Embers Ad Infinitum

On the 647th floor, Room 14.

Jiang Baimian—who had specially stayed behind to work overtime—sat up straight and cast her gaze at the door.

Bai Chen—who was also waiting for news in the office—sensed the commotion and also changed her sitting posture.

After a while, they heard footsteps.

Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong quickly appeared at the door.

Jiang Baimian sensed the corridor and confirmed that nobody else was passing by before asking, “How was it?”

Shang Jianyao spread his arms slightly and smiled. “Good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?”

There’s good news? Long Yuehong—who was beside him—was the first to be confused.

After Mu Qingqing said that her father had died from a myocardial infarction five years ago, Shang Jianyao consoled her as if he could empathize. He then changed the topic and stopped talking about such matters.

After the Babymaker talisman was done, they directly went to the Rec Center to find an electronic device and completed the contribution point transaction. The entire process went by uneventfully.

Therefore, where did the good news come from?

“Let’s hear the good news first.” Bai Chen examined Shang Jianyao’s face for a few seconds but didn’t find any signs of ‘something serious’ or ‘something major.’

Jiang Baimian nodded in agreement.

Shang Jianyao maintained his smile and said, “The good news is that Little Red’s parents, grandparents, siblings, and uncles have nothing to do with strange religions. The talisman drawer, Mu Qingqing, is also fine.”

That’s right! This is indeed good news! Long Yuehong snapped back to reality from the shock of Mu Qingqing’s father dying of a myocardial infarction. As he came to a realization, he felt happy.

He found his original intention in dealing with this matter: It was to keep his family away from trouble!

Since the trouble itself didn’t exist, his goal had definitely been achieved.

“Yes, pretty good.” Jiang Baimian cast a look of congratulations at Long Yuehong.

Bai Chen didn’t hide her joy either.

“What about the bad news?” Jiang Baimian felt that the good news didn’t seem to contain any bad news.

Shang Jianyao’s expression turned serious. “Mu Qingqing’s father—the person who taught her how to draw those symbols—died from a myocardial infarction five years ago.”

“Myocardial infarction?” Jiang Baimian’s expression turned solemn.

Heart problems always reminded her of the Kalendaria, Arbiter of Fate. One of the organizations that worshiped the Arbiter of Fate was the Life Ritual parish.

They had once caused many cardiac arrests in Pangu Biology and killed many people. Furthermore, they seemed to be capable of directing the spread of the Heartless disease. This made Jiang Baimian—who increasingly knew about the Heartless disease—suspect that this parish had a powerhouse at the New World level!

Bai Chen pursed her lips and said, “Could it be a simple accident?”

Myocardial infarctions happened every year, and it was somewhat different from cardiac arrests.

“That requires further investigation.” Long Yuehong didn’t dare to be careless. After all, Mu Qingqing lived on the same floor as his grandparents.

Shang Jianyao smiled. “Mu Qingqing’s father knows how to draw a real Babymaker talisman.”

“What do you mean by ‘real Babymaker talisman?’” Jiang Baimian asked in confusion.

Shang Jianyao recounted how Mu Qingqing wasn’t serious when she was learning talismans back then and could only make them up now. Finally, he said in pain, “This story tells us that one who misspends his youth will grieve in vain in old age!”

Jiang Baimian wanted to laugh, but she felt that she shouldn’t. “I was wondering why it was so simple and direct after I deconstructed the pattern.”

It turned out that it was only fabricated based on impression. It was limited by Mu Qingqing’s knowledge and imagination!

If this were handed to Shang Jianyao, he might be able to draw some creative and corruptive talisman with his knowledge of the Old World’s entertainment and train of thought.

Jiang Baimian then recalled the Blessings from all Kalendarium and wavered in her thoughts.

At this moment, Shang Jianyao took out the newly obtained talisman and sighed. “Unfortunately, this isn’t the real one.”

“And the real one will work?” Jiang Baimian asked in amusement.

She had also found many items related to the Old World’s folklore over the years, but she didn’t discover any that were truly magical. In comparison, things that involved the Kalendarium were more or less a little special.

“Who knows?” Shang Jianyao walked to the sofa and sat down. “Maybe it’s because people of the same trade seldom agree. The Babymaker talisman is indeed effective; that’s why Mu Qingqing’s father was killed by the Life Ritual parish.”

Long Yuehong didn’t agree with this guess. “If it really worked, they wouldn’t have waited until five years ago.”

Mu Qingqing’s ancestors were in this line of work, starting with her great-grandfather. It wasn’t like her father had only started drawing talismans for people five years ago.

Shang Jianyao replied confidently, “Maybe the Life Ritual faith was introduced to the company five to six years ago.”

“Yes, although the matter regarding the Life Ritual parish has been resolved, I have a nagging feeling that it hasn’t really ended. There should still be many of them lurking in the company.” Long Yuehong recalled the past.

Back then, a supervisor of the surveillance department pleaded guilty by committing suicide, severing all the clues. The Security Department’s deputy minister, Xenny, was worried that the Old Task Force would subsequently suffer revenge, so she also specially arranged for them to go out on missions to avoid the most dangerous period.

After the Old Task Force returned, there were no further developments.

Of course, the higher-ups claimed that it had been resolved. As for how it was resolved, the Old Task Force had no way of knowing without the corresponding clearance.

Shang Jianyao scoffed at Long Yuehong. “The Awakened who wiped away a portion of my memories hasn’t been captured yet. It definitely isn’t over!”

Without waiting for Jiang Baimian and the others to join in the discussion, he continued, “Back when I was in the Life Ritual parish, they didn’t give anything like the Babymaker talisman. They only said during the sermon that a couple should have feelings for one another, have sufficient preparation, bodies and minds reconciled…

“Eh, I wonder if the Arbiter of Fate has the ability to help people get pregnant. When the time comes, just drawing a talisman and fusing one’s aura into it before carrying it around will lead to a side effect of pregnancy. Be it men or women, they will get pregnant regardless of their corresponding actions…”

“Stop, stop, stop!” Jiang Baimian stopped his wild imagination.

Long Yuehong and Bai Chen looked like they had been tainted.

Jiang Baimian exhaled and pulled the topic back on track. “I’ll go home later to investigate Mu Qingqing’s father’s death.”

Bai Chen frowned. “Will this be dangerous? After what happened last time, will the Life Ritual parish recruit a batch of believers to the Internet Surveillance Department?”

As someone who could only use the Internet in the office, she didn’t know which department was in charge of such matters.

“If the Life Ritual parish really has a New World powerhouse in the company, they can control electromagnetism and directly hack into the network.” Shang Jianyao revealed an expression that was usually used to threaten Long Yuehong. “Wu Meng can do it.”

Jiang Baimian replied in amusement, “The company still has a certain level of network security. Even if Wu Meng comes, he won’t be able to hack into it easily unless he has hacking knowledge and abilities. Besides, how can New World powerhouses stay in reality and monitor the company’s network all the time?”

With that said, Jiang Baimian nodded slightly. “However, we do need to pay attention. The Life Ritual parish used to control cameras, so they might be able to monitor the Internet now.”

She then laughed. “Don’t worry. The last time we investigated the Life Ritual parish, the relevant departments pulled out a list of people who had died from cardiac causes in the past decade and did a certain level of investigation. I later got a copy on my home computer using my connections.

“Although I’m not sure why they don’t think there’s anything wrong with Mu Qingqing’s father’s death, this doesn’t stop me from doing another check. Heh heh, I’ll disconnect my Internet when reading.”

“Be careful.” Bai Chen nodded.

Just as she said that, Shang Jianyao slapped his thigh. “I forgot something!”

“What?” Everyone became nervous, wondering if Shang Jianyao had previously discovered a more direct clue. However, they didn’t think in the direction of the Life Ritual parish.

Shang Jianyao sighed. “Didn’t Director Su get me to organize information on the newly explored rooms? I forgot.”

Impressive. You don’t even take a director’s words seriously… Long Yuehong didn’t know whether to give Shang Jianyao a thumbs up or shun him.

“Then, organize it later.” Jiang Baimian was accustomed to Shang Jianyao’s jumpy train of thought.

Shang Jianyao nodded. “I’ll request the reward after submission to be the installation of a phone in my room.”

“Why do you want to install a phone?” Jiang Baimian asked in confusion.

Long Yuehong and Bai Chen were confused.

Shang Jianyao seriously answered Jiang Baimian’s question. “This way, you can call me when you are disconnected from the Internet to read the information. I’ll use my electromagnetic interference to help you guard against any accidents.”

You… came back to the topic? Jiang Baimian was a little stunned.

Long Yuehong thought for a moment and said to Shang Jianyao, “I think the company might directly switch you to a room with a telephone.”

Shang Jianyao was important enough.

“No!” Shang Jianyao firmly rejected it. “We haven’t succeeded in saving all of humanity. How can we switch for a better room?”

The office fell silent.

After a few seconds, Jiang Baimian pinched her cheek. “Actually, there’s no need to go through so much trouble. We have a phone in our office; you can stay here until lights out.”

“That’s right!” Shang Jianyao had a ‘you’re really smart’ expression.

At this moment, Long Yuehong thought for a moment and said, “Why don’t we report it directly?”

Jiang Baimian exhaled silently. “There might be people from the Life Ritual parish hiding above. If we can’t ‘determine’ the clues in advance, it’s very likely that they will destroy them, just like the Surveillance Department’s PIC—who committed suicide previously.”

“Okay.” Long Yuehong and Bai Chen nodded.

Jiang Baimian then said, “Oh right, the rewards should be distributed tomorrow.”

Shang Jianyao, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen’s eyes more or less lit up.

…

Jiang Baimian returned home on the 349th floor, Zone C, Room 12. After greeting her parents, she slipped into the study.

She switched on the computer, entered the corresponding drive, and disconnected from the Internet.. After hesitating for a moment, she picked up the phone in the room and dialed a number