Embers Ad Infinitum

Translator: CKtalon 

Shang Jianyao ignored 'Master Zhuang' Du Heng in front of him and clapped his hands. "So that's what privilege means! Wu Meng just won't speak human!"

Du Heng didn't mind Shang Jianyao's casual interjection and laughed self-deprecatingly. "Back then, the joy got to our heads. We believed that we had really elevated ourselves into the forbidden zone of the gods. We believed that we would live forever."

"I now believe that Wu Meng is your student," Shang Jianyao said sincerely.

They were all the same. The only difference was that Wu Meng often was about knowing the hows but not the whys, and he often tried to 'integrate' the Dao into his life.

Du Heng laughed. "We spent a lot of time considering our titles and unanimously agreed that we can't directly call ourselves deities—it's too tacky. As you know, I like games very much. I found inspiration in a game and decided to use the Kalendarium as the name of our batch of deities. I then chose the corresponding months to be in charge. Coincidentally, there were a total of 13 of us. We matched it to the concept of 12 months plus a leap month. Later, I withheld privileges to Truth because there were too many of us after he joined. There was no way to strictly make the correspondence, and we would lose the mathematical beauty and the framing…"

"It's not because Last Man occupies the spot?" Shang Jianyao asked in surprise.

"No." Du Heng shook his head.

Shang Jianyao sighed. "If I were Truth and knew that this was the real reason, I would definitely die with eyes wide open."

"But in a sense, Last Man does occupy that position," said Du Heng after some thought.

As long as Truth became a Kalendaria in a way that replaced Last Man, there was no lacking correspondence, nor was there a loss of mathematical beauty.

"That's true." Shang Jianyao was convinced and praised sincerely, "As expected of a senior gamer. You value the beauty of the framing so much."

As for mathematical beauty, he couldn't feel it.

Du Heng didn't continue the topic. Under the rapidly blinking lights, he sighed with emotion and said, "I also like Daoist culture very much, so I gave myself the title 'Master Zhuang.' They also followed their own ideas and gradually changed their names to Subhuti, Double Sun, and Arbiter of Fate…"

"What should I call myself if I can become a Kalendaria? The title 'Hey' isn't serious at all… How about 'Fate?'" Shang Jianyao fell into a dilemma.

Du Heng didn't answer his question, and his eyes revealed a hint of vicissitudes. "Everyone has selfish motives. After the initial adaptation phase, we planned on monopolizing the Deities' Forbidden Zone and preventing others from becoming Kalendarium. For this reason, we used the New World's uniqueness to establish Star Cluster Hall together. We manifested everyone's Mind World and Sea of Consciousness into the Sea of Origins and connected the Sea of Origins by creating the Mind Corridor."

"What's with the New World's door?" Shang Jianyao was rather curious.

Du Heng chuckled. "The New World's door was naturally opened by us; this is both a trap and an opportunity. We can set where the door appears in any room in the Mind Corridor and give hints to make people feel a sense of familiarity and dare to continue exploring.

"Any of us can let an Awakened who has just entered the Mind Corridor see the door directly as long as we are willing. However, this consumes additional energy on our end when providing the impetus. Otherwise, the strength of an Awakened at the Mind Corridor level isn't enough. They have to explore the depths and improve themselves before they can easily open the door with their own strength.

"And coming to the New World is equivalent to completely accepting our management. You can't cause any more waves, much less become a Kalendaria."

Shang Jianyao was confused. "Why do you say it's still an opportunity?"

This was a clear trap!

"Without the door we provide, humans can only reach half the New World level at present," Du Heng explained simply. "Do you think the amplification and enhancement of brain waves can have such a strong electromagnetic control effect and even interfere with matter? Only by being in the Mind Corridor and the New World can we use the uniqueness of this place to do what currently seems ordinary."

Shang Jianyao's focus deviated again. He stroked his chin and said, "In other words, even without Star Cluster Hall, Mind Corridor, and that door, normal Awakened can still reach the New World step by step. However, their perception range and abilities are much weaker?"

"Yes." Du Heng nodded.

Shang Jianyao inquired, "If such an Awakened can enter the Second Research Zone you mentioned and think of a way to bypass the permissions, control that machine, and steal access, can they also become a Kalendaria?"

Du Heng nodded slightly. "The other premise is to enter the laboratory and undergo the final stimulation to develop the brain to a certain extent."

He then said, "Otherwise, why do you think I control the remaining people of the Eighth Institute and let them guard this place, killing all efforts to figure out the reason for the Old World's destruction?"

"Another reason is that electricity is needed to maintain that machine," Shang Jianyao helped add.

Suddenly, his expression changed. "Brain waves! You just said brain waves! Are the mind controllers that those people in the Salvation Army mentioned true in a sense?"

"That's their own imagination." Du Heng first denied it before saying, "For Awakened who rely on themselves to reach the Mind Corridor or even the New World using a platform we built, a complete electromagnetic shield can indeed resist the influence they exert. But as long as they can use the uniqueness of this place, the effects of that kind of protection would be lacking."

"Oh, oh." Only then did Shang Jianyao remember that he had diverted the topic for a while. The blinking lights around him reached a pressing level. "Continue on with the main topic."

Du Heng looked at the door and sighed slightly. "In the beginning, everything was beautiful until we realized that we would starve and need to feed on human consciousness."

"Isn't it fine as long as you rely on biochips and electricity?" Shang Jianyao resisted the idea.

Du Heng shook his head. "Our existence is very special. We only rely on it but aren't rooted in biological chips. When using our abilities, we can indeed absorb electricity through it to enhance our might, but our consciousness will still deteriorate.

"Those mechanical monks aren't able to avoid this either, but their consciousness has already been transplanted into biological chips. The rate at which their consciousness dissipates is very slow, allowing them to live for hundreds or even a thousand years.

"Sigh, when we reached a breaking point of our starvation, we became weak from hunger. We betrayed our conscience and morals and began to eat humans. Furthermore, we also realized that we still had to do so even if we didn't need to feed on human consciousness.

"The formation of this New World is related to the mass extraction of human consciousnesses when the Old World was destroyed. It's also weakening bit by bit, so there needs to be fresh blood entering to maintain its stability. Otherwise, it will completely collapse or disappear in decades."

Du Heng fell silent for a few seconds before sighing. "From that day onward, we became completely different. Some people really no longer viewed themselves as humans. During that period of time, I didn't restrain all the Kalendarium and allowed everyone to do whatever they wanted. In the end, many religions were born in the Ashlands, and human disputes never subsided. There was chaos everywhere.

"From the situation back then, even if more than 90% of people died when the Old World was destroyed and even if a large number of Heartless were active in the Ashlands later, humans could still slowly rebuild civilization after seven to eight winters. After all, a lot of technological information and industrial machines were relatively well-preserved. However, the inclusion of us Kalendarium allowed the Ashlands to continue sliding into the abyss."

"Yes, it's precisely because there was no hope in the Chaotic Era that the Salvation Army appeared." Shang Jianyao sighed.

Du Heng nodded. "When the number of humans decreased significantly again and a portion of civilization was severed, putting them in imminent danger, I teamed up with a few Kalendarium—who were worried about this—and had a few frank talks with the rest. We fought twice.

"Considering the importance of humans to the New World's stability, we finally agreed that the Kalendarium should try their best not to interfere with the Ashlands' matters, reduce the frequency of Heartless disease outbreaks, and allow humanity to recuperate.

"At the same time, I—who obtained victory—also restrained other Kalendarium, preventing them from leaving the tower normally. I also prevented them from hiding their every move in the New World from me. This is equivalent to having their operating logs being transparent to me. Therefore, their private connections are either through the people and objects in the Ashlands or through Truth."

"Why isn't Truth restrained?" Shang Jianyao asked in confusion.

Du Heng said, "He's also a researcher. He was transferred to the Second Research Zone as soon as he entered the Eighth Institute because of the disaster. He ended up losing his body and entering the New World. He woke up late. By then, we had already completed the allocation. Nobody was willing to have another person share their privileges.

"When we later had a conflict, he kept hiding and didn't appear, so he wasn't locked in the tower. Furthermore, he wasn't a Kalendaria and didn't have a log. I had a split personality and often fought myself. It was impossible for me to monitor the Awakened in the New World in detail, so I made him the most special one.

"At critical moments, he can also obtain certain privileges through the Kalendarium backing him."

Without waiting for Shang Jianyao to ask again, Du Heng steered the topic back on track. "After that conflict, the Ashlands ended the Chaotic Era and began the New Calendar. The restrained Kalendarium definitely weren't happy after losing a portion of their freedom. As time passed, we discovered another problem.

"That is: machines have lifespans, and machines age. Once that machine breaks down, the New World will either collapse or end up floating in the 'darkness' until it dissipates once it loses its connection with the Ashlands and its corresponding supporting services.

"Many components can be replaced, but the core components can't be replaced while the system is operating. As long as the power is cut, we might directly disappear. The Arbiter of Fate and the others hope to make preparations in advance and rely on the remaining Eighth and Sixth Institutes to build another machine. When the time comes, they will attempt a migration. However, this might very well require a large number of human consciousnesses as catalysts or stabilizers.

"Back then, I had already made a decision and didn't agree to it. They began a private rebellion, and uprisings have happened again and again."

"What's the decision?" Shang Jianyao asked curiously.

Du Heng looked at him and smiled. "I plan on destroying that machine and ending all of this, ending this disaster that has lasted for decades."

"Huh?" Shang Jianyao was shocked.

Upon seeing this, Du Heng teased, "Otherwise, who do you think gave that nuclear warhead to your team?"