Embers Ad Infinitum

Tan Jie didn’t hide the truth about the guests because Redstone Collection’s current arms business was mainly in the hands of the Red Rivers and the Underground Ark. If he wanted to help the Salvation Army gather a batch of military exoskeletons, he had to do so through Mrs. Theresa or the Ark Management Committee.

Not only were October Xue, Zhang Qubing, and the others the Ark Management Committee’s honorary presidents, but they had also helped Mrs. Theresa figure out the cause of her husband’s death, having found the missing firearms in time to help this lady establish strength and connections.

In addition, Tan Jie had also heard that they had a strong relationship with Lehman—who was a major United Industries smuggler that specialized in the arms trade.

“A batch of military exoskeletons?” Jiang Baimian raised her hand and pressed down on the elegant monk mask on her face. “This isn’t a simple matter. Redstone Collection has always had a good relationship with United Industries, right? Yet, you’ve only obtained three military exoskeletons after so many years. Even with the ones that the Underground Ark has gradually obtained via trade over the decades, they don’t number more than ten.”

If they wanted to obtain a batch of military exoskeletons in a short period of time, they had to carry out transactions with First City and United Industries in an official position.

Tan Jie had always been deadpan, so it was impossible to tell his emotions. “They requested we first establish a connection and complete the transaction for two to three exoskeletons. It will be none of our business after that.”

They plan to carry out official smuggling after using Redstone Collection’s channels to make preliminary contact and establish a certain level of mutual trust? Jiang Baimian thoughtfully changed the topic. “Captain Tan, please pass on the message. We wish to meet them. They can decide on the exact time and place.”

Even if the Salvation Army had the intention of officially cooperating with United Industries, the subsequent transactions had to be conducted via smuggling due to the existence of First City being between them.

If they chose to circle around First City, they had to first reach Orange Company and then Gold Coast before reaching United Industries.

Of course, this could be done by sea before the Old World was destroyed. They would only come into contact with Gold Coast or the Linhai Alliance—which had numerous small factions. But now, the large factions with ports couldn’t even afford to rebuild other industries. They also lacked resources, making it natural that they couldn’t afford to build ships.

The ships currently active at sea—the route from Gold Coast to Spirit Island—were all antediluvians in their seventies or eighties. It wasn’t rare for them to be over 100 years old.

“To talk about the military exoskeletons?” Tan Jie asked calmly.

Jiang Baimian smiled under her mask. “No. You just have to tell them that we came to Redstone Collection for Iron Mountain City’s ruins.”

In the current era, making a special visit to Iron Mountain City’s ruins was a strange and puzzling matter.

Tan Jie didn’t ask what this meant and nodded slightly. “I’ll pass it on. I’ll get someone to tell you the exact outcome through the Ark Management Committee.”

After the pleasant exchange, Tan Jie stood up to send October Xue and the others out of the Public Security Department. He looked at Shang Jianyao—who didn’t act up today on a rare occurrence—and casually said, “You’re not as active as before.”

The monkey-masked Shang Jianyao sighed. “In order to showcase my status as a powerhouse, I exerted too much strength and expended too much energy. I’m feeling a little dizzy again.”

He didn’t say why.

“Status as a powerhouse?” Tan Jie didn’t inquire about his secrets.

Shang Jianyao nodded. “Mind Corridor-level Awakened should be considered powerhouses, right?”

Tan Jie was speechless. He would definitely think that the other male was deliberately showing off if he hadn’t known that this fellow had always been abnormal.

Ever since Redstone Collection was established, apart from the Terror Bishop—who occasionally came to deal with matters—there had never been an Awakened at the Mind Corridor level!

Tan Jie had previously heard that the Underground Ark’s DiMarco was suspected to be a powerhouse at this level, but the other party had already been killed by October Xue and the others. There was no way to verify it.

“Tsk.” Jiang Baimian couldn’t stand it and teased Shang Jianyao. “Are you showing off?”

The honest Shang Jianyao frankly replied, “Don’t you find it leaving an impact?”

Thanks to his price, Tan Jie’s face remained expressionless no matter what.

Long Yuehong muttered inwardly, You exposed your strength in order to show off. Won’t this make the enemy wary and prevent us from taking them by surprise? It simply wasn’t worth it!

At this thought, Long Yuehong subconsciously stuffed his mechanical right hand into his pocket in an attempt to hide it.

Unfortunately, it was too obvious.

…

In the evening, the sun was still hanging over the horizon, making the clouds seem like they were on fire.

The Old Task Force met the group of people suspected to be from the Salvation Army in front of a high-rise building in Redstone Collection as agreed.

She suspected that the other party’s Mind Corridor-level powerhouse had a friendly ability similar to that of the vulgar parrot owner, Kanna, making the mountain monsters involuntarily trust them and entertain them enthusiastically. Therefore, Jiang Baimian got Long Yuehong and Bai Chen to monitor the meeting spot at the top of an abandoned building with a straight-line distance of 300 meters. They were prepared to ‘wake’ her and Shang Jianyao up via sniping and bombardment at any moment.

Genava was arranged to be 600 meters away to prevent the other party’s effective range from exceeding the Old Task Force’s expectations.

The people suspected to be from the Salvation Army acted the same. Only the two people from before met Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao. The rest were scattered at the top of buildings and hidden spots in the ruins at different distances.

The square-faced man with thick eyebrows and hair—who looked to be in his late thirties—simply introduced himself. “Xu Datong.”

He then pointed at the young man beside him, who had sharp eyebrows and a Grecian nose. “Li Shouyi.”

Jiang Baimian nodded and gave their aliases.

After both parties completed the greeting, Shang Jianyao—who had specially slept for a while in the afternoon—asked excitedly, “Are you guys from the Salvation Army?”

It wasn’t that Xu Datong had never encountered people who liked their faction so much, but most of them were over 40 years old.

In the mid to late Chaotic Era and more than ten years before the New Calendar, humans lived in darkness. They were plagued by the Heartless disease, mutation, famine, and war, suffocating from the layers of chaos.

Back then, the Salvation Army—which did their work under the banner of ‘for all of humanity’—was the dawn of hope for many people. They felt that their various measures were very necessary and could resolve many of the current problems.

Xu Datong looked at Shang Jianyao and deliberated before asking, “Are your parents or ancestors related to our Salvation Army?”

“No.” Shang Jianyao shook his head first before taking a step forward. He pressed his right hand against his left chest and said, “For all of humanity!”

Xu Datong was taken aback for a whole two seconds before returning the same salute. “For all of humanity!”

Upon seeing this, Li Shouyi reminded his commissioner, “He’s not one of us.”

Xu Datong laughed. “You shouldn’t have such serious prejudice. In the Chaotic Era, as long as one was willing to fight to save all of humanity and carry such an ideal, they would be our brothers and sisters whether they joined the Salvation Army or not.”

“That’s right, that’s right!” Shang Jianyao nodded crazily.

Jiang Baimian’s eyes darted around slightly as she probed, “You seem older than you look?”

“I’m in my fifties.” Xu Datong—who was estimated to be in his late thirties—smiled. “I was only a brat in the mid to late Chaotic Era.”

He didn’t talk much about this and got to the point. “Are you guys also very interested in Iron Mountain City’s ruins?”

Jiang Baimian smiled. “We visited the mountain monsters and heard about you.”

At this point, she decided to be ‘direct.’ “For that Buddhist Holy Land?”

Xu Datong wasn’t surprised. “You guys too…”

“We came into contact with the Five Great Holy Lands of Buddhism when we were investigating the cause of the Old World’s destruction and the Heartless disease’s origins. We suspected that there are clues hidden inside.” The one who exposed their intentions wasn’t Jiang Baimian but Shang Jianyao, who believed himself to be a member of the Salvation Army.

Jiang Baimian couldn’t stop him in time and could only let it be.

Upon seeing Shang Jianyao’s open and honest attitude, Xu Datong felt that he had to say more. “We noticed the Buddhist Holy Lands because we captured several commissioners from the Eighth Research Institute. You should know of this organization, right?”

As expected of the Salvation Army. They captured so many commissioners… Jiang Baimian asked instead of answering, “What has this got to do with the Buddhist Holy Lands?”

“The Eighth Research Institute has been preventing us from investigating the Heartless disease’s origins and some of the Old World’s secrets. This might very well involve the truth behind the great destruction,” Xu Datong explained further. “We realized that apart from destroying some of the Old World’s secret laboratories and killing the people who had the corresponding information, they are also deliberately trying to bury the Buddhist Holy Lands. Among them, the only one they know the exact location of is Iron Mountain City’s Second Food Company.”

The Eighth Research Institute actually values the Buddhist Holy Lands so much? Jiang Baimian immediately felt that there was really a problem. She fell silent for a moment before pointing at Shang Jianyao. “This companion of mine once explored a psychological trauma that included Iron Mountain City’s Second Food Company.”