Embers Ad Infinitum
chapter-700

Chapter 700: Feedback

Translator: CKtalon

Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao had no idea what expression Elder Zhang had under the grayish-white aluminum pot. They could only watch as he raised his right hand with a tremble and tried to press it to his left chest.

However, this action wasn’t completed. Just as Elder Zhang’s palm touched the clothes, he paused for two seconds before sliding it down.

His voice seemed to be a little hoarse as he spoke a little faster than usual. “To put it simply, the mastermind behind the Old World’s destruction wants humans to maintain their current state and never be able to rebuild true civilization. Therefore, he secretly controls a large number of people—that includes the various large factions’ upper echelons—with a brainwave device. He made them lose their motivation and forget their former ideals. They stopped working hard for the recovery of all of humanity and became degenerates.

“The brainwave devices were the culprits that brought the Heartless disease into this world back then. To this day, they still play a role in many aspects, contributing to the mastermind’s elimination of the humans who discovered this secret.”

“However, many Heartless patients we encountered were ordinary humans. It’s impossible for them to discover the secret of mind control.” Even in the face of the former Salvation Army warrior, the honest Shang Jianyao still retorted whenever he needed to.

Elder Zhang and the others had clearly considered this problem and had long come up with a reason. He replied without stuttering, “You guys are too young. This is called mixing things up! If they only eliminate people who know the secrets of mind control, it’s very easy for people to discover that something is amiss. They have to turn some ordinary people into Heartless in passing to mix things up and make things less obvious. In the Old World, there’s an old saying: The best way to hide a needle is to throw it into a haystack.”

“It also makes it very difficult to find it,” the honest Shang Jianyao commented.

Elder Zhang took a deep breath and said with a hushed voice, “In short, quickly find two aluminum pots and put them on before you are mind-controlled. Even if you don’t have an aluminum pot, using iron pots, copper pots, and stainless steel pots can help. Only then can you maintain the independence of your thoughts and the purity of your ideals. You won’t be corrupted by the tiny benefits they have to offer.

“These are all lessons from the past! Countless Salvation Army warriors risked their lives to save all of humanity back then and were fearless, but when the situation improved, things changed. They are mind-controlled!” Elder Zhang felt increasingly pained as he spoke.

“Yes, yes, yes!” Shang Jianyao seemed to have found a confidant. “It has to be the case. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be so easy for them to abandon their former ideals and forget the oath they made.”

They had been forged in the crucible of blood and fire without fading.

Jiang Baimian tried to interrupt their conversation several times, but she couldn’t join in the conversation.

Elder Zhang nodded heavily, causing the aluminum pot on his head to shake. “From the looks of it, although you’ve only been here for a few days, you’ve also seen some of their ugly phenomena. Right, the one who issued you a pass is still Hong Guangming, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” Shang Jianyao didn’t hide the truth.

Elder Zhang waved his hands and became agitated. “I scold that old bastard Hong Guangming every time I see him. I do it pointing right at his nose! Back when he was still under me, he was such an honest and enthusiastic lad. When he saw that a wilderness nomad’s child didn’t have enough to eat, he secretly shared half of his food.

“Once, we were surrounded by a group of people who only knew how to burn, kill, and pillage. In order to cover the bulk of the troops’ retreat, he took the initiative to step forward to help cover the retreat. He almost died there. Was he afraid because of that? Not at all! He still led the charge again and again. As you can see, he lost an arm and a leg one after another. Fortunately, we found and seized many mechanical prosthetics back then. People who were good at such surgery joined the team, allowing him to live to this day.

“Everyone might not be able to eat their fill now, but at least nobody will starve to death under normal circumstances. Even if the clothes are shabby, at least nobody will freeze to death. How did he become like this? After I discovered this, the reason escaped me for an entire year until I learned of the secret of mind control and wore this aluminum pot. It was then that I knew. Sigh…”

“Sigh.” Shang Jianyao sighed as well.

It was rare to encounter a confidant, so Elder Zhang finally wasn’t that vigilant. He thought for a moment and said, “Didn’t you want to ask if we encountered anyone suspicious when we walked around during the enactment of martial law? Follow me to the sanatorium, and you can ask them one by one.”

Although he was still worried that Shang Jianyao and the others were spies who were trying to infiltrate their anti-secret control organization, he felt that there was nothing wrong with bringing them along to ask about things related to martial law and not involving anything else.

Jiang Baimian was delighted. Just as she was about to agree, Shang Jianyao firmly said, “No?”

“Why?” The grayish-white aluminum pot concealed Elder Zhang’s confused and surprised expression.

Shang Jianyao replied righteously, “Martial law is still enacted. We can’t leave the hotel without permission. You and your old comrades have the right to go out for walks, but we don’t. We can’t ignore the rules just because you’re in front of us. If we do that, what’s the difference between them and degenerates who abuse their power for personal gain?”

At this moment, two phrases surfaced in Jiang Baimian’s mind: An indomitable spirit, only to be left with nothing.

The last phrase didn’t match the situation, but it matched the first phrase.

Elder Zhang was stunned for a few seconds before saying, “Good for you! It would be nice if all the new generation of Salvation Army members were like you.”

It might not be good for everyone to be mentally ill… Jiang Baimian felt that Elder Zhang’s words were filled with problems.

After a pause, Elder Zhang took the initiative to say, “Then, I’ll help you ask back in the sanatorium. I’ll write down the answers and bring them to the hotel.”

“Thank you,” Jiang Baimian quickly said. She thought for a moment and then added, “By the way, ask your old comrades what they’ve encountered in the past three days that is worth paying attention to. Hmm, even for those that don’t seem worth paying attention to. Record everything that doesn’t usually happen.”

“How meticulous.” Elder Zhang was knowledgeable, so he praised her. He then said, “I’ll go back now and try to send back the information I obtained there before 10 p.m.”

Shang Jianyao waved his hand enthusiastically. “Have a safe journey!”

After watching Elder Zhang disappear at the other exit of the hotel parking lot, Jiang Baimian led Shang Jianyao back to the building via the normal route.

The hotel manager, Shen Kang, stood by the door and paced around. Upon seeing the two of them enter, he quickly asked, “Elder Zhang has left?”

“He’s gone,” Shang Jianyao replied enthusiastically.

Shen Kang heaved a sigh of relief and said, “Elder Zhang is muddle-headed and suffers from PTSD. He can no longer distinguish reality from illusion. Many of their generation have bad habits. Some even suffer from alcoholism, and their views are conservative. It’s as if they lived decades ago and don’t believe anything we say. Think about it. How normal can someone who believes in mind control and wears an aluminum pot on their head every day be?”

He was implying that Elder Zhang had mental problems.

“Indeed.” Shang Jianyao nodded in agreement.

Jiang Baimian glanced at him in surprise and didn’t say a word.

“You guys are still very clear-headed.” Shen Kang was very gratified.

Shang Jianyao then pointed at himself. “I have mental problems too. Why do you believe me?”

“…” Shen Kang was tricked.

…

At night, the radio announced that the evacuation of the masses started tomorrow.

Long Yuehong was filled with anticipation about leaving Ubei tomorrow morning as he said worriedly, “I wonder what will happen if that nuclear warhead is taken away and sent to a certain faction…”

The honest Genava replied, “It shouldn’t be any different from staying in the Salvation Army’s hands.”

They lacked the ability to be mass-produced, so they were most likely only used for deterrence.

Shang Jianyao was just about to join in the discussion when he suddenly heard someone shout from outside the window.

“The lad and girl from this afternoon, I’ve gathered what you wanted!”

Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao looked at each other and opened the window. As expected, they found Elder Zhang wearing his faded, black Salvation Army uniform with a grayish-white, deep aluminum pot over his head. He stood in the parking lot, holding a stack of paper as he constantly shouted.

In a few moves, the two of them ‘quickly’ landed beside Elder Zhang.

“I asked them one by one and recorded them on paper. Don’t worry; I didn’t miss anything, including my own.”

Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian quickly thanked him sincerely.

“Scan through and see if there are any problems.” Elder Zhang handed over the stack of paper.

Jiang Baimian received the stack from him, removed the flashlight from her belt, and scanned through the documents on the spot.

The information recorded on the paper was ordered in the order of the person interviewed. Everyone had two parts to them. The first was if they had encountered any suspicious people during the martial law enforcement, and the second was if they had encountered anything abnormal or rare in the past three to four days.

Shang Jianyao came to Jiang Baimian’s side and read them one by one with her.

“There’s nothing useful…” When they were almost done, Shang Jianyao sighed in disappointment.

Jiang Baimian didn’t say anything else and cast her gaze at the last page.

This page only recorded one person’s feedback—Elder Zhang himself.

“Zhang: 1. I only encountered warriors in charge of enforcing martial law on my walks. 2. The antihypertensive drugs from a hotel customer were stolen two afternoons ago. Unable to take the medicine in time, their hypertension rapidly acted up. The situation was very serious, and they were sent to the hospital for two days.”

Hypertension acted up and was sent to the hospital for two days… Jiang Baimian’s heart palpitated as she slowly looked up.