Embers Ad Infinitum

Long Yuehong and Bai Chen focused on Old K’s back door through their binoculars, trying to figure out the visitor’s appearance. Unfortunately, the nearby street lamps were broken for some reason, preventing them from getting their wish.

“If only Old Ge were here.” Long Yuehong couldn’t help but sigh.

Compared to a fully functioning smart bot, carbon-based humans needed too much additional equipment to enhance themselves.

Of course, Long Yuehong had always remembered what his team leader often said and used it to motivate himself. “People aren’t born differently, but when it comes to success or failure, it depends on who’s using the tools available.”

Bai Chen agreed with Long Yuehong’s sigh. “Unless it’s completely dark without any light, Old Ge will always have a solution…”

Before she could finish speaking, Bai Chen’s attention returned to the back door of Old K’s house.

Another car drove over and stopped outside the door.

What happened before was repeated again. A servant from Old K’s residence held a large umbrella and came out to welcome the guest.

In just half an hour, nearly 20 visitors arrived at the back door where the street lamps were broken. Judging from their clothes, there were men and women.

This stunned Long Yuehong and Bai Chen. They didn’t understand what was going on.

At the same time, Jiang Baimian—who had received Long Yuehong’s report—also discovered that a large number of cars had driven into Maschar Street where Old K’s residence was and stopped on both sides of the road.

Under the illumination of a large number of street lamps, the car doors opened one after another, and men and women dressed in bright clothes walked out.

Surrounded by bodyguards, they openly approached the main entrance of Old K’s house and walked in. However, their bodyguards and attendants remained outside before returning to the cars.

“They’re all nobles…” Jiang Baimian observed carefully for a while and came to a conclusion.

She and Shang Jianyao had been noble imposters. They had gained a certain understanding of the people of this class in preparation for the gladiator match. This was to prevent them from not knowing how to greet a noble when they encountered one.

The other party could fail to recognize them, but they couldn’t. Only then could they minimize the risk of being exposed.

“That’s right.” Shang Jianyao pointed at a male noble and smiled. “I remember him. He mocked Dino for almost becoming the first person in high society to choke to death while drinking water.”

Dino was one of the main characters during the assassination at the colosseum. He was the one who was ‘assassinated.’

“It seems… His name is Phelps,” Jiang Baimian said with uncertainty.

Phelps was also an Akson with black hair and blue eyes. He seemed to have undergone genetic enhancement—he had above-average height and appearance. However, the muscles on his cheeks were slightly drooping.

After watching these people enter Old K’s house, Jiang Baimian nodded thoughtfully. “This is a banquet?”

She didn’t make a definite judgment because it was very awkward in terms of time. According to her understanding, noble gatherings usually started at dinner and lasted until midnight. People could leave at any time in the middle. Why would they only start gathering at 11?

“Perhaps this gathering has a ghost theme,” Shang Jianyao guessed excitedly. He seemed eager to take out the monkey mask with the hairy face and protruding mouth, put it on, and join the party.

Jiang Baimian ignored him and continued muttering to herself, “All the curtains are drawn for this gathering? What’s with the people behind? Special guests? How can bodyguards not be allowed to enter a normal gathering? Will those nobles be that assured?”

She couldn’t think of an answer to these questions for the time being. Shang Jianyao provided many possibilities, but they were clearly ridiculous.

Jiang Baimian had no choice but to take out her walkie-talkie and remind Long Yuehong and Bai Chen, “Continue monitoring and wait for it to end.”

They waited for several hours until three in the morning when the front door of Old K’s house opened again. The well-dressed men and women walked out one after another with tired but relaxed expressions before leaving in their cars.

At the same time, cars arrived at the back door area and quietly picked up the incognito visitors.

Due to the environment, Bai Chen and Long Yuehong still couldn’t see their faces clearly.

“Team Leader, should we choose a target to follow?” Long Yuehong asked for Jiang Baimian’s opinion.

If he and Bai Chen went downstairs and drove the jeep, they still had a chance of locking onto a car.

Jiang Baimian fell silent for a few seconds before saying, “There are too many unknowns in this matter. To be safe, there’s no need for now. Right, our next step is to track down a noble and find out from them what kind of party Old K holds at home and what role those people who came in through the back door play.”

Compared to those incognito visitors and Old K who seemed a little mysterious, a noble with a house and family while being on the edge of the power dynamics was a more suitable and safer target.

Without much elimination, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao unanimously chose Phelps.

They had a certain understanding of him—they knew that his grandfather used to be an Elder who died early and couldn’t cushion a path for his descendants. This caused Phelps’s father to gradually be pushed out of the power center. By his generation, they had been marginalized.

From the development during the colosseum assassination, Jiang Baimian believed that there were no Awakened among Phelps’s bodyguards and attendants.

Combining all the factors, this was a rare, desirable target.

Jiang Baimian wasn’t in a hurry to head downstairs to tail him. This was because it was late at night, and there were few people. This made it very easy for them to be discovered.

In any case, he could run, but he couldn’t hide. She wasn’t afraid that she wouldn’t be able to find him when she ‘visited’ Phelps during the day.

“After we investigate these matters, the plan to help Garibaldi will probably take shape,” Jiang Baimian said casually as she watched the nobles’ vehicles leave.

In fact, if she didn’t have too many concerns, she could’ve provided a feasible plan now: When Old K went out to deal with business problems and brought with him most of the potential ‘accidents,’ they could sneak in or use ‘friends’ to evacuate Garibaldi.

The success rate of this plan was very high based on how Garibaldi had hidden in Old K’s house for several days without being discovered.

Of course, Garibaldi didn’t dare to move after he entered and hid himself because he didn’t have a complete grasp of his surroundings.

…

The next afternoon, the Old Task Force—which was done resting—used the method of making friends to borrow a car temporarily and drive to the Golden Apple Zone. They were prepared to find an opportunity to communicate with Phelps, a noble scion.

“Sigh…” In the car, Shang Jianyao let out a long sigh.

“What’s wrong?” Long Yuehong asked warily and worriedly.

Shang Jianyao replied with a pained expression, “I’m missing Mr. DiMarco.”

“Why?” Long Yuehong was a little puzzled.

Jiang Baimian scoffed. “Whoa, you say you miss him? You’re missing his Destiny Connection!”

“Destiny Connection is really useful,” Shang Jianyao admitted frankly. “Even I find Mr. DiMarco very adorable.”

What kind of adjective is that? Long Yuehong almost vomited blood.

Jiang Baimian agreed with Shang Jianyao’s first half of the sentence. “Indeed. If the Destiny Pearl were still around, we wouldn’t need to find an opportunity to deal with a marginal aristocratic scion like Phelps. We would just need to wait for him to head out and get into a car before we possess him from more than 20 meters away and directly evoke his relevant memories.”

The entire process was silent and virtually undetectable to the average person. If Shang Jianyao did a clean job and prepared the right conditions, Phelps might not even realize that he had been possessed after the incident. He might very well think that he had a fainting spell because of his recent overindulgence.

As the Old Task Force members conversed, the car turned into a relatively secluded street.

At this moment, a figure crossed the road and stopped in the middle.

He was of Red River ethnicity. He wore a gray robe and had a bald head that reflected light. He was also so thin that his figure was a little out of shape. It was impossible to tell his exact age, but his face wasn’t pale, and his mental state wasn’t bad.

This person half-closed his green eyes. He held prayer beads in one hand and placed the other vertically in front of his chest. He faced the Old Task Force and bowed. “Namo Annutara-Samyak-Subhuti. Patrons, the sea of bitterness is endless. Repent, and you will be saved.”

He spoke in the Red River language. His voice wasn’t loud, but it echoed in Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and the others’ ears like a huge bell.