Embers Ad Infinitum

On a hill more than 200 meters away from Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and the others, a short figure was hiding in a spot concealed by rocks and red pine trees as he watched the Old Task Force and the dark-red SUV.

He looked like a seven-year-old child, but his hair was sparse. There were unconcealed wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, mouth, and forehead—it was as if a middle-aged man's head was placed on a child's neck. It looked incongruous.

He was Professor Qin, the person in charge of Gesterbourg's matters.

Back then, the price he paid was Stunted Growth. He thought that he had gotten off easy because he was done with his adolescence. He was already 18 years old, so what puberty was there left?

But as time passed, he finally understood why his tutor had a strange expression when he heard him recount the Awakening process.

His tutor didn't know what changes would happen when one's Stunted Growth worsened, but he insisted that seemingly harmless prices often ended up being worse.

Not only had Professor Qin's growth stopped, but he was also regressing. After entering the Mind Corridor, the situation became worse. This resulted in him looking only seven or eight years old.

What pained Professor Qin the most was that reality wasn't a novel. There were no deities or angels.

Such a regression was definitely accompanied by all kinds of diseases. Otherwise, how could a normal person 'shrink' for no reason?

This left him in excruciating pain. This was also the reason why he yearned to become a Professor's Association member.

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He hoped to establish a connection with Vice President and the other New World powerhouses and obtain their guidance to find the door that led to the New World in the Mind Corridor as soon as possible.

As long as he entered the New World, he could abandon his current body! Although he would still be affected by the negative effects of the price, his consciousness was only typically that of a seven or eight-year-old, and the figure he projected would still be the same, he could at least reduce the terrifying degenerative pain that plagued him.

Professor Qin had once undergone genetic modification in an attempt to save his body, but it had undoubtedly failed.

He only walked away with better vision, just like Qiao Chu. However, he chose to keep a low profile and still made his eyes appear the usual dark-brown. He didn't change them to a striking golden color.

Although he couldn't hear what Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and the others were saying, he could see their actions. He realized that they either gathered grenade launchers, wore military exoskeletons, or switched to the corresponding ammunition.

This made Professor Qin suspect that the enemy wanted to carry out indiscriminate bombardment and use this opportunity to force him out.

He wasn't sure if the Old Task Force's ammunition could support such an action, so he could only assume that it was possible and not have any wishful thinking.

The solemn Professor Qin's first reaction was to retreat in a direction that the enemy couldn't see because he had taken matters into his own hands in this operation.

The order issued by the Eighth Research Institute's Professor's Association to Professor Qin was to lure the target team to Icefield and rendezvous with the two reinforcement commissioners after they left Gesterbourg to form an encirclement. That way, they could avoid the possible interference stemming from the sleeping one in Gesterbourg.

As for why the Professor's Association didn't get him to directly invite New World powerhouses or Vice President and the others to descend remotely and deal with this enemy team that had been hounding them all this while, Professor Qin actually knew the reason.

After the previous matter, Doctor hadn't appeared or issued any orders for a long time. It was rumored that he was still suffering from the terror.

Therefore, after discovering that the enemy was prepared, Professor Qin decisively gave up on the idea of flipping through their memories and implanting the corresponding scene in them. He chose to find another opportunity.

Even the Eighth Research Institute's Professor's Association members probably wouldn't dare to use that person's strength unless it was a matter of life and death. There was a high chance that it would bring about backlash!

Professor Qin previously felt that with Qiao Chu and him, they could complement each other very well and avoid certain risk factors. Therefore, he decided to carry out the operation in this hilly area in advance to catch the enemy off-guard and show his abilities to the Vice President.

This place was almost three kilometers away from Gesterbourg's borders, and it was even further away from the ancient castle. As long as they acted quickly and didn't cause too much of a commotion, the sleeping one in Gesterbourg definitely wouldn't discover them, much less respond correctly. The team leaving the city would most likely still be immersed in the illusion that they were in a safe area and had sufficient protection.

Professor Qin hoped that Qiao Chu would bewitch that group of people and prevent them from recalling the scenes related to the Kalendarium. This way, he could silently and calmly invade their brains and implant some designated memories.

He would then enjoy a massacre from afar as a bystander.

When the time came, the final 'victor' would also choose to commit suicide by detonating the 'bomb' buried in their memory upon realization of the grave mistake they had committed.

However, Professor Qin didn't expect Qiao Chu—who had previously never met with failure—to encounter his nemesis.

That person wasn't bewitched!

Was he still human?

Professor Qin could only believe that the enemy had made the corresponding preparations against the few commissioners they knew as though they were gambling. This minimized the influence of Qiao Chu's bewitchment.

This resulted in him being pressed for time and not being able to complete the planned implant. It also resulted in him losing an assistant and having to consider evacuating.

Although he would definitely be reprimanded by the Professor's Association if he retreated now, he still had a chance to turn the situation around as long as he remained alive and met up with reinforcements in Icefield. He could still make up for his mistakes.

Professor Qin's thoughts raced as he quickly made a decision.

Retreating was necessary, but blindly retreating in a panic might not be a good thing. If he chose to continue hiding here, the enemy had little chance of discovering him. But once he acted by retreating in Icefield's direction, it might not be possible to hide from the robot.

After all, he didn't know what modules the robot had installed or if it was a long-range detection model, nor could he flip through the other party's memories.

Also, he had to go to the spot where he had hidden the car. It was impossible for him to enter Icefield on foot—that would be suicide. This way, the journey would take a lot of time, and the risk of being exposed was high.

Professor Qin's plan was to advance as a form of retreat. This was a strategy that often appeared in the Old World's wars: First launch an offensive and suppress the enemy before seizing an opportunity to retreat. Otherwise, all the troops might collapse under the enemy's pursuit. It was better to stand fast.

Furthermore, Professor Qin had been tortured by his body, and he had long become a little extreme. The act of launching an attack in advance with Qiao Chu was in itself a gamble.

He still wanted to take a gamble.

If he really suppressed the enemy completely, he didn't mind turning the feint into a real attack and resolving the problem on the spot.

If he didn't achieve such an effect, he would naturally choose to retreat.

Professor Qin then picked up the glasses on the ground beside him and placed them on the bridge of his nose. This came from the Shattered Mirror domain and could give the target hallucinations.

If not for Professor Qin secretly using this item to affect Genava, it would've been very difficult for Qiao Chu—who had yet to reach the Mind Corridor's depths—to experience such a good effect with his Electromagnetic Interference.

At this moment, Professor Qin also planned on using it to deal with the robot.

The negative price of this item was hydrophobia—it was like contracting rabies. Therefore, Professor Qin would definitely find an opportunity to take off the glasses while retreating to prevent himself from collapsing or going crazy from the puddles and streams he encountered along the way.

He then took out a gorgeous and classical pen from his small backpack.

This item was called Pen of Hobbies. It could create a hobby for a certain number of people within a certain range. This hobby's priority would exceed most things, allowing the targets to take the initiative to satisfy their hobbies.

The price of the Pen of Hobbies was 'anger.' It easily made people lose their minds.

Fortunately, Professor Qin's body had deteriorated severely. Even in rage, it wouldn't last long. This gave him sufficient reaction time, allowing him to control himself to a certain extent.

Professor Qin looked at the Old Task Force—which had donned the exoskeletons, changed to grenade launchers, and was about to scatter. They were each in charge of an area.

Professor Qin no longer hesitated and made the classic pen in his hand reflect a faint red glow.

He created a hobby for the humans in the vicinity—the hobby of having a good nap when taking in the refreshing morning breeze and the warm sun while out in the suburbs.

Without bothering to see the enemy's reaction, he made the glasses on his nose flash with fine light again. He was distorting the environmental information and creating illusions for the robot!

Upon seeing Genava stop, Professor Qin quickly turned his gaze back to the group of humans.

They fell to the ground haphazardly, and even the wooden figurine fell to the side.

At this moment, Professor Qin saw a person stand up with difficulty. Even though his eyes were tightly shut and he looked sleepy, he still stood up with difficulty.