Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 828 Rendezvous

Ceningmis, at the periphery of the main city area.

Genava and the military exoskeleton-wearing Shang Jianyao walked to the suburbs from under a bridge. They didn’t return the way they came; the latter also hid his human consciousness the entire time to prevent them from being discovered by the Eighth Research Institute members summoned by the gigantic feline creature.

The rash Shang Jianyao suggested laying an ambush for a counterattack, but the motion was rejected by the other Shang Jianyaos before it entered a vote. This was because they didn’t know how many people the Eighth Research Institute had stationed in Ceningmis and what their overall strength was.

Even if Vice President, Professor Li, and the other New World powerhouses weren’t carried over and were sleeping here to preside over the area, it was already tough enough for the Old Task Force to deal with two to three Awakened who had explored the Mind Corridor’s depths.

After taking a few steps in the wilderness, Shang Jianyao suddenly turned around and laughed out loud.

“What’s wrong?” As a smart bot, Genava had a rather good temper.

“No, not that sentence.” Shang Jianyao looked at Genava, hoping that the latter could understand him.

“What do you mean by ‘not that sentence?'” Genava expressed his confusion.

Shang Jianyao replied in exasperation, “At a time like this, you should be asking, ‘Why art thou laughing?'”

Genava quickly searched through the database for this sentence and came to a realization. “Do you want me to cooperate with you and reenact that classic scene?”

“That’s right!” Shang Jianyao guided him patiently. “A real person can’t be old-fashioned and rigid; they have to keep up with the times and fully grasp the corresponding culture. They have to be able to accept memes that their companions throw at them.”

The Chameleon-like Genava moved his neck up and down and readily agreed. “Why art thou laughing?”

Shang Jianyao laughed. “I’m laughing at how stupid and rigid the Eighth Research Institute’s people are; they actually didn’t wait at the main exits to ambush us. Do they think we will definitely return the way we came?”

“Maybe they just don’t have enough manpower and can only choose the most likely route to intercept us.” Genava analyzed the situation at hand.

Shang Jianyao clicked his tongue with a chuckle. “If it’s really as you say, their problem is that they only stationed a small number of people to guard Ceningmis. It’s not even enough! Their arrogance has made them careless.”

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At this point, Shang Jianyao raised his right hand and stroked the Berserker assault rifle’s surface against his chin. He muttered to himself, “It’s also possible that they believe that the people who venture deep into Ceningmis’s main city area can’t come out in one piece. They will either die or become Heartless. Therefore, they might as well not send anyone to block or ambush them.

“That big cat followed us to confirm if we really entered the most dangerous area deep in the main city area.”

Genava had some doubts about this. “But nothing is absolute. There will always be people who enter the main city’s depths and come out alive, such as you. People like you shouldn’t be an exception. It’s very normal for such situations to happen a handful of times over the years.”

Shang Jianyao smiled. “Then, why do you think I came out intact?”

“The night is long; the Arbiter of Fate blesses thee.” This time, Genava was very cooperative. “It’s also possible that it’s Namo Annutara-Samyak-Subhuti or ‘The Perfected Man has no self; the New World is before

us.”

Shang Jianyao nodded in satisfaction. “Therefore, even if there previously were people who came out alive like me, it was most likely because they obtained a Kalendaria’s blessing. How would the Eighth Research Institute dare to rashly ambush a target protected by a Kalendaria? Aren’t they afraid of another instance of Doctor being terrified by Eidolon Nun again?”

Genava completely understood what Shang Jianyao wanted to say. “Ignore those who die inside; nothing can be done to those who come out alive, right?”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Shang Jianyao thumped the Berserker assault rifle with his chin to replace his hands. He then said, “The problem now is: Since there’s no need to care, why did the Eighth Research Institute send people over or let the big cat patrol?”

“It’s difficult to complete the analysis without the necessary conditions,” Genava replied truthfully.

Shang Jianyao didn’t mock the Eighth Research Institute again. Together with Genava, they returned to the increasingly bright sky. When they approached the forest, they stopped one after another.

Genava stopped first, followed by Shang Jianyao.

“The rendezvous point has been changed…” Shang Jianyao looked at the hidden marks left behind by his companions and sighed with emotion.

Genava rotated his neck before turning it back in the opposite direction. “Big White and the others probably encountered something and had to move camp.”

“I missed it again!” Shang Jianyao felt pained and disappointed. “If I had known, I would’ve stayed here in the forest today and let you explore Ceningmis’s main city yourself.”

As he spoke, he and Genava circled around the forest from afar according to the markings and headed for the second designated rendezvous point.

In a hidden spot in the mountains, they successfully rendezvoused with Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen.

After Jiang Baimian finished describing the attack on them, Shang Jianyao took out the small, black speaker with a blue bottom and patted it in relief. “You’ve done something! You are deserving of the title of an Old Task Force member!”

Without waiting for Long Yuehong and the others to speak, he suggested excitedly, “Shall we track the traces now and launch a counter-attack?”

“There’s no rush.” Jiang Baimian looked up at the sky. “One is always the most vigilant at the beginning. Besides, the sky is still a little bright.”

She then asked, “Did you discover anything in the main city area? Did you guys do something that triggered a certain change to all of Ceningmis?”

“Yes!” The Shang Jianyaos recounted their previous experiences, and Genava was in charge of filling in the gaps.

Long Yuehong became more and more solemn as he listened. Finally, he concluded, “There’s an overlap between Ceningmis and the New World. The deeper one goes, the worse the overlap becomes?”

“That’s about it.” Shang Jianyao guessed in anticipation. “Maybe there’s a door that leads to the New World at the root of the problem. It’s located in the Ashlands, not the Mind Corridor.”

Bai Chen frowned and said, “It has only been about ten years since Ceningmis was destroyed. There have never been any signs of a New World door before. Back then, or even earlier, there were rumors that led to the New World’s entrance hidden somewhere in the Ashlands. It can’t be referring to Ceningmis, right?”

“Who said that there’s only one door that leads to the New World?” Shang Jianyao smiled. “The disaster that destroyed Ceningmis back then might’ve created another New World door.”

Bai Chen nodded, believing that such a situation was indeed possible.

Jiang Baimian tersely acknowledged it. “The reason the team that investigated the cause of the Old World’s destruction came to Ceningmis must be that there’s a certain problem here and that there are relatively important clues hidden.”

She was referring to the Old Task Force that Shang Jianyao’s father was a member of.

“What problem could it be? What clues?” Genava helped pick out the key points.

Nobody could answer.

Even Shang Jianyao only sighed and said, “We didn’t find any survivors for the time being.”

At this point, he suddenly became excited. He looked in the direction of Ceningmis’s main city area and said, “Apart from using a nuclear bomb, how should we resolve the problem of the overlap between Ceningmis and the New World?”

“Approach the source of the problem and channel all the electricity to destroy the overlapping phenomenon?” Long Yuehong postulated.

Genava analyzed the situation. “We might not have enough electricity now.”

“Yes, we can consider going to the White Knights’ sphere of influence first and filling up the batteries.” Jiang Baimian looked at the sky again. “If we can attract summer thunderstorms down and guide them to the main city of Ceningmis, the problem will be easily resolved. I remember that the Old World had weather weapons that used similar principles. Unfortunately, no faction can create them now.”

She tersely exclaimed and continued, “Besides, it will be very difficult for us to investigate what happened back then if we completely destroy Ceningmis’s electromagnetic environment.”

Currently, scenes from the past were constantly being replayed in the depths of the Ceningmis main city district.

“That’s right.” Shang Jianyao chose to agree.

Jiang Baimian pondered for a moment and said, “Actually, approaching the source of the problem without agitating the vortex is possible.”

“How?” Shang Jianyao’s eyes lit up.

Jiang Baimian explained, “At the edge of that area where you encountered Flora and Barnard, they couldn’t see or hear you, only sensing the corresponding human consciousness when you walked to their side. The man sitting in the library seemed to be able to see you or sense Hey’s human consciousness when you passed by.

“To put it simply, I suspect that the closer one is to the source of the problem, the more obvious the overlapping situation becomes. With that, the more likely it is for a powerhouse in the New World to detect the situation in Ceningmis.

“In the beginning, they can’t see or hear anything. You needed to be close enough for them to sense you. Later, they could see, hear, and sense you from a certain distance…

“Therefore, if you had chosen to circle around the square from the outside, there’s a high chance that you wouldn’t have alarmed the man sitting in the library. You can also do the same when you encounter similar projections later, but the closer you are to the root of the problem, the more careful you have to be. Leave enough buffer; take a detour rather than conserving energy.”

“That makes sense,” Genava said. “But this solution probably won’t work once we reach the deepest depths. There should be projections everywhere there, and we can’t circle around them.”

Jiang Baimian nodded slightly and said, “When the time comes, Hey should be able to sense the vortex directly and determine where the root cause of the problem is.”

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Clap! Clap! Clap!

Shang Jianyao—who had put away the small speaker and the Life Angel necklaceapplauded. He also took off his military exoskeleton to conserve electricity.

After some discussion on this problem, the Old Task Force began to eat rations and drink potable water. They were mentally and physically prepared to track the Eighth Research Institute’s personnel.

Ceningmis was controlled by the Eighth Research Institute, so Jiang Baimian and the others didn’t believe that the assailant belonged to another faction.