Embers Ad Infinitum

Subhuti? Bai Chen resisted the urge to listen carefully.

On the one hand, she still remembered her team leader's exhortations. The trauma of encountering 'accidents' made her afraid to delve deeper. On the other hand, the people at the table temporarily shut their mouths and didn't talk when they saw them pass by.

After leaving the restaurant, Bai Chen deliberately didn't look at Long Yuehong beside her. She suppressed her voice and said to Jiang Baimian, "Team Leader, the people at the table just now seem to be talking about Subhuti."

"Ah, fellow parishioners." Zen Master Redemption Shang Jianyao was rather happy. He pressed his palms together and said, "Namo Annutara-Samyak-Subhuti."

Jiang Baimian chuckled. "The ones discussing Subhuti might not be Buddhists. It might also be historians like us."

The Old Task Force was essentially studying history and restoring the truth.

Without giving Shang Jianyao a chance to answer, she pointed ahead and said, "Ignore that. Let's return to the hotel and focus on charging."

Life was filled with forked roads. She didn't want to lose her bearings on the real path and make a wrong choice on the path of fate.

This wasn't because she really believed that there was anything wrong with Long Yuehong or Shang Jianyao's destiny. It was because she was overly suspicious of everything due to the group of Kalendarium backing them.

"Alright." Shang Jianyao was rather disappointed.

After having their fill, the four of them walked to the Fire & Iron Hotel amidst the relatively bad air and the street lamps that lit up on both sides of the road.

Long Yuehong walked the short distance of a few dozen meters on the edge.

Fortunately, nothing happened along the way, and they successfully entered the hotel.

Phew… Long Yuehong secretly exhaled.

Shang Jianyao glanced at him regretfully and didn't say anything. He only shook his head.

Long Yuehong—who was prepared to argue with him—felt stifled. He really wanted to ask this fellow what he meant.

At this moment, Jiang Baimian saw the blond, blue-eyed receptionist packing up.

He held a canvas backpack, pulled open the drawer, and placed a United 202 pistol, two boxes of bullets, and a few grenades inside.

"Getting off work?" Shang Jianyao asked enthusiastically.

"That's right," the receptionist replied with a bright smile. "I'm waiting for my colleague to take over the job before heading to the Hunter's Guild to see if there are any suitable missions."

As he spoke, he put on his backpack and picked up a double-barrel hunting rifle.

This armed appearance made Long Yuehong feel that he was actually trying to break out of prison instead of being a hotel's receptionist.

Is this the White Knights? he muttered inwardly.

The receptionist looked at the door and didn't see his colleague. He impatiently returned to his original spot.

Jiang Baimian swept her gaze and realized that there was a thin booklet in front of him. On it was a drawing with words written on it. They were separated as if they were listing something.

"What's this?" Shang Jianyao never disappointed Jiang Baimian when it came to curiosity.

The receptionist looked down at the booklet and smiled. "I obtained a list of genetic enhancement drugs from the castle. I'm almost done saving up, so I want to choose which enhancement I'll do next in advance."

"Oh, oh." Shang Jianyao approached and asked without any reservations, "What's available? Can you show us?"

"Sure." The receptionist didn't mind at all. "You can also get it from the castle. To them, this might be a business lead. Heh heh, you might not have some genetic enhancement drugs we have here."

As he spoke, Shang Jianyao had already stretched out his hand to pick up the book. Jiang Baimian and the others leaned over and read it together.

Long Yuehong was shocked by what he saw. He had never imagined that the White Knights had dozens to over a hundred types of genetic enhancement drugs!

Over the years, Pangu Biology had only accumulated three types: the oldest and less effective Type 1, the experimental Type 2, and Type 3 with outstanding effects and almost no negative effects.

It was only when they reached Type 3 that Pangu Biology promoted and universalized genetic enhancement internally. Therefore, when Pangu Biology's employees talked about genetic enhancement drugs, they didn't deliberately mention which type it was. They tacitly meant Type 3.

As far as Jiang Baimian knew, the company's research focus after Type 3 was on targeting the employees who received poor enhancement effects. They wanted to find the exact reason and develop a more targeted subtype. There might be more than ten of them, or perhaps only two or three.

Considering the receptionist's existence, Long Yuehong didn't share his surprise or dumbfoundedness with Bai Chen. He seriously read the introduction on the list.

After Shang Jianyao flipped through three pages, he roughly understood what was going on.

Pangu Biology's genetic enhancement serum and the corresponding drugs could allow a person to obtain a comprehensive improvement: from height, brain, looks, immunity, and environment adaptation—almost everything.

Of course, the exact effects were different depending on one's physique.

The White Knights' genetic enhancement drugs were a 'unilateral' improvement. For example, the X series was an optimization for human immunity. The X-3 series was the basic model and also a mature model that was the cheapest. It could allow the recipients to resist pollution very well.

There were also a few which had better effects.

The A series was an optimization of looks that involved facial features and height. The B series enhanced one's reaction speed, etc.

Overall, the White Knights needed to combine many types of genetic enhancement drugs to result in a person obtaining a comprehensive improvement. But if it was only in terms of individual effects, Pangu Biology's genetic enhancement was inferior to that of the White Knights.

Jiang Baimian was previously aware of this. Her understanding was: The White Knights took a different approach and achieved a certain extreme in 'unilateral optimization.' Pangu Biology was more balanced and comprehensive.

Most of the time, it's a considerable burden on the body to only carry out 'unilateral optimization…' There might be a reason for so few elders in the White Knights who are past 50… As Jiang Baimian's thoughts raced, she heard Shang Jianyao ask the receptionist, "Which drug do you plan on buying this time?"

The receptionist revealed a hesitant expression. "I plan on choosing between the C series and the K series."

The C series gave enhanced balance and coordination abilities, and the K series enhanced memories and learning abilities.

Without waiting for Shang Jianyao's response, the receptionist continued, "As you know, apart from the basic X series, a person can only undergo three genetic enhancements in their life. I've already taken the E series and the A series once. There's only one last chance left; I have to consider it seriously."

The E series was a genetic enhancement drug that enhanced muscles.

Shang Jianyao asked in confusion, "Since you know that there are only three chances, why did you choose the A series?"

From his point of view, looks were the least important.

The receptionist sighed. "To obtain height. If a person has height, they can have relatively good combat strength by increasing their weight and training hard."

He was nearly 1.8 meters tall and similar to Jiang Baimian. Although he looked alright, he wasn't especially outstanding.

Long Yuehong determined that the genetic enhancement drugs this person could buy were relatively cheap basic models that didn't have amazing effects. Furthermore, he had clearly drunk the other two potions later in life. They weren't improvements he had undergone when he was a fetus or a baby, so it had some influence on the effects.

Shang Jianyao tersely acknowledged his words and suggested as he pointed at his head, "No matter when, a good mind is important."

"I'll consider it again…" The blond, blue-eyed receptionist was once again torn.

Upon seeing this, Jiang Baimian and the others returned the completed genetic enhancement drug list and quietly entered the stairwell to their suite.

On the way, Shang Jianyao eagerly asked, "How many times can people like us drink the White Knights' genetic enhancement drugs?"

"Countless times. You can drink it if you want, but it's useless." Jiang Baimian doused Shang Jianyao's enthusiasm.

She had a certain level of understanding in this regard.

Shang Jianyao immediately said, "I'm asking on Little Red's behalf to see if he can adjust his height."

"Thanks a lot!" Although Long Yuehong was unwilling to admit it, he was indeed a little disappointed.

As they spoke, they returned to their room. Genava was still in his previous spot, guarding the high-performance batteries that were charging.

A safe return without any accidents… Jiang Baimian secretly heaved a sigh of relief after passing through the door.

At this moment, the red light in Genava's eyes flickered as he said in a slightly synthetic voice, "You guys are finally back. I was monitoring the Ruin Hunters passing by downstairs and heard them discussing Subhuti."

Don't say it! Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen shouted inwardly at the same time.

They had never expected Old Ge to play the role of 'troublemaker,' nor did they expect them to fall just a little short of the finish line.

Jiang Baimian exhaled and stopped sweeping things under the rug. She directly asked, "What is it?"

She felt that it was better to figure it out at this point in time so as to formulate a corresponding plan in advance.

Genava replied, "They were talking about how the Hunter's Guild issued a mission some time ago to search for a Subhuti figurine that a certain monk had lost in Gesterbourg. The bounty is 50 Grand Knight gold coins."

"That much?" Shang Jianyao didn't hide his surprise.

His focus had clear deviations as it concentrated on the bounty.