Embers Ad Infinitum

On the roof of a tall building far away from Apex Gladiator Arena.

After Bai Chen secretly mounted the Orange rifle, she took out the letter Jiang Baimian had given her and opened it to read.

She didn’t wait until it was the last resort.

Bai Chen revealed a complicated expression from a quick skim. She was surprised, confused, and a little amused.

…

As the nursery-like rhyme echoed, the nobles stood up and walked to the bathroom in the walkway. This was also a relatively common scene in the past. It was a common choice for many people to relieve themselves and get spruced up before the gladiator match officially began.

Upon seeing this, the corners of Marcus’s mouth curled up slightly as he shook his head indiscernibly. But suddenly, his expression became strange.

He also felt the bulge in his lower abdomen and an uncontrollable urge.

How can that be? A confused thought surfaced in Marcus’s mind. I haven’t drunk water since lunch. Furthermore, I had specially gone to the bathroom before leaving. Why am I in a rush to pee?

However, his body told him that this wasn’t an illusion. His previous doubts weren’t without explanation—they could be explained with the Red River proverb: “There are matters in life that are unpredictable and intolerable—love and diarrhea.”

Marcus’s first reaction was to hold it in, but the urge became stronger and stronger. It was so strong that he was afraid that he would wet his pants.

I still have to go. It’s fine as long as I don’t close the bathroom door when the time comes. It’s fine even if it’s closed since there are lights inside… Besides, there are two to three Awakened in the VIP room. Many of them have military experience. They aren’t trash who panic when they encounter an accident… I also have professional bodyguards who are willing to block a shot for me… People always found explanations to convince themselves if it benefited them. Marcus quickly convinced himself, stood up, and led the four bodyguards to the bathroom.

Upon seeing this scene and not sensing any changes in the Virtual World, Long Yuehong heaved a slight sigh of relief.

Although immediately switching off the portable recording device could prevent the effects from worsening, lest even the Virtual World’s owner began to feel urgent, Shang Jianyao didn’t do so because it would appear too coincidental and purposeful. This would make it easy for them to be suspected.

Fortunately, they had considered what to do in such a situation when formulating the plan.

Jiang Baimian flipped her wrist to look at the time. She took out a silver-white phone and dialed a number.

The caller ID stated ‘Max.’

“Hey, Max. Are you free tonight? We’d like to visit and discuss that matter…” At this point, Jiang Baimian turned around and patted Shang Jianyao’s arm, gesturing for him to switch off the portable recording device and not affect her call.

Shang Jianyao naturally followed suit.

After the music stopped, Jiang Baimian continued, “I’ll see you at 8 p.m. then. Give us at least 50 minutes.”

“Alright.” On the other end of the line was a deep male voice.

…

After Genava hung up, he switched off the phone to prevent others from pinpointing his location. He then began counting down.

In the conversation they had, the first number was an invalid one used to confuse any listeners. Its only meaning was to tell Genava that the latter was the key.

’50 minutes’ meant that he was to cut the power in 50 seconds!

…

Jiang Baimian put away her phone and looked at the walkway to the bathroom in front of her. She saw that Marcus and his four bodyguards were about to enter.

She slapped Shang Jianyao’s right hand that was ‘attempting’ to play the song again and deliberately spoke in a wheedling voice. “The match is about to begin. Make a quick trip to the bathroom.”

“Alright.” Shang Jianyao deliberately placed the portable recording device on the seat. He quickly stood up and walked to the walkway where the bathroom was with Jiang Baimian.

As a ‘bodyguard,’ Long Yuehong undoubtedly followed closely behind.

When they saw the male bathroom, Marcus and his bodyguards had already entered.

Logically speaking, Jiang Baimian should’ve turned to the right and gone to the female bathroom. But at this moment, Shang Jianyao stretched out his hand, hugged her waist, and pointed at the male bathroom with a naughty expression.

“You’re so nasty,” Jiang Baimian said angrily with her head lowered.

Ugh… Although Long Yuehong was mentally prepared for this line, he still felt nauseous. Furthermore, he was very afraid that his team leader would silence him later.

Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian then pushed open the door to the male bathroom that wasn’t locked.

In First City’s aristocratic circle—where the Mandara faith was relatively popular—this wasn’t considered too rare. Not to mention male bathrooms, even gardens, garages, and rooftops had been attempted by people.

The male bathroom attached to the nobles’ VIP rooms was different from other places. There were no urinals because many nobles would get their bodyguards to come in with them, worried about being attacked. Not everyone enjoyed urinating under everyone’s gazes.

For decency, this place was designed very similarly to a female bathroom. It consisted of cubicles, and no other cubicle was directly adjacent to the other. There were empty areas between cubicles.

At this moment, Marcus had already entered a cubicle with the four bodyguards guarding outside.

Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian—who were hugging—walked to a cubicle in the corner. This posture made their actions rather slow.

As a bodyguard, Long Yuehong ‘habitually’ closed the bathroom door.

This was the best time to close the door! As there was still no power outage and the lights were still on, the bathroom’s situation was far from being in a state of alert. It was enough for the Virtual World’s owner to maintain normal operations; there was no need to add any additional details.

If he were a rookie who had just begun protecting Marcus, he might be beyond the limits of vigilance. But he had clearly been doing this for many years. He was definitely almost numb to certain details, so he closed an eye whenever he could.

With a click, the bathroom door closed.

Long Yuehong didn’t dare to be at complete ease with regard to this. He wasn’t sure if this was his illusion or if it was an illusion in the Virtual World.

In the real world, the bathroom door might still be in an ajar state. If that were the case, the Old Task Force could only accept the outcome of failure.

Less than ten seconds after he closed the door, the lights in the bathroom suddenly went out when Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao were still a distance away from the cubicle!

This happened without any warning—it didn’t even flicker twice!

The place was immediately thrown into darkness. Only a breeze could be felt from the ventilation ducts.

Almost at the same time, Jiang Baimian suddenly felt her surroundings become light and see-through. It was like she had finally surfaced from the water after diving a distance.

Without anyone’s reminder, she knew that the Virtual World had subsided. At the very least, it didn’t envelop the male bathroom attached to the nobles’ VIP room!

Such an environment and such a reaction also made her understand the price the Virtual World’s owner paid—claustrophobia!

Even if the Mind Corridor-level Awakened could continue simulating a bright and sealed bathroom in the Virtual World, reality couldn’t be changed. This would make him—who knew what was real and what was fake—feel terrified. He uncontrollably lost focus on the area.

Therefore, the Virtual World was eliminated from the bathroom.

Seizing this opportunity, Shang Jianyao stretched out his hand and grabbed the Destiny Pearl in his pocket. He didn’t use Inference Clowning—which required more steps—and instead chose Destiny Connection!

With this, he could make his consciousness leave his body and directly invade the target’s mind world. The other party might not be able to sense it.

The range of Destiny Connection was 30 meters, and the entire bathroom wasn’t that large!

Green light lit up in his pocket without illuminating the darkness outside.

Shang Jianyao’s consciousness instantly appeared in the Sea of Origins—which was shimmering with light and shrouded in fog.

Countless waves surged, revealing all kinds of scenes.

Shang Jianyao didn’t go too far because Marcus was only six years old when Oray died. Even if there was something important, it was impossible for Oray to tell him directly.

There wasn’t much time for him to review the memories. Shang Jianyao only chose two relevant pieces of information.

The first was if there was anything left behind for Marcus or his mother—Oray’s daughter—before Oray died.

The second was what Marcus’s mother had told him before she died.

The direction was clear enough, and the nine Shang Jianyaos were abnormally familiar with splitting up the work. It didn’t take them long to find the information they wanted.

First, Oray didn’t leave behind any secret items or information for Marcus and his mother. Only property and fields were passed down.

Second, Marcus’s mother had indeed said a few words to him before she died: “Don’t complain and don’t expect too much. Continue living as an ordinary noble. Also, be vigilant of Mechanical Paradise and don’t trust the Source Brain… Be careful—be careful of the Eighth Research Institute. Try your best to keep a distance from your cousin. She—she has something, something very, very dangerous… If you encounter a danger you can’t avoid, tell the enemy that you know the password to enter Wasteland Ruin 13’s laboratory. Yes, it’s that: ‘Messiah’…”

Shang Jianyao didn’t have much time to continue retracing Marcus’s memories. He knew when to stop and suddenly pushed the Destiny Pearl’s power to its limits.

This made Marcus dizzy, and he felt his vision turn black. He felt like all kinds of things that had happened in the past inundated him.

This effectively concealed the slight daze and confusion he felt after Shang Jianyao invaded his mind.

Shang Jianyao then transferred the Destiny Pearl’s remaining power to his Sea of Origins. This way, the bead wouldn’t have any problems during the subsequent ‘inspection.’

Conservation was a good virtue.

As the green light quickly dimmed, Jiang Baimian—who had been tapped by Shang Jianyao—took out her phone. She switched on the flashlight and shone it at the switch. She then pretended to be surprised and afraid as she shouted, “Why is there a power outage?”

“I don’t know,” Long Yuehong—who in his role as a bodyguard—replied cooperatively.

There was a certain distance between him and the switch. Anyone with eyes could tell that it wasn’t him.

Jiang Baimian instructed in horror, “Quick, open the door!”

Their conversation and performance were all seen by Marcus’s four bodyguards.

Marcus also recovered from his dizziness. He supported himself using the partition in the cubicle and opened the door.

Click! Click!

After Long Yuehong—whose heart couldn’t help but race—opened the bathroom door, he pressed the switch repeatedly, but the lights didn’t come on.

“It seems like the entire place has a power outage.” He looked back at the walkway that led to the women’s bathroom.

The lights there were also out.