Embers Ad Infinitum

The person who entered the study was a butler that had served Phocas for many years. His name was Reiner, and he was almost 60 years old. He could be considered advanced in age in the Ashlands, sans the people in high society.

Reiner’s hair was clearly mottled white. The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, lips, and forehead were relatively obvious, but he had a strong body and a mind in good shape. His blue eyes only showed reliability forged through time—it wasn’t ravaged by the vicissitudes of life.

“General, the bathwater is ready.” Reiner bowed.

Phocas’s yellow eyes swept across the butler’s face, and he nodded. “Alright.”

He slowly stood up and led the guards guarding the door to the second floor as he stroked the statues along the railings.

The guards remained at the bedroom door, and only two maids followed in to help Phocas remove his general uniform and enter the bathroom.

This general’s habit was to sleep after taking a bath at night. Nobody was to disturb him until he naturally woke up.

As usual, Phocas took a comfortable bath with a glass of red wine. After the maids cleaned up the bathroom, he immediately got into a large bed and covered himself with a velvet blanket.

As an old man, the mattress on this bed had already been replaced with a relatively hard one, helping him relieve the pain in his waist.

Every time he felt the hard support of the mattress, Phocas would always miss the early years.

Back then, his bed was very soft, and he felt like he could sink into it.

Back then, his wife was still alive.

As the curtains were drawn and the bedside lamp switched off, the entire room was drowned by thick darkness.

Phocas’s breathing gradually became drawn out.

After 15 minutes, the bedroom door quietly opened. It was unknown if the guards—who were supposed to stop anyone from disturbing the general’s sleep—had disappeared or were ignoring the intruder.

The person who entered the bedroom was of average height and wore a formal black suit. He walked in the weakly illuminated environment and walked to Phocas’s bed. Then, he took out a syringe from his pocket.

After pushing out a little liquid, the person hiding in the darkness bent down and aimed the needle at a certain vein in Phocas.

Tak!

The bedside lamp suddenly lit up. The originally warm, yellowish light was rather blinding for humans who were accustomed to the dark environment.

The person attempting to inject Phocas with poison couldn’t help but close his eyes. He straightened his body in horror and retreated.

After adapting to the light, the intruder opened his eyes again and saw that Phocas had already sat up. The latter’s yellow eyes stared at him coldly, and he looked imposing and abnormally dignified.

The person who had infiltrated the room held his breath subconsciously, just like every time he encountered such gazes over the years.

His hair was white, and his wrinkles were obvious. He was Phocas’s most trusted butler, Reiner.

“Why?” Phocas asked in a deep voice. He didn’t show any panic from the attempted attack.

Reiner overcame his fear and smiled strangely. “Because I’m Shepherd Bouillon.”

“You?” Phocas scoffed, but he didn’t say anything else. He calmly asked, “Why did you choose this moment, which isn’t really an opportunity to attack me? Have you also lost your intelligence?”

Reiner laughed. “The fact that you raised such a question means that I wasn’t wrong. In order to deal with a senior Mind Corridor-level Awakened like you and a general who can command the entire city defense force, being rash won’t solve the problem. I have to patiently observe the details and carefully gather information to find your weakness. Then, I’ll have to wait for an opportunity like tonight when the city defense forces are guarding the various areas but have lax defenses here.

“Fortunately, you can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time[1]. I didn’t say this sentence, but it’s a famous saying from the Old World. It’s perfect for you. I didn’t sneak into your manor to find an opportunity to influence you. Instead, I flipped through the memories of the people around you bit by bit to find clues.”

Phocas laughed instead of being angry. “What did you discover?”

Reiner shrugged. “I realized that you have a habit that hasn’t changed in years. Be it commanding the army outside or facing chaos in First City, you have to sleep before 10 p.m. You absolutely can’t go beyond that.

“Besides, nobody is to disturb you while you sleep. An emergency intelligence report was once reported to you through a phone, but you didn’t answer it. That was at 11 p.m, but you didn’t return the call until 2 a.m.

“In addition, I’ve tracked down many Awakened in the Dawn domain and found an opportunity to flip through their memories. I’ve concluded some common prices, one of which is that they will be in a deep coma for a period of time. After combining this information, I determine that you will be in a deep coma between 10:30 p.m. and 1:30 a.m.”

As a soldier who had risked his life many times, Phocas’s abilities had never been a big secret. It was very easy for people with ulterior motives to figure them out.

As far as Shepherd Bouillon knew, the two clearest points were: Coma Creation and Awakened Physical Potential.

As for the third one, it was relatively hidden. Not many people knew about it.

As a senior Mind Corridor-level Awakened, Shepherd Bouillon knew very well that the corresponding boundaries would definitely be widened after Phocas’s two abilities entered the Mind Corridor. They definitely couldn’t be treated through the usual way.

After advancing to the Mind Corridor, the number of times Phocas carried out attacks had clearly decreased. Most of the time, he only revealed the two means available to him—Coma Creation and Awakened Physical Potential.

Phocas didn’t say a word and continued staring coldly at Butler Reiner.

Reiner smiled. “Your question allowed me to confirm that the price you paid was a deep coma during a certain period. However, I made a certain misjudgment regarding the exact time. The reason I’m speaking so much is that I’m waiting for the moment when you are truly unconscious. I find it strange that you aren’t panicking at all. Are you willing to speak to me because you want to forcefully appear calm and scare me so as to stop any subsequent attacks?

“Don’t worry. Every 15 minutes, a group of people will come to your residence and attempt to kill you. Apart from your two children, I believe someone will chance upon a moment when you are in a coma. There’s no need to struggle. Even if you knock everyone in this house unconscious now, assassins will come from the surrounding area one after another. The only solution is to make a call immediately and request the Consul or the Senate’s help. When the time comes, my puppets might be among the people who are here to protect you.”

Phocas sighed after quietly listening. “You’re really patient. You’re different from most people in the Anti-intellectualism Church. I did mix up the time a little—the few times I didn’t answer the emergency calls were actually done on purpose. It’s just like how I have to sleep every night before 10 p.m. Together, they form a misdirection for a secret observer like you.

“As a general, I definitely know how to maintain some redundancies. In the Old World’s early years, there was already the concept of military reserves. How can I not make the corresponding arrangements now?” At this point, Phocas laughed. “My coma period isn’t from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.

“Also, you might not have heard of this saying. This is something that the emperor once said: The Awakened have to protect the secret of the price they paid like they are protecting their eyes.” The smile on Phocas’s face became increasingly obvious. “In fact, the price I paid isn’t ‘a certain period of deep coma.’ Ever since I had a certain level of strength, I’ve been working hard to create an illusion. That illusion was that the price I paid was a certain period of deep coma to hide the price I really paid.

“There’s an Ashlandic saying that goes: ‘When using troops for battle, we can’t rule out deviating and deceptive strategies.’ This is also applicable in battles between Awakened. Otherwise, do you think I would talk to you so calmly?”

The expression on Reiner’s face gradually froze.

Phocas slowly got off the bed and casually said, “Did you notice that your insomnia has worsened recently?”

Reiner didn’t answer, but he frowned.

“Ever since October Xue and Zhang Qubing’s team left this place but were followed by the fake Father, I’ve been wondering if Shepherd Bouillon was already lurking nearby and plotting something against me.” Phocas stroked his nearly hairless head and smiled. “From that moment onward, I targeted everyone in this block indiscriminately, except for my two children.”

Reiner fell silent for a moment before saying, “Your third ability is to make people suffer from varying degrees of insomnia?”

“Yes.” Phocas smiled. “In addition to making you increasingly insomniac, I also awakened your physical potential so that you can maintain a good state while suffering from insomnia without affecting your daily life. Therefore, you can continue reading the memories of people on a large scale bit by bit. I’ve been slowly progressing on this matter, and I don’t think I made you sense anything. After all, you will definitely focus on the various details related to me when you flip through memories, not the daily lifestyle of the person whose memories you are perusing.”

Reiner fell silent again. After a while, he asked, “What’s the point?”

“Of course, there’s a point.” Phocas slowly paced around and glanced at him. “First City still has quite an adequate intelligence system. Some of the prices in your Last Man domain have long been grasped. I realized that many of them are physical and physiological prices, such as sleep disorders, hypertension, physical decline, and so on. I’m not sure if the price you paid is any of these—it’s just an attempt. In any case, there won’t be any losses if I fail. But if I succeed, heh…”

Phocas laughed. “After overstraining your body to resist insomnia for extended periods, what do you think will happen once nobody awakens your physical potential? It might range from a major illness to sudden death.”

Reiner’s expression darkened. He looked around and said, “There are definitely many people in poor physical condition in the surrounding area. Aren’t you afraid of affecting them?”

“There’s an Ashlandic saying: A soft-hearted person isn’t suitable to be a general.” Phocas raised his chin, revealing his dignified posture. “I didn’t investigate the surrounding area and search for suspicious people because I didn’t want to scare you away. I wanted to have a chance to punish you.”

At this point, Phocas glanced at Reiner and laughed self-deprecatingly. “Why am I telling you so much? You’re just a puppet…”

Just as he said that, Reiner collapsed and fell to the carpet.

The guards outside and the others in the manor had also fallen unconscious.

Phocas changed into casual clothes and came to his two adult children. He carried one in each hand and rushed to the garage before getting into a bulletproof SUV. He then drove the car north toward the Green Olive Zone.

During this process, he didn’t call the Senate or the Administrative Office, nor did he contact his subordinates in the city defense forces.

[1] Quote from Lincoln.