Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 478: Sixth Sense

Translator: CKtalon

Please Mandara? Long Yuehong—who had already alighted and was pretending to help Shang Jianyao—was shocked, but he also felt that it was reasonable.

The Old Task Force already knew that many nobles in First City secretly believed in Mandara and were Church of Paragon Desire members.

Phelps’s answer and Old K’s secret gathering only confirmed this once again.

Long Yuehong subconsciously turned his head and glanced at his team leader and Bai Chen. He realized that their expressions hadn’t changed.

That’s right… At this distance, at this volume, and with them sitting in the car, they definitely can’t hear it… Furthermore, Team Leader’s hearing isn’t good… As Long Yuehong came to a realization, he cast his gaze further away.

At the end of the street, the gray-robed monk riding a black motorcycle had a solemn expression.

“Does desire have a spirit?” Shang Jianyao pretended to be enlightened as he smiled and asked in return with a doctrine from the Church of Paragon Desire.

As though finding a fellow parishioner, Phelps revealed a suggestive smile and pressed his crotch. “There is no barrier between people.”

“How was it? Did you have a good time last night?” Shang Jianyao—who had confirmed that the other party was a believer of the Church of Paragon Desire—asked curiously.

Phelps reminisced and said, “It was great—everyone’s desires were boiling over. They let loose the barriers between them and opened the doors to their hearts. That experience can’t be described with words. With the help of various Holy Communion, Holy Oils, Holy Medicines, and rituals, it allowed me to awaken and transcend again and again.”

As he spoke, he yawned. “It’s just that I’ll end up beat the next day. I might not want to do such things for a week. But at the end of the party, when all my desires were ignited and my body was extremely exhausted, my mind was at peace. I no longer had any worries and truly felt a spirituality that transcended everything. That’s Mandara.”

When he was done, Phelps piously patted his crotch.

To make indulgence sound so refreshing and refined… Long Yuehong almost looked up at the sky.

“What was the Holy Communion this time?” Shang Jianyao asked excitedly.

Phelps’s expression immediately turned vivid. “What else could it be? Marijuana and some synthetics.”

Shang Jianyao nodded and sincerely said, “I think it won’t take a few years before all of you meet Mandara.”

“May your desires be satisfied as well.” Phelps found Shang Jianyao’s ‘blessing’ very pleasant to the ear and replied with a smile.

After chatting for a while, Shang Jianyao and Phelps agreed to repair their cars themselves before waving goodbye.

After returning to the ‘rented’ car, Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong briefly repeated the conversation as Bai Chen stepped on the accelerator.

During this process, Shang Jianyao tried to get Long Yuehong to ‘act’ as Phelps, but Long Yuehong felt too ashamed to slap his crotch from time to time and rejected his suggestion.

Jiang Baimian quietly listened and sighed. “It’s really a rave party of the Church of Paragon Desire… It seems that Old K is one of the points of contact between them and the nobles.”

“But not all of them,” Bai Chen added in a rather firm tone.

Jiang Baimian glanced at her, retracted her gaze, and thoughtfully said, “Since Old K is from the Church of Paragon Desire, then Garibaldi’s request for help seems a little strange. It’s normal for him not to forget to bring a radio transceiver in his hurry, but after entering Old K’s house, isn’t he too lucky to evade discovery for so many days?

“Old K’s residence often holds such parties, so there’s no lack of Awakened from the Church of Paragon Desire among them. As long as they reach the Sea of Origins, it’s not difficult for them to sense a human consciousness hidden somewhere in the house. Garibaldi isn’t an Awakened, so there’s no way he can hide it.

“Even if those Awakened are overwhelmed by their boiling desires and aren’t vigilant enough about their surroundings, they should be able to sense Garibaldi when they arrive at Old K’s house—unless it’s for confidential purposes. The Church of Paragon Desire’s people won’t take the initiative to visit Old K during the rave party.”

The driving Bai Chen shook her head. “It doesn’t seem like it. Many nobles who attend the party are ordinary people. At most, they have some genetic enhancements. It’s unlikely that they can keep secrets.”

“That’s right. Although they drew all the curtains, the gathering itself is still very obvious. The people in the surrounding streets will more or less sense it but won’t know what the gathering is about. This will easily arouse suspicion,” Long Yuehong echoed.

Shang Jianyao also smiled and said, “It doesn’t make sense that we only used one day to figure out the truth so easily while others have failed to do so after several years.”

“Yes, this might be a semi-open secret to people who pay attention to Old K.” Jiang Baimian nodded slightly. “So, could Garibaldi’s request for help be a trap?”

Bai Chen and Long Yuehong didn’t answer her because it was possible but not necessarily true.

Shang Jianyao said seriously, “I wonder what kind of trap they will prepare.”

Jiang Baimian wanted to discuss this topic in depth and make a detailed analysis, but she gave up on the idea when she thought that this might expose many of her team’s secrets. After all, she couldn’t be sure if Zennaga was eavesdropping on them using Mind Reading.

She looked ahead and said in a normal voice, “Zen Master, this matter involves the Church of Paragon Desire. It’s more complicated and difficult than we imagined. I wonder what you have in mind. Do you want us to return to the temple first and we’ll subsequently consider how to save the person, or are you willing to watch us probe and find opportunities to control the scale of the conflict?”

Jiang Baimian didn’t know what the relationship between the Crystal Consciousness Church and the Church of Paragon Desire was like. But from how one could build a temple and preach openly while the other could only secretly influence some nobles, they shouldn’t be in the same camp.

After more than ten seconds, Zennaga’s voice echoed in the Old Task Force members’ hearts. “You can head over to take a look first.”

“Alright.” Jiang Baimian didn’t hide her joy. From the looks of it, the Crystal Consciousness Church doesn’t like the Church of Paragon Desire very much!

Bai Chen exhaled and made the car turn into the Red Wolf Zone.

They didn’t repair the car first. Instead, they went straight to Maschar Street and parked opposite Old K’s house.

Jiang Baimian deliberated for a moment and probed, “Zen Master, do you think our operation will be dangerous?”

She remembered that one of Zennaga’s abilities was Prophecy.

Zennaga took nearly a minute to answer. It was so long that the Old Task Force members thought that the other party had stopped Mind Reading and had failed to ‘hear’ the question.

Zennaga said calmly, “If you can strictly follow the plan, there won’t be any accidents.”

This Prophecy is really ambiguous… Accident, what do you mean by accident? Jiang Baimian muttered inwardly.

Without getting any further explanations from Zennaga, she turned her body and nodded at Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong. “Follow the plan.”

The first step of the plan was to wait and observe.

After confirming that there weren’t many people in the house, Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong changed into a set of gray canvas clothes after Old K, his trusted aides, attendants, and bodyguards left the compound.

A line of Red River language words was emblazoned across their chests: “First City Electric Repair Company.”

Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong got out of the car and went straight to the prearranged spot, where they clipped a wire.

Old K’s residence instantly suffered a power outage.

A few minutes later, Shang Jianyao led Long Yuehong and knocked on Old K’s door.

Jiang Baimian and Bai Chen also got out of the car and walked over.

The main door of Old K’s house was quickly opened. The butler—who was wearing a formal suit and had white sideburns—asked the people outside in confusion, “You are?”

The disguised Shang Jianyao immediately replied, “Isn’t it obvious? Look, there’s a power failure in this block. We are wearing the clothes of the electric repair company. So…”

Old K’s butler was enlightened. “There’s a malfunction here? No wonder there was a blackout.”

He no longer suspected anything and stepped aside, allowing Shang Jianyao and the others to enter—Jiang Baimian and Bai Chen also wore the uniforms of the electric repair company.

The Old Task Force quartet didn’t delay and headed straight for the second floor, heading for the guest room in the corner that Garibaldi had mentioned.

Before they came close, Jiang Baimian slowed down and turned to look at Shang Jianyao.

Shang Jianyao nodded. “Two human consciousnesses.”

They didn’t know the exact layout of the building before, so they couldn’t determine which room was their target when they were on the first floor. The other rooms also had humans.

Besides, having two human consciousnesses and Garibaldi hiding inside didn’t contradict each other. Perhaps it was just a servant cleaning the area without discovering the hidden person.

At this moment, Shang Jianyao added, “There should’ve been three earlier.”

Uh… The four Old Task Force members looked at each other. With Zennaga watching over them, they quickened their pace and arrived in front of the guest room in the corner.

Jiang Baimian reached out and twisted the handle before pushing open the door. Long Yuehong, Bai Chen, and Shang Jianyao scattered and prepared themselves for an attack.

There were two people in the room.

A black-haired man was lying in bed. He looked rather delicate, but he looked rather haggard. At that moment, his eyes were tightly shut. It was unknown if he was asleep or unconscious. He was Garibaldi, whom the Old Task Force needed to help.

Another man was sitting on a single sofa. His eyes were dark blue, and his wrinkles were obvious. His hair with a few silver strands was neatly combed back. It was Old K, Corenza.

Beside Old K, the window facing the back alley was completely open.

Upon seeing this, Shang Jianyao asked curiously, “Where’s the ambush?”

Old K’s expression was a little dull and complicated. After a few seconds of silence, he said, “She jumped out of the window and ran away.”

This… While Long Yuehong was confused and amused, Old K added, “One of her abilities is the Sixth Sense.”