Embers Ad Infinitum
chapter-680

Davis didn't want to talk about the danger his group had brought to the entire camp. Although their team was very strong—having dared to explore Ruin 9 in the Blood Wastelands and retreated safely—they couldn't fight off the numerous Hunters around them. In a situation where they were outnumbered, they couldn't withstand the concentrated fire from afar no matter how good they were at fighting.

At this moment, Davis had already escaped the influence of forgetfulness. He recalled and said, "That necklace was found in Ruin 9's upper-east district."

Shang Jianyao suppressed his disappointment and cooperatively asked, "Upper-east district?"

Davis simply replied, "That's what was labeled on the city map found in the ruins. Many people who have explored it believe that it's relatively dangerous."

"But the returns were great as well?" Jiang Baimian smoothly steered the topic back on track.

Davis nodded. "Indeed. We found an apartment in the upper-east district that Hunters had never set foot in. Within it, in the left room on the eleventh floor, were several corpses. They were either sitting on the sofa or lying on a bed in the bedroom. Their flesh had completely rotted and evaporated, leaving only bones. The necklace was in front of the corpse on the sofa."

"Why are you so sure that the corpses' flesh rotted and evaporated by itself instead of being eaten by the Heartless?" The honest Shang Jianyao dutifully found flaws.

Davis glanced at him and said in a slightly stiff tone, "As experienced Ruin Hunters, these are two distinct situations that can be determined at a glance. First, the corpses' clothes only showed tiny signs of rot. They were still relatively intact and showed no signs of being torn. Second, there were no traces of blood splattering in the entire room…"

Suddenly, Jiang Baimian interrupted. "So, what's the cause of the corpses' deaths?"

Ruin 9 of the Blood Wastelands had clearly not been bombed; it was well-preserved in all aspects, and there were no serious traces of radiation pollution. In such a situation, there was a high chance that the city residents had died from a Heartless attack. A small number of them would've been killed by their own kind during the battle for food.

"I think it was suicide," Davis replied. He had clearly considered this problem back then and explained clearly, "The door lock of that room wasn't destroyed, and it was tightly locked. It didn't seem like an intruder had ever entered. The corpses weren't in distorted poses either…

"I suspect that the people in the room wanted to go out and search for food, but they realized that there were Heartless everywhere and could only retreat. After that, the intense hunger and despair made them completely break down and give up on living."

"Did you check the refrigerator and freezer?" Jiang Baimian asked.

Davis's expression was a little confused at first, but it clearly changed as he turned to look at his companions.

His companions also revealed horror and panic as if they had recalled something serious.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Davis said with confused eyes, "Many boxes of frozen beef were in the large freezer in the room…"

This meant that the deceased didn't break down from hunger.

Jiang Baimian said, "If they were family, they would've gathered together for companionship when facing the Old World's destruction while suffering from a complete breakdown in their emotions. They wouldn't be in the different areas."

"That's right." Shang Jianyao strongly agreed.

"Most importantly, we actually neglected the freezer… We were affected by the necklace the moment we entered the room?" Davis muttered in fear.

They even chose to take away the necklace with the cross as if they were possessed by an evil spirit.

It's not surprising for anything strange to happen near a New World node… Jiang Baimian looked around and realized that the Ruin Hunters around her were already attracted by this story, temporarily forgetting their previous abnormality.

On the one hand, they were nervous and vigilant. On the other hand, they were curious about the subsequent developments.

Jiang Baimian didn't disappoint and asked a question that most people wanted to know. "What else did you find in that room?"

Davis and his companions didn't dare to answer directly, clearly lacking confidence in their memories.

After seriously thinking about it and considering the details, Davis said, "Like normal explorations, we took away relatively valuable gold, portable electronic items, books with practical knowledge, and clothes that hadn't suffered serious rot…"

In the current era, although most of the electronic items in city ruins had been damaged and couldn't be used, they could still be dismantled and selected for parts. Some barely intact electronic components could still be found, making them relatively valuable.

Furthermore, some electronic items might still be usable after some repairs. Some had no lack of demand even if all their electronic components were damaged and could only be sold as junk. After all, the products of the Old World's technological advancement contained precious metals, including alloys that few factions could replicate.

As he spoke, Davis jolted. "We also took away a phone on the corpse—the corpse that had the necklace in front of it."

"Do you still have the phone?" Jiang Baimian tried her best not to show the delight in her eyes.

Davis nodded. "We plan on selling it in First City."

"Can you sell it to us?" Jiang Baimian smiled.

She didn't choose to intimidate, deceive, or fool them. After all, she had to pay attention to her image in front of so many people.

Upon seeing Davis hesitate, Shang Jianyao said sincerely, "You should've realized that we have experience dealing with such matters. Frankly speaking, the danger level of such matters far exceeds your imagination. It's not something you can grasp. Forcefully participating will only result in a wipeout."

Davis was just about to say, "alright, no problem. I'll sell it to you" when Shang Jianyao continued, "Do you want to know what the final outcome will be if the necklace wasn't thrown away?"

"What will happen?" Davis instinctively asked.

All the Ruin Hunters around looked at Shang Jianyao.

Jiang Baimian's first reaction was to facepalm—no, to slap that fellow. But after careful thought, she felt that it was a good thing to tell everyone the possible outcome.

As the Old Task Force—which was responsible for saving all of humanity—it was their duty to remind everyone not to randomly touch items related to the New World.

Every tragedy they reduced counted!

Shang Jianyao solemnly replied to Davis's question. "In the beginning, the abnormalities brought about by the necklace will only last for a short while before everything returns to normal. But after such events repeat a few times, the danger will reach a critical point. When the time comes, most of the people present will be infected with the Heartless disease. Only a few will survive, just like when the Old World was first destroyed!"

Upon hearing 'Heartless disease'—words that had traumatized all of humanity for decades—all the Ruin Hunters present gasped. They were extremely glad that they had encountered a team that could deal with such matters. Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable!

Davis was terrified. He quickly picked up the cowboy backpack beside him and took out a phone. He then anxiously threw the phone to Shang Jianyao as if he were holding the Heartless virus or a hot potato.

"Take it—it's free!" He tried his best to appear magnanimous.

The champagne-golden phone didn't have any signs of damage, but it looked old. Shang Jianyao played with it and smiled. "Don't worry. It's fine."

With the Six Senses Beads still hanging from his feet, he could confirm the existence of the 'darkness.'

Jiang Baimian took out a few 1-Oray notes and handed them to Davis. She then smiled and said, "No, we advocate fair transactions. We always pay on the delivery of goods."

Upon seeing that Davis wanted to be polite, she added, "If you don't accept it, I'll return the phone to you."

Startled, Davis quickly took the notes.

After asking for a while and finding no clues, Jiang Baimian returned to her jeep with Shang Jianyao and Genava.

As the Six Senses Beads only prevented his legs from walking and didn't stop him from running upside down, Shang Jianyao tried to use his hands in place of his feet again, but he was glared at by Jiang Baimian. He hastily put away the item.

Bai Chen and Long Yuehong had also listened in on their teammates' conversation with Davis and roughly understood what had happened. At this moment, the former looked around and suppressed his voice. "Are we going to get Old Ge to restore the data in the phone?"

Jiang Baimian pondered for a moment and replied, "We'll try again in the wilderness when we leave this gathering point after dawn."

"Alright." Genava believed that this was the most reasonable and safest choice after analysis.

Meanwhile, Shang Jianyao stroked his chin and muttered to himself, "From the looks of it, the 'chaos' on the cruise ship might really be related to a New World node. I plan on transferring the aura in the Six Senses Beads or the Life Angel necklace to the Mind Corridor and taking one of them to the cruise ship to find the New World node's exact location."

Having comprehended by analogy, he had new ideas on how to deal with the cruise ship's trauma.

He was no longer aiming to clear the psychological trauma. Instead, he wanted to unveil the veil of chaos and find the truth!

Jiang Baimian nodded. "There's no problem with that train of thought, but I'll still say the same thing: We'll try again in the wilderness when we leave this gathering point after dawn and go somewhere deserted. Besides, you've exhausted a lot of your mental energy. You need sleep to recover."

Shang Jianyao revealed a look of anticipation. "When will dawn come…"