Embers Ad Infinitum

Translator: CKtalon 

Coupled with the fact that Xiaochong was Observation Target 1 and that he had shown Awakened talent at a young age, Jiang Baimian suspected that the Eighth Research Institute had actually studied the relationship between the human brain and superpowers back then. They tried their best to grasp the secret to the birth of consciousness and sublimate humans.

This could also be indirectly confirmed by the fact that the Northern Company's young scientist, Lin Sui, was very interested in research related to human consciousness.

In the research using Xiaochong and the other natural Awakened as a blueprint, the Eighth Research Institute must've gained a lot. They were even confident that they could restore a vegetable's consciousness and step into the Deities' Forbidden Zone to obtain a qualitative change in life?

Therefore, they got Li Hui, Jiang Xiaoyue, and other volunteers to participate in the project and put the results into practice. Later, a major problem with an experiment resulted in the instant deaths of humans in this building and the surrounding area. The Heartless disease began to erupt in the Ashlands? As Jiang Baimian ran out of the room, her thoughts raced as she quickly sorted out the matter in her mind.

The laboratory where the incident happened was undoubtedly the area downstairs that she couldn't enter yet!

If that were the case, it meant that most or even all Kalendarium were humans who slowly became deities. There was no such thing as being born at an elevated level. As long as the subsequent generations grasped the right method, they could also reach the Kalendarium's current level.

Repeatability in scientific experiments was one of the most important criteria! If one misjudged this point, they would veer off the right path in many matters.

Of course, Jiang Baimian couldn't guarantee that it was really what she thought. What if the Eighth Research Institute really touched on the secrets of deities while studying the human brain, consciousness, and superpowers? After all, in most legends of creation, humans were creations of deities. It was logical for a sliver of divinity to remain in their most important brains.

After returning to the corridor, Jiang Baimian looked around and suddenly hesitated.

She originally planned on immediately retracing her steps and telling Shang Jianyao everything she had discovered in this vortex-like building. She wanted to remind him not to be deceived by some seemingly normal and reasonable words. However, it was impossible for her to retrace her steps with her bad sense of direction.

This would definitely waste a large amount of her time. Now, time was life!

Back then, I felt that being directionally challenged was a good price and that there was a way to make up for it. Now, I realize that being directionally challenged can also kill… Jiang Baimian walked to the meeting room in frustration.

She didn't go in the wrong direction because two smart bots were standing on the other side. However, it was unknown if they had long been damaged or if the abnormally chaotic electromagnetic environment here reduced them to scrap metal. In short, they didn't move or attempt to attack Jiang Baimian, an intruder.

After retreating to the meeting room, Jiang Baimian's gaze swept across the window in the room beside her.

Her heart skipped a beat as she came up with an idea: She planned on returning to the ground floor by breaking the windows.

When the time came, she would be able to see the entrance to this area as long as she followed the outer walls of the vortex-like building without looking back.

Compared to this, it was 100% guaranteed that she would get lost by going around in circles inside the building. The time wasted would increase exponentially.

After making up her mind, Jiang Baimian immediately rushed into the room with the long white table and pushed open the two glass windows by force. She then jumped down and firmly landed with the military exoskeleton.

Jiang Baimian looked back and confirmed that she was outside the vortex-shaped building and not anywhere else.

She ran along the outer wall all the way back to the main entrance. Then, under the premise that she could directly see her destination, she rushed straight to the entrance to the core area.

Along the way, she flipped over any obstacles in front of her and faced the Heartless in the Mirror Dimension. This allowed her to return to the periphery of the small city before long.

The pungent smell of blood filled the air. Heartless fought and hunted each other everywhere.

Jiang Baimian only casually sized them up a few times before discovering many Superior Heartless. This made her rather satisfied with her previous caution.

After roughly determining the direction of the tunnel, Jiang Baimian didn't care if she was right or not. She chose a place without any Superior Heartless and ran in a straight line.

Her goal was very clear: to step out of this small city regardless of the consequences.

When the time came, she would eventually see the tunnel door if she kept circling the edge of the city.

This plan's route definitely couldn't be the shortest, but it was the easiest to prevent her from getting lost. She only needed to walk a long straight line and an arc of varying sizes to reach her destination.

Even if she got lost along the way, it would at most make Jiang Baimian take a slightly larger arc. With the military exoskeleton's help, it wouldn't waste much time.

As for whether she could maintain a straight line, Jiang Baimian didn't care. In any case, it was fine as long as she could leave the city in a clear direction. Any deviations during the process were unimportant. She only needed to pay close attention to whether she found herself in a spatial loop or whether she would be running around in the same place.

As she ran, the Heartless around Jiang Baimian were brought into the Mirror Dimension one after another. Regardless of whether they had Awakened abilities, they couldn't resist this.

Further away, beyond Jiang Baimian's range of abilities, a few Heartless seemed to have discovered the anomaly and rushed over.

Jiang Baimian didn't stop her attempt to 'cross every obstacle.' She raised her right hand and fired a grenade at the Heartless.

Boom!

Amidst the explosion, she climbed to the rooftop and jumped down from the other side, trying her best to maintain a straight line.

…

Truth—who was sitting on the sofa—watched Shang Jianyao's figure disappear from the door, but his expression didn't change.

'He' was just about to wave 'His' hand and close the door when 'He' suddenly heard a familiar voice. "Wait!"

Truth then saw Shang Jianyao's face appear from the side of the door and return to his eyes.

"I have another question." Shang Jianyao raised his hand.

Truth's eyes seemed to instantly darken a little. 'He' said after a few seconds, "What is the question? Time is of the essence. Don't ask if it's not important."

"It's very important," Shang Jianyao replied seriously. "If you want my help, you can just say it directly. I was previously hesitating about whether to enter the rift. Why did you lure us into the tower and use the darkness to counter-attack to force me here? This makes Barnard, Flora, and the others' deaths very worthless. It's equivalent to murder!"

Truth smiled. "You really have a pure and righteous heart."

"Us," Shang Jianyao emphasized.

"Who said so? I don't!" The ruthless Shang Jianyao expressed his dissatisfaction.

Just as they were about to quarrel, Truth replied, "Rivelle, Barnard, and the others aren't dead yet. I provided them with protection at the last moment. When the New World's order is changed, they can return to the Ashlands directly. As for Flora and the others, that was inevitable. Breaking into the tower itself is a very dangerous matter.

"I wasn't lying to you when I asked you to enter the tower and search for a way out. If you hadn't come here, we would only be able to provide you with limited help even if you had entered the rift. We wouldn't have been able to help you pass the obstacles from those who object to eventually persuade Master Zhuang's personality.

"I didn't explain this in the beginning because I was worried that the secret would be leaked and that a Kalendaria would block the rift in advance."

"I see." Shang Jianyao's serious expression softened significantly.

He accepted Truth's explanation and frowned. "But you guys previously ate countless human consciousnesses, bringing about Heartless outbreaks again and again."

Truth seemed to have expected this question and calmly said, "Haven't you also hunted beasts to fill your stomach? Before obtaining a compatible body, we are pure deities. The difference between humans and us is greater than that between humans and beasts. Since you can hunt beasts for survival, we can also absorb human consciousness due to hunger."

Without waiting for Shang Jianyao to retort, Truth added, "When we enter the Ashlands, have a body, and obtain a certain level of human attributes, such a thing won't happen. Compared to struggling with this problem, why don't you consider how many humans you can save in the future?"

Shang Jianyao thought for a moment and said, "That seems to make sense… But as a human, I have a nagging feeling that it's odd."

He didn't completely accept Truth's words, but time was of the essence. The opportunity to save the Ashlands was fleeting.

He didn't dare to delay any further. He turned around and walked to the end of the right aisle.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Shang Jianyao strode forward and ran.

Upon seeing this, Truth exhaled silently.