Embers Ad Infinitum

Along the way, Jiang Baimian realized that there was nothing in the open rooms. They were empty.

If not for the fact that she occasionally encountered a few damaged beds and chairs, she couldn't be sure that this was a place that housed people.

"What a clean move…" She sighed with emotion.

"Not giving Ruin Hunters a chance." Shang Jianyao sighed.

Du Heng touched the door handle beside him and smiled. "Not necessarily. This handle, the tiles, the ceiling, and these lamps have non-zero value. Furthermore, there might be steel bars in the walls…"

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Shang Jianyao's applause interrupted Du Heng. He praised, "Teacher Du Heng, you have a lot of life experience."

Du Heng laughed. "No matter what, I'm still a Ruin Hunter with many years of experience."

You became an Official Hunter a few years ago… Jiang Baimian added inwardly.

After arriving at the elevator area, she checked and said, "There's still electricity."

"There's actually electricity!" Shang Jianyao was shocked. "The Ruin Hunters are lucky."

Jiang Baimian guessed the reason. "Maybe the Eighth Research Institute didn't have the time to dismantle the power station. Furthermore, they probably moved a few days ago. The power station is still operating autonomously."

From the mountain range's terrain and Icefield's characteristics, it was impossible to build a hydropower station or a thermal power plant here, nor was it suitable for solar power. Wind power was limited by the seasons, so it was impossible to maintain the entire research institute's stable operation. Therefore, Jiang Baimian suspected that there was a miniaturized nuclear power plant somewhere in the mountain.

"That's a good thing. There's no need to climb the stairs." Du Heng pressed the button casually.

One of the elevator doors immediately opened.

Jiang Baimian suddenly frowned. This was blocked by the military exoskeleton's visor, so nobody noticed her frown.

Upon seeing Du Heng and Shang Jianyao walk to the elevator, Jiang Baimian quickly said, "There's a problem."

"What's wrong?" Shang Jianyao asked.

Jiang Baimian pointed at the elevators and said, "Look, at least one-third of the elevators are parked on the fifth floor."

"What's wrong with that?" The honest Shang Jianyao expressed his confusion.

Upon seeing Du Heng look over, Jiang Baimian explained, "Normally speaking, any migration will definitely involve gathering at the entrance. Those elevators should be parked at the bottom."

"Maybe the last batch of people didn't use all the elevators," retorted the honest Shang Jianyao.

"The problem is that the number of people going up is the same number of people going down." Jiang Baimian had long analyzed the corresponding situation.

The same batch of people used seven to eight elevators to go up, so they wouldn't only use three to four elevators to come down.

"It's normal to squeeze a little." As Shang Jianyao spoke, he suddenly lowered his voice and spoke as though he was retelling a ghost story. "It's also possible that some people don't come down after going up…"

This was what Jiang Baimian wanted to say. "Then, where did they go?"

"I don't know." Shang Jianyao shook his head. "In any case, I don't sense their human consciousness."

At this point, he had a look of horror. "Could there be a trap up there?"

"We'll know when we go up and take a look." Du Heng remained carefree and didn't mind.

You make it sound so easy… Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and didn't object. She only used the communications system embedded in the military exoskeleton to remind Shang Jianyao, "Keep a distance from Teacher Du Heng later and stay behind him."

Shang Jianyao raised his right hand and gestured okay.

This time, he and Jiang Baimian didn't carry any assault rifles. After all, the military exoskeleton had the corresponding weapon modules.

The trio took the elevator and quickly arrived at the fifth floor.

There was no natural light here; it completely relied on the ceiling lamps that lined the passageway.

Fortunately, there was no power outage. Otherwise, it would greatly reduce Jiang Baimian and the others' search efficiency.

According to Professor Qin's memories, the fifth floor was divided into three parts.

After coming out of the elevator, the first area was where the Professor's Association usually held meetings and the various departments that provided services.

Not a single piece of paper was left in the meeting room, much less any information. Perhaps it was because the black conference table was too large and inconvenient to move, but there were no chairs around it.

"Too thorough, too thorough…" Shang Jianyao shook his head and sighed.

The nearby rooms belonging to different departments were in a similar state; only the most cumbersome items were left behind. One or two pieces of paper could occasionally be seen, but it was either the punishment decisions meted onto some particular person or the allocation of certain supplies. They were documents that were outdated and wouldn't affect anything if they weren't taken away.

After passing through this area and passing through a pair of dark metal doors, Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and Du Heng entered the residence of New World powerhouses like Vice President and Professor Li.

Not only were there rooms for sleeping, but there was also the original president's office.

For some reason, Jiang Baimian felt her heart sink the moment she stepped into the area. This was very similar to the heavy calm before a storm.

She used the military exoskeleton's communications system to ask Shang Jianyao, "Do you sense anything wrong?"

Shang Jianyao replied, "There's nothing wrong."

"You don't feel heavy or suffocated?" Jiang Baimian asked.

"No." Shang Jianyao usually didn't joke at times like this.

Jiang Baimian turned her head and asked Du Heng.

Du Heng also shook his head. "It's very normal."

"That might be my problem…" Jiang Baimian was almost speechless.

She analyzed the situation and found the most likely reason: She was the weakest of the three.

In the Awakened domain, although she had already cleared the psychological trauma that had stumped her for a long time, she had no way of knowing how far she was from the Mind Corridor. As for Shang Jianyao and Du Heng, one was an Awakened who had explored the Mind Corridor's depths, and the other had a mysterious background and could only be stronger than Shang Jianyao.

In the New World powerhouses' rooms, not only were the instruments used to maintain their physical activity gone, but even the beds they lay on were gone.

"A locust swarm! A locust swarm!" Shang Jianyao felt pained. "If it weren't for the fact that it's inconvenient to dismantle the toilet bowl, they probably would've taken it away."

"It's understandable." Du Heng smiled and consoled him. "There's a lack of supplies in the Ashlands. Although the Eighth Research Institute controls some military bases, corresponding farmlands, and factories, it's not like they don't lack anything. Besides, this is also to prevent us from finding useful information through clues."

Shang Jianyao looked at the toilet in the room and indignantly said, "If they really force us into a corner, we'll dig out the feces! This can analyze the physical condition of a New World powerhouse. I don't believe they took away the feces!"

You've watched too much Old World entertainment… Jiang Baimian exhaled and said, "There's so much feces mixed together in the septic tank. Do you know which belongs to whom?"

Furthermore, New World powerhouses usually relied on injections to maintain their vitals.

Shang Jianyao was stunned for a moment. "I didn't consider it carefully enough."

After leaving the New World powerhouses' rooms, they continued deeper into the area.

Under the corridor, a wind that came from somewhere blew, bringing with it a bone-chilling coldness.

It wasn't completely summer in Icefield, and the mountainside was especially cold.

Shang Jianyao looked up at the ceiling and said, "Why aren't these lights moving? If they sway around and flicker, it will give off better vibes."

His tone was filled with regret.

"It's meaningless. Little Red isn't here," Jiang Baimian casually replied.

"That's right…" Shang Jianyao sighed.

Before long, they arrived at the office that originally belonged to the president in Professor Qin's memories.

This room was tightly shut and locked as if there was a ferocious beast inside.

"Shall we go in?" Jiang Baimian deliberately asked.

Before Du Heng could answer, Shang Jianyao said, "Professor Qin has never sensed human consciousness here."

"Let's take a look. We might discover something." Du Heng spoke in a tone as if they might as well do it, having come all the way here. "If there really is something, the Eighth Research Institute should've long moved it."

Jiang Baimian didn't object.

The key to the door had been thrown somewhere, but this didn't stump Shang Jianyao. He raised his metal skeleton-covered right foot and kicked forward.

With a bang, the door collapsed.

There was no light in the room. With the help of the street lamps, Jiang Baimian saw flying sawdust and visible dust.

Tak!

Shang Jianyao switched on the lights inside.

The entire room reflected into their eyes under the illumination.

This place wasn't large. A desk was placed in the innermost corner, and a few documents were scattered on it. There was no computer or books.

There was a row of bookshelves by the door. On the other side were sofas.

With the help of the military exoskeleton, Jiang Baimian saw the books on the bookshelf clearly from the door.

There weren't many of them left; they didn't even fill one-fifth of the bookshelves. Most of them were philosophical. Some were ancient Ashlandic classics, and some originated from the Red River people.

Another portion was on management.

In short, there was no value in flipping through them.

Jiang Baimian turned her head and said to Du Heng and Shang Jianyao, "Let's split up and search to see if there are any clues here."

"Alright." Du Heng didn't object. He walked straight to the bookshelf and seemed very interested in the books.

Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao approached the desk as they searched.

On the way, Shang Jianyao sighed. "It's been a long time since anyone cleaned this place."

Jiang Baimian tersely acknowledged his words. "To the Eighth Research Institute, the president is taboo. It's very normal for employees not to enter the office he used."

They soon arrived at the desk, picked up the scattered information, and flipped through it. Some were the Eighth Research Institute's architectural repairs, some were a particular year's budget plans, and some were requests for leave.

Some of them were written in Ashlandic, and some were in the Red River language. They appeared very mixed.

The only two things in common were that they were very old and didn't contain valuable information.

"There's another one here." After Shang Jianyao opened three drawers in a row, he took out an equally old document.

Jiang Baimian went over and realized that it was an application written in Ashlandic for permission to modify the Second Research Zone.

Shang Jianyao quickly flipped to the last page of the document. Someone had written in fancy handwriting: "Approved."

Under the word was a signature. Jiang Baimian focused and recognized it.

It wrote: "Du Heng."

1

Du Heng! As Jiang Baimian's pupils dilated, she suddenly heard footsteps behind her.

Amidst the bone-chilling wind, Du Heng's voice drifted over. "What are you guys looking at?"