Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 676: Docking

Translator: CKtalon

The captain draped in a white bedsheet replied to Shang Jianyao’s question with an aria. “Her wisdom and beauty makes her an angel and goddess alike. A rose on the track, a crystal in the lab!”

“How many operas have you watched?” the honest Shang Jianyao asked, even though he was clearly mocking him.

The captain ignored him and kneeled on one knee again, looking at the ceiling as if he planned on continuing to obtain promises of love.

Shang Jianyao thought for a moment and asked with a smile, “What’s your goddess’s name?”

Loannes frowned and felt that Shang was very unprofessional. How can asking questions about someone else’s feelings help in any way?

However, Loannes knew very well that the deranged captain wouldn’t answer any questions unless it involved his goddess. Therefore, he could only patiently listen in silence, hoping that the seemingly useless topic could put forth some clues.

Upon hearing Shang Jianyao’s question, the captain retracted his gaze from the ceiling. His face lit up as he replied, “Her name is Dufftiel Osira.”

Almost at the same time, Shang Jianyao and Loannes felt the darkness outside the window thicken.

The howling winter sea breeze seemed to come to a temporary standstill, but this seemed to be only a hallucination of theirs or some other form of psychological factor. After they came to their senses, everything was so normal.

Shang Jianyao stroked his chin and said to Loannes, “Give it a try. I’m out of ideas.”

“I can tell.” Loannes was a little happy.

After all, it wasn’t a pleasant feeling to be out of solutions when another person had one.

Loannes took a step forward and probed with a few questions. But as long as it didn’t involve the goddess in his heart, the captain ignored him and continued singing and begging for love or crying as he recalled.

Loannes sighed and said, “It seems like we can’t find the root cause of the problem here…”

The compassionate Zen Master Redemption consoled him. “Let’s find another place to hide. We’ll take another look at dawn. In any case, you’ve always been normal. Even if something happens in the end, it shouldn’t involve you.”

“I hope so.” Loannes scratched his chest a few times and prayed to the faith he was brought up with in the Old Era.

In the cold, windy night, the two of them left the captain’s cabin and found an empty room to hide.

Shang Jianyao exited and entered again. The last day arrived as expected.

The cruise ship’s PA system was informing everyone that the ship would dock today and arrive at their destination, Spacey Island. It requested everyone to pack their bags in advance and disembark in an orderly manner.

Loannes—who hadn’t slept the entire night—rubbed his eyes and hesitantly said, “Should we go out and take a look?”

He wanted to see if there were any signs of danger on the ship.

“Alright!” Shang Jianyao seemed to have been looking forward to it for a long time.

Loannes boldly opened the door and walked out. Shang Jianyao followed closely behind.

Just as they walked along the corridor, they suddenly saw the rotund captain open the door and walk out.

“Good morning.” The middle-aged man in his forties smiled warmly. His eyes were spirited, completely different from the fanatical expression he had last night.

Not only did Loannes—who had been greeted—not heave a sigh of relief, but he even felt inexplicably horrified to the point of trembling.

He still had a fresh memory of the captain’s aria begging for love and the pacing with tears streaming down his face. He had a deep impression of the captain’s chaotic and subconscious state, but the captain seemed completely fine once the sun rose.

How could this not be terrifying?

Loannes kept having the feeling that he was facing monsters draped in human skin. They mimicked humans under the sun and revealed their true selves at night.

“Good morning.” Shang Jianyao enthusiastically replied to the captain’s greeting.

Loannes deliberated for a moment and probed, “Captain, have you felt anything amiss in the past few days?”

The captain shook his head in confusion. “Everything was normal, and nobody was infected with the Heartless disease.”

Loannes stopped asking questions and quickly bade farewell. He returned to his cabin with Shang Jianyao and prepared to carry his luggage to the deck. He would disembark as soon as the ship docked, distancing himself from this bizarre and terrifying place.

On the way, they encountered several humans they had previously encountered.

The crew member—who had been pushing the food cart and running crazily while turning his head from time to time—smiled politely and nodded at everyone he saw. The originally irritable and aggressive male passenger held a popular Old World novel and sat on the deck under a parasol as he leisurely flipped through it. The lady—who switched between crying and laughing—leaned against the railing and delicately looked at the blue sea as if she were looking forward to the future…

Even the cold that filled the night was expelled by the sunlight, inviting a little warmth in.

The strong contrast made Loannes descend into horror.

The more normal it was now, the more he couldn’t help but think about the chaos at night. It increased his suspicion that the scene in front of him was only normal on the surface, but something more dangerous lurked underneath.

It was as if he had clearly seen the captain’s goddess, Dufftiel, only to realize that tentacles were hiding in the shadows under her feet and behind her.

“No! We can’t just wait for the docking to happen!” Loannes blurted out the moment he returned to his room. He felt that he had to do something to truly reach his destination!

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

He had experienced this last day many times in the past, but before the docking happened, he would always passively jump back to the time when he first boarded the cruise ship.

At this moment, if he just hid with Loannes, it would be very difficult for the outcome to be different from the strategies he had previously adopted.

It had to be a little different!

Loannes thought for a while with a tense expression. “Frankly speaking, I have a strange feeling: It might be more dangerous during the day than at night. Under the night sky, we at least know who’s problematic and who’s normal. As long as we don’t use our abilities, we won’t be affected. Now, we have no idea what will happen next or why only a few people will reach the shore alive.”

“Actually, this piece of history is vague. As you—the person involved—remained silent in this regard, we aren’t sure if most people survived or most people died,” Shang Jianyao replied truthfully.

The outcome he had previously told Loannes was his and Jiang Baimian’s guess; it wasn’t based on reality.

Loannes glanced at Shang Jianyao and nodded in relief. “You’re very honest; you’re not a cheat. But I believe that something definitely happened in the end since I maintained silence on this matter in the future. At the very least, I don’t think my current experience is worth keeping a secret.”

That’s also a lie. I’ve never really seen the future you… The honest Shang Jianyao tried to answer, but he was pressed to the floor of the Mind Room by his peers.

Without giving them a chance to respond, Loannes continued, “I have a very ridiculous idea. Since the night gives me a greater sense of security, I want to find a place that resembles the environment at night to hide before the cruise ship docks.”

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Shang Jianyao clapped

“Can’t we just draw the curtains?” he immediately suggested.

“It would still be too bright.” Loannes thought for a moment and said, “Besides, you’ve noticed the weather recently. It’s barely tolerable during the day, but it’s relatively cold at night.”

“We have to find a place with cold air but no light.” Shang Jianyao concluded the key point.

Just as he said that, Loannes had an answer. “The kitchen’s freezer room!”

Apart from this area, the stingy captain switched off the air-conditioning in all the rooms.

“Not bad! Remember to bring some thick clothes.” Shang Jianyao looked eager.

Before long, the two of them—wrapped up like bears—sneaked into the kitchen with their weapons and hid in the freezer room.

“It’s really cold. Maybe I need a bottle of hard liquor to divert my attention.” Loannes rubbed his black-gloved hands and looked around.

After a few days of the voyage, much of the food in the freezer had been expended. The place appeared empty.

Shang Jianyao swept the flashlight around and shone it deep into the freezer room. “There’s no need to hide, everyone.”

Loannes also realized that there were a few human consciousnesses in the freezer room.

Soon, four men and three women walked out from different spots.

Their numbers were different from what Loannes had sensed because a few of them were ability users. Among them was Loannes’s acquaintance—the playboy named Sully.

“Why are you here?” Loannes asked first.

Sully shrugged. “My spiritual intuition tells me that a nighttime environment is safer. Besides, there’s food here.”

“Spiritual intuition?” Shang Jianyao suddenly became excited.

“Haha, I’m joking.” Sully felt a little embarrassed. “I was a mysticism enthusiast in the Old Era.”

Neither party was in the mood to chat. They each found a spot and waited for the cruise ship to dock in the dark and cold warehouse.

Shang Jianyao exited again, wanting to see if he would return to the time when he first boarded the cruise ship. This time, he returned to the kitchen’s freezer and heard Sully say, “The cruise ship seems to have docked.”

Loannes looked for his companion. “Shang! Shang, come out quickly!”

“I’m coming! I’m coming!” Shang Jianyao was filled with anticipation.

Wrapped in thick clothes, the nine of them opened the freezer door and returned to the kitchen.

With a whoosh, the kitchen crew turned their heads at the same time and looked over. Their eyes were turbid and bloodshot, and their expressions were hideous as if they wanted to devour someone.

Heartless disease!

They had all contracted the Heartless disease!

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