Embers Ad Infinitum
chapter-608

Shang Jianyao—who liked to joke and always acted like an old friend—didn't treat him as an outsider at all. He raised his right hand and waved it. "Hey, where are your two friends?"

The other party was Ashlandic, so he didn't deliberately change his language.

The man turned his body and looked at the fellow before casually muttering, "They are still in the restaurant. Burp…"

Just as he said that, his gaze froze. "It's you! Do you think I'm suffering from dementia? Do you think I'll forget your teasing yesterday?"

As he spoke, the man took a step forward and raised his fist.

Shang Jianyao was delighted instead of being angry. He looked down at the other party from above. At the same time, he bent his right arm, propping up the clothes on his arm.

Compared to his thin, unmuscular self just after graduation, he was now a lot heavier thanks to the sufficient nutrition he got after joining the Old Task Force. His strength had also increased significantly.

Looking at the other party's height and the clearly visible muscles under his clothes, the man silently retracted his hand while grumbling. "I won't fuss over it with you."

He then sidestepped away.

He was alone now—he who understands the times is a wise man! Furthermore, at such a distance, he probably wouldn't be faster than the other party's fist even if he wanted to draw his gun.

After watching the man leave, Shang Jianyao stroked his chin. "Time is indeed not fixed, but the speed at which time flows is different from reality."

He hadn't entered this psychological trauma for days, yet only a night had passed. The scene of the chaotic and deranged humans seemed to disappear after dawn.

After extracting the key points, Shang Jianyao rubbed his stomach and muttered to himself, "Restaurant?"

He walked in the direction the man had come from and sized up the rooms on both sides as he walked.

After arriving at the end of the aisle, he saw a buffet restaurant. Many people—who had chased and intercepted him last night—were carrying their trays or feasting.

Shang Jianyao walked straight in. Nobody checked if he belonged there.

Yes, those on the ship definitely bought 'tickets' or are staff… Shang Jianyao picked up the largest tray and seriously checked what food there was.

Carbs were mainly porridge cooked using rice or oats—it was mostly water. In addition to them, there was stuff like boiled potatoes and roasted sweet potatoes.

There were a total of five dishes: grilled taro, stir-fried wild vegetables, roasted fish, pan-fried meat of an unknown species, and grilled fish chunks.

There was plenty of the five dishes, but two of them were fish. It was inevitable that they gave off the feeling that one was eating by the sea. Furthermore, they were all roasted or grilled; they clearly lacked spices and appeared very crudely made.

Shang Jianyao looked at the roasted fish and grilled fish that were completely mangled and stroked his chin. "Since there aren't that many spices, why didn't they choose to serve the simplest steamed fish? Could it be that these fish have been exposed to pollution and have a strange taste that requires a relatively involved culinary method to mask it?"

"It's already good enough that we have something to eat. Why care about this?" retorted a cruise passenger beside him.

"That's right." Shang Jianyao sincerely admitted his mistake. He then scooped a large piece of roasted fish and two pieces of grilled fish chunks and placed them on his plate.

There weren't many opportunities to eat fish in Pangu Biology, so Shang Jianyao naturally wanted to give it a try.

Following this, he placed a sizable pile of wild vegetables, taro, sweet potatoes, and potatoes onto his tray. He also scooped a bowl of oatmeal.

With a full tray of 'supper,' he found a seat and sat down, swallowing his saliva.

He first tasted the grilled fish chunks. As he ate, his expression suddenly turned strange.

Cough, cough, uh, uh… Something seemed to be in his throat, but he couldn't get it out.

He had a fishbone stuck in his throat!

Finally, Shang Jianyao couldn't tolerate it any longer and chose to return to reality. His figure then disappeared from the cruise buffet.

In the darkness, Shang Jianyao opened his eyes and suddenly sat up. He bent down and coughed a few times.

"What's wrong?" Jiang Baimian asked in concern. She switched on the lamp as well.

Shang Jianyao composed himself and replied thankfully, "I almost died!"

"Didn't I tell you not to make any more attempts and only confirm the cruise ship's current state?" Jiang Baimian couldn't help but ask, "What happened?"

Shang Jianyao cleared his throat again and confirmed that there was nothing else. He then truthfully said, "I choked on a fishbone while eating fish!"

"…" Jiang Baimian subconsciously raised her hand, wanting to confirm that her biological cochlear implant was still there.

She had imagined many strange scenes when she asked her question, but she still overestimated herself and underestimated Shang Jianyao. How the hell did you choke on a fishbone? Weren't you exploring someone's psychological trauma? Could it be that the room owner was once choked?

"Be more detailed." Jiang Baimian gave up on thinking and directly got Shang Jianyao to explain the situation himself.

Shang Jianyao perked up and reported the dishes and selection of carbs in the cruise buffet restaurant. He then talked about how he had discovered that the anomaly on the cruise ship had disappeared and that everyone had returned to normal.

"So, you started eating in the restaurant?" Jiang Baimian felt that this was indeed something Shang Jianyao could do.

Shang Jianyao replied seriously, "Since you want me to confirm the cruise ship's situation, I naturally have to determine their chef's standards."

Jiang Baimian weakly asked, "How're the standards?"

"It's not bad. It's already pretty good to be able to come up with that despite the lacking ingredients and little seasoning. However, the fish they chose had too many fish bones." Shang Jianyao had a look of regret.

Jiang Baimian confirmed one thing: This fellow was really tasting the food.

She thought for a moment and brought the topic back on track. "Every entry is different from the previous state. A period of normality between chaos?"

"That's possible," Shang Jianyao said eagerly. "I'll go in later to take a look."

"Don't!" Jiang Baimian was afraid that this fellow would bring about trouble again. "You can try whatever you want on the way to First City after we explore the Second Food Company."

At this point, Jiang Baimian fell into thought. "Time moves forward every time you enter the cruise ship. Furthermore, it's relatively jumpy—it goes through a day-night cycle. If you keep going in and out, allowing time to keep jumping forward until the day the room owner leaves the cruise ship, what will happen next? Will you return to the beginning, will there be something else, or will you directly 'clear the level?'"

Shang Jianyao clapped. "Your train of thought has my style."

I don't think that's a compliment… Jiang Baimian no longer had the strength to argue.

"In any case, let's give it a try when the time comes. Go to sleep." She urged Shang Jianyao and switched off the lamp.

The rational and calm Shang Jianyao chose to obey orders.

The next morning, the Old Task Force left the Underground Ark's Iron Mountain entrance and got into their modified jeep.

"Let's go!" It was Shang Jianyao's turn to drive, and his excitement showed.

The Old World had mountain tunnels and high-speed bridges that led from here to Iron Mountain City Ruin, but many of the roads had long been blocked. There were also mountain monsters that liked to throw rocks from above, so Ruin Hunters often chose to circle around these mountains nowadays.

Shang Jianyao and the Salvation Army's Mind Corridor-level Awakened had tacitly requested the mountain monsters to 'help' clear the blocked path a few days ago, allowing them to reach their destination in a few hours.

The Salvation Army had contacted the United Industries personnel through Mrs. Theresa. They had already set off for Iron Mountain City Ruin since the other party would take another week to arrive. They were prepared to complete the investigation in three to four days.

Jiang Baimian warned them, "Be careful. Even Old Ge won't survive if we fall down the cliff."

"Let me do it," Bai Chen suggested.

Jiang Baimian shook her head. "Let this fellow expend more energy. I'm beginning to miss his injured and listless state."

Shang Jianyao didn't respond. As he started the car, he switched on the small speaker. "You carry the luggage; I ride the horse, welcoming sunrise and sending away the dusk…"

Amidst a carefree song, the jeep drove to the other side of the mountain range.

…

Vigilance Cathedral, basement one.

Under the excuse of visiting an old friend, Chu Ge requested to meet Bai Chen and the others through the Underground Ark Management Committee.

He actually wanted to preach. From his point of view, would anyone present doubt Eidolon Nun's existence after the miracle of being watched by the Kalendaria last night?

There were three choices in the Eidolon Nun faith. Chu Ge naturally didn't want this powerful team to join the other two religions.

"President Xue and the others have already left." Ulrich didn't mention Jiang Baimian and the others' destination.

"They've already left?" Chu Ge was very shocked. Did they leave just like that after witnessing such a miracle? Are they still normal?

"Yes." Ulrich didn't say anything else.

Chu Ge wanted to ask further, but Archbishop Delro stopped him with his eyes.

After returning to the Vigilance Cathedral's main hall, Chu Ge was just about to speak when Delro sighed with emotion. "They weren't scared away. From their performance last night, this wasn't the first time they encountered a miracle…"

"This…" Chu Ge couldn't say anything else.

…

The journey was smooth and mixed with rest. Around 2 p.m., the Old Task Force arrived at the area around Iron Mountain City Ruin.

Due to the terrain, they saw the ruins from above.

Unlike ruins like Redstone Collection, most of the buildings here had collapsed during the Chaotic Era and the 'raids' in the early years of the New Calendar. Most of the buildings had collapsed during these battles, and only a few remained standing stubbornly.

Under the sunlight, they were like road signs in a quiet cemetery.