Embers Ad Infinitum

“My favorite record shop;

“Yesterday was her last day;

“Shards that once enchanted me;

“They are all scattered by the side of the street[1]…”

Shang Jianyao moved his body to the small speaker’s rhythm as he drove the grayish-green jeep to the road at the edge of the swamp.

Jiang Baimian rested her right arm across the passenger door and turned her body sideways to look out the window. She was already accustomed to Shang Jianyao playing music every time he drove, but she would suggest changing songs from time to time because she really couldn’t appreciate certain songs.

Jiang Baimian didn’t comment on the song echoing in the car and asked her team members with interest, “Do you still remember what happened here?”

“We encountered the Blackmarsh Iron Snake and those bandits.” Long Yuehong had a deep impression of his first encounter with danger.

“That’s right.” Jiang Baimian sighed with emotion. “If not for us, those bandits would’ve been doing well in most of the wilderness with their equipment.”

Although the bandits only had a few people, they had a military exoskeleton. Many large bandit groups couldn’t even obtain such powerful items.

Bai Chen—who was sitting on the other side of the backseat—looked at the sunlight that filtered through the leaves and the few terrifying deformed trees nearby. She thought for a moment and said, “I remember that the bandit leader’s wife was captured by First City and became the exclusive property of an Elder or his immediate descendants. His son first became a slave of that family before being sent to school.”

If not for this connection, how could those bandits have a military exoskeleton?

After hearing Bai Chen’s words, Jiang Baimian clicked her tongue. “Because of this, I’ve always been curious about the madam’s looks. She actually left an authoritative figure in First City so infatuated that he was willing to give a military exoskeleton to her ex-husband—uh, in the settlement she previously lived in.”

It had been less than 70 years since the Old World was destroyed. It was indeed possible to find good-looking men and women in various wilderness nomad settlements, but they were either covered in dirt or extremely thin. They lacked the characteristics that made one’s eyes light up.

A natural beauty could hardly be produced in a wilderness nomad settlement that found survival difficult.

Furthermore, in the eyes of the Old Task Force members who were accustomed to Chosen Ones—people who were also genetically enhanced—they might consider a small number of people beauties, but it was difficult to use the term ‘stunner.’

However, there were always various exceptions in the world. A wilderness nomad’s genes could be retained, so it was acceptable for them to be enchanting from a slight wash-up.

Regarding Jiang Baimian’s sigh, an unknown Shang Jianyao who was driving commented, “She’s definitely inferior to you.”

“Whoa.” Jiang Baimian asked in amusement, “Should I be flattered?”

Although she had always been very confident in her looks and figure, and her skin color was the type she liked, she felt that she couldn’t be thrilled when facing Shang Jianyao—who never played by the book.

Who knew what this fellow would say next!

Besides, Jiang Baimian had always believed that she relied on her brain and strength. Her looks were only icing on the cake.

As Long Yuehong and Bai Chen guessed what shocking words Shang Jianyao would say this time, he replied seriously, “I’m very honest. I’ll say whatever is on my mind. I won’t belittle anyone, nor will I specially praise anyone.”

From the looks of it, Hey—who likes to argue—has a cute side… Jiang Baimian cleared her throat and said, “I wonder if the person who wrote the letter and his mother were affected by First City’s uprising?”

Just as she said that, the honest Shang Jianyao shouted in horror, “Y-you want to stamp out any potential trouble?”

This fellow isn’t cute at all… Jiang Baimian gritted her teeth. “Are they worthy?”

The current Old Task Force was a group the corresponding faction’s higher-ups needed to pay attention to no matter where they went. Even large factions like First City and the White Knights wouldn’t underestimate them.

Although they definitely had the ability to suppress the Old Task Force, Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and the others would definitely cause considerable damage before that happened. Furthermore, they had a chance of escaping in advance.

Without waiting for Shang Jianyao’s response, Jiang Baimian recalled the scene from back then and looked out the window with a yearning look. “We even seized a heavyweight motorcycle back then. It felt good riding it. I wonder when I can get another one…”

Uh… Long Yuehong chose to shut up, and so did Bai Chen.

Even Shang Jianyao didn’t dare to speak at that moment.

Jiang Baimian naturally could guess why they acted this way, and she thought sadly, “I probably won’t have the chance to ride heavyweight motorcycles in the future…”

With her current situation, she probably wouldn’t be able to return successfully after riding the motorcycle and speeding forward with a vroom unless she was willing to follow the jeep slowly.

But if that happened, the fun of riding a heavyweight motorcycle would be completely gone. Then, what was the point of riding it?

Heh, Hey, Little White, and Little Red previously wanted to vote to strip me of my right to drive. Fortunately, I reasoned with them. Hmph, you should thank me for letting the two of you sit in the back row! Jiang Baimian’s thoughts raced as she indignantly recalled an incident when they had just left Pangu Biology.

Back then, Shang Jianyao had suggested that she not drive in the future and focus on being a passenger. This was to prevent her from taking the team somewhere unknown without realizing it.

Upon seeing that Bai Chen and Long Yuehong were clearly tempted, Jiang Baimian decisively suppressed the fellow—who was known to be honest—and made the ‘proposal’ die a stillbirth.

Her sense of direction wasn’t so bad that she would deviate from her route even with manual navigation!

…

Long River City’s United Steel Plant ruins.

This place was a small ruin that had been discovered in the Chaotic Era, and it had long been visited by a large number of Ruin Hunters. Even the attached hospital’s door had been moved away, so nothing valuable was left.

Apart from the Hunters who did a search again when passing by in hopes of finding some trash that could be exchanged for food, almost nobody specially came.

This was the information that Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and the others originally had. However, they now knew that this desolate and dilapidated place had another identity—one of Buddhism’s five Great Holy Lands!

Every year, believers of Subhuti and Master Zhuang from different places in the Ashlands would come here to pray and pay respects to the steel-refining stupa.

Jiang Baimian looked at the deserted ruins, the attached hospital on the road to the factory, and the residential area around the steelworks factory. She pondered for a moment and said, “Go straight to Family Zone 2.”

On the medical record, Fan Wensi lived in Room 302 in Building 4 of Zone 2.

Finding her whereabouts after the Old World was destroyed was Shang Jianyao and the others’ main goal in this operation.

As for where Family Zone 2 was, Jiang Baimian had already done her homework.

As a ruin that had been explored and had most of its value drained countless times, much of the information here was public. Pangu Biology was the hidden master behind the scenes in the Blackmarsh Wilderness. How could they not know anything about this place and have never sent anyone here in the early stages?

Just by extracting information regarding the steelworks factory ruins from the company, Jiang Baimian restored the entire layout and figured out where Family Zone 2 was.

Upon seeing his team leader take out the map, Shang Jianyao raised his hand. “I have a question.”

Denied… Jiang Baimian almost replied, but her rationality stopped her.

“What?” She nodded.

Shang Jianyao asked seriously, “Did you really not make any mistakes when drawing the map? A map drawn by a directionally challenged person doesn’t seem trustworthy.”

Uh… On the one hand, Long Yuehong felt that Shang Jianyao’s concerns made sense. On the other hand, he wanted to see him get beaten.

Jiang Baimian controlled her left hand and snorted before enunciating each word clearly. “I. Checked. It. Five. Times! I even got Little White to check twice.”

“Yes.” Bai Chen indicated that it was indeed so.

Shang Jianyao heaved a long sigh of relief. “That’s good.”

Just as he said that, he opened the door and jumped to the side, avoiding Jiang Baimian’s gaze.

As the Shang Jianyaos made all kinds of ad-libs, the Old Task Force’s jeep arrived at the factory entrance along the road. However, they didn’t enter and turned right.

The buildings connected to it came under Zone 2. Some of the buildings here had collapsed, and some were very dilapidated. Lots of greenery had crept up, but the thing they had in common was that they didn’t have doors.

The wooden doors had become fuel for bonfires while the iron doors had been taken away and recycled as scrap metal in exchange for food.

The Old Task Force’s jeep drove amidst the silence for a while before finding Building 4.

It remained standing, but it was also dilapidated.

After sensing the area, Shang Jianyao said to Jiang Baimian and the others, “There’s no human consciousness on the third floor.”

Jiang Baimian nodded slightly, indicating that she sensed the same from the electrical signals.

The four of them alighted one after another. Long Yuehong and Bai Chen stood guard below, prepared to provide support at any moment. Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian walked up to the third floor through the damp and rotten corridor.

The two apartments on the third floor also had no doors, allowing people to see the situation in the living room from the corridor.

After a brief inspection, Jiang Baimian confirmed which apartment was Room 302 and cast her gaze in.

She vaguely seemed to see a clump of long black hair lying quietly on the ground.

[1] People With No Ideals Don’t Get Hurt by New Pants.