Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 768: Muddy Waters

Translator: CKtalon 

Long Yuehong’s body stiffened when he heard Bai Chen.

If only he had had such a dream, it could also be explained as him dreaming of it because of his thoughts in the day—the dream’s content was simply too realistic and terrifying. However, Bai Chen had the same dream. It couldn’t be described as a coincidence.

Even if they slept in the same bed and had similar experiences, it was impossible for the two of them to have dreams with similar details. There were no such coincidences in this world!

Almost at the same time, Long Yuehong and Bai Chen—who were relatively experienced—thought of a possibility, which was also the only possibility: They had their dreams affected by an Awakened in the corresponding domain!

Long Yuehong quickly looked out the window.

Through the curtain, he saw that the lights in the corridor hadn’t been switched off. From time to time, people would pass by outside.

Bai Chen deliberated for a few seconds and said, “Although the dream was sufficiently realistic, it didn’t mean to kill us.”

Real Dreamscape wasn’t something that could be woken up from via a shock. Most people would encounter death in their dreams and die in reality.

Long Yuehong had the same doubts and probed, “The person who affected our dream only wanted us to have that dream?”

If the other party had the intention of scaring them or testing their abilities, they wouldn’t have let the two people sleeping together have the same dream. This could easily be discovered and investigated by the company.

Therefore, Long Yuehong felt that the focus should be on the dream itself.

Bai Chen slowly nodded. “The person who affected our dream might be trying to tell us through that dream that Mei Shou’an is indeed from the Life Ritual parish. Minister Xenny is the same.”

Hiss! 

Long Yuehong gasped. “No way…”

He still believed the possibility that Mei Shou’an was from the Life Ritual parish, but it would be without evidence to claim that Minister Xenny was one!

Long Yuehong then thought of something and frowned. “Why did we have the corresponding dream the night we suspected that Mei Shou’an might be from the Life Ritual parish? Could it be that someone can monitor our conversation in the office?”

This didn’t make sense!

Shang Jianyao could sense human consciousnesses in a large area, while his team leader could use electric signals to find any that fell through the cracks and eliminate certain devices. Room 14 could be said to be richly endowed with anti-interference equipment and was impregnable!

Bai Chen fell silent for a few seconds before saying, “If he learned of our suspicions by eavesdropping on our conversation, the Awakened probably wouldn’t have come to our dreams tonight. This will expose the fact that he can monitor our office. It’s still unknown who’s friend or foe.

“I think it’s either a coincidence or he has been trying to guide our dreams recently. However, his abilities are limited, so he couldn’t make something out of nothing. It was only when we began to suspect Mei Shou’an and Director Su that the dreams developed in the direction he hoped.”

Since the previous dreams didn’t meet the requirements, the other party would definitely give up midway. Long Yuehong and Bai Chen naturally couldn’t remember the corresponding content after waking up and couldn’t discover any abnormalities.

“If the latter is true, the Awakened doesn’t live far away,” Long Yuehong said solemnly.

This was the only way to influence this room’s dream every night without being suspected by the Order Supervisory Department or the employees on the same floor.

Due to an Awakened’s range and the fact that both of them were affected, Long Yuehong couldn’t rule out the people two to three floors above and below.

Bai Chen fell silent for a moment before saying, “That’s not the point. The point is whether the dream’s content is real.”

“This… Maybe the Awakened represents a certain faction that’s trying to sow discord.” Long Yuehong didn’t dare to make an affirmative judgment.

Bai Chen exhaled silently. “Sometimes, I feel that it’s safer outside than in the company. At least we know who the enemy is and where the danger comes from. When we encounter a problem, we can fight it head-on. When it’s time to evacuate, we can evacuate immediately. We won’t be overly suspicious and be restrained.”

With the Old Task Force’s current abilities and equipment, nobody could capture them once they chose to escape apart from a few situations.

“It’s still alright… There are ultimately only a few problems.” Long Yuehong still had a lot of affection for Pangu Biology and the underground building. Even though he often fantasized of a time when the company moved to the ground, allowing everyone to see the blue sky and feel the natural wind, he had never considered completely severing ties with the underground building.

This place represented his childhood, teenage years, and half of his youth. It was the most carefree period.

Bai Chen didn’t retort and looked at the phone in the room. “Let’s tell Team Leader and Hey as soon as possible.”

It wasn’t lights-out yet. The light from outside could be faintly seen through the curtain.

“Will this be monitored?” Long Yuehong was a little worried.

Bai Chen calmly replied, “It might be a good thing to be monitored.”

“Ah…” Long Yuehong was confused at first before he came to a realization.

Bai Chen meant: Those who could monitor phones were most likely from the Life Ritual parish, just like how the Doctor of the Church controlled the surveillance cameras back then. After the Life Ritual parish discovered that other organizations were secretly targeting them, their focus wouldn’t be on the Old Task Force!

Go ahead and fight amongst yourselves. Don’t disturb us!

“Alright, who should we call first?” Long Yuehong’s first reaction was to get Jiang Baimian.

Although Jiang Baimian was much weaker than Shang Jianyao in terms of Awakened abilities, she was more reliable in other aspects, especially in terms of intelligence.

“Let’s give Hey a call first. He’s alone, and he lives on the floor of an ordinary employee. It’s relatively more dangerous.” Bai Chen gave her opinion from a different perspective.

Long Yuehong readily agreed. He got off the bed, walked to the table, picked up the phone, and dialed Shang Jianyao’s number.

…

Mind Corridor, Room 506.

Shang Jianyao chatted with many people in the Fourth Research Institute’s residential area by passing off as the room owner.

In addition to obtaining a lot of relatively useful information, including but not limited to the price of certain domains and the Fourth Research Institute’s suspicion of the Eighth Research Institute’s forbidden experiments, Shang Jianyao also roughly restored the room owner’s original image.

A young girl who was rather pretty in the residential area; she had several suitors and was filled with interest in the Old World’s entertainment. She liked to replicate the clothes in them and dress up in them. Even though she was often scared to sleep because of horror scenes and had tears in her eyes from the emotional scenes, she still enjoyed it.

She had a cheerful personality and appeared to be a forthright person. In fact, she was indecisive when she encountered major matters and couldn’t make up her mind.

She was very interested in all kinds of things in the Ashlands. From time to time, she would travel elsewhere with the Fourth Research Institute’s trading teams. She was a rather curious person.

Perhaps it was because she grew up in a relatively stable place like the Fourth Research Institute’s residential zone, but she had a simple sense of justice and views of good and evil like Long Yuehong prior to his joining the Old Task Force…

Just as Shang Jianyao was about to inquire further, he heard a ringing sound.

The people around didn’t sense anything.

Someone’s calling me? Shang Jianyao became excited.

He ran to the exit.

After returning to the real world, he picked up the phone and asked in all seriousness, “Hello, who is it?”

“Me,” Long Yuehong replied.

“Who’s me?” Shang Jianyao began to pester him endlessly.

Long Yuehong’s forehead twitched. “I’m Long Yuehong. Little White and I just had the same dream.”

“You guys slept so early?” Shang Jianyao’s focus was completely wrong.

Long Yuehong took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “That’s not important. The important thing is that we had the same dream. We all dreamed that Director Mei Shou’an is from the Life Ritual parish. When we reported it to Minister Xenny, she also saluted with the Life Ritual’s etiquette.”

Shang Jianyao let out a long exclamation. “There are so many fellow parishioners…

“You guys woke up too early. You have to see what information the person who affected your dream can provide. Perhaps you will later discover that we are also from the Life Ritual parish…”

He let his imagination run wild for a moment before asking, “Did you tell Big White?”

“Not yet. Calling her now.” Long Yuehong was very glad that he had called Shang Jianyao’s house first. Otherwise, there would be no end to it.

After he hung up, Bai Chen called Jiang Baimian.

…

Ring! Ring!

Xue Sumei picked up the call. “Who are you looking for?”

“Hello, I’m looking for Jiang Baimian. I’m her colleague,” Bai Chen replied.

Xue Sumei cupped the receiver with her hand and shouted into the study, “Mianmian, it’s for you!”

After Jiang Baimian picked up the call in the study, Xue Sumei put down the receiver on the telephone outside and said to Jiang Wenfeng in disappointment, “It’s a woman.”

“You can’t rush such things.” Xue Wenfeng smiled and shook his head.

At this moment, Jiang Baimian figured out Bai Chen and Long Yuehong’s encounter after exchanging a few words. She thought for a moment and said, “From the looks of it, we have found ourselves in muddy waters. Could it be that the company has already been seriously corrupted and that many foreign organizations have expanded? It only appears calm on the surface because of Big Boss and a few powerhouses in higher management? Are other organizations taking the opportunity to eliminate the Life Ritual parish this time?”

“Then, it’s best if we just sit and watch.” Bai Chen voiced her thoughts.

Jiang Baimian tersely acknowledged it. “I think so too.”

After all, they couldn’t find a higher-up they could completely trust unless they could report it to Big Boss directly.

Jiang Baimian smiled and said, “It won’t be too late to discuss this tomorrow. Take turns sleeping tonight to see if you have any more similar dreams. After two to three attempts and confirming that there are no problems, continue sleeping together. Don’t delay the parent-meeting session tomorrow.”

After comforting Bai Chen and Long Yuehong, Jiang Baimian hung up. She then sat there and fell into deep thought.

After dozens of seconds, she picked up the receiver and dialed Shang Jianyao’s number.

“Hello.” Shang Jianyao’s voice quickly sounded. “Who is it?”

“Who do you think it is?” Jiang Baimian asked in amusement.

“It might be Little Red or Little White.” Shang Jianyao said confidently, “Do you want to discuss how they had the same dream tonight?”

Jiang Baimian smiled. “There’s no rush for that; let’s wait and see. Did you figure out the personality and experience of Room 506’s owner tonight?”

“Yes!” Shang Jianyao explained everything he had learned in detail.

Jiang Baimian fell silent for a moment before frowning. “Highly curious… With a sense of justice and a simple sense of good and evil… Do you think the owner of Room 506 back then also fell into our current dilemma? In the end, a wrong choice caused the place she wanted to protect to fall into a disaster?”

She couldn’t help but make connections because the Fourth Research Institute’s residential area was very similar to the environment, atmosphere, and feeling inside Pangu Biology.