Embers Ad Infinitum

Zeng Duo quickly approached the room, but what she saw through the glass window was an abnormally bloody scene.

Beneath Li Ji’s head was his completely naked body. All the blood vessels visible to the naked eye had exploded. His body and the ground were frozen red.

In such a state, no human could survive. It was the same for Subhumans.

The only difference from normal situations was that Li Ji’s body seemed to secrete a sticky liquid that made him stick to the wall, his face pressed against the glass window.

Is this the outcome of an experiment? Zeng Duo’s heart tightened as she ran deeper into the bomb shelter.

In the rooms on both sides of the corridor, some were dark with seemingly nobody inside. Hair and meat strips hung from the cracks of some doors and windows, making anyone who saw this tremble.

Zeng Duo ran to one of the glass windows and looked with the help of the light. She saw the town’s teacher, Ning Xin.

This lady in her thirties had a relatively normal appearance in Early Spring Town. Her abnormality was in her organs—she had two.

Her eyes were completely protruded. On her side were dense and abnormally hideous capillaries. There was also a hole in her chest, allowing one to see her heart and stomach directly.

The former no longer throbbed.

Zeng Duo had never hated genetic experiments as much as she did now.

Badump! Badump! Badump!

Her heart raced. She was afraid that she would be too late—that all the men and women in town had become sacrificial victims of First City’s genetic experiments.

Without bothering to look at the rooms on both sides, she followed Genava and ran deep into the bomb shelter.

Before long, they came to a wide area. This place had been made into a large prison by First City’s garrison.

Behind the iron grills were familiar faces—Early Spring Town’s townsfolk! They were either huddled in a corner, waiting for the gunshots and explosions to subside, or they were gathered by the iron fence, hoping to see what had happened and find an opportunity to escape.

Fortunately… Thankfully… Zeng Duo was overjoyed when she saw this. Although there were fewer townsfolk than she remembered, and many of them had definitely died in evil experiments or were better off dead, about two-thirds of them remained.

That was the silver lining.

At a glance, Zeng Duo discovered the mayor—whose legs began atrophying since he was born—her cousin who had developed acute hearing but had his eyes rolled back the entire time, and a female classmate with three pairs of breasts…

Most of the mutated Subhumans didn’t become better-looking. Instead, they became uglier—like monsters.

Upon seeing them look at her blankly, Zeng Duo suddenly thought of something. She quickly lifted the military exoskeleton’s visor and shouted, “It’s me!”

“Duo Duo?”

“Little Duo?”

“Zeng Duo?” Shouts of surprise sounded from the prisons facing her as if they couldn’t believe their eyes.

Zeng Duo’s first reaction was joy. Her second reaction was that the nicknames ‘Duo Duo’ and ‘Little Duo’ broke the mood…

She shook her head, shaking off this baffling thought. After that, she looked around and said, “I’ll open the door for you.”

She couldn’t be bothered to find the guard with the prison key and planned on forcefully opening the lock. She lowered her visor again just in case, worried that a hidden enemy would release toxic gases.

At this moment, Han Wanghuo came in. He looked around and planned on helping.

The mayor looked at Zeng Duo—who was running toward him—and asked calmly, “A person you got?”

“Where did you get the exoskeleton?” asked the other townsfolk curiously as they waited for the prison door to open.

They had actually looked forward to Zeng Duo—who was out and had yet to be captured—returning to Early Spring Town and coming up with a way to save them. However, they rationally knew that such a ‘mission’ was too difficult for an ordinary Ruin Hunter. Even if she gathered a team of wilderness nomads or Ruin Hunters that numbered in the hundreds, it was almost a dream for her to put up a good fight against First City’s army.

After they were locked up in the renovated prison in the bomb shelter, they realized that First City attached extraordinary importance to the experiments here. They sent terrifying powerhouses and used many powerful weapons and equipment. They also snuffed out the corresponding thoughts and only hoped that Zeng Duo could leave Early Spring Town and live well.

Unexpectedly, the guards’ panic last night wasn’t an interlude but a prelude. Zeng Duo actually obtained a military exoskeleton and led a robot and a human companion into the heavily guarded bomb shelter, causing the guards to suffer heavy casualties and scatter.

This was beyond their imaginations. Of course, this didn’t stop them from being pleasantly surprised and excited. Nobody could remain calm upon seeing hope when on the brink of death.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Zeng Duo relied on the auxiliary aiming system and used her own assault rifle to hit several of the prisons’ locks, directly cracking or opening them.

Meanwhile, Han Wanghuo also swapped his magazine and did something similar. His shooting accuracy wasn’t inferior to Zeng Duo and Genava.

As many iron gated doors were pushed open, Zeng Duo quickly answered the mayor’s question. “This is the helper I hired. We’ve already defeated the garrison outside. Everyone, quickly leave and search for vehicles and supplies. Try to evacuate this place in 15 minutes.”

“Just the two of you?” The mayor was very surprised.

“Three,” Zeng Duo emphasized and explained. “Most of the guards have been transferred back to First City. The defense here is very weak, but it won’t be long before they return.”

“Alright! Everyone, quickly head out and find cars and food!” The mayor waved his hand and shouted. He was being carried by his son, a muscular man with a brain problem—leaving him only with the intelligence of a seven-year-old.

Genava seized the opportunity and asked, “Where’s the laboratory?”

As a smart bot, how could he forget Big White’s instructions and ignore the precious information in the laboratory?

The mayor—who was unaccustomed to robots being so proactive—was stunned for a second. “The innermost area.”

Genava moved his metal neck and said to Zeng Duo and Han Wanghuo, “Take the townsfolk from Early Spring Town out and prepare for the migration. Also, don’t forget that bionic smart armor. Although it’s damaged and unusable, it can definitely be repaired. Big White and the others are good at this.”

Jiang Baimian and the others weren’t the ones good at it but Pangu Biology.

With that said, Genava—who was wearing a dark-green military uniform—turned around and ran deep into the bomb shelter.

Zeng Duo and Han Wanghuo looked at each other and didn’t force themselves to follow.

…

First City, Grimm Watch Shop.

As Jiang Baimian’s thoughts raced, she thought of a feasible escape plan. She prayed that her guess had been wrong. The city defense soldiers’ words didn’t necessarily mean that this area was enveloped by the Virtual World. Or even if it was the Virtual World, it might not be the person who had protected Marcus and interacted with the Old Task Force but another powerhouse from the Mirror Church.

Ta! Ta! Ta!

Not only did the sound of the helicopter’s rotors not gradually fade away into the distance, but it also came closer and closer. It was so loud that it was almost noise.

Conversations had to be done by shouting.

Bai Chen sensed Jiang Baimian’s nervousness and Shang Jianyao’s seriousness. She opened her mouth, wanting to ask if there was anything wrong. However, she rationally gave up on this plan the next moment, worried that she might worsen the situation.

Shang Jianyao looked at the ceiling by the door as if he could already see a helicopter hovering above them. He saw the Mind Corridor-level Awakened—who had been fooled by the Old Task Force—cast a puzzled gaze over.

This is a huge disturbance for Little Red’s surgery… He muttered silently and raised his hand to pinch his temples. Just like that, he leaned against the counter with many mechanical watches and fell asleep.

In the Sea of Origins, on the island with the golden elevator.

Shang Jianyao’s figure appeared and quickly split into nine to watch the other him blocking the entrance.

One of them had a hand in his pocket and took a step forward. He then said firmly, “It’s time to make a decision!”

Shang Jianyao—who was blocking the golden elevator’s door—immediately retorted, “Can you not go crazy? We aren’t sure if there’s danger. Even so, there are other solutions.”

This time, he didn’t use the portable recording device as an intermediary conduit as if he had sensed something.

Another Shang Jianyao shook his head. “Little Red can do a companion-saving deed without fear of sacrificing himself. How can we be weaker than him?”

“That’s right, that’s right.” The Shang Jianyao—who was holding the small speaker—nodded in agreement.

Shang Jianyao—who was stroking his chin—muttered, “When something bad has the possibility of happening, it will happen no matter how unlikely it is. In that case, it’s better to save for a rainy day.”

Shang Jianyao—who was spinning the Six Senses Beads—hesitated for two seconds and said, “Buddha is merciful.”

Shang Jianyao—who was holding the Life Angel necklace—said, “There will naturally be others to take over my mantle!”

The nine Shang Jianyaos quickly ignored the opinion of the Shang Jianyao blocking the elevator door and came to an agreement with the reason that they couldn’t be left in the dust by Little Red when it came to courage.

The next second, they looked up into the air and at the gap that seemed to be roiling with sunlight.

In the real world, Jiang Baimian saw Shang Jianyao open his eyes, turn around, and look at her and Bai Chen.

Shang Jianyao immediately smiled—a sunny smile.

This smile stunned Jiang Baimian and Bai Chen.

Without waiting for them to react, Shang Jianyao turned around and walked to the watch shop door.

In the Sea of Origins, the crack was torn apart by the nine Shang Jianyaos from different directions. Intense sunlight then stabbed into the world like sharp arrows.