Embers Ad Infinitum

Bai Chen shook his head:

"When we live here, the boss doesn't ask anything, and neither do we."

Jiang Baimian turned his head and glanced at the door:

"When Shang Jianyao and I came back, we found that there was no one at the front desk..."

She told the exact story of how she heard the "beast" roaring in her boss's room, and finally emphasized:

"According to my senses, there is only an electrical signal inside that can be called a large creature."

"There is only one human consciousness." Shang Jianyao added.

"Wail, growl, pale, sweat..." Bai Chen chewed on these words and guessed, "He has some kind of disease? Or is he some kind of subhuman?"

Without waiting for Jiang Baimian and others to respond, she made another guess:

“Perhaps you believe in some strange religion?

"In the First City, there are many religions, large and small."

Jiang Baimian recalled for a while and said:

"Forget it, let's not discuss the boss's problem, it has nothing to do with us."

Having said this, she patted her palms lightly:

"Take a little rest, and I have to meet the company's intelligence officer in the evening."

…………

It was already dark at 7:40 pm.

Red Wolf District, Bliss Street, Silver Candle Cafe.

After Bai Chen, Long Yuehong and Gennava entered the monitoring positions, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao pushed open the slightly heavy door inlaid with glass and walked in.

The tables here are a little greasy, and they obviously work part-time as a restaurant.

Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian each ordered a cup of coffee, found a seat near the window and in the corner, and sat down.

Not long after, two cups of coffee, called "Busha" by the locals, were brought over.

Jiang Baimian sniffed lightly, picked up the cup and took a sip.

"It's not too fragrant, and the taste is very ordinary, quite bland..." She commented in a low voice.

The coffee I drank at Gnawa's house was still better.

Moreover, milk and sugar are relatively valuable here, so if you want to add extra, you may not be able to get it sometimes.

Shang Jianyao picked up the cup and took two sips.

"It's quite thirst-quenching." He also expressed his feelings.

Jiang Baimian said "hmm":

“This is supposed to be for lower-middle-class citizens.

"Everywhere in the dust that can grow food must have been planted with food. How many good coffee beans can there be, and how much instant coffee can be made?"

The two of them were drinking and talking like normal customers. At this time, a man came to the table behind them and sat down with his back to them.

The location facing the street is walled and cannot be seen by passers-by.

After almost a minute, the man sitting next to Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao suddenly lowered his voice and whispered:

"I am 'Garibaldi'."

He spoke in gray dialect.

Jiang Baimian was stunned for a moment, turned his head, looked at Shang Jianyao and said:

"Ah, what did you say? My ears are not good."

As she spoke, she raised her hand and touched her metal cochlea.

The man who called himself "Garibaldi" was stunned in his seat.

He did not expect that the secret meeting he had carefully prepared would encounter almost insurmountable difficulties at the beginning.

Back-to-back communication where you pretend you don’t know each other must have at least one prerequisite:

The other person must be able to hear clearly what you are saying.

Fortunately, Shang Jianyao controlled his voice and simulated his performance:

"I am 'Garibaldi'."

When Jiang Baimian heard this, he nodded and breathed out slowly.

"Garibaldi" is the code name of the company's intelligence officer.

"I am the leader of the company's 'Old Tune Team'. Have you collected information about the target?" With his bad ears, Jiang Baimian could only suppress his voice to avoid being accidentally heard by the guests at other tables. heard.

She also spoke in gray dialect.

This time, "Garibaldi" could not be heard clearly.

Shang Jianyao took on the role of translator and seemed to enjoy it.

After "Garibaldi" figured out what Jiang Baimian was asking, he quickly answered:

"The general situation of the two targets has been figured out and written down on the documents. In addition, the company has also prepared 1,000 Orei for you to use as mission funds, so that you can bribe the people around the targets."

The company is quite generous this time... The intelligence network in the First City seems to be very rich... After listening to Shang Jianyao's narration, Jiang Baimian muttered a few words in surprise.

However, this is still far from the Ole needed to trade military exoskeleton devices and robotic arms.

"Garibaldi" continued:

"What else do you need?"

Jiang Baimian looked at Shang Jianyao, was silent for a few seconds and said:

"I want detailed information on the assassination of Elder Sowers, the Senate President, by the 'Anti-Intellectual Cult'.

"Well, we had a conflict with the 'Anti-Intellectual Cult' in Wild Grass City. We found traces of them not long after we arrived in the First City. We need to take precautions early."

She spoke loudly and every word was true.

"Okay, give us some time." "Garibaldi" didn't push the envelope.

After Shang Jianyao's translation, Jiang Baimian thought for a while and asked:

"Is there anything worthy of attention in the original city recently?"

"Garibaldi" thought about it and said:

"There's nothing special. I have to say, but there are only two things: one is that a strange white giant wolf appeared in the mountains on the north coast. You can go to the Hunters Guild to find out the details; the other is that Gaius, a new member of the Senate, has been there many times. Excessive views expressed at citizen meetings aroused the dissatisfaction of many senators, including the censor Alexander.”

Members of the Senate may be called presbyters, senators, councilors, or elders.

There are nominally three giants in the "First City", namely the Archon, the Ombudsman, and the Chief of Homeland Security. The latter is also called the Commander-in-Chief, but currently the Archon Beuris serves as the concurrent post.

——The three giants are all elected by the Senate every four years.

With his amazing memory, Shang Jianyao repeated the words of "Garibaldi" word for word.

This gave "Garibaldi" an inexplicable feeling that the other party was acting strangely:

This kind of paraphrase only needs to express the meaning clearly. How can there be any reason to recite the entire text, even the modal particles?

After Jiang Baimian listened carefully, he thought about it for a while and said:

"I have nothing else to ask. If I need your help with anything else, I will contact you again."

"It's not about who helps whom. This is our job, and it might be better to work together." "Garibaldi" said politely, and said while standing up, "I put the things on the table, don't forget it."

As soon as he finished speaking, he left his position and walked towards the door of the Silver Candle Cafe.

In order to prevent others from discovering, asking questions, and looking for the owner, Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian only waited for a moment, then turned around and looked at the table behind them.

There was a small gray cloth bag.

Shang Jianyao sat outside, his movements became more relaxed, he took the bag back first and hid it in his arms.

During this process, both he and Jiang Baimian saw the profile of "Garibaldi".

The intelligence agent was less than 1.75 meters tall. He was wearing an old thin black coat and a peaked cap with a low brim.

As he walked, his left hand kept pressing his hat, covering his face.

Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao didn't look much. They looked away, sat upright, and continued drinking coffee.

After waiting for almost ten minutes, they slowly got up, left the cafe, and got into the jeep parked nearby.

Bai Chen, Long Yuehong and Gnawa waited for a while until they confirmed that there were no other monitors around, then left one after another and returned to the gray off-road.

…………

Ugo Hotel, room 202.

Jiang Baimian took some information and said while flipping through it:

"Marcus really likes watching gladiatorial games..."

There is a popular entertainment program in the original city, which is to select strong people from captives and slaves and let them fight each other to determine the final winner.

The victor would gain freedom and become a member of the Senate Guard or a nobleman's personal army.

"Avia likes taking baths so much that she has turned half of her home into a bathroom." Long Yuehong also shared what she saw.

This refers to No. 14 Yuanqiu Street, Golden Apple District.

"It's really enviable." Jiang Baimian stood up with a smile and walked to the bathroom.

As she approached there, she felt that the light became a little dimmer, and the ajar wooden door had been closed tightly at some point.

Then, she heard Hehe's voice coming from inside.

It was like a beast panting, moaning, and growling, which was terrifying.

Jiang Baimian suddenly looked around and saw that the room was completely dark.

After a moment, she opened her eyes and found herself lying on the bed.

The moonlight outside the window shines through the curtains, casting a faint glow.

Just now, it was just a dream.

A dream that mixes the scene of the "old tune group" discussing materials at night with the encounter between the two of them in the afternoon.

Jiang Baimian sensed this and turned his head suspiciously, seeing Shang Jianyao sitting up, meditating on something in the darkness.

"Are you awake too?" Shang Jianyao asked.

Jiang Baimian said "hmm" and recalled:

"I dreamed about what happened in the afternoon. I heard a strange noise in the boss's room, and then I woke up with a fright."

Shang Jianyao looked at her and said calmly:

"Me too."