Embers Ad Infinitum

Upon hearing Avia’s whisper, Shang Jianyao said seriously, “There will come a day when nobody has to worry about these matters; they will be able to live freely under the sun.”

“I hope so.” Avia smiled bitterly and sighed.

Jiang Baimian then flipped her wrist and looked at her electronic watch. “We should leave.”

The Old Task Force still had to make the best use of their time to leave the city before the chaos subsided. They still had to complete their diversion plan before stability was restored in First City and First City regained their sights on Early Spring Town again.

Avia heaved a sigh of relief when she heard that. On the one hand, she had been so cooperative because she really didn’t want to keep the secrets any longer. On the other hand, she was worried that the other party would take the risk and force her to use the phone in her hand.

She had no idea what would happen to her when that happened. She was unwilling to take the risk.

The fact that the other party could maintain their friendliness and retreat quietly was the best development she could imagine.

The moment they disappeared around the corner of the bathhouse lobby, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao ran. In just about 20 seconds, they rushed out of Avia’s classic-looking villa and returned to the street.

At this moment, the Virtual World’s owner—the old woman in the dark beanie—had entered a ‘physical slumber’ thanks to Kanna. She was still sleeping. The guards at the door stirred from time to time, and it wouldn’t be long before they woke up. However, Kanna’s Friendly Halo remained.

Bai Chen and Long Yuehong had already tied up the dangerous enemy and stuffed him into the jeep. The latter watched them closely while the former turned the car around, prepared to drive out of Round Hill Street.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

As Jiang Baimian ran, she turned around and shouted at the room where Kanna was. “Mission accomplished!”

Kanna sat beside the Virtual World’s owner and replied, “You guys leave first!”

She didn’t have to evacuate the city after all. After cleaning up the scene and leaving, she would return to her status as an Elder’s daughter and not have to worry about being put in a spot by the investigation.

As for who won in the Senate, it wouldn’t affect Kanna’s father’s safety. At most, it would make him lose power in advance because he had learned from the chaos after Oray’s death and had always adhered to one principle: always support the consul—whoever it is!

That’s too gentle. Use the volume at which your parrot curses… Jiang Baimian—who almost didn’t hear Kanna’s reply—muttered, rushed to the jeep, opened the door, and sat in the passenger seat.

Shang Jianyao followed and entered the backseat.

As the jeep started, Jiang Baimian turned around and instructed Shang Jianyao, “Quickly try and see what negative effects those items have. Use whatever you can use as soon as possible to prevent the captive from pulling any tricks later.”

This referred to the prayer beads, necklace, lighter, condom, and other items Shang Jianyao had obtained from Khal.

Some of them definitely came from the Mind Corridor and had certain abilities. Shang Jianyao had been in a rush and had yet to make any confirmation.

“Here’s your Bangle of Blindness.” Long Yuehong handed Shang Jianyao the items he had previously left in the car.

This bracelet—which seemed to be made of black hair—had already dimmed. It looked like it could be used two to three more times at most, or even fewer.

As Shang Jianyao wore the Bangle of Blindness on his left wrist again, he took out the few items he had plundered from his tactical backpack.

He first picked up the lighter and condom, half-closed his eyes, and quietly sensed for a few seconds. “No changes; they are ordinary items.”

Shang Jianyao then threw the condom at Long Yuehong. “Keep it.”

“What for?” Long Yuehong was confused and a little embarrassed. As an inexperienced man, he felt that this thing was an overly private matter that left him embarrassed.

“It can be used to carry water later,” Shang Jianyao explained in all seriousness.

After stuffing the lighter into his pocket, he picked up the string of brown beads. There were a total of six of them.

After mimicking Zennaga by telling the prayer beads a few times, Shang Jianyao looked down between his legs. He came to a realization and turned to look at the captive lying beside him. “It’s no wonder his reaction isn’t that fast at times, making him appear stupid. When wearing this string of prayer beads, all the blood goes down there.”

Without Shang Jianyao needing to explain the price, Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen understood what he was saying: The negative effects of the prayer beads were clearly similar to the price Jingfa paid—enhanced lust!

Furthermore, this was enhanced lust at the Mind Corridor level.

“Apart from affecting one’s thinking speed and preventing them from focusing for a long period, it doesn’t have other negative prices. Oh, there’s one more; not polite enough. It also interferes with my actions and makes running uncomfortable.” Shang Jianyao evaluated it very seriously.

Long Yuehong was stunned and resisted the urge to take a glance.

Jiang Baimian said in a scientific tone, “In other words, it’s best not to wear it usually and take it out only at critical moments?”

Of course, this would definitely be a waste of time, making it easy to miss an opportunity. However, it was the lesser of two evils.

Shang Jianyao tersely acknowledged her words and suddenly looked up at Long Yuehong. “I discovered one of its uses.”

“What is it?” Jiang Baimian was curious.

Long Yuehong acutely sensed that it would be harmful to him, so he shut his mouth tightly.

Shang Jianyao laughed. “Normal people can’t use such items; they will only suffer the corresponding negative effects. However, the negative effects of this string of prayer beads are still very useful at times. When Little Red is married and is inside the bridal room, he will feel nervous. When he can’t relax, he can wear it.”

Long Yuehong was momentarily unable to retort. In consideration of his feelings, Jiang Baimian didn’t answer.

“Doesn’t that mean it can be used to treat certain diseases?” Bai Chen subconsciously interrupted. She then looked at the road ahead in embarrassment.

She wasn’t embarrassed by the topic, but she felt a little embarrassed that she had led the conversation astray and affected the normal discussion.

“I’ve never tried it.” Shang Jianyao shook his head. The next second, he sighed deeply. “I thought the price would be a split personality. Shame…”

He had determined that one of the prayer beads and necklaces belonged to the Subhuti domain from the enemy’s use of Auditory Deprivation. One of the more common prices in this domain was having a split personality.

“Why the regret?” Jiang Baimian asked in confusion.

“This will worsen my symptoms and allow me to reach the Mind Corridor,” Shang Jianyao explained seriously. “When the time comes, I might be able to find an opportunity to accommodate myself.”

This train of thought is a little dangerous… Jiang Baimian was inexperienced in this regard and could only admit that Shang Jianyao’s plan was logically feasible.

When the nine Shang Jianyaos completely split up, each with their own characteristics, they might really be able to beat up the Shang Jianyao blocking the golden elevator’s entrance when they teamed up.

Of course, the premise was that they could negotiate and unite with one another after they completely split up.

Shang Jianyao’s train of thought always skipped as he cast his gaze at Long Yuehong and thoughtfully said, “Although there’s a high chance that this string of prayer beads’ abilities corresponds to the deprivation of the six senses, there’s no way to be sure without experiments.”

“W-what do you want to do?” Long Yuehong felt like a victim.

“Don’t worry. You can still recover after the deprivation.” Shang Jianyao consoled him.

As Long Yuehong gritted his teeth, Jiang Baimian—as the team leader—spoke up for justice. “We’ll experiment later. Isn’t there a ready-made captive here?”

“Alright.” Shang Jianyao wrapped the string of prayer beads in a piece of paper and stuffed it into his pocket.

“The negative effects take a while to subside…” As he spoke, he held the silver angel necklace.

Shang Jianyao then yawned, and he honestly said, “I kind of want to sleep.”

“The price is drowsiness?” Jiang Baimian asked in enlightenment.

“Probably.” Shang Jianyao came to a realization again. “He uses the prayer beads’ negative effects to resist the necklace’s negative effects. That’s what he did!”

He was referring to the anesthetized captive, Khal.

“But this way, the activity level, reaction speed, and focus will be a problem.” Bai Chen—who was driving—imagined a sleepy and thirsty state.

“Therefore, he became our captive.” Jiang Baimian laughed. “Then, what are its abilities?”

Shang Jianyao looked at Long Yuehong again. “It feels very dangerous, and it seems to be from the Arbiter of Fate domain. We won’t know the exact details until we experiment.”

“It can kill!” Upon hearing that it was an item from the Arbiter of Fate domain, Long Yuehong didn’t dare to volunteer.

Shang Jianyao didn’t insist and lowered his head to distinguish the other items.

The jeep didn’t return the way it came. Instead, it took the nearest route and drove out of the Golden Apple Zone.

…

At 14 Round Hill Street.

Seeing that the Old Task Force had already left, Kanna quickly took off her Sluggish ring and placed it in the jewelry box she carried with her.

The price of this item was a strong ringing in the ears. Under normal circumstances, nobody was willing to keep wearing it.

Kanna then took out a card. The card depicted the King of Spades, but for some reason, the face looked very blurry.

Kanna held the card and directed its ability at the Virtual World’s owner. “Forget!”

This card came from the Last Man domain. Its ability was to make people forget their memories of the past five minutes. The price of using it was that one would also randomly lose a memory that didn’t exceed five minutes.

As a Mind Corridor-level Awakened with a large faction backing her, Kanna currently had a total of five items. However, she didn’t dare to carry two of them with her. The negative effects were too great for her. Furthermore, their effects were in place just by carrying them with her—there was no need to wear them.

She planned on trading them with others in the future. After all, the three items she often used would run out of energy sooner or later and become ordinary.

…

Red Wolf Zone, Senate.

Gaius walked to the balcony, where the consul often delivered a speech to the citizens.

Galoran—who was floating outside the nearby window—landed below, surrounded by the moaning injured. She realized that as a representative of the entire year, a Mind Corridor-level Awakened in the Master Zhuang domain actually had two basic abilities. However, Matter Interference was much weaker than normal compared to other domains.