Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 725: Strange

Translator: CKtalon

“I hope it’s Tai City,” muttered Long Yuehong, whose turn it was to drive.

That way, the Old Task Force could quickly complete the exploration and return to Pangu Biology.

At this moment, Long Yuehong subconsciously wanted to pray, but he couldn’t find a suitable target. He wasn’t a believer of any Kalendaria, nor was he willing to god-hop like Shang Jianyao.

As for the traditional idea of heaven, he felt that there was too much hocus-pocus.

After some careful thought, he decided to turn toward his ancestors for blessings.

Upon hearing Long Yuehong’s words, Shang Jianyao scoffed. “Can’t wait to return to the company?”

Long Yuehong blushed, embarrassed to admit it.

“We’ve been out for months. We do need to return to the company to rest for a period of time.” Bai Chen spoke up for him, frankly without any embarrassment.

The Old Task Force had left Pangu Biology in early spring. It was already midsummer, and there was still a long return trip.

Jiang Baimian smiled. “Our team’s current situation is longing for stability.”

“Peace follows stability, and setting up a family follows peace.” Shang Jianyao began spouting nonsense.

Suddenly, he turned his head to glance at Genava. “Old Ge, won’t you feel a little lonely? When we enter the company’s underground building to participate in Little Red and Little White’s wedding, you can only stay outside and wait for the next adventure.”

Before Bai Chen and the others could speak, Genava moved his metal neck from side to side. “No. You didn’t ostracize me; you only let me stay outside because of the restrictions in reality. Why should I feel left out?”

Truly a man of steel… Jiang Baimian heaved a sigh of relief.

On the one hand, Long Yuehong was looking forward to the wedding Shang Jianyao mentioned. On the other hand, he was a little shy. He cleared his throat and said to Genava, “Don’t worry. We won’t forget your gift.”

As an employee born and raised in Pangu Biology, he felt that it was only natural to talk about marriage since their relationship had been confirmed.

“What is it?” Shang Jianyao asked curiously.

Ordinary people give sweets and melon seeds. What should we give a robot… Long Yuehong had an idea and blurted out, “Charger!”

The jeep suddenly fell silent as if someone had told an unfunny joke.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Shang Jianyao’s support came only a few seconds late.

The honest Genava said, “There shouldn’t be a charger that suits me. You can consider a charging device that comes with a high-performance battery.”

“No problem!” Long Yuehong quickly agreed to hide his embarrassment.

At this moment, Bai Chen also said, “We can have another ceremony when we return to the ground.”

Long Yuehong was first stunned before he beamed. “That’s right, that’s right!”

When we return to the ground… Jiang Baimian forcefully controlled her pained expression.

As they spoke, the jeep drove along the Old World road that had been preserved until it reached a disconnected segment.

This place seemed to have been bombed. Many roads had collapsed, and some had even warped.

From the green weeds growing in this area, the destruction seemed to have happened many years ago.

“We have to take a detour.” Long Yuehong tapped on the brakes bit by bit, allowing the jeep to stop in the middle of the road.

This was definitely a bad driving habit in the Old World. However, few cars might pass through Icefield throughout an entire morning.

“The detour might take a long time.” Bai Chen looked out the window and realized that only the left side had a relatively intact path that led into the distance.

The buildings on both sides of it gradually decreased as if it led to another city. Between it and the Old Task Force’s target were large swathes of hills, forests, swamps, and deserted farmlands.

Jiang Baimian pushed open the door and alighted. She observed the terrain for a while and said, “Hey, Little Red, put on the military exoskeleton. Little White, help me put it on.”

Bai Chen was a little confused, but she still did as instructed.

Before long, Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and Long Yuehong were covered in cold, hard metal skeletons. The corresponding operating system had already been booted up.

“Old Ge, come. Let’s each take a corner.” Jiang Baimian pointed at the jeep.

Long Yuehong came to a realization. “Team Leader, are you saying that we should lift the car over this broken belt?”

“Otherwise?” Jiang Baimian bent down.

With the help of the military exoskeleton, she almost overturned the jeep alone.

Shang Jianyao had always been eager to try such novel matters. He was the second to choose a spot and also tried to lift the jeep.

Without considering the biological prosthetic limb, his strength was about the same as Jiang Baimian’s.

After Long Yuehong and Genava took their positions, Shang Jianyao shouted before Jiang Baimian could. “One, two, three, up!”

The jeep was easily lifted, with each person carrying a corner.

“Listen to my instructions next.” Jiang Baimian took back her authority as team leader. She was afraid that Shang Jianyao would suddenly have a brain spasm during the process.

When the time came, although the Old Task Force members and the smart bot, Genava, would most likely be fine while wearing the military exoskeleton, it would be troublesome if they damaged the car.

Under Jiang Baimian’s central command, Shang Jianyao and the others occasionally jumped left or jumped high up. With the help of the few solid areas in the broken belt, they successfully carried the jeep to a relatively intact road behind the wreckage.

“That’s it?” Shang Jianyao looked like he hadn’t had enough after putting down the jeep.

Long Yuehong looked back at the disconnected strip and asked in concern, “What about Little White?”

Jiang Baimian exclaimed, “I should’ve let Little White sit in the car. She’s so light that it wouldn’t have affected anything.”

After showing her ‘frustration,’ she smiled at Long Yuehong. “It’s time for you to shine. Go over and bring Little White over.”

“Uh…” Long Yuehong was stunned. There’s such a good thing?

Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao urged him in unison.

Long Yuehong quickly jumped back to the other side of the disconnected belt. He hesitated for a moment, turned around, and squatted down. “I’ll carry you.”

“Alright.” Bai Chen didn’t refuse.

Jiang Baimian kept smiling as she watched the two of them come over.

Shang Jianyao tried to clap, but he was stopped from doing so.

…

After driving for 20 to 30 minutes along a road that wasn’t too flat and had many plants in the way, a city appeared in front of the Old Task Force.

High-rise buildings, green plants that wantonly grew from different places, mottled grayish colors, and steel ‘trash’ that could be seen everywhere combined to form a scene that Jiang Baimian and the others were familiar yet unfamiliar with.

Long Yuehong couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. “Every time I enter such a well-preserved city ruin, I’m shocked by the Old World civilization. How did so many high-rise buildings, bridges that spanned across the sky, countless vehicles, and all kinds of high-tech products be destroyed all of a sudden…”

Jiang Baimian smiled. “If you really say so, the company’s underground building might be more shocking than any of these city ruins.”

Who would’ve thought that there could be a building more than 2,000 meters tall underground?

Long Yuehong thought about it and realized that it was indeed so. However, he was born and raised in Pangu Biology. He was already accustomed to this miraculous crystal of civilization and thought nothing of it.

“What we need to confirm now is where this is.” Shang Jianyao was surprisingly the one who steered the topic back on track with a serious expression.

“That’s right.” Genava chose to agree with this behavior after some analysis.

Jiang Baimian pointed ahead. “We’ll circle around the abandoned vehicles and search the streets for clues to confirm the city’s name.”

“Alright.” Long Yuehong turned the steering wheel and made the jeep drive onto what was formerly the sidewalk.

As for the roads, they had long become a disorderly parking lot after the Old World was destroyed. White skeletal remains were scattered between them.

After Long Yuehong parked the jeep, the Old Task Force split into two teams. One team had Shang Jianyao and Genava, and the other had Bai Chen, Long Yuehong, and Jiang Baimian. There were Awakened on both sides.

They then took turns guarding the vehicles and searching the houses along the street.

More than ten minutes later, Shang Jianyao and Genava walked back to the jeep. The former said to Jiang Baimian, “We saw a promotional billboard over there. It says…”

Shang Jianyao suddenly paused.

“What’s written on it?” Long Yuehong blurted out a question.

Shang Jianyao smiled. “It says: Let’s build a beautiful Tai City together!”

Jiang Baimian immediately frowned. “Is this really Tai City?”

Long Yuehong and Bai Chen also felt a little confused.

They arrived at their destination so easily?

“Other clues also indicate that this is indeed Tai City…” Genava began to report their gains.

After he finished speaking, Shang Jianyao stroked his chin and said, “We also realized that many supplies had been preserved here. The gold accessories on many corpses are also clearly visible.”

His expression gradually turned serious. “It’s relatively easy to find such a city ruin, and it’s not cordoned off by the Salvation Army. Even if it’s in Icefield, it’s impossible for no Ruin Hunters to come here. Whether it’s setting off from the Salvation Army’s north or coming from the White Knights’ territory, it won’t take a month to reach here. There’s no need to endure the harsh coldness of late-autumn and mid-winter.”

PS: Requesting double monthly votes for the end of the month~