Embers Ad Infinitum

This endless mountain range was called Cloud Mountain. If one wanted to circle around it, they could either head northwest and pass through the White Knights’ sphere of influence or head southeast until they reached the Great Plains, where the terrain eased. That was the front line of First City’s confrontation with the Salvation Army—it was the former’s Eastern Army defense zone.

In the Old World, Cloud Mountain wasn’t an insurmountable natural stronghold. Many bridges and tunnels connected the two sides, but many bridges had collapsed, and many tunnels were now blocked. Only a few remaining routes allowed passage through the mountains, and these were guarded by First City and the Salvation Army.

In the driver’s seat, Bai Chen released one hand and pointed at a mountain path ahead. “We can cross Cloud Mountain from here and won’t encounter any especially strict interrogations. It’s considered a road of relatively low importance. There’s not much reliance on tunnels or bridges when circling up the mountain. Although many spots along the way have collapsed, it can barely allow a large car to go through.”

Jiang Baimian nodded and curiously asked, “Little White, I thought you haven’t been here before? Why are you so familiar…”

“Because I know how to read maps,” Shang Jianyao replied on her behalf.

As Bai Chen drove the jeep toward the mountain road, she explained, “Although I’ve never been here, I had some idea of this place a long time ago. Back then, the Salvation Army sent people everywhere to gather wilderness nomads and organized them to head east of Cloud Mountain. They said that although food was still lacking, relying on the mountains and rivers for food and water allowed everyone to barely survive if a strict rationing system was followed. Everyone worked together and fought against any dangers. They cultivated farmlands in areas with less severe pollution and established factories to prevent anyone from suffering from famine and cold…”

Bai Chen slowed her speech as she spoke as if she recalled how she felt when she first heard about this.

Shang Jianyao straightened his back and pressed his right hand to his left chest. “For all of humanity!”

‘For all of humanity’ was the Salvation Army’s slogan and ideal. ‘To save all of humanity’ was Shang Jianyao’s own; he knew the difference very well.

Bai Chen ignored him and continued, “Back then, people from the Salvation Army also came to our settlement. He described such a future for us and also gave us a method to bypass First City’s army and pass through Cloud Mountain—this is the path. Back in First City, I noticed it at a glance when we split up to search for maps and information.”

Long Yuehong—who was listening seriously—quickly testified. “Yes, I remember Little White specially asking about this road back then.”

“Yes.” Genava indicated that it was indeed so.

Jiang Baimian temporarily didn’t care much about the problem of this ‘trail.’ She was more curious about another point. “Little White, did anyone from your settlement follow the Salvation Army back then?”

“Many. My parents wanted to, but they decided to wait a few years because I was still young and not suitable for long journeys.” Bai Chen pursed her lips. “Later, they passed away. In the past decade, I’ve never heard of the Salvation Army doing such things.”

“Is that so…” Jiang Baimian skipped the topic fluidly.

As the Old Task Force members conversed, the jeep drove into the mountains.

The further they went, the more lush the trees on both sides became. From time to time, bird chirping sounded from a distance.

It had been less than 70 years since the Old World was destroyed. Just this period of human civilization being absent in this area allowed nature to eliminate all traces except for the derelict, overgrown roads.

Shang Jianyao attentively listened to the bird chirping as if he were pondering over the different kinds of culinary methods in the wilderness. He only thought of ‘roasting’ and couldn’t help but wipe the corners of his mouth.

The jeep started and stopped; the Old Task Force members would alight from time to time to clean up the insurmountable obstacles or get a few trees. They would place them in depressions that were inconvenient for passage, ones that prevented the vehicle from speeding up.

From about 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Shang Jianyao and the others spent the time traversing Cloud Mountain with difficulty, but they appeared to have escaped First City’s effective sphere of influence.

As they passed through an area with high cliffs on the left and right, Jiang Baimian suddenly stopped watching the scenery. She turned her head rather naturally to look out the window at an adequate speed. At the same time, she casually said, “There are human-like bioelectric signals. Two.”

She couldn’t make a very accurate judgment based on bioelectric signals. After all, many medium-sized animals had similar physiques to humans.

Shang Jianyao immediately replied, “I don’t sense any human consciousness.”

Long Yuehong and Bai Chen tensed up.

Jiang Baimian nodded. “It’s either two large ‘monkeys’ or two Awakened. Salvation Army patrolmen?”

Since this was a hidden route provided by the Salvation Army, it was definitely under their supervision.

“What should we do next?” Long Yuehong didn’t look at the cliff covered in vegetation to their right like Jiang Baimian.

Jiang Baimian smiled. “Ignore it for now. We have to deal with the Salvation Army eventually. It might not be a bad thing to feign ignorance.”

“Right, we also know Xu Datong from the Public Security Council.” Long Yuehong agreed with his team leader.

The Salvation Army’s core organization was called the Supplies Management Committee. The Public Security Council directly came under it. It was equivalent to the Pangu Biology’s Order Supervisory Department combined with the Security Department sans its foreign combat capabilities, and it wielded great power.

In the Old World’s words, the Salvation Army was a highly unified force between the military and the government. They were military-like for many domestic administrative issues.

In the Ashlands, this wasn’t a special exception but a norm. Only a few places had a clear distinction between the military and the administrators—Pangu Biology was one example.

Upon hearing Long Yuehong’s words, Shang Jianyao clicked his tongue. “How do you know that there is no political in-fighting or factional strife in the Salvation Army? What if we encounter Commissioner Xu’s political enemy?”

Long Yuehong was momentarily speechless.

Based on the Old World entertainment he had watched and the few factions he had encountered, there were conflicts wherever people were.

Jiang Baimian scoffed at Shang Jianyao. “I thought you have always believed that the Salvation Army had never degenerated and that they are still that organization filled with ideals?”

Shang Jianyao’s expression sank bit by bit as he said with unconcealed grief, “That’s why I raised the worst-case scenario in advance.”

Uh, is it currently the Shang Jianyao that values relationships or the Shang Jianyao that abhors evil and shoulders the responsibility of saving all of humanity? Jiang Baimian said to Genava, whose turn was to drive, “Maintain the speed from before.”

Before long, a female voice suddenly sounded at the bend in the perilous road. “Halt! Don’t continue forward, or you will be bombarded remotely!”

It was spoken in Ashlandic with a moderate accent.

Jiang Baimian looked up and realized that a slightly rusted loudspeaker was tied to a tree at the edge of the road.

It was connected to a circuit, and the circuit was hidden in the vegetation.

“Stop the car,” Jiang Baimian said to Genava as if she were prepared.

The jeep stopped in the middle of the road, and the Old Task Force members alighted one after another.

In such an environment, it wasn’t safe to be in the car. It was too easy a target, and it wasn’t easy to dodge any attack.

“Who are you, and why are you here?” The female voice sounded through the speaker again.

Perhaps it was because the equipment was old, but the voice sounded a little distorted.

Jiang Baimian replied, “We are Ruin Hunters. We want to make a living east of Cloud Mountain.”

“Why don’t you stay in First City?” the female voice asked remotely.

She was outside Shang Jianyao’s perception range.

Jiang Baimian wore a look of ‘helplessness.’ “We weren’t too lucky and are wanted by First City. I believe you also have a Hunter’s Guild here. You can check through them if we are really wanted by First City.”

“Name, Hunter ID.” The woman’s voice was relatively polite; she didn’t get the Old Task Force to hand over their Hunter Badges directly.

After Jiang Baimian finished giving their aliases and IDs, the female voice asked, “What placed you on the wanted list?”

Uh… Jiang Baimian couldn’t remember the original reason for being put on the wanted list.

They had been placed on the wanted list by First City too many times!

“We stole three military exoskeletons and two sets of bionic artificial intelligence armor!” Bai Chen, Long Yuehong, and Genava couldn’t stop Shang Jianyao from revealing their assets despite their collective efforts.

The other party fell silent.

Shang Jianyao smiled again. “I’m joking.”

The other party remained silent.

After a while, the female voice sounded through the radio again. “After confirmation, you are indeed wanted by First City with a very high bounty. The fact that you haven’t been captured to this day means that you are very strong.”

“That’s right, that’s right.” Shang Jianyao wasn’t modest at all.

Jiang Baimian smiled. “But we come in peace. Furthermore, our final destination is Icefield. You aren’t unwelcoming of foreign Hunters, right?”

At the very least, there hasn’t been the case of the Salvation Army forbidding Ruin Hunters from other factions to enter their borders.

“Icefield?” The woman’s voice suddenly sounded a little strange. She paused for a few seconds before saying, “We just don’t welcome Ruin Hunters who are spies. You can continue forward. You can’t enter any settlements you encounter; you can only camp outside unless you undergo further inspection.”

Upon seeing that their conversation was relatively normal and smooth, Jiang Baimian heaved a sigh of relief and said, “Alright.”