Embers Ad Infinitum
chapter-800

Chapter 800 Eating People

“Eating people?” Shang Jianyao instantly became excited.

He said in a tone as though he was exchanging countersigns, “Is it written all over that people are eaten?”

The female figure glanced at him and asked in confusion, “What are you talking about?”

Shang Jianyao tersely grunted and asked seriously, “How do you know that ‘They’ are secretly eating people?”

Before the female figure could speak, the Fourth Research Institute’s residential area suddenly turned dark.

The sun in the sky was covered by dark clouds that had drifted over at some point in time. The air around them seemed to welcome the arrival of a storm. It was oppressive and depressing, making it difficult to breathe properly. It was abnormally uncomfortable.

The female figure clearly trembled a few times and said, “There was a sudden weakening. Then, everyone died-all of them!”

Her voice revealed indescribable fear and some form of hysteria.

Her answer was also somewhat incompatible with Shang Jianyao’s question. It was as if she had suffered a corresponding agitation, producing a certain connection but not a seamless raving.

Shang Jianyao asked curiously, “How did you discover the sudden weakening? Who’s this Kalendaria?”

The female figure looked around and trembled as she replied, “‘Deep in that room in the laboratory. Been there, always!”

It’s very similar to Big Boss… The Shang Jianyao that valued relationships was immediately worried.

He seriously said, “Let’s first confirm something. Are you referring to a man, a woman, a deity, or something else?” The female figure looked at Shang Jianyao for a few seconds as if she were looking at a fool. “After chatting for so long, don’t you know that we’re talking about a Kalendaria?”

“Is that so?” Shang Jianyao suggested, “Why don’t I play a song as background music? It doesn’t have the right mood to chat like this.”

The female figure finally seemed to sense that this fellow was very strange. However, she didn’t think too deep into it because this was a dream, so she left it at that.

“I don’t want to make it look like a horror film.” She rejected Shang Jianyao’s suggestion.

Shang Jianyao stroked his chin and steered the topic back on track. “How can you be sure that the Kalendaria was eating humans? There was only a sudden weakening.”

“There was normality after everyone died! This happened several times!” The female figure trembled, giving off the feeling that she couldn’t stand the cold spring.

Shang Jianyao clapped. “You’re amazing-you actually survived after witnessing this! How did you do it? Teach me.”

The female figure suddenly froze, and her lips quivered as she recalled something. The entire dreamscape turned deep. The originally existing light instantly retreated into the distance as if it were a world away.

In the darkness, a pair of eyes slowly opened.

Although Shang Jianyao was bold and knowledgeable, he still felt like a basin of cold water had been poured over his head at that moment. He was then dragged into an icy world as punishment.

Therefore, his entire body was frozen as if he had turned into an ice sculpture. Just as all the thoughts that belonged to different personalities surfaced in his mind, they were shattered, unable to turn whole again.

The female figure also felt the same. A tide of fear that could drown her soul surfaced in her heart.

She couldn’t hold it in any longer, and her figure quickly turned dim. Accompanying this was the shattering of the dreamscape.

The sky collapsed, and the ground caved in. Everything disappeared.

Tarnan, Serene Dream Hotel, in the lady boss’s bedroom.

Aynor suddenly opened her eyes and screamed. She then panted heavily and recalled a few scenes from her dream.

After a while, she finally calmed down and muttered to herself, “Nothing serious happened… Continue sleeping, continue sleeping.”

In fact, she had always known that it was very problematic for her to survive back then and subsequently be able to live a carefree life in Tarnan for so many years. However, she was accustomed to avoiding reality and never thought deeply about the problems hidden in this.

She just lived every day she had!

With this thought in mind, Aynor hugged the blanket and lay down. She closed her eyes in a fearless manner and prepared to sleep. She wanted to make up for her lack of sleep.

In Weed City, in the rented apartment on South Street where the Old Task Force lived.

Shang Jianyao had just walked out of the room when he saw Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen gathered around the square table and eating the cornbread and different stuffed buns bought from downstairs. Genava stood by the window and stretched his body to prevent certain components from rusting because he hadn’t used them for too long.

“Any results?” Jiang Baimian asked first. She then pointed at the table and said to Shang Jianyao, “There’s soybean paste stuffing, pork stuffing, and vegetable stuffing… Weed City has indeed been relatively stable in the past two years; the variety of breakfast has increased significantly.”

Shang Jianyao picked up the pork bun and took a bite. He vaguely said, “There are some results.”

“Have you asked what’s going on with the Kalendaria’s rearing?” Long Yuehong forgot that he was still holding the bun and the soy milk.

They had sufficient funds now, so they didn’t need to eat water with cornbread.

“No.” Shang Jianyao had always been honest. “But I managed to get something else.”

He recounted what had happened in the dream.

“Everyone clearly died. Why did this happen several times?” Long Yuehong asked after hearing that. He didn’t understand the room owner’s statement in the dream and found it ridiculous.

It was contradictory. How many times could a person die?

Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and said, “You can’t take everything said in a dream seriously. Although a person seriously lacks self-control and is unlikely to lie when dreaming, the various matters in the dream will bring about different emotional effects and induce a specific answer. Furthermore, those matters are a mixture of various memories and fantasies. They aren’t necessarily equivalent to reality.”

Upon seeing that Long Yuehong and Bai Chen were a little confused while Shang Jianyao had an ‘I see, I completely understand’ expression, Jiang Baimian added, “To put it simply, 506’s words in the dream might be a product of many things combined. For example, the Kalendaria did secretly ‘eat humans’ many times. However, the first few times didn’t result in the Fourth Research Institute’s destruction or the collective deaths of the humans there. It only affected a few people or was limited to the laboratory’s research subjects. This was accidentally discovered by the room owner, triggering the subsequent series of matters.”

“Is that so…” Long Yuehong felt a little solemn.

The red light in Genava’s eyes flickered a few times. “The Kalendarium rear humans to replenish ‘Themselves’ to recover from their weakness?”

“At least that seems to be the case based on the room owner’s answer.” Jiang Baimian didn’t dare to be too sure.

Long Yuehong exhaled. “There were no mass deaths in the company.”

The meaning behind his words was that the different Kalendarium were different. The Arbiter of Fate might not necessarily be rearing humans. It was closer to using human intelligence to study biological technology. “Perhaps not employees, but what about the volunteers who participated in all kinds of experiments?” Shang Jianyao replied coldly.

Long Yuehong was momentarily speechless.

The next second, Bai Chen quietly gripped his left hand.

Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and said to Shang Jianyao, “Go to Room 506 more often and ask about this matter from different angles. Dig up more details so that it’s easier for us to piece together and restore the truth. Yes, don’t talk about how that person survived for the time being. This feels very dangerous.”

“That’s right, that’s right.” Shang Jianyao chose to agree. “We almost died back then. Fortunately, the room owner collapsed before

us.”

Jiang Baimian nodded. “Have a good rest in the car later. The room owner seems to have given up resisting, so just do it step by step. There’s no rush.

“Alright, let’s pack up and prepare to set off. We’ll circle to Icefield from the Blackmarsh Wilderness.”

Somewhere in Icefield, in a valley with a temperature different from the surroundings.

End Year City’s Elder Lawton stood by the window and looked down at the residents’ busy scene. His eyebrows were locked tightly.

At this moment, he kept wanting to sing something. He felt that words couldn’t compare to songs. He had experienced such urges too many times. As an experienced Awakened who had explored the Mind Corridor’s depths, Lawton naturally knew what was going on. This was the after-effect of him fainting in Room 131 and suffering the ‘surgery.’ It was essentially a mental trauma that required time and the corresponding treatment to soothe.

However, this wasn’t what vexed Lawton. In his exploration of the different rooms in the Mind Corridor, this wasn’t the first time he had experienced such trauma. He had long made mental and physical preparations.

He was vexed that he might have to explore the strange and dangerous Room 131 that seemed to involve the Kalendaria again. This was because he felt a sense of familiarity the moment he fainted.

This meant that the door he had been searching for—which led to the New Worldwas very likely deep in Room 131.