Embers Ad Infinitum

Translator: CKtalon

Upon hearing Long Yuehong’s hint, the other three Old Task Force members also saw the signboard hanging on the pillar beside the automatic extendable gate. The words ‘‘Dajiang City’s Elite Middle School’ were reflected in their eyes.

For a moment, Jiang Baimian didn’t know if she should sigh at how easy it was to find it by luck or be surprised that Swamp Ruin 1 was indeed Dajiang City.

“That’s not interesting enough!” Shang Jianyao sighed regretfully.

“How do you want it to be interesting?” Jiang Baimian shot him a glare.

Shang Jianyao pointed at the signboard and said, “If there’s a line of small words beside Dajiang City’s Elite Middle School that says ‘Administrative Office in Blackmarsh City,’ it will give off very strong comedic vibes. That will be an interesting twist.”

Long Yuehong subconsciously imagined the scene Shang Jianyao described and couldn’t help but curse inwardly.

This would cause a stir, only to end up a false alarm!

Jiang Baimian spat. “Unfortunately, this is a serious documentary film, not a random comedic film.”

Shang Jianyao had already diverted his attention and pointed at Dajiang City’s Elite Middle School. “Shall we explore?”

“Not for the time being,” Jiang Baimian replied hesitantly. “This involves Master Zhuang. Who knows if we will fall into a dream like in Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School after entering.”

‘When the time came, the Old Task Force might very well be wiped out without the smart bot, Genava, as a backup.

“Tt won’t happen.” Shang Jianyao shook his head with abnormal certainty.

Bai Chen held the Orange rifle and observed her surroundings, attempting to guess the real reason for Shang Jianyao’s answer. “Do you think Xiaochong won’t harm us?”

After confirming that this was Dajiang City, Xiaochong’s connection with Master Zhuang was elevated. This was the reason for Bai Chen’s words.

“No.” Shang Jianyao shook his head again. “Because Master Zhuang’s current dream has nothing to do with the school.”

“How do you know?” Long Yuehong blurted out.

Shang Jianyao’s face was filled with ‘isn’t this a very normal matter?

“L open 102’s door every day to see if there are any changes inside.”

102 was the Mind Corridor room that represented Master Zhuang.

“Some time ago, Master Zhuang began dreaming again. He dreamed of a sea and a gigantic bird that blotted out the sky,” Shang Jianyao continued. ‘I’m not sure about the exact situation of the dream because I only looked at it from the door. However, I’m certain that it has nothing to do with the school.”

Therefore, it wouldn’t cause an anomaly in Dajiang City’s Elite Middle School.

Jiang Baimian nodded slightly and said, “You check Room 102’s situation every day?”

“There’s nothing to do anyway.” Shang Jianyao didn’t think there was anything to fuss about.

How persistent… Jiang Baimian evaluated inwardly.

If it were a normal person, they would definitely open 102’s door once in a while to observe the situation inside. After all, even if there were some changes, it wouldn’t help in reality. They wouldn’t consider entering the room and exploring the Kalendaria’s sea of consciousness as a result. Yet, Shang Jianyao

could actually persist in doing this meaningless thing.

Jiang Baimian knew that if she were in his shoes, she would at most confirm if Room 102 had moved every day.

At this thought, she deliberated for a moment and said, “Since Master Zhuang’s dream has nothing to do with this school, we can indeed consider exploring it.”

Upon seeing that Shang Jianyao looked like he was about to rush out, she quickly added, “But I don’t think we will gain anything. Think about it. What was truly valuable in Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School back then? It was Master Zhuang’s dream, and it was a secret hidden in that dream. There were

actually no clues left in Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School. The only thing worth paying attention to was the Salvation Army member who accidentally entered and died during the ‘act.

“Like Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School—before the Old World was destroyed, the batch of students that involved Master Zhuang had graduated countless years ago. New batches of students entered one after another later on. They constantly replaced and overlapped everything, burying all traces deep in

history. Unless time can be reversed, it’s very difficult for us to find anything valuable.”

Shang Jianyao suddenly turned his head and said to Long Yuehong, “Quick, repeat those words!”

Lame.. Long Yuehong didn’t respond.

He knew what Shang Jianyao meant and didn’t want to play a baffling and meaningless game with him.

“Since we’ve come this far, the risk of entering and exploring isn’t high. We can give it a try. At most, it will be a waste of time.” Bai Chen expressed her thoughts. “There must be a corresponding reason for the company to hide the fact that this is Dajiang City.”

The Old Task Force easily confirmed that Swamp Ruin 1 was Dajiang City. It was impossible for Pangu Biology—which had been excavating it for more than two years—not to know of this. They had gathered a large amount of text.

Therefore, the fact that the Old Task Force couldn’t find out that Swamp Ruin 1 was Dajiang City from the information provided by the company could only mean that Pangu Biology had deliberately hidden this point for an unknown reason.

“Maybe our clearance isn’t high enough,” Long Yuehong defended the company softly.

Bai Chen immediately replied, “The fact that it requires higher levels of clearance to know that Swamp Ruin 1 is equivalent to Dajiang City means a lot.”

“That’s right, that’s right.” Long Yuehong agreed.

At this moment, Shang Jianyao clicked his tongue and asked, “Why are you so sure that this is Dajiang City now?”

“Isn’t it written here?” Long Yuehong pointed at the school’s signboard.

Shang Jianyao smiled. “If it were me, I would deliberately make a ‘Dajiang City’s Elite Middle School’ signboard and randomly hang it outside a school to mislead people who come to explore.”

Therefore, you are nuts, while we’re very normal. It’s not like changing a sign can intimidate people. If you have the ability, replace all the text that involves Dajiang City in this city! Even a smart bot like Old Ge won’t be able to do it without decades… Jiang Baimian muttered and exhaled. ‘We’ll continue

gathering information later to complete the confirmation.”

Without waiting for Shang Jianyao’s response, she pointed at Dajiang City’s Elite Middle School. ‘Let’s go in and explore.’

With experience gleaned from exploring Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School, the four Old Task Force members didn’t enter at the same time. Instead, they split into two teams and had Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao lead the way.

After confirming that they were fine, Bai Chen and Long Yuehong—who were wearing military exoskeletons and bionic artificial intelligence armor—carefully jumped over the automatic extendable gate and entered the school.

More than two hours passed in a flash. They didn’t find anything valuable or any clues.

The only thing they could gain was that they confirmed that Swamp Ruin 1 was Dajiang City through some of the school’s documents.

After leaving Elite Middle School, Long Yuehong looked at Jiang Baimian and asked, “What should we do next?”

Jiang Baimian had a plan in mind. She pondered for a moment before saying, “Continue forward according to the plan until we reach the secret laboratory that Qiao Chu blew up.”

“Why are we still going over? Didn’t we already achieve our goal?” Long Yuchong asked in confusion.

The Old Task Force had secretly infiltrated Swamp Ruin 1 to confirm that this was Dajiang City.

Now, they had an answer.

Jiang Baimian glanced at Shang Jianyao and Bai Chen and said seriously, “Because there’s something I find relatively coincidental.”

“What is it?* Bai Chen asked.

Jiang Baimian nodded. ‘Didn’t you notice? There’s a secret laboratory in all the places related to Master Zhuang. There’s one in the Fakh region where the Holm Fertility Center is. There’s one in Tai City as well. The Renhui Hospital’s Vegetative Rehabilitation Center isn’t too far from First Senior High School.

There’s one here too.”

It was even closer! The straight-line distance between Dajiang City’s Elite Middle School and the secret laboratory that Qiao Chu had destroyed was less than two kilometers.

“That’s right!” Shang Jianyao clenched his right fist and punched the Berserker assault rifle’s side.

Bai Chen nodded. “This is too much of a coincidence.”

There was often an inevitable connection behind coincidences.

“Indeed.” Long Yuehong no longer had any objections.

As the Old Task Force continued forward, Jiang Baimian briefed them of the subsequent arrangements. “If we don’t find any clues in the laboratory ruins, welll leave this place tomorrow and go to the nearby hydropower station. Welll then search for the last Buddhist Holy Land along the river.”

Old pagoda tree in Linhe Village, Dajiang City.

Jiang Baimian determined that for a hydropower station to still be capable of generating electricity despite the cold weather—as well as the name Dajiang City, or Great River City—there had to be a large river with plenty of water near the city ruin. The water flowed fast, making it less prone to freezing.

Alright.” Long Yuehong and the others agreed.

As they walked, Shang Jianyao suddenly stopped and suppressed his voice when he had the secret laboratory ruins in sight. “There’s someone over there..”