Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 690: Lunatics

Translator: CKtalon

Clues? That quickly? Long Yuehong was shocked.

To be honest, he had always felt that unless one was extremely unlucky, those who were wanted in the Ashlands would remain wanted for a long time.

As one of First City’s most wanted criminals, he believed that he still had the qualifications to make this claim.

Admittedly, in the Ashlands, the Old Task Force was definitely one of the best in terms of experience, abilities, and caution. However, the reason they could enter and exit First City several times and act freely was that they benefited from the lacking population management methods, various technological gaps, insufficient resources, and the lack of information exchange.

They had just learned of two traitors from the Salvation Army who had stolen military supplies in the morning, but there were already clues about them in the afternoon. The efficiency was stunning.

On second thought, Long Yuehong recalled the various rumors regarding the Salvation Army and the situation that Ding Ling had unconsciously revealed in her words. He felt that it made sense.

The Salvation Army had relatively strong control over personnel from all walks of life. Outsiders needed to be reviewed and have a pass. Within the existence of the Salvation Army, bandits and wilderness nomads were basically eliminated. Even being a Ruin Hunter required approval.

In such an environment, the two traitors had a high risk of being exposed unless they didn’t make contact with the various settlements or Ruin Hunters that acted as black market peddlers. They needed to be self-sufficient in the wilderness and mountains or risk the high chances of exposure.

Even if they had special Awakening abilities, they could evade detection temporarily but not for long. At most, they could delay the discovery of their tracks by a day or two.

Of course, it was another story if they had abilities with long-lasting effects like Inference Clowning. But from the Salvation Army’s control, it was possible to avoid the corresponding abilities’ effects during the investigation and figure out the real situation. It might even be printed in a manual and sent to the frontline personnel.

This was completely different from First City, which hid many known abilities from the lower-ranking public security officers to enhance the stability of their rule.

Jiang Baimian naturally came up with anything Long Yuehong could think of.

She looked up at the Ruin Hunters that had hurriedly stood up and were about to follow the clues to chase after the wanted criminal. She then cast her gaze back at Ding Ling and her subordinates and smiled. “I’m wondering what I should eat tonight. Are there any specialties around here?”

“You’re concerned about dinner this early?” Ding Ling was a little stunned.

Shang Jianyao helped explain, “Eating is a matter of life. We have to reflect on ourselves three times a day: what to eat for breakfast, what to eat for lunch, and what to eat for dinner.”

This was something he had learned from the Old World’s entertainment. It was also suitable in the Ashlands today; he only needed to change it a little.

What’s for breakfast, what’s for lunch, and what’s for dinner? Jiang Baimian glanced at him and helplessly said, “I’m considered half a folklore scholar. I like to come into contact with different local customs, and this includes all kinds of unique food.”

“I see.” Ding Ling nodded and smiled. “I thought you were deliberately changing the topic and didn’t want to show your concern for the mole incident, afraid that it would arouse our suspicion.”

Isn’t that so? Long Yuehong muttered. The way Jiang Baimian always acted made him feel that Ding Ling’s guess was right.

“I do have such intentions. One has to know how to avoid suspicion when they’re new,” Jiang Baimian admitted frankly.

Clap! Clap! Clap! Clunk! Clunk! Clunk!

Shang Jianyao and Genava clapped at the same time.

Shang Jianyao then turned his head and said to Genava, “You can’t hide your humanization any longer!”

“I just feel like I know a little more about the ways of the world,” Genava replied honestly.

Their conversation made Bai Chen want to turn her head to the side and pretend not to know them. However, Ding Ling and her subordinates didn’t mind. After all, Ubei was one of the Salvation Army’s main cities; there was no lack of robots. They had once seen a robot perform crosstalk with a human partner.

Crosstalk was an Old World art; it was preserved in areas that were majority Ashlandic. The Salvation Army and Pangu Biology were also in this category.

“Not bad.” Ding Ling praised Jiang Baimian’s thoughts. “Many foreign Ruin Hunters don’t realize this and are escorted out of our borders or sent to court before being sent to do labor.”

Is this a hidden warning? Long Yuehong always had rich thoughts.

Without waiting for Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao’s response, Ding Ling smiled. “I ate some of your canned food for lunch. I’ll treat you to a meal that’s considered a specialty in Ubei tonight.”

“Sure, sure!” Shang Jianyao didn’t stand on ceremony at all.

When the sun set, Ding Ling exchanged for a pile of firewood from the settlement. She also borrowed an iron pot, an aluminum basin, and a soup ladle and began preparing dinner.

She first poured a lot of flour into the aluminum basin before putting in water, sugar, and other things. She mixed them into a paste before heating the pot. She then took a small piece of lard and wiped the edges of the pot.

After finishing these preparations, Ding Ling scooped up the white paste in the aluminum pot with a metal spoon and poured it over the edge of the iron pot.

Amidst sizzling sounds, every spoonful of white paste spread out into a thin pancake.

Ding Ling skillfully controlled the fire and flipped the pancakes before long.

A sweet and alluring smell gradually filled the air, making Shang Jianyao gulp a mouthful of saliva.

After the pancakes were seared on both sides, a male Salvation Army member waiting beside them picked up the pancakes one by one and placed them in everyone’s lunch box. After a few rounds, everyone received six to seven pancakes.

Jiang Baimian held in her urge to eat and also signaled her team members not to be anxious, especially Shang Jianyao. After all, Ding Ling was still cooking.

After searing the last round of pancakes, there was still some residual flour paste in the aluminum basin. Ding Ling added a lot of water and stirred it before pouring it into the pot.

Before long, a pot of fragrant soup was finished.

After everyone received half a box of soup, Ding Ling took out a few cans of meat and boiled them in the pot.

“People like us—who do physical labor—won’t be satiated if we just eat pancakes without meat.” She smiled at Jiang Baimian and the others and said, “Tuck in, everyone.”

Shang Jianyao eagerly picked up a thin piece of pancake and stuffed it into his mouth.

Long Yuehong followed closely behind.

After taking a bite, he felt that the pancake was soft, sticky, and chewy. When he chewed it carefully, it had the fragrance of flour and the sweetness of sugar. He couldn’t stop eating.

After wolfing down a pancake, Long Yuehong lowered his head and drank a mouthful of soup.

He didn’t find it cloying at all; it was like clear water with wheat fragrance and some sweetness.

Jiang Baimian looked up and asked, “Not bad. What’s this called?”

Ding Ling smiled. “In Ubei, we call it flour cake.”

“Your culinary skills are pretty good!” Shang Jianyao praised.

Ding Ling’s female subordinate—who was in her mid-twenties—nodded in agreement. “That’s right. Captain Ding often cooks personally to make our meals better.”

Shang Jianyao turned his head and said to Jiang Baimian, “Learn from her!”

Jiang Baimian expressionlessly raised her left hand and stopped the subsequent noise.

After having their fill, the Old Task Force rushed to clean up. The person who did most of the work was Shang Jianyao under orders from Jiang Baimian.

At this moment, Bai Chen realized that the Ruin Hunters—who had gone to tail the clues and search for the two traitors—had returned to the settlement one after another.

Ding Ling walked over and casually asked someone, “Any progress?”

The Ruin Hunter looked at her black uniform and the corresponding epaulet and replied in fear, “Yes, we found the two traitors and killed one. When the other saw that he couldn’t escape, he committed suicide by shooting himself in the mouth.”

Although Ruin Hunters under the Salvation Army always mocked the regular army for being old-fashioned and conservative, they didn’t dare to act rashly when they really encountered them unless they had a background.

“They’re all dead?” Ding Ling frowned slightly. “What did you find on them?”

The Ruin Hunter replied, “We didn’t find any so-called important military supplies. There were only some canned food, biscuits, energy bars, bullets, and lighters.”

Upon seeing that Ding Ling’s expression remained serious, he added, “Most of these were produced in Ubei. They might’ve been to Ubei and obtained some supplies from the black market.”

“Then, someone must’ve taken the load off them!” Ding Ling muttered.

It seems like those important military supplies have been offloaded… If they can’t find them subsequently, it will likely spark off a chain reaction… Ever since her hearing recovered, Jiang Baimian had already completed the mission of secretly eavesdropping.

The night passed uneventfully. At 7 a.m. the next morning, the Old Task Force continued driving toward Ubei with Ding Ling’s mountain car.

After nearly nine hours, they finally arrived at the refurbished city by the Yuelin River, which had a nuclear power plant backing it.

The city’s overall appearance was very similar to the Old World’s, but there weren’t that many high-rise buildings. The buildings’ colors and shapes were relatively monotonous.

With Ding Ling around, Jiang Baimian and the others successfully passed a few intersection inspections and entered the city.

Suddenly, Shang Jianyao pointed out the window and exclaimed excitedly.

What the hell? Jiang Baimian looked over and realized that two people in strange clothes had passed by in the alley beside her.

Their clothes were ordinary, and they were all worn. The strange thing was that they wore aluminum pots used to boil water and stew vegetables on their heads. It made people wonder how they could see the road ahead.

The two of them quickly disappeared at the end of the alley. Shang Jianyao seemed eager to chase after them and communicate.

After Ding Ling parked the green mountain car in front of a rather imposing ten-story building, Shang Jianyao quickly alighted and asked about the townsfolk.

Ding Ling frowned. “Those are a bunch of lunatics!”