Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 715: Suddenly

Translator: CKtalon

Outside Ubei City, on a hill by the Yuelin River.

Xu Lan—who was wearing a cowboy coat and a wide-brimmed hat with her body exuding symmetry—cast her gaze at the tablet computer in front of her.

It lay quietly on the ground as the LCD screen projected rays of light that condensed into a gigantic figure in midair.

This figure was indistinct, preventing others from seeing its appearance. One could barely distinguish a head, eyes, nose, mouth, hands, and torso. It was like a human that had been magnified more than ten times in size.

Overall, it looked like a deity that had descended from the heavens or a devil that had crawled out of the abyss.

Doctor had indeed returned from the New World, but he could only return to the body hidden in the Eighth Research Institute.

Most of the available transportation wasn’t capable of transporting him to Ubei in the few hours after he received the news. A jet plane might work, but the target was too obvious. There was a high chance that they would be intercepted by missiles the moment they entered Salvation Army airspace. It was very unsafe.

Therefore, Doctor still chose to use his grasp of electromagnetism and exert influence on Ubei’s target through Xu Lan’s tablet computer.

Of course, compared to before, the threat he could create with this method was definitely incomparable to him fully returning. He could bring about the Heartless disease within a certain range, but there was still a considerable difference in strength compared to his true body.

If Commissioner Huang, Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and the others remained in Ubei and stayed with the bulk of the troops, Doctor really couldn’t do anything to them. This was because if human consciousness gathered and had many pillars consisting of Mind Corridor-level powerhouses, it would be difficult for him—who remotely exerted his influence—to spread the Heartless disease and achieve his designated goal. He could only make people’s minds weaken like back in First City. They would have nightmares at night and have headaches and nausea the next day.

If nobody interfered and allowed this situation to continue for more than a month, causing the affected person’s mental state to worsen, the Heartless disease might still erupt. However, this was Ubei, one of the Salvation Army’s core cities. How could nobody interfere?

If the Old Task Force didn’t sense any danger, Doctor could still get Xu Lan to sneak into Ubei and find an opportunity to attack the target with other means before her symmetry OCD acted up. However, Shang Jianyao, Jiang Baimian, and the others were too vigilant.

Left with no choice, Doctor could only strike and alert the enemy. He requested the help of his colleagues in the New World to temporarily trap the one sleeping in Ubei. It depicted a story of a New World powerhouse’s imminent attack to alarm the local Salvation Army’s higher-ups and get them to evacuate the citizens and evacuate important figures in batches.

This way, the gathering effect would be nullified. Doctor could infect the evacuating teams with the Heartless disease one after another.

This was also the reason why he didn’t immediately attack after the one sleeping in Ubei became uncontactable; he was giving the Ubei citizens time to ‘evacuate.’

Normally speaking, his New World colleagues would only suddenly attack when Doctor was about to take action, not giving the Salvation Army a chance to react.

Although Doctor was limited by his abilities and the helicopter’s evacuation speed, he believed that he had the time needed to affect three to four teams. However, it didn’t matter. The probability of success being close to 50% was already considerably good. Furthermore, he could still get Xu Lan to continue tracking the target later. In any case, the one sleeping in Ubei was definitely not following his main target; otherwise, they stood a risk of being wiped out.

When the time came, even if the other Salvation Army powerhouses timely resolved the predicament faced by Ubei’s sleeping one, it would be too late for him to help the Old Task Force by returning!

As these thoughts raced through his mind, the gigantic figure extending out of the tablet computer cast his gaze at an armed helicopter that was almost out of his range of influence.

On Heli 5, be it the Salvation Army veterans or the Old Task Force members, they straightened their backs and waited for an attack that might or might not come.

Jiang Baimian—who was trembling—composed herself and became very focused. She no longer considered the problem of dying from the Heartless disease.

She focused her mind on monitoring her condition. Once she discovered anything amiss, she would immediately attempt to sense the enemy in reverse and strive to rely on a consciousness-level connection to lock onto the other party’s location.

When the time came, the auxiliary chip in her biological prosthetic limb could record the corresponding information and transmit it to Genava even if she inevitably contracted the Heartless disease.

As a smart bot, Genava definitely wouldn’t become a Heartless. He could fire a flare in the right place according to the coordinates he received, which would invite ballistic-missile bombardment from Ubei’s defense zone.

At the same time, Genava could also help control the helicopter and use the various weaponry installed.

Jiang Baimian had such plans, and so did Shang Jianyao. Long Yuehong had no choice but to let his thoughts wander.

If I’m really infected with the Heartless disease, I choose to be euthanized…

No, what if they find a way to treat the Heartless disease in a few years?

Yes, I’ll get Old Ge to lock us up and take care of us while we wait for technology to improve. As long as I’m not dead, there’s still hope! Long Yuehong turned to look at Genava with a strong desire to live.

Just as he opened his mouth in an attempt to inform his robot companion, Shang Jianyao’s head suddenly throbbed.

As a Mind Corridor-level Awakened, he had a certain level of resistance to such effects. Therefore, he suffered the brunt of the attack. This prevented Jiang Baimian and the others from being infected with the Heartless disease immediately; they only felt the light in the helicopter dim a little.

Shang Jianyao knew that he couldn’t last long. He immediately wanted to sink his consciousness into his mind world, rip open the rift representing Xiaochong to the extreme in the Sea of Origins—which was mixed with the Holm Fertility Center’s strange aura—and await any changes.

Amidst his intense headache and dizziness, Shang Jianyao—who had yet to enter the Mind Corridor—suddenly saw rich darkness gush out from a rift in his right fist. He subconsciously released his fist and revealed the small jade Buddha in his palm.

The small, lake-green jade Buddha had already become illusory as if it no longer had a corporeal body. In addition, it didn’t emit a green glow but surging ‘darkness.’

Darkness suddenly erupted and filled the entire helicopter. It then covered the sky and the gigantic figure in the distance along an invisible connection.

A scene suddenly appeared in Doctor’s eyes: In the rich darkness, a faint female figure quietly stared at him through a half-concealed ‘barrier.’

2

“Ah!” An extremely terrified scream echoed through the clouds as if it reached the north mountains deep in Icefield.

With a cracking sound, the gigantic holographic projection instantly vanished. Even the tablet computer that supported its existence had web-like cracks on its screen.

Xu Lan kneeled on the ground, her heart racing from shock—this almost scared her to death. Fortunately, she wasn’t the true target but a target of the aftershocks.

The surging ‘darkness’ quickly faded and didn’t return to the small jade Buddha.

In just a second or two, the light in Heli 5 returned to normal.

Long Yuehong sensed this change and shook his head, realizing that he could still think.

“It’s over? I’m not infected with the Heartless disease…” he blurted out as he grasped the Life Angel necklace.

In the anomaly from before, he seemed to have been frightened. He went from having one leg paralyzed to being unable to move his limbs. It only took him until now to recover.

Upon hearing Long Yuehong’s words, Jiang Baimian, Bai Chen, and Genava cast their gazes at the small, lake-green jade Buddha in Shang Jianyao’s palm.

It had already regained its presence—lustrous and hard.

Shang Jianyao let out a long sigh and sighed with relief. “I knew that the Blessings from all Kalendarium was useful!”

Jiang Baimian wanted to smack this fellow, but she held back. She ignored the Salvation Army veteran and the pilot and muttered to herself, “Eidolon Nun’s help?”

From the looks of it, Eidolon Nun’s gaze at Redstone Collection’s parish assembly didn’t only bring about the anomaly in Iron Mountain City’s Second Food Company. It was also equivalent to giving the Old Task Force a protective charm.

That’s right. By obtaining the small jade Buddha, it’s actually equivalent to obtaining the special key to opening Iron Mountain City’s Second Food Company. Eidolon Nun’s attention was only icing on the cake in this matter. There’s actually no need… Only then did Jiang Baimian come to a realization.

Shang Jianyao looked down at the small jade Buddha in his palm and sighed again. “There’s none left.”

The ‘protection charm’ that Eidolon Nun had provided had been depleted.

With that said, Shang Jianyao’s face revealed clear penitence and regret. “If we had known this would happen, we shouldn’t have left. Commissioner Huang, Elder Zhang, and the others wouldn’t have died either…”

The Salvation Army veteran in the front row sighed. “There’s no need to feel guilty; you can’t predict such matters at all. Regimental Commander Huang and Battalion Commander Zhang died for their ideals. They died a meaningful death!”

In order to soothe Shang Jianyao’s emotions, Jiang Baimian asked, “How’s Doctor?”

Shang Jianyao shook his head. “He might’ve died from the scare, gone crazy from the shock, or might’ve just been paralyzed from shock.”

He had no way of confirming Doctor’s situation and could only be certain of one thing: Doctor couldn’t stir up trouble in the short term.