Embers Ad Infinitum

Large ranch… Food for the Kalendarium… Feed on human consciousness… These words were like muffled thunder that exploded in Long Yuehong and the others' minds one after another.

Their expressions couldn't help but change. Even Shang Jianyao had a solemn expression with widened eyes.

Almost at the same time, they thought of something: An experiment on a cold environment's influence on a human's mind and body!

A person with a strong physique and mind is more delicious and nutritious? Jiang Baimian's thoughts raced as her expression sank. Right on the heels of that, a scene surfaced in her mind: In Pangu Biology's underground building, the temperature is as cold as winter every night after lights out. The widespread genetic enhancement makes most people have good physiques…

As the Old Task Force members' imaginations ran wild, sizzling sounds echoed in the jeep. Before long, a slightly hoarse male voice sounded again. "I'm Du Heng. Don't think that there's nothing wrong now. Once the Kalendarium return to the Ashlands…"

After a brief pause, he suddenly let out an extremely terrified and sharp scream. "Truth!"

This shout made Long Yuehong's ears ring.

The recording ended. Truth seemed to be someone's dying cry.

"That's all." Genava ended the broadcast and broke the silence in the jeep.

After a while, Long Yuehong forced a smile and said, "I wonder how true this is."

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"That's right, that's right." Shang Jianyao agreed.

The next second, the honest him continued, "If one's consciousness is eaten cleanly, they will die on the spot. They become Heartless when only the essence is eaten?"

Long Yuehong didn't want to discuss this problem. This was akin to an injured person tearing open an unhealed wound and making him face the bloody pain.

Jiang Baimian restrained her thoughts and built on Shang Jianyao's guesses. "In that case, the Heartless disease isn't a virus…"

"Then, why can New World powerhouses spread the Heartless disease?" Bai Chen asked.

Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and said, "They might've already obtained the ability to directly exert influence on human consciousness after entering the New World."

Without waiting for the others to speak, she muttered to herself, "New World powerhouses also need human consciousness as fuel to travel between reality and the New World? Is this the real reason for the small-scale Heartless disease outbreaks in many places during First City's uprising?"

"But apart from such accidents, very few people in the company contract the Heartless disease every year," Long Yuehong whispered.

Shang Jianyao immediately repeated the recording's original words. "I'm Du Heng. Don't think that there's nothing wrong now. Once the Kalendarium return to the Ashlands…"

"Stop!" Jiang Baimian instinctively believed that Shang Jianyao was about to imitate the tragic cry.

Shang Jianyao shut his mouth with a look of regret.

"Before the Kalendarium return to the Ashlands, 'They' can only secretly eat a little every year?" Bai Chen said thoughtfully. "Besides, it's not like every Kalendaria only has one ranch. Eating a little here and a little there can result in a sizable amount."

Jiang Baimian nodded indiscernibly. "This way, there's a better explanation for faith spreading the Heartless disease…"

Through the believers' recitals and prayers, the Kalendarium could locate the corresponding places and eat the consciousness of people unrelated to 'Them.' If there was nobody else around and 'They' were 'starving,' 'They' could only eat from 'Their' own farms.

"This corroborates the situation of the Kalendaria deep in the Fourth Research Institute needing a large number of experimental personnel whenever 'He' is weakened," Genava reminded the Old Task Force.

"It's no wonder Room 506's owner made the inference that the Kalendaria is eating humans." Shang Jianyao clenched his right fist and punched his left palm.

He looked enlightened, while the others' hearts became heavier.

Jiang Baimian frowned slightly. "But why did Room 506's owner—who believed in Master Zhuang and joined the Eternal Time Church—discover this matter? Why did Qin Ke suddenly go crazy and record such content? This should be a secret kept by all the Kalendarium."

"From the looks of it, it's a dispute that involves the New World." Shang Jianyao mimicked Jiang Baimian. "In order to deal a blow to the enemy, 'They' won't hesitate to expose such a secret."

"There have indeed been many forces pushing us forward." Jiang Baimian nodded slightly. "But how useful can we be in such matters with our strength?"

Upon realizing how the discussion appeared to be one built on facts, Long Yuehong quickly said, "I don't think we can believe the statement of Room 506 just like that. We also can't believe that there's something wrong with the Kalendarium just because of a few recordings. What if it's Master Zhuang's plot? Besides, anyone can make such a recording."

"That's true." Bai Chen stood on Long Yuehong's side.

Jiang Baimian nodded slightly and said, "Now that we have a direction, the next step is to verify it."

At this point, she smiled at Long Yuehong and Bai Chen. "I want the company to be fine more than you. I, Jiang Baimian, am just one step away from entering management. My father is in management, and my brother and sister-in-law's employee ranks aren't low either. How can such a family bear to abandon everything they have and go elsewhere?"

After comforting them, her expression turned serious. "However, we can't avoid the problem. Being afraid of the problem and avoiding it will only make things turn for the worse."

"But how are we to verify it? After verifying it, how are we to resolve the company's problem if the recording is real?" Long Yuehong asked in one breath, appearing anxious.

Jiang Baimian wanted to sigh, but as team leader, she had to show that she could definitely see the dawn of hope in the future no matter how lacking in confidence she was.

She deliberated for a moment and said, "We can only take it one step at a time for the time being. Next, the most important thing is to let Hey find the door that leads to the New World. I'll also try my best to enter the Mind Corridor as soon as possible.

"Hey, you have to pay attention to the situation in the New World and determine if the Kalendarium eat human consciousness. You have to grasp the situation there as soon as possible. Well… Actually, Hey should have an accurate understanding of human consciousness after he becomes a New World powerhouse. When the time comes, he will give us a secret signal according to an agreed-upon method.

"After the New World's situation changes and Big Boss has no time to care about the company, we'll immediately secretly contact the Awakened and key personnel we can rope in, striving to get everyone to leave the underground building and search for another settlement before the dust settles in the New World.

"As for whether the Kalendarium will descend into the Ashlands in 'Their' complete forms, it's not something we can worry about now."

Jiang Baimian had originally come up with a random plan to comfort Long Yuehong and Bai Chen, but her train of thought became smoother as she spoke. Of course, this was only a very crude idea.

It might not be feasible, but Jiang Baimian had already given her team members a heads-up. They would take it one step at a time.

While actively considering the countermeasures, she felt that she had resolved a lot of the problems she had with the company.

Since the problem had already appeared, the only thing they could do next was verify it and resolve it.

Running away wasn't her style.

With such determination, she vaguely felt that it wouldn't be long before she cleared her current psychological trauma and came one step closer to the Mind Corridor.

Long Yuehong quietly listened and exhaled. "That's all we can do…"

There was no better solution now.

He hoped Shang Jianyao would discover that the Heartless disease came from a virus after becoming a New World powerhouse.

"No problem!" Shang Jianyao wore an expression as though he had long wanted to explore the Mind Room to his heart's content and quickly enter the New World.

"Alright." Bai Chen didn't object.

Genava also felt that the plan was relatively reasonable.

Jiang Baimian then looked around. "Let's return to Gesterbourg now and rest for a few days before returning."

Nobody objected.

On the way, Shang Jianyao threw the worries to the back of his mind and excitedly said, "What kind of existence is Truth? Qin Ke should've died at his hands in the end. Since he killed Qin Ke, why didn't he take the recording pen?"

Jiang Baimian made a guess by combining all kinds of information. "Maybe he's trapped in the New World and can't return to reality. He only locked onto Qin Ke's consciousness in a certain way, such as finding the other party's Mind Room."

Shang Jianyao's thoughts suddenly jumped. "Yama Tiger is also trapped in the New World. Why does he want the people around him to contract the Heartless disease? It's not like he can return."

"They hope to obtain a large amount of fuel to help them escape?" guessed Long Yuehong from the passenger seat.

Jiang Baimian fell silent for a moment before saying, "Maybe… People trapped in the New World need to feed on human consciousness like the Kalendarium? Think about it. Yama Tiger actually survived to this day as a mummy."

Shang Jianyao's eyes lit up. "Where are the Kalendarium's mummies?"

"There's one under the old pagoda tree," reminded Bai Chen.

As they discussed, the jeep returned to Gesterbourg.

Shang Jianyao suddenly rolled down the window and waved at the side street. As he waved, he shouted excitedly, "Teacher Du Heng!"

Du Heng? Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen instantly felt like they had fallen into an icy lake.