Embers Ad Infinitum
chapter-506

Phocas drove the bulletproof SUV and brought his two children out of the Golden Apple Zone, passing through the Red Wolf Zone and arriving at a very ordinary five-story apartment in the Green Olive Zone.

Not far from this apartment stood Ugo Hotel.

Phocas parked the car in a nearby alley and carried his two children into the apartment calmly. He didn’t head up but went straight for the basement entrance.

Two men in ordinary clothes stood guard in the shadows. Upon seeing Phocas, they immediately clenched their fists and gently punched their heads without stopping him.

Phocas nodded and pushed open the ajar door with his elbow.

After passing through a narrow corridor, Phocas came to a hall.

At the end of the hall stood a stone statue. In front of the statue were rows and rows of simple futons.

At this moment, many people were lying on these futons. Their eyes were tightly shut as if they were sleeping.

Phocas walked to the stone statue. On the way, he placed his two children on an empty futon.

It was actually very difficult to be called a futon. They were only considered stacked white bedsheets on the hall’s stone tiles. It was no different from lying on the ground—it was very hard and uncomfortable.

Sleeping on it was almost a form of torture.

Finally, Phocas came in front of the stone statue.

This statue was different. Its face wasn’t carved with facial features, but an ordinary mirror was embedded in it.

When Phocas looked up at the statue’s head, he naturally saw himself. He clenched his fists and gently rapped his head before saying in a deep voice, “The true self lives forever.”

After bowing, Phocas turned around and returned to his two children’s side. He then found a simple futon and lay down.

The hard touch tortured his waist, reminding him of the past.

Ever since his wife contracted the Heartless disease and he—a noble, general, and a Mind Corridor-level Awakened—was powerless to stop her and could only watch helplessly, he joined the True Self Church, which worshiped Dawn, and became a Dreambreaker.

After nearly 15 minutes, Phocas closed his eyes, and his breathing became rapid.

He fainted.

…

Golden Apple Zone, in the inspector’s residence.

Alexander’s butler led the visiting Cynthia into one of the activity rooms.

Cynthia looked to be in her late twenties. She was tall and had lustrous, flaxen hair and a pair of eyes that seemed to speak.

Today, she wore a black dress that exposed her shoulders. She also wore a diamond necklace, a bracelet, and a brooch. She looked noble and elegant, but there was nothing special about her.

“Your Excellency.” Cynthia looked at Alexander and bowed respectfully. She then swept her gaze across the activity room and checked how many people there were.

“One…” This referred to Superintendent Alexander.

“One…” Cynthia’s gaze slid past Galoran’s face.

“Two…” Cynthia glanced at the butler beside her.

“Three, four…” Cynthia saw the two guards in charge of protecting Alexander.

A total of four people… She nodded inwardly.

Alexander cleared his throat and asked, “Ma’am, why are you here so late?”

Cynthia looked around and hesitantly said, “Do you mind if they wait outside?”

She often came to the Superintendent’s residence as a guest to have private interactions with Alexander. Such a suggestion wasn’t excessive.

As one of First City’s two giants, Alexander had the ability to protect himself.

Alexander frowned indiscernibly and hesitated for a moment. “Go stand guard outside.”

He was clearly instructing the butler and guards, but his gaze was on his daughter, Galoran.

Galoran stood there calmly as if she didn’t sense her father’s gaze.

At the same time, the butler and the two guards silently and gently walked out of the activity room. The former closed the door very carefully and guarded the outside with the two guards, preventing anyone from approaching.

Upon seeing this, Cynthia took two steps forward and said in panic and fear, “Your Excellency, the culprit behind the Citizen Meet explosion captured by the Hand of Order has identified Elder Varro as the mastermind. General Gaius took the opportunity to gather all the citizens in the city for a meet tomorrow morning.

“Th-this reminds me of some nasty rumors. Your Excellency, First City will be in chaos if you don’t stop it!” As she spoke, Cynthia approached Alexander and tried to reach out to hold the elder’s arm to comfort her terrified heart.

Alexander turned his head to glance at his daughter—Galoran—and retracted his arm awkwardly. “Ma’am, don’t do this.”

Before Cynthia could respond, Alexander pointed at the coffee table in the activity room. “Ma’am, calm down. How about a cup of tea first?”

There were two cups of tea there. One belonged to Alexander, and the other had been drunk by Galoran.

Cynthia traced Alexander’s finger and instinctively counted the few cups of tea. One cup, three cups… Yes, there are a total of three cups of tea. Which two people did the Superintendent chat with here previously?

As these thoughts raced through her mind, Cynthia pursed her lips and said, “O-okay.”

Her lips were pink and seemed to glow, making her look very alluring.

Alexander forced himself to look away and subconsciously gulped. He quickly summoned the butler and got him to deliver another cup of tea.

At this moment, Galoran had already found a seat and sat down. She showed no intention of leaving, presenting her stance of adapting to her circumstances.

The butler quickly delivered a cup of black tea and gently left the room.

Cynthia picked up the cup and tried to take a sip, but her hands were trembling uncontrollably due to her lingering fear and horror. She accidentally overturned the teacup.

“Oh…” She quickly stood up, and her clothes were already wet.

Alexander was a gentleman and wanted to step forward to provide his assistance. However, he looked at her moistened spot and glanced at his daughter beside him before stopping.

Cynthia flustered around for a while. Upon seeing that there was no response, she could only sadly take out a tissue and wipe herself.

“Your Excellency, look…” As she wiped the clothes around her chest, she wanted to say that she might have to go to the bathroom to deal with it.

With the words ‘look,’ Alexander looked at Cynthia’s chest and felt that the arcs were beautiful and indescribably moving.

He suddenly felt like he was on fire. Something was rapidly brewing in his heart, about to boil.

But… Alexander turned his head to look at his youngest daughter, Galoran, sitting beside him and couldn’t help but grumble about Cynthia in his heart. Can’t you take note of the situation? Why are you acting like nobody is here?

Alexander straightened his face and said in a deep voice, “Ma’am, I already know what you want to express. I’ll maintain First City’s stability. Alright, you may return. It’s easy to catch a cold when your clothes are wet.”

Cynthia was stunned. Her expression didn’t recover until the butler received the instructions and came in to invite her to leave.

She had never seen Superintendent Alexander acting like this before!

After Cynthia’s figure disappeared from the door, Alexander turned around and looked at his youngest daughter, Galoran. He frowned and said, “Is this one of your abilities?”

Galoran replied very calmly, “That’s right.”

Alexander fell silent for a while before letting out a long sigh. “You’re completely different from before.”

Galoran smiled. “You probably don’t know the price I paid.”

“Oh?” Alexander asked. How can the price you paid be casually mentioned? Unless it isn’t too easy to target.

At this moment, Galoran suddenly muttered, “Celestial Worthy of Immeasurable Blessings.”

She then casually said, “Personality.”

The price she paid was her personality.

…

In the Red Wolf Zone safe house prepared by the Old Task Force.

Long Yuehong looked at the sky that was gradually lighting up and heaved a sigh of relief. “I thought there would be chaos last night.”

After all, with a terrifying existence like Xiaochong taking action, it was very easy to trigger an overreaction. In addition, the explosions caused by the Old Task Force also pulled at the sensitive nerves of everyone in the city.

“From the looks of it, First City’s strength and stability are greater than we imagined. Those big shots should’ve been very busy last night.” Jiang Baimian nodded in agreement. “It’s very difficult to create chaos in such an edifice unless there are problems with the internal structure.”

Shang Jianyao thought about it seriously and said to Long Yuehong, “Say a few more words. For example, ‘I’m only 1.75 meters tall after genetic enhancement,’ ‘my grades are only average,’ ‘there shouldn’t be any unrest for us to exploit.’”

“Hey…” Long Yuehong was bemused with anger.

Jiang Baimian glared at Shang Jianyao and exhaled before saying seriously, “We should head out and obtain a radio transceiver.”

They also had to pay attention to the development of this Citizen Meet.