Embers Ad Infinitum

“Wow!” Shang Jianyao tried to exclaim, but what ultimately reflected in reality was him spitting out a saliva bubble.

“What’s going on?” Genava also discovered the anomaly. He seemed completely unaffected and could speak normally.

Shang Jianyao wanted to communicate, but he only produced more bubbles. He was like a fish that had been scooped out from the water and thrown ashore.

Meanwhile, Long Yuehong—who was on night duty—noticed his two companions stop. With the help of the dim bonfire, he realized that Shang Jianyao was blowing bubbles.

Another of his episodes? Long Yuehong thought, unsurprised. This was the first thought that flashed through his mind.

In the blink of an eye, he reflected on the imprecision in his thoughts. How can I call it ‘another’ episode? Ever since this fellow joined the Old Task Force, it’s been one continuous episode. He has never been normal!

Long Yuehong retracted his gaze and walked to the other side of the bonfire. The next second, he was surprised to discover that he couldn’t move his legs.

In contrast, his hands separated from the Berserker assault rifle and swung forward.

“What’s going on?” Long Yuehong blurted out, but this sentence only echoed in his mind. In reality, he ended up spitting bubbles.

Upon seeing this, Long Yuehong knew that something was amiss. He hurriedly wanted to turn to Bai Chen and warn her, but his body didn’t move as he imagined.

He bent his waist and bowed at an empty spot.

Bai Chen also sensed something abnormal a little earlier than Long Yuehong. She—who was on night duty—had been walking back and forth in observation of her surroundings. However, she was frozen in place, with only her hands swinging back and forth.

At this moment, Bai Chen felt like reality had turned into a nightmare.

Similar to them, the Hunters in the parking lot camp maintained their rationality and watched themselves do all kinds of unexpected actions.

Experienced people suspected that they had encountered a paranormal event like what often happened in the ruins with serial numbers. Those who had experienced many things believed that a Mind Corridor-level Awakened or a special Superior Heartless had secretly exerted their influence on them with unknown motives.

These Hunters were abnormally anxious, but an exaggerated smile appeared on their faces.

In the dark night thanks to the little starlight, a few bonfires burned quietly. The people around them were smiling. Some swung their arms, some kicked their legs as if they were dancing, and some blew bubbles. The scene was so strange that it didn’t seem realistic.

Jiang Baimian—who was sitting in the jeep—had mentally exhausted herself from her previous attempt at conquering the island of fear. She was thinking about the scene on the cruise ship that Shang Jianyao had described and slowly calmed down her relatively excited state. She hoped that she could quickly fall asleep the moment Shang Jianyao returned.

It was difficult for her to enter the Sea of Origins now, so she naturally couldn’t rely on the corresponding method to sleep.

As these thoughts raced through her mind, Jiang Baimian suddenly felt the silence outside terrifying.

Normally speaking, such a camp wouldn’t be this quiet even in the middle of the night. Most of the time, Ruin Hunters would go to remote places in groups to relieve themselves. On the way, they would chat loudly. Most of the time, they would sing and grunt at some spot, producing embarrassing sounds. Most of the time, humans on night duty would chat over light beer to kill time while guarding against any sudden attacks.

That was how it was just moments ago. Now, the entire camp seemed to have been muted by someone.

Jiang Baimian subconsciously wanted to reach out to the central dashboard and pick up the rocket launcher she had placed there. However, she stretched out her left leg.

The corners of Jiang Baimian’s mouth twitched, and she confirmed that something was amiss. What she really wanted to move wasn’t the corners of her mouth but her eyebrows.

“Something happened! Something happened!” Genava’s voice approached from afar and reached Jiang Baimian’s ears.

She opened her mouth to ask about the situation, but what she produced was not a sound but bubbles.

She anxiously wanted to prop herself up with her hands and look out the window, but what pressed down was her right foot instead of her palm.

Her right foot stepped on the carpet between the passenger seat and the dashboard, and Jiang Baimian straightened her body in a rather contorted manner.

She leaned her shoulder against the window and looked out with difficulty. She then realized that all the humans she saw had exaggerated smiles and were doing strange actions.

This… Jiang Baimian’s pupils dilated as she instantly thought of something—it was Shang Jianyao’s description of the chaotic and crazy scene that the terrifying cruise ship presented after night arrived.

However, there was still a clear difference between the two.

Apart from a few people, the people on the cruise ship were unconscious. Although the Hunters in the camp were smiling, their eyes showed anxiety. They clearly knew that something was amiss.

A similar but not completely identical anomaly? Jiang Baimian guessed inwardly.

What she was most worried about now was: Would the camp’s chaos end with most people, if not everyone, being infected with the Heartless disease? When the time came, would anyone from the Old Task Force be spared?

No! I can’t just do nothing! Jiang Baimian’s thoughts raced as she searched for every possibility of saving herself. If the current situation is really similar to the chaos on the horror cruise ship, can we assume that the power of darkness is corroding reality through a nearby node? There’s a node that connects to the New World in this camp? If that’s the case, we can find the node and carry out a certain level of destruction. This will allow the effects to subside temporarily and create an opportunity for everyone to leave the camp…

Then, where is the node that connects to the New World? It can’t be seen with the naked eye… But we can… Yes, be it with the Six Senses Beads or the Life Angel necklace, we can sense the darkness, just like when we faced Doctor and Future!

Jiang Baimian quickly came up with a plan, but the two items were in Shang Jianyao’s tactical backpack.

Shang Jianyao’s tactical backpack was undoubtedly on his back.

Jiang Baimian wanted to tell Shang Jianyao her thoughts, but on the one hand, she could only blow bubbles, making it impossible to convey her thoughts. On the other hand, she was trapped in the jeep and didn’t know how to push open the door.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Genava ran over, carrying Shang Jianyao on his shoulder. As a smart bot, he was one of the few who weren’t affected.

The others were also robots.

The next second, Genava stretched out his palm and opened the door to the jeep’s passenger seat.

Clang!

He placed Shang Jianyao in front of Jiang Baimian.

“Hey wants to communicate with you!” Genava said quickly.

Hey can speak? Jiang Baimian’s first thought was a little off.

Genava seemed to understand her surprise and quickly added, “Hey pointed here with his foot.”

Foot? For a moment, Jiang Baimian’s mind was filled with questions. She then saw Shang Jianyao—who was standing there—move his feet. He wrote two words and a punctuation mark on the cement ground that hadn’t been cleaned for a long time: “Cruise ship?”

Upon seeing the words on the thick dust, Jiang Baimian’s heart palpitated as she stretched out a foot. With this, she confirmed that the actions she wanted to do with her hands were really reflected on her feet!

The current chaos was without any rule or pattern. It was more like a neural connection dislocation!

Jiang Baimian was unaccustomed to it. She slanted her body and wrote two words with her foot: “Node, items.”

Her complete meaning was that the current scene was suspected to be related to a New World node they had previously discussed and that they could use items to find the node.

After writing, Jiang Baimian tried her best to stretch her legs and tried to hook the backpack off Shang Jianyao’s shoulder.

Without needing her to expend any effort, Genava quickly understood her intention and easily removed Shang Jianyao’s tactical backpack before handing it over.

Jiang Baimian then saw Shang Jianyao’s feet rub each other as he took off his shoes and socks.

Shang Jianyao used his feet in place of his hands to clamp the zipper, pulling it down to open his tactical backpack.

Beside him, Genava’s eyes flickered with a red glow as he quickly analyzed the situation. “Node… Items…”

Coupled with Shang Jianyao’s efforts, Genava quickly came to a conclusion. “Do you want me to take out the Six Senses Beads and the Life Angel necklace?”

Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian blinked at the same time.

Genava didn’t hesitate to help Shang Jianyao take out the Six Senses Beads and the Life Angel necklace from his tactical backpack. He then followed the team’s usual tacit understanding and handed the Six Senses Beads to Shang Jianyao before delivering the Life Angel necklace to Jiang Baimian.

Shang Jianyao refused to use his hand. He raised his right foot and clamped the string of prayer beads.

Jiang Baimian took the necklace awkwardly and hung it around her neck. She wore it with difficulty as if she were wearing a necklace with her feet.

This time, her right foot was paralyzed.

The two of them then sank their consciousness into the items. This didn’t involve their nerves, so they met with zero obstruction.

Silently, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao saw ink-like ‘darkness’ rise from a certain spot amidst the bonfire’s illumination and spread out. This was thicker than the night with dim starlight.

As expected… Just as this thought flashed through Jiang Baimian’s mind, she realized that Shang Jianyao had done something strange.

After a few ‘adjustments,’ Shang Jianyao found a pattern. He flipped over, propped himself up with his hands, and walked invertedly toward the spot where the ‘darkness’ surged out.

This dumbfounded Jiang Baimian.

Genava moved his metal neck up and down and came to a realization. “It’s no wonder he wanted to hold the Six Senses Beads with his feet…”

As he spoke, Genava looked at Jiang Baimian. “Do you need help?”

Jiang Baimian blinked and nodded.

With Genava’s help, she completed an inverted stand and tied her paralyzed right foot and left leg together. The necklace around her neck almost fell off.

The three of them quickly ‘walked’ toward their destination.

As the distance closed, Jiang Baimian confirmed the source of the darkness—it came from the Ruin Hunter named Davis.

The Ruin Hunter who had returned from an expedition to Ruin 9 in the Blood Wilderness!