Embers Ad Infinitum

For Davis and company, regardless of whether they had truly encountered two Superior Heartless, just the fact that they had escaped and even counter-attacked, returned from Ruin 9, and obtained a bountiful harvest was enough to draw the attention of the Ruin Hunters present.

Davis led his teammates to a relatively central spot and sat down. He then chatted with his acquaintances around him, mainly about his experience in Ruin 9.

They didn’t hide much. They only drank light beer and discussed the corresponding ruins loudly, describing how strange and terrifying the two Superior Heartless’s abilities were.

Gradually, Ruin Hunters—who wanted to make the risky attempt in Wasteland Ruin 9—were attracted. From time to time, they would interject and praise them, hoping to obtain more useful information.

When Davis finished explaining how they fought the two Superior Heartless in a battle of wits and courage, escaped the strange influence, and escaped the ruins, applause sounded beside the bonfire.

Long Yuehong focused his eyes and realized that Shang Jianyao had already squeezed forward to listen attentively at some point in time.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

The surrounding Ruin Hunters were stunned for a moment before they clapped.

Davis and company were first stunned before they felt great satisfaction from having their egos stroked.

Although it was a little dangerous to be the focus of attention in such situations, they had sufficient confidence in their strength. Furthermore, this didn’t come without benefits. For example, some good-looking female Ruin Hunters now looked at them differently.

Being born in the Ashlands and living in the wilderness, their days were numbered. They definitely had to indulge themselves if there was a chance.

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Davis smiled at Shang Jianyao—who was the first to clap—and nodded. He felt that this fellow knew the way to act; he had foresight and intelligence.

Shang Jianyao clapped harder after receiving the encouragement.

This was an evening interlude. After the Old Task Force members finished hearing about the adventure of the people in the area and gained a certain level of understanding of Wasteland Ruin 9, they used canned biscuits to exchange for the light beer—which was very popular in this settlement—that was used to replace potable water and some cured beast meat left over from winter. They then had a dinner that wasn’t especially delicious but was sufficiently flavorful.

After having his fill, Shang Jianyao smiled and asked Long Yuehong, “Do you know what animal that piece of meat came from?”

Long Yuehong skillfully replied, “I don’t, but you don’t have to tell me!”

It would only affect his appetite and be a waste of food if he knew. What was even more despicable was that Shang Jianyao often only cooked up an answer. He would only say that it was a ‘guess’ when one took it for real and felt disgusted.

“Alright, quickly get into the jeep and sleep.” Jiang Baimian urged Shang Jianyao. “Your mission tonight is to find Room 522’s owner on the cruise ship.”

Shang Jianyao had already regained his interest in this matter. He didn’t resist and jogged back to the jeep.

…

Mind Corridor, Room 912, in the psychological trauma with the cruise ship.

After Shang Jianyao exited and entered a few times, he finally switched the timeline back to the day he first boarded the cruise ship. It was almost evening.

He didn’t stay on the deck and went straight to the cabin entrance. This was because the passengers and crew outside had ‘conversed’ with him previously, so he had already confirmed that Room 522’s owner wasn’t among them.

After entering the corridor, Shang Jianyao knocked on the doors in which he sensed human consciousness.

When he encountered the people he remembered asking in the last few days, he would always immediately apologize and say that he got the wrong door. He would never beat around the bush. If he didn’t have a deep impression of the person who opened the door and had a vague memory, he would carefully repeat the process of ‘befriending’ them and asking.

He arrived at the fifth floor’s cabin and knocked on one of the doors.

The person who opened the door was a young man in his twenties. He was about 1.8 meters tall and wore a relatively loose, black graphic T-shirt. His brown hair was messy as if he had just woken up.

The man swept his blue eyes and asked warily, “You are?”

One of his hands quietly reached behind his waist as if he wanted to take out something.

Shang Jianyao smiled. “Since we are all on the same cruise ship, that means it’s destiny according to Ashlandic customs. In your Red River language, this is a result of the machinations of fate. Since fate has led us to meet, we are brothers from different parents.”

Under the unreasonable Thought Guidance, the young man’s expression gradually relaxed. He retracted his right hand from behind his waist and grumbled, “Didn’t I say not to disturb me? I was chased by so many Heartless in the past two days that I didn’t even dare to close my eyes. I can finally have a good sleep now.”

Shang Jianyao revealed an apologetic look. “I have something very important to ask you. Oh right, how should I address you? The entire cruise ship is filled with my brothers of different parents. My memories are a little mixed up.”

The young man was convinced and nodded. “I’m Loannes—John, in the more common and popular Red River dialect. However, I prefer the pronunciation that has my country’s characteristics. What’s your question?”

With one hand in his pocket, Shang Jianyao mimicked Jiang Baimian and casually asked, “Have you been to Iron Mountain City Ruin?”

Loannes’s expression changed slightly. Instead of answering, he asked, “Why are you asking?”

Shang Jianyao suddenly became excited. “Have you been to Iron Mountain City’s Second Food Company?”

He unnoticeably switched to Ashlandic.

Loannes clearly understood him. In shock and vigilance, he asked, “How do you know?”

He had never mentioned this to anyone; it was a secret buried deep in his heart.

After visiting Iron Mountain City’s Second Food Company and encountering a bizarre incident, he obtained an ability that transcended ordinary people.

Shang Jianyao smiled.

He had finally found Room 522’s owner! As long as he followed the latter and endured a few rounds of the chaos at night, he should be able to resolve this psychological trauma.

Shang Jianyao suppressed his voice and said softly, “I’ll tell you a secret: I come from the future and have interacted with the old you.”

“How is that possible?” Loannes blurted out. He suspected that the other party was treating him as a fool.

Shang Jianyao maintained his volume. “Not only do I know very well what you encountered in Iron Mountain City’s Second Food Company, but I also know that you will return there in the near future. You want to resolve the fear in your heart, and this isn’t something that can succeed in one try…”

In order to ‘prove it,’ Shang Jianyao recounted Loannes’s first encounter with the psychological trauma in detail.

These were all matters Loannes confirmed that nobody around him had seen, so he was a little convinced. This fellow in front of me might very well come from the future!

That’s not right… Loannes quickly thought of a question. “Since you can transmigrate from the future to the present, why are you looking for me?”

With this ability, why not save the world?

Shang Jianyao had a serious expression. “There are restrictions on time travel. If I interfere with history and prevent what should happen from happening or vice-versa, it will have a butterfly effect, changing the very future itself and jeopardizing my existence.

“I returned to this period of history in hopes of learning some secrets. These secrets are very important to future humans. It concerns whether we can completely defeat the Heartless disease and rebuild the glorious human civilization!”

“I see…” Loannes came to a realization.

When the Old World was destroyed, he was already a teenager and had seen many sci-fi films. Hence, he was easily ‘convinced’ by Shang Jianyao.

It turned out that future humans had yet to give up; they were still searching for a way to save themselves. For this reason, they invented a time machine and sent specialized personnel back to the present to gather the secrets of the Heartless disease!

Without waiting for Shang Jianyao to speak, Loannes asked in concern, “What’s the future like? How far has humanity gone? How far are we from dawn?”

“That’s a long story.” Shang Jianyao began to recall the textbooks and roughly explained the process of the various large factions gradually forming and establishing between the Chaotic Era’s end and the early years of the New Calendar.

Upon seeing how detailed he was, it was obvious that it was impossible to fabricate anything under normal circumstances. Loannes no longer had any doubts about him coming from the future.

“What do you want to ask me?” Loannes unconsciously lowered his voice.

Shang Jianyao was stunned for a moment before he quickly tried to smooth things over. “Here’s the thing. Historically, this cruise ship encountered something extremely terrifying, and you are one of the few people who survived. I want to follow you for the next few days and see what you will experience to discover the truth.”

Loannes was rather surprised. “This cruise ship will encounter something extremely terrifying?”

He didn’t expect to encounter such danger after escaping to the Gold Coast after all the difficulties he encountered.

Shang Jianyao nodded solemnly. “What happened to this cruise ship and the hidden anomaly in Iron Mountain City’s Second Food Company involve the cause of the Old World’s destruction and the origins of the Heartless disease. You encountered both, which means that you are the chosen one of the era.”

“Is that so…” Loannes suddenly felt elevated to glory, and his shoulders became a little heavier from the burden.

“Yes.” Shang Jianyao was rather sincere.

Loannes fell silent for a moment. “Come into my room. Let’s wait for night to descend together.”