Embers Ad Infinitum
chapter-703

Room 214 has a bioelectric signal highly suspected to be human! In the dark room that only had a little starlight shining in, Jiang Baimian opened her eyes wide, and her drowsiness vanished.

With a cautious attitude, she switched to sensing using her Awakened consciousness. The results were quickly 'fed back' into her mind: There was no human consciousness in Room 214.

This… Jiang Baimian looked at the ceiling in the darkness, and her thoughts boiled over like boiling water.

Coupled with her perception of bioelectric signals and human consciousness, she preliminarily determined that an Awakened was hiding in the supposedly empty Room 214. He had concealed his consciousness but didn't deal with bioelectric signals. Therefore, he could hide from Shang Jianyao but was now exposed.

With this in mind, Jiang Baimian's first reaction was that someone had infiltrated Room 214 in an attempt to find something, such as the miniaturized nuclear warhead. This was a guess that followed the conclusion that Room 214's guest was likely the middleman who had an accident happen at a critical moment.

This made Jiang Baimian suspect that the person she sensed might be the one who hijacked the radio broadcast.

In the blink of an eye, Jiang Baimian relaxed her subconsciously tense muscles to prevent anyone from sensing that something was amiss. She didn't immediately take action and quietly monitored the area.

As time passed, Jiang Baimian was surprised to discover that the bioelectric signal had barely moved. It seemed to be lying in bed like her.

That's not right… Shouldn't he be searching for items? Jiang Baimian muttered. She quickly had a new guess. Could it be that the person in Room 214 isn't anyone else but the unlucky guest who had his hypertensive drugs stolen?

Isn't he not out of the hospital yet? Did he secretly return? Was it before martial law was enacted? In the current environment, such an escape will be easily detected and tracked… Jiang Baimian unconsciously had a series of questions.

When she delved deeper into this matter, a bolt of lightning suddenly flashed across her mind, illuminating a certain spot in the fog.

Some of her blurry memories became clear. The hotel manager, Shen Kang, told Shang Jianyao and me that the resident in Room 214 had returned shortly before martial law was enacted! I previously wanted to pay attention to this person!

Jiang Baimian suddenly clenched her fists before slowly releasing them. At this moment, another memory remained in her mind: The hotel manager, Shen Kang, said that the resident in Room 214 hadn't been discharged. Based on this, I deduced that it wasn't a matter of concern.

The two contradictory memories made Jiang Baimian quickly come to a conclusion: Her memories had been tampered with—not long after she communicated with Shen Kang!

Jiang Baimian then revised her judgment. No, it wasn't tampering but blurring the original memory and having a new memory implanted! And it was most likely done by the person hiding in Room 214!

Jiang Baimian was immediately puzzled. I had already made precautions against having my memories flipped and tampered with. After discovering that the hotel manager, Shen Kang, had a blurry memory of the antihypertensive medicine being stolen—a story that could be recounted for an entire year—and him needing a reminder to recall it, I was worried that the resident in Room 214 might be a powerful Awakened in the Last Man domain.

There was evidence of this from another perspective.

It could be said that the Salvation Army had a systematic advantage with their strict control, allowing them to quickly track down the two defectors. However, it was a little coincidental that they had both died on the spot and didn't leave behind any clues as to who they had traded with.

It was very reasonable to explain this away if someone had implanted pessimistic memories in them, making them commit suicide the moment they discovered something amiss.

Therefore, Jiang Baimian quickly recalled Eidolon Nun's gaze back then. However, her memories had still been tampered with under such 'protection!'

This didn't make sense!

Even if the price paid by that person wasn't weakness or cowardice, it was unlikely that he could be calm, unaffected, and not leave behind any traces when suddenly facing the memories related to the Kalendaria's gaze. Could it be that he's already accustomed to being watched by the Kalendarium every day? Jiang Baimian was first confused before she had a new idea from her previous judgment.

Perhaps the person had never flipped through her memories at all. Instead, he directly blurred the most recent memories and then connected them with new memories he had woven.

This way, the other party could avoid the danger of seeing Eidolon Nun's gaze and achieve their goal. This also effectively explained why the person wasn't wary of bioelectric signals—he had no idea!

In other words, it's very likely that he has learned a lesson and won't easily flip through other people's memories. Yes, we can't rule out the possibility that it's because his abilities are limited and that he's not good at flipping through memories accurately… In short, what I'm thinking about now is still relatively safe. I won't be discovered… As these thoughts raced through her mind, Jiang Baimian felt a little more certain.

This hypothesis could explain most of the situation, but there was still a question: Since that person didn't know how to read memories—or rather, couldn't—how did he know that the Old Task Force was asking the hotel manager, Shen Kang, about the loss of the antihypertensive drugs and had handled it in time?

Jiang Baimian had two guesses regarding this.

The first was that despite not easily flipping through the memories of others, he only targeted people like the Old Task Force with obvious backgrounds or ordinary people like the hotel manager, Shen Kang. He would attempt to flip through their memories the moment he discovered them communicating.

The second was that the person had other abilities or items that could monitor the hotel's situation.

Out of caution, Jiang Baimian was more inclined to the latter possibility.

She exhaled slowly as if she were adjusting herself just before falling asleep. Her focus of thought then shifted to how to safely transmit her discovery and thoughts to Shang Jianyao and the other team members, as well as how to deal with the person in Room 214 without any accidents.

Just as Jiang Baimian kept raising plans in her heart and repeatedly rejecting them, Shang Jianyao sat up on the other side of the large bed.

The team now lived in a suite. There were two bedrooms, a living room, and a bathroom.

"What's wrong?" Jiang Baimian jumped in fright. She felt guilty and alarmed as though her secret had been exposed and that the enemy was attacking.

Under the faint starlight, Shang Jianyao turned around and looked at Jiang Baimian. He seriously said, "I suddenly realized that we weren't careful enough. We didn't even go to Room 214 to check before returning. What if there are clues hidden there?"

That's why you woke up… Jiang Baimian secretly heaved a sigh of relief and replied seriously, "I don't think there's a need. Think about it; that room has already been ransacked by thieves. If the Salvation Army wants to investigate the case, they will definitely investigate the scene carefully. How can there be any clues left behind that haven't been discovered?"

Shang Jianyao thought for a moment and sighed. "Indeed."

Bang!

He lay down again, straight like a log.

Jiang Baimian glanced at him and had a thought. "Have you cleared the cruise trauma in Room 522?"

Room 522 and Room 912's cruise trauma came from the same source. After finding a way to clear Room 912's trauma, Room 522 was akin to free for the picking. It would be a waste not to clear it.

The Old Task Force had previously discussed that the reason the owners of Room 522 and Room 912 could defeat the island of fear corresponding to the cruise ship's trauma and successfully enter the Mind Corridor was very likely that they had later discovered that the captain didn't contract the Heartless disease and survived. They then found clues from him.

Shang Jianyao laughed smugly. "Not for the time being; I plan on saving it for critical moments. In that case, I can achieve a sudden breakthrough at the critical moment to exceed the enemy's expectations!"

Jiang Baimian's expression froze for a second. "Come to your senses. There's no such thing as a sudden breakthrough for Awakened! That's unless you find a door leading to the New World right after you clear that psychological trauma. But is that possible?"

After asking the question, Jiang Baimian added, "Back when you dealt with the Virtual World's owner in First City, you didn't win by making a breakthrough in the middle of the battle. You relied on knowing the other party's weakness and having an item targeting him. The sudden breakthrough was mostly in passing."

The honest Shang Jianyao was stunned. "Alright, we were overthinking."

He would admit his mistake.

Jiang Baimian took the opportunity to say, "Then, clear the cruise trauma in Room 522 tonight. Yes, remember to bring the Six Senses Beads and the Life Angel necklace to prevent any accidents."

After saying that, two scenes surfaced in Jiang Baimian's mind: The first was the honest Shang Jianyao snatching control over the body and asking, "Is there a need to bring items? I can clear it with my eyes closed!"

The second was to have the honest and reckless Shang Jianyaos restrained, leaving the person in charge of the body to understand her hint—have the item on hand and be prepared.

Just as Jiang Baimian said that, Shang Jianyao had already turned his gaze to her.

In the night that was sprinkled with dim starlight, the two of them looked at each other. Neither spoke as they retracted their gazes.

After a few seconds, Jiang Baimian suggested, "Why don't I lend you my Chaotic Right Hand as well?"

"Alright." Shang Jianyao agreed.

Jiang Baimian immediately sat up and stretched her hand toward her tactical backpack to carry it over. She then quickly unzipped it and gripped the black glove with familiarity.

Almost at the same time, Jiang Baimian shivered as if winter had arrived early.