Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 148: Self-inflicted Tragedy

“Ah, what did you say? The one digging their ear and asking wasn’t Jiang Baimian, but Shang Jianyao.

This made Bai Chen’s body stiffen. She then pushed open the door and walked in without saying anything.

At the same time, Jiang Baimian turned her head and angrily glared at Shang Jianyao.

“I helped you with the voice-over,” Shang Jianyao said sincerely.

“Although I really didn’t hear what Little White said, I could guess it. You destroyed the mood and feeling!” Jiang Baimian felt pained. “That was such a good opportunity to build camaraderie!”

As she spoke, she opened the door and entered the room.

After closing the door, her expression changed as she smiled at Shang Jianyao. “You might’ve even missed the opportunity to sleep with Little White because of this. In that situation, if you say something warm or heroic, she might change rooms with me after letting her emotions get the better of her.”

Shang Jianyao shook his head solemnly. “It’s not suitable.”

“Yo, you know this?” Jiang Baimian sized up Shang Jianyao.

Shang Jianyao replied seriously, “She doesn’t like dancing. We’re not suitable.”

“...” Jiang Baimian didn’t know if Shang Jianyao was joking or if he really thought so. Hence, she could only play the same game. “I thought you would say that a lover would only affect your saving of humanity.”

“The relationship between having sex is different from that of a lover,” Shang Jianyao explained in a tone that suggested Jiang Baimian had comprehension problems.

“...You sure know how to differentiate.” Jiang Baimian felt that she couldn’t gain the upper hand in such a topic. She quickly inquired, “Is your Inference Clowning more effective than before? After Eugene became your slave, he actually became so afraid, seeming as if he had been educated for a long time. Also, your routine doesn’t seem to be limited to ‘that’s how you are, and so am I?’ It’s no longer about finding common ground?”

“It could be done in the past, but it had to be a fact that was closely related to the target and had already happened. Different facts will result in different inferences. It might not be biased toward me; I have to make a choice or take the initiative to create one.” Shang Jianyao answered the latter question first.

His answer to the previous one was: “I didn’t know why Eugene became like that either. They weren’t that effective when used on the bodyguards and driver.”

Jiang Baimian sat on the lower bunk and thought for a moment. “That’s true. You used it three times tonight, but the first few rounds didn’t have exaggerated effects. Maybe... Inference Clowning’s effects are also related to the target’s cognition?

“Eugene has been capturing and training slaves for a long time. In his heart, he definitely has a ‘standard’ for true qualified slaves. When he believes himself to be your slave, he begins to use this ‘standard’ to standardize his actions. Hence, he trembled in fear and didn’t dare resist when he saw you?

“If it were anyone else, they wouldn’t have acted so exaggeratedly, even if they treated themselves as your slave. This is because they have no idea what a qualified slave would look like. Due to this, they won’t be able to match the details perfectly and will only submit to a lower degree.”

Shang Jianyao thought for a moment and said, “That’s possible.”

Jiang Baimian tersely acknowledged his words and continued, “This is equivalent to adding a self-hypnosis after being influenced by Inference Clowning. Therefore, the effects are surprisingly good.”

At this point, she laughed. “In a sense, this is called a self-inflicted tragedy. Think about it. Could it be that Eugene has never trained a slave that completely meets his ‘standards’ his entire life? In the end, the most perfect slave that meets his ‘standards’ is actually himself?

“Interesting, how interesting...”

“Life is always filled with the feeling that we are bound by the machinations of fate. At this moment...” Shang Jianyao began to speak in a magnetic broadcasting voice.

“Stop, stop talking!” Jiang Baimian immediately interrupted him to prevent any inauspicious words from being uttered.

Shang Jianyao sat on the stool in front of the table regretfully.

After two seconds, he suddenly questioned, “Eugene mainly creates slaves; then, who buys the slaves?”

Jiang Baimian sighed. “I’ve already thought about this. Don’t ask first; wait for Little White to say it herself. This might have something to do with why she wants to undergo genetic modification...”

After a moment of silence, Jiang Baimian looked at Shang Jianyao and said seriously, “Do you remember what you have to do?”

“After-action review. Every completed mission requires a recap,” Shang Jianyao replied skillfully.

“That’s right.” Jiang Baimian’s eyebrows relaxed. “Think about it from the beginning. Do you think that you left any flaws that would make it easy for others to track you down?”

Shang Jianyao thought for a moment and said, “The bodyguard who I first used Inference Clowning on. Back then, the lights occasionally brightened and dimmed at the nightclub’s side door. Although I kept wearing the baseball cap, he was much shorter than me. He was 1.7 meters tall at most; it’s possible that he saw my face.

“When recalling the matter, he will also discover that he has been affected. This will expose my Inference Clowning ability to a certain extent.”

Jiang Baimian nodded. “That’s right.”

She then laughed. “When I fired to create chaos, he was the target of my first few shots. He should be dead by now.”

When Shang Jianyao spoke to the bodyguard, she had memorized his looks and characteristics.

“As for Eugene, those bodyguards were rather professionally trained. They kept blocking his body, preventing me from targeting a suitable spot. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so troublesome.” After Jiang Baimian sighed, she said to Shang Jianyao, “Continue.”

Shang Jianyao followed the process and picked up the details. “It was easy for us to attract attention when we ran to the parking lot. We might become suspects after the incident.”

“We ran so fast and wore baseball caps. There weren’t many street lamps, so no one could see our faces clearly.” Jiang Baimian smiled. “When we ran, I deliberately lowered my back. This should cause the witnesses to make errors in their visual perception and give the wrong height description.”

“Wasn’t it to defeat me?” Shang Jianyao was a little surprised. In order for Jiang Baimian not to catch up to him, he switched to a similar jogging posture. This allowed him to be faster.

“Do you think I’m mentally ill too?” Jiang Baimian replied angrily. “Back then, our clothes were also worn inside out. Our appearances and characteristics basically don’t match what we wear during daytime.”

As for when they were in a nightclub, under such lights and in such an environment, and with them not dancing with anyone... It was impossible for anyone to see their faces with their baseball caps constantly lowered. At most, they would be remembered as two people.

Shang Jianyao continued, “The driver was next, but there were no lights in the parking lot. I also deliberately maintained a certain distance from him. He probably couldn’t see my face, but he might expose my Inference Clowning abilities.

“I told him that there was more than one traitor among the bodyguards. When the bodyguards discover that he’s still in the parking lot and storm over aggressively, he might very well fire in response to the agitation and trigger a new round of gunfighting...”

“Good job. As long as they can’t connect it to you, it’s fine even if your abilities are exposed.” Jiang Baimian praised him before saying, “The driver hid too quickly. I couldn’t lock onto him, or I could have eliminated him on the spot.”

She then asked, “When you hid in the car, weren’t you afraid that there would be an Awakened beside Eugene or that he was an Awakened himself and sensed that there was someone in the car in advance?”

Time was of the essence back then. Since Shang Jianyao was confident, she hadn’t asked any further.

Shang Jianyao was rather calm. “Awakened should be able to disguise themselves so that they won’t be sensed by other Awakened.”

Jiang Baimian asked in a very studious manner, “What if a figure is seen or footsteps are heard?”

“The disguise will fail. As long as the other party can determine your existence through their five senses, the disguise will fail,” Shang Jianyao replied truthfully.

“It’s pretty magical...” Jiang Baimian commented. She didn’t ask what would happen if Eugene and the others could sense electric signals because it was almost impossible.

In the Ashlands, only Pangu Biology and White Knights could steadily carry out genetic enhancement and produce the corresponding liquid. The only faction that could carry out genetic modification and had a high chance of success was Pangu Biology.

Genetic modification that could allow one to sense electric signals was a secret development of Pangu Biology. Its technology was not even mature, so it wasn’t wrong to call it unique.

Of course, Jiang Baimian didn’t dare to make guarantees. She wasn’t sure if such technology existed in a relatively mysterious place like the Eighth Research Institute.

Shang Jianyao continued his review. He skipped the part about why he didn’t fire as soon as Eugene boarded the car and talked about the aftermath. “Any traces that might’ve been left in the car were blown up by you...

“On the way back, you stayed some distance away from us. It wouldn’t make the other people we encountered think that we were a group of three...

“We had already removed our disguises in an area without surveillance cameras. It’s very difficult for witnesses to link us to what happened there...”

Jiang Baimian quietly listened and nodded. “That’s about it. The biggest problem is that you didn’t kill Eugene directly but tried to capture him alive. This brought about many variables and complicated things. Fortunately, there weren’t many accidents, and they were all resolved.”

After sharing her criticisms, Jiang Baimian looked at Shang Jianyao suspiciously. “Apart from capturing him alive, did you have any other motives?”

Shang Jianyao fell silent for a moment before saying, “I wanted to scare him.”

“...” Jiang Baimian was momentarily at a loss for words.

At this moment, a commotion sounded from outside.

Jiang Baimian immediately stood up, walked to the table, and looked out the window.

At this moment, the power supply wasn’t cut off yet. The street lamps on every street were lit, allowing Jiang Baimian to see two to three city guards in olive uniforms with submachine guns enter the alley ahead and question passersby.

Light similarly rushed into the sky from the city gates. There seemed to be many people there as well, and it was noisy.

Jiang Baimian nodded thoughtfully. “Eugene’s slave-hunting team wants to enter the city and personally hunt the murderer to save their boss?”

This was her initial judgment based on the current situation.

She then laughed. “We sure stirred up a hornet’s nest.”