Embers Ad Infinitum

The jeep drove along the bumpy road beside a tall cliff before arriving at a valley.

In the valley, a clean stream emitted a clear sound as it happily flowed forward, moistening a large piece of fertile land.

It wasn’t considered deep, and it was even a little shallow. The Old Task Force’s jeep could drive over the pebbles at the bottom.

The road was cut here and connected a distance away to the other side. In the middle stood a small settlement made of steel frames caked in mud bricks.

On the settlement’s high perimeter walls, a few men in the Salvation Army’s black uniforms held semi-automatic rifles, assault rifles, and other weapons as they stared at Jiang Baimian and the others with sharp gazes.

In the farmlands that surrounded the stream, men and women in military uniforms were working.

In the passenger seat, Jiang Baimian nodded slightly, knowing that this was a military border stronghold.

In such strongholds, the troops took turns guarding, patrolling, farming, and hunting. Apart from ammunition, clothes, and other supplies that required regular supply from the rear, they were barely self-sufficient for everything else.

At the same time, Jiang Baimian swept her gaze and, with her rich experience, discovered traces of many Salvation Army members lurking on the cliffs around the valley.

They deploy powerful long-range firepower hundreds of meters away to guard the stronghold against attacks from Mind Corridor-level Awakened… Jiang Baimian thoughtfully retracted her gaze. She then smiled at her team members and said, “It’s almost dark. We’ll camp by the stream tonight.”

“Alright!” Shang Jianyao replied without hesitation.

He suddenly pushed open the door and alighted. He then faced the military stronghold, stretched out his right hand, pressed it to his left chest, and shouted, “For all of humanity!”

The Salvation Army members on the settlement’s perimeter were a little stunned. One after another, they decided to ignore this fellow as long as he didn’t take any further action.

Jiang Baimian—who had alighted with Shang Jianyao—curled her lips behind him and pretended not to know him.

Upon seeing that the Old Task Force had no intention of entering the settlement and instead chose to camp a certain distance away, the Salvation Army members heaved a sigh of relief.

“They sure are nice!” Shang Jianyao exclaimed at Long Yuehong and the others.

Long Yuehong was a little confused. “Why do you say that?”

Shang Jianyao replied righteously, “Shouldn’t normal soldiers find fault with us and take action to satisfy their greed when encountering rich outsiders like us at such a remote and uninhabited border stronghold? They actually heaved a sigh of relief because we didn’t cause trouble. What a kind and benevolent showing!”

Bai Chen agreed with Shang Jianyao’s words. “Similar things happened many times in the wilderness strongholds around First City. This resulted in Ruin Hunters and smuggling caravans circling around those places—taking the risk of encountering bandits, Heartless, mutated creatures, and accidents—rather than heading there.”

If they were really targeted by First City’s wilderness strongholds, it would be great if they only lost their property. What they feared was losing their lives.

Furthermore, if they counter-attacked and injured or killed a few regular troops, they would definitely be wanted by First City unless they silenced everyone and prevented others from finding out later.

Jiang Baimian mercilessly shattered Shang Jianyao’s beautiful fantasy. “Maybe it’s because our resume is too glorious.”

Being wanted time and time again by First City with a bounty of 10,000 Oray while still running around free and alive meant that they weren’t a team to be trifled with.

Upon seeing the unconcealed collapse of Shang Jianyao’s expression as if he were still a child, Jiang Baimian sighed silently and added, “No matter how much the outside world claims that the Salvation Army has degenerated, I believe they still have some bottom lines and won’t casually attack the innocent. Yes… If it were a First City military stronghold, how could the soldiers and farmers be taking turns to do the farming? They would definitely capture wilderness nomads and enslave them to do these things in their stead.”

“Yes.” Bai Chen nodded.

Only a portion of the Ashlands had regained some semblance of order. The border or wilderness strongholds were clearly not included.

Shang Jianyao smiled again and hummed a song. He volunteered to test the water quality by the stream.

The Old Task Force gathered firewood, raised a bonfire, and prepared dinner when the military stronghold’s steel door opened.

A man and a woman walked out.

The woman was 1.65 meters tall and was in her thirties. She was mature and charming, and she had black hair and brown eyes. Her eyebrows were thick, and she had decent facial features. Her skin color was similar to Jiang Baimian’s; they were both the color of healthy wheat, but she was darker.

She had clean, short hair that reached her ears. She wore a black uniform and was neither fat nor thin, reaching the standard height and weight. Although this lady was walking alongside the young man, her bearing and attitude indicated that she was the leader.

The man looked to be 17 or 18 years old. There was some hair above his lips, and he looked ordinary and unsophisticated.

After approaching the Old Task Force, the young man—who still had a hint of youth—took the initiative to introduce the lady beside him. “This is Captain Ding from our border settlement.”

“Ding Ling.” The lady smiled and stretched out her right palm openly.

Upon hearing this slightly accented introduction, Jiang Baimian laughed. “Were you the one who warned us over the broadcast?”

She also stretched out her right palm and gently shook her hand.

Ding Ling nodded. “This is our duty as a border settlement. We can’t permit suspicious people entry. October Xue, right? Although I know that this is most likely an alias, it’s fine. A name is only a designation.”

She then casually introduced the young man beside her. “Zeng Ping’an.”

“Good name!” Shang Jianyao clapped, making the lad feel a little embarrassed.

“Beautiful hopes of peace by his parents,” Ding Ling explained simply.

Jiang Baimian then introduced her team members. Of course, she only gave aliases.

As for Genava, he was now acting as an ordinary robot. He had no name but a code name, so there was no need to introduce him.

After the two parties finished exchanging pleasantries, Shang Jianyao asked Ding Ling with a sense of responsibility, “If First City chooses to use this place as a breakthrough point, can a small settlement like yours—with dozens of people—really withstand it?”

He acted like a senior Salvation Army member.

At this moment, Ding Ling felt like she had encountered an inspection by her superior.

What has this got to do with you even if we can’t stop them!? She smiled and said, “We definitely can’t block them. Our main purpose is to serve as an early warning system and use several different methods.

“Last year, this settlement encountered a sudden attack by First City. After we gave the warning, we gave up on this place and retreated into the mountains in teams. We then found an opportunity to sabotage the enemy along the way and slow down their advance. As long as people remain alive, we can definitely establish a new settlement.”

Ding Ling’s answer was relatively detailed, and she mainly wanted to tell the strong team opposite her that the Salvation Army settlement had a mature plan for different enemies so that they shouldn’t take the risk.

“It must be very difficult and dangerous to retreat deep into the mountains, right?” Shang Jianyao had a look of concern.

Ding Ling was stunned for a moment before saying, “Yes.”

Her and Zeng Ping’an’s expressions flickered as if they recalled the various dangers back then.

After a few seconds, Ding Ling took the initiative to ask, “W-why do you want to go to Icefield?”

I noticed that you showed some concern toward Icefield… Jiang Baimian organized her words and said, “Before the Old World was destroyed, part of Icefield was still a place with relatively normal weather. There were many human cities. Later, the climate changed dramatically, and Icefield expanded and swallowed those areas.

“Due to Icefield’s climate restrictions and the small amount of arable land, there aren’t many wilderness nomads and Ruin Hunters there. Many city ruins are still in relatively well-kept states, allowing us to return with a bountiful harvest.”

“That’s indeed the case.” Ding Ling nodded. “Even our Salvation Army only organizes teams to gather resources from them most of the time during summer. Yes, it will be midsummer if you head over now.”

She opened her mouth and paused. After a while, she hesitantly asked, “When you reach Icefield, can you help me find out about someone?”

“Who is it?” asked the helpful Zen Master Redemption.

Ding Ling lowered her head and smiled. “My husband. His name is Ji Qiang, a researcher. We originally met twice a year, but he participated in an expedition team that went to Icefield two years ago. He said that he was carrying out a secret mission. If he succeeded, he would be qualified to transfer me back to Ubei, and our family would be reunited. However, I lost contact with him from then on. His unit couldn’t give me a detailed answer due to confidentiality.”

Perhaps it was because he didn’t expect his captain to go into such excruciating detail that it involved job allocation and transfers, the young man beside her, Zeng Ping’an, felt a little awkward.

“I see…” Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and said, “If it’s just to find out about someone, it’s as easy as ABC..”

Ding Ling smiled sincerely. “I have his photo here. We took the picture in Ubei just after we got married.”

Ubei was one of the core Salvation Army cities. The guns—Ubei 6 and Ubei 7—they produced were relatively common in the Ashlands.