Embers Ad Infinitum
chapter-601

Chapter 601: Restored Data

Translator: CKtalon

The magazine in Bai Chen’s hand no longer had a cover or several pages in front, and it looked tattered. She only managed to see the title from the page header.

“The periodical that Hey discovered in that psychological trauma.” Bai Chen handed the magazine to Jiang Baimian.

This magazine used rather high-quality paper—it didn’t turn completely yellow and brittle with age even after decades. It still felt pliable and smooth.

“Lin Sui?” Jiang Baimian didn’t hide her surprise. She took the Renwu magazine and quickly browsed through the remaining interview snippet.

The young woman—who was deemed a genius scientist—mainly talked about her outlook on life, worldview, and values. She didn’t mention what she was studying or where she worked.

After flipping through it simply, Jiang Baimian found her a very normal Old World scientist. There was nothing worth paying attention to.

It had to be known that before the Old World was destroyed, the big countries had advanced technology. Even if there weren’t 100 who could be labeled young scientists, there were definitely more than 50. Not everyone would join the nine research institutes’ projects.

Jiang Baimian composed herself and decided to read the interview from beginning to end to make confirmation. In any case, only half of this interview was left. All the words added up didn’t exceed 6,000 characters.

As she read each word, Jiang Baimian’s expression gradually turned serious. She realized that Lin Sui had mentioned something when discussing her worldview: “Many sci-fi works have stories about uploading human consciousness and memories to computers and virtual networks. I think of it as a prophecy…

“Future humans might exist in the form of consciousness lifeforms. As long as we prepare a backup copy, it won’t be the end of everything even in death. However, this requires us to establish the philosophy revolving around this matter and resolve the question of what makes me me. From the beginning, we should embrace the ethical conflict of the main body and the backup copy…”

These words that seemed to be fantasizing about the future made a term flash across Jiang Baimian’s mind: The Eternal project!

Could it be that Lin Sui is one of the creators of the Eternal project and an important scientist of a particular research institute? Jiang Baimian held in her excitement and finished reading the interview sentence by sentence before pointing out the corresponding content to Long Yuehong and Bai Chen.

Long Yuehong—who had a deep impression of mechanical monks and the Eternals—easily understood what his team leader wanted to express. He sighed regretfully. “This magazine is seriously damaged. There’s no character introduction; otherwise, we would know where Lin Sui is from, what school she attended, and what organization she worked at…”

The information Long Yuehong mentioned might or might not be useful, but it might also involve very key secrets. It made one’s blood run cold and one’s body be covered in sweat just by reading it. For example, what if Lin Sui was an Iron Mountain City local and had immediate family working in the Second Food Company? Or what if she had once studied at Icefield’s Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School?

If she—who was suspected to be one of the Eternal project’s leads—was related to a Buddhist Holy Land, the matter would be truly intriguing.

Most Eternals had currently converted to Buddhism and believed in Subhuti or Master Zhuang. They also called the research base back then the Glazed Pure Lands!

“First, we can eliminate the possibility that Lin Sui is the vegetable.” The person who spoke was Shang Jianyao, who had woken up at some point in time.

This conclusion was obvious because this periodical was released a week before the Old World was destroyed.

Jiang Baimian made a terse grunt. “She doesn’t seem to have anything to do with Fan Wensi and Li Jinlong from the steelworks factory ruins. I’m wondering if there are any clues regarding her in the Monks Conclave’s Glazed Pure Lands…”

Shang Jianyao was also excited. “If there’s a chance in the future, I can attempt to join the Monks Conclave and sneak into their Glazed Pure Lands.”

He seemed to want Zen Master Redemption to live up to his name.

After conversing for a while, the Old Task Force members continued flipping through other books, newspapers, and magazines.

It was almost evening when they completed the screening without finding any more clues.

When leaving the camp on the cliff, Shang Jianyao perked up and forced himself to use words to remove the Thought Guidance effect from before, preventing the mountain monsters here from being too enthusiastic and hospitable—which could attract people with ill intentions.

All the Old Task Force members had to admit that vigilance was the best choice in such a place and environment.

…

After returning to the Ark, Bai Chen and the others happily realized that Genava had already arrived.

The smart bot was cleaning himself from the dirt he had accrued during his journey here.

“You didn’t drive?” Long Yuehong was rather surprised.

Genava replied in a slightly synthetic male voice, “Driving an electric vehicle requires both me and the car to consume electricity. It’s better to carry a solar charger on my own. This way, I can conserve energy while still being fast enough. If I drive a gasoline vehicle, I’ll have to take a large detour and spend more time to ensure the gasoline supply.”

After comprehensive and careful calculations, he concluded that ‘walking’ was the most energy-conserving method.

“Old Ge, you can’t do that!” Shang Jianyao felt pained.

“Why?” Genava expressed his confusion.

Shang Jianyao explained seriously, “As a human, you have to learn how to slack off and enjoy yourself. This is the motivation for technological advancement. I know you don’t feel any exhaustion, but you have to pretend. Otherwise, you won’t fit in!”

Bang!

Genava clenched his right fist and punched his left palm. “I understand! A flaw can make you more human-like.”

“You are a human to begin with,” Bai Chen interrupted.

In order to prevent Genava from going astray, Jiang Baimian decided to interrupt Shang Jianyao’s useless train of thought. She cleared her throat and asked, “Old Ge, is the equipment ready?”

“I can restore and extract data now.” Genava pointed at the tactical backpack behind him.

Jiang Baimian then took out the two phones from the steelworks factory ruins and handed them to Genava. “Let’s begin now.”

Genava immediately got to work.

The next morning, he held the printed document and announced his harvest. “These two phones began storing data two years before the Old World was destroyed, but it had some old imported photos. Only a few of those photos have been restored, and they are all photos of a family of three. Only a few repeated words were extracted from the rest of the data. They are: Renhui Hospital, Harbour Homeland, rent, progress…”

Renhui Hospital… The place where Fan Wensi and Li Jinlong’s vegetable son participated in the experimental treatment as a volunteer? Jiang Baimian thoughtfully asked, “Any mention of the exact location? There are hospitals and residential estates with similar names in many cities in the Old World.”

“It cannot be recovered due to the physical damage.” Genava expressed his regret.

Bai Chen grasped another detail. “Did the two phones start storing data at the same time?”

“Yes.” Genava gave an affirmative answer.

“Why did Fan Wensi and Li Jinlong change their phones so suddenly?” What Bai Chen wanted to express was whether there was a hidden reason behind this.

This might be a clue.

“Isn’t it normal to buy yourself a gift when buying a gift for your spouse?” Shang Jianyao—who valued relationships—felt that it was understandable.

The honest him then retorted, “They clearly received a large sum of compensation after their son became a vegetable from the accident.”

“The timing doesn’t match. There was at least a year’s difference.” Long Yuehong shook his head in denial.

Although they had no way of determining when Fan Wensi and Li Jinlong’s son had an accident, resulting in him becoming a vegetable, they determined that it had to be three or more years before the Old World’s destruction from the terms ‘a few years.’ Fan Wensi and Li Jinlong had switched phones two years before the Old World was destroyed.

The honest Shang Jianyao gave his reason. “In the first two years after receiving the compensation, they didn’t dare to spend money. They scrimped and saved, spending all their money on their son’s recovery. It was only when they realized that he really couldn’t wake up and had no choice but to attempt the free experimental treatment that they recalled that their phones were almost completely broken.”

This was a very reasonable explanation, so reasonable that Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen fell silent.

Genava looked around and decided to stay silent.

After a while, Jiang Baimian slowly exhaled. “If Renhui Hospital is the place where Fan Wensi and Li Jinlong’s son underwent experimental treatment, there’s a high chance that Harbour Homeland is their rented estate. This can be indirectly confirmed from the term ‘rent.’ Think about it. Your son—uh, you don’t have a son yet. In short, after a family member is sent to a hospital for experimental treatment, will you rent a room nearby and visit them regularly?”

“Yes!” Although he didn’t have a son, Genava had a daughter, so he replied firmly.

Long Yuehong imagined such a scene. “But why did Fan Wensi and Li Jinlong return to the steelworks factory?”

Just as he said that, Long Yuehong thought of an explanation. After discovering that the experimental treatment didn’t seem effective, their hopes were completely dashed…

Jiang Baimian shook her head. “The Old World was destroyed shortly before the Lunar New Year. It’s very normal for Fan Wensi and Li Jinlong to return to their hometowns to visit their relatives.”

“Indeed.” As an Ashlandic, Long Yuehong understood very well.

After chatting for a while, Jiang Baimian instructed Genava to put away the two phones and said, “Since there’s no information regarding Iron Mountain City Ruin here, we won’t bother about it for the time being. Now, let’s visit the team suspected to be from the Salvation Army.”

“Why?” Long Yuehong asked curiously.

Jiang Baimian smiled. “An investigation of the cause of the Old World’s destruction and the Five Great Holy Lands of Buddhism isn’t a privilege exclusive to a team or faction. Why can’t we chat with them and exchange information? This won’t bring any harm to the company anyways.”

Jiang Baimian further explained upon seeing Long Yuehong’s and Bai Chen’s confusion. “This is just like the Old World’s theoretical physics research—the results belong to all of humanity.. The value underlying it can’t compare to the communication, discussion, debate, and competition between each other.”