Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 267: Major Progress

Upon hearing Jiang Baimian’s sigh, Bai Chen—who was driving—thoughtfully replied, “About Ninth Zhang seeing a dragon? That Superior Heartless might have a certain connection with the Clam Dragon Church?”

“Yes.” Jiang Baimian nodded slightly. “I can now make a preliminary judgment that the hallucination created by the Superior Heartless is rooted in his own understanding, knowledge, and experience. It has nothing to do with our memories or emotions. At most, he will constantly make some adjustments according to the target’s reaction. For example, you show signs of fear when watching a horror film. The illusion created by the Superior Heartless might very well develop in this direction then.”

At this point, she turned to look at Long Yuehong and Shang Jianyao and teased, “Otherwise, the Mountain Fox bandits wouldn’t have seen mutated monsters, starving beasts, and commonly seen Heartless in the illusion. Instead, they would’ve seen the aggressive us.

“Yes, we can’t rule out the possibility that they are lying about this matter, but I don’t think there’s a need for them to do so. Everyone can barely be considered as being on the same boat. If we don’t finish off the Superior Heartless as soon as possible, everyone might die. Unless... unless they are already controlled and have begun acting as accomplices.”

Shang Jianyao shook his head. “He didn’t lie.”

“Didn’t you not use your powers?” Jiang Baimian asked in amusement. Why are you so sure?

Shang Jianyao replied truthfully, “Although he has killed, robbed, and raped and deserves to be hanged, he’s a polite person.”

“...” At this moment, Long Yuehong didn’t know where to start criticizing.

Wasn’t that fellow’s manners taught by you? Jiang Baimian was just about to scold him jokingly when something in her pocket suddenly buzzed.

She then took out a palm-sized electronic product. On its front was a black LCD screen. On the screen, the image of two robots leaning against each other flickered.

This was a phone. In Tarnan, such communication tools could be directly used because Mechanical Paradise had installed a base station and the relevant department.

Of course, the four phones that Genava had distributed to the Old Task Force were self-produced models from Mechanical Paradise. They weren’t repaired leftovers from the Old World.

This Tarnan Mayor and robot guard captain probably knew that the Superior Heartless could interfere with electromagnetic signals to create an illusion that could affect robots. However, it felt that it shouldn’t avoid something essential because of a slight risk and completely abandon the communications between the various defenses.

They couldn’t just rely on shouting to communicate, right? Their voices could also be distorted and tampered with!

After the mission was completed, the participants could choose to return the phones or keep them as partial payment.

The only problem was that the cell phone’s main functions would basically be non-functional once they left Tarnan. It could only be used as a miniature computer to read novels and play some simple games.

Even if one were to head to a place like Weed City—which also had a base station—they had to register with the supervisor and obtain permission before they could make calls again.

Although Jiang Baimian had never used a cell phone, she was smart enough and had experience with other electronic products. After struggling for a few minutes, she roughly figured out how to answer phones, make phone calls, read novels, and play games.

At this moment, she swiped her thumb and brought the phone to her ear. “Hello.”

“I’m Genava.” A mellow male voice sounded from the other end of the line.

Jiang Baimian smiled and asked, “Good news?”

“Yes,” Genava replied firmly.

Yes... Jiang Baimian’s other hand instantly clenched into a fist, and she gently pumped it.

Upon noticing her reaction, Shang Jianyao turned around and stretched out his right hand toward Long Yuehong.

Long Yuehong was taken aback, not wanting to show that he understood this lunatic. But under Shang Jianyao’s persistent gaze, he still stretched out his right hand and slapped Shang Jianyao’s palm.

At this moment, Genava’s subsequent words entered Jiang Baimian’s ears. “Source Brain just gave a reply: When this matter is resolved, and you have made the corresponding contribution, you can pose the questions you want to ask over the phone. The time limit is five minutes.”

Shang Jianyao—who had narrowed the distance with Jiang Baimian’s head and was eavesdropping on the phone call—gasped. “That’s difficult. How can we come up with five minutes’ worth of questions?”

“...” Genava fell silent for a moment before saying, “This includes the answers.”

“That’s too short.” Shang Jianyao didn’t show any signs of being ashamed of his mistake.

Jiang Baimian suspected that Genava had succumbed to Shang Jianyao’s ‘rhetoric.’

“...” Genava fell silent again before saying, “This is decided by the Source Brain. I can’t make any further compromises.”

“No matter what, thank you!” Jiang Baimian’s mood became rather good when she saw that her main mission had made significant progress.

“Thank you,” Shang Jianyao said.

Jiang Baimian then hung up, put away her phone, and smiled. “That’s strange. Why doesn’t the Source Brain agree to a meeting request and has an extremely unyielding attitude, but it doesn’t reject a call?”

This was her usual form of leading questions.

“Is it because there’s something special about the Source Brain that will result in the leakage of secrets when we meet?” Long Yuehong was now considered an experienced and knowledgeable Ruin Hunter.

“What’s so special about a smart supercomputer? At least, it’s hard to tell from its appearance, right?” Jiang Baimian asked.

Long Yuehong was momentarily speechless.

Shang Jianyao smiled and said, “Maybe it’s not a supercomputer but a person.”

Jiang Baimian followed Shang Jianyao’s train of thought and retorted, “They can talk to us in their supercomputer form then. They can hide far away and not be afraid of being sensed.”

Long Yuehong was confused. “Then, what’s the difference between this and using a phone to communicate?”

“Nothing.” Jiang Baimian laughed. “That’s why it’s strange.”

At this moment, Bai Chen deliberated and said, “If the Source Brain agrees to meet, where will we meet?”

Jiang Baimian nodded slightly. “The Source Brain shouldn’t be able to move, at least not easily. Therefore, our meeting will definitely be in the city where Mechanical Paradise’s headquarters is.”

Long Yuehong came to a realization. “Team Leader, are you saying that the secret lies in that city—Mechanical Paradise’s headquarters?”

“Something like that.” Jiang Baimian smiled and said, “I’m very curious. What secrets does such a city—which mainly produces all kinds of robots—have to hide...”

As they discussed, the jeep arrived outside the Hunter’s Guild.

The local guild president, Gu Bo, was in charge of arranging the defenses. Compared to Genava—who had just been assigned to Tarnan for a few years—Gu Bo, who had lived and fought here for more than 40 years, was clearly more familiar with the surroundings. Therefore, Genava—who had gathered a bellyful of data and felt that he had no problems in this regard—ultimately didn’t take on everything and fully trusted these ‘professionals.’

On the second floor of the Hunter’s Guild, outside Room 1.

Jiang Baimian looked at the two mirrors hanging on the brownish-red wooden door and smiled. “It feels like Tarnan’s folklore has changed overnight...”

Everyone carried a mirror, and every household hung up mirrors.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Shang Jianyao politely knocked on the door.

Gu Bo’s voice sounded. “Please come in.” He was still wearing the black uniform and holding a silver thermos. His thin and small body was curled up in the high-back chair.

Upon seeing Jiang Baimian and the others enter and sit down, Gu Bo straightened his white and sparse hair and smiled. “Fortunately, I didn’t offend you previously. Otherwise, I would’ve really been beaten up.”

Jiang Baimian wasn’t present during Long Yuehong, Bai Chen, and Gu Bo’s conversation and had only heard the highlights. She couldn’t figure out what was going on, so she could only ask with a smile, “Why do you say so?”

Gu Bo took a sip of water from the thermos and smiled. “You guys exceeded my expectations. Your performance last night—not only were you fine while in the area with the most hallucinations, but you also aided in the survival of so many people. How can you not have some ability?”

Back at Tarnan General Hospital, Jiang Baimian and the others had learned of the exact number of casualties. It was said that apart from the Mountain Fox bandits, only two townsfolk—who had been shot—had died from excessive blood loss.

Everyone else was fine.

Compared to the tragic situation where Ninth Zhang was the only survivor in his Ruin Hunter team, this couldn’t be any better.

“What has this got to do with us beating you up?” Shang Jianyao’s thoughts weren’t on Gu Bo’s implied praise at all; he only wanted to figure out this question.

Gu Bo was momentarily speechless as Long Yuehong coughed.

After a few seconds, he forced a smile and said, “I’m just being witty, lad. Don’t be so serious.”

“Is that so...” Shang Jianyao was clearly a little disappointed.

Jiang Baimian followed the topic and smiled casually. “President Gu, are you afraid of us beating someone as impressive as you?”

“No, no, no.” Gu Bo shook his head. “I’m just an ordinary person. I didn’t even realize that I was hallucinating last night.”

At this point, he looked around and chuckled. “There are many powerful people in the Ashlands, but they are limited; it’s not easy to encounter them. When Mu Sha and I were young, we were considered the best among ordinary people. Our experience, knowledge, marksmanship, physical fitness, and combat abilities were all passable. That’s how we survived to this day and ended up as hunters.

“Actually, we might’ve died if we were to go elsewhere. Fortunately, Tarnan is relatively safe, and the surrounding ruins aren’t that dangerous. If there’s really a serious problem, there’s still the robot guards.”

As he spoke, Gu Bo picked up the thermos and took a sip. “It wasn’t the best of times back then; it wasn’t easy to just eat our fill. Unlike now, one might manage to smuggle genetic enhancement liquid or have the opportunity to get a mechanical arm installed someday. I can’t compare to you—not at all.”

The last half of his sentence was said while looking at the Old Task Force quartet with an expression that said he was born in the wrong period.

Jiang Baimian didn’t continue the topic and asked, “President Gu, how long have you been a Ruin Hunter?”

“The Hunter’s Guild didn’t exist when I first started,” Gu Bo replied with a smile.

Just as he said that, Shang Jianyao spoke before Jiang Baimian could. “Then, do you know a Hunter named Du Heng?”