Embers Ad Infinitum

Meeting Wall was definitely unexpected for the Old Task Force.

Although Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao had disguised themselves sufficiently to make themselves appear to be of Red River ethnicity, they didn’t dare to bet that Wall wouldn’t recognize the two people opposite him as Ruin Hunters who had done a Good Samaritan act on the street.

They had previously encountered General Phocas as well, but the two parties didn’t have any direct or head-on contact. At most, their eyes swept past each other and were separated by a considerable distance.

In addition, there were many nobles back then, and there was no lack of people familiar with General Phocas. Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and Long Yuehong were only three inconspicuous people on the periphery, so they wouldn’t attract the other party’s attention at all.

Apart from the two ‘security personnel’ at the entrance to the noble area, there was currently only the Old Task Force trio. Unless Wall was a particularly sloppy or careless person, it was impossible for him not to size them up and examine them.

The various details of their previous encounter told Jiang Baimian that not only was Wall not sloppy or careless, but he was also meticulous, serious, and experienced. He was a relatively capable sheriff.

At the same time, recognizing people was also an ability most sheriffs had. This made Jiang Baimian afraid of betting that Wall wasn’t focused and that he wouldn’t recognize the two ‘unfamiliar’ nobles.

Once he discovered something and pointed it out, all of the Old Task Force’s efforts would be in vain.

Failure wasn’t terrifying. What was terrifying was that they had failed at this very moment—their path of retreat was no longer solid.

More importantly, Jiang Baimian believed that they were still in the Virtual World. If Shang Jianyao tried to use his abilities, he would definitely be discovered by the Mind Corridor-level Awakened who was definitely paying attention to them.

As these thoughts raced through her mind, Jiang Baimian raised her left hand and very naturally brushed the hair hanging by her ear as Wall looked over.

…

Atop a building relatively far from the colosseum, Bai Chen—who had switched off her phone—placed her eye behind the Orange rifle’s scope and observed the inspection area of the nobles’ VIP room.

Suddenly, she changed her position and aimed the muzzle at a metal sign on a nearby street.

Bang! Ting!

The sound echoed and spread far across the street in the afternoon.

Bai Chen didn’t stop. She fired three consecutive shots, shocking the pedestrians into ducking for cover in a sorry state. It also evoked enough panic that cars began to accelerate or brake.

…

In the aristocratic VIP room’s security area, Wall heard an obvious gunshot just as he looked over at the people at the entrance.

Accompanying the gunshot was a commotion that came from a nearby street.

As a sheriff, a local sheriff whose jurisdiction was in this area, and a sheriff with a background and ability to raise his status constantly, Wall’s expression immediately changed.

He turned his ear and listened, not missing the subsequent gunshots. At the same time, Wall drew his Red River pistol.

“Something seems to have happened…” the sheriff muttered to himself. He no longer tried to talk to the ‘security personnel,’ Jiang Baimian, and the others. After figuring out the reason for the blackout, he turned around and ran toward his electric vehicle.

His subordinates were still waiting for him.

“Things haven’t been peaceful recently…” Shang Jianyao sighed with emotion as he looked at the block where there had been a gunshot.

Long Yuehong was also very surprised. He didn’t expect a shooting to happen.

Although he preliminarily determined that Bai Chen was the one who had fired the shots based on the gunshots’ direction, he couldn’t understand or believe it. This was because this wasn’t included in the plans that had been formulated in advance.

Long Yuehong knew that even if Little White really wanted to fire, it was to cover their retreat and not to fire at random places.

Jiang Baimian heaved a long sigh of relief.

A plan couldn’t prevent such an accident. She hadn’t set up any secret signals for such matters. At this critical moment, she could only gamble on Bai Chen’s brain, memories, and reaction.

She remembered that when she and Shang Jianyao encountered Wall, Bai Chen was also in charge of remote surveillance. She believed that this team member should still remember him. After all, Mr. Wall’s figure left a deep impression.

Jiang Baimian then signaled for Bai Chen to take action by brushing the hair by her ear with her left hand.

As for the action to take, this secret signal couldn’t spell anything out. It could only be determined by Bai Chen herself.

Bai Chen didn’t disappoint her. She didn’t rashly shoot Wall and create chaos. Instead, she chose to make a diversion and lure him away.

A good teammate can really protect half a life… As Jiang Baimian sighed silently, she pretended to be terrified and said to Shang Jianyao, “Let’s leave quickly. It’s not safe here.”

Shang Jianyao turned his head and looked at the two security guards. He smiled and confirmed, “So can we leave?”

The security guard with dark-green eyes didn’t respond, but the one without any special characteristics nodded.

Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and Long Yuehong turned around and walked to the parking area. Their footsteps were clearly faster than before.

This was normal. A shooting had just happened in the nearby block, so most people were definitely in a rush to leave.

Long Yuehong’s heart remained hanging—he felt that it wasn’t time to relax yet. He believed that he had to get into the rented car and drive out of the Apex Gladiator Arena’s vicinity to escape danger!

As he walked, he suddenly heard a voice coming from the two security personnel’s walkie-talkies behind him.

Due to the distance, he didn’t hear clearly what was said, but his body almost stiffened.

This voice at the critical moment gave him a bad premonition, afraid that all their efforts would be in vain.

At that moment, Long Yuehong wished he could run. But that would only expose himself, a revelation of the very thing he wanted to hide.

They took a few more steps before the dark-green-eyed ‘security personnel’ suddenly shouted, “Wait!”

This… Various scenes of them running at the ends of their ropes instantly surfaced in Long Yuehong’s mind.

Jiang Baimian’s back muscles almost tensed up.

Shang Jianyao calmly turned around and asked unhappily, “What is it now?”

The two ‘security personnel’ ran over and pointed at the spot covered by his left sleeve. “What’s that?”

Bangle of Blindness… Jiang Baimian replied inwardly. She roughly understood what was going on.

The Virtual World’s owner was filtering the ‘data’ of the people in the bathroom back then and realized that Shang Jianyao was wearing a rather strange accessory on his left wrist.

Shang Jianyao raised his chin and smiled smugly. “It’s woven from someone’s hair. You should know what I’m talking about.”

He pulled up his sleeve without hiding anything and showed the accessory woven from black hair.

Jiang Baimian’s heart palpitated as she immediately cooperated and snorted. “I’ll burn it one day!”

The two ‘security personnel’ looked at each other, and the one with dark-green eyes said, “Let us take a look.”

Shang Jianyao reluctantly took off the Bangle of Blindness and handed it over.

Each of the two ‘security personnel’ examined it. As Long Yuehong’s heartbeat quickened slightly, they indicated that there was nothing wrong.

The security guard that lacked any special characteristics picked up the walkie-talkie and put it to his ear. After listening for a few seconds, he said to Shang Jianyao and the others, “Sorry, you can really leave this time.”

“Let this be the last,” Shang Jianyao grumbled and turned around.

It was only then that Long Yuehong understood why Shang Jianyao was so calm.

When dealing with the Destiny Pearl, he had transferred the Bangle of Blindness’s power into his mind world!

This would be a considerable risk, but it was worth it compared to the importance of this operation. Therefore, the Bangle of Blindness Shang Jianyao handed over was indeed only an ordinary hair accessory.

Jiang Baimian had long known that he had done something similar. At this moment, she made some connections. In fact, the Bangle of Blindness’s ability isn’t that useless. At least from the looks of it, it counters the Virtual World’s owner very well… As long as one can’t see, isn’t it equivalent to being in a confined space? It might directly scare him to death… Unfortunately, we can’t lock onto the Virtual World’s owner’s location…

Amidst her thoughts, Jiang Baimian followed Shang Jianyao through the rows of cars and boarded the rental car rented by the Old Task Force.

Long Yuehong was in charge of driving.

The car slowly drove out of the parking lot.

During this process, Long Yuehong didn’t dare to blink as he drove seriously. He only heaved a sigh of relief when they were far away from the Apex Gladiator Arena.

He felt a dense layer of cold sweat on his back.

He, Shang Jianyao, and Jiang Baimian didn’t completely relax because they still had to do something to confirm that they had truly escaped the Virtual World.

At this moment, Long Yuehong swept his gaze around and seemed to see a familiar figure. He quickly turned his head to look at the corresponding spot, but the area he saw was empty.

It was the entrance to an alley.

Long Yuehong deliberated for a few seconds and said in the Red River language, “I think I saw Old Han.”

First City’s nobles could also know Old Han, so it wasn’t a problem to say such a thing.

“Where?” Shang Jianyao became thrilled.