Embers Ad Infinitum
chapter-630

Chapter 630: It’s Over?

Translator: CKtalon

In the Red Wolf Zone, in a three-bedroom apartment not far from the apartment Xiaochong rented.

Jiang Baimian stood by the window and looked out at the light that far exceeded the Green Olive Zone’s. She sighed with emotion. “First City has a deep heritage indeed.”

After the dry winter, the electricity supply immediately became less tight.

Of course, First City definitely didn’t only have hydropower. There was also a nuclear power plant left behind by the Old World and two power plants that used coal as fuel.

If it weren’t for the fact that most of First City’s industry was concentrated in this area and that it expended a lot of electricity, this city wouldn’t have power problems.

After retracting her gaze, Jiang Baimian said to her team members, “Go back to your rooms and rest. Take turns being on night duty according to the schedule.”

“Actually, I don’t need a room or a bed. To me, switching on power-saving mode while lying down is no different from being on power-saving mode while sitting on the sofa. After all, there will be charging ports beside me,” Genava replied in a slightly synthetic male voice.

Before Jiang Baimian could speak, Shang Jianyao smiled and said, “As a human, lying down is definitely more comfortable than sitting. Don’t you agree, Old Ge?”

Genava quickly did some calculations and moved his metal neck. “Indeed.”

The brief interlude ended. Jiang Baimian was just about to say that she would use the bathroom first when Long Yuehong hesitantly said, “Team Leader, what can we do about the nightmare?”

Be it avenging Oudick and Ugo or preventing similar situations from happening to more people, the Old Task Force seemed helpless.

If they were facing real-life enemies, Long Yuehong felt that the Old Task Force could play a considerable role in a large-scale war with their current strength and equipment. However, he really couldn’t think of a way to resolve an illusory and difficult-to-reach enemy like the nightmare.

Wasn’t Shang Jianyao—who was the strongest in the team and best at dealing with such matters—unable to do anything when facing the nightmare? Wasn’t he barely able to scare the other party away only by using Du Heng and Xiaochong?

This was clearly a one-off.

Jiang Baimian fell silent for a few seconds before saying, “First, there has to be a source for the nightmare. This might be a corporeal existence, or it might even be a human, just like how Ugo and Oudick can also affect the dreams of others—the only difference is the degree.

“Second, we are constrained in First City. Even if we contribute, we can only be a supporting force. It will mostly rely on the True Self Church. They should be the same as Dawn’s Morning Star, experts who deal with nightmares.

“Finally, if we don’t have any clues, it’s impossible for us to stay here for too long. The Holm Fertility Center in Wasteland Ruin 13 is our destination.”

Upon hearing his team leader’s clear train of thought, Long Yuehong didn’t say anything else. He lined up and waited to wash up.

After cleaning up and returning to her room, Shang Jianyao suddenly said before Jiang Baimian could sit down, “You didn’t say that we could do our best to improve ourselves.”

Jiang Baimian shook her head and smiled. “Isn’t this giving Little White and Little Red pressure? They haven’t Awakened, so they can’t advance in their mind worlds.”

She then lay down and said to Shang Jianyao, “Lights out!”

…

In the Sea of Origins, Jiang Baimian touched foot on the island of fear again. She conjured a map and slowly found the underground building’s entrance again.

After passing through the familiar parking lot and arriving in front of the elevator that led underground, Jiang Baimian didn’t enter. Instead, she sat cross-legged.

She began to recall how she felt when she heard that Oudick had gone crazy.

Compared to Ugo, who she had only interacted with a few times, Oudick—who had fought alongside them—clearly bothered her more. Although she was mentally prepared for a negative outcome pertaining to Oudick, Jiang Baimian was still rather sad, angry, disappointed, and depressed when she confirmed that he had gone crazy.

At that moment, she actually felt a little too weak—she was unable to provide effective help to her friends. A strong desire to improve surfaced in her heart.

After the incident, she vaguely felt that this might be a direction in which she could use to defeat the island of fear.

Apart from the truly cold-hearted ones, most people would be afraid of losing their family and friends or their familiar lives. However, this fear definitely wouldn’t reach the point of a psychological trauma level for many people.

As she didn’t choose a route to ignore her feelings and steel her heart, Jiang Baimian didn’t believe that she wouldn’t be afraid of losing her family and friends or her way of life after clearing this island of fear. However, such fears would be limited to an acceptable range when the time came, just like many people.

In that case, why not reduce the level of fear now or convert this fear into motivation to drive herself to be stronger?

Jiang Baimian sat cross-legged in front of the many elevators in the underground building. She recalled the various details back then in a bid to restore the anger, grief, depression, and disappointment brought about by Oudick’s madness as much as possible.

These emotions were like fuel, fueling the burning desire in her heart.

After an unknown period of time, Jiang Baimian felt the ground tremble.

This vanished in the blink of an eye.

Jiang Baimian was delighted instead of being shocked because this was the first time she triggered a change in this island of fear after all her previous attempts. Although it was still very weak, it was enough to indicate that she had found a direction that might be effective!

It just trembled a little… That motivation isn’t enough, so it can’t drive me to move forward while carrying the fear in my heart? Or is there something missing? Jiang Baimian thought wearily.

It was very mentally exhausting to keep allowing emotion to consume her.

…

Mind Corridor, Room 912, on the cruise ship.

Shang Jianyao exited and entered again, successfully dodging the chaotic night.

Under the sunlight from above, he casually found a target on the deck and approached.

“Long time no see!” he said to an Ashlandic excitedly.

The Ashlandic wasn’t even 40 years old, but he was considered an elderly person on the ship. He asked Shang Jianyao with a confused expression, “You are?”

He was originally quite sure that he had never seen Shang Jianyao, but Shang Jianyao’s enthusiastic attitude made him a little unsure.

Shang Jianyao smiled. “Look, we are both on a cruise ship. We’re all Ashlandic, so…”

He had previously confirmed that using one’s abilities in this psychological trauma wouldn’t result in ‘corruption’ unless one was in the chaotic state.

“As the saying goes, it takes a hundred years to stay on a ship together,” said the Ashlandic with a laugh.

Shang Jianyao immediately asked, “Have you been to Iron Mountain City Ruin?”

“How could I have gone there?” The Ashlandic was very surprised. “This is the Golden Waters; it’s so far from Iron Mountain City!”

What he seemed to know was the Iron Mountain City before the Old World was destroyed.

Shang Jianyao had a look of disappointment and waved his hand. “Since you’ve never been there, there’s nothing to chat about. Let’s catch up again later.”

He began searching for the next victim—no, the next target.

After busying himself for a long time, Shang Jianyao finally completed a one-on-one ‘chat’ with the passengers on the deck.

If not for the fact that he was afraid that influencing and inquiring them en masse might bring about unexpected changes, he definitely wouldn’t have used such a clumsy method.

This exhausted him.

None of the passengers was the owner of Room 522, who had been to Iron Mountain City Ruin.

That’s less than one-third of the people on the deck now. We have to continue working harder! Shang Jianyao cheered himself on as he left the psychological trauma.

He wanted to use sleep to restore his mind.

…

The next morning, the Old Task Force drove the jeep back to Ugo Hotel. They encountered the public security officers from yesterday again.

Jiang Baimian rolled down the window and took the initiative to greet them. “Any discoveries?”

The public security officer who interrogated them yesterday shook his head and snapped, “Everything was normal last night!”

Nobody had a ‘nightmare’ last night? Jiang Baimian retracted her gaze thoughtfully.

After the car started, Shang Jianyao made a guess. “Too scared to come again?”

“Maybe.” Long Yuehong wanted to say ‘hopefully.’

They circled around and arrived outside the True Self Church’s stronghold again.

At this moment, someone was already guarding the apartment door like a guard.

“We’re looking for Cliff.” Jiang Baimian simply stated her intentions.

The guard nodded. “You know where to find him.”

After entering the apartment and arriving at the innermost room on the first floor’s left, the Old Task Force met the Dreambreaker, Cliff, again.

Without waiting for Cliff to speak, Jiang Baimian asked, “Did you find any clues regarding the nightmare? Is there anything you need our help with?”

Cliff—who was wearing a black robe—sighed and said, “Under the Kalendaria’s watch, the nightmare has subsided. You don’t have to worry anymore. It’s over.”

Ah? Not only Bai Chen and Long Yuehong, but even Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao didn’t expect to hear such an answer.

They left the apartment where the True Self Church was in a daze. They only came to a realization when the sunlight outside stabbed into their eyes. It’s over? It’s over.

Not only were Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and the others not happy, but they also became even quieter.

In the silent atmosphere, they got into their jeep.

Bai Chen drove it in another direction.

Before long, they passed by the building they had rented an apartment in.

At the building’s exit, a man—more than 1.8 meters tall with golden-brown hair and wearing a black trench coat and dark sunglasses—walked out.

The jeep went past the building and drove along the street toward the Red Wolf Zone.

After about 300 meters, Genava suddenly said, “Did you see that man? The one wearing black sunglasses?”

“What’s wrong?” Long Yuehong asked.

Genava said in a deep voice, “I gathered and analyzed the light data related to his sunglasses and discovered something.”

The sunglasses weren’t completely opaque, or else the person wearing the sunglasses wouldn’t have been able to see the scene in front of them.

“What is it?” Long Yuehong asked.

The red light in Genava’s eyes flickered a few times.. “The eyes behind his sunglasses are different in size—one big, one small.”

1