’t it said that it’s very expensive and that it’s controlled? Even the slave-hunting team leader, Eugene, could only find cheap workshops and transplant some shoddy product. Long Yuehong muttered inwardly but didn’t say anything.

Although Bai Chen seemed to have escaped her past trauma, he still felt that he should minimize the mention of Eugene’s name.

He found something to talk about and asked, “That organ merchant shouldn’t be lying. What do you think?”

Bai Chen glanced at him. “We can only be sure that Han Wanghuo came to him and talked about a heart transplant. I’m not sure if the rest is true, but I noticed something. When he observes us or wants to hide something, he becomes more talkative. In short, we’ll still keep an eye on him while also dealing with the other organ merchants.”

“Alright.” Long Yuehong was very proactive when it came to finding Han Wanghuo.

In the underground black market area belonging to Yan Miao.

The organ merchant turned around, walked to the room at the back, and gently knocked on the door.

“You can come out now,” he said with a smile.

The door creaked open, and a tall, thin man walked out.

He had a buzz cut, his eyes were white, and his hair was blond. His eyebrows were messy, and there were two scars on his face—one horizontal and one vertical. He looked very fierce. He was Han Wanghuo, who the Old Task Force was searching for.

Han Wanghuo—who slung a rifle on his back—exhaled indiscernibly as he looked at the road leading to the black market’s exit.

“Enemies?” Yan Miao asked with a smile.

Han Wanghuo shook his head. “A few friends I used to know.”

“Then, why don’t you want to meet them?” Yan Miao asked curiously.

Han Wanghuo simply replied, “You don’t have to know.”

Yan Miao chuckled. “If it weren’t for my kindness allowing you to hide in the room, you would’ve long been discovered by them. What’s there to keep from me? It’s always the following: I don’t want to implicate my friends; I don’t want my friends to see me in my current state; we’re just superficial friends and other reasons…”

Han Wanghuo remained silent and didn’t answer until Yan Miao finished droning on.

Yan Miao didn’t harp on this matter and asked, “Why are you here today? How can a match be done so quickly? It will take some time even if you are running a machine! Would you trust a compatibility report produced in a day? You’re looking for a heart transplant. If something goes wrong, you won’t even be able to get off the operating table. Ah right, you have to pay my intermediary fees in advance when the time comes. I don’t want to charge the dead…”

After droning on for a while, Yan Miao suddenly smiled. “But there’s a high chance this time. It just so happens that there’s a person who volunteered to sell their heart and is in a similar situation as you. Maybe it will be compatible with yours.”

“Why do you say it’s similar?” Han Wanghuo’s tone carried a hint of anticipation.

Yan Miao smiled. “She—yes, a woman. She was originally a normal person, but she was later infected in the North Shore Wastelands and suffered a certain degree of mutation. This was mainly due to her heart. She also contracted a certain disease because of this. Dragging it out until now is almost equivalent to terminal illness. Don’t worry—her heart is fine and can be transplanted. However, she has a request. This is also the reason why she’s willing to sell her organs.”

Han Wanghuo quietly listened and asked, “What request?”

Yan Miao simply changed the topic. “I can’t tell you now; you can chat when the match is done. I can only warn you that it’s a little difficult.”

He then looked in the direction of the black market exit. “Are you really not going to meet those friends? They seem to be doing well and have some strength. They should be able to help in the future.”

Han Wanghuo fell silent for a moment before slowly shaking his head. “There’s no need.”

…

In the Green Olive Zone, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao visited each household using the Heartless disease epidemic information they had previously obtained.

After they couldn’t narrow down the range by forcing Xiaochong out with a power outage, they employed their original method, hoping to find clues from the Heartless cases.

Of course, the premise for all of this was that the Heartless disease outbreak was related to Xiaochong. However, this might not be true.

“Sigh…” Jiang Baimian looked down at the information in her hand. “We’ve gone everywhere. I think we’re more professional than the sheriffs in these streets, but nobody gave us salaries.”

Shang Jianyao stroked his chin and mimicked Jiang Baimian’s usual tone. “We have to change our train of thought.”

“How?” Jiang Baimian snorted. “We’ve already investigated the direction we should be investigating.”

“Therefore, we have to jump out of the norm and change targets…” Shang Jianyao said very correct but useless nonsense.

Jiang Baimian was stunned for a moment. “Change targets?

“That’s true… Xiaochong isn’t alone. No, he’s alone, but he still has two pets—Nightmare Horse and Slumber Cat.” Jiang Baimian turned to look at Shang Jianyao and thoughtfully said, “Let’s pause our search for Xiaochong and instead seek out Nightmare Horse or Slumber Cat?”

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Shang Jianyao clapped. He then smiled and said, “Nightmare Horse and Ghost Cat don’t stay at home all day. They seem to like going out.”

“Also, they are animals. We humans have many ways to fish out animals.” Jiang Baimian’s face gradually lit up.

Shang Jianyao was also excited. “Yes, as long as we capture Qiao Chu, we can use him to lure the Nightmare Horse over!”

“…” The corners of Jiang Baimian’s mouth twitched slightly. “First, you have to find Qiao Chu.”

The two of them paid attention to the few pedestrians around them and controlled their volume as they discussed how to fish out a horse and cat in the city forest.

As they spoke, they returned to Labe Street and saw Ugo Hotel.

Jiang Baimian’s heart palpitated as she smiled. “I actually forgot that we had such a helper.”

“I haven’t befriended Boss Ugo…” Shang Jianyao had a confused expression.

Jiang Baimian put on her trademark smile. “There’s no need to make friends. Let’s tempt him with benefits. Do you still remember what abilities Boss Ugo has? Dream influence! Do you think he will be interested in the Nightmare Horse? He seems to have a secret Church backing him, so he should have plenty of manpower. It’s perfect for ‘helping’ us find someone…”

Upon seeing Shang Jianyao’s gaze turn a little strange, Jiang Baimian subconsciously added, “This isn’t exploitation. People aren’t born differently, but when it comes to success or failure, it depends on who’s using the tools available!”

Shang Jianyao came to a realization. “So the boss is a tool.”

A tool.

“…” Jiang Baimian was momentarily unable to retort.

Fortunately, Shang Jianyao didn’t continue the topic and sighed with emotion. “This is called: likes-attract.”

“What the hell?” Jiang Baimian scolded jokingly and muttered to herself, “Awakened and mutated creatures in the same domain might attract each other…”

At this point, she dragged out a terse grunt for a few seconds before saying, “But we have to remind him of how dangerous Xiaochong is. It’s fine borrowing someone else’s strength, but not when it will cause them harm.”

“That’s what friends are! Friends…” Shang Jianyao almost sang. Fortunately, Jiang Baimian stopped him in time.

The two of them quickly entered the hotel and saw the simply dressed Ugo sitting at the front desk, calculating the latest bill.

“Boss, have you seen such a creature?” Jiang Baimian described the Nightmare Horse’s appearance.

Ugo glanced at her as if she were an idiot. “Didn’t you ask before? No.”

Laughing, Jiang Baimian took the opportunity. “Haha, the description last time was too simple and not detailed enough. I wanted to ask again to prevent myself from missing anything. This mutated creature can affect a human’s dream and cause the target to die silently in their sleep…”

Ugo’s gaze at Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao immediately froze.