Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 99: Clues in Public News

Unlike most of the other floors’ Residential Zones, the rooms on the 349th floor were not built densely packed together. It could even be described as sparse.

As soon as Jiang Baimian stepped out of the elevator, she saw a small square.

In the middle of the square was a flower bed filled with soil. Green plants of different shapes were planted inside.

The light that scattered from the ceiling in this area was closer to the natural light on the surface, and it was not the usual illumination.

Jiang Baimian looked at the different flowers that had withered or bloomed. She turned into the left street and entered Zone C, Room 12.

After entering, she first saw a living room with a sofa, a coffee table, a chair, a radio, and other items. The living room was to the left, and an area that led to the kitchen was the dining room.

Deep in the living room were more rooms.

At this moment, a middle-aged man was sitting on a recliner by the window. He was reading a book under the light of the street lamps outside.

The elder’s black hair was still very thick, but it was mixed with a few silver strands. His eyebrows were like swords, and his eyes were large. If he were decades older, he would definitely be a handsome lad not much worse than this genetically enhanced generation.

Jiang Baimian glanced at the elder, frowned, and pressed the switch on the wall beside the door.

Click!

The lights in the room were switched on, illuminating the place as if it were daytime.

“Dad, why aren’t you turning on the lights again?” Jiang Baimian reprimanded him with concern.

Jiang Wenfeng lowered the book in his hand and chuckled. “The street lamps are so bright, so why turn on the lights? You have to know how to conserve energy. Back when I was young...”

Jiang Baimian quickly touched her ear. “Ah, Dad, what did you say? Anyway, you have to protect your eyes!”

Jiang Wenfeng was wearing black clothes with pockets on both sides of his chest. He put down the book in his hand and stood up.

“Your ear is even worse than your grandfather’s before he passed away!” He deliberately walked to Jiang Baimian’s side and shouted, “Hurry up and undergo surgery. The effects of an implanted biological cochlear implant are at least three times better than yours!”

Jiang Baimian opened her mouth and laughed dryly. “I’m just afraid of surgery. It’s fine as long as it works.”

“What’s there to be afraid of?” Jiang Wenfeng repeated the words he had said countless times. “Weren’t you also not afraid when you underwent genetic modification and underwent the biological prosthetic transplant?”

Jiang Baimian argued in amusement and exasperation. “I was already unconscious back then. How would I be afraid?”

“Won’t there also be anesthesia for surgery?” Jiang Wenfeng increasingly felt that his younger daughter would never allay his concerns.

Jiang Baimian fell silent for a few seconds before pursing her lips. “I’m just afraid of the feeling of not having any control. It feels like I’m dead.”

Without waiting for Jiang Wenfeng to say anything, she quickly looked around. “Where’s Mom?”

“The company sent two boxes of apples. She took one to your brother’s place,” replied Jiang Wenfeng helplessly.

“Oh, oh.” Jiang Baimian pretended to be enlightened. “Do you want me to peel an apple for you?”

Jiang Wenfeng shook his head. “There’s no need. We just had dinner not long ago.”

Jiang Baimian then pointed at the study. “I’ll use your computer.”

“Go ahead.” Jiang Wenfeng had a look of disdain.

Jiang Baimian briskly walked into the study, switched on her father’s computer, and logged into his company internal account.

Pangu Biology had a local area network. People with computers and the authorization could log in and browse through public information to deal with matters at their corresponding rank.

Of course, the content and functions that different personnel with different clearance could see and use were definitely different. There were even different restrictions when logging in at different locations.

For most employees of Pangu Biology, computers were a rarity. They could only be seen at their workplaces, and even so, there weren’t many of them.

Using her father’s account, Jiang Baimian read the lowly classified contents one by one according to the temporal sequence of events.

She was not impatient, just like how she usually browsed.

The information provided here was much more abundant than Newspoint. It went into way more detail.

Finally, Jiang Baimian saw a title: “Routine investigation report of D8 employee Wang Yafei’s death.”

Jiang Baimian immediately clicked on it and read through it seriously. “... In the hour before and after, the surveillance at the elevator lobby didn’t discover any outsiders who didn’t belong to the floor where the incident happened...

“... Many employees have confirmed that nobody approached Wang Yafei back then...

“... The autopsy results showed sudden cardiac arrest...

“Conclusion: Foul play eliminated. Case will be handled as a natural death.”

Jiang Baimian nodded slightly and sighed silently.

The company’s various systems were very mature... This meant that, after the company’s establishment, it had some experience in guarding against various factors, including Awakened elements.

Jiang Baimian didn’t stay on the page for too long. She quickly closed it and browsed through other content.

After reading a large number of unrelated things, she entered the medical department page and checked all kinds of healthcare information.

During this process, she casually did a search. “Sudden cardiac arrest cases in the past five years.”

The results were soon revealed. The overall probability was in the normal range.

Jiang Baimian continued jotting down notes when her eyebrows suddenly twitched. In recent years, there have been two sudden cardiac arrest cases on the 478th floor. The 478th floor was the floor where Wang Yafei was in charge of the Supplies Allocation Market. It was also where he died. He was the second case.

In terms of population ratio, such an incidence rate was not considered high, and it was completely acceptable. However, it appeared very suspicious in Jiang Baimian’s eyes, especially when she was filled with speculations.

As the records went further back, the rate of sudden cardiac arrests on the 478th floor returned to normal. It happened once a year, or never.

Jiang Baimian closed the page and began browsing through other content. However, her eyes had lost focus. This means that the Awakened is a resident of the 478th floor? Furthermore, he has only awakened in the past year? From a psychological point of view, it’s very difficult not to give the abilities a try when a person has obtained such great strength... There’s a high chance of taking revenge on the target they hate...

Besides, this also explains why the Life Ritual’s parish executed Wang Yafei... Logically speaking, there will always be members criticizing each other at every—uh—frustration sharing session. However, Shang Jianyao has never seen anyone die because of this...

It’s precisely because there’s an Awakened from the parish on the floor where Wang Yafei works that they can carry this deed out well without leaving behind any clues and without being discovered by the company. Therefore, the Life Ritual parish decided to implement ‘divine punishment’ this time, making the believers on the 495th floor more reverent of the Arbiter of Fate.

This will then cause them to become more pious and obedient? Then, why was Shen Du infected with the Heartless disease?

If there’s such a convenient method, why did they get an Awakened to kill Wang Yafei? Wouldn’t it be better if they infected him with the Heartless disease? This will make it more inconspicuous and have better effects.

Could it be that it’s not the Heartless disease but a similar symptom caused by an Awakened’s ability?

Thoughts tumbled through Jiang Baimian’s mind, but she continued browsing without batting an eyelid.

...

At five in the morning, Shang Jianyao woke up with a light knock on the door.

This time, he didn’t brush his teeth. He only washed his face with cold water to energize himself. He then put on the thick, dark-green cotton coat that was the same as Shen Du’s. He held the thick, heavy flashlight and walked out the door toward Zone A.

As he walked, he looked up at the ceiling. A red dot flickered there, representing a surveillance camera.

Many employees believed that, apart from a few key areas, most of the surveillance cameras were already damaged and unusable. They were only placed there as a deterrence. However, Shang Jianyao had previously heard Jiang Baimian mention that there should be more functioning cameras than he imagined.

He suddenly raised his arm and shone the flashlight at the camera. He then approached the wall and entered a blind spot.

Before long, Shang Jianyao arrived at Li Zhen’s room in Zone A.

After matching the countersign according to the procedure, he entered the room and found a seat.

Unlike usual, everyone seemed depressed at this gathering. Before the Guide, Ren Jie, came out, nobody spoke or chatted. It was unknown what they were thinking.

Among them, Jian Xin and Zhuo Zhengyuan would occasionally fidget in their seats, appearing very restless.

Finally, Ren Jie—the Guide—came out of the inner room and walked to the area between the closet, cupboard, and the large bed. She looked around and said with a serious expression, “I gathered everyone for a gathering today because I have something to report.”

As she spoke, her body trembled slightly as if she was afraid of something. However, her face revealed a fervent expression. After a pause, Ren Jie said in a low voice, “Shen Du wanted to betray the parish, and he has already suffered divine punishment.”