Embers Ad Infinitum

As his blurry memories quickly became clear, Long Yuehong shivered and blurted out, “I remember, I remember. Someone stuffed this box into the trunk of our jeep!”

You remember? Without Long Yuehong’s detailed explanation, Jiang Baimian instantly had a rough guess. “Your relevant memories were blurred by the person in Room 214? When was that?”

Long Yuehong said with obvious fear, “Back when you followed Captain Ding to meet Commissioner Huang. I-I was taking turns with Little White and Old Ge to guard the window and monitor the jeep’s surroundings to prevent anyone from stealing the supplies inside. Back then, I saw a person push a cart over, bring this box into the car, and conceal it. However, this memory was muddled, and there was an additional memory of nothing happening. I only remembered it when I saw this box.”

Shang Jianyao laughed when he heard that. “It’s very in line with the style of Room 214’s guest. Besides, he knows how to pick on the weak.”

Hey… Long Yuehong resisted the urge, not having the intention to divert the topic.

Jiang Baimian subconsciously wanted to nod as well, but her rationality returned, and she controlled herself. “The question now is: What’s the goal of Room 214’s guest?”

Bai Chen tried to guess. “Did he want to separate himself from the nuclear warhead to facilitate his escape from Ubei?”

Jiang Baimian’s heart palpitated. She then pressed her right hand down. “Let me think, let me think. Room 214’s guest has a brooch that has Heavenly Ears. In other words, he can hear all our conversations. It only depends on whether he wishes to listen in by maintaining the effects or not.”

“No wonder he knows that Little Red is a pushover!” Shang Jianyao came to a realization.

Jiang Baimian glared at him and continued, “Ding Ling personally invited us to meet Commissioner Huang. Uh, I remember Ding Ling saying that Commissioner Huang was in charge of military supplies statistics and allocation.”

“Ding Ling didn’t directly mention Commissioner Huang; she only mentioned a commissioner from Ubei’s Supplies Management Committee.” Genava—who had the best ‘memory’ among everyone present—corrected her.

Jiang Baimian nodded. “Based on the jurisdictions, one can infer that the commissioner meeting us is most likely in charge of searching for the nuclear warhead. The fact that we were invited means that we have a certain connection with the other party. This is a relatively easy conclusion from our conversation with Ding Ling.

“Then, what kind of thoughts would Room 214’s guest have if he really heard such a conversation? He most likely will believe that even if he creates an atmosphere that requires an emergency evacuation, it’s still a relatively high-risk matter for him to leave Ubei with the nuclear warhead. After all, it’s impossible for the Salvation Army not to carry out inspections on the people leaving the city and guard against the interference of certain Awakened abilities. In this regard, Commissioner Huang is an expert who targets Last Man’s abilities.

“By hiding the nuclear warhead in our car, it’s possible to escape inspection with our special relationship with Commissioner Huang and bring the item out of the city. He will then swagger away without any problems and quietly tail us to retrieve the nuclear warhead secretly. Yes, he’s an outstanding hacker who could hack into the Ubei radio system, so it’s probably a piece of cake for him to open our jeep’s trunk without triggering the alarms.”

The Old Task Force’s jeep was an electric vehicle. The closing and opening of the doors relied on the control system.

Clap! Clap! Clap! Clang! Clang!

Shang Jianyao and Genava applauded Jiang Baimian’s guess.

This was the most logical inference that agreed with human psychology.

“But isn’t he afraid that we will discover an additional box when we return the military exoskeletons and bionic artificial intelligence armor to the car…” Long Yuehong’s words turned soft because he could answer this question himself.

That person had definitely made preparations by fading the memories of the Old Task Force’s corresponding members immediately.

Jiang Baimian helped Long Yuehong fill in the gaps. “When the time comes, he should think of a way to divert Old Ge away, preventing him from moving the items.”

Genava’s memories couldn’t be muddled.

Shang Jianyao raised another possibility. “It’s also possible that he can rely on hacking Old Ge by using a wireless signal, causing him to produce a certain level of ‘illusion’ and ignore the existence of the additional boxes.”

Genava moved his metal neck up and down. “I’m inclined to believe the latter possibility because the person in Room 214 doesn’t seem to be able to read memories accurately. There’s a high chance he doesn’t know that I’m a real smart bot from Mechanical Paradise; it’s very easy for him to treat me as an ordinary robot. With the technical abilities he has shown and the means he might have at influencing electromagnetism, he can indeed interfere without anyone noticing and achieve his desired goal.”

Bai Chen said, “The reason he monitored our conversation with Ding Ling is that a Salvation Army captain meeting outsiders at the Ashlands Hotel was worth paying attention to.”

“Yes, things have more or less straightened out.” Jiang Baimian tersely acknowledged his words.

“I have another question.” Shang Jianyao raised his hand.

Jiang Baimian turned to look at him. “What question?”

Shang Jianyao pointed at the box. “Try lifting it—with your right hand.”

Jiang Baimian thoughtfully walked over, lowered her body, and pulled the box containing the nuclear warhead out with her right hand.

“It has to be more than 100 kilograms.” Jiang Baimian first found it really heavy before she sighed. “It’s only about 100 kilograms!”

This weapon of mass destruction that could blow up Ubei was only about 100 kilograms!

The Old World’s technology was astonishing. It was obvious from the Eternal project and the Source Brain’s existence to this nuclear warhead.

Shang Jianyao smiled. “My problem is that it doesn’t seem possible for the person in Room 214 to move such a heavy box to our trunk with his physique.”

“He’s only suffering from hypertension, not physical weakness!” Jiang Baimian scolded jokingly. “If I were him, I definitely would’ve tried my best to improve my physique apart from using drugs to control my condition. For example, using some genetic enhancement drugs. Although the effects can’t compare to those of us who have been under their effects before they were born, it’s better than nothing. For a man in his prime, he can still move something weighing more than 100 kilograms into the trunk if he tries hard enough.”

“But won’t this trigger his hypertension?” the honest Shang Jianyao asked.

“He’s taking medicine. He won’t be that weak…” Jiang Baimian said as she cast her gaze at the nuclear warhead. “The problem now is: how should we deal with it?”

“Return it to the Salvation Army, of course!” Shang Jianyao—who represented justice, virtue, and the responsibility of saving humans—replied without hesitation.

“That’s right, that’s right.” Long Yuehong also felt that there was no question about it.

This wasn’t something without an owner. Besides, it was meaningless for the Old Task Force to hold such a large cannon in their hands. The probability of them ‘igniting’ and throwing it, only to be within the blast radius, was 100%.

Bai Chen thought so too, so she agreed with Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong. Genava was busy analyzing other factors and didn’t say a word.

Jiang Baimian looked at the silver-gray nuclear warhead with the detonator and the corresponding password and thoughtfully said, “Don’t you think there are too many coincidences in this entire matter? After the person in Room 214 went out, the antihypertensive drugs he placed in his room happened to be stolen by a disappointed Ruin Hunter that planned on leaving Ubei. This resulted in his hypertension acting up, and he was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment. The nuclear warhead was thus left in Ubei.

“This matter happened to be heard by Elder Zhang—who often comes to the Ashlands Hotel—and we learned of it from him. On the first day of martial law, Commissioner Huang happened to want to meet us. This gave that person the intention of hiding the nuclear warhead in our car and all the subsequent actions.

“I first got the wrong room because of my poor sense of direction. I didn’t immediately discover that there was someone in Room 214 and happened to numb that person, significantly reducing his subsequent vigilance.

“When he was ‘deprived of his consciousness,’ he happened to bump into a certain spot in his head, causing him to die on the spot and leave no evidence.

“Doctor’s sudden attack basically made the Salvation Army give up on checking the people leaving the city.

“The result of so many coincidences is that the nuclear warhead landed in our hands without anyone knowing.”

Long Yuehong’s expression changed repeatedly.

Before he could clear his thoughts, he heard Bai Chen say, “Who deliberately arranged for us to secretly obtain this nuclear warhead?”

Jiang Baimian nodded slightly. “This is the same as Eidolon Nun secretly injecting a little of her aura into the small jade Buddha using Redstone Collection’s parish assembly. However, one is direct, and the other is tactful.”

Shang Jianyao stroked his chin. “Does the person behind the curtain think that we need to use this nuclear warhead one day, just like how we dealt with Doctor today?”

Jiang Baimian tersely acknowledged his words.

Shang Jianyao ‘helped’ her finish her sentence. “When we want to destroy a Buddhist Holy Land in the future, ordinary methods will be useless. We have to install this nuclear bomb and detonate it remotely?”

Why are we combining ‘destruction’ with a Buddhist Holy Land… Jiang Baimian retorted weakly in her heart.

Bai Chen agreed with this guess. “It seems like we have to keep this nuclear warhead.”

“Yes, from a different perspective, something bad might happen if we return it. It’s the same for both the Salvation Army and us. The person who set up this coincidence might’ve never considered the option of returning it.” The ruthless Shang Jianyao tried to persuade the Democratic Association members.

“Shall we report this to the company?” Long Yuehong blurted out a question.

Jiang Baimian was stunned for a moment before she slowly shook her head.

After the vote, apart from Shang Jianyao, the other Old Task Force members believed that they should keep the nuclear warhead. After all, the Salvation Army had more than one, and it was impossible for the Old Task Force to use it to deal with the Salvation Army.

Shang Jianyao didn’t insist. He only turned his back and muttered, “This matter resulted in Commissioner Huang, Elder Zhang, and the others sacrificing themselves…”

“We’ll avenge them sooner or later!” Jiang Baimian patted his shoulder and said to Genava, “Make the best use of your time to modify the detonator and install new instructions to prevent anyone from detonating it remotely.”

While Genava busied himself and Shang Jianyao watched, Jiang Baimian and the others cleaned the trunk and exchanged for some supplies in a nearby forested settlement.

In the evening, they camped in the clearing outside the settlement.

According to the team’s manual, they needed to go to the bathroom together after leaving the company and arriving in the Ashlands. Therefore, Jiang Baimian pulled Bai Chen and walked into the nearby forest.

After relieving herself, Jiang Baimian glanced at Bai Chen, suddenly cleared her throat, and said seriously, “Little White, what do you think of Little Red? You’ve also heard what Ding Ling said. If you really have no other thoughts, explain it to him as soon as possible and stop him from having any thoughts of heading out again after returning to the company.”