Embers Ad Infinitum
chapter-619

Jiang Baimian gaped without saying a word when she heard Genava. She had already recalled one of Genava’s core settings: Protect and serve humans.

Long Yuehong subconsciously said, “It’s not like they necessarily eat humans for food…”

As he spoke, he fell silent.

At this moment, Shang Jianyao and Bai Chen passed by the naked corpses that were being dried in the cave and arrived at the messy depths.

Bai Chen scanned the area and wasn’t moved by the situation. She only gave a simple evaluation: “A complete Heartless cluster.”

This was common terminology used by wilderness nomads. They felt that using the term ‘tribe’ or ‘clan’ to describe a small society made up of Heartless was an insult to humans, so they were more willing to use ‘cluster’ to describe such a situation.

Jiang Baimian quickly recovered and frowned. “There are two Awakened Superior Heartless out of dozens of Heartless; the ratio spells an obvious abnormality. It cannot be explained simply with the probability involving special exceptions and natural mutations. There has to be a reason behind this.”

It was obvious how rare Superior Heartless were from the fact that An Ruxiang, Wu Shoushi, and the other Ruin Hunters didn’t show much vigilance when exploring Swamp Ruin 1.

“Unless this cluster is the remains of tens of thousands of Heartless.” Bai Chen helped Jiang Baimian fill in the gaps in her logic.

In a place like Swamp Ruin 1, apart from the uniqueness brought about by Xiaochong, the number of Heartless was also enough to support the birth of a few Superior Heartless.

Jiang Baimian made a terse grunt. “Let’s split up and search this place. We’ll examine the corpses and see what clues we can find.”

Long Yuehong composed himself and joined Bai Chen in searching every corner of the cave.

Genava reported the preliminary autopsy results after quite some time. “There are no needle holes on these corpses. There are no signs of surgery.”

This preliminarily ruled out the possibility that scientific experiments had caused the abnormality in this Heartless cluster. This was because there were definitely steps that needed to be taken during experiments, such as the regular taking of blood samples. There was a high chance that there would be traces left behind.

Sometimes, judging the experimental effects through surgery was also an option.

Shang Jianyao squatted beside a corpse and held up his chin with the back of his hand. “Almost all the corpses have traces of radiation, including lymphoma.”

“You know this?” Long Yuehong was a little surprised.

Shang Jianyao pointed at Genava. “You can always rely on Old Ge.”

Genava had already discussed this with him just now.

He had forced it out of him.

Bai Chen pursed her lips and said, “That explains nothing. Many Heartless are active in areas with relatively serious pollution. Otherwise, they would’ve long been wiped out by large faction armies.”

“Not necessarily.” The honest Shang Jianyao began to retort. “Aren’t there many wilderness nomad settlements that those large factions aren’t in control of? They have limited manpower, and there are too many places suitable for hiding.”

Long Yuehong replied in Bai Chen’s stead: “But most of those wilderness nomad settlements are in places with relatively harsh environments that barely allow survivability. Those that are relatively suitable for farming with unpolluted water sources are all occupied by large factions.”

Jiang Baimian clapped her hands and said, “Alright, alright. Continue searching.”

Seven to eight minutes later, Jiang Baimian squatted beside an incomplete corpse. She touched the metal accessory on his thick, blue-patterned pants and muttered to herself, “It’s very magnetic…”

“Was this hip in the Old World?” Shang Jianyao came over with a curious expression. “People of different genders wear pants with different magnetic poles. Once a man and woman are within a certain distance from one another, they will be stuck together. Therefore, please maintain a sufficient distance if you don’t have a good impression of me?”

What kind of thought is this… Jiang Baimian admitted that she couldn’t keep up with Hey’s train of thought.

Fortunately, Genava—who had sharp ears and eyes—said, “I have also discovered a problem—the metal accessories on the clothes and pants of several corpses have been magnetized.”

Jiang Baimian’s eyes flickered as she stood up. “Is this because they are wearing their original clothes, while the remaining Heartless have replaced their clothes with those from the wilderness nomads?”

Therefore, one was magnetic while the other wasn’t.

Jiang Baimian’s guess was quickly confirmed because Long Yuehong and Bai Chen found items like a baseball bat, dagger, kitchen knife, and iron rod near the other cave exit.

Anything metal among them more or less had signs of magnetization.

Jiang Baimian gave her guess. “This Heartless cluster likely came from a place with relatively heavy pollution. There’s a very strong magnetic field there for some reason. However, we can’t determine if they were originally settled there or if they had passed by during their migration.”

“They have clearly more Superior Heartless because of the strong magnetic field?” Long Yuehong was more concerned about this question.

Shang Jianyao laughed. “You can give it a try. Maybe you’ll succeed?”

I’m not stupid… Long Yuehong muttered inwardly.

Shang Jianyao became more and more excited as he spoke. “If it really works, you can find a partner and test to see if Awakening abilities can be inherited…”

Uh… Long Yuehong hesitated.

“Whoa.” Jiang Baimian interrupted Shang Jianyao’s imagination. “It’s been so many years since Awakened appeared. If it could be inherited, do you think the company would allow you and me to remain single?”

“Maybe a suitable match is lacking.” Shang Jianyao tried to insist.

Jiang Baimian ignored him and looked around. “Let’s go to other wilderness nomad settlements nearby to inquire about the areas with relatively high pollution and magnetic anomalies. Hmm, bury all the corpses here. Bury them deeper and take away all valuable items. Don’t waste them; we can trade them later.”

…

In a wilderness nomad settlement in a city ruin, the Old Task Force members met the leader—who was known as Elder.

This settlement relied on the city’s sewage system to develop a society with nearly 300 people.

Their main food was edible moss and mushrooms. The city ruin’s sewers and hidden environments were only suitable for these plants.

Therefore, the first question Shang Jianyao asked when he saw Elder was: “Is it delicious?”

“Are mushrooms and moss delicious?”

The elder was in his forties. He had a messy brown beard and seemed to be short-sighted.

He smiled proudly. “These have been screened for several generations. It definitely tastes good.”

With that said, as if afraid that the Old Task Force would eye them, he tugged at his blue, tweed clothes and added, “It’s just that production is a problem. We planted them in many places, but there’s still not enough to eat.”

Frankly speaking, he definitely wouldn’t have received them if these outsiders hadn’t found the entrance and shown their strength.

Jiang Baimian asked with interest, “Mr. Dawson, normal mushrooms and moss can’t be planted in this way, right?”

Dawson unconsciously rubbed his hands. “There was originally a research institute here that specialized in enhancing mushrooms and moss. We found the information they left behind and experimented with it for a long time. I’m still carrying out such research.”

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Shang Jianyao clapped and said, “Very impressive. Can we exchange canned meat for your mushrooms and moss later?”

Dosen was stunned for a moment before he said happily, “Alright.”

Long Yuehong suddenly felt a little scared. “Apart from mushrooms and moss, what else do you usually eat?”

He originally wanted to ask if anything bad would happen if he ate too much mushroom and moss, but he gave up on the idea when he thought that the other party definitely wouldn’t answer truthfully. He planned on getting Genava to conduct a quantitative test to see if there was any toxicity.

Dawson casually replied, “We also organize hunts. Mushrooms and moss will also attract rats.”

After chatting for a while, Jiang Baimian looked at the rusted pipes outside and probed, “Mr. Dawson, is there a relatively polluted area with a very chaotic magnetic field around it?”

Dawson asked in confusion, “What’s a magnetic field?”

“…” Jiang Baimian quickly composed herself. “It’s where the metal you carry will become heavier…”

Dawson recalled and said, “There’s no such place nearby.”

Amidst Long Yuehong, Bai Chen, and the others’ disappointment, Dawson changed the topic. “But we once had a hunting team go relatively far west. Your description fits the situation there…”

Don’t leave a sentence hanging… Long Yuehong couldn’t help but criticize inwardly.

Dawson continued, “However, I advise you not to go. You will feel uncomfortable staying there for too long. There’s also a very powerful bandit group nearby. Their name is Zorro, and they have dozens of cannons!”