Embers Ad Infinitum

Translator: CKtalon 

Jiang Baimian returned to the waiting area and walked to Shang Jianyao—who was lying on the sofa.

She extended out her psyche in an attempt to make contact with the other party's consciousness, but it was like a rock sinking into the sea without causing any ripples.

The familiar darkness and faint light were gone! This was the first time such a situation had happened.

Jiang Baimian frowned and confirmed Shang Jianyao's condition. She didn't see anything abnormal.

Could it be that he isn't able to contact the outside world after pushing open the blood-red door and entering the room where all of Master Zhuang's personalities are? Jiang Baimian ruminated.

She forced herself to calm down and planned on making an attempt every minute to prevent the scenario where Shang Jianyao was temporarily delayed by certain factors and not completely isolated.

If ten attempts met with failure or if the anomaly in the machine spread, she would decisively take action according to her judgment.

After eight minutes, Jiang Baimian spread her psyche to Shang Jianyao for the eighth time.

What cheered her up was that the familiar darkness appeared in front of her eyes again. A faint glow then condensed, illuminating Shang Jianyao's figure.

Phew… Jiang Baimian exhaled and said, "There are large and complicated machines in the core experimental area, but the situation doesn't seem right."

She went straight to the point.

"Doesn't seem right means it's right!" Shang Jianyao wasn't surprised at all. "Listen to me first…"

He recounted what Master Zhuang had said and spoke quickly like a machine gun.

Having completely confirmed that he had someone backing him and that he wouldn't suffer any blow by revealing information, he gave up on the secret message system they had previously constructed and used the most direct method that didn't require any further conversion.

This could save a lot of time.

"Unfortunately, I don't know Mind Reading. Otherwise, I could pack and compress the more detailed content and send it to you directly." Finally, Shang Jianyao sighed with regret.

Jiang Baimian quietly listened and sighed with a solemn expression. "The arrow is already on the bow; we have no choice but to fire."

She then added, "The situation described by Teacher Du Heng is basically the same as what I saw in the core experimental area. On this point, he shouldn't be lying."

"Besides, what he did will clearly kill him." Shang Jianyao believed Du Heng based on this simple reason. He didn't dare to say anything else, but he felt that there was nothing wrong with this matter.

After he and Jiang Baimian carried out the series of operations, the nuclear bomb would be detonated, and this place would be leveled. None of the Kalendarium—including Du Heng—who relied on the biological chips to live in the New World would survive.

As Master Zhuang and the New World's controller, Du Heng was willing to sacrifice his life for this matter. His goal was definitely not to drag the entire Ashlands down with him.

Since there was nothing wrong with his goal, there wouldn't be much of a problem elsewhere.

"What if Teacher Du Heng has a strong inclination to self-destruct?" Jiang Baimian asked.

Shang Jianyao calmly said, "If that's the case, there's no way to hide it. How can Truth and the others not use this reason to persuade me?"

At this point, he sighed dejectedly. "Once the nuclear bomb explodes, Jacob and the other New World powerhouses will die with the Kalendarium's consciousness."

They were all good people he had certified.

"Before the nuclear bomb explodes, Big Boss and the other Kalendarium will definitely resist with all their might. When the time comes, the New World's order will collapse, and the barrier will weaken. As long as Jacob and the others can seize the opportunity, they still have a chance of returning to the Ashlands safely."

The premise was that they still had bodies.

"But if that happens, Wu Meng and the other baddies will also escape." Shang Jianyao was in a dilemma.

Jiang Baimian couldn't help but laugh. "Have you deeply experienced the feelings of those who want to maintain the status quo?"

Her expression then turned solemn. "How can the world be so perfect? How can all kinds of problems be considered and have everything tied up in a neat little bow? Most of the time, we make choices between bad and worse."

Shang Jianyao fell silent for a moment before saying, "I understand."

He then said, "Big Boss and the others are about to storm in. Quickly bring my body to the core research area and use that machine's Deity's Forbidden Zone to deliver the final stimulus."

Jiang Baimian didn't answer immediately. She looked at Shang Jianyao's face, and her lips quivered a few times.

After a while, she asked in a deep voice, "Are you really sure about this? Once the nuclear bomb detonates, there's no turning back."

When the time came, even if she carried Shang Jianyao's body out of the explosion range, the best outcome for him was to be in the same state as Li Hui and Jiang Xiaoyue back then once his consciousness was destroyed—a vegetative state.

Furthermore, Li Hui and Jiang Xiaoyue might not have completely lost their consciousness after being injured. If Shang Jianyao really did that, there was a high chance that he would be brain dead.

Shang Jianyao immediately laughed, revealing two rows of white teeth. "As you just said, the arrow is already on the bow; it has to be fired. Besides, I might not necessarily die. Even if I become a vegetable, as a New World-level Awakened, it will definitely be easier for me to regain consciousness or give birth to a new one than how it was for Li Hui and Jiang Xiaoyue back then."

Jiang Baimian clasped her lips and didn't say a word. After a brief silence, she said solemnly, "Time is of the essence. Let's begin now.

"Oh right, give Little Red and Little White a signal and get them to begin taking action. Once Big Boss is prepared to risk her life, I'm worried that she will extract the human consciousness of all the employees in the building to replenish herself, just like what happened to the Fourth Research Institute back then."

From the looks of it, Dawn wasn't hiding in the room deep in the Fourth Research Institute. Instead, it was a body that the Kalendaria had prepared for him through the Fourth Institute. Every time he needed to eat, he would get the higher-ups of the Fourth Institute to send some humans in.

After that, perhaps something went wrong in a particular uprising. In order to survive, Dawn had no choice but to drain his food reserves. Only Room 506's owner—who was protected by Master Zhuang—survived.

"Alright!" Shang Jianyao didn't forget about informing Long Yuehong and Bai Chen.

He and Jiang Baimian deliberately didn't mention anything else.

That was, Big Boss would risk her life, but wouldn't Eidolon Nun and the others? When the time came, there would probably be another Heartless outbreak in the Ashlands.

In the face of such a situation, Jiang Baimian could only hope that Master Zhuang could resolve the problem as soon as possible and control the damage suffered by the innocent to a certain extent.

She knew that Shang Jianyao probably thought the same—the lesser of two evils.

After the exchange, Jiang Baimian stood up and looked at Shang Jianyao's body on the sofa before looking at the core research area where the New World fundamentally was.

She didn't do anything for more than ten seconds, and her figure swayed slightly from the strange wind that blew out.

Gritting her teeth, Jiang Baimian carried Shang Jianyao on her back again, picked up the nuclear warhead, identified the direction, and ran toward the machine.

…

Pangu Biology, underground building, Room 14 on the 647th floor.

Long Yuehong—who was using the Old World's entertainment to kill time—suddenly heard Shang Jianyao's voice. "I have something very serious to tell you…"

Long Yuehong took out the recording pen from his pocket.

The electronic product automatically activated and played the recording! This was equivalent to telling Long Yuehong and Bai Chen to take action immediately and follow the plan.

Long Yuehong quickly switched off the recording pen and cast his gaze at Bai Chen.

Bai Chen nodded slightly.

The two of them stood up and walked to the door.

During this process, Long Yuehong inevitably thought of something—their preparations weren't done. The field training they had applied for had just been approved and had yet to begin. This gave them no chance to inform Genava—who had already arrived in the area around Pangu Biology—to lurk near the underground building and await the provision of help.

Nothing is perfect… Long Yuehong could only comfort himself.

The two of them came to the door. Bai Chen stretched out her right hand and gripped Long Yuehong's left palm.

They looked at each other without any hesitation.

Destination: Radio Station!

…

In the room behind the blood-red door, the ceiling, floor, and surrounding walls turned illusory. Red, yellow, and blue lights flickered rapidly in an abnormally intense manner.

Du Heng's gaze passed Shang Jianyao and looked at his other self that was filled with the desire for research.

In the corresponding room, the cheerful Shang Jianyao was watching Du Heng's experiment with an eager expression.

At this moment, the door not far from them suddenly turned illusory, imprinting countless warped figures. They were like the deepest and darkest nightmares.

Du Heng pointed there, sighed, and smiled. "Dawn—my good assistant and direct supervisor of the project, Oak. I remember that he liked to hold conferences and discussions very much and was obsessed with the feeling he got from brainstorming. His flaw is that he will fall into a deep coma every once in a while.

"Of course, don't expect to use this opportunity this time. The time for their uprising has clearly taken Oak into account. Oak probably just woke up not long ago."