Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 624: Imagination

Shang Jianyao spread his arms again, raised his body, and answered Jiang Baimian’s question in an intoxicated tone. “Everything is but a dream. Why so serious?”

Jiang Baimian once again realized that this sentence was versatile and could be used to handle anything. However, this encounter involved a dream, so it did seem like a reasonable fit.

She thought for a moment and said, “Ask Little White and Little Red if they had such dreams.”

“You want to wake them up?” Zen Master Redemption had a ‘you’re a bad person’ expression.

Before Jiang Baimian could respond, he had already switched personalities and excitedly said, “I’m on it!”

Jiang Baimian looked up, got off the bed, and opened the door.

“Going to the bathroom so soon?” Genava—who was in charge of watching over the living room—asked.

As a smart bot that respected humans, he didn’t monitor his companions’ rooms.

Although Genava’s question was a valid one, Jiang Baimian felt that his train of thought was slipping in Shang Jianyao’s direction.

The thought of two—no, eleven Shang Jianyaos in her future team gave her a headache.

Jiang Baimian slowly took a deep breath and said, “Do you still remember the A-rank mission we saw in the Hunter’s Guild during the day?”

Genava quickly analyzed Jiang Baimian’s hidden meaning. “You guys also encountered that nightmare?”

“Yes.” As Jiang Baimian nodded, she saw Shang Jianyao tip-toe to the bedroom where Bai Chen and Long Yuehong were.

With a creak, Bai Chen opened the door before Shang Jianyao could knock.

“Little Red and I had the same nightmare,” Bai Chen said bluntly. “It’s very similar to the Hunter’s Guild’s mission description.”

Long Yuehong followed behind and echoed, “Yes, yes.”

“Us too.” Jiang Baimian recounted her encounter with Shang Jianyao.

“Therefore, you ultimately relied on Xiaochong and Du Heng to scare away the nightmare?” Bai Chen wasn’t accustomed to calling Du Heng ‘teacher.’

Shang Jianyao stroked his chin and replied before Jiang Baimian could. “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains must be the truth. At least we don’t show any adverse symptoms; there’s no dizziness, nausea, fatigue, or insomnia.”

Long Yuehong listened solemnly and raised a question. “If the nightmare has its own consciousness and can be scared away, why is it doing all of this? Spreading nightmares? Love watching everyone suffer from insomnia and dizziness?”

These reasons didn’t convince Long Yuehong; he found them wanting.

A ‘nightmare’ that could affect so many people at the same time and prevent Shang Jianyao—a Mind Corridor-level Awakened—from escaping should have a more ‘lofty’ motivation. Otherwise, why would they take the risk to cause trouble in First City?

There were many powerhouses here!

Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and said, “There are no deaths at the moment, nobody has gone crazy, nor are there any obvious abnormalities… The entire matter appears very mild.”

She suspected that an Awakened in the dream domain had made a breakthrough and was experimenting with his abilities in a relatively low-profile manner.

“Not necessarily at the moment.” Shang Jianyao suddenly became excited. “After I used the Six Senses Beads in my dream, the monster in the darkness became violent. It seems like ‘he’ still knows what’s good and that it’s very precious.”

Shang Jianyao’s Six Senses Beads had been modified by a Buddhist Holy Land.

Long Yuehong was shocked. “Will ‘he’ come knocking on our door in reality?”

“I don’t think so for the time being.” Jiang Baimian consoled her teammates. “Since ‘he’ can be scared away by Teacher Du Heng or Xiaochong, he definitely won’t rashly deal with us. At the very least, ‘he’ has to eliminate the possibility that Xiaochong or Teacher Du Heng are hiding around us, right? How can Xiaochong and Teacher Du Heng be so easily discovered?”

Even if the nightmare could influence dreams and learn from the Old Task Force members that they hadn’t met Du Heng and Xiaochong recently, there was still the worry that this was a trap specially set for ‘him.’

Bai Chen said, “We would’ve already left the city and gone to Wasteland Ruin 13 by then, distancing ourselves from this ‘nightmare.\'”

Long Yuehong nodded to indicate his comprehension.

“What’s the source of this nightmare?” Genava steered the topic back on track.

Jiang Baimian first raised the theory of ‘experimenting abilities’ from the perspective of how mild the entire matter seemed. She then said, “In addition, there’s another possibility: there’s an uncontrollable ‘node’ that connects to the New World in the city. The aura there is slowly seeping in, but it hasn’t reached the point of causing people to contract the Heartless disease. It only brings about large-scale nightmares.

“First City’s leaders hope to discover the node’s location through the Hand of Order and the Hunter’s Guild. But this doesn’t explain why the nightmare was scared away by Teacher Du Heng or Xiaochong.”

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Shang Jianyao clapped. “You’re getting more and more imaginative!”

That’s not a good thing…?Jiang Baimian shot him a glance and concluded, “We don’t have to worry too much about this. This is First City. There will definitely be someone to hold it up even if the sky collapses. As long as we are aware of the information retrieval speed and leave First City before the nightmare figures out that Teacher Du Heng and Xiaochong really aren’t lurking in the surrounding area, there won’t be any major problems. Yes, we can also ask Boss Ugo. Their True Self Church believes in the dream domain’s Kalendaria, Dawn, so they won’t be uninterested in such matters.

“Also, report this to the company and see what the big shots above think of this matter and what comments they will give. Any other suggestions?”

“No.” Long Yuehong was the first to shake his head.

After Bai Chen, Shang Jianyao, and Genava replied one after another, Jiang Baimian found the radio transceiver and sent Pangu Biology a report immediately.

Employees were constantly on duty at the radio within Pangu Biology.

After finishing this matter, Jiang Baimian clapped her hands. “Continue sleeping. Don’t hide any strange dreams you might have.”

Shang Jianyao cast his gaze at Long Yuehong.

Your gaze is very strange, bastard!?Long Yuehong restrained himself and replied to his team leader in a terse affirmative manner.

At this moment, Shang Jianyao looked at Jiang Baimian and asked in a joking tone, “Big White, any progress on your island of fear?”

Jiang Baimian hesitated for a moment and decided to share her difficulties. She recounted the details of Pangu Biology’s underground building—which was equivalent to an abandoned and uninhabited island of fear. Then, she stiffened her neck and took the initiative to say, “This might correspond to the fear of losing my family, friends, companions, and familiar way of life.”

Hmph, if I say it out myself and do it frankly instead of having someone else guess it, it won’t damage my image as a lady warrior!

Shang Jianyao tersely acknowledged it with admiration written all over his face. “You actually didn’t get lost inside!”

Jiang Baimian quietly gritted her teeth.

“There are no enemies or abnormalities. It’s indeed a little confusing,” Bai Chen discussed seriously.

Long Yuehong immediately echoed, “That’s right.”

He then voiced his thoughts. “Those islands correspond to psychological trauma and inner fear. If you want to resolve it, the most important thing is to base it on reality. Just like how Team Leader was able to clear the first island, the real reason was that you dared to face a coma that implied losing control. You attempted an Awakening and underwent surgery. Therefore, once you found a solution, you naturally broke through. You have to face it bravely this time…”

Long Yuehong suddenly paused.

As Jiang Baimian’s friend, companion, and part of her familiar life, it seemed wrong to persuade her to face such fears head-on…

Isn’t that obvious? But how can I deliberately seek to face such matters head-on? Am I to proactively create an opportunity to wipe out my teammates like the weak and timid Hey??Jiang Baimian smiled bitterly inwardly.

Without needing her response, Genava analyzed the entire matter and raised two solutions. “The first is to make yourself cold and fade your feelings for others. This way, you won’t be too sad to lose them and won’t be traumatized.”

“Why does that sound so familiar?” Shang Jianyao dug his ears.

The honest Shang Jianyao immediately scoffed. “Isn’t this what you previously thought?”

As the Shang Jianyaos argued, Genava continued, “The second is to make yourself strong enough, strong enough to believe that you can protect everything.”

That’s too idealistic… Besides, this becomes a vicious cycle. Only by becoming sufficiently strong can one defeat this psychological trauma. But only by defeating this psychological trauma can one continue forward and become sufficiently strong…?Jiang Baimian didn’t voice her criticisms.

At this moment, the busy Shang Jianyao took the time to say, “You can also try to understand the meaning of sacrifice, the value of life, and understand what it means to have a common will that’s as strong as a fortress. This way, you will learn that losing something is just having it accompany you in a different way and become the meaning and motivation for your journey.”

That actually makes sense…?Jiang Baimian tersely acknowledged it and asked, “What did you gain from your exploration of the cruise ship?”

Shang Jianyao explained the pattern of the discovery and said, “Since we can’t capture a Mind Corridor-level Awakened to help us scout the way in the meantime, we can consider finding Room 522’s owner during the day when everything is normal.”

“How do you find him?” Long Yuehong asked.

Shang Jianyao smiled. “From the sequence of his psychological trauma, he should’ve already become an Awakened when he boarded the cruise ship. In other words, he has been to Iron Mountain City’s Second Food Company. As long as I keep finding people to talk about this topic, I’ll have a chance to identify him.”

“That’s a solution, but you have to be careful of triggering any abnormalities,” Jiang Baimian commented.

After the discussion, they returned to their rooms and went to bed again.

The night passed uneventfully. There were no more nightmares.

The next day, after breakfast, Bai Chen asked, “Shall we visit Boss Ugo today?”

Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and said, “Sure.”