Embers Ad Infinitum
chapter-146

Translator: CKtalon

The street lamps by the side of the road shone into the vehicle, but they were filtered by the dark windows, making it appear abnormally dim.

This seemed to shroud the driver in shadows, bringing an indescribable horror and coldness with him.

This was a completely different feeling from close combat or a gunfight.

The hair on Eugene’s back stood on end. He felt more terrified than ever.

He suddenly braced his body and exerted immense strength, about to activate the machinery inside of him to counterattack at maximum speed. But he suddenly found himself incapable of raising his arms. It felt as if they no longer belonged to him.

The series of counterattacks—which he had expected—encountered obstacles that exceeded his imagination just as they began.

Right on the heels of this, a black muzzle then appeared in front of his eyes.

Eugene immediately felt the metal’s coldness on his forehead.

“Be quiet,” the driver said emotionlessly.

The driver was none other than Shang Jianyao. After befriending Eugene’s driver—Old Geng—and successfully convincing him, he curled up and hid in the space under the driver’s seat. When Eugene came in, he immediately got up and started the car.

Jiang Baimian’s long-range attack convinced Old Geng of Shang Jianyao’s words. He believed that this was a meticulously planned assassination. Furthermore, there was more than one mole among the bodyguards. Therefore, the loyal him could only get the most trustworthy secret guard leader to leave with his boss first.

In order to cooperate with the performance and numb the traitor, Old Geng also followed the instructions of opening and closing the door—an act to show that he had gotten into the car—before rolling on the ground to hide behind a nearby car.

In a dim and chaotic environment, who could distinguish between all of that?

After pressing the Ice Moss pistol to Eugene’s forehead, Shang Jianyao controlled the steering wheel with one hand and calmly instructed, “Turn around and have your back facing me.”

Upon hearing this, Eugene’s eyes narrowed slightly. He slowly shifted his body and turned to the window beside him.

During this process, he paid attention to the other party’s gun-wielding hand. He realized that it was very stable and didn’t tremble at all. The finger on the trigger was clearly ready to squeeze at any sign of defiance. This prevented Eugene from finding an opportunity.

Shang Jianyao maintained his posture and drove a distance before stepping on the brakes.

Almost at the same time, a figure flipped out from the parking lot’s fence, rushed to the SUV’s side in two to three steps, pulled open the backseat door, and jumped in.

It was none other than Jiang Baimian—who had put on a pair of black gloves at some point.

She looked at Eugene and said in surprise, “You haven’t killed him?”

Just as she said that, Eugene took the opportunity to slide down while the two of them were conversing, moving his head away from the muzzle. At the same time, mechanical sounds came from his body.

Jiang Baimian suddenly leaned forward, stretched out her left hand, and pressed down on Eugene’s back.

Countless silver-white electric arcs instantly erupted and leaped onto Eugene, illuminating the car as if it were daytime.

The mechanical sounds in Eugene’s body vanished. Even the artificial heart was affected and suffered a certain level of malfunction. It activated its own stress protection.

The bald man’s eyes gradually rolled back as smoke and a charred smell emanated from his body.

Upon seeing this, Shang Jianyao retracted his hand—which was holding the gun—and stepped on the accelerator, driving the car again.

As the electric bolts subsided, Eugene’s body collapsed into his seat. There were obvious signs of incontinence from his lower body.

Jiang Baimian retracted her left hand and swung it. “Humans with mechanical modifications are relatively afraid of electricity…”

This was because mechanical modifications had to be connected to the human nervous system and had an electric current channel.

Jiang Baimian then snapped at Shang Jianyao. “Shouldn’t you shoot him dead the moment he got in the car and drive out of the encirclement? Aren’t you worried that he will have a way to counterattack? He’s someone who has undergone mechanical modification!”

After Jiang Baimian stopped speaking, Shang Jianyao replied as he drove. “Capturing him alive.”

“…Don’t set such a lofty target next time,” Jiang Baimian advised helplessly. She then took out the small black speaker with a blue bottom—which was slightly larger than her palm—from her large pocket and placed it on the armrest compartment.

“To be honest, its recording and loop playing functions are quite useful. It saved me a lot of bullets.”

At this point, she specifically emphasized, “However, don’t expect it to really cooperate with you. Without real bullets mixed in, those old foxes won’t be deceived. Yes, someone has to cooperate with such an operation.”

She had never imagined that Shang Jianyao would actually bring a small speaker with him when he was clearly out doing black ops.

It was only because this speaker was small and easy to carry around. Otherwise, if it was something like the one used by the Hometown caravan, she suspected that Shang Jianyao would carry it while doing the job.

As Jiang Baimian spoke, the SUV turned into an alley by Central Square and stopped at a corner without any surveillance cameras.

“Wake him up.” Shang Jianyao unbuckled his seatbelt and requested help.

“You even wore a seat belt?” Jiang Baimian wanted to laugh when she saw this scene.

One was a ‘killer,’ and the other was a ‘kidnapper.’ When they achieved their goal and were leaving the scene, they actually ‘abided by the law’ and buckled their seat belts!

This isn’t the only problem… Jiang Baimian muttered and stretched out her left hand, using an electric shock to wake Eugene up.

Just as Eugene opened his eyes, he saw a pair of deep eyes.

Shang Jianyao quickly said, “You were kidnapped by me; your body is under my control. So…”

Eugene’s slightly dazed mind became increasingly confused. A few seconds later, he shouted timidly, “Master.”

Shang Jianyao nodded and pressed the front of his baseball cap lower. He then said to Jiang Baimian, “Give him the clothes in the trunk and let him change into them.”

This was something he had confirmed while chatting with Old Geng.

As they occasionally did some abduction, there were always a few sets of clothes used for camouflage in the trunk of Eugene’s car.

Jiang Baimian first confirmed if there were any GPS devices in Eugene’s clothes and the clothes in the trunk. Then, she casually took a few pieces and threw them onto the passenger seat.

Soon, Eugene ‘obediently’ wore black pants and a blue coat. He wore a brown fisherman’s hat and ordinary sunglasses, making him not as distinctive as before.

Smack!

Jiang Baimian patted the back of Shang Jianyao’s shoulder and questioned in exasperation and amusement, “Why did you make him wear sunglasses? It’s late at night! Do you think others won’t remember the suspicious people they’ve seen?

Are you crazy? Wearing sunglasses at night!?

Shang Jianyao answered awkwardly, “His eyes are too ugly.”

“Let him keep his head down then,” Jiang Baimian said quickly.

While Eugene was changing, she had already opened the car’s fuel tank and used the tools to let some of the fuel inside flow out.

After Eugene took off his sunglasses, Shang Jianyao put away the small speaker. She looked around and identified a direction. “Let’s go!”

The three of them walked from this quiet corner to another alley without surveillance. They looked like friendly companions who had just returned from a nightclub dance.

As she approached the alley, Jiang Baimian took out a dark-green grenade, pulled out the ring, and casually threw it back with her left hand.

The grenade accurately landed in the SUV, which had a door open.

Boom!

A loud explosion sounded in the car. The burgeoning flames ignited the fuel around them, triggering a chain reaction.

…

Boom!

Eugene’s bodyguards—who were searching for traces of vehicles—didn’t miss this commotion. They looked at each other, held their guns, and ran toward the spot where the flames rose.

After the shooting stopped, they realized that Old Geng—who had clearly left with his boss—was still in the parking lot, hiding behind a car.

Back then, the atmosphere was abnormally tense, and everyone was flustered. They had wanted to capture Old Geng—the ‘traitor ‘—but they could only counterattack and shoot him to death because the other party had fired first and shouted about a traitor.

When Old Geng died, his face was filled with pain and confusion as if he were wondering why all of them were traitors and why none of them helped him.

After running a long distance, the bodyguards finally saw the flaming black SUV.

It’s over… This thought simultaneously appeared in their minds.

…

On the second floor of Ah Fu’s Gun Shop, Bai Chen—who had already returned to her and Long Yuehong’s room—lay on the upper bunk bed and stared at the ceiling with her eyes open.

She wanted to sleep, but unbearable scenes flashed through her mind the moment she closed her eyes.

Eugene’s fierce eyes, the heavy body that smelled of engine oil on her, the beatings and punishments she encountered if she didn’t obey, and the pain of being forcefully dragged away by her hair—all of it surfaced in the depths of her memories, making her body tremble involuntarily.

Her nightmare experiences during that period had become a part of her. The moment she saw Eugene, she reflexively couldn’t help but be afraid of him and afraid of resisting.

Suddenly, someone knocked on her room door.

“Who is it?” Long Yuehong—who had been afraid to speak—asked warily.

“Us,” Jiang Baimian answered loudly.

Long Yuehong heaved a sigh of relief and walked to the door.

Bai Chen also got off the bed, prepared to hear what clues her team leader and Shang Jianyao had found.

After the door opened, Shang Jianyao rushed past Long Yuehong and stood in front of Bai Chen. His baseball cap had been put away at some point in time, and his clothes had returned to normal. He no longer wore his clothes inside out.

Bai Chen vaguely saw another person beside her team leader—a person in a fisherman’s hat and blue coat.

“Who’s this?” she asked in confusion.

Shang Jianyao smiled brightly. “I brought you a friend.”

Bai Chen was immediately a little stunned. She knew that Shang Jianyao often spoke without any basis, and his train of thought was baffling and incomprehensible. But at times like these, her team leader would often say a few additional words to prevent others from making wild guesses. But now, Jiang Baimian didn’t say anything.

After Shang Jianyao turned his body to make room, she finally saw who the so-called ‘friend’ was.

The muscular Eugene stood there timidly. His originally fierce eyes were filled with helplessness and pleading. He was like a slave that had been ‘educated’ for more than a year and had yet to die.