Embers Ad Infinitum
chapter-292

After the group of people dispersed, the Old Task Force returned to their rooms.

Genava took off the sunglasses on his nose and looked around. “You don’t seem to be in a good mood? Did the slave merchant’s lecture bring up unpleasant memories? I remember that slaves and servants are very common in the Ashlands. They shouldn’t have any impact on you.”

He asked very directly and didn’t use a euphemistic method. Or rather, he didn’t know what a euphemism was.

The last person he looked at was Bai Chen.

He remembered the slave merchant’s lecture. When the dozens of reserved servants revealed looks of hope, the lady with the fake name ‘Qian Bai,’ secretly clenched her fists.

Before Bai Chen could speak, Long Yuehong replied on her behalf. “Because the person they will serve isn’t too nice.”

He paused and explained in detail, “DiMarco is a very violent person…”

Long Yuehong roughly described the information they had obtained on DiMarco from Redstone Collection and said, “I feel a little uncomfortable when I see them feel that their fate is about to change for the better when it’s actually not the case.”

“Yes.” Jiang Baimian nodded in agreement with Long Yuehong.

Genava thought for two seconds and asked, “Then, why don’t you try to save them?”

He asked whenever he didn’t understand anything.

The room became extremely quiet. Apart from Shang Jianyao—who was thinking about something—nobody else seemed to expect Genava to raise such a question so directly.

This was a question that left them embarrassed. It was like an arrow that pierced through their facade of nonchalance.

After more than ten seconds, Bai Chen said, “There are too many people in the Ashlands that need saving. It’s impossible for us to provide help every time we see an instance. This exceeds our abilities and the resources we have. We have to ensure our survival first before we can consider anything else.”

She paused for two seconds and added, “I’ve always felt that it’s considered noble to not harm innocent people in the Ashlands.”

Don’t expect help from outsiders.

Little White, you rarely say so much… Jiang Baimian quietly listened and was in no rush to speak.

Long Yuehong immediately echoed, “That’s right. On the one hand, the Underground Ark faction isn’t small. Just the few of us will definitely not be able to deal with them. It’s even a question if we can fight our way in. On the other hand, there are so many of them. It’s a very realistic question as to how we should settle them down after saving them. We still have to wait a month or two for farming to begin, and any harvests will be even further into the future. Our food is very limited. When the time comes, it’s unknown how many of them will starve or freeze to death. The outcome might not be as good as entering the Underground Ark.”

Not bad. You can already clearly explain the matter… Jiang Baimian then concluded with words she had long organized. “Besides, our main mission is to investigate the reason for the Old World’s destruction. If we were to care about this and that, it will only tax our operations and increase unnecessary burden.

“If the difficulty wasn’t high and the risk wasn’t high, we would just do it in passing. But in such a situation, we can’t muddle our primary and secondary objectives and risk our team members’ lives. Everyone has a limit to their abilities. It’s impossible to have a hand in everything; it’s most important to do your best in one’s individual matters.”

Genava thought for a moment and nodded in understanding. “I see. I previously thought that ‘saving all of humanity’ was one of your goals.”

That bites… Jiang Baimian’s expression was slightly dazed as a term she had just learned flashed across her mind. She forced a smile and said, “Investigating the reason for the Old World’s destruction and figuring out the Heartless disease’s source is our efforts toward saving all of humanity.”

Genava thought for a moment and asked, “If the primary mission is also filled with risks, will you bet the team members’ lives?”

“…” Jiang Baimian felt a headache coming on. She deliberated and said, “I’ll analyze the situation and weigh the risks before making a decision. If we can complete it by taking a little risk, we should attempt it. After all, I’ll definitely be the one taking the lead. If the risk is high, I’ll consider changing methods and finding other clues. In short, there’s no need to make unnecessary sacrifices. As long as there’s life, there’s hope.”

Genava moved his metal neck and asked in confusion, “Then, why isn’t it the same when it comes to dealing with the Underground Ark and saving those servants? Why didn’t you consider if there was a good solution or another way to resolve it? Why did you give up immediately?”

You’re such an honest robot… I’ll have to teach you what you can ask and what matters you should just understand and accept… Jiang Baimian felt a little desperate for help as if she were facing another Shang Jianyao.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Shang Jianyao—who had been in deep thought—clapped. Then, he looked at Genava and praised with a smile, “I’m very gratified.”

These words that didn’t make head or tail confused Genava. He analyzed it carefully and said, “Do you think the questions I raised are good?”

“Yes.” Shang Jianyao nodded solemnly.

At this moment, Jiang Baimian felt like she was about to face N Shang Jianyaos. She began to regret her greed for the smart bot’s defensive and offensive abilities.

Phew… Jiang Baimian slowly exhaled and said, “The reason is that I’ve already considered and analyzed it in my heart.”

In order to indicate that this wasn’t a tactical deception, she said in detail, “The Ark is underground, and it has strict control over all entrances and exits. It’s not something that can be barged into just because one wants to. Furthermore, one might encounter a situation where the path is blocked, and one might be trapped to death on the spot…

“There are many guards inside, and their weapons are very good…

“DiMarco has at least two new military exoskeletons under him. There can only be more old models, not less…

“There are also Awakened working for him. There’s more than one…

“In addition, the Ark has plenty of supplies and weapons. It won’t be a problem for it to be besieged for a year or so…

“Besides…” At this point, Jiang Baimian fell silent for a few seconds before saying, “DiMarco is not a simple man. On the one hand, he’s very brutal. On the other hand, he has shown all kinds of strange things. For example, he paid a lot of attention to Lake Heart Island and Yama Tiger’s matter. This doesn’t seem like something an ordinary person would do. For example, he dared to meet us in a room alone. Therefore, I suspect that he also has relatively high strength.”

After giving her analysis, Jiang Baimian concluded, “In summary, I don’t think we can save the servants in the Ark. Even if all of us are sacrificed, the possibility isn’t great. Yes, it’s easy to save the ones from before, but the focus will be on the resettlement later. We don’t have that many supplies.”

Genava agreed with Jiang Baimian’s analysis and asked, “Have you considered how to gather food?”

“A slow remedy cannot meet an urgency,” Jiang Baimian replied helplessly.

At this moment, she saw from the corner of her eye that Shang Jianyao seemed a little eager. Therefore, she weakly said, “What do you have to say?”

After dealing with a fake Shang Jianyao, she had to face the real Shang Jianyao.

Shang Jianyao stood up, looked around, and smiled. “I’ll only state a few facts.”

A few… Long Yuehong suddenly felt his liver tremble.

Shang Jianyao didn’t seem to notice his abnormality and continued, “First, the Underground Ark definitely has a lot of supplies stored. It can feed many people for a long time.

“Second, DiMarco occupies the largest share of Redstone Collection’s smuggling market, no matter which industry it is. Therefore, the Underground Ark definitely has many high-performance batteries.

“Third, as long as we control the channels and have sufficient military strength, anyone who can do these businesses will enjoy great benefits.”

Jiang Baimian didn’t object blindly. She thought for a moment and said, “You mean that as long as we kill DiMarco and occupy the Underground Ark, we can resolve our needs, save those servants, and provide for them? We can kill multiple birds with one stone?”

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Shang Jianyao clapped. “With such a faction that we support and will be influenced by us, we can use it to slowly change Redstone Collection’s situation and promote the peaceful coexistence of the Ashlanders, Red River people, merfolk, and mountain monsters here.”

Jiang Baimian felt that it was indeed the case, but she was also a little dumbfounded. “Did you go around in circles just to achieve this goal at the end of the day?”

How persistent!

Shang Jianyao didn’t answer and seriously raised the thorn in his words. “You can’t say things like killing DiMarco and occupying the Underground Ark. This will make us look like bandits.”

“Then, what should I say?” Jiang Baimian asked in exasperation and amusement.

Shang Jianyao’s expression turned solemn. “Justice on behalf of the heavens!”

“…” At this moment, Jiang Baimian only had one word in her heart—Regret.

It was now regret.

Why did she agree to let this fellow watch the Old World drama serials back then?

Long Yuehong’s expression was about the same. He felt that the current Shang Jianyao was like a tiger that had grown wings.

Bai Chen didn’t say a word; she neither agreed nor objected.

Jiang Baimian calmed down and looked at Shang Jianyao before responding in a serious manner. “If you can come up with a plan that is considerably feasible, I can consider it. If it doesn’t work, just pretend that nothing happened.”