Embers Ad Infinitum
chapter-518

As soon as Jiang Baimian woke up, she began sensing her surroundings. In the blink of an eye, she realized that there was an unfamiliar, medium-sized creature’s electric signals—which she hadn’t detected previously—more than 30 meters away from them.

At this critical moment, she didn’t hesitate to straighten her body, pounce toward the driver’s seat, and swing her left hand to the side.

She had previously given the passenger seat to Kanna, so she ended up sleeping in the backseat by the window.

Zap!

A silver-white electric arc lit up and struck Shang Jianyao, who was in the middle of the back row.

Shang Jianyao jolted awake, and his clothes were clearly charred. Under the electric shock, his eyes darted around under his eyelids that were about to open.

As Shang Jianyao woke up, Jiang Baimian had already thrown herself into the driver’s seat.

She didn’t adjust her posture. In her abnormally contorted state, she pulled the hand brake, adjusted the gear, stepped on the accelerator, and turned the steering wheel.

Amidst the simulated engine sound, the military-green jeep swerved crazily and dashed toward its target. It looked aggressive as if it wanted to cause a car accident.

It was only then that Khal—who was sitting in the black car—reacted.

His Forced Sleep didn’t include the ability to monitor the other party’s condition, so he didn’t discover Jiang Baimian waking up immediately. By the time he sensed that a target’s consciousness had become active and could apply Forced Sleep again, the jeep—which was installed with thick steel plates and had far above ordinary load—had already reached him with its terrifying acceleration and ridiculous inertia.

Meanwhile, Bai Chen and Long Yuehong—who were sleeping with their backs against the car door—fell to the ground with a thud, producing a metallic clang. With such a forceful kick, they instantly woke up and escaped their deep sleep.

In a split second, Khal—who subconsciously wanted to add a ‘sleep’ state to Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao—restrained his instinct when facing the military-green jeep that was rushing over like a small tank. This was because the vehicle’s state couldn’t be changed regardless of whether the driver was awake or asleep.

His Matter Interference ability still wasn’t enough to block such a speeding car.

After some deliberation, Khal released the brakes, floored the accelerator, and swiveled the steering wheel, allowing the black car to turn to its side.

Although this resulted in his previous lock of Avia losing effect, he also avoided the direction the military-green jeep was heading in. He didn’t have to worry about being hit.

Right on the heels of that, Khal terminated his previous Forced Sleep and prepared to cast it again. In other words, he wanted Jiang Baimian—who was in the jeep’s driver’s seat—to fall asleep again. She wouldn’t be able to adjust the jeep’s direction to collide toward him again.

Although this would remove the Forced Sleep from the two Mind Corridor-level enemies, Khal wasn’t worried.

Sleeping was a state that could be maintained.

Khal had previously maintained the effects using his ability because he was afraid that an accident would happen. But now, he would immediately stack another one after uncasting it—it would only be a second or two of delay. It was impossible for anyone to happen to wake up and quickly figure out the situation to deliver a counterattack.

There was no time!

At this moment, Shang Jianyao stretched out his Berserker assault rifle from the side window of the jeep.

Ta! Ta! Ta!

He didn’t aim and fired at Avia’s classic-styled villa.

Amidst the shattering glass windows, the security alarm sounded. “Woo!”

“Woo!”

The alarm was loud and ear-piercing, enough to wake up most sleeping people.

Is he nuts? This was Khal’s first thought.

This way, it wasn’t only Kanna who was woken up. The Virtual World’s owner and Avia—the main target—would awaken too.

The situation would become more complicated or even more difficult! Avia had a dangerous item in her grasp!

Jiang Baimian also didn’t expect Shang Jianyao to do so.

In the Old Task Force’s plan, Shang Jianyao should’ve played Xiaochong’s whistling the moment he woke up when faced with such a situation. Amidst the whistling, the Old Task Force members would feel urgent and hold their pee in. It wouldn’t be long before they could have the resistance toward falling asleep.

The power of the whistling would decrease with distance, and it wasn’t that effective on Awakened at the Mind Corridor level. It might take a minute or two for the other party to feel anything. If one wanted to achieve the state of being urgent to resist sleeping, it would take longer.

This way, if nothing unexpected happened in the area, the ‘awakening’ would appear in an orderly manner that Jiang Baimian hoped for:

The Old Task Force members would wake up first, and it would be the guards at Avia’s door about ten seconds later. In another 20 to 30 seconds, it would be the ordinary people in the room who could hear the whistling. Then, it was the Sea of Origins Awakened—who were a certain distance away. It would take minutes later before it reached Kanna and the Virtual World’s owner.

This allowed Jiang Baimian and the others to make full use of the time difference in a bid to scare away or drive off the Real Dreamscape’s creator before any of that happened. When the time came, they could use Kanna’s power to deal with the Virtual World’s owner.

As for how to drive him off, the Old Task Force had a plan as well. This was especially so considering how the other party was already within range. It could reduce the difficulty significantly.

In the face of this situation, their plan was: Use their urgency to wake up repeatedly and rely on the military exoskeleton’s auxiliary aiming function or automatic firing mode to bombard the target’s location. Even if they couldn’t hit him, they would scare him off.

During this process, Shang Jianyao would also use the Bangle of Blindness to make the target blind, making it easier for them to be nervous and flustered.

But now, Shang Jianyao didn’t follow the original plan. Instead, he chose to shoot the villa and trigger the alarm.

Upon seeing Jiang Baimian turn her head slightly to look at him, Shang Jianyao sighed and said, “A brain spasm.”

“…” This was the first time Jiang Baimian deeply understood that Shang Jianyao’s price was still a price.

Previously, his split personality and brain spasms acted like his fourth ability that was especially effective against certain Awakened. But no matter how useful a price was, it was ultimately still a price.

On the second floor of Avia’s villa, amidst the loud and ear-piercing alarm, the eyes under the eyelids of Kanna and the old lady in the black beanie stirred.

…

Red Wolf Zone, Senate.

Beulis—who had his vision deprived—roared and instinctively jumped back.

Before he landed, Superintendent Alexander said in a deep voice, “Auditory Deprivation!”

At this moment, Beulis—who was inflicted with the Heartless disease—couldn’t see or hear anything. It was as if he had been locked in a small, silent, and dark room.

“Haha!” As Beulis staggered, he laughed.

This laughter made the surrounding Elders and guards smile. Even Superintendent Alexander curled the corners of his mouth.

“Boohoo…” In the blink of an eye, Beulis cried bitterly.

The people who had been laughing shed tears together with him.

They cried and laughed, alternating between the two. They were almost unable to use their abilities and weapons.

At this moment, the citizens—who were about to tear through the city defense forces—saw a black motorcycle ‘flying ‘over from a nearby slope.

With a vroom, the motorcycle slid forward and spun, blocking the path between the citizens and the Subhuman Guard.

The gray-robed Zennaga vertically held a single hand in front of him and said sadly, “Namo Annutara-Samyak-Subhuti. Patrons, harmony is most precious.”

Although it was said that harmony was most precious, Zennaga had already brought a large number of the gathered citizens and Subhuman Guards within the influence of his abilities.

“Six Realms of Rebirth and Existence!”

For a moment, apart from the citizens and public security officers far away from the square, everyone else revealed pained expressions. They experienced injections, burns, and other scenes.

Some fainted directly to escape all of this, while others curled up their bodies and forgot what they wanted to do.

At the same time, the radio sounded again, and a rather old voice sounded. “Violence can’t resolve the problem completely. Only by negotiating can we satisfy everyone’s requests. Please believe in the majority of the Elders. We will eliminate the vermin and improve the lives of the citizens.”

This voice had a static sound as if it was using an electronic device that was of poor quality.

Upon hearing this broadcast, many citizens fell silent and calmed down.

Suddenly, the voice’s tone changed. “Not…”

This ‘not’ carried a hint of satisfaction and comfort as if he had just passively enjoyed it.

“Not…” This word echoed in the citizens’ minds, denying the previous sentence. They then smelled a faint fragrance.

This fragrance was difficult to describe in detail, but it made it impossible for them to discriminate between men and women. At the same time, their blood boiled. The desire to be destroyed and to indulge occupied their bodies and minds.

In between the first batch of citizens and the Subhuman Guard, Zennaga’s eyelids suddenly twitched. He seemed to sense something.

Blood was everywhere, and order had collapsed. It was a figure walking upward.

It was an outcome that didn’t seem too good for him.

“Namo Annutara-Samyak-Subhuti…” Zennaga muttered another Buddhist proclamation.

His body stood straight, motionless.