Embers Ad Infinitum

There was only one problem with the elevators—there was no electricity.

This wasn't surprising since it had been more than ten years since Ceningmis was destroyed by the disaster. Even if there were autonomous generators that were maintained by robots, they wouldn't be of any use due to insufficient energy.

This place wasn't like Dajiang City—Swamp Ruin 1. It didn't have sufficient hydropower.

"Then, we can only choose to take the stairs." As a smart bot, Genava wouldn't be depressed because of this.

"No, no, no." Shang Jianyao shook his head. "There's another choice."

The face under his visor smiled. He then pointed at the elevators. "We can also just climb the cables."

Genava immediately evaluated the feasibility. "To me, there's no problem. For normal humans, it's extremely dangerous with extremely low chances of success. But with the military exoskeleton's help, it shouldn't be difficult."

Just as he said that, Shang Jianyao denied his own idea. "Let's take the stairs. We might encounter more corpses along the way."

The red glow in Genava's eyes flickered a few times without making a sound.

Shang Jianyao's gaze swept across the two open elevators before he suddenly jumped and 'flew' into one of them.

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Thanks to the military exoskeleton's weight, he clearly sank the car and shook it a few times.

"Be careful!" Genava quickly warned.

The elevators here had been abandoned for over a decade. Nobody knew if the cables would snap as a result.

Shang Jianyao didn't answer. He lowered his head and measured every inch of space in the elevator with his feet.

In just a few seconds, he said in disappointment, "There are no corpses."

Genava understood the meaning of his actions and knew that he was worried that the overlap with the New World might cause this apartment to appear empty despite containing hidden secrets. This made it easy for Shang Jianyao to miss clues regarding his father.

After checking the other elevator, Shang Jianyao regretfully walked to the stairwell.

There were no lights here, only darkness.

As the flashlight beam shone in, the mottled stairs appeared in Shang Jianyao and Genava's eyes.

"Apart from looking relatively dilapidated, it's rather clean." Shang Jianyao clicked his tongue in wonder.

The red light in Genava's eyes flickered a few times. "Maybe the electromagnetic environment in this area is too chaotic, preventing the dust outside from entering. The exact principle is…"

Shang Jianyao turned his head and glanced at his companion before interrupting him plaintively. "Old Ge, at a time like this, all you need to do is say 'yeah, yeah.'"

Genava couldn't figure out the reason, but he still chose to cooperate. "Alright."

The two of them walked up the stairs to the top floor.

It was obvious that the light outside the stairwell on each floor was bright. Through the door gaps, they revealed a lit area beyond.

The careful Shang Jianyao didn't choose to pass through such areas directly; he circled around those he could. For those he couldn't, he simply used the staircase railing to climb to the next floor.

Genava mimicked him.

They didn't dare to bet that they wouldn't be discovered without being 'seen' by New World powerhouses or other creatures on every floor.

The timid but careful Shang Jianyao suspected that the light was actually a manifestation of the powerhouses' minds. And at the source of the overlapping problems, touching the light was equivalent to singing loudly in someone else's ear. There was no way to hide it.

As for why there was only light on the first floor and no figures, he had no idea.

As he slowly made his way up, Shang Jianyao kept his human consciousness converged. He only relied on the flashlight beam that he had specially switched to a low-powered state to illuminate the path ahead.

On the way, he and Genava discovered several corpses.

The few corpses on the lower floors also had one thing in common—all that was left of them were clothes. Their bodies were empty, clearly having been plundered by the Eighth Research Institute. The few corpses that were discovered in the second half had some personal items in their pockets.

Through their clothes and items, Genava clearly determined that they were Pangu Biology employees and members of the previous Old Task Force.

With the help of the skeletal characteristics and items, another conclusion could also be reached: None of them were Shang Jianyao's father.

"They are all personal items…" Shang Jianyao—who was squatting on one knee on the stairs—took out everything from the corpse in front of him and handed them to Genava. His tone revealed unconcealed disappointment.

Genava knew that he wanted to find the corresponding clues from those items. Unfortunately, they were compressed biscuits, chocolate, sweets, or other items that could quickly replenish energy or pistols, bullets, and other self-defense items.

"Maybe that team's management is very strict, preventing members from secretly recording information to prevent others from obtaining it after they are separated." Genava stuffed the items he received into his backpack.

"That's true." Shang Jianyao stood up, picked up the Berserker assault rifle again, and walked up the stairs.

As he walked, he suddenly staggered.

"Be careful." Genava mimicked a human and used a reminder to express his concern.

"It's fine." Shang Jianyao first consoled Genava before saying, "I should've been hit by an Awakened's ability."

"You call this fine?" The red glow in Genava's eyes flickered violently, but he remained puzzled.

Shang Jianyao didn't stop. "This ability feels relatively weak; it doesn't affect me much. Besides, although I was hit by an ability, I didn't sense the enemy's consciousness."

Normally speaking, an ability affecting a person meant that one had established a connection with the person. This also meant that one couldn't hide their human consciousness from the other party's perception unless they could cut off the connection before the enemy discovered them, hide again, or be outside the target's perception range.

The former could be temporarily ruled out because Shang Jianyao's footsteps weren't too stable. It only appeared fine with the help of the military exoskeleton. The latter meant that the hidden Awakened was much stronger than Shang Jianyao, but this was relatively contradictory to the weaker effects of his abilities.

"That's quite strange," Genava replied in a slightly synthetic voice.

Shang Jianyao smiled. "It's fine; there aren't many floors left. Let's not care about anything else. Let's make… good use of our time… and head up…"

As he spoke, his tongue seemed to expand. His body swayed, making it difficult for him to maintain his balance.

Shang Jianyao was delighted instead of being alarmed as he loudly said, "This is very similar to the Drunkard ability that Big White, Little Red, and Little White encountered! Is that Awakened from the… Eighth… Research Institute… hiding nearby? However, she… should be weaker… than me!"

Genava understood what he meant—it didn't make sense for him not to sense the other party's human consciousness and be passively beaten.

Before Genava could respond, Shang Jianyao fell to the ground with a thud.

"I'm drunk… and my head is still spinning… It hurts…" he muttered to himself. He then began relegating control to the military exoskeleton, switching it from an auxiliary system into a primary one.

With equipment as the lead, Autopilot.

With the command input, Shang Jianyao 'stood up' and steadily continued walking up the stairs to the top floor. Although he was still drunk, it didn't affect his actions at all.

"Porridge… is… strength… Old Ge…" Shang Jianyao's tongue was so big that he was slurring.

At this moment, a rope clipped to the glass window in the stairwell swayed with the wind. In the dark night, it was like a dancing venomous snake.

Shang Jianyao's eyes froze as he looked like he wanted to turn around and run, but the military exoskeleton stopped him. The order received by this equipment had yet to be changed, and it determined that the rope posed no threat!

"No!" Shang Jianyao screamed as he was 'hijacked' by the military exoskeleton.

The closer he was to the rope, the more he screamed. Finally, he shouted, "Old Ge, save me!"

Genava analyzed a possibility and chose to follow without saying a word.

Finally, Shang Jianyao crossed the glass window in the stairwell and could no longer see the rope that swayed like a snake.

He immediately calmed down. After a few seconds, he excitedly said without turning around, "Old Ge, this should… be caused… by the power… seeping out from… the top floor. Otherwise… it's impossible… It has the ability… the effects… and the price."

As far as the Old Task Force knew, Dysmorphophobia was a price.

"Although part of the price is the same as the effects of certain abilities, I still believe that there's a high chance your guess is true." Genava agreed with Shang Jianyao's guess.

Shang Jianyao excitedly said, "Then… let's continue… We're not far… from the source… of the problem!"

At this point, his voice turned deep. "The closer… I get to… the top floor… the greater the influence… Later… if I… can't control… myself… knock me out… and bring me up."

"Alright." Genava agreed. "But you need to adjust your orders and put me on the whitelist without any precautions or resistance."

Otherwise, he really couldn't deal with the military exoskeleton that controlled Shang Jianyao's body in a short period of time.

Just like that, Shang Jianyao trudged forward while Genava followed beside him, prepared to provide him assistance at any moment.

Just as Shang Jianyao was about to concuss from his Drunkard state, the two of them finally arrived at the stairwell on the top floor. They were only separated by a wooden door.

This place was pitch-black, and the flashlight could only illuminate a small area.