Embers Ad Infinitum
chapter-344

Chapter 344: “Encounter” on the Road

The roads in Golden Apple Zone were wide, and the houses that lined them weren’t too tall. However, there was sufficient distance between them, just like the area Genava lived in back at Tarnan.

Electric poles, street lamps, statues, and green trees were scattered around, accentuating the peace and harmony of the district.

Long Yuehong wouldn’t have believed that this place was in the same city as the Green Olive Zone if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes.

In the Red Wolf Zone he had previously been to, apart from the many high-rise buildings left behind by the Old World, it was only slightly cleaner and better planned than the Green Olive Zone.

Jiang Baimian glanced at Bai Chen—who was in charge of driving—and turned to look at Shang Jianyao, who was deep in thought. “What are you thinking about?”

She would rather Shang Jianyao join in the discussion and lead the conversation astray than have him sit there quietly without making a sound. This meant that he might very well throw a big bombshell shortly.

Shang Jianyao thought for a moment and replied, “I’m wondering which song should be played to represent my current mood and accentuate the atmosphere here.”

“What’s your mood now? I can help you through data screening,” Genava suggested enthusiastically.

Shang Jianyao had backed up a copy of all the entertainment data with him. In any case, he still had enough storage space. If he really didn’t have enough space, Genava still had many slots that allowed him to buy additional storage chips for expansion.

Shang Jianyao was just about to describe his condition when Bai Chen—who was driving—suddenly gave a reminder. “We’re almost at the target’s residence.”

The jeep was driving along Round Hill Street—a street that was famous for being on the top of a small hill.

The Old Task Force’s target this time was Oray’s granddaughter, Avia.

As the car steadily drove forward, Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and the others saw the building corresponding to 14 Round Hill Street.

This building was built with a classical charm. Pillars propped up the roof, and green vines coiled around it in a fixed trajectory, giving it a refreshing feeling that came from nature.

Its overall shape was different from villas in Redstone Collection and Tarnan. It also had the bearing of the Red River Zone’s classical era. It had a total of four floors, and the main door was very exaggerated. Even if one only opened the bottom half, it could allow a two-meter-tall man to pass through without lowering his head.

Clearly, the pair of brown doors usually only had the lower half of the door operational unless they were welcoming guests of sufficient importance or were holding a grand banquet.

In the passenger seat, Jiang Baimian retracted her gaze and reminded, “Don’t keep staring.”

She had imagined this place to be a tiger’s den. She would rather miss opportunities than take the risk.

Long Yuehong, Shang Jianyao, and Genava turned their gazes back into the car.

During this process, Long Yuehong noticed a woman from the corner of his eye.

She was around 27 years old, and she was almost as tall as Long Yuehong. She wore a white dress and had blond curly hair. Her eyes were light blue, her nose was tall, and her face had well-defined contours. She had a classic beauty that was unforgettable.

The only flaw was that her nose was a little large, but this didn’t damage her beauty.

Long Yuehong was stunned for a moment. When he looked forward, a name flashed across his mind: Avia!

Avia Ubis—one of the Old Task Force’s two primary targets!

“Team Leader, Avia!” Long Yuehong quickly reported the situation to Jiang Baimian. He had only swept his gaze in passing and didn’t notice how many people were beside Avia. He only knew that there were many of them.

Jiang Baimian immediately replied and said in a deep voice, “Don’t take a second look.”

She only glanced at the rearview mirror and stopped observing Avia.

Avia’s appearance meant that her secret protectors were nearby. If the Old Task Force acted abnormally, they would immediately be discovered. Things would only turn troublesome.

Shang Jianyao expressed his opinion regarding Jiang Baimian’s instructions. “As a normal man, how can Little Red not take a few more looks when seeing such a beautiful lady pass by?”

“That’s true.” Jiang Baimian realized that she was too tense and overreacted. “Who doesn’t like beautiful ladies? Even I would take a few more looks at them.”

As she spoke, she openly looked back at Avia and the others. Long Yuehong did the same.

Shang Jianyao and Bai Chen were on the other side. They couldn’t see anything and could only give up.

Shang Jianyao originally wanted to move across Genava and Long Yuehong and force his head out the opposite window to size up Avia, but he ultimately didn’t do so.

It was normal to take a few more looks at passing beauties, but it was very abnormal to do such a thing just to take a few more looks at a passing beauty.

The Old Task Force knew that Shang Jianyao had a jumpy thought process and that he was different from normal people. However, the powerhouses who secretly protected Avia and monitored her surroundings didn’t know.

When the time came, they would discover a problem from a simple investigation.

There are many bodyguards… but I can’t tell who’s stronger or weaker… Long Yuehong didn’t size them up and stopped before looking away.

Jiang Baimian did likewise.

“There’s a problem with those people.” She simply shared the results of her observation with a heavy expression.

At this moment, the jeep maintained a similar speed and drove forward to a junction.

Bai Chen turned the steering wheel and made the car turn left. This allowed Shang Jianyao to see Avia and the others through his window.

“The problem is that those bodyguards don’t look good?” Shang Jianyao asked.

“Uh, what logic is that?” Long Yuehong was a little confused.

Shang Jianyao analyzed it for him seriously. “If I were Avia, apart from not having much choice with the strongest few, I would definitely choose the ones that look better when choosing other bodyguards.”

Long Yuehong tried to retort, but he had to admit that it made sense.

“It might’ve been arranged by someone else. She has no right to refuse.” Genava gave another explanation.

“That’s right, that’s right.” Long Yuehong realized that he had been misled by Shang Jianyao.

After the car drove away from Round Hill Street, Jiang Baimian looked at the rearview mirror and calmly said, “Those people’s bioelectric signals are highly consistent, and their expressions are very similar. They aren’t attentive enough.”

“Ah, this…” Long Yuehong’s pupils suddenly dilated. His mind was in a mess, and he couldn’t figure out what this meant for a moment. Instead, he thought of a ghost story.

Shang Jianyao spread his arms, raised his body, and looked at the ceiling. “Everything is but a dream. Why so serious?”

That’s right… Long Yuehong came to a realization and blurted out, “Illusion! We encountered an illusion just now?”

The red light in Genava’s eyes flickered a few times. “It’s very similar to Tarnan’s Superior Heartless.”

“The level of realism is about the same.” Bai Chen voiced her feelings. When making the turn, she had also seen Avia and the ‘others.’

Jiang Baimian smiled. “Isn’t this what we want? There’s at least one illusion domain expert at the Mind Corridor level secretly protecting Avia. Upon seeing that we were strangers, he casually created an illusion to test us. Fortunately, we acted normal.”

Shang Jianyao excitedly said, “I wonder if he knows Abbess Zhou.”

“I don’t think so.” Jiang Baimian struck down his idea. “The Clam Dragon Church is mainly popular in areas where Ashlandics gather. The company’s information didn’t mention any signs of Clam Dragon Church activity in First City.”

“She still owes us a pork meal.” Shang Jianyao had a look of regret.

Jiang Baimian heaved a sigh of relief. “It’s not something she owes.”

She then said, “We can now confirm one thing: First City’s protection of Avia and Marcus is indeed very tight. It involves experts at the Mind Corridor level.”

Armed personnel definitely couldn’t compare to Awakened if they provided protection in the city unless they were mentally prepared to protect their ward regardless of the damage they caused.

Long Yuehong’s heart palpitated as he asked, “Are we still going to Crown Street?”

The Old Task Force’s other target, Marcus, lived at 57 Crown Street.

“No, it’s too much of a coincidence to ‘visit’ Round Hill Street and then ‘visit’ Crown Street. It will easily arouse suspicion.” Jiang Baimian had long made a decision. “Let’s change cars next time. We’ll go as a team of two or three.”

In order not to show any abnormalities, Bai Chen drove the jeep and ‘visited’ the different streets in the Golden Apple Zone and the Red Wolf Zone for a while before returning to Ugo Hotel at noon.

There were few pedestrians on the streets, and many shops had their doors closed.

“Did something happen?” Jiang Baimian pointed at the door and asked the boss, Ugo. “Why is it suddenly so quiet?”

Ugo calmly replied, “The Heartless disease outbreak is too serious. Many people aren’t willing to stay on these streets any longer and choose to stay with their relatives and friends for the time being. As you know, a Heartless outbreak is limited to a certain area most of the time.”

Those who remained basically had nowhere else to go.

Before Jiang Baimian asked further, Shang Jianyao raised a question. “If everyone in these streets runs away, will the Heartless outbreak end?”

In the entire Old Task Force, Jiang Baimian was the one who studied the Heartless disease the most. She opened her mouth but didn’t give an answer.

Ugo glanced at Shang Jianyao and revealed a slightly mocking smile. “It will spread to other areas. Therefore, those with slaves left behind the slaves.”

Shang Jianyao nodded and asked in concern, “Then, why aren’t you leaving? Aren’t you afraid of being infected with the Heartless disease?”

The look in Ugo’s eyes became rather strange before returning to normal. He replied in a nonchalant tone, “My luck has always been good.”

Shang Jianyao glanced at him sympathetically. “That’s because you still don’t know…”

He then felt Jiang Baimian place her left hand on his arm and tacitly shut his mouth.

Jiang Baimian then said that she had an employer who wanted to obtain information on the current Heartless disease outbreak. She hoped that Ugo could introduce her and the others to the nearby sheriff.

“10 Oray. I’ll give you the information tomorrow,” replied Ugo in a direct manner.

“Alright.” Jiang Baimian took out 10 Oray and handed it over. She then returned to Room 202 with all the Old Task Force members.

Long Yuehong stood by the door and hesitated for a moment before asking worriedly, “Team Leader, are we moving to another area?”

If anyone in the team contracted the Heartless disease, it would be impossible to save them even if they wanted to.

Nobody could guarantee that they wouldn’t contract the disease.