Embers Ad Infinitum

In fact, Jiang Baimian could’ve stopped Xiaochong when he ran to the alley. After all, she temporarily didn’t have to worry about the others and was the first to react.

She could’ve shouted for Xiaochong to stop and say that she would bring him along. With the military exoskeleton and the modified jeep’s help, it would definitely be much faster for them to escape together than for a child like him to do it alone.

But at that moment, Jiang Baimian hesitated. She guessed from Xiaochong’s reaction that Du Heng had followed the trail and was already nearby.

If the Old Task Force kept bringing Xiaochong along and couldn’t avoid the mysterious antiquarian, the Old Task Force would be in a dilemma when the two parties met. They wouldn’t know which side to side with.

Either side was someone the Old Task Force couldn’t face at the moment. Furthermore, they had a certain level of friendship with both parties and had been given considerable favors.

Upon thinking of such a scene, Jiang Baimian couldn’t help but be thrown into a dilemma. Choosing either side and offending the other made it difficult to smooth things over in the future. She thought of Shang Jianyao—who might turn rash—so she decided to be selfish. She didn’t say a word and watched Xiaochong disappear into the alley.

Sigh, humans tend to be greedy. Even now, I’m still hoping to live through the cracks… Perhaps it was because Xiaochong looked like a child, but the guilt in Jiang Baimian’s heart didn’t cease. The only thing she could comfort herself with was that Xiaochong was clearly inhuman.

The speed at which he ran at full speed was no less than a military exoskeleton operating at maximum speed. Therefore, it was the same with or without the Old Task Force.

“Teacher Du Heng…” Shang Jianyao quickly looked around. Although he didn’t see the antiquarian, he still made a beautiful wish. “I hope Xiaochong escapes…”

He was clearly more biased toward his good friend—Xiaochong—than Teacher Du Heng on this matter.

But if Xiaochong really is the King of the Heartless, it will be extremely dangerous to his surroundings. It might be best if Du Heng watches over him… Long Yuehong looked around and was still deeply shocked by the posture everyone was maintaining as if time had frozen or there was a large-scale Heartless disease outbreak.

He suspected that if Xiaochong willed it, he could really bring about another Heartless outbreak.

From the perspective of saving all of humanity, they should indeed watch over Xiaochong. Of course, it was very necessary to make the monitoring more humane and humanitarian considering that Xiaochong had yet to do any destruction. After all, Xiaochong had very simple requirements—he just needed a room, electricity, water, games, and food. He didn’t want to be disturbed, and he just needed his ‘pets’ to be taken care of.

Bai Chen retracted her gaze from the alley and quickly asked, “Are we still launching a counterattack on the Mind Corridor-level Awakened?”

She believed that they couldn’t stay here any longer, regardless of whether they counterattacked!

“Without Xiaochong, I don’t think there’s a need…” Long Yuehong immediately voiced his thoughts. He meant that it was too dangerous and that they didn’t have much confidence in succeeding.

Although the Old Task Force had previously finished off DiMarco—a Mind Corridor-level Awakened—and although Xiaochong said that the freezing effect on the other party would remain for a period of time and only grow weaker with time, times were different. With the strength the other party had shown, Long Yuehong didn’t believe that they could successfully counterattack and take down the other party.

The Old Task Force had zero defenses against Forced Sleep. As their urgency intensified over time, it might even break through their bottom lines as adults—peeing their pants without waking up just like when they were young.

Jiang Baimian interrupted Long Yuehong. “Let’s not talk about the necessity of the matter. We don’t even know where the target is!”

This was meant for Shang Jianyao—it was to prevent him from being persistent.

When he was packing his bag, Xiaochong had said that he didn’t know where the Mind Corridor-level Awakened was hiding. He had only exerted an indiscriminate and large-scale influence sans the Old Task Force members, thereby successfully stopping the other party’s subsequent attack.

If Xiaochong followed, he could sense the surrounding area and observe who was recovering from the ‘frozen’ state first—it would most likely be the target.

Without Xiaochong now, the target might very well be outside Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian’s perception range.

Shang Jianyao quickly replied to Jiang Baimian. “You can ask them.”

He pointed into the distance with his free hand—they were the ordinary attackers in charge of delivering suppressive fire.

Shang Jianyao then raised his left wrist. “I can still use this to sense him.”

Jiang Baimian’s thoughts raced as she quickly said, “No matter what, let’s drive the car over there first! If you can ask where the target is hiding, give it a try if you have the chance. We don’t want things to backfire. If not, make the best use of your time to move to the Green Olive Zone and leave the target’s range of control.”

As she spoke, she ran toward the sapphire-blue jeep that had flipped over by the side of the road.

Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong used two jumps to overtake Jiang Baimian and landed beside the jeep. They put down Giuseppe and Bai Chen, relied on the military exoskeletons, and cooperated with Jiang Baimian to flip the armored jeep over.

Without any need for further words, the few of them got into the car one after another.

Bai Chen floored the accelerator, and the jeep darted between the ‘frozen’ people as it drove toward the distant attackers.

It was actually not suitable to drive in such a situation because there was a high chance that the path would be blocked. The drivers would also be ‘frozen,’ causing the cars to stop one after another.

Fortunately, the previous two explosions had successfully sent many cars fleeing the block. Therefore, the Old Task Force’s sapphire-blue jeep raced to the attackers’ side on an empty road.

Bai Chen didn’t dare to go too fast, afraid that she would suddenly fall asleep and encounter a serious accident.

At this moment, the attackers—who were carrying rocket launchers or using sniper rifles—were surrounding a silver-white multi-purpose car. They were either kneeling, standing, or prostrating.

All of them were still.

Shang Jianyao rolled down the window and asked loudly, “Where’s the mastermind?”

The attackers remained motionless, and nobody replied.

“Where’s the mastermind?” Shang Jianyao asked again.

Finally, one of the attackers moved his neck and turned his head slightly. His mouth opened slightly as he muttered in abnormal fear, “Cut it out.”

From the looks of it, they didn’t ‘freeze’ but received some order and are bent on executing it… Upon seeing this, Jiang Baimian knew that they couldn’t get anything out of these people for the time being.

Even if Shang Jianyao used Inference Clowning or Corny Person, he would fall short on the priority under that order.

Without hesitation, Jiang Baimian immediately said, “To the Green Olive Zone.”

Bai Chen turned the steering wheel and made the car turn into another street. During this process, she rolled down the window, pulled out the Ice Moss with one hand, and pulled the trigger at the attackers that were gradually exposed to her line of sight.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Blood spewed out of the frozen attackers one after another as they quietly ‘walked’ toward death.

In this regard, Bai Chen was never soft-hearted as a woman. She believed that without these subordinates who could cause harm in the real world, the Mind Corridor-level Awakened could pull off fewer tricks and cause much less harm.

What Jiang Baimian was most worried about now was that the Mind Corridor-level Awakened would give up on the crowd control and create an opportunity to influence the Old Task Force members one by one so that they would die in the Real Dreamscape while lacking the effects of Inference Clowning.

Therefore, it was best to leave the other party’s range of influence as soon as possible.

“Watch each other’s backs, and don’t let anyone fall asleep!” As Jiang Baimian observed her surroundings, she instructed her team members and Garibaldi.

…

In a town ruin in the North Shore Wastelands.

Genava, Han Wanghuo, and Zeng Duo thought for a long time but couldn’t figure out how to ascertain Jiang Baimian and the others’ situation and provide help from afar.

“I plan on returning to First City to investigate what happened.” Finally, Genava made a decision. “You can stay here and continue misleading First City.”

Han Wanghuo fell silent for a moment before saying, “I’ll go with you.”

With that said, he turned to look at Zeng Duo. “I’m sorry.”

“I’ll go too.” Zeng Duo laughed self-deprecatingly. “Without their help, I can’t save everyone in town.”

Genava was a smart bot, so he naturally didn’t pretend to be polite at a time like this. “Alright, let’s do it together.”

…

Red Wolf Zone, 19 Rosta Street, Hand of Order headquarters.

Wall and the others—who had been summoned due to the escalating situation—heard a distant explosion.

Don’t tell me it has really begun? As they looked at each other, a public security officer entered the room and reported the situation.

“There was a gunfight near Sikhara Temple. Both parties used rocket launchers and grenade launchers… The witnesses at the scene heard a nursery rhyme. In a rush to pee, they didn’t notice the subsequent developments…”

This… The description of a nursery rhyme and the urgency to pee reminded Wall of some details in a particular case. He straightened his body in surprise and anger and blurted out, “That team is back?”

How dare they?