Embers Ad Infinitum

“He was actually caught.” As the sapphire-blue jeep turned, Shang Jianyao also saw the situation. “His behavioral art is quite lacking.”

Jiang Baimian was also a little surprised, but she wasn’t shocked. “Touch pitch, and you’ll be defiled. From time to time, he will ‘walk’ the sheriffs and engage in behavioral arts. Sooner or later, it will backfire on him. Yes, there are quite a number of powerhouses in the Hand of Order. Their abilities aren’t bad.”

Bai Chen strongly agreed. “Last time, I felt that he was hopping on a single foot at the edge of a cliff. It might be fine if he did it once or twice, but something would definitely go wrong after repeated tries. The main question now is how the Behavioral Church will react.”

“They will host a grand, rich, and diverse behavioral art exhibition.” Shang Jianyao gave his guess with a serious expression.

Long Yuehong’s thoughts couldn’t stop wandering after hearing him say that. Images of naked running, feces eating, and walking upside down surfaced in his mind.

How does this Church guarantee their survival when they love behavioral art so much? From this angle, Long Yuehong instinctively felt that the Behavioral Church definitely wasn’t simple.

Jiang Baimian smiled. “No matter how the Behavioral Church reacts, this matter won’t end this easily. Let’s hope that it can implicate a large group of people and completely intensify the conflict.”

At this point, Jiang Baimian was stunned. Perhaps this is why Dimis has been walking the sheriffs and engaging in behavioral art…

“This might not be his own will. Someone just used his hobbies and habits.” Jiang Baimian meant that someone else was trying their best to intensify the conflict.

This was a change worth looking forward to for the Old Task Force. Only then could they fish in troubled waters.

The jeep circled around and arrived at the area around Antanna Street again. They found the safe house that Han Wanghuo had secretly prepared.

It was located on the second floor of an old apartment. The building in front had a bathroom, and there were other apartments on both sides and behind. They were also mainly residential apartments.

At this moment, the sky was already dark. Night had arrived, accompanied by heavy rain.

Summer was like that—rain came and went as it pleased.

The safe house Han Wanghuo had prepared wasn’t big—it only had one bedroom. The living room and kitchen coexisted, barely separating a narrow bathroom.

Compared to when he first arrived on the surface, Long Yuehong could be considered experienced. Although Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao didn’t warn him, he still pressed his right hand to his waist before entering the room, ready to dodge and counterattack at any moment.

The room was slightly humid, but there was nothing unusual.

Long Yuehong heaved a sigh of relief and reached out to the wall beside the door to press the switch.

Pa!

No lights came on. Only the dim glow outside the window and the flashlight in Shang Jianyao’s hand illuminated the room’s silhouette.

“A blackout?” Long Yuehong muttered to himself, not too surprised.

This was a common occurrence in the Green Olive Zone. Power outages and water outages were things in life that none of the residents here could escape.

Jiang Baimian—who was at the back of the group—surveyed the area and pointed outside. “There’s electricity there.”

She was referring to the door opposite. One could see a faint yellow light seeping out from the bottom of the wooden door.

“It doesn’t make sense that this apartment is the only one with a blackout in the building…” Long Yuehong expressed his confusion.

Bai Chen glanced at him and calmly said, “One has to pay the electric bills.”

“…” Long Yuehong was first stunned before he felt that this might be the truth.

After Han Wanghuo secretly rented this room, he seldom came here to ensure its secrecy and safety. It was completely understandable that he owed electricity bills.

“That’s true.” Long Yuehong looked back at Bai Chen. “However, you seem very sure?”

Just as he said that, he saw Shang Jianyao—who was in charge of opening the door—point at the ground.

Long Yuehong looked over and found several pieces of paper. Using the illumination from Shang Jianyao’s flashlight, he read the name of one of the pieces of paper: “Electric bill payment notice.”

“There’s still a notice?” Jiang Baimian closed the door and said in amusement.

After all, most of the Green Olive Zone residents were illiterate.

“They usually come to demand payment. Only when they can’t find someone for a long time will they deliver a payment notice,” Bai Chen explained simply.

As for whether the other party could understand it or not, that wasn’t something the utility department needed to consider.

Jiang Baimian nodded slightly. “Where can we pay the electricity bill at this hour?”

Uh… This question suddenly gave Long Yuehong an indescribable sense of absurdity.

His team had just done a lot of major things recently. Their bounties were worth more than 100,000 Oray, and they had even instigated a band of bandits to attack First City’s troops. Yet, they were now discussing how to pay an electricity bill.

“It has to be tomorrow,” Bai Chen replied.

Jiang Baimian waved her hand and said to Shang Jianyao, “You and Little Red can reconnect the circuits and draw some power from the public network. Do it yourself, and you’ll be self-sustaining!”

It wasn’t like they were in the company. Jiang Baimian wasn’t embarrassed at all when she mentioned stealing electricity.

Anyway, they weren’t transferring the cost to the civilians around them, and they would pay the electricity bill tomorrow.

As people, one had to be flexible. Otherwise, how could they carry out their missions?

Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong busied themselves, and finally, the incandescent lamp in the room lit up.

The sky outside was getting darker, and the rain kept falling.

Jiang Baimian looked out the window and suggested, “There’s no need to go out to get food. We’ll make do and cook up a meal ourselves.”

Shang Jianyao and the others naturally had no objections.

They carried a few cans of canned meat, a few packets of instant noodles, and a few bags of dehydrated vegetables from the jeep’s trunk. They then made dinner using an induction stove.

There were many Ruin Hunters in First City, and there were also many troops out on missions. There was a market for such convenient food, forming a complete industrial chain. As for the Old Task Force, they were a team with rich wilderness survival experience. No matter what, they would ensure that they had a batch of stored food on hand.

The big and delicious beef chunks and the instant noodles dotted with many vegetables were quickly cooked. A rich and strange fragrance wafted through the entire room.

As there were only two stools at the dining table, Shang Jianyao walked to the window after filling his lunch box with food. He ate while looking out.

Long Yuehong mimicked him and went to the window. He ate a piece of beef and drank a small mouthful of broth before looking out the window.

Amidst the falling rain and the deep and hazy darkness, the windows of the houses shone with a yellowish light.

Outlined by the light were figures moving around. They were either wiping their heads, eating, carrying their children, or leaning against each other.

There were many pedestrians on the streets outside. Some of them were holding umbrellas and wearing raincoats, while others could only lower their heads and shelter their heads with their hands.

From time to time, these pedestrians would turn into a house and complain to the person who came to shelter them.

For some reason, Long Yuehong suddenly felt a sense of serenity and warmth. After a long silence, he muttered to himself, “Isn’t it not good for us to look forward to chaos erupting in First City?”

This would ruin many people’s lives and futures.

Jiang Baimian put down the lunch box, stood up, walked to the window, and said seriously, “This isn’t something that won’t happen just because we don’t look forward to it.”

Bai Chen swallowed the instant noodles in her mouth and turned to look at Long Yuehong. “Even if there’s no turmoil, the future many people here can enjoy maxes out at about two to three years, perhaps even shorter.”

Antanna Street was extremely close to the Factory Zone.

This sentence mercilessly shattered Long Yuehong’s feelings.

Shang Jianyao also looked at Long Yuehong and said seriously, “First City can’t save all of humanity.”

Long Yuehong was speechless.

Jiang Baimian mediated in time. “Hurry up and eat. The noodles are getting soggy.”

“Alright, alright.” Long Yuehong quickly turned his attention to the lunch box in his hand.

After the Old Task Force had their fill, they took out their radio transceiver to see if the company had any new instructions.

At the appointed time, Pangu Biology’s reply arrived as scheduled. This time, there was more content than usual.

Jiang Baimian recited a paragraph after translating one: “The company praised our idea of splitting up. The team in the North Shore wastelands is to focus on intelligence gathering. The team that returned to First City is to try… try to help Garibaldi…”

Ah? Isn’t this the company’s intelligence officer? Long Yuehong quickly recalled who Garibaldi was.

Bai Chen frowned and asked, “Has he been captured? No, he should be rescued if he’s captured, not helped.”

Jiang Baimian nodded and continued translating. “After Garibaldi received the company’s notice, he didn’t have time to activate the plans. He could only rely on having his enemy’s key and chose to hide in his house. He’s afraid of being discovered, so he only steals very little food and water every day. He’s almost finished eating the things he brought, and he can’t hold on much longer. Hmm, his enemy is called Old K.”

After Shang Jianyao heard this, he praised Garibaldi in admiration. “Very creative.”