Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 820 Voices

Genava gained confirmation of his lip-reading and asked Shang Jianyao, “I didn’t gather any sound waves. How did you hear her?”

“It rang in my head!” Shang Jianyao seemed to have found a new and fun game.

Without waiting for Genava’s response, he shouted at the man and woman, “Can you hear me?”

He deliberately raised his voice. Coupled with the echo from the café’s walls and glass, it turned into a resounding boom.

The blond woman in a white dress and the elder in a formal suit with half of his body trembling didn’t react. They only continued staring at the spot Shang Jianyao was standing in. Shang Jianyao thought for a moment and jumped horizontally. With the exoskeleton’s help, he moved several meters forward and arrived in front of Genava from the nearby coffee table.

The blond lady and the formal elder turned their bodies and turned their heads to the two of them. However, they didn’t get up, their actions clearly stilted.

The former propped herself up with her hands on the edge of the table and barely moved her body to the designated spot as if she were stuck between the seat and the table. The latter looked like he couldn’t exert any strength with his left and could collapse at any moment. “They can totally see me!” Shang Jianyao’s face—which was covered by the helmet visor

—was filled with the joy of the experiment’s success.

“But they don’t seem to hear you,” Genava added a conclusion.

Shang Jianyao was immediately vexed. “How can I communicate with them? How should I answer that I’m indeed the Arbiter of Fate’s Blessed?”

“Nod.” The smart bot’s thoughts had always been extremely clear unless it encountered a bug. “That’s right!” Shang Jianyao moved his head vigorously.

As he nodded, he muttered, “Unfortunately, I didn’t systematically learn sign language, or I could’ve communicated directly. I can use sign language to express myself, and Old Ge can read their lips. That’s not right. They might not be able to understand sign language, so we can only rely on common body language…”

However, the two of them ignored his nod; yet, they didn’t look away.

Genava was just about to analyze the situation and get Shang Jianyao to wait patiently to see if he could still hear the lady when Shang Jianyao came to a realization. “I get it! They actually can’t see me; they can only vaguely sense my human consciousness!”

He then turned his head and said to Genava, “Therefore, it’s me they’ve been ‘looking’ at, not you.”

“Then, how did the voice you heard come about?” Genava asked.

Shang Jianyao replied firmly, “Telepathy! Maybe they are also Mind Corridor-level Awakened. They might already be at my door and are shouting inside.

“I have to check my room.”

He did as he said. He closed his eyes on the spot and raised his right hand to massage his temples.

Although his temples were actually blocked by the military exoskeleton’s helmet and his fingers couldn’t touch it, he still had to carry out the necessary ritual.

The next second, Shang Jianyao fell asleep while standing.

As soon as he appeared in Room 131, he immediately ran to the door and tried to open it for the guests. The rash Shang Jianyao was then held back by the arms that appeared from his body.

His head automatically went to the peephole and sized up the situation outside.

There was nobody outside.

He then carefully opened the door and looked around.

No guests came.

“Sigh…” He sighed in disappointment and returned to the real world.

“How is it?” Genava sensed the motion from his body.

Shang Jianyao replied regretfully, “Nothing.”

He had always been hospitable.

“How should we communicate…” Shang Jianyao fell into deep thought again.

Suddenly, he shouted, “She spoke to me again! It’s: Leave this place!”

“Leave this place…” Genava repeated these words as he cast his gaze at the man and woman to check their lips.

Shang Jianyao spoke in Ashlandic, so even as a smart bot, he couldn’t tell if Shang Jianyao had said ‘he’ or ‘she.’

At this moment, be it the blond lady or the formal elder, they shut their mouths again.

Genava could only ask Shang Jianyao, “Is leaving this place a warning or a reminder?”

This could mainly be determined by the tone.

“It feels like a reminder,” Shang Jianyao said as he recalled.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he pulled his tactical backpack in front of him.

With a zipping sound, the zipper was unzipped.

Shang Jianyao’s right hand reached into his backpack and grabbed the small, lake-green jade Buddha. He then explained to Genava, who had a red glow in his eyes, “In the steelworks factory ruins, this small jade Buddha was the intersection of reality and illusion. It might help me communicate with the people opposite me now.”

Just as Shang Jianyao said that, the small jade Buddha suddenly emitted a faint, clear glow.

This was like an aqueous wave that drowned the entire café. Be it the darkness or the area illuminated by light, they were dyed green.

Shang Jianyao then heard the blond lady’s words again. “Subhuti’s bestowment?”

At the same time, Genava let out a slightly synthetic voice. “I can hear it this time.”

This meant that both parties could communicate.

The small jade Buddha was really useful!

“Yes, yes, yes.” Shang Jianyao smiled and answered the blond lady’s question. As a polite person, although he didn’t raise his visor to reveal his face, he still politely asked, “The both of you are?”

The blond lady frowned slightly as if she were considering something and casually replied, “Flora, from the Orange Company.” The elder in formal clothing spoke with a wavering voice, “Barnard, from the Linhai Alliance.”

Without waiting for the two people opposite him to ask, Shang Jianyao took the initiative to say his name. “Shang Jianyao, from Pangu Biology.”

At this moment, Genava used the communications system to inform Shang Jianyao about the two names he had searched through his database. “Flora is a relatively common female name in the Orange Company’s sphere of influence. The most famous one used to be their board member, but it’s said that she has been dead for more than 20 years.

“There was once a president in the Linhai Alliance named Barnard. He was the first president of the Red River race there. He also passed away 11 years ago.”

“They’ve all passed away?” Not only was Shang Jianyao not terrified, but he was also abnormally excited. “Did we really encounter ghosts?”

Before he could finish his sentence, he suddenly heard a clear sizzling sound.

The scene in the café warped, and a large number of static spots even appeared like a malfunctioning television.

At this moment, Flora finally understood the current situation. Before the darkness could sweep over, tear apart, and drown the lights in the café, she shouted, “Never ever enter the New World!”

As the sharp voice echoed, the green light emitted by the small jade Buddha disappeared. The yellowish light that illuminated the area by the window was also extinguished, and the two figures disappeared.

Genava then realized that there was no café in front of him. There was only a pile of worthless trash.

Even the window was covered in cracks.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Shang Jianyao shouted a few more times, but there was only silence.

“What’s going on?” he muttered to himself.

Without waiting for Genava to analyze the situation, he answered his question. “It would be interesting if the ones we saw-Flora and Barnard-are indeed the long deceased that Old Ge mentioned. To be able to sit on the Orange Company’s board of directors and the Linhai Alliance’s president seat, the two of them are most likely Awakened who have explored the Mind Corridor’s depths.

“Could their deaths be another way of saying that they entered the New World? After all, they can’t often appear from now on and can only return occasionally?”

“Very likely,” Genava commented objectively. “Do you think we just saw a scene from the New World?”

He skipped many inference steps and came to a direct conclusion.

Shang Jianyao smiled. “Ceningmis is closely related to the New World to begin with. This either comes from a large New World node or comes from a high-level existence’s body that is sleeping; this brought about the spread of the Heartless virus. Since the Heartless virus has spread, it’s normal for New World overlaps to happen in certain areas in Ceningmis.” Genava moved his metal neck up and down. “To put it simply, the scene just now might very well be a projection created by the New World’s power leakage.”

“That’s right.” Shang Jianyao suddenly felt depressed. “I should’ve asked a few more questions in one breath!”

Genava consoled him. “It’s already pretty good to receive a reminder not to enter the New World.”

“They’re pretty nice,” Shang Jianyao commented sincerely. He then looked out the window and smiled. “If we continue deeper, we might encounter more New World scenes.”

Genava easily interpreted the fellow’s hidden meaning: This is too interesting!

He had to remind Shang Jianyao, “But it also means that the probability of contracting the Heartless disease rises exponentially. Besides, the ones we encounter in the future might not be as friendly as Flora and Barnard. When the time comes, the Life Angel necklace might not be able to protect you from the two problems.”

Shang Jianyao’s response had nothing to do with Genava’s words. He excitedly asked, “Will we encounter an old friend?”

“Who?” Genava asked.

“Doctor.” Shang Jianyao had an expression that said: “If he’s still alive, I’ll give him a nuclear bomb!”

With that said, Shang Jianyao put away the small jade Buddha, held the Berserker assault rifle again, and walked to the café’s entrance.

The next second, he stopped.

“What’s wrong?” Genava asked in concern.

Shang Jianyao requested help without any hesitation. “Help me open the door. It opens inward, so I can’t kick it open directly.”

One of his hands had been paralyzed ‘all this while,’ and the other held a weapon that he couldn’t use.