Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 326: The Method of Opening

Upon hearing Shang Jianyao’s answer, Jiang Baimian felt mixed feelings. She couldn’t describe it in words and actually had the urge to raise her hands and clap.

Fortunately, she controlled herself in time and didn’t do anything that was too in line with Shang Jianyao’s style.

Long Yuehong weakly said, “Awakened in the Master Zhuang domain aren’t equivalent to believers of Master Zhuang.”

Shang Jianyao looked at him and hugged his right fist with his left palm. “The Perfected Man has no self; the New World is before us.”

Not only was Jiang Baimian laughing this time, but Bai Chen was laughing as well.

I’m really stupid. Why can’t I stop arguing with this fellow… Long Yuehong felt vexed and did a deep self-reflection.

After discussing the yellowish-green fog, Bai Chen’s lips quivered a few times. “After transplanting a biological prosthetic limb, can we swap it to another type in the future?”

Jiang Baimian was considered half an expert in this regard. She organized her words and said, “In theory, it’s feasible. In practice, because biological transplants of different types involve different neural modifications and limb rejection, forcefully changing to another type will cause greater harm to the body.

“It’s not that there’s no solution, but it’s not recommended to do so. Yes, if your biological prosthetic limb is damaged, it will be relatively simpler and safer to change to a similar type.”

Bai Chen fell silent for a moment before saying, “Then, I’ll wait a little longer. I’ll apply after I can exchange for a better biological prosthetic limb.”

“Smart!” Jiang Baimian agreed. “Those crap aren’t worth exchanging unless you’ve already lost your arm. In any case, you still have a military exoskeleton. There’s no rush in this regard.”

At this point, she looked at Long Yuehong and took the opportunity to tell him about the situation where he could only be transferred two years later.

Long Yuehong wasn’t too disappointed and even heaved a sigh of relief. He smiled and said, “I can only hope that there won’t be too many field operations in the next year.”

As he spoke, he subconsciously looked out the window, wanting to use the clear sky to soothe his emotions. But in Pangu Biology’s underground building, there was only the corridor that acted as a street outside the window and the sunlight lamps that scattered a gentle glow.

On the other side of the corridor were also walls, windows, and wooden doors. Above them were pieced together boards that made the ceiling.

Long Yuehong was stunned for a moment before looking away.

Jiang Baimian then looked around. “My plan as of now is that we can set off after Little White has completely recovered around April or May. Genava will have stabilized the Underground Ark and gone to Weed City by then.

“We can’t be completely idle during this period of time. We’ll go to the surface for short-term training every two to three weeks to prevent our wilderness survival skills from becoming rusty.”

“Yes, Team Leader!” Shang Jianyao replied very loudly.

“Stop, stop, stop. I’m just hard of hearing, not deaf!” Jiang Baimian snapped.

After Bai Chen and Long Yuehong expressed their attitudes, she smiled at the latter. “There’s plenty of time now. You can let your mother continue introducing you to others. Heh heh, we might even be able to attend your wedding before we set off.”

“Team Leader, our Pangu Biology doesn’t do wedding banquets…” Long Yuehong retorted softly.

Most people were collectively assigned partners and had mass weddings. Everything was simplified. At most, they would have a good meal at home.

Not wasting food was a habit that every employee of Pangu Biology internalized.

Long Yuehong didn’t know if the management was like that.

“Ah, what did you say?” Jiang Baimian really didn’t hear him clearly this time.

Long Yuehong skipped over his words and sighed. “My mother said that many ladies have such thoughts, but their families don’t support their wishes. They wish to wait and see.”

Jiang Baimian understood why they took a wait-and-see approach. An ordinary employee—who had been working for less than a year—had been promoted to D5 like a rocket. He had also changed his home to a large room and obtained a lot of contribution points and a portable computer. Anyone would’ve suspected that something was wrong.

In addition, Long Yuehong worked in the Security Department, which was considered relatively dangerous. Parents who didn’t want their daughter to suffer the pain of losing her husband not long after her marriage naturally didn’t support them having blind dates now.

“Yes.” Jiang Baimian nodded. “In another half a year, they will be doing the central assignment again. You might get a wife then.”

It was a partially mandated marriage, and very few people resisted the outcome.

Just as Shang Jianyao was about to say something, Jiang Baimian suddenly chuckled. “When the time comes, as an official employee, Little White will also join the marriage list. It will be fun if you guys are paired up.”

Long Yuehong was stunned for a second and imagined the outcome. He suddenly felt a little shy and embarrassed.

“It wouldn’t be so coincidental, right…” he whispered.

Bai Chen didn’t have any special reaction to this and only reminded Jiang Baimian, “You and Shang Jianyao should also be on the list.”

Jiang Baimian snorted. “There’s no final conclusion regarding my genetic modification.”

She then clapped her hands. “Alright, let’s go to the training room to prepare for our first trip to First City in April!”

…

After Newspoint, 495th floor, Zone B, Room 196.

Shang Jianyao leaned against the pillow filled with grains and massaged his temples.

After entering the Sea of Origins, he patiently waited for a while like last time until the thin, yellowish-green fog appeared along the sea’s horizon. He then blindfolded himself, stuffed his ears, and swam forward while adapting to the circumstances.

When fatigue struck, he took out the cotton and took off his blindfold. After doing so, he saw a faint, yellowish-green fog floating in his reach, and the mirage-like city was just inches away.

Shang Jianyao quickly passed through the fog and entered. He realized that the bicycle he previously rode had returned to its original spot. It was not where he had deliberately stopped.

He mounted it again and rode toward the street where the mysterious laboratory might be. On the way, Shang Jianyao calmly observed his surroundings.

Cars were parked haphazardly on the streets. In many places, only simple vehicles like bicycles could pass through. It seemed like it was before the Heartless cleaned up the place when the lights were switched on.

Fallen leaves piled up alongside the road, showing signs of decay. Large patches of blood remained in certain areas, but no humans or Heartless appeared.

Time seemed to be frozen at some time during dusk. The afterglow of the setting sun made the buildings’ glass walls feel like they were on fire…

As Shang Jianyao searched, a desolate, hoarse roar suddenly sounded from somewhere in the city. “Howl!”

Intense fear gripped Shang Jianyao’s heart, making his mind blank.

As there were no ‘responders,’ the roar quickly subsided, leaving only a lingering echo for two seconds.

Shang Jianyao sat on the bicycle, propped himself up with one foot, and muttered to himself regretfully, “Much weaker than normal.”

He lowered his back and quickly pedaled toward the source of the roar.

Before long, Shang Jianyao stopped in front of a building.

Compared to its surroundings, it was very short—only three stories tall. In front of it was a courtyard that also served as a parking lot. It was silver-gray in color, with smooth lines that reflected the setting sun’s glow.

This building looked very sturdy as if it was made of pure alloy. It didn’t use a signboard to identify itself like other places.

Its gates that swung open on both sides were rather heavy, and beside it was a keypad that allowed a password to be entered.

Another roar sounded from the building’s underground.

Shang Jianyao rode the bicycle to the gates and fiddled with it for a while before realizing that he couldn’t open the gates.

He took a few steps back, raised his right hand, and waved it gently.

Nothing happened.

Shang Jianyao didn’t show any disappointment. He split out another self and got him to ride the bicycle to the edge of the city. He then passed through the faint, yellowish-green fog and returned to the Sea of Origins.

The next second, Shang Jianyao used the specialness of the mind world to transform into a vehicle that dragged over cannons.

The vehicle drove into the yellowish-green fog with oppressive vibes and into the ‘dream’ city.

It arrived in front of the nameless building. Under Shang Jianyao’s ‘command,’ the cannons lined up and aimed at the heavy gates.

“Ready, fire!” Shang Jianyao retreated to the side and waved his right hand.

Boom! Boom!

The salvo was almost one as flames drowned the building’s entrance.

After a round of bombardment, the gates cracked, and the surrounding walls had collapsed.

Shang Jianyao was just about to fire another round when he suddenly felt the ground tremble violently.

The ground quickly cracked, and the buildings collapsed. The dream city instantly shattered and became illusory.

The yellowish-green fog that enveloped it quickly melted.

Shang Jianyao stretched out his hand, but he only grabbed air. His surroundings had already returned to the shimmering Sea of Origins.

“It’s too weak…” Shang Jianyao looked ahead and criticized.

After that, the yellowish-green fog didn’t appear again.

…

When it was time for work again, Shang Jianyao recounted last night’s encounter in detail.

“Could it be that the mysterious laboratory isn’t the core of the dream city?” Long Yuehong guessed.

Jiang Baimian shook her head in denial. “Perhaps it’s because of this that Shang Jianyao’s bombardment brought about such a huge change. I even suspect that the remnant effects of Coward have been eliminated because of this. The yellowish-green fog won’t appear again.”

Bai Chen also voiced her opinion. “This itself is a remnant of a dream, and it has experienced an all-out eruption of DiMarco. It won’t be too stable.”

“What a pity.” Shang Jianyao clenched his right fist and punched his left palm. “I wanted to see what’s in the laboratory.”

He seemed to think that he should change his method.

“Maybe there’s still some remnants? Besides, it’s not like there won’t be a chance in the future.” Jiang Baimian laughed. “As long as we can find the original owner’s corresponding Mind Corridor room and enter his dream or memory world, we can unveil the mysterious laboratory’s secrets. Yes, I plan on applying to the higher-ups to see if we can obtain the company’s harvests from exploring Swamp Ruin 1 in the past few months.”

Long Yuehong subconsciously asked, “But how do we find the correct Mind Corridor room?”

Just as he said that, he saw Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and Bai Chen look at him at the same time.

The next second, he came to a realization: The correct room was most likely among the pile of numbers left behind by Yama Tiger!

Each of those numbers was a room that Yama Tiger had successfully explored and returned from. The gains often came from such a place.

The rooms were: “1210, 757, 935, 314, 329.”