Embers Ad Infinitum

This is the state of a true war? Humans are so puny… They are like slaves to those weapons, enhancing their glory with their lives… Long Yuehong saw bombs drop one after another as missiles flew over and blanketed the area the Old Task Force was in.

He knew that the jeep’s bulletproof armor modifications couldn’t withstand such a bombardment. He could only hope that they would be lucky enough to survive.

Long Yuehong seemed to see his life begin a countdown. For a moment, he felt despair and yearning.

His despair was because he couldn’t think of a way to avoid the imminent death, something that he could only watch helplessly. Compared to getting out of the car and rolling for cover, there was still a decent layer of protection as long as the jeep wasn’t directly hit. His yearning was because he couldn’t bear to die like this. He wanted to return to Pangu Biology and show off his gains on the surface to his parents and siblings. He wanted to share his experiences and live a relatively fulfilling life.

At this moment, he heard Shang Jianyao shout from the backseat, “This doesn’t make sense!”

What doesn’t make sense… Amidst Long Yuehong’s perplexity, he saw Shang Jianyao pounce over and swing his fist.

The fist went straight for the back of his ear!

Hey! You want to hit me because you think it doesn’t make sense? Just as this thought flashed through Long Yuehong’s mind, the unprepared him was punched by Shang Jianyao.

With a bang, he blacked out.

An instant before that, Long Yuehong saw his team leader straighten her body from the corner of his eye. She then swung her right fist at the driving Bai Chen and aimed her left palm at ‘Garibaldi’ Giuseppe.

Jiang Baimian was only slightly slower than Shang Jianyao.

The unconscious darkness gradually disappeared as Long Yuehong recovered some of his thoughts. Why did Shang Jianyao say that it doesn’t make sense? Why hit me when it doesn’t make sense? That’s good. At least being blown up in a coma isn’t that painful…

As his thoughts wandered, Long Yuehong suddenly felt the darkness ebb.

The shaking became more and more intense as a gap opened up in the darkness, allowing blinding light to spew in.

Long Yuehong abruptly opened his eyes and saw Shang Jianyao’s body lunge forward above ‘Garibaldi’ Giuseppe.

Shang Jianyao grabbed his friend’s shoulder with one hand and shook it while holding the flashlight with the other to illuminate his face.

“…” Long Yuehong was confused at first before raising his hand to cover his eyes. “Stop, stop, stop!”

“He’s awake.” Jiang Baimian—who was in the passenger seat—stopped Shang Jianyao.

Shang Jianyao regretfully switched off the flashlight, released his grip, and sat back down.

Long Yuehong’s heart palpitated as he suddenly sat up and looked around. He then realized that the jeep was intact and that none of the team members were injured. Although the surrounding streets were in a poor state, there were no signs of them being bombed.

More importantly, the jeep seemed to have just left the parking lot of Sikhara Temple—this wasn’t the case in his memories.

We were almost turning into another street!

“This…” Long Yuehong blurted out, “A dream? We were dragged into the Real Dreamscape just now?”

“Furthermore, it was a connected dream,” Jiang Baimian—who was in the passenger seat—replied in a deep voice.

“It went from a single-player game to a multiplayer online game,” Shang Jianyao echoed.

“We almost got into an accident.” Bai Chen had lingering fears about how she began dreaming without even knowing.

On the one hand, the bombardment in the dream made her feel the approach of death. On the other hand, the short slumber in reality almost made her drive the jeep into a house by the road and through the wall.

Long Yuehong came to a realization and looked at Shang Jianyao. “You said that it doesn’t make sense because you found it unreal and suspected that it’s a dream?”

“That’s right.” Shang Jianyao was rarely serious. “We all feel that nobody in First City would spend so much on us. It’s too wasteful. How many missiles can they buy with all our bounties combined?”

That’s true. That kind of treatment is something only the company’s brigade will ‘enjoy’… Long Yuehong recalled his dream and felt that it was indeed so.

Shang Jianyao continued, “Once I suspected that it was a dream, I decided to experiment with you. A coma in the Real Dreamscape is equivalent to a coma in reality. After a coma, one will lose their ability to sense their surroundings, and they will no longer be affected by the fatal blow in the Real Dreamscape.”<s

Long Yuehong hesitated for a few seconds before responding. “Thanks a lot!”

He wasn’t too angry because if Shang Jianyao hadn’t treated him as an experimental subject, he would be left in the line of danger.

At this moment, Bai Chen looked at the rearview mirror. “Team Leader, were we targeted by a Mind Corridor-level Awakened from the Dawn domain?”

This was much stronger than the Nightmare Horse’s Real Dreamscape. Furthermore, that person seemed to have the ability to force sleep!

The Old Task Force’s greatest worry happened.

Forced Sleep coupled with Real Dreamscape was indefensible!

Jiang Baimian nodded with a solemn expression. “Yes. From now on, we might enter a dream again at any moment. We won’t be able to sense it ourselves, and our understanding of the things around us will deceive us.”

…

In the North Shore Wastelands, Han Wanghuo, Zeng Duo, and Genava circled around and left the heavily polluted area. They then entered a small town ruin and found a place to hide from the elements.

After lighting a bonfire, Zeng Duo sat by the side and watched the kettle perched above it. As the flames swayed, she suddenly smiled and said, “When I was young, I yearned to go out hunting with adults and search for all kinds of supplies in the ruins. But now, I only hope that there will be a piece of unpolluted farmland that I can survive in without the need to take any risks.”

Han Wanghuo—who was preparing dinner—glanced at her. “I’m surprised. You still consider yourself.”

Zeng Duo smiled awkwardly. “That’s very normal. Anyone would want to lead a better life if they had a choice, isn’t that so? I dreamed last night that my illness could still be treated.”

Han Wanghuo’s expression suddenly froze. A few seconds later, he said in a deep voice, “I dreamed about it too.”

“Huh?” Zeng Duo looked confused.

Genava’s shimmering red eyes looked over. “You were dragged into the Real Dreamscape?”

“What was your dream like?” Han Wanghuo quickly asked Zeng Duo.

Zeng Duo couldn’t remember the details of the dream clearly, but she could still describe the overall situation.

After hearing that, Han Wanghuo said solemnly, “I had the same dream as you.”

“This…” Zeng Duo was a little frightened and confused. She didn’t understand what such a dream represented.

“If you die in a Real Dreamscape, you will also die in reality,” Genava explained. He then said to Han Wanghuo, “Xiaochong’s existence and Big White’s whereabouts are likely known by the dreamscape’s owner.”

“What should we do?” Zeng Duo blurted out.

Han Wanghuo replied calmly, “Send a telegram to October Xue and Zhang Qubing later to remind them to be careful.”

Zeng Duo consoled herself. “Yes, I hope we can make it in time. The North Shore Wastelands’ environment is complicated, so it’s impossible to reach First City in a day unless we take a plane.”

Even planes had to avoid the extreme weather here. However, the other party could also send a telegram to inform their companions in First City.

…

“Then, what should we do?” Long Yuehong subconsciously asked before taking the initiative to make a suggestion. “We can turn around and return to Sikhara Temple now. There’s Buddha’s Nirmanakaya there, and there are many Enlightened. We can definitely make the enemy give up.”

Jiang Baimian stared at the street under the night sky and slowly shook her head. “First, even if we return to Sikhara Temple, all of that might just be a dream. Second, I suspect that tonight’s coincidence isn’t a coincidence. The goal isn’t to get us to the Holm Fertility Center.”

She further explained, “Someone on the seventh floor might’ve predicted that an enemy was waiting outside for us and deliberately created an abnormality to force us out of Sikhara Temple. They wished to use the enemy to finish us off and eliminate any latent dangers.”

Clearly, this was the party that didn’t want the Old Task Force to head to the Holm Fertility Center.

Long Yuehong thought about it carefully and realized that his team leader’s guess was indeed logical. It could explain all the problems.

Bai Chen slowed down the car and asked, “Who’s the enemy, and why are they targeting us? We didn’t offend the religion that believes in Dawn… Also, how did they know that we were in Sikhara Temple…”

These questions weren’t meaningless. Only by answering them could one find a way to resist powerful enemies.

Jiang Baimian seemed to have long considered this problem. She deliberated and said, “There are three possibilities: First, the powerhouses of First City have specially come to arrest us. The Awakened in the Dawn domain might not necessarily believe in Dawn. But if it’s an official faction, we will definitely encounter more than this. Furthermore, there’s a higher chance that it’s the Virtual World’s owner.

“Second, the friend of the one on the seventh floor specially came to help them when they couldn’t do it themselves. However, there’s also a problem. How did that person inform their friend? They seem to be restricted from doing such a thing.”

At this point, Jiang Baimian’s voice sank. “Third, it’s the secret faction that has been secretly wiping out the clues of the Old World’s destruction. They specially came to eliminate us after knowing that we obtained the passcode for Wasteland Ruin 13’s secret laboratory. This also raises a question: How did they know that we were in Sikhara Temple? Or did they use some other method or channel?”

Just as Jiang Baimian said that, ‘Garibaldi’ Giuseppe woke up. He said in surprise and anger, “You first knocked me out, and now you electrocute me. What do you want? Eh…”

He realized that there were no signs of an electric shock on his body.

…

While waiting for the scheduled moment to send the telegram, Han Wanghuo suddenly thought of a problem. “Why didn’t the person who dragged me and Zeng Duo into the Real Dreamscape let us die in the dream after obtaining the information?”

That way, they wouldn’t notice anything amiss and couldn’t send a telegram to remind October Xue and the others. Besides, he didn’t have to face Genava head-on if they died in a dream. He didn’t have to worry about his abilities being ineffective against a robot.

After Genava raised many possibilities, he emitted a slightly synthetic male voice. “Perhaps something happened in the darkness back then and scared him away. It might also be because some conditions were fulfilled.”