Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 904: “Encountered”

As she swam, she didn’t feel particularly anxious because she had been searching for the next island for a long time. Logically speaking, she would soon gain something.

As time passed, she suddenly saw a small island rising in front of her.

Golden light flashed faintly on the island.

Jiang Baimian perked up. She felt that it was time to accommodate herself.

The appearance and characteristics of the island were identical to Shang Jianyao’s description! However, she didn’t speed up her swimming. She maintained her original pace and focused on thinking about what she should do later.

She felt that she couldn’t ‘fight’ with numbers. There was almost no hope for her to make a ‘compromise’ during the first clash and complete the acceptance. Therefore, under the circumstances that failure wouldn’t have any negative effects, she decided to figure out what her other self was obsessed with before coming up with a plan. It was an effective strategy.

Amidst her thoughts, Jiang Baimian arrived at the edge of the island. She reached out and climbed up.

Unsurprisingly, she saw a golden elevator that seemed to lead deep underground. A familiar figure leaned against the elevator door.

The figure was nearly 1.8 meters tall, and her skin was malt-colored. Her facial features were elegant and beautiful, and her black hair was tied into a ponytail behind her head. It was Jiang Baimian herself.

The difference was that this figure wasn’t wearing a gray camouflage uniform. Instead, she was wearing Jiang Baimian’s favorite white cotton pajamas. She looked refreshing and slightly lazy.

That Jiang Baimian smiled and said, “I know you won’t attack recklessly. Let’s have a chat first.”

“Alright.” Jiang Baimian carried out her plan. “What reason do you have to stop me from entering the Mind Corridor?”

Jiang Baimian smiled. “Why should I stop you from entering the Mind Corridor? This is a great thing for us!”

“Then, why are you blocking the elevator door?” Jiang Baimian looked quite relaxed.

That Jiang Baimian replied seriously, “Let’s discuss who should be in charge.”

“Oh?” Jiang Baimian expressed her confusion with her tone.

That Jiang Baimian looked at her and said, “Don’t you have any hesitation in your heart now? Our dream is to investigate the cause of the Old World’s destruction and the source of the Heartless disease, and it has been achieved.

“The latter comes from the absorption of human consciousness by Awakened at the New World level and above. The former should be the awakening of the Kalendaria’s main body sleeping in the darkness after the Eighth Research Institute’s research on human consciousness delved deep into the forbidden zone of the gods. ‘They’ wantonly enjoyed the ‘delicacies’ and stirred up a storm of Heartless. When many people in key positions became Heartless and attacked the normal humans around them, the automatic defense systems were launched. The weapons created by humans almost destroyed human civilization.”

“The latter guess can’t be confirmed yet,” Jiang Baimian commented. “It remains to be seen until Shang Jianyao makes further explorations in the New World. After all, before the Old World was destroyed, many Kalendaria had bodies of descent active on the earth, unlike those sleeping in the darkness.”

That Jiang Baimian didn’t retort and only smiled. “That’s right, but it doesn’t mean much to you or me. In a situation where we might not be able to enter the New World for several years, our work and dreams have come to an end. It’s time to consider more realistic problems.

“Don’t try arguing. I know very well that you have no wish of entering the New World, where you might not be able to return from that mental prison once a year.”

Jiang Baimian fell silent.

After learning from Shang Jianyao that one of the New World’s functions was to restrict the freedom of high-level Awakened, she was just like First City’s emperor, Oray—she resisted going further. Although she felt that it was a good thing for the Kalendarium to forcefully restrain New World powerhouses, her beliefs would be different if she were a member of the New World.

In order not to fall into such a predicament, she sincerely didn’t want to push open the door to the New World.

Of course, at her current level, it was still too early to consider this problem. Those thoughts belonged to her instinctive reaction after figuring out the corresponding truth.

That Jiang Baimian continued, “You and I don’t have the noble feelings and selfless heart to save all of humanity like Hey does. After all, we aren’t anything special. We won’t risk our lives for such illusive righteousness. Let Hey explore the New World slowly. Someday, he’ll be able to tell us some details about the Old World’s destruction, and it will then be time for us to return to the company.”

As far as Jiang Baimian knew, the destruction of the Old World was clearly directly related to words like ‘Eighth Research Institute,’ ‘Human Consciousness Research,’ ‘Forbidden Zone of the Gods,’ and ‘Kalendarium.’ However, there were still many lacking details on how these keywords were organized.

She frowned and said, “Go back to being livestock reared by Big Boss? To worry every day about when we’ll become Heartless?”

That Jiang Baimian smiled. “You actually know very well that we don’t really need to care about this problem. When we return, we can enter management, and the incidence of the Heartless disease happening among the management and their immediate family members is very, very low.

“Do you want to challenge the Kalendaria for a large number of strangers and change your originally comfortable life with Mom, Dad, Brother, and Sister-in-law?”

Jiang Baimian was silent for a moment. After a few seconds, she let out a long sigh in her heart.

She roughly knew which weakness the person in front of her represented from her humanity—it was her selfish self.

…

New World.

Shang Jianyao’s back was against the wall as he observed the target through the window on the sixth floor.

This observation lasted for a long time, but there was silence at the entrance of the grayish-blue classical house. Nobody came or went, and the lights on the top floor did not change.

“It’s been so long, but nobody has visited or gone out. Isn’t it boring to stay at home alone?” Shang Jianyao muttered.

The one who sought novelty agreed wholeheartedly. “What’s the difference between this and being locked in a prison?

“Usually, there are still people chatting in prison. Occasionally, they can even fight and vent their anger.”

“What makes you think this isn’t a prison?” the honest Shang Jianyao asked.

The Shang Jianyao that sought novelty was speechless. After a few seconds, he forced an explanation. “I mean, they’re already locked up in prison. Then, getting to know a few more friends and chatting with other Awakened will help relieve any stress. Staying at home alone without going out or having any guests will really drive one crazy!”

The honest Shang Jianyao asked again, “How do you know the Awakened represented by that lamp isn’t insane?”

“That’s right, that’s right. It’s quite good to chat with ourselves like this.” As the Shang Jianyao who sought novelty chose to remain silent, the one that was prone to echoing answered.

At this point in the discussion, Shang Jianyao continued observing the target building while materializing a pen and paper.

It was a little difficult for him to materialize weapons, but there was nothing wrong with these small items.

Then, using the wall as a backing, he scribbled a title on the paper: On the impact of the New World’s closed environment and monotonous interpersonal relationships on mental conditions.

After writing the opening, he hesitated for a while but couldn’t land his fountain pen. Eventually, he wrote: “May Madam Jiang Baimian study it.”

“Phew…” Shang Jianyao exhaled and ended this form of self-entertainment.

After waiting for a while, he still didn’t gain anything. He decided to split himself and let some people go to the Mind Room to have fun.

Clearly, the price he had to pay after stepping into the New World was even more serious. It was just that he was restricted by the rules here and didn’t show it directly, so he couldn’t split into ten.

In his mind world, Shang Jianyao’s autonomy and independence had increased further, and a small number of Shang Jianyaos had even been strengthened. Therefore, Shang Jianyao could now have a few of himself play cards in his mind room while another group controlled his body for work.

If he could still explore other people’s rooms, he could choose to send only one.

In Room 131 in the Mind Corridor, the idle Shang Jianyaos looked at each other, looking forward to the other party’s good suggestions for games.

After a short silence, the rash Shang Jianyao waved his hand. “Why don’t we go to the Sea of Origins and see if there are any changes in the rift representing Xiaochong? We’ve all entered the New World. We’ll definitely make different discoveries if we study that rift again!

“If Xiaochong is really Master Zhuang’s childhood form, could the other end of the crack be inside the tower?”

The other Shang Jianyaos’ eyes lit up.

The cheerful Shang Jianyao smiled and said, “Maybe we can see the interior of the tower from the rift.”

“But Xiaochong clearly doesn’t want to return to the New World and the tower. There’s a high chance that he’s playing games in a human settlement,” the honest Shang Jianyao said.

The rash Shang Jianyao couldn’t be bothered to argue. He turned around and said, “Let’s go take a look first!”