Embers Ad Infinitum

As it was unknown how long they would have to wait, Bai Chen was the only one in the Old Task Force who wore the relatively new M-45 military exoskeleton. She stayed in a concealed spot with Long Yuehong to conserve electricity.

When the time came, she would cooperate with Genava and be in charge of capturing the prey if it fled.

Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao were elsewhere, while Genava was solely responsible for a single spot. They maintained their distance to the greatest extent to prevent themselves from being attacked and wiped out.

Although the target was a mutated creature, Jiang Baimian still strictly followed the tactical manual’s rules and made such arrangements without letting down her guard.

At the same time, Jiang Baimian forbade her team members from applying insect repellent because she was worried about the sharp sense of smell of the white wolf—a canine creature.

Although the role of bait was to be discovered, the discovery had to be natural and reasonable. There couldn’t be any flaws.

It was very normal for Ruin Hunters not to expect the white wolf to be able to sense human consciousness and not be suspected. However, it seemed foolish to use an item with a stimulating smell while not even knowing how to hide their scent when ambushing prey—or rather, it made them look like rookies.

Real rookies didn’t dare to take on such missions.

Jiang Baimian didn’t know what level of intelligence the white wolf had, but if something was too abnormal, even ordinary beasts wouldn’t take the bait. After all, not all animals were silly roe deer.

The sun rose into the sky bit by bit. Long Yuehong hid in the grass and heard a buzzing sound echo around him.

Having known the plan in advance, he was currently wearing a long-sleeved shirt and pants. However, there were always places on his body that couldn’t be covered by cloth. If he wasn’t careful, he might suffer a slightly swollen bump that was itchy and painful.

He scratched the itch very slightly and drove away the mosquitoes slightly before returning to silence.

Time slowly passed as this kept continuing.

Elsewhere, Shang Jianyao wasn’t stingy with using the Ring of Blindness to enhance his perception range. In any case, he wasn’t hungry now, and he probably didn’t have a chance to eat during the ambush.

Of course, he couldn’t keep using it. There was a limit to the number of times he could use it unless he could find the corresponding Mind Corridor-level Awakened to charge it.

Coupled with Jiang Baimian’s perception of bioelectric signals, he used it to monitor the nearby situation once in a while.

Fortunately, it didn’t consume too much of the item’s energy if one only sensed the area and not used its abilities.

Suddenly, Jiang Baimian frowned and said, “Try sensing the area again.”

Shang Jianyao looked up at the blazing sun, causing the accessory weaved from black hair on his wrist to glow like fire again. He then said, “There’s a large number of human consciousnesses.”

Jiang Baimian confirmed the situation she had sensed.

It’s another Ruin Hunter team. They’re also here to set an ambush? Jiang Baimian subconsciously had this thought. But in the blink of an eye, she recalled herself and the others who had been ‘charmed’ by Qiao Chu back then.

Many of the Ruin Hunters who previously hunted the white wolf are missing… Jiang Baimian’s heart palpitated as she picked up the walkie-talkie and ordered, “Change positions immediately and search for cover.”

Without asking why, Bai Chen, Long Yuehong, and Genava quickly left their original ambush spot and found a hiding spot that wasn’t that concealed.

Thanks to their habit of observing the environment and familiarizing themselves with the terrain, they knew where they could hide in the surrounding area. They almost didn’t waste any time searching.

In just seven to eight seconds after they changed positions, a group of people appeared in the nearby forest.

These people wore tattered clothes, but they held weapons in their hands. There were rifles, submachine guns, grenade launchers, and rocket launchers.

Long Yuehong looked over and realized that these people didn’t have hunched backs. Their expressions weren’t hideous, and their eyes seemed normal.

They weren’t Heartless, but their faces were filled with hatred as if they were searching for an enemy who had killed their father and snatched their wife.

At this moment, Long Yuehong’s gaze suddenly froze. He saw a familiar face—Bob!

It was Bob from the chat last night—who was determined to comfort all female Ruin Hunters! The Ruin Hunter—who wanted to find the white wolf to change his life—was with his companions in the crowd. They held rifles and wore looks of hatred.

This made him appear so unfamiliar.

The next second, a few rockets were fired, flying toward the three spots where the Old Task Force was hiding.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Thanks to their cover and early precautions, the Old Task Force members weren’t harmed during the explosion.

The group of Ruin Hunters rushed over and fired indiscriminately.

At this moment, Jiang Baimian acutely noticed a white figure in the forest—that giant wolf!

It looked rather handsome, and its eyes were jade green.

“Old Ge, chase after it!” Jiang Baimian immediately ordered. From her point of view, with the Old Task Force’s firepower, cooperation, and abilities, it wouldn’t be a problem for them to finish off this group of ragtag Ruin Hunters even if Genava was the only one. The only thing they needed to consider was how many people they could save in the end.

Genava also thought so. His analysis told him that this was the best plan, so he rushed out and stomped into the forest with an indomitable will.

Bai Chen—who was wearing a military exoskeleton—suddenly jumped out as well. At a height that exceeded human limits, she aimed the submachine gun that came with her equipment below.

Ta! Ta! Ta!

She didn’t deliberately avoid the enemy’s vital spots and finished firing as quickly as possible.

The Ruin Hunter—who was running toward her and Long Yuehong—collapsed like culled wheat.

A large number of Ruin Hunters—who were charging toward Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao’s hiding spots—suddenly lost the ability to pull the trigger.

Right on the heels of that, Jiang Baimian casually raised her assault rifle and fired a series of rounds without sticking her head out. However, nearly every shot she fired hit their intended targets as if a pair of eyes in the void was helping her aim.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Shang Jianyao also drew two pistols and fired at the group of Ruin Hunters.

He and Jiang Baimian also didn’t deliberately avoid the enemy’s vital spots. After all, they were made of flesh and blood. They couldn’t be careless even for stray bullets. Holding back at this moment was equivalent to inflicting harm on themselves.

Ta! Ta! Ta!

The group of Ruin Hunters seemed to have lost their minds. Even though Bai Chen—who was wearing a military exoskeleton—instantly killed many, they still charged forward and fired without any regard for their lives. Two to three people approached Long Yuehong’s hiding spot.

Long Yuehong was no longer the young rookie from back then. Taking advantage of the other party’s opening, he raised his Berserker assault rifle and fired a short burst.

A Ruin Hunter immediately fell to the ground—his chest completely torn apart, and his body almost dismembered.

Long Yuehong bent down and dodged the subsequent counterattack. He then locked onto another target. But this time, he didn’t pull the trigger in time.

The target was Bob. It was the freckled Bob who had laughed and chatted with him last night.

At this moment, Long Yuehong suddenly felt like they had swapped positions. He was facing himself, and he felt like he was on the brink of death.

His fingers were momentarily unable to exert strength.

The next second, Bob fired.

Bang!

His rifle spewed out flames.

Although Long Yuehong was temporarily soft-hearted and couldn’t fire, he could still observe the situation and dodge in time. He retreated into cover and dodged the shot.

Bob then crossed his cover, jumped in front of him, and aimed his rifle at him again.

While feeling regret, Long Yuehong stomped his foot, exerted strength with his waist, and lunged horizontally to the side. As he looked at Bob—who had a look of hatred and a deep sense of unfamiliarity—a sentence the latter had said flashed across his mind instantly: “When the time comes, my parents won’t have to work so hard anymore. My younger brother and sister will also lead a different life…”

As these thoughts raced through his mind, the flustered Long Yuehong pulled the trigger.

Ta! Ta! Ta!

The Berserker assault rifle fired several rounds.

At such a close distance, Bob didn’t dodge a single shot. Blood bloomed from his body.

Thud!

He fell to the ground; his expression was first one of pain before it turned blank.

He saw Long Yuehong and finally seemed to understand his situation and regained some clarity of mind. He opened his mouth, and a hopeful and pleading expression appeared on his face. He was like a drowning person trying to grasp the last life-saving straw.

However, he ultimately didn’t have the time to say anything. In just a few seconds, he opened his eyes wide and stopped breathing.

Long Yuehong glanced at him and didn’t hesitate to mount the assault rifle over his cover and fire at the remaining Ruin Hunters.

After all the enemies were dealt with as they collapsed to the ground—either moaning in pain or being completely still—only then did Long Yuehong gasp for breath, his eyes a blur.

At this moment, Genava’s voice sounded from the walkie-talkie. “The target has escaped into a cave. It’s very deep, so I didn’t dare to chase after it for the time being.”

Jiang Baimian glanced at the Ruin Hunters and the blood everywhere and shouted at Long Yuehong, “Little Red, stay here with Shang Jianyao and me; we’ll save as many as we can. Little White, go meet up with Old Ge. Don’t be in a rush to enter the cave and check if there are any other exits in the vicinity.”

Bai Chen replied with her actions. Wearing the military exoskeleton, she then disappeared into the forest with a few leaps.

After taking a deep breath, Long Yuehong immediately ran to Bob’s side and squatted down to provide him first aid.

However, the Ruin Hunter was already dead.

Meanwhile, Shang Jianyao—who was treating the injured—suddenly said, “This doesn’t feel like Qiao Chu.”

An idea suddenly came to Jiang Baimian. “That’s right! After the white wolf fled, the Bewitchment was still maintained!”

The hunters were still ‘charging!’

This was clearly beyond its range. After all, the four carbon-based Old Task Force members didn’t sense a charm that exceeded that of beasts.

Back then, Qiao Chu’s Bewitchment was only effective at a certain distance.

Jiang Baimian immediately used the walkie-talkie to inform the other two members. “Old Ge, Little White, pay attention. The target’s ability might very well not be Bewitchment, but a similar and more persistent ability.”

She and Shang Jianyao also increased the speed at which they saved the lightly injured. As for the seriously injured, they really didn’t have the time. By the time they had time, most of them were dead.

The premise for them to save the lightly injured was that the other party had already recovered and was no longer controlled by the white wolf.

After a while, Jiang Baimian stood up and shouted at Long Yuehong, “Phew, I’m done. Little Red, let’s go meet up with Old Ge and Little White now.”

Long Yuehong nodded with a dazed expression.

Upon seeing this, Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and said, “No, there are too many people here. What if our cars are stolen? Stay behind and watch the cars.”