Embers Ad Infinitum

Amidst the loud explosion, the passersby—who had already scattered—became increasingly alarmed and ran with all their might.

Many of them panicked and fell to the ground. In the houses on both sides of the street, the residents either fearfully hid in places they imagined were safe or picked up their weapons in an attempt to prevent the chaos outside. Some curiously stuck their heads out from behind the glass windows to figure out what had happened. Others reported to the Hand of Order through their home phones.

This was a street near the Golden Apple Zone in the Red Wolf Zone. Many residents had assets, so it wasn’t a problem for them to install phones.

As Shang Jianyao assumed a running posture toward the attackers, he opened his mouth and shouted, “Xiaochong…”

He was only halfway done with his shout when a stream of air suddenly entered his mouth and went straight to his throat.

“Cough! Cough!” Shang Jianyao coughed violently from the choke. Not only did his shouting stop, but he also couldn’t maintain the Bangle of Blindness any longer.

It was useless no matter which Shang Jianyao was at the wheel while facing physiological problems!

Just as Shang Jianyao was about to become the first human to choke to death from wind, Long Yuehong—who had failed to jump too far with Bai Chen—wanted to straighten his body and help his companions suppress the distant attackers. However, he suddenly felt his skin become abnormally sensitive.

The air around him seemed to turn into small hands that ‘scratched’ the areas that weren’t covered by the military exoskeleton from different angles.

Normally speaking, such a level of influence might be closer to a gentle and refreshing breeze, preventing Long Yuehong from overreacting. But at this moment, Long Yuehong’s skin was abnormally sensitive.

He immediately had the illusion of being scratched by countless people. His body twisted around, and his expression was a mix of crying and laughter.

It was simply torture.

Long Yuehong could no longer control the military exoskeleton.

Bai Chen sensed Long Yuehong’s abnormality, but she didn’t understand what he was suffering. Many thoughts flashed across her mind for a moment, hoping to help Long Yuehong escape his current predicament.

Finally, she decided to try to stimulate him with pain. This itself could wake people up from their sleep or hallucinations, but Bai Chen didn’t know if it was the right or wrong thing to do.

Jiang Baimian also heard Shang Jianyao cough. From the corner of her eye, she saw Long Yuehong squirming in between tears and laughter. That Mind Corridor-level Awakened has managed to make creative strides when it comes to matter interference…

We can’t continue like this. Even if that’s all he has, just the current situation makes us unable to escape… Ignoring everything else, we might not be able to wake up in time under the effects of Forced Sleep every time. If we were a few seconds slower, we would become the distant attackers’ target. We aren’t mechanical monks, so we can’t use our bodies to tank bullets, grenades, and rockets…

Damn it. There are bioelectric signals all around us, making it impossible to determine where he is. It’s the same for Shang Jianyao’s human consciousness perception… This isn’t anything like locking onto distant attackers through ballistic trajectory calculations, observation, and the help of military exoskeletons…

Without finding the Mind Corridor-level Awakened, we can’t counterattack even if we want to. We can only watch helplessly as we walk into a hopeless situation one step at a time… In this short gap, Jiang Baimian’s thoughts raced. She could only give the order she was most unwilling to give: “Spread out and retreat!”

This way, at least they wouldn’t be wiped out all at once.

The lesser of two evils!

On the third floor of an apartment building less than 100 meters away from the Old Task Force, one could barely see a man standing at the window facing the area where the Old Task Force was. He had a hand in his pocket and was leisurely looking at Jiang Baimian and the others.

He had golden-brown hair that wasn’t short. His blue eyes, sharp nose, and handsome eyebrows indicated that he once had outstanding looks. But now, he had already grown fat thanks to age. His face was chubby, and there was a scruffy beard around his mouth.

As expected of a team that can steal the passcode despite First City’s supervision. They actually forced me to enter the danger zone of 100 meters… The man wore a formal black suit in the Old World style with a white shirt inside that had its first button unbuttoned.

Despite the praise, the man named Khal was already preparing to evacuate after cleaning up the scene. From his point of view, regardless of whether the strange child named Xiaochong—who the other party was searching for—could appear in time to provide help, there was no way he could prevent him from completing the kill.

In the room behind him, a person was lying on the long sofa, deep asleep.

At this moment, a rather angry voice suddenly sounded in Khal’s mind. “Cut it out, all of you!”

This voice sounded a little childlike as it echoed in Khal’s mind.

Khal’s entire body stiffened as if he had become a stone statue. He didn’t laugh, nor did he move. He just stared blankly out the window in a strange silence.

Standing by the overturned sapphire-blue jeep, Shang Jianyao’s coughing stopped. Long Yuehong was also liberated from his itch.

Jiang Baimian, Giuseppe, and Bai Chen saw a surprising change in their surroundings.

The passersby—who had scattered in all directions—stopped in a panic. Some even stood firmly, standing there dazedly. Some couldn’t control themselves and fell to the ground, motionless.

The people who had tripped due to their panic were silent.

The residents in the houses on both sides of the street—who were hiding in safe spots—tried hard to control their trembling.

Those who held firearms transformed into statues. These were distributed along the road leading to their doors.

Those who were spying on the situation outside closed their eyes behind the windows and allowed their faces to be pressed against the glass.

Those who had connected with the Hand of Order by phone either held the receivers without lowering them or didn’t say a word, allowing the other party to keep saying ‘hello.’

The distant attackers were the same. They maintained a kneeling, standing, or crawling state as their eyes lost focus.

At this moment, it was as if someone had pressed the pause button, causing time to stop flowing within a certain range.

If it weren’t for the fact that the frozen people’s eyes weren’t fierce, their eyes showing no signs of turbidity, nor did they show any obvious bestiality, Long Yuehong definitely would’ve thought that the block had encountered a Heartless outbreak. Apart from them, everyone else had instantly become Heartless.

This was a terrifying scene that had only happened when the Old World was destroyed.

As Jiang Baimian and the others looked around, Shang Jianyao exclaimed in surprise, “Xiaochong!”

This… Long Yuehong was a little shocked by Xiaochong’s strength.

Jiang Baimian’s heart palpitated as she shouted, “Head to Xiaochong’s!”

They were to ignore the strange changes in the area.

Before all kinds of interference appeared again, Shang Jianyao carried Giuseppe, Long Yuehong carried Bai Chen, and Jiang Baimian followed closely behind. They ran crazily into the apartment where Xiaochong lived.

They didn’t slow down. They jumped or ran to the fifth floor, pushed open the ajar door, and entered the apartment Xiaochong rented.

Xiaochong—who was wearing yellow clothes—was putting the game console and portable computer into his red school bag as he shouted in displeasure, “Those baddies. I’m exposed—I can’t stay here any longer!”

This King of the Heartless acted like a child who had gone to an Internet café to game before the Old World was destroyed and was found by his parents.

“Alright, let’s move quickly!” Shang Jianyao’s deep friendship made him agree readily.

While Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong helped Xiaochong clean up, Jiang Baimian’s thoughts raced. She deliberated over her words and said, “Should we capture the baddie on the way? Otherwise, he will track us later and might expose your location again.”

Xiaochong thought for a moment and said, “Alright! I want him to work and earn money for me!”

“…” While Long Yuehong and the others were speechless, Shang Jianyao and Xiaochong finished packing the bags.

After that, Shang Jianyao picked up ‘Garibaldi’ Giuseppe again and made Xiaochong sit on his shoulder.

Xiaochong was immediately a little happy and excited.

“Let’s set off!” He waved the hand that wasn’t required to stabilize his body.

The Old Task Force members didn’t delay. They didn’t even take the stairs.

Long Yuehong carried Bai Chen and helped Jiang Baimian jump down from the window. With the help of the building’s protruding parts, they easily landed on the street after two jumps.

Clang!

Shang Jianyao found his footing.

Suddenly, Xiaochong’s expression changed. He jumped off Shang Jianyao’s shoulder and went straight for an alley to the side.

“It’s too late; I’ll make a move first. Go and capture the baddie yourselves—there are still some residual effects on him…” A series of afterimages appeared as the child ran, making Long Yuehong think that he was hallucinating.

In just a second or two, the Old Task Force members lost sight of Xiaochong. Only his words echoed in their ears.

“Teacher Du Heng has arrived nearby?” Jiang Baimian made the most reasonable guess.