Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 618: Two

Translator: CKtalon

Bai Chen adjusted her posture and slowly aimed. Long Yuehong and Genava—wearing the Blackmarsh Iron Snake bionic artificial intelligence armor and Chameleon bionic artificial intelligence armor respectively—sneaked toward the hidden cave.

Jiang Baimian turned her head and reminded Shang Jianyao, “You don’t have to consider Thought Guidance. It shouldn’t be effective since they don’t understand you.”

Although she knew that it was impossible for Shang Jianyao not to know this given his combat intelligence and experience, she was always afraid that he would suddenly switch to the personality that was always making different attempts. Therefore, despite clearly being a reminder, it was more a ‘warning.’

Shang Jianyao—who was warming up before the battle—replied indifferently, “If you don’t follow them, they’ll shake you off.”

His warm-up was based on the radio gymnastics he had learned from Wang Fugui. He was methodical and energetic.

Jiang Baimian stopped breathing for a moment, gritted her teeth, and stared at Long Yuehong’s back when she heard his words. She then steered the military exoskeleton and chased after him, placing one foot ahead of the other.

The reason she didn’t fixate her gaze on Genava was that the smart bot had already used the Chameleon bionic artificial intelligence armor to hide and disappear from her sight. Although Jiang Baimian could still sense the electric signals, she felt that it wasn’t safe enough and believed it only when she could see it.

Long Yuehong quickly saw the four Heartless guarding the cave—they were all men.

Like ordinary Heartless, they had slightly hunched backs. Their eyes were turbid and bloodshot, and their hair was messy and greasy. The muscles on their faces were somewhat deformed as well.

They were wearing clothes that didn’t fit well and had many traces of sewing while holding assault rifles, hunting rifles, shotguns, and submachine guns.

For proper teams belonging to large factions, it wasn’t beneficial to have too many types of weapons. After all, every type of ammunition had to be prepared, and the knowledge on how to repair every type of firearm was required; this especially affected logistical efficiency. However, even Ruin Hunters couldn’t care less about this, much less Heartless that threw away anything that had been depleted.

Long Yuehong focused on the four Heartless and waited for Bai Chen to fire the first shot.

Almost silently, a bullet quickly flew over and sank into a Heartless’s head. His head bloomed like a red flower.

This was the signal. Long Yuehong and Jiang Baimian simultaneously jumped out of their hiding spots and stormed into the cave.

As they rushed forward, they didn’t forget to use their assault rifles and the submachine guns attached to the military exoskeletons to provide suppressive fire.

Amidst concentrated gunshots, one of the three Heartless’s heads bloomed as he died under Bai Chen’s shot. Another was executed by Genava, who had blocked him after stealthily approaching. The other was hit several times as blood splattered.

A Heartless in the cave sensed the commotion as they fell to the ground and jumped out. She was a cap-wearing woman with a dirty face.

As her gaze locked onto Jiang Baimian—who had caught up to Long Yuehong—half of Jiang Baimian’s body suddenly turned numb. She couldn’t control the military exoskeleton any longer and toppled to the side.

The woman raised the shotgun in her hand at the same time.

Jiang Baimian’s eyes suddenly glazed over as the female Heartless’s shotgun rose two inches.

Bang!

A large number of iron pellets spewed into the air.

Spatial Hallucination!

Jiang Baimian used Spatial Hallucination to make the enemy err in judgment and aim at an empty spot.

As a Heartless, the woman had a beast-like intuition. She sensed danger after her shot failed and quickly retreated into the cave to escape through another exit.

But at this moment, her feet no longer obeyed her.

Limbs Immobility!

Boom!

Jiang Baimian—who had fallen to the ground—fired a rocket at the cave.

The explosion swallowed the Superior Heartless and tore apart a portion of her body.

Amidst the smoke, Genava and Long Yuehong rushed into the cave one after another. The first thing they saw was the human corpse hanging high above, gently swaying with the blast from the explosion.

These corpses had been stripped naked. Some had even lost their skin, revealing their flesh and blood.

There were dozens of them; they were wilderness nomads from the settlement that had been attacked. The youngest was only a few years old and was being dried.

Long Yuehong’s eyes reddened when he saw this. He picked up the Berserker assault rifle in his hand and fired at the Heartless who had dodged the blast.

The Heartless were hit by the bullets before they could react. Bloody holes riddled their bodies, and some bullets blew off chunks of their body.

Long Yuehong was just about to reload when his mind suddenly buzzed. Intense, instinctive fear then surfaced in his heart.

He began to tremble and forgot to use his weapon. He saw a man with dark skin that resembled half an iron tower walk out from the cave’s depths.

This man’s hair was like a chicken’s coop, and his eyes were turbid. He exuded ferocity—clearly another Heartless. He was only wearing canvas pants and had a naked upper body. He constantly let out deep roars.

A terrifying aura spread out. Long Yuehong’s legs went limp, and he almost couldn’t withstand his body weight.

At this moment, Genava—who wouldn’t be affected—was in a fierce fight with a few skilled Heartless that had used the cave’s boulders for cover and concealment.

Some of the Heartless used individual combat rocket launchers, and some carried sniper rifles that were more suitable for long distances. All of them could threaten Genava to a certain extent.

Of course, Genava didn’t care too much because he was now wearing a Chameleon bionic artificial intelligence armor. He only believed that he had to suppress these enemies because of the cave environment to prevent the shockwaves and shrapnel from injuring Jiang Baimian, who was following behind.

Genava didn’t think he had to worry too much about Long Yuehong—who was equipped with the Blackmarsh Iron Snake bionic artificial intelligence armor.

The corporeal fear seemed to turn into a hammer that struck Jiang Baimian’s heart again and again. However, not only did she not tremble after entering the cave, but she also looked excited.

Another Superior Heartless? The one that Old Ge previously mentioned? It’s indeed abnormal for such a small group of Heartless to have two Superior Heartless… Jiang Baimian abandoned the rocket launcher and picked up the grenade launcher amidst the suffocating fear.

Stimulation Disorder!

Thanks to Genava’s previous reconnaissance, Jiang Baimian had modified her reaction to such stimuli in advance, turning her fear and horror into excitement and stimulation.

The inspiration for such modifications came from Shang Jianyao.

Bang!

A grenade flew at the muscular, tanned Superior Heartless. He—who had wanted to dodge—lost control of his feet.

Boom!

The male Superior Heartless’s upper body was hit by the grenade and exploded, instantly blasting into pieces.

The Heartless playing hide and seek with Genava jumped out one after another, appearing extremely ‘brave.’ Amidst the gunfire, they fell under Genava’s sweeping shots.

Meanwhile, Long Yuehong returned to normal and rushed deeper into the cave. He skillfully reloaded the Berserker assault rifle and constantly fired at the enemies along the way.

Suddenly, a figure appeared in his eyes—it was a Heartless less than ten years old.

Apart from his turbid eyes, facial muscles, and teeth that had mutated to a certain extent needed for biting and chewing, he was no different from a normal human child.

He hunched his back and warily looked at Long Yuehong. His body constantly trembled, and his eyes were filled with tears from fear. He looked helpless and pitiful.

Long Yuehong hesitated for a moment and didn’t pull the trigger.

The young Heartless suddenly took out a grenade that had its ring pulled out at some point in time and threw it at Long Yuehong with a ferocious gaze.

Long Yuehong’s pupils froze as he reflexively pounced to the side and curled up in midair.

Boom!

Long Yuehong dodged the immediate blast, but shrapnel struck the bionic artificial intelligence armor; none of them penetrated his armor.

The only place he wasn’t protected was the T1 mechanical arm. Its hardness far exceeded that of the Blackmarsh Iron Snake.

When Long Yuehong panted and rolled to his feet, the young Heartless had already been blasted into a sieve by Jiang Baimian.

As the Heartless fell to the ground one after another, the assault team arrived deep in the cave. Only two young female Heartless and the children behind them were left.

The two Heartless stared at Long Yuehong and the others with extremely tense bodies, shielding the ferocious-looking young ones—who weren’t more than five years old—behind them.

They whimpered in an attempt to scare the enemy away, but their bodies trembled uncontrollably, revealing the fear in their hearts.

They didn’t take a step back.

Jiang Baimian and Long Yuehong slowed down at the same time and didn’t attack.

At this moment, a grenade passed them and flew deep into the cave.

The figures collapsed amidst the loud explosion.

Genava came to Jiang Baimian and Long Yuehong’s side and said in a slightly synthetic voice, “They are now enemies of humanity.. Being benevolent to them is a crime against humanity.”