Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 658: Lab

Under the setting sun’s illumination, the entire city ruin gave off a magnificent, quiet, and sad vibe.

Long Yuehong wasn’t intoxicated by such a beautiful scene as he looked around, wanting to ask how they could find the secret laboratory.

The Old Task Force didn’t obtain the specific location from Avia as she had never been to Wasteland Ruin 13 and didn’t know anything about this place. She could only mechanically repeat what her grandfather Oray had said.

Jiang Baimian and the others—who similarly lacked overall confidence while in this city—were at a loss. They had some idea after finding a city map in a bookstore during the afternoon, but due to a lack of time, they didn’t manage to analyze and infer at a deeper level.

From Long Yuehong’s point of view, searching for the ‘footprints’ left behind by Genava might be the most pragmatic and effective method. He believed that when the smart bot was left alone in First City, he might’ve secretly gathered the city map of Wasteland Ruin 13 and figured out where the dangerous, secret laboratory was.

Of course, the Source Brain—which stored much of the Old World’s information—might’ve long obtained the corresponding city map; all it was lacking was further information.

Just as Long Yuehong opened his mouth and made a sound, a loud boom suddenly sounded from somewhere in the city ruin.

The ground trembled slightly as many birds soared from the top of different buildings.

“North.” Jiang Baimian—who was wearing a military exoskeleton—quickly locked onto the general area where the explosion happened. “That secret laboratory seems to be in that area.”

Bai Chen instantly made the connection. “Old Ge did it?”

“Very likely.” Jiang Baimian nodded solemnly.

“There’s no need to waste time finding the target location now.” Shang Jianyao didn’t hide his satisfaction.

He heaved an exaggerated sigh of relief. He then turned his head and asked Long Yuehong, “Did you secretly complain about how we acted rashly without even knowing the target’s location?”

“No!” Long Yuehong replied stubbornly despite the guilt. He looked in the direction of the explosion and happily said, “It doesn’t overlap with the Dao and Electrical Appliance Repairs radio station. There’s a certain deviation…”

In other words, the secret laboratory wasn’t the place where Wu Meng was sealed.

“Shh.” Shang Jianyao raised his index finger and placed it in front of his mouth, indicating for Long Yuehong not to continue.

Long Yuehong rationally chose to shut his mouth.

After examining the various traces around the cave entrance, Jiang Baimian looked up. “Old Ge did indeed head in that direction. Let’s go.”

As the team leader, she wanted to take the lead and lead the way. However, she gradually slowed down after running a few steps. She only started running again when Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong overtook her.

Even with the help of the GPS and navigation system attached to the military exoskeleton, she didn’t dare to be careless.

The well-equipped Old Task Force quickly circled around the artificial lake and entered a block before running toward their target area.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

They didn’t deliberately control their footsteps.

As he ran, Shang Jianyao suddenly raised his Berserker assault rifle and pulled the trigger, aiming it somewhere to the side.

Bang!

A glass window shattered, and a figure fell to the ground from the fourth floor.

He wore several different clothes. His limbs were bare, and his nails were tough and sharp. He looked like a Heartless.

Shang Jianyao didn’t stop advancing. With the help of the military exoskeleton, he suddenly jumped up.

He estimated that the place he was about to pass through would be covered in bullets.

At this moment, a rocket flew to the third floor of another building and drilled into a room.

Rumble!

Several pieces of glass shattered, and flames engulfed several figures.

Shang Jianyao—who was no longer attacked—landed steadily. He then turned around and looked back at his team members.

Jiang Baimian held the rocket launcher and ran in a straight line without slowing down. She said in a deep voice, “Don’t stop. Rush over! Don’t waste time on these Heartless!”

Clang! Clang! Clang!

As Shang Jianyao patted the Berserker assault rifle’s side, he firmly executed the order. Long Yuehong and Bai Chen followed closely behind.

After a burst of speed, they traversed two blocks in a row and finally shook off the ordinary Heartless.

Long Yuehong panted slightly and said, “Phew, I thought there weren’t any Heartless here.”

As he spoke, he continued running.

The bionic artificial intelligence armor was different from the military exoskeleton—it didn’t boost one’s running or strength significantly. It could only compare with the latter when its main feature was in that aspect. Therefore, Long Yuehong inevitably panted a little after running such a long distance in the Blackmarsh Iron Snake bionic artificial intelligence armor.

“That’s right, that’s right,” said the Shang Jianyao that habitually echoed.

The Old Task Force had entered this place a few times without encountering any Heartless, so they thought that Wasteland Ruin 13 was relatively special because of monsters like Wu Meng. This resulted in the Heartless not being able to reproduce and live to this day.

“Phew, it seems like the Heartless here are mainly active in this area and rarely go elsewhere.” Although Bai Chen—who had undergone genetic modification—was also panting, she was relatively fine.

Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and said, “Maybe they were attracted by the explosion.”

As they conversed simply, the Old Task Force occasionally jumped up and walked on the roofs of the cars blocking the road. They also used the shops along the street to take a straight-line path so as to shorten the distance.

In about 20 minutes, Jiang Baimian and the others arrived at their estimated destination.

There were buildings here that were either tall or short, leaving one overwhelmed.

Recalling Oray’s recount, Jiang Baimian ran to the left with the single-man combat rocket launcher. At the same time, she enhanced her voice with the military exoskeleton’s speaker. “Head right. After circling around that building, find a white building that’s only three stories tall with a courtyard attached.”

Long Yuehong and Bai Chen slowed down. The honest Shang Jianyao asked, “Is it left or right?”

Jiang Baimian stopped and thought about her judgment again.

“Right!” She sullenly adjusted her direction.

However, she didn’t take this matter to heart at all. In a good state of mind, she followed Shang Jianyao and the others around a block filled with tall buildings.

Before long, the white building described by Jiang Baimian appeared in the Old Task Force’s eyes.

It wasn’t tall, but it occupied a large area with a park-like courtyard. There were no signs at the door that specified its location exactly.

After rushing through the gates and passing through the courtyard, Shang Jianyao and the others saw that the white building’s door was completely open.

“Slow down.” Jiang Baimian ordered again, “Assess the surroundings.”

This was a necessary step in any operation!

After completing the preliminary assessment, the Old Task Force entered the building to search for traces of Genava’s visit.

This place was paved with black marble tiles that were as smooth as mirrors. It was very hard, and there were no depressions. But perhaps because nobody had been here for a long time, the ground was covered in dust, leaving a series of footprints.

They clearly belonged to a robot.

“Old Ge did come here,” Shang Jianyao said in relief. “He went to the stairwell.”

As he spoke, he followed the footprints forward.

Jiang Baimian didn’t stop him and only guarded against any enemies that might jump out of the dark stairwell.

The flashlight beam shone in and dispersed the ‘fog.’

Upon seeing that there were indeed no dangerous creatures lurking, Jiang Baimian signaled for Long Yuehong and Bai Chen to follow.

Originally, they had already handed the task of exploring the area ahead to the team’s vanguard, Long Yuehong. But in consideration of how dangerous this laboratory was and how Shang Jianyao had put on a military exoskeleton—giving him a certain level of defense and sufficient dodging abilities while still being able to sense things in a large area—Jiang Baimian felt that he was more suitable than Long Yuehong.

The Old Task Force arrived at basement two.

A silver hall was built from heavy metal walls. Above it were lamps that were half-concealed.

At this moment, these lamps were all lit, making the hall seem like daytime.

“Where does the power come from?” Long Yuehong blurted out.

It had been 60 to 70 years since the Old World was destroyed!

Shang Jianyao slapped the Berserker assault rifle’s side with his right palm and guessed excitedly, “They kidnapped Wu Meng here to generate electricity?”

As expected of you… Jiang Baimian cast her gaze deep into the hall.

There was a pair of silver-black metal doors that were already open. Beside them stood a statue-like robot.

The robot was smaller than Genava, and its appearance was closer to the ones left behind by the Old World.

It seemed to have run out of power. It had its head bowed like it was sealed in dust.

Jiang Baimian deliberated and said, “It seems like Old Ge has already opened the laboratory door and barged in.”

She paused and said, “Swamp Ruin 1—which also has a secret laboratory—is equipped with a hydropower station. Electricity is available every night.”

She meant that there was probably a similar electric station here that could be used for extended periods as long as it was maintained slightly to maintain the laboratory’s operation.

The ones in charge of maintenance were most likely the Old World robots.

Just as Jiang Baimian said that, Shang Jianyao rushed to the secret laboratory’s entrance. In the blink of an eye, he stopped by the door and politely asked the motionless silver robot, “Have you seen a smart bot that’s this much taller than you?”

Shang Jianyao gestured Genava’s height as he spoke.

It would be terrifying if it could answer you… Long Yuehong criticized inwardly when he saw this.

At this moment, the robot suddenly looked up, and its eyes emitted a red glow. It then said coldly, “Intruder alert! Intruder alert!”