Embers Ad Infinitum

Hearing Jiang Baimian's question, Shang Jianyao and Bai Chen instinctively looked at each other, but they only saw the same confusion on each other's faces.

Jiang Baimian held up his hands and sat up straighter:

"Do you still remember the information provided by the ruin hunter from before, the one named Harris Brown, the bald one?"

Obviously, Jiang Baimian's memory is quite good.

As a party involved, Shang Jianyao instantly recalled:

"Is it the information about abnormal human deaths north of Wollu Station?"

"Yes." Jiang Baimian nodded solemnly, "At that time, Harris Brown said that they found several corpses that had just died. There were no fatal marks on the surface, but the expressions were either painful, fearful, or with strange expressions. Smile.”

Bai Chen suddenly realized:

"Team leader, you mean that those people died in dreams, no, real dreams?"

Jiang Baimian said "hmm":

"You think, I just poked myself in a dream, and in reality there were corresponding red and swollen dots, but if you look carefully, there are no pinholes there at all.

"Similarly, Shang Jianyao slapped himself in the dream, and in reality he also got five fingerprints and swelling on his face.

"If, I mean, if, in such a dream, a bullet hits the vital part, or inhales poisonous gas that makes people look weird, or is suddenly frightened at the peak of pleasure, what kind of performance will it have in reality? "

"He will die with no fatal wounds on the surface..." Shang Jianyao replied in a deep voice.

The five fingerprints on his face are probably a stress-induced phenomenon that will subside very quickly, but once the heart stops beating, it will never recover.

Before he finished speaking, Shang Jianyao stood up suddenly, returned to his sleeping bag, put on his coat, and slung the "Berserker" assault rifle.

He turned on his gun safety and strode out of the tent.

"What happened?" Long Yuehong, who was in charge of security, asked hurriedly.

Shang Jianyao looked up at the rock wall behind him and looked around:

"Did you notice anything suspicious?

"Or, an unusual phenomenon?"

Long Yuehong thought about it for a moment and shook her head firmly:

"No.

"There are very few wild animals passing by, and they are normal species."

While talking, Long Yuehong used the bright moonlight to see the redness and swelling on Shang Jianyao's right face and the more obvious fingerprints.

"Uh..." He suddenly didn't know how to ask, and his eyes became slightly weird.

At this time, Jiang Baimian was fully dressed and came out with weapons, followed closely by Bai Chen.

"Did you find anything?" Jiang Baimian asked with a slightly solemn expression.

"No." Shang Jianyao replied seriously.

Jiang Baimian ignored Long Yuehong's gaze, and patrolled around, sensing various electrical signals around him.

"There is indeed nothing unusual." She walked back to Shang Jianyao and Bai Chen and breathed a sigh of relief. "It seems that as long as you don't fall asleep, you won't be affected."

Seeing Long Yuehong's confused look, Jiang Baimian picked up the key points and described what happened to him and Shang Jianyao.

And Long Yuehong was like listening to a story on a radio show, feeling scared but not quite believing it.

Frankly speaking, if it weren't for the team leader's testimony, just based on Shang Jianyao's words, he would definitely say:

"Stop joking, this kind of thing is not funny at all!

"Go talk to the order supervisor and see if they believe you!"

Order Supervisors are a profession responsible for the internal order of "Pangu Creatures". Whether they are fighting or infringing on others, they are in charge.

——Each floor of the "Inner Ecological Zone" has an "order supervision supervisor". There are three order supervision team leaders below. Each team leader has several order supervisors.

Further up, there are large areas on the ten or twenty floors, and each area has an "Order Supervision Bureau".

Above the "Order Supervision Bureau" is the "Order Supervision Department" which is affiliated with the "Board of Directors".

After listening to Jiang Baimian's description, Long Yuehong subconsciously replied:

"This can't be true, can it?"

After asking, he quickly closed his mouth and no longer waited for the answer.

Since Shang Jianyao can let the mechanical monk Jingfa shake hands with him and say goodbye, it seems that it is not unacceptable to have a monster that can make people die strangely in their dreams.

It has to be said that after leaving the company and coming to the surface, Long Yuehong felt more and more that the world was much more magical than before.

"Could it be an awakened person? Or a deformed sub-human or animal? They might have similar abilities." Jiang Baimian turned his head and looked at Shang Jianyao.

"Except for my own abilities, I don't know much about awakened people than you do." Shang Jianyao then turned his head and looked at Bai Chen, hoping that this woman with rich experience in living in the dust could give an answer.

Bai Chen shook his head, indicating that he had never encountered similar abnormalities:

"If this were not the case, experienced relic hunters like Harris Brown would not be allowed to evacuate in a hurry and not dare to get close."

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

"I'm a little curious, how did you escape from the dream just now?

"Well, you just said that it relies on the ability of the awakened person, but I hope to know some details, which may give me some inspiration.

"If you think this is your secret, let Bai Chen and Long Yuehong patrol the edge.

"As for me, uh, I should still be trustworthy, right?"

In the end, Jiang Baimian really couldn't find a reason and was unwilling to use the current situation to force Shang Jianyao to answer, so he had no choice but to play the trick.

"Nothing." Shang Jianyao replied calmly, "I used the 'reasoning clown' ability that you have seen. At that time, because I slapped myself but did not wake up, I initially ruled out the possibility of dreaming. Yes, grab the car, go away, and come back after daybreak to see if you guys are back to normal.

“As a result, when I got up, I saw myself in the rearview mirror.

“I was wondering if I could use the ‘reasoning clown’ ability to influence myself, making me more certain that this was a dream.

"If it is really a dream, then I have seen through the truth and falsehood, strengthened my self-awareness in this regard, and there should be a high possibility of waking up directly.

"If it wasn't a dream, I would have written a reminder for myself..."

At this point, Shang Jianyao remembered the arrangement in his dream and hurriedly put his hand into his pocket and took out a few pieces of paper for recording.

Except for a fragmentary layout diagram depicting the ruins of a steel plant and marked "toilet", the rest of these papers were blank without any hints.

"Sure enough..." Shang Jianyao breathed a long sigh of relief and continued, "After writing the prompt, I started to use the ability of the 'reasoning clown' to let myself draw the conclusion of 'dreaming' based on irrelevant conditions, and this It really strengthened my judgment and cognition and helped me escape from the dream."

Jiang Baimian was quite touched when he heard this:

"It's so cruel, you even lied to yourself."

"..." Long Yuehong was almost amused, but managed to hold it back.

"..." Shang Jianyao didn't expect Jiang Baimian to give such a "comment", and almost forgot what he was going to say next.

He paused and said:

"I have never done a similar experiment before. I didn't think I could give it a try until I saw myself in the rearview mirror. Moreover, there are two situations for 'reasoning clowns':

“One is to use obvious facts to lead the target to draw almost irrelevant conclusions that are favorable to me;

"One is to rely on conditions of little value to make the target reach a judgment that is illogical but the result is correct."

Jiang Baimian nodded gently and said:

"Yes, it seems that this incident has helped you further master your ability and broaden its boundaries."

Shang Jianyao was about to say something when he suddenly showed a thoughtful expression.

Jiang Baimian then looked at Bai Chen:

"Do you have any idea?"

"When you're not sure that the anomaly is far away, it's best not to sleep tonight. As soon as it gets light, drive south immediately. With your energy, staying up half the night shouldn't be a big problem." Bai Chen Gave very prudent and prudent advice.

Long Yuehong subconsciously pointed to the entrance of Black Rat Town and said:

"What to do here?"

"What else can we do? Ensure your own safety first and then talk about other things." Jiang Baimian responded without hesitation, "Besides, the anomaly in the dream is not just for us. There should also be some ruin hunters and wilderness wanderers in the nearby area. Affected, and their strange deaths will temporarily turn this place into a restricted area, a fearful area spread by word of mouth, and no one will dare to come here for a while.

"Haha, if someone can't even receive such a message and enters without knowing anything, then I don't think they have the ability to find the entrance to Black Rat Town and remove the boulders blocking the cave.

"When the corresponding impact subsides, people from the company will almost arrive. If they don't find us by then, they will definitely send a signal flare to notify us."

Long Yuehong had no objection, and the four of them stayed on duty until dawn.

Then they took turns driving back south.

When it was almost noon, Jiang Baimian, who was in the passenger seat, turned to Shang Jianyao and said:

"Try to sleep for a while and see if there are any abnormalities in your dreams.

"Don't worry, I will keep an eye on you and wake you up if anything goes wrong."

"I can wake up on my own." Shang Jianyao whispered confidently.

"Ah?" Jiang Baimian tilted his head.

Her smile didn't diminish at all, but became more obvious.

Shang Jianyao didn't say any more. He thought for a moment, raised his right hand and pinched his temples.

He immediately closed his eyes.

…………

Cold and dark metal walls stood tall, enclosing a wide and empty hall.

High up in the hall, the top could not be seen, only darkness.

In the darkness, countless bright light points were densely packed and slowly rotating, as if forming one galaxy after another.

In the center of the hall, starlight fell and condensed into a huge, blurry figure. The figure spreads its hands outwards, maintaining strict symmetry, as if simulating a scale.

The voice of "One price, three gifts" echoed hollowly, layer upon layer in Shang Jianyao's ears.

Shang Jianyao stared at this scene for nearly ten seconds and uttered four words in a low voice:

"Hall of Stars..."

Without another word, he crossed the blurry figure and reached the innermost part of the hall, stopping in front of the heavy gray and white stone door.

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