Embers Ad Infinitum

Almost a second before Jiang Baimian switched on the flashlight on her phone, Shang Jianyao threw the bead—which had lost its Destiny Connection power—into a trashcan in the bathroom.

Just as Long Yuehong made the judgment that there was a power outage everywhere, he saw several nobles walk to the male bathroom.

He also heard a slightly elderly male voice coming from the walkie-talkie in one of Marcus’s bodyguards’ hands. “Open the bathroom door.”

“It’s already open. The other noble’s attendant opened it,” Marcus’s bodyguard replied briefly.

Marcus and Shang Jianyao weren’t the only groups of people in the bathroom. There were also other nobles, their attendants, and bodyguards.

This was the environment Jiang Baimian was looking forward to—not many people—which wouldn’t interfere with the operation—but there was also a sizable number. There were other ‘suspects.’

An instant later, Long Yuehong inexplicably felt like the world around him had changed. Of course, he didn’t know if this was his mind playing tricks on him or if he had really experienced the corresponding experience. After all, he had guessed that the Virtual World was about to envelop the area again after hearing the conversation.

The thoughts might evoke a sensual experience.

What had just happened convinced him that even if he didn’t open the door, the sealed environment wouldn’t last long. Not only could the Virtual World’s owner instruct Marcus’s bodyguards through the walkie-talkie, but he could also indirectly order the other nobles and their attendants to do his bidding. With one party inside and the other party outside, one side would eventually succeed.

Therefore, the key to this operation is the time difference. We had to make good use of the Destiny Pearl… Long Yuehong nodded indiscernibly as if he was confirming his judgment of the blackout.

“Seriously, how long has it been since the gladiator arena’s circuits were repaired?” Jiang Baimian grumbled. She had also read the book Shang Jianyao bought—An Actor Prepares.

“Who knows?” replied another noble in the bathroom. “It almost made me fall.”

This wasn’t a deliberate attempt to strike up a conversation. In the pitch-black environment, he couldn’t see Jiang Baimian’s face clearly. He was only expressing his feelings.

Jiang Baimian then shone the flashlight on Shang Jianyao and weakly said, “Let’s go out. It’s dark and terrifying.”

Upon hearing Jiang Baimian speak in such a tone, Long Yuehong inexplicably imagined the scene of his team leader hitting the Blackmarsh Iron Snake with her ‘Thunder Spear.’ Back then, the mutated creature was so large and terrifying.

Shang Jianyao smiled. “It’s an environment like this that makes it more exciting.”

“Pui.” Jiang Baimian spat. “Do it yourself.”

She broke free of the other party’s hand and walked out of the bathroom.

Shang Jianyao shrugged and didn’t mind that the Virtual World had already returned. He walked into a cubicle, unzipped his pants, and really used the toilet.

At a time like this, whoever had the smaller dick was the embarrassment.

Jiang Baimian didn’t go far. She waited for Shang Jianyao outside the men’s bathroom.

She observed the nobles passing by as if nothing had happened, but she didn’t discover anyone that matched the voice on the walkie-talkie.

One of the nobles entered the bathroom, and his eyes met Marcus, who had just washed his hands.

Marcus slowly shook his head—he meant that nothing had happened.

He couldn’t say that he felt somewhat dizzy because he was seemingly claustrophobic in the dark environment. Such a triviality would only attract mockery if he told others. Besides, he had returned to normal.

After Marcus and his four bodyguards left the bathroom, Shang Jianyao had finished relieving himself and came out to meet Jiang Baimian with Long Yuehong.

They returned to the VIP room and entered their personal room.

After putting away the portable recording device, Shang Jianyao adjusted his sitting posture and looked into the arena, waiting for the match to begin.

Jiang Baimian’s attention seemed to be focused on the arena, but the various thoughts in her mind didn’t calm down at all. Although nothing wrong happened to Marcus, and everything seems normal, the Virtual World’s owner will more or less be a little suspicious. After all, coincidences are always disturbing. For experienced experts, they wouldn’t ignore them… But since nothing seems to have happened on the surface, his response won’t be that intense…

If I were him, I would instruct the arena’s security personnel to stop the nobles, their attendants, and their bodyguards who were in the bathroom with Marcus after the match ends for the purpose of assisting in the investigation… Whoever leaves early is more suspicious…

In addition, while waiting for the departure of everyone, I would also get First City’s relevant departments to cooperate and investigate two matters. First, the origins and backgrounds of the people in the bathroom back then. Second, the real reason for the blackout…

The former will take a relatively long time—it requires the questioning of many people. After all, we obtained the tickets through unofficial means. We got it through the smuggler, Lehman, who is no longer in First City…

The latter isn’t complicated. First, the city’s power department will locate the malfunction point and figure out the exact reason. It won’t take more than 15 minutes… In other words, we have to evacuate the arena in 15 minutes, or the consequences will be unimaginable…

Having obtained Marcus’s memories, they might not be easily ransomed. They might even be silenced.

…

After confirming that the Apex Gladiator Arena had a blackout, Bai Chen waited for a few minutes as instructed before taking out another phone. She then dialed Jiang Baimian’s number.

…

Ring! Ring!

Jiang Baimian—who was watching the gladiator fight—picked up her phone and said ‘hello’ a few times.

As the venue was filled with thumping and shouting and the environment was very noisy, she couldn’t seem to hear what the other party was saying. Or rather, she could only stand up and walk to the VIP room’s exit.

She finished the call at the periphery of the walkway. It was about a friend having encountered an emergency and needing their help.

Jiang Baimian then raised her hand and waved at Shang Jianyao.

Shang Jianyao walked over with Long Yuehong.

After briefly explaining the matter, Jiang Baimian anxiously said, “Let’s go.”

“It’s just begun…” Shang Jianyao fully revealed his reluctant attitude.

Long Yuehong’s only emotion was: Fortunately, I don’t have any lines or scenes. Otherwise, my acting might be the greatest flaw.

Jiang Baimian pleaded again, and Shang Jianyao finally agreed reluctantly.

After Long Yuehong returned to the hotel to pick up his bag, the three of them walked through the walkway to the exit.

Just as the exit was at hand, two men dressed as security guards suddenly came from the side and stopped them.

“Sir, Madam, there’s something we need your help with,” said a muscular man with dark-green eyes in a deep voice. It was obvious that Long Yuehong—who was their bodyguard—was nothing but an accessory in his eyes.

“We still have something on.” Jiang Baimian frowned.

“What’s the matter?” Shang Jianyao flipped his wrist and looked at his watch. “I’ll give you ten minutes.”

The dark-green-eyed man who had just spoken wore a stoic expression. “What are your names, which family are you from, and where do you live?”

“My name is Sangri Drace,” Shang Jianyao replied proudly.

Drace was one of the giants who established First City. His name was made into a currency unit like Oray.

He was the noble with the most descendants and had made his name a family name.

The Old Task Force—who had expected to be interrogated—had long combined the information provided by the company and other channels to create an aristocratic identity for Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian.

This was definitely fake, but the point was to make it sound real while ensuring that it was difficult to determine the veracity of the matter.

After Jiang Baimian also gave her name, Shang Jianyao said another address that existed but didn’t belong to them. Furthermore, it was relatively remote and difficult to find.

Just as they answered the other party’s question, the other ‘security guard’ smiled. “Alright, the two of you can leave now. If any further investigations are required, we’ll pay you a visit.”

He looked ordinary. Apart from his flaxen hair and eyes of the same color, he had almost no characteristics that stood out. He didn’t draw any attention.

“Huh?” Shang Jianyao appropriately expressed his surprise.

“Aristocrats like yourself are trustworthy,” the ‘security guard’ replied with a smile.

Jiang Baimian naturally could guess why: the other party had just used an Awakened ability to complete a lie test.

However, the Old Task Force had formulated several plans. One of them was precisely for such personnel.

They had already used Inference Clowning to convince themselves that they were nobles. However, there was no contradiction between whether they were nobles or members of Pangu Biology, or whether they had probed Marcus.

Jiang Baimian felt that the other party’s mentality was: This kind of person—who clearly comes from a noble family—can run, but they can’t hide. We can take our time in the future, so there is no need to fall out on the spot.

In the Old Task Force’s plans, they were most afraid of encountering Awakened from the Last Man domain or the Subhuti domain. The solution was to immediately shout the moment they sensed something.

“Personnel from the Anti-intellectualism Church! The Anti-intellectualism Church is wreaking havoc again!”

Shang Jianyao praised the security guard’s reply and nodded. “Not bad.”

He didn’t waste his breath and led Jiang Baimian and Long Yuehong through the exit.

The weather outside was perfect, but just as Long Yuehong was about to heave a sigh of relief, another person suddenly walked over.

The person had thick shoulders and a wide body. He stood there like a wall, leaving a deep impression.

Jiang Baimian knew him. He was a sheriff in the Red Wolf Zone named Wall, and he was also a descendant of a certain noble.

She and Shang Jianyao had previously encountered this sheriff because they had saved Pangu Biology’s intelligence agent, Garibaldi.

In other words, the three of them had met and spoken to each other.

Wall grumbled, “Why is there a power outage here? Did something happen? I was still planning on charging my car somewhere here…”

As he spoke, he cast his gaze at Shang Jianyao, Jiang Baimian, and Long Yuehong.