Embers Ad Infinitum

Translator: CKtalon 

Jiang Baimian continued forward, but she didn't dare to walk too quickly lest she couldn't retreat in time. This gave her plenty of time to think and distinguish her surroundings. It also prevented her from straying off the path despite there not being a fork in the road.

Step by step, Jiang Baimian passed through the half-open door and walked along the corridor to the end.

The area ahead opened up, and a sizable hall appeared.

There were machines everywhere in the hall with all kinds of flickering lights, dazzling Jiang Baimian.

She composed herself and carefully sized up the situation through the military exoskeleton's visor.

In the middle of the hall were a few metal objects that resembled space capsules. They surrounded a large, suspected supercomputer that occupied one-third of the space.

The machine's outer shell was silver-black, and many signal lights flickered with red, yellow, or blue glimmers on its surface.

Thick electric cables connected the large machine to the cabinets along the walls. There were no panels around the cabinets, making them well-ventilated.

This allowed Jiang Baimian to see sealed boxes of electronic products inside the cabinets. Each box had a blinking indicator.

There were countless similar electronic products lined up in rows like beehives, reminding Jiang Baimian of Pangu Biology's engine room. But be it the layout or the machines, this place was much more complicated and massive in scale.

Around an open space capsule were many skeletons. In the space capsule was also a skeleton.

Researchers? Jiang Baimian looked at the corpses nearby until she saw the deceased near the 'mainframe.' She muttered to herself, I wonder how many of them ultimately became Kalendarium…

At this moment, she was completely certain of one thing: The Eighth Research Institute's main goal in constantly sending people in to maintain the nuclear power plant was to power the machines here!

Jiang Baimian was in no rush to approach the large machine that was clearly the core object. She checked the sealed electronic products in the cabinet.

She carefully took out a box. According to the labels and her knowledge, she determined that it was a miniature computer. It had a processor and storage, but there was no display. The I/O seemed to rely on the 'mainframe.'

These were very different from the latest Old World microcomputers Jiang Baimian had seen. They used biological chips, also known as bionic chips.

With the mechanical monks as a precedent, Jiang Baimian shouldn't have been surprised to discover a large number of biological chips being used here. But it was precisely because she had come into contact with mechanical monks that a thought suddenly surfaced in her mind: One of the main characteristics of a biological chip is that it can simulate brain functions…

Coupled with her previous discovery and guesses, Jiang Baimian had a new understanding of the essence of certain matters. If the biological chip wasn't designed to simulate a normal human brain but a special brain that had been stimulated and developed, it's completely explainable if mechanical monks also have Awakened abilities…

What I can't figure out now is why some monks can Awaken after becoming Eternals. The biological chip can also change the solidified layout, structure, and materials upon stimulus? Or could the mechanical monk's so-called Awakening be a result of the person being 'knocked unconscious' and entering the factory for repairs?

Also, why should there be prices when one has already become a mechanical monk? Brain abnormalities with special functions are definitely accompanied by damage or mutation in the corresponding area. When designing the biological chip, they could only lift everything before they completely figured out the corresponding principles. This was to prevent Eternals from both failing to obtain abilities and suffering from brain damage?

Jiang Baimian was once a researcher and was rather interested in such matters. She was now regretful that although Pangu Biology had the word 'biology,' it didn't have any breakthroughs on the biological chip. This resulted in her only knowing the basics, so she was mainly guessing.

If she had known this, she would've most likely gotten Shang Jianyao to accompany her to the mechanical monks' Glazed Pure Lands to listen to their classes—no, listen to the Buddhist Dharma.

Time was of the essence. Jiang Baimian only had a few thoughts before she walked toward the mainframe, the space capsules, and the many corpses.

When they were about to reach their destination, she suddenly exclaimed.

The discovery reminded her of something illogical. Since mechanical monks could still be alive and kicking without a body and didn't need to absorb human consciousness to replenish themselves as long as they had enough electricity, why did the Kalendarium have to prepare a compatible body and not directly use a corresponding biological chip?

Was it for enjoyment, or had the mutation in their brains reached a level that the biological chip couldn't simulate from a design standpoint?

At this thought, Jiang Baimian frowned. I just discovered the corpses of two Kalendarium. Their skulls were intact, and the brains inside definitely hadn't been taken out. In other words, there's no such thing as their brains being secretly hidden in a Petri dish to maintain their existence.

Then, what form are they living in now? A consciousness lifeform that purely replicates the brain structure or… Jiang Baimian suddenly turned around and cast her gaze at the rows of cabinets. Or are they using some of the biological chips here?

After thinking for a few seconds, Jiang Baimian slowly retracted her gaze and muttered to herself, "Coupled with the fact that the Eighth Research Institute has been maintaining the electricity supply here, I'm inclined to the latter possibility. Or do these machines have more important uses?

"If it's the latter situation, it's fine as long as the Kalendarium have electricity. There's no need to absorb human consciousness at all. They don't extract human consciousness because of hunger but for another reason?

"If it were the previous situation, ignoring the question of whether consciousness lifeforms exist, just the fact that consciousness lifeforms feed on consciousness makes sense. It makes sense, but the question is: Why did Master Zhuang implant complete thoughts into the Heartless to maintain the nuclear power plant and ensure the electricity supply here?"

Jiang Baimian stood rooted to the ground, her mind filled with thoughts as she stared at the large silver-black machine.

Her intuition told her that the matter was quite different from her previous guesses. These discrepancies hid the real reason for the Old World's destruction and the final goal of a portion of the Kalendarium's uprising.

…

In the maze, Shang Jianyao pushed open the blood-red door. Having been dominated by his rashness, he didn't hesitate to walk into the room.

His vision blurred before he saw a room filled with machines.

The machines varied in size. The large ones occupied less than half the space, and the small ones were only the size of an adult man's palm.

At this moment, they were distributed in different places and were connected in various ways. The corresponding signal lights flickered with red, yellow, or blue lights, illuminating the entire room like Weed City's bars and clubs. However, there weren't as many colors.

"Xiaochong! Xiaochong!" Shang Jianyao shouted as he saw a man in a black robe standing in the middle of the room.

The man was originally standing with his hands behind his back, but he slowly turned around when he heard Shang Jianyao's shout.

He was in his forties, had black hair, and a very elegant beard around his mouth.

"Teacher Du Heng!" Shang Jianyao was 'shocked.'

The man was Du Heng, who had come to the Eighth Research Institute with them but had disappeared with the wind.

Shang Jianyao then clenched his right fist and punched his left palm. "I understand! Your surname is Du, and Xiaochong's surname is Du. Master Zhuang's surname is also Du, so you are one of Master Zhuang's personalities!"

These words had the essence of Inference Clowning.

However, Shang Jianyao didn't doubt his judgment at all and said eloquently, "It's no wonder as Master Zhuang's childhood, Xiaochong was chased around by you. The Kalendarium are shameless! It's no wonder you lack many memories. As a single personality, there are many things you have never experienced."

Du Heng laughed. "I changed to my current name after I became a neuroscientist. It's to distinguish me from that experimental subject that's myself. I've had a tendency to have split personalities since I was young."

"Because you were born an Awakened." Shang Jianyao expressed his understanding.

"As for the memory loss, it's not because of a split personality but the aftereffects of the disaster back then," Du Heng added.

At this moment, Shang Jianyao suddenly became nervous and looked around. "I've already opened the door and entered, but Truth and the others haven't attacked? Do they really expect me to persuade you?"

Du Heng's expression didn't change as he said with a slightly complicated tone, "They will begin soon. True chaos is imminent."

"How will they begin?" Shang Jianyao was curious and confused.

Du Heng looked at him and sighed. "Every Old Task Force sent by Pangu Biology should have an Awakened in the Master Zhuang domain who paid the price of having a split personality."