Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 742: Since We’re Already Here

Translator: CKtalon

Shang Jianyao’s good partner-in-crime, Genava, accurately grasped the key point in his words: “Are you trying to say that Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School isn’t enveloped by a dream and is no longer dangerous, so we can carry out some level of exploration?”

“That’s right, that’s right.” Shang Jianyao acted as if he were echoing Genava. “Since we’re already here!”

Jiang Baimian wanted to facepalm.

This fellow was often rash and bold; he didn’t care about the consequences and didn’t consider how much risk was needed. He did things spur of the moment, but it could only be blamed on his mental illness. She couldn’t bring herself to lecture him.

Furthermore, Jiang Baimian often felt conflicted. Logically, she knew what she should and shouldn’t do, when to step back and when to attack. But emotionally, she couldn’t help but feel that she should do something when facing certain situations. There seemed to be a voice in her heart telling her not to be afraid of the risks and to do what she wanted to do.

This was also the reason that despite clearly instructing Shang Jianyao not to do anything, she would still choose to indulge him and help wipe his ass when he really did it. This was essentially the tug of war between her reason and emotion.

It was impossible for people without a sense of adventure or romanticism to take the initiative to establish an investigation team for the cause of the Old World’s destruction.

As these thoughts raced through her mind, Jiang Baimian cast her gaze at Bai Chen and Long Yuehong in the front row. “From the current situation, theoretically speaking, it’s not dangerous to explore Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School for a certain period of time. Since Master Zhuang is awake, it’s unlikely that ‘He’ will fall asleep again so soon. First City’s previous unrest involved a tussle between the Kalendarium. It’s impossible for ‘Him’ not to take this opportunity to do something. How about this? Hey, Old Ge, and I will go in and do a quick exploration. Stand guard at the door to prevent any accidents and provide support.”

Bai Chen—who was driving—calmly asked, “There has to be a reason for taking such a huge risk. What do you plan on finding or what answers would you like to receive during the exploration inside?”

Jiang Baimian replied seriously, “Ignoring the secrets hidden in this Buddhist Holy Land, there’s a simple question that’s worth entering again: Why did Master Zhuang dream of this place—high school life—and not anywhere else or in another stage of life?

“After ‘His’ descent, we can currently confirm that ‘He’ had a complete childhood and adolescence. Apart from Dajiang City’s Linhe Village—which represents an unknown stage in the dreamscape—’He’ should’ve lived in many other places and had sufficient experience. Why did ‘He’ only dream of Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School? Is there anything special here or something with a special meaning to Master Zhuang?”

“Maybe the other dreamscapes have yet to be discovered by the Buddhists and are considered holy lands.” The honest Shang Jianyao didn’t care that Jiang Baimian was now on their side.

Jiang Baimian replied without hesitation, “This is also a direction of exploration. To us, a Kalendaria had descended before the Old World was destroyed. ‘He’ lived as a human for many years, so this is definitely a key point worth investigating. This might involve the New World’s secret and its influence on the Old World. Only by figuring out these problems can we perhaps know why the Heartless disease suddenly erupted that day and brought about a great danger to humanity.”

Bai Chen fell silent for a few seconds. “Then, I’ll go in with you. The more people searching, the more efficient it is. We’ll also save time. Old Ge will stay outside and avoid the first wave should the dreamscape get rebooted. He will then enter the school to save us. He’s a smart bot and the last thing we can rely on; it might be better to have him as backup.”

Long Yuehong pondered for a moment before nodding in agreement. “That’s right, that’s right. Let’s go in together and leave Old Ge outside.”

Jiang Baimian thought for a moment. “Alright.”

None of them knew when Master Zhuang would fall asleep again, so they naturally had to race against time.

The jeep stopped and turned back to Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School. Jiang Baimian and the others pushed open the door, alighted, and walked to the automatic extendable gate.

They didn’t carry assault rifles or other weapons, nor did they wear military exoskeletons or bionic artificial intelligence armor. On the one hand, they were capable, believing that they could finish off any mutated creatures or Superior Heartless they encountered in the school with their Awakened abilities, items, mechanical arms, biological prosthetics, genetic modification results, and pistols. They could also hold out for a period of time until Genava came to their rescue. On the other hand, they wanted to show their respect for Master Zhuang. In Shang Jianyao’s words, they had to be sincere.

Jiang Baimian didn’t give another reason: They were to reduce their strength, especially when compared to Genava’s.

This way, it would be much easier for Genava to save them if they fell into the dreamscape again, and the resistance he would encounter would be much simpler.

The four carbon-based Old Task Force members carefully passed through the automatic extendable gate and walked to the teaching building ahead.

After walking for about ten meters, they looked at each other and happily confirmed that they were still rational and hadn’t become a character in the dreamscape.

Jiang Baimian turned around and waved at Genava—this was one of the preset hand gestures for communication.

Genava also waved his hand, indicating that he could see them.

“Master Zhuang isn’t asleep yet. Let’s make the best use of our time,” Jiang Baimian quickly ordered.

They first walked to the teaching building opposite where Du Shaochong, Xu Qiao, Lin Yan, and Zhang Huadong attended classes.

As soon as they approached, their gazes froze to a certain extent.

On every seat in the classroom was a white skeleton. They were either lying on the table or on the ground beside them, and they wore tattered blue and white school uniforms.

This scene made Jiang Baimian and the others increasingly certain that Tai City was different from other places. All humans died in an instant and didn’t become Heartless.

Although they had already expected to see this scene in front of them, they still felt heavy and conflicted when they saw the students—who were supposed to represent the future, the rising sun—die in droves. Some even had an attentive posture.

Jiang Baimian exhaled, allowing her rationality to overcome her emotion. “Start the search.”

They didn’t go through every corner of every table like how Genava had previously gathered data. Instead, they roughly scanned the area and chose two to three items with words to flip through. When they felt that there was nothing else, they went to the next classroom.

Time was limited!

In Grade 12, Class 1, they didn’t find Du Shaochong. In Grade 12, Class 5, they also didn’t find anyone named Xu Qiao. This confirmed that the Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School in the dreamscape wasn’t the one from the Old World’s destruction but a reflection of something that happened a decade or two before the juncture in time.

This could be further confirmed by the fact that the school uniforms in reality and dreamscape were the same but had different styles.

“That’s troublesome.” Jiang Baimian frowned slightly at this.

This meant that Master Zhuang cared about Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School and that there was a high chance that the reason the dreamscape reflected this place couldn’t be found in reality.

“Everything that can be found counts.” Shang Jianyao’s disappointment vanished in an instant.

Long Yuehong nodded in agreement. “That’s right.”

This way, they should be able to evacuate this dangerous place quickly.

Jiang Baimian didn’t waste her breath. She led her team up another floor and ended the search of the teaching building.

After they turned into the building on the left and entered the teacher’s office, their expressions more or less changed.

Among the corpses sitting in their respective seats, one still had a lot of rotten flesh on his body. He wore a black uniform that didn’t match his peers!

“Am I seeing things…” Long Yuehong muttered.

If he wasn’t mistaken, it was the Salvation Army’s uniform!

Almost at the same time, Bai Chen saw a Red Maple assault rifle—a specialty of the Salvation Army—on the ground beside the corpse.

Jiang Baimian’s heart palpitated. “Could it be a member of Ding Ling’s husband’s scientific team?”

The Salvation Army’s scientific team definitely had a military detail to provide protection.

Previously, when she knew that the scientific team was heading in this direction, she had a slight suspicion that they had entered Tai City. However, she later realized that without a ‘keepsake,’ all they could see was the fake Tai City. Hence, she dismissed this guess.

To her surprise, they encountered corpses suspected to be the scientific team members in Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School, a dangerous Buddhist Holy Land.

“Search him,” Jiang Baimian quickly ordered.

After some work, the Old Task Force preliminarily confirmed that he was from the Salvation Army. He died two to three years ago—which roughly matched the time when the scientific team that Ding Ling’s husband, Ji Qiang, was in disappeared.

“There are no external injuries, and the cause of death is unknown. Apart from weapons, bullets, and a few biscuits, there’s nothing else on him.” Bai Chen stood up and walked back.

Jiang Baimian nodded. “Let’s search elsewhere.”

They completed a quick search of Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School by noon. They only found the Salvation Army corpse that had died in recent years. Apart from that, they didn’t discover anything else.

Genava analyzed the situation. “This person might’ve accidentally entered Tai City’s No. 1 Senior High School after being separated from the rest of the troops. He ended up lost in the dreamscape and died bit by bit.”

“What about the rest of the troops?” Shang Jianyao asked.