Embers Ad Infinitum

In order not to be embroiled in any of First City’s possible unrest before getting a radio transceiver, the Old Task Force left early in the morning and missed the scheduled Citizen Meet by an hour.

In the Red Wolf Zone in the morning, there weren’t many pedestrians. It was the same for the cars coming and going.

Most of the residents here were still enjoying breakfast at home and waiting to participate in the gathering that Gaius had convened. They didn’t have to work in the morning thanks to this reason.

The remaining people either chose food from the bakeries that had opened early or entered the alfresco cafés. They found a seat and sat down, waiting for the waiter to deliver breakfast.

All of this was so serene and peaceful. If the air quality was better, Long Yuehong would definitely feel refreshed and happy.

Life was beautiful.

After turning into the Green Olive Zone, the sky became a tiny line thanks to the looming buildings on both sides. The environment also turned darker.

There weren’t many pedestrians here either. Most of them had already gone to the Factory Zone and had begun a busy day.

In front of the shops that sold expired bread was a long line, making the already cramped road narrower.

The Old Task Force’s jeep drove northwest at a moderate speed along the road strewn with all kinds of trash. Their destination was Antanna Street.

First City’s largest and most famous black market was the place they could most easily obtain a radio transceiver. But when the Old Task Force arrived at Antanna Street, they saw that the shops on both sides of the street were tightly shuttered. There were almost no pedestrians, and it appeared very quiet.

“They went bust?” Shang Jianyao clenched his right fist and punched his left palm.

Jiang Baimian kept wondering if he would say the following sentence next: “Antanna Street—Antanna Street has gone bust. B*stard—the b*stard boss owes a huge debt and has run off with his little aunt…”

Long Yuehong also had a similar premonition and quickly voiced his guess. “This place was raided by the Hand of Order after the previous conflict?”

He was referring to the matter of the Old Task Force forcefully snatching Han Wanghuo and Zeng Duo from Antanna Street.

“We’ll know by asking.” Bai Chen parked the jeep by the roadside, put on a baseball cap, and pushed open the door to get out of the car.

Just because there were almost no pedestrians didn’t mean that there weren’t any.

After putting on a disguise, Bai Chen pushed open the ajar door of a shop and said to the boss, who was hiding inside and peeping out from the cracks, “Getting some time off today?”

She deliberately used a mocking tone.

The Red Coaster laughed dryly. “Well, there’s the Citizen Meet today, ain’t it? The situation has been a little tense recently. Everyone unanimously believes that it’s better to rest for a few days and observe the situation to prevent ourselves from being treated as target practice. Sigh, those with money and resources have all brought their goods to the manors outside the city.”

Upon hearing the boss’s explanation, an Old World ancient poem surfaced in Jiang Baimian’s mind: “The duck knows first when the river turns warm…”

Antanna Street—which dealt in gray or even illegal businesses—had an acute grasp of the changes in the situation. Of course, this was also because there was information among the illegal things sold on Antanna Street.

Bai Chen nodded slightly in understanding. She then went straight to the point. “Which shop has excess numbers of radio transceivers?”

The Red Coaster shook his head. “The people in this business have either led people and their wares to the southern manors or have hidden in the nearest North Shore city ruins. They aren’t on the street anymore. If you really want one, go to the Hunter’s Guild and assign a mission. Many Hunter teams are relatively well off in this regard.”

Bai Chen calmly listened and maintained her mocking tone. “This is the first time I’m seeing people from Antanna Street push their business to the Hunter’s Guild.”

“Safety first, safety first.” The Red Coaster smiled and closed the shop door.

Bai Chen returned to the driver’s seat and turned her head to ask, “Where are we going to search next?”

She didn’t consider the boss’s suggestion at all because to the Old Task Force, issuing missions and waiting on others to complete it relied on luck. It didn’t meet their pressing need for one.

“How about my good brother, Terrence?” Shang Jianyao suggested. With that said, he gulped as if he missed the taste of iced Coke.

As the Blackshirts’ second boss, there was a high chance that Terrence had a radio transceiver.

It’s rare for Hey to come up with such a reasonable, serious, and feasible solution… Long Yuehong suddenly felt like echoing Shang Jianyao.

Of course, the solutions Shang Jianyao came up with were still feasible most of the time. However, they weren’t serious or reasonable.

Jiang Baimian fell silent for a moment. “Keep that as a last choice.”

Upon seeing that her team members were a little confused, she sighed and said, “Terrence is related to the pitiful ones at Wolf’s Den. We should try not to use him if possible, lest it implicates the innocent.”

She then smiled and said, “In any case, we still have many options, such as Boss Ugo.”

This boss had a secret organization backing him. Furthermore, he was a friend of General Phocas.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Shang Jianyao applauded.

“Alright.” Bai Chen and Long Yuehong had no objections.

As for ‘Garibaldi’ Giuseppe, he couldn’t provide any effective suggestions because his previous intelligence channels had been exposed.

…

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

Wall came to rendezvous with his colleagues that had investigated the several explosions last night. He came too early, and most of the people had yet to arrive, so he could only sit there by himself, pick up the information placed in front of everyone’s seats, and seriously flip through it.

“In the armed conflict near Sikhara Temple, the people in the area heard a nursery rhyme and almost wanted to pee at the same time. This basically matches the situation at the colosseum…”

It’s really them… They really sneaked back to First City! Are their whereabouts in the North Anheford area a sham or a trap? Wall thought angrily. This is belittling and insulting the Hand of Order!

Wall continued reading. The subsequent parts were regarding another armed conflict in which he had participated in the investigation.

“Similar to the armed conflict near Sikhara Temple, witnesses saw a sapphire-blue jeep. We can preliminarily determine that it’s the same group…

“These people drove at an extremely slow speed near Sikhara Temple, but they still hit a utility pole by the roadside. Over here, they were attacked by rockets several times, and their vehicle was overturned…

“They are suspected of having two military exoskeletons…

“From this, we can determine that they should’ve been attacked by powerful Awakened and their subordinates. This resulted in them displaying all kinds of illogical traits…”

Apart from us, who else would attack them? Wall went to the scene last night and tried to track them. He wasn’t surprised by this conclusion at all, but he wondered who it was.

At the same time, he was more concerned about something else.

Although everything looked normal and matched all the characteristics of an armed conflict when he arrived at the scene last night, the situation of the crowd around him kept giving him an indescribable sense of strangeness. He felt that these people were still sleeping and were slowly shaking off their drowsiness.

As Wall flipped through the information, Red Wolf Zone’s Orderly, Trevis, walked in.

As he sat down, Trevis said to Wall, “Focus on tracking the jeep. Don’t come into contact with any more witnesses at the second scene.”

“Why?” Wall was very surprised.

Trevis spread his palm. “Instructions from above. It might involve some highly confidential matters.”

Highly confidential matters… Wall shut his mouth.

Trevis casually added, “If you really want to know, you can ask General Gaius. Oh, he’s participating in the Citizen Meet this morning. Do you want to bring some people over to help maintain order?”

…

Green Olive Zone, Ugo Hotel.

Shang Jianyao and the others entered the lobby and went straight to the front desk.

The boss had already finished breakfast and was organizing his things.

“You guys actually came back?” Ugo looked up, taking a few seconds to see through their disguises.

Jiang Baimian smiled. “Because you still owe a large sum of money, we’re afraid that you will renege on your debt after some time.”

Ugo calmed down. “What do you want?”

“One radio transceiver.” Jiang Baimian directly stated her request.

“One?” Ugo was a little surprised.

It was too simple and cheap.

“That’s just the interest.” Jiang Baimian smiled. “The real ‘payment’ will have to wait until we meet General Phocas.”

“You want to meet him now?” Ugo fell silent for a moment.

Uh… Jiang Baimian’s heart palpitated. “Yes.”

General Phocas owed them a favor, so it was definitely a good thing for them to contact him as soon as possible.

“As it happens, he’s nearby.” Ugo pointed to the other side of the hotel lobby. “Wait for me outside that door.”

Before long, the Old Task Force members followed Ugo through an alley and entered an apartment before arriving at the innermost room on the first floor.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Ugo knocked on the door.

“Come in.” General Phocas’s voice was slightly exhausted and hoarse.

After Ugo pushed open the door, Jiang Baimian and the others were a little dumbfounded.

The old lion-like Phocas stood there half-naked as he constantly lashed himself with a whip. Every lash had a bloody mark left behind—they looked rather hideous..