Embers Ad Infinitum

An anomaly really happened? Long Yuehong—who was wrapped in the Blackmarsh Iron Snake bionic artificial intelligence armor—almost popped his eyes out.

The anomaly in the Holm Fertility Center—a Buddhist Holy Land—was actually hidden in the fertility cryochamber!

For a moment, Long Yuehong couldn’t help but recall Shang Jianyao’s words: Master Zhuang, Subhuti… Fertility materials… Holy relics…

Long Yuehong tried his best to stop himself from making any connections to prevent himself from being smote to death by the Kalendarium.

It’s all Shang Jianyao’s fault! He guiltily emphasized.

Shang Jianyao had just passed through the half-collapsed iron door when he stopped. He then reached into his pocket and took out an item that emitted a green glow.

It wasn’t the small, lake-green jade Buddha but the Six Senses Beads that Shang Jianyao had previously removed.

This item—which had fused with Iron Mountain City’s Second Food Company, an abnormal Buddhist Holy Land—emitted a faint green glow over the wooden patterns.

Shang Jianyao then muttered to himself, “The small jade Buddha from Long River City’s United Steel Plant retraced time at Iron Mountain City’s Second Food Company and replicated the past. The Six Senses Beads representing Iron Mountain City’s Second Food Company triggered an abnormality at the Holm Fertility Center… Therefore, we have to strictly follow an order? Is a certain item or abnormality in the Holm Fertility Center the key to opening the next Buddhist Holy Land’s key area?”

Jiang Baimian replied helplessly, “We can discuss this after we leave the ruins.”

It wasn’t the time and place for that.

In fact, Jiang Baimian also felt that Shang Jianyao’s guess was very reasonable. She believed that exploring the Five Great Buddhist Holy Lands was an intricately chained matter, so one had to start from the beginning and not mess up the sequence.

Where should we explore next? Icefield’s Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School or under the old pagoda tree in Linhe Village, Dajiang City? As Jiang Baimian watched Shang Jianyao hold the Six Senses Beads in his palm again, she expanded on the question from before.

As she thought, she realized a very important question. If it’s really as Shang Jianyao said and there’s a sequence to exploring Buddhist Holy Lands, then why did our team have a smooth journey without making any mistakes?

Jiang Baimian felt that this might not be a coincidence when she thought of how she had planned to visit Iron Mountain City’s Second Food Company midway by specially taking a detour instead of visiting on their return trip. It was mainly because Shang Jianyao entered Room 522 and discovered the psychological trauma corresponding to Iron Mountain City’s Second Food Company. Furthermore, he had awakened the strange aura hidden inside after repeated attempts and fused it with the Six Senses Beads. She felt that perhaps it wasn’t a coincidence.

Room 522 was the second room Shang Jianyao entered after entering the Mind Corridor. It was the first room he explored in the true sense of the word!

Too many coincidences meant that it wasn’t a coincidence!

As Jiang Baimian’s thoughts raced, Shang Jianyao took off his flashlight and illuminated the interior of the cryochamber.

This place was divided into several areas with steel plates. In each area were items that resembled gas canisters.

They weren’t that large and were tightly sealed. They were liquid nitrogen containers that stored reproductive materials.

At this moment, under the illumination of the flashlight mixed with the Six Senses Beads’ light, these containers were dyed a strange green. However, one of them was slightly different as if it had an additional layer of white fog.

Shang Jianyao had the Berserker assault rifle hanging in front of his chest as he spun the Six Senses Beads with one hand and walked toward the ‘anomaly’ with the flashlight in the other.

“Could it be…” Jiang Baimian had already arrived at the door and saw this scene.

She didn’t dare to continue thinking about it.

Could it be that the reproductive material of Master Zhuang or Subhuti is really stored in that liquid nitro canister? Could the Old World’s destruction and the Heartless outbreak be due to someone researching what they shouldn’t have, hoping to combine a god with a human to give birth to a new creature? Long Yuehong couldn’t control his brain.

Bai Chen was first stunned before she warily observed her surroundings, worried that an accident would happen.

Shang Jianyao’s remained staid even if the sky collapsed. The more terrifying this critical moment was, the more indifferent he became. He walked to the liquid nitro canister that suffused with white fog under the greenish-blue light.

After carefully observing for more than ten seconds, Shang Jianyao said in a deep voice, “This canister was opened at some point in time.”

The other liquid nitrogen canisters in the freezer were tightly sealed.

Long Yuehong made a strange connection. The reproductive materials came to life and reproduced on their own. They opened the cans, lined up, and left…

“See what’s left inside,” Jiang Baimian said calmly.

Shang Jianyao shone the flashlight beam in and quickly gave an answer. “There’s nothing.”

With that said, he stretched out his palm that was holding the Six Senses Beads and made the item make direct contact with the liquid nitro canister.

Almost at the same time, white specks of light rose from the can.

They were very illusory. After circling for a moment, they flew straight into Shang Jianyao’s body.

This white light didn’t attempt to fuse with the Six Senses Beads. Instead, it targeted Shang Jianyao!

Shang Jianyao’s vision turned hazy as if his soul had been forcefully pulled out from his body. He then saw himself appear in the Sea of Origins—his Sea of Origins.

Below him was an illusory sea that shimmered with a faint glow and indistinct islands. Above them was the sky covered in a faint white fog and a rather large, dark rift.

At this moment, the Shang Jianyaos had already naturally separated. They were each entangled by a white light.

While bound, faces appeared in every Shang Jianyao’s body as if they wanted to split into more Shang Jianyaos.

“No, we can’t have that!” one Shang Jianyao shouted.

At this moment, countless black figures instantly came to life in the dark rift that led to Xiaochong’s mind world. They then slammed into the invisible barrier as if they wanted to corrode it.

The white lights stopped. Right on the heels of that, they quickly left the Shang Jianyaos as if they had encountered their nemesis and reassembled into one in midair.

Following this, this beam of light shot out like lightning and stabbed at the dark rift. It collided with the heavy black figures and fused together, piling at the rift before falling silent.

The Shang Jianyaos watched for a while before carefully fusing. With two of them as wings, they flapped over.

He suppressed his voice and shouted for Xiaochong, but nobody replied.

After waiting for a while, Shang Jianyao stretched out a hand and slowly touched the rift. He touched the ‘dimness’ formed by white light and black shadows and gently poked it.

There was no reaction.

“That’s it?” Shang Jianyao stroked his chin and muttered to himself.

The next second, he sighed regretfully. “Why can’t it last a little longer? Just a little while longer, and our numbers will at least triple.”

When the white light wrapped around them, the Shang Jianyaos were splitting up. The Shang Jianyao Democratic Association members were about to increase greatly.

After confirming that the rift had returned to normal, Shang Jianyao left the Sea of Origins and opened his eyes.

Jiang Baimian had already come to his side and asked in concern, “How was it?”

The Six Senses Beads in Shang Jianyao’s left hand no longer emitted a green glow. The faint white fog that surfaced from the corresponding liquid nitro canister had also disappeared.

“We entered the Sea of Origins, and it perished together with the aura left behind by Xiaochong. No, they faded to silence,” Shang Jianyao replied casually.

Jiang Baimian frowned. “Is there any other problem?”

She didn’t ask if there were any latent dangers—it was obvious!

“Not for the time being.” Shang Jianyao smiled. “If it really doesn’t work out, I can still transfer the aura in the Life Angel necklace. There’s also the one inside the Six Senses Beads.”

Stop stuffing everything into your Sea of Origins! Jiang Baimian roared inwardly. She looked down and said, “This liquid nitrogen canister doesn’t seem to have a number.”

Normally, there should be a number corresponding to the source of the reproductive material.

“There was definitely one. Who removed it after the Old World was destroyed?” Shang Jianyao pointed to the side. “The numbers on the other liquid nitrogen canisters were gone as well.”

Jiang Baimian sighed. “How careful. I also plan on memorizing the numbers of the other liquid nitrogen canisters. I’ll then attempt to extract data from the hard disk obtained from the director’s office and compare it to find the one that has been wiped.”

The Old Task Force had taken out a hard disk from the computer in the director’s office and prepared to bring it back to Genava for data recovery.

This was an electronic product that could be affected by Wu Meng, but it didn’t have any offensive power like a walkie-talkie. Furthermore, it was under Jiang Baimian’s strict surveillance. It would immediately be shattered if anything happened.

Without waiting for Shang Jianyao’s response, Jiang Baimian nodded and continued, “This isn’t too much of a problem. As long as we can successfully restore the inventory, we can go through the names for suspicious candidates.”

After a quick search, Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian left the freezer. They then met up with Long Yuehong and Bai Chen, preparing to return to the lobby and leave the Holm Fertility Center.

Just as they arrived at the first floor along the stairs, Jiang Baimian and the others suddenly saw a figure.

This figure sat on a green sofa in the hall.

He was a man in his late twenties. His hair was neatly combed, and he wore a formal gray suit with black stripes. He also wore round but relatively small-framed glasses as he seriously flipped through a pamphlet.

Suddenly, a name surfaced in Long Yuehong’s mind: Wu Meng!