Embers Ad Infinitum

Just as Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao returned to the third-floor room, Long Yuehong curiously asked, “Team Leader, where’s the information from Elder Zhang?”

He realized that Jiang Baimian’s hands were empty.

Jiang Baimian smiled and said, “We’ve already scanned through it below, but we didn’t discover anything worth paying attention to.”

As she spoke, she took out the folded stack of paper from her pocket.

“That’s right, that’s right.” Shang Jianyao nodded in agreement.

Long Yuehong was disappointed, but he also felt inexplicably relieved. “No valuable clues…”

He looked at the stack of paper in Jiang Baimian’s hand and considered if he should waste time reading it again. Compared to Jiang Baimian, he felt that his meticulousness, acuity, and logical abilities were inferior. He probably had no hope of discovering problems that the other party couldn’t.

In other words, since his team leader had certified that there were no problems with the information, there was no need for him to waste any more time on it.

As Long Yuehong hesitated, Genava directly said, “Even a wise man has a moment of folly. I think it’s better to pass around the information.”

“Yes.” Bai Chen agreed.

Long Yuehong suddenly regretted it and felt that he shouldn’t have hesitated.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Shang Jianyao applauded Genava.

Jiang Baimian nodded and smiled. “I’m no wise man, so mistakes are inevitable. Everyone should read, ask, and communicate more to prevent any mistakes. This is called fully utilizing our collective intelligence.”

If she felt that there was no need to show the stack of information to her team members, she wouldn’t have taken it out.

Several pages of information were quickly divided and given to Bai Chen, Long Yuehong, and Genava.

With a simple sweep, the honest Genava stated, “There is a very suspicious point. Two days before martial law was enacted, a hotel resident had his antihypertensive drugs stolen from the hotel. His condition quickly acted up, and he was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment.”

“What?” Long Yuehong blurted out.

Bai Chen pursed her lips and organized her words. “This is very similar to a situation we expected—the person who obtained the nuclear warhead had his weakness accidentally ‘hit.’ It took two to three days for him to recover. He missed the opportunity to leave the city and was trapped in Ubei under martial law.”

Furthermore, the people living in the Ashlands Hotel were all foreigners, making it even more suspicious.

“Not bad; very sharp.” Jiang Baimian praised him and smiled. “I thought so too when I saw it previously. However, I encountered the hotel’s Manager Shen on the way back. He told Hey and me that the unlucky fellow—who was secretly admitted to the hospital because of the antihypertensive drug issue—had yet to completely escape danger and was still receiving treatment. Such a person doesn’t have the time or the ability to hijack the radio.”

“Indeed.” Long Yuehong nodded.

From this angle, the unlucky fellow’s suspicion could be eliminated.

Shang Jianyao stroked his chin. “But we can’t use that to say that he’s completely fine. What if he’s the middleman? As he was accidentally hospitalized and the corresponding ‘connection’ broke, it took two to three days for the person who hijacked the radio to determine that something had happened to him and think of a way to retrieve the nuclear warhead. However, he had already missed the best opportunity to leave the city.”

Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and nodded slightly. “That makes sense.”

She then pointed at Shang Jianyao and joked, “Even a fool has a moment of brilliance.”

Without giving Shang Jianyao a chance to retort, Jiang Baimian looked at the floor and said, “That unlucky fellow previously lived in Room 214. Do you sense any human consciousness there?”

Shang Jianyao outlined the entire building’s layout in his mind and spent some time confirming the location.

“No.” He shook his head and then looked at Jiang Baimian. “What about you?”

This referred to her sensing of bioelectric signals.

Jiang Baimian also took a while before saying, “Nothing.”

“From the looks of it, that person is still in the hospital.” Bai Chen cast her gaze out the unlit window. “But we can’t rule out the possibility that he’s the middleman.”

She turned around and looked at Jiang Baimian. “Did you ask about the entire matter? Maybe the devil is in the details.”

Jiang Baimian tersely acknowledged her words. She described how the guest at Room 214 had been out that day for quite some time and was no longer in the right state when he returned. It was suspected that he had unfortunately used up all the antihypertensive drugs on him. She then mentioned how he became anxious and angry upon discovering that the antihypertensive drugs and many items in the room had disappeared without a trace due to a burglary and how it made his blood pressure rise and caused him to be sent to the hospital for emergency treatment.

“Captain Ding really had the foresight to get us to leave someone behind to guard the room.” Long Yuehong was secretly speechless. Aren’t the thieves in Ashlands Hotel way too ridiculous?

The Old Task Force had never encountered such a thing when they stayed in a hotel in First City.

Of course, the majority of the reason was that Bai Chen was considered a half-local. The hotels she found were relatively reliable, and the boss secretly kept a close eye on the rooms.

Jiang Baimian only corrected Long Yuehong’s evaluation. “It’s not foresight but experience.”

First City didn’t have any requirements for settlement; they just didn’t give out citizenship at worst. The benefits brought about by First City’s citizenship were actually insignificant. Therefore, many Ruin Hunters used the city—which provided most convenient supplies—as a base to expand and explore the various ruins. As the saying went, a hare doesn’t foul its own hole. If they weren’t forced into a corner, the possibility of them committing crimes in their ‘base’ without any scruples wasn’t high.

Although the Salvation Army also didn’t have any requirements for settlement, they had relatively strict control over foreigners. Many Ruin Hunters often couldn’t replenish the supplies they wanted, and their daily lives felt very restrictive.

In such situations, once they realized that they had no hope of joining the Salvation Army, they would often choose to go elsewhere and never return.

Since they wouldn’t return in the future, it was only natural to take advantage of the situation and find an opportunity to obtain some benefits.

The other settlements of the Salvation Army were under strict control, and order was well-maintained; it was very difficult for these Ruin Hunters to have a chance. Only in a place like the Ashlands Hotel was there a large number of foreigners. It was inevitable that management would fail at times. After all, their bottom line was to not let the chaos leak out and affect the Salvation Army’s official members.

Bai Chen thought for a few seconds and said, “I’m becoming convinced that Room 214’s guest is the middleman. He left for so long that day perhaps to meet the defectors, give them supplies, and take away the nuclear warhead.”

Upon hearing this, Shang Jianyao’s eyes lit up. “He had just driven back when he realized that the antihypertensive drugs had been stolen. He was so angry that he entered the hospital and has yet to come out. Could there be a possibility that the person who hijacked the radio hasn’t actually obtained the nuclear warhead and that the item is still hidden in the car trunk of Room 214’s guest?”

“There’s a chance.” Genava gave his analysis results.

Jiang Baimian deliberated for a moment and said, “Hey, go to Manager Shen and guide his thoughts so that he can tell you which car belongs to Room 214’s guest. Let’s check when the night deepens.”

“Alright!” Shang Jianyao became excited.

…

When it was almost midnight, the Old Task Force circled around the hotel guard—who had already become friends with Shang Jianyao—and found the vehicle of Room 214’s guest.

It was a black SUV with a modified trunk.

Although she didn’t know much about electronics, Bai Chen still opened the trunk without Genava’s help after fiddling with it for a while.

The alarm wasn’t triggered.

Bread, biscuits, instant noodles, various cans, a box of bullets, and two rifles were revealed under the flashlight’s illumination.

“There’s nothing…” Shang Jianyao couldn’t hide his disappointment.

Although Commissioner Huang had said that it was a miniaturized hydrogen bomb, Jiang Baimian knew that it couldn’t be ridiculously small like the size of a high-performance battery.

Although there was a breakthrough in the Old World’s technology, it definitely wasn’t to that extent!

Jiang Baimian felt that the nuclear warhead was at least 100 to 200 kilograms. It was very difficult to hide an item of this size in a small trunk.

As the flashlight swept across the area, Bai Chen and Long Yuehong finished checking the front part of the car.

“Nothing.” They gave the results at the same time.

Jiang Baimian slowly exhaled and said, “Alright, it seems like the entire matter is just a coincidence. Let’s get some rest.”

…

After returning to her small room, Jiang Baimian lay on the bed. She closed her eyes and listened to Shang Jianyao hum a song as she quickly recalled what had happened today.

Suddenly, she felt a little guilty.

As a directionally challenged person, she wasn’t sure if she had misjudged the direction and mislabeled the ‘door sign’ when she sensed Room 214 based on the architectural layout in her mind.

It seems—probably—that I really might’ve made a mistake… I sensed the room opposite… After careful identification, Jiang Baimian awkwardly wanted to rub her head. Isn’t this too embarrassing? Fortunately, nobody discovered it.

Fortunately, she was already lying in bed.

Since she’d confirmed that the room was wrong, she definitely had to reconnoiter. She immediately turned her attention over.

The next second, Jiang Baimian opened her eyes.

In Room 214, there was a bioelectric signal highly suspected to be human!