Embers Ad Infinitum

“Bewitching charm … Be careful … controlled…”

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This time, it was a loud male voice.

“Control…” Bai Chen tried her best to identify it.

At the front of the team, Qiao Chu’s expression changed slightly.
He then said in a deep voice, “We can’t waste any more time.
Let’s go.”

“Alright.” Jiang Baimian couldn’t refuse the suggestion.

The five of them jogged again.

Long Yuehong was on the left side of the team.
The voice he had just heard kept circling in his mind.

Be careful… control…

Be careful of control?

Be careful of control…

Long Yuehong was shocked and vaguely sensed that the situation was a little off.
He subconsciously turned his head and looked at Shang Jianyao—the person he had the best relationship with in the team.

As he jogged, he saw Shang Jianyao’s mouth widen as he wore that dazzling smile again.

What does he mean…? Long Yuehong tried to understand Shang Jianyao’s thoughts but failed.
He then recalled everything that had happened along the way, attempting to find clues related to the problem.

Two to three minutes later, the group of five circled around a building and saw their destination—which had sunk into the darkness.

Their destination was a 100-meter-tall building with a large courtyard.
It was extremely quiet inside.

As the group was still 200 to 300 meters away, Shang Jianyao and the others couldn’t clearly see what was written on the signboard horizontally placed above the courtyard’s entrance.

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At this moment, Qiao Chu, who was in front, suddenly stopped.
He then leaned back and fell to the ground amidst a metallic clang.

Jiang Baimian and the others watched this scene in surprise.
They subconsciously moved closer to confirm the problem.

The exoskeleton made a beeping sound almost at the same time, and all the auxiliary joints shook.

Qiao Chu’s body moved as he slowly crawled up.

At this moment, Jiang Baimian seemed to sense something.
She held the grenade launcher and pulled the trigger while aiming at a tree to the side.

Boom!

A fireball rapidly expanded, illuminating the ignited tree’s crown and a figure that had jumped into a building by the street.

This figure was of a feline creature, about a meter long.
Its body didn’t seem to have any fur or skin, and its blood-red ‘muscles’ were directly exposed.
Its tail seemed to resemble a scorpion’s.
The feline creature was covered in a hard, brown carapace with barbs growing out of it.
On its shoulder were clumps of white bone spurs that looked like decorations.
It seemed to have four ears on its head.

No matter how one looked at it, it was not a normal creature.

The monster jumped into a room on the second floor and barely dodged the grenade’s explosion.
Then, it quickly ran, escaping Jiang Baimian’s perception range before disappearing into the depths of the buildings by the street.

At this moment, Qiao Chu had already returned to normal and stood up again.
He looked in the direction where the monster had vanished and said in a deep voice, “I fell asleep just now.
Fortunately, this exoskeleton has a good wake-up function.”

“Is that the monster that forces people to sleep?” Bai Chen immediately reacted.

“It looks like a mutated creature.” Jiang Baimian made a judgment.

Qiao Chu didn’t attempt to chase after the feline monster.
He pointed at their destination and said, “Let’s go over.”

Shang Jianyao was the first to make his stand.
He ran towards the tall building that came with a courtyard.

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Jiang Baimian and the others quickly followed.

As they ran, Shang Jianyao suddenly asked, “Shall we give it a name?”

“Who?” Jiang Baimian was a little confused.

“That monster from before,” Shang Jianyao said seriously.
“Shall we call it Ghost Cat?”

“It sounds terrible.” Jiang Baimian subconsciously rejected the suggested name.
“Let’s call it Slumber Cat!”

As they spoke, they reached their destination and arrived in front of the courtyard’s entrance.

With the faint starlight and moonlight’s help, the group clearly saw the black signboard placed on the ground.

The signboard was made of stone and didn’t look too dirty.
It looked like it had often been washed by the rain or ‘maintained’ by someone.

The golden words on its surface hadn’t fallen off.
They were all in the Ashlands language.

These words formed a term Long Yuehong had never heard of: “City Intelligence Network Control Center.”

“What is this place?” Long Yuehong blurted out a question.

Jiang Baimian explained slightly, “Water pipes, natural gas pipes, electric wires, and fiber optics are combined together to form a large intelligence network in certain cities.
The one controlling this network is the city intelligence network center.”

“Then… why are we here?” Long Yuehong became increasingly confused.

At this moment, Qiao Chu—who was wearing the exoskeleton—said coldly, “There’s a hydropower station still operating in this city ruin, and it’s also being maintained.
Many of the lines in the city ruin have been ‘maintained’ well.

“What we need to do is enter the control center and reconnect the power.”

Jiang Baimian subconsciously asked, “Why are we reconnecting the power?”

Qiao Chu fell silent for two seconds before saying, “To open all the doors to a laboratory.”