Embers Ad Infinitum

“That recording pen?” Jiang Baimian asked in response. “It might not be from the Monitor domain. To be honest, from the way it can affect a group of people and make them sincerely believe in Monitor, the power it contains should be closer to your and Wu Meng’s Thought Implantation.”

“That’s right, that’s right.” Long Yuehong thought so too.

Shang Jianyao smiled and replied, “I can only say that the probability of it being Thought Implantation is relatively high, but we can’t rule out other possibilities.

“Besides, after obtaining it, I can gain a deeper understanding of the Naturalism Church and Monitor through the stored content. It aids in my preparation for the exploration of other psychological trauma contained in Room 522. On the other hand…” At this point, Shang Jianyao’s smile became brighter. “Isn’t it equivalent to an item itself, no different from the Six Senses Beads or the Life Angel necklace? When the time comes, I can still transfer the aura contained in it to the Mind Corridor if I encounter trouble.”

Upon seeing Shang Jianyao’s smile and hearing his answer, Jiang Baimian inexplicably felt that this fellow’s actions were a little familiar. However, she couldn’t figure out why.

This style of squeezing dry every item’s value and killing many birds with one stone… Long Yuehong secretly hissed as his gaze moved back and forth between Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao a few times.

After a brief silence, he raised a question. “Without Old Ge now, aren’t you afraid that you’ll be affected by the power contained in the recording and become a die-hard member of the Naturalism Church, a pious believer of Monitor?”

Shang Jianyao thought for a moment. “I wonder what the Naturalism Church’s Holy Communion is…”

Long Yuehong could completely understand his hidden meaning.

If it was good, it was something worth considering. As for stripping naked and returning to the embrace of nature, most Shang Jianyaos probably didn’t mind.

“Whoa, you are actually considering it?” Jiang Baimian gave a good-natured snide and helped him answer Long Yuehong’s question. “He’s already a Mind Corridor-level Awakened and has considerable resistance to such effects.”

As she spoke, Jiang Baimian dragged out a long grunt. “Of course, this also depends on the level of the Awakened who made the recording. Typically, the effects from those who have explored the Mind Corridor’s depths will weaken after all the transferring. The influence on Hey will definitely be weakened. At best, he’ll have the urge to run around naked but be able to control himself in a jiffy. If it were Wu Meng—who’s a poisonous sore—or an Awakened that has already entered the New World, the residual effects wouldn’t be insignificant. Hey might become a Monitor believer for a period of time.”

“That’s still too dangerous. We have no way of knowing what the situation is, nor can we avoid the effects.” Long Yuehong voiced his thoughts.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Baimian chuckled. “Don’t worry. We’ll definitely know in advance. The company has obtained that recording pen for more than half a year. With the big shots’ strength, how can they not have figured out the exact details?”

“That’s true…” Long Yuehong was convinced.

Jiang Baimian then looked at Shang Jianyao. “Quickly finish up your application. There’s still training.”

“Alright.” Shang Jianyao was rather excited.

As she waited, Jiang Baimian walked back to her desk and sat down.

She flipped open a black notebook and looked at the simple map drawn on it, including the direction of the bends and the room door.

This was her route to the training room.

After a period of adaptation, Jiang Baimian realized that her ‘directionally challenged’ problems weren’t as serious as what she had experienced on the first day.

On the one hand, she wasn’t used to it back then. She was used to making instant judgments and reacting quickly, so she didn’t slow down to think and distinguish. On the other hand, she had always relied on the auxiliary chip in her biological prosthetic limb. This seemed to worsen her ‘directionally challenged’ severity.

Considering Shang Jianyao’s ‘experiment’ and Jingfa, Jiang Baimian theorized: “Not only will the paid price cause the corresponding damage, but it will also bring about cognitive abnormalities. This includes signs of cognitive deformities and cognitive abnormalities. Therefore, the corresponding abnormalities will deepen if one excessively relies on technological assistance in their cognition processes. This is a psychological effect that involves the subconscious. In comparison, drawing a map and stopping to study it more won’t cause such a huge psychological reaction. The effects will be alleviated significantly.”

Due to this, Jiang Baimian believed that as long as she persisted in constantly adjusting her mental state, the auxiliary chip could replace the hand-drawn maps she was relying on by the time the price worsened.

The mechanical monk—Jingfa—was a hopeless case because there was a vicious cycle in him. With accentuated desires, he switched to a robot body in an attempt to escape the price, only to result in the desire remaining with no way of venting it. The more desires he had, the more mentally perverse he became.

In short, Jiang Baimian could still tolerate the current aspects of being directionally challenged.

Right… The only problem is that I need to write up more plans before leaving home every day. It’s better to go slow, think more, and observe more on the way. I’m just going to work, but it’s like I’m out on a grand adventure.

This isn’t a big problem.

Haha.

…

After finishing their morning training, Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and Long Yuehong took a shower and returned to the Old Task Force’s office.

Jiang Baimian flipped her wrist and looked at her watch. “Let’s visit Little White first before returning for lunch. How about that?”

“Alright.” Long Yuehong immediately agreed.

Shang Jianyao clearly had no problems either. He had already stood up, picked up his tactical backpack, and tried to stuff in the small speaker on the table.

“Why are you bringing it?” Jiang Baimian was perplexed.

Shang Jianyao explained seriously, “We can’t enter the ward now and can only look through the window. No matter what we say, Little White won’t be able to hear us. It’s better to dance for her and make her happy. Isn’t that so? Do you want to do it together?” Shang Jianyao directed the latter two questions at Long Yuehong.

“Uh…” Long Yuehong hesitated.

“You are actually entertaining him? Could it be that you are affected by his Thought Implantation?” Jiang Baimian was amused. “Little White is still in the ICU. Aren’t you afraid that she will ‘rupture’ her wound from laughing too much when she sees you dancing?”

Long Yuehong came to a realization. “That’s right!”

Shang Jianyao smiled. “There’s no need to use my abilities on him.”

As he spoke, he began to chant. “Sigh, I’m only 1.75 meters tall after genetic enhancement. My looks are average, and my grades are average…”

As Long Yuehong gritted his teeth, Jiang Baimian stopped Shang Jianyao from continuing. “Give me two minutes. I’ll see if there’s any new mail.”

She returned to her desk, switched on the computer, and opened the intranet.

In an environment with a shortage of energy, Pangu Biology’s employees had long developed the habit of switching off electrical appliances at all times once they were away.

After taking a few looks, Jiang Baimian sighed and said, “There’s a Heartless outbreak in the Production Zone. The patient comes from the 400th floor.”

This was the continuation of the Heartless outbreak.

Long Yuehong fell silent for a moment before recalling Bai Chen’s previous question. He quickly asked, “Team Leader, has the company’s Heartless outbreaks increased this year?”

“I don’t think so…” Jiang Baimian recalled and said, “I’ll check the data and confirm it.”

She quickly gained something. “It’s higher than last year, but it hasn’t reached the twenty-year all-high.”

As she spoke, Jiang Baimian projected this portion of data and picked up the laptop beside her.

She was now using a desktop computer assigned to the Old Task Force’s team leader.

Upon seeing Jiang Baimian do this, Long Yuehong asked in confusion, “Team Leader, what’s wrong?”

Jiang Baimian casually replied, “I previously got Old Ge to program something that can be used to analyze data. Since we’re already discussing the frequency of outbreaks, I want to see if there’s any floor or group with a higher incidence rate than the others.”

This was something she just came up with.

In this regard, Pangu Biology didn’t provide the corresponding data analysis.

When Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong crowded around her, Jiang Baimian inputted the data into the program and clicked on ‘Start.’

Soon, all kinds of data comparisons were presented in a direct manner.

Jiang Baimian glanced at it and suddenly frowned.

“There’s a problem?” Long Yuehong was alarmed.

“Is there a problem?” Shang Jianyao was rather excited.

Jiang Baimian nodded. “There’s a correlation that stands out.”

Without waiting for Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong to ask, she continued, “Ever since the New Calendar, the annual incidence rate of non-management employees has fluctuated between 0.003% to 0.005%. Among the levels, two Heartless cases happened in the luckiest floors over the years.

“It doesn’t happen at the management levels every year. In the past 47 years, it only happened in one year. It involved one floor and two patients. There were zero occurrences in the other levels.

“Even if we eliminate factors like the differences in numbers, this still seems abnormal.”

“This…” Long Yuehong’s mind was a little blank. He didn’t know how to process the information.

Jiang Baimian continued, “There’s also another anomaly. The male incidence rate is almost double that of women, and the male-to-female ratio is clearly not that much disparate.”

Shang Jianyao stroked his chin. “Because someone is protecting the management levels? Then, why are the female incidence rates lower?”

Long Yuehong didn’t understand either.

Jiang Baimian thought for a while before slowly saying, “To guarantee fertility?”

Long Yuehong’s eyes widened. “In a situation where the protection can’t completely cover the area, the ability to procreate is the number one criterion?”

Sigh.

Jiang Baimian exhaled and said, “This is only a guess…”

As they lacked more clues, the Old Task Force’s discussion came to an end. They packed their things and headed to the research institute on the 12th floor to visit Bai Chen.

…

Two days later, Shang Jianyao received a reply regarding his application.

He looked at the email and shouted at Jiang Baimian, “I can receive the Six Senses Beads and the original copy of the medical record today, but not the recording pen. It says that it has a very strong mind control effect. If we have to listen to it, they can only provide a cleaned version that has the corresponding power filtered out.”

Jiang Baimian fell silent for a moment before smiling. “That works too. Let’s hear what the Naturalism Church’s teachings and philosophy are.”

Long Yuehong secretly heaved a sigh of relief.

This was for the best. They wouldn’t be taking any risks.