Embers Ad Infinitum

Bai Chen glanced at Genava and didn't give him a chance to run an exhaustive search. She tried speculating. "Maybe the headquarters of the ascetic monk's faction is somewhere in Icefield. It's closest and safest to return via Gesterbourg. Who knew that his condition would worsen after his arrival, leaving him stranded?"

Jiang Baimian's eyes flickered slightly. "There are two problems. The first is that the ascetic monk arrived in Gesterbourg in March and died in April. It's easy for ordinary people to freeze to death in Icefield during that season, much less him—who wasn't in good health. If their headquarters really are in Icefield, I believe he wouldn't be stingy in sending a telegram to headquarters. To protect the Subhuti figurine in his possession, the higher-ups will then send a convoy to pick him up after arriving at Gesterbourg. However, such a thing didn't happen after nearly a month."

"Maybe the person he met at the steel-refining furnace in the factory area was sent by his headquarters, but…" Shang Jianyao muttered softly.

In the end, it was a vile attempt at his life that detonated his condition from afar.

The honest Genava disagreed with Shang Jianyao this time. "There shouldn't be a need to go to a factory in the middle of the night to meet a companion. The ascetic monk didn't hide his solicitations in Gesterbourg."

"That's right, that's right," Long Yuehong echoed.

Jiang Baimian didn't harp on this and continued, "The second problem can be inferred from the information. Although the ascetic monk didn't seem to be in good health when he first came to Gesterbourg, it didn't make one associate him with death. In other words, his condition hadn't deteriorated early on, and he still had the ability to travel far. Then, what was he waiting for by staying in Gesterbourg?"

"Waiting for someone from headquarters to pick him up!" Shang Jianyao replied very bluntly.

"It's also possible that he's waiting for summer," Bai Chen said thoughtfully.

"Yes!" Long Yuehong came to a realization. "He was waiting for summer. Icefield's climate will become mild, and he will then go somewhere in Icefield."

/ please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.

Why didn't he use Gesterbourg as a conduit to head to the settlements of other factions? Could it be because there was a better route here, that he didn't have to undergo the test of the harsh weather, and that there was more than one route?

It was most likely the cold and terrible air in Gesterbourg's spring that worsened the ascetic monk's condition.

Jiang Baimian nodded indiscernibly. "The closest thing to Gesterbourg worth paying attention to is Ceningmis."

Although this was only a bold guess, Long Yuehong and the others still felt their hearts palpitate.

In that case, Ceningmis might be the source of many problems and matters.

"Also, there are Eighth Research Institute personnel hiding in Gesterbourg to gather supplies. The Eighth Research Institute's headquarters is confirmed to be somewhere in Icefield." Jiang Baimian added, raising another possibility.

The red light in Genava's eyes flickered. "There's another possibility. The ascetic monk originally arranged to meet someone in Gesterbourg. That's why he came to this place despite the harsh climate and stayed here for a period of time until his condition worsened."

Shang Jianyao immediately smiled. "Then, why did that person or faction make an appointment at Gesterbourg?"

Nobody answered him, but a term flashed across everyone's minds—including the main module: Eighth Research Institute.

Shang Jianyao ignored the brief silence and excitedly fabricated a story. "Maybe the faction that the ascetic monk belongs to was destroyed by someone because of the Subhuti figurine. He brought the Buddhist treasure and dragged his sick body all the way to Gesterbourg to seek the protection of someone or a certain faction, but he failed.

"It's also possible that he betrayed his faction, stole the Subhuti figurine, and tried to head somewhere to complete a certain matter. In the end, he was stopped by the weather in Gesterbourg. His condition worsened day by day, and he ultimately couldn't hold out…

"This can explain why the person who issued the mission only knew after three years that he died in Gesterbourg and that the Subhuti figurine was lost."

Clap! Clap! Clap! Without waiting for a response, Shang Jianyao clapped and cheered for himself.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Genava was very polite.

Jiang Baimian slowly exhaled. "Have you watched too much Old World entertainment… What you said is more reasonable and less out there in a wuxia or xianxia world."

But I think Hey is right. There's a certain possibility… Long Yuehong only muttered inwardly but didn't say it out loud.

Jiang Baimian changed the topic. "However, these two situations are nothing but hypotheses. There might be some traces that can be verified."

"How?" Bai Chen asked in surprise.

Jiang Baimian smiled. "Since the client knows how to issue a mission in the Hunter's Guild and drive Ruin Hunters to Gesterbourg to search for the Subhuti figurine, will he or they issue a mission to find traces of the ascetic monk through the Hunter's Guild? Two to three years passed, and they finally confirmed that the target had died in Gesterbourg."

Bai Chen nodded slightly. "Go to the Hunter's Guild to flip through the mission records for the past three years? These are all confidential information…"

She didn't continue because she recalled that her team had already planned on sending Genava to hack into the local guild's system and modify their new identities' Hunter levels. In that case, it only required consuming a little more electricity to check the past mission records.

Furthermore, with Genava's search abilities, he could crush the four carbon-based Old Task Force members combined. He only needed a few seconds to complete the filtering or scanning—perhaps even less than a few seconds.

After another round of discussion, the Old Task Force had a preliminary plan for investigating the Subhuti figurine. The first was to visit a key witness and examine the corresponding evidence to determine if the ascetic monk had really died from a disease due to an Awakened's ability.

The second was to 'check' the Hunter's Guild's past mission records. Since they could determine that the ascetic monk had died in Gesterbourg, the corresponding search warrant should've been available at the local guild. Furthermore, it had been issued not long ago, perhaps less than half a year ago. Otherwise, the person who issued the Subhuti figurine mission would've long locked onto the ascetic monk's whereabouts.

The third was to learn about any abnormalities in the past three years through the intelligence peddlers and the random selection of numerous Gesterbourg residents. The Old Task Force believed that the Subhuti figurine was likely a little magical considering how important it was. If it fell into the hands of people who didn't know it well, it might bring about a disaster or a strange phenomenon.

The fourth was to visit everyone who had come into contact with the ascetic monk according to the intelligence. The focus was to figure out if the monk had asked about Ceningmis or any place in Icefield. This would take a lot of time, and Jiang Baimian planned on doing it last.

After the Old Task Force was done with this matter, the sun had already reached the middle of the sky. However, it appeared listless under the yellowish air.

Under Shang Jianyao's urging, Jiang Baimian and the others left the hotel to search for food.

Considering that they were bringing Old Ge to the Hunter's Guild later and how the Old Task Force was familiar with the area nearby, they chose Old Henley again to prevent any accidents from happening while randomly heading to unfamiliar places.

Upon seeing them, the brown-haired waiter from yesterday evening took the initiative to entertain them and led them to a remote spot to sit down.

After taking down their order, he suppressed his voice and said, "You should've been to the Hunter's Guild. Do you still want to ask the friend I know for information?"

"That's our wish." Jiang Baimian nodded.

After confirming that some of the high-performance batteries had been charged, she gained some confidence. Of course, she planned on meeting the intelligence peddler tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

That would be safer.

"Where's your friend? What's his name?" Shang Jianyao took the initiative to ask.

The brown-haired waiter didn't say a word and only smiled at them.

Bai Chen took out a Knight silver coin she had on her and handed it to him.

The brown-haired waiter reached out to take it, and his smile turned warm. "Her name is Gitis. She works at the Fire & Iron Hotel."

Shang Jianyao immediately revealed a pained expression.

The Knight silver coin was wasted! This was an intelligence peddler they knew!

"She's on break today. She should come over for lunch later," said the brown-haired waiter further. "I'll introduce you to her."

Gitis is really well-informed and has the reputation matching it… I really couldn't tell… As Jiang Baimian sighed inwardly, the female receptionist appeared at Old Henley's entrance.

She wore a linen shirt, pants of the same color, and dark black boots. She also wore a dark leather coat. Her honey-colored hair was still casually tied up, and her grayish-blue eyes were large and listless.

As soon as she entered, she acted as if she were sleepwalking. She almost bumped into tables and chairs several times.

She looks terrible… The price of being an Awakened? Jiang Baimian's first thought when she encountered such matters was the price of being an Awakened.

The more abnormal it was, the more likely it was to involve Awakened!

"Gitis, someone's looking for you." The brown-haired waiter smiled and greeted her.

Gitis looked up and glanced over before slowly walking over.

"What do you want to know?" she asked warily.

Shang Jianyao blurted out in surprise, "You don't recognize us anymore?"

He looked aggrieved and disappointed.

Gitis thought for a moment and finally recalled. "Are you guests at the hotel?"

She didn't seem to have much of an impression of what had happened this morning.

"Yes." Jiang Baimian said to the brown-haired waiter, "Bring a chair over for Madam Gitis."

After Gitis sat down and the waiter left, Shang Jianyao took out his father's photo and handed it to the intelligence peddler. "Do you know this person? He might've been to Gesterbourg 12 years ago."

Shang Jianyao's actions were as swift as lightning as if he had rehearsed it many times. Jiang Baimian couldn't stop him at all.

As Gitis took the photo, she muttered, "Twelve years ago, I was only 14…"

Suddenly, she paused, and her tone changed. "This Ashlandic…"