Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 738: Spreading

Translator: CKtalon

How can it be so coincidental? They are all graduates of Dajiang City’s Elite Middle School… Furthermore, they’ve never heard of each other before… All the analysis models established by Genava told him that the scene in front of him was very problematic and illogical.

Strings of data interweaved in his core module and constantly calculated all kinds of results. Shang Jianyao—who played Du Shaochong, Jiang Baimian—who played Xu Qiao, and Deng Tong—who belonged to the dreamscape—slowly turned their heads and looked at the spot where Genava was standing.

According to the original rules, they couldn’t see the smart bot, Genava, or interact with him directly. But now, their gazes seemed to be focused on the area that should’ve been blank.

The red glow in Genava’s eyes froze for a second.

…

Outside the gates to Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School, Bai Chen and Long Yuehong guarded the jeep and waited for their team leader and the others to come out after verifying the effectiveness of the plan.

Long Yuehong suddenly felt the light dim a little. He subconsciously looked up at the sky and realized that the light-blue color of the sky was occupied by dark clouds.

“It’s going to rain…” Long Yuehong muttered to himself.

Bai Chen looked at the sky. “That’s right.”

In just two sentences, the sun was covered by dark clouds, and it seemed like evening had arrived.

Long Yuehong and Bai Chen were just about to discuss if there was anything wrong with the sudden change in the weather when lights suddenly lit up in front of them.

In the abandoned Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School, lamps were lit, be it the teaching buildings or the office building.

In an instant, the place was brightly lit as if the galaxy was reflected there. This didn’t hide the green plants that grew between the cracks in the walls and the desolate weeds.

“This…” Long Yuehong’s first reaction was that Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School had transmigrated from the Old World’s ‘dreamscape’ to reality!

Ding ring ring!

The school bell signifying the end of classes echoed in their ears. Students and teachers walked down from different buildings and gathered in the square.

They either rode bicycles or chose to walk. They surged out of the open automatic gates and headed for different parts of Tai City.

“They’ve come to life. They’re really alive…” Long Yuehong took a diagonal step forward and shielded Bai Chen.

At this moment, some students passed by them. They cast curious gazes at the modified, dust-covered jeep and the two people in grayish-green camouflage uniforms with firearms slung over their shoulders.

They could see Bai Chen, Long Yuehong, and the jeep. Their eyes were clear and spirited as they questioned which film crew was shooting amongst themselves.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Bicycles sped along the nearby streets into the distance.

Bai Chen pursed her lips and said with a solemn expression, “What’s fake can’t be real… Have we been pulled into the dream again?”

She vaguely remembered that something similar had happened when she fell into Master Zhuang’s dream. However, she still clearly recognized herself as Bai Chen, a member of Pangu Biology’s Investigation Unit for the Cause of the Old World’s Destruction.

“No way. We’re outside the school.” Long Yuehong felt that the two of them were in a safe area.

Bai Chen looked around and saw the backs of the students leaving the school gradually disappear at the end of the road. She deliberated and said, “Maybe the dreamscape expanded. The experiment carried out by Team Leader and company has caused certain changes to the dreamscape.”

Long Yuehong was just about to say that it might just be a slight leak in powers when his gaze froze. He saw that the weeds and abandoned buildings growing in Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School were gradually being replaced by noisy, lively scenes of school after classes.

Their traces were gradually being wiped out. This was a sign that the dreamscape was ‘devouring’ reality.

“I wonder how far it will spread…” Long Yuehong muttered solemnly. He suddenly turned his head and said to Bai Chen, “Let’s retreat first and escape the area enveloped by the dreamscape. I’m afraid that we will play a certain role again if we stay here for too long—that will be troublesome. Don’t worry about Team Leader and Hey. With Old Ge around, he won’t be affected by the dream.”

Bai Chen slowly shook her head. “I’m afraid that such a change has made Old Ge lose himself inside and incapable of dealing with it. Do you still remember how the Tarnan robot guards met with an accident in the mountains? They were also affected by certain hallucinatory abilities.”

Bai Chen paused and said, “Before we lose ourselves and can play any role, I think we should make the best use of our time to bring Team Leader, Hey, and Old Ge out and wake them up. There’s no time to lose; let’s go now!”

She had no intention of retreating as if she didn’t want to give up on her companions without making any attempts.

Long Yuehong hesitated for a moment and said, “But we aren’t sure if we will immediately lose ourselves once we step past the gates and enter the school.”

Without waiting for Bai Chen’s response, he turned around and said seriously, “I’ll try to walk in. Observe from here. If I disappear or appear abnormal, it means that this plan isn’t feasible. Drive away from Tai City immediately and request help from the company.”

Bai Chen looked into Long Yuehong’s eyes and fell silent for a few seconds. “Alright.”

She didn’t attempt to persuade him as if she could see an unshakeable determination in his eyes.

Long Yuehong didn’t waste any more time. He slung the Berserker assault rifle over his shoulder and prepared to walk to the gates of Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School.

Suddenly, Bai Chen shouted at him, “Leave the gun here. Also, try your best not to be discovered by the guard when you enter. Old Ge previously said that he suspects that interactions with people in the dream that exceed some normality will trigger a very terrifying change.”

The reason for leaving the gun behind was the latter. Otherwise, the students wouldn’t turn a blind eye to a fully armed person’s attempt to enter the high school, even if the guard didn’t see him.

Long Yuehong nodded and placed the Berserker assault rifle down. He also pulled up his clothes and covered the various items on his belt.

He soon entered Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School against the crowd. With the help of the people coming and going, he hid from the guards.

After moving forward for a while, he realized that he could still think. He also knew that he was Long Yuehong. As he sighed inwardly at the changes in the dream rules, he turned around and waved at Bai Chen.

At this moment, there weren’t many students at the gates. Bai Chen could only circle to the side and skillfully climb over the wall.

The two of them met in the shadows to the side of a teaching building and discussed where to find Jiang Baimian and the others next. The answer was very obvious: on the rooftop of the teaching building straight ahead!

It was the designated spot for Xu Qiao to question Du Shaochong!

Bai Chen and Long Yuehong knew that they had to race against time because they didn’t know when they would lose themselves in a dream and lose the ability to save their teammates and themselves.

The two of them pretended to be parents here to find their child. They walked along the corridors, aisles, and stairs that were mostly devoid of students and approached the rooftop of the first teaching building.

On the way, they encountered many students in the dreamscape. Fortunately, the students only curiously sized the duo up and didn’t question them.

However, Long Yuehong and Bai Chen couldn’t be sure if these students would inform their teachers about their encounter with someone in strange clothes later. They could only speed up and head straight to their destination covertly.

Finally, they waited for two minutes. After the remaining students went downstairs, they found an opportunity to enter the stairs that led to the rooftop.

They ran.

In the time it took a few breaths, they saw an ajar iron door.

After arriving on the rooftop, Bai Chen and Long Yuehong quickly examined their surroundings. However, there was nobody in their field of vision.

Be it Xu Qiao, Du Shaochong, or Genava, they weren’t here!

Long Yuehong retracted his gaze and calmly said, “We probably don’t have time to search the entire school.”

He meant that since they couldn’t find Shang Jianyao, Jiang Baimian, and Genava on the rooftop, they could only evacuate temporarily and come back later.

Bai Chen fell silent for a few seconds before saying, “Alright. Before that, search every corner here.”

Here referred to the rooftop.

“Okay.” Long Yuehong didn’t object.

The two of them kept their backs together and prepared to circle around the few obstacles on the rooftop to observe the areas that had been blocked and couldn’t be seen in detail.

Bai Chen and Long Yuehong had just circled around the cement protrusion that led down to the iron door and arrived on the other side of the rooftop when their eyes lit up. They saw the silver-black smart bot, Genava!

Genava was circling in his spot. The red glow in his eyes constantly flickered, but he didn’t make a sound.

“Old Ge!” Long Yuehong called out.

Genava stopped and looked at them.

After the red light flickered for a while, Genava looked around.

“What’s wrong?” Bai Chen asked warily.

Genava’s slightly synthetic voice revealed a hint of confusion. “I’ve been walking for so long, but I never left this place… Why did you come in? How aren’t you lost?”

Bai Chen replied concisely, “Something abnormal happened to the dreamscape. We came in to find you. Where’s Team Leader and Hey?”

The red glow in Genava’s eyes flickered brighter as if he had encountered a bug and was stuck processing an invalid calculation.. A few seconds later, he finally said in a deep voice, “They left by themselves. I don’t know where they went…”