Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 729: School

Translator: CKtalon

“It’s huge…” Long Yuehong—who was sitting in the passenger seat—looked at Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School and sighed with emotion.

This was in sharp contrast to the high schools on each floor in Pangu Biology.

Shang Jianyao, Long Yuehong, Yang Zhenyuan, and Meng Xia only had about ten people in their year.

Similarly, be it Weed City, First City, or Ubei’s schools, they couldn’t compare to this.

As for the high schools in other city ruins, the Old Task Force had never been there before, so it was impossible to compare them.

Shang Jianyao exclaimed, “How many students are there in one grade!?”

Jiang Baimian rolled her eyes at him. “Is that the point? The point is that it being so large makes it quite troublesome to find abnormalities!”

Bai Chen nodded. “Indeed.”

Their previous three experiences told them that not all places in Buddhist Holy Lands were worth exploring. There was often only one anomaly.

Long River City’s United Steel Plant’s anomaly was in Building 4, Room 302 in Residential Zone 2. Iron Mountain City’s Second Food Company’s anomaly was on the floor with an employee introduction board. The anomaly at the Holm Fertility Center was in the fertility cryochamber.

Compared to Iron Mountain City’s Second Food Company and the Holm Fertility Center—which only had one building and not many floors—Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School far exceeded them in terms of size and number of buildings. This increased the difficulty of the Old Task Force’s investigation of abnormalities exponentially.

Although this couldn’t compare to the steelworks factory ruins, the Old Task Force had already obtained important information regarding Fan Wensi’s medical record back then. They could head straight to the suspected anomaly.

The red glow in Genava’s eyes flickered a few times as he suggested, “We can get Hey to hold the small jade Buddha and use his perception abilities to the greatest extent to screen the area. If we discover anything abnormal midway, we’ll lock onto the target. If not, we’ll narrow it down and continue investigating.”

Jiang Baimian thought for a moment. “That’s all we can do.”

This was a relatively time-conserving method.

Of course, if things didn’t go smoothly, they would spend all the time before it turned dark here.

“Go on in,” Jiang Baimian ordered.

Bai Chen quickly drove the car to the entrance of Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School.

An aluminum-white automatic extendable gate was in the way.

“Let me do it!” Shang Jianyao excitedly lifted a rocket launcher.

Jiang Baimian glared at him. “Be polite in a Buddhist Holy Land.”

“Yes, Namo Annutara-Samyak-Subhuti.” Zen Master Redemption replaced the rash Shang Jianyao.

Long River City’s United Steel Plant and Iron Mountain City’s Second Food Company strongly protest… Long Yuehong criticized his team leader and Shang Jianyao’s conversation.

The Holm Fertility Center was the only Buddhist Holy Land that the Old Task Force had explored and hadn’t been completely destroyed.

Shang Jianyao pushed open the door and alighted before calling out to Genava.

After a round of inspection and experiments, they confirmed that the aluminum-white automatic extendable gate was damaged. Even if the power supply was restored, it couldn’t be automatically opened. Therefore, the carbon-based human and the silicon-based human relied on brute force to open the gate to Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School.

The jeep drove in and entered a cemented square surrounded by the teaching building and office building.

Jiang Baimian stuck her head out the window and said to Shang Jianyao and Genava, “Get in first. We’ll circle around the square and stick close to the flower beds outside the buildings. Hey, hold the small jade Buddha and use your Awakened perception to do a preliminary screening.”

“Alright,” Shang Jianyao replied happily.

At this moment, the light suddenly dimmed.

Genava looked up at the sky and realized that a dark cloud had drifted over at some point in time, blocking out the sun.

Do sudden rains often happen in Icefield during the summer? Genava—who lacked the corresponding data and climate models—recalled his experience in Icefield and realized that it wasn’t the case.

He retracted his gaze and looked ahead again. Suddenly, the blinking red glow in Genava’s eyes froze.

The Old Task Force’s jeep—which had been parked not far away—had disappeared!

Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen had disappeared!

In the blink of an eye, Genava looked to the side. Shang Jianyao—who was with him—had also disappeared!

At the same time, due to the dark clouds and the darkening sky, lamps lit up the teaching buildings and office buildings.

Pure white or yellowish light seemed like dazzling stars at night in the dark environment.

Figures appeared in many of the light-emitting windows. They were all wearing ancient school uniforms with blue and white colors. They were either attentively listening to class or were walking down the stairs in groups and entering the cemented square where Genava was.

Warning! Warning! A series of warnings flashed through Genava’s main module.

He had already analyzed the scene in front of him—it was a scene from the Old World. Furthermore, it was years before the node of destruction. For some reason, it appeared in the Ashlands today.

“An illusion created by distorting the environment?” Genava had a preliminary judgment after some calculations, comparison, and analysis. He then mimicked Shang Jianyao, opened his mouth, and shouted, “Hey! Big White! Little White! Little Red!”

Nobody replied.

According to the plan that the Old Task Force had reserved for the most critical situation, Genava stopped shouting and placed the other two matters in a special queue, prepared to deploy them at any moment.

The two matters were:

1. Use the key to remotely activate the nuclear warhead in the jeep’s trunk.

2. Call the string of random codes Avia had given and seek the unknown existence’s help.

Genava then strode forward and activated all his detection equipment to walk toward a male student in a blue and white uniform. He slowly stretched out his right hand and tentatively patted the other party’s shoulder.

Whoosh!

He felt as though he had slapped the human on the shoulder, but the male student didn’t react at all. He continued chatting and laughing with the classmates beside him as he walked to some area in the square.

Genava retracted his iron palm, and a red glow blinked in his eyes. He then walked to the nearest teaching building and went up against the tide of students.

When he arrived on the fifth floor, Genava saw a middle-aged man—who was suspected to be a teacher and wearing a casual suit—silently walk to the back of a classroom and observe the situation inside through the corresponding window.

Suddenly, the man stroked his hair and shouted into the classroom, “The two of you! What are you doing during morning self-study? Why are you whispering? Stand up and come to the corridor!”

Genava stopped and watched this scene without much confusion. His storage equipment had a large amount of Old World entertainment information that Shang Jianyao had entrusted to him.

The two students—who had been caught talking—quickly walked out of the classroom and came to the corridor.

The red light in Genava’s eyes blinked rapidly.

These two students were Bai Chen and Long Yuehong! They had both ‘changed’ into blue and white uniforms, and they looked much younger!

“Are the two of you in a relationship?” asked the middle-aged man suspected to be a teacher with a stoic expression.

“No.” Bai Chen was very calm and composed.

“No.” Long Yuehong’s eyes darted around, and his face turned red.

Genava no longer hesitated and ran over with large strides. He suppressed his voice and shouted, “Little White! Little Red!”

Long Yuehong and Bai Chen ignored him and listened to the middle-aged man’s reprimand with different expressions. One was apprehensive, and the other was stubborn and indifferent.

Genava carefully stretched out a hand and patted Long Yuehong. “Little Red.”

Long Yuehong didn’t react.

After some analysis, Genava suddenly pushed Long Yuehong.

Long Yuehong staggered and fell into his teacher’s arms.

“What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing!?” The teacher was shocked.

Long Yuehong anxiously said, “An earthquake! An earthquake!”

“Earthquake my ass!” The teacher had an expression that said: “can’t you come up with a better lie?”

Bai Chen raised her eyebrows. “There’s indeed an earthquake.”

The teacher began to doubt himself.

Genava was the same. He felt like he had become a ghost that wandered the Old World. He could touch others, but he couldn’t be seen.

The Long Yuehong and Bai Chen in front of him might just be two other people who resembled his companions.

He took two steps back and chose not to escalate the matter for the time being, prepared to make more observations.

After some thought, Genava returned to the square along his original route.

At this moment, many students had already gathered in their respective classes.

Genava planned on waiting and finding flaws in the current illusion.

Before long, almost all the students went down to the square and stood neatly in rows. This included Long Yuehong and Bai Chen.

Two to three minutes later, amidst the brisk music, a bald man in his fifties—who was wearing a suit—walked to a raised cement platform in front of the assembly. He held the receiver and said with gusto, “Students who are to receive commendations this week, please come forward.”

Seven to eight students walked out of their respective lines and walked toward the raised cement platform ahead.

Genava instantly locked onto a figure—the figure belonged to Jiang Baimian.

Jiang Baimian had her hair tied up in a ponytail and was also wearing a blue and white school uniform. Her height was rather eye-catching.

At this moment, the brisk music suddenly changed. “I’ll blow up the school punctually; the birds greet me good morning, asking me why I’m carrying explosives…”