Embers Ad Infinitum

The Arbiter of Fate and Arbitress of Fate were legendary deities somewhere in the Old World. 'They' controlled the life and death of humans.

That place was called 'Chu.'

To Jiang Baimian, this wasn't anything important. It only added a little new content to her folklore library.

She was more concerned about seeing the word 'Arbiter of Fate' here.

Jiang Baimian cast her gaze at the administrator named Zhao Danlin again and at the corpse that had already turned to bones. She hesitated about searching the corpse's pockets.

After a brief hesitation, she made up her mind. She circled around the desk and came to the corpse's side.

She thought that since she had already come this far and ventured deep into this vortex-like building, what else was there that she didn't dare do?

Since it was extremely dangerous no matter what, any choice worked.

Jiang Baimian flipped through the corpse's pockets, but she only found a plain, neatly folded square scarf. She then checked the desk drawers and the file cabinet to the side.

She didn't find any valuable clues and only memorized a bunch of names—these didn't belong to the researchers. They were either administrative personnel, people from finance, or under the security supervisor, Brian Stanley.

Jiang Baimian didn't make repeated confirmations because she knew that time was of the essence. She turned around and walked out of the office, heading elsewhere in the administrative zone.

After circling around for a while, her gaze suddenly froze.

An office with the same layout as before appeared in front of her again! The room sign also said 'Administrator's Office.'

Jiang Baimian slowly walked to the door and glanced at the skeleton sitting behind the desk.

The skeleton wore a white female blouse and the corresponding black professional suit. On its right chest was a metal name tag with the words 'Administrator: Zhao Danlin.'

Upon seeing this, Jiang Baimian's scalp tingled.

Everything from before had happened again.

The next second, Jiang Baimian considered another possibility.

After careful recall, she roughly understood what had happened: She was lost… She had walked back to the administrator's office in the administrative zone!

Phew, it's not a maze, nor is it a spatial reset or a temporal loop… Jiang Baimian clearly heaved a sigh of relief.

In this place with an abnormally chaotic electromagnetic environment, the time displayed on her electronic watch and military exoskeleton wasn't accurate enough, making it difficult to make a judgment.

After calming down, Jiang Baimian used her trusty solution once more—take it slow, think it through, and execute—and walked toward the area connected to the administrative zone.

…

"Winst Garland…" Shang Jianyao stood at the door with the dark-red door and repeated the other party's name.

Winst Garland ignored his actions and continued sitting on the sofa, eating the bear biscuits one by one.

"I've never heard of this name…" Shang Jianyao thought for a moment and shook his head. He looked at Winst Garland again and asked in confusion, "This is Master Zhuang's mind world. Are you one of 'His' personalities or a character in a particular memory?"

Winst Garland maintained a slightly honest smile. "I guess you can say the latter."

"But as a character in a particular memory, how do you interact with me and answer my questions?" Shang Jianyao was rather perplexed. "Could it be that Master Zhuang implanted different thoughts and a complete set of thoughts into everyone in the memories?"

Winst Garland smiled and said, "The character in a memory I'm talking about might be different from what you understand."

"Then, you have to make it clear. Do you want me to comprehend it myself?" The honest Shang Jianyao expressed his dissatisfaction.

Suddenly, a scene flashed across his mind, and he stroked his chin.

Shang Jianyao looked at Winst Garland and thoughtfully said, "I seem to remember why I find you familiar. I saw a group photo at Ceningmis, at the home of the Kalendaria's Son named Brooklyn Garland. The middle-aged man in it resembles you. Heh heh, you have the same last name as that Kalendaria's Son. Garland…"

At this point, Shang Jianyao suddenly paused. His pupils suddenly dilated, reflecting Winst Garland's figure.

The next second, he blurted out, "Are you Shadow of Distortion? Are you April's Kalendaria, Shadow of Distortion? Why are you here?"

Winst Garland sighed, put down the bag of bear biscuits in his hand, and slowly stood up. "If you continue on, no matter what choice you make, it won't be what I want to see. The Arbiter of Fate once made contact with me through you, but I still hope to maintain the status quo. Therefore, I came here."

Shang Jianyao didn't listen to what Winst Garland was saying seriously. When the other party spat out the first word, he had already turned around, strode forward, and ran.

This was called running away on the spot!

However, every word Winst said shook the surrounding space, producing high-frequency vibrations.

The light around Shang Jianyao instantly dimmed as if he were covered by a gigantic shadow.

The airflow appeared in a visible manner, condensing into an invisible cage. Not only that, but the space around him was also bending as if it wanted to wrap around him and turn him into an egg.

Shang Jianyao used his abilities without reservation, wanting to affect Winst Garland. But be it Thought Implantation in his shouting or the silent Corny Person, they were restrained by the curved space around him and couldn't land on Winst Garland.

When the space bent and the airflow condensed to a certain extent, Shang Jianyao's perception range was compressed to the surface.

He lost the existence of Winst Garland in his consciousness.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!

Shang Jianyao alternated between using the two basic abilities, Matter Interference and Electromagnetic Interference. He sometimes smashed the condensed airflow and bent space with a hammer, and sometimes, he created an electromagnetic storm.

As an Awakened in the Master Zhuang domain, his Electromagnetic Interference ability became closer and closer to Electromagnetic Manipulation after entering the New World. But be it the silver-white light that condensed into clouds and released thick bolts of lightning in all directions or the air hammer's forceful swings, they were like an ant trying to shake a tree. They couldn't budge the approaching airflow or stop the bending of space.

In his rush, Shang Jianyao tried to interfere with the airflow and space directly, but compared to the 'giant wave' created by Winst Garland… The influence he exerted was like a spray from a water gun.

The condensed airflow only took two to three seconds to crush all of Shang Jianyao's resistance and wrap around his body.

Shang Jianyao could only use his trump card and shout. "Xiaochong, save me!"

At this moment, the warped space was about to turn into his coffin.

At the end of the Eighth Research Institute's corridor, behind the iron-black door.

In the tactical backpack beside Shang Jianyao's body, the Life Angel necklace didn't change, but the Six Senses Beads lit up with a faint green glow.

This faint light spread out and enveloped Shang Jianyao's body.

In Master Zhuang's mind world.

Shang Jianyao—whose consciousness was collapsing—suddenly came to his senses. He then saw green light, the calmed airflow, and space.

He also heard Winst Garland's cold voice. "Subhuti, are you also in cahoots with the Arbiter of Fate and the others?"

The ruthless Shang Jianyao couldn't be bothered to listen to the conversation. He ran to the end of the aisle before the others recovered.

He had to make the best use of his time to distance himself from Winst Garland.

The latter was suspected to be April's Kalendaria—Shadow of Distortion!

…

As the end of the administrative zone wasn't too far, Jiang Baimian didn't get lost and successfully arrived at her destination.

On both sides of the aisle ahead were several meeting rooms.

Jiang Baimian opened them one by one and realized that there were only tables, chairs, whiteboards, projectors, and other items inside. There were no corpses.

There were no meetings that day? Jiang Baimian scanned the area and muttered to herself, Then, where were the researchers gathered? Their laboratory or the place downstairs that's guarded by security?

It was a place that evoked signs of the Heartless disease the moment she tried to enter.

Jiang Baimian examined the meeting room beside her again and memorized the white walls, brown door, the long, pale-white table, more than ten matching chairs, a hanging projector screen, and the row of windows opposite her.

She continued forward.

…

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Shang Jianyao ran through the maze until he was a little mentally exhausted. He stopped and held a vermilion door as he panted to recover.

With a creak, the door he was pressing against was ajar. It suddenly opened backward, and he almost staggered into the room.

After stabilizing himself, Shang Jianyao saw a bay window. It was dark outside.

At this moment, a young woman sat cross-legged on the windowsill. She had long black hair and wore a white dress. Her face was beautiful, and her expression was cold.

Shang Jianyao asked in confusion again, "Have we met? Why do I find you a little familiar? Why do I find everyone I meet familiar? Do I really have brothers and sisters everywhere?"

The beautiful woman raised her chin slightly and said, "I'm Jiang Xiaoyue."