Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 536: Courage

Bang!

A bullet shot out from the Red River pistol in Christina’s hand and hit the area in front of the coffee table. This was originally where Shang Jianyao was fidgeting and scratching himself.

But at this moment, Shang Jianyao had already jumped up and pounced to the side. He had also shrunk his body from the pain. Furthermore, Christina was blind and could only fire based on her perception of human consciousness. There was a certain degree of inaccuracy, so there was no doubt that she didn’t hit him.

In midair, Shang Jianyao stretched out his hands. He resisted the pain in his left arm and reached into the tactical backpack that he was hugging in front of himself.

His right hand drew the United 202 from his waist and pulled the trigger at Christina based on his intuition. With his talent as a high-quality product of genetic enhancement and the hard work he had put in after joining the Old Task Force, he was definitely better at marksmanship than Christina—who was clearly an ordinary person—despite being incomparable to Jiang Baimian.

Christina suddenly had a strong premonition. She followed the room layout in her memories and rolled toward the bedroom and bathroom.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three bullets in a row either went past the spot she had been standing at and left holes in the wall or directly created plumes of dust that rose from where she had rolled.

If not for her special abilities, Christina believed that she would’ve been seriously injured or even killed in the round of shots. After suffering this shock, her rampant desires were effectively controlled.

Guessing that the other party had used the pain to reduce the itchiness effects for a short period of time, her unfocused eyes flickered. An invisible vortex immediately appeared in the third translucent button of her white blouse, and it showed signs of collapsing.

After completing the shot in midair, Shang Jianyao—who was about to touch the two items—suddenly lost his balance just as he was about to land.

Bang!

He fell heavily, and even the United 202 flew out of his hand when he hit the ground. The only lucky thing was that Shang Jianyao kept the tactical backpack in his arms and didn’t let it escape his grasp.

Christina—who was focused on dodging Shang Jianyao’s shots and counter-attacking the other party—could no longer maintain Itchiness Control. Long Yuehong and Bai Chen had already recovered.

Long Yuehong couldn’t be bothered to pick up the United 202 that had landed beside him. As he didn’t have the time to change the magazine, he propped himself up with one hand and pounced horizontally toward Asus while pulling out the Ice Moss from his belt with the other.

He thought that even if this round of shots failed to hit Christina, he would force her into rolling and dodging repeatedly. With this, it would be difficult for her to focus on making them itch again. Then, he—who had landed beside Asus—could seize the opportunity to finish off an enemy first.

After nearly a year of training, Long Yuehong’s tactical acumen could be considered pretty good.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

His shot was only a second or two slower than Shang Jianyao’s suppressive fire, making Christina not dare to stay. She could only roll toward the bedroom based on the impression in her mind, hoping to hide inside and survive the counterattack before letting the enemies fall into a state of itchiness again.

Having lost her vision, she was in unbearable pain. She would occasionally bump into something on the way, but she didn’t dare to stay put. She could only endure the pain and rush out.

If not for her outstanding ‘premonition’ and strong intuition, allowing her to be almost prescient of great danger and where it was relatively safe, she might’ve already slammed into a piece of furniture or a corner of a wall. She might’ve been forced to stop rolling and be hit by a bullet.

Long Yuehong flew out diagonally. As he fired sideways, Bai Chen also drew the United 202 from her waist. Her Ice Moss had landed relatively far away from her. If she wanted to pick it up, it would take at least two to three seconds.

They were now in a race against time.

Bai Chen’s first reaction was to fire at Asus, but she knew that she had to deal with Christina—who could make them all itch—first. If the other party caught her breath, the chance of survival that Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian had fought so hard for would be wasted.

Based on her observations and combat experience, Bai Chen scanned the area and instinctively believed that Christina wanted to hide in the bedroom. She immediately raised her hand and aimed at the corridor by the bedroom door.

If Christina continued rolling, she would be hit by Bai Chen. If she didn’t do so and hesitated, there was Long Yuehong waiting in midair with a non-empty magazine clip.

At this moment, Christina—who could only see darkness—felt like she was between a rock and a hard place. Not only was it dangerous, but it was also difficult to avoid.

She could only bite the bullet and continue rolling toward the corridor outside the bedroom door.

At this moment, Bai Chen’s gaze suddenly froze. From the corner of her eye, she saw Asus end his spasm and sit up. He also had a golden Oray coin between his fingers.

Ping!

The gold coin tumbled into the air.

Bai Chen suddenly felt a strong sense of greed—a desire for money. Although there was only one gold coin, she felt that it was something she could abandon everything to pursue. Therefore, she gave up on firing at Christina despite knowing that something was amiss. She gave up on the United 202 in her hand and pounced out like a trained hound to catch a ball thrown by her master.

Bastard… In midair, Bai Chen revealed an expression of self-blame and regret.

Badump!

She fell to the ground and pressed her body against the gold coin.

She then saw a familiar smile surface on Asus’s face. It was a smile that controlled her life and death, a smile gained from watching her struggle and even beg.

No! Bai Chen slammed her forehead against the ground, wanting to rely on the pain to escape Greed’s control.

With a bang, Long Yuehong landed beside her, near Asus.

Asus had already stood up and picked up the grenade launcher that Jiang Baimian had dropped. He smiled and aimed at Long Yuehong and Bai Chen.

Christina—who had rolled to the bedroom door—seemed to sense something. She halted and stopped being distracted, prepared to restart the itch.

Facing the grenade launcher, Long Yuehong’s thoughts seemed to freeze. He couldn’t come up with anything quickly, but all kinds of memories gushed out and ran through his mind as if a tap had been turned on.

It was his father’s unspoken love and protection, his mother’s ramblings, and his younger brother and sister’s eyes of adoration. It was the satisfaction of a table of meat and vegetables; it was the joy of finally getting a high score on his exam; it was the pure joy of laughing and joking with Shang Jianyao, Yang Zhenyuan, and the others; it was the nervousness he felt when he joined the Old Task Force; it was the satisfaction of individual growth through repeated missions; it was the tacit understanding and camaraderie he had with Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and Bai Chen.

No, I don’t want to die! A force erupted from Long Yuehong’s body, pushing him to the side to avoid the sharp edge. At this moment, another scene inexplicably flashed across his mind: it was in the Underground Ark. In the face of DiMarco’s attack, he could’ve clearly pushed Bai Chen, but he had jumped away on his own due to his reflexive fear. This resulted in Bai Chen almost dying and having one arm disabled for a long time.

Bai Chen had never raised this matter again, but Long Yuehong always took it to heart. He felt that he shouldn’t have done that. He shouldn’t have acted like a coward and should’ve done better.

In a split second, Long Yuehong gritted his teeth. With bloodshot eyes, he turned around and pushed Bai Chen heavily. He was so strong that he sent Bai Chen—who had just straightened her back—flying and crashing into the distant sofa.

After doing this, Long Yuehong used the rebound to pounce to the wall corner.

Boom!

The grenade exploded behind him and Bai Chen, and the expanding flames made contact with half of Long Yuehong’s body.

His vision instantly turned blurry and dark, leaving only one thought echoing: I’m not a coward…

Boom!

As Asus fired, he exerted strength with his feet and lunged backward to avoid the grenade explosion’s aftershocks. He was too close to Bai Chen and Long Yuehong, so he deliberately let the grenade explode further away and did the necessary dodging.

Boom!

Amidst the explosion, Shang Jianyao—who had just recovered and didn’t have the time to use Hands Immobility to stop all of this—quickly pulled his left hand out of his tactical backpack and threw a string of brown beads at the area where Asus landed.

His other fingers were tightly gripping a necklace with a silver angel pendant—Life Angel!

Christina—who had dodged further into the bedroom due to the explosion—had already completed her Itch Control over the few enemies. She was just about to deepen the effects when she suddenly had a strong sense of danger, but she didn’t know where to hide.

She then felt intense pain in her heart.

The pain was so terrifying that she couldn’t help but reach out to grab at her heart, wanting to stop it. However, her hand had just touched her blouse when it stopped; then, her body collapsed to the side.

Her mind was already blank, and her vision remained dark.

Cardiac Arrest!

Asus—who had fired the grenade—successfully dodged the aftershocks. He began to think of the subsequent countermeasures.

If Christina successfully controlled the surviving enemies, he had to finish them off quickly to prevent any accidents from happening again. If not, he would use the Flower of Love to trigger the male Awakened’s desire and get him to deal with his female companions. He would then be free to finish them off one by one.

Badump!

Asus landed on the ground, his back hurting from something.

It was the Six Senses Beads that Shang Jianyao had thrown over. Its negative effect was that one’s lust would increase once they came into contact with it, even if they were separated by one to two layers of clothes.

Asus’s price was sexual addiction! When the two were combined, the effects were undoubtedly greatly amplified.

Asus’s eyes turned bloodshot immediately, and his breathing became heavy. He no longer had the strength to control himself as he got up and slammed into the sofa. He relied on the latter to block the grenade’s shockwave and ran fiercely.

Bai Chen had just recovered from her dizziness when she saw his warped face.

Desire burned in his eyes, making one shiver. This was one of Bai Chen’s persistent nightmares.

Asus jumped up with a hideous smile as he pounced at his prey. Bai Chen couldn’t help but tremble as if she had returned to the past.

Suddenly, Asus’s expression froze. His eyes widened as his right hand desperately reached for his chest.

Bang!

He fell heavily in front of Bai Chen, his limbs twitching as his face quickly turned blue and purple.

Bai Chen was stunned for a moment before she let out a roar that sounded like a mix of crying and laughter. She then pounced at Asus and irrationally tore at his throat with her mouth.

Lumps of flesh were torn off as blood splattered.

On the other side, Shang Jianyao held his tactical backpack, took out his first-aid kit, and ran toward Long Yuehong.

Jiang Baimian also slowly stirred.