Embers Ad Infinitum

In the "Sea of ​​Origin", Jiang Baimian emerged from the shimmering water and once again saw the island that stopped him.

This island is like the part of a mountain peak that is not submerged by the sea. The rocks protrude from the surface, mixed with holes, leading to the depths.

In the past many days, as long as Jiang Baimian landed on this island, even before entering the cave, he would fall into a coma and be unable to resist.

After staring for a moment, she began to recall her experience of two comas in reality, constantly hinting that most of the corresponding fears she had during the awakening experiment had been eliminated.

Then, she materialized an object.

This is a doll wearing gray-green camouflage. Its face is different from normal. It has no facial features. It is inlaid with a mirror, which reflects Jiang Baimian's face.

Jiang Baimian looked at the doll in his hand intently, and his eyes suddenly lit up a little brightly, like the stars at night, or the broken mirror illuminated by the moonlight.

The next second, she used "stimulation disorder" on herself, modifying her reaction to the stun stimulus.

This can only last for one minute at present, but for Jiang Baimian, who will fall into coma after landing on the island and can only last for ten seconds at most, it is enough.

——After trying to directly use a mirror to exert the two abilities of "stimulus dissonance" and "object agnosia" on herself, Jiang Baimian tried many methods, but failed. Later, she considered that her field was called "Broken Mirror" put the mirror back into the plan.

She was inspired by the statues and teachings of the "True Self Cult" and specially made a doll that looked very similar to herself, using a mirror as its face. Therefore, Jiang Baimian took out the doll and looked at its head every time. Everywhere, you will have a subtle feeling of seeing your true self.

Relying on this feeling, she finally completed the step of "stimulation disorder" and "object agnosia" affecting herself, and opened the door from the "Hall of Stars" to the "Sea of ​​Origins".

This also made her more and more sure of the role of psychological suggestion in exploring awakening abilities. She believed that after more training, she could no longer rely on a special doll and could directly use a simple mirror to influence herself.

Once you enter the "soul corridor", you will most likely not even need a mirror anymore.

As soon as the "revision" was completed, Jiang Baimian stopped delaying and arrived at the island like a swimming fish.

She grasped and held it up with her left hand, her whole body came out of the water silently, and she jumped up.

Jiang Baimian quickly sat down in front of a broken blue-black stone, and at the same time revealed his portable computer.

She wanted to restore the scene during the awakening experiment.

Soon, the song echoed:

"Do you still remember the dream you had when you were young?

"Like a flower that never fades

"Accompany me through the wind and rain

"Look at the impermanence of things in the world.

"Look at the vicissitudes of life..." (Note 1)

Jiang Baimian listened to the familiar melody and lyrics, leaned back against the blue-black stone, adjusted his mood, and waited for the coma to come.

It wasn't long before darkness took over her vision and silence ruled her mind.

She unconsciously passed out.

In the boundless darkness, a little light emerged in the distance, dyeing the area red and awakening Jiang Baimian's consciousness.

She fluttered her eyelashes a few times and slowly opened her eyes.

Unlike so many times before, what she saw when she woke up was not the ceiling inside the company or the roof of the jeep, nor the blue sky dotted with white clouds and the night sky with flowing stars.

What she saw before her eyes was the thick mist-like sky above the "Sea of ​​Origin".

"Successful..." Jiang Baimian was overjoyed and immediately straightened his back and sat on the spot.

Because she was in a coma before and no longer had the consciousness to maintain the manifested objects, the portable computer had long since disappeared, and the singing stopped suddenly.

"Listening to music is still useful. It's not in vain to be so enthusiastic..." Jiang Baimian said with a self-deprecating smile.

For her, the function of the song just now was more of encouragement and self-motivation. It was another kind of psychological suggestion, rather than directly waking her up.

Jiang Baimian did not return to the real world immediately. He stayed here and wandered around for a while, observing the complete appearance of the island.

"Why are there so many caves?" she said to herself, slightly confused.

Then, she had a guess:

"Represents the Qiqiao Exquisite Heart?"

As soon as she finished speaking, she laughed at herself:

“Isn’t this a bit narcissistic?

"Uh... you can't say you're too arrogant, right? Bah, the appearance of this island must be a manifestation of inner fear, a kind of distortion!"

After muttering for a while, Jiang Baimian returned to the real world.

Seeing her open her eyes, Bai Chen asked casually:

"How is it? Is there any obvious effect?"

Jiang Baimian smiled:

"Successful."

"So fast?" Long Yuehong in the back row said in shock.

Bang bang bang, weak and dizzy Shang Jianyao still insisted on clapping.

Jiang Baimian groaned:

"Is this called fast?

"I've been stuck on this island for almost three months!"

"I mean, we just changed the plan and it succeeded so quickly." Long Yuehong explained quickly.

Jiang Baimian sighed after hearing this:

"So, sometimes it's just a matter of thinking. If you change your thinking and change the direction, the difficulty may not be a difficulty anymore."

"Yes, yes." Shang Jianyao agreed deeply.

After "educating" the team members, Jiang Baimian looked at Long Yuehong and said with a charming smile:

"I kind of can't wait to experiment with how much stronger my abilities are."

Long Yuehong responded hesitantly:

"me?"

"Are you looking for food? He is half dead now." Jiang Baimian continued to persuade, "We can't let Xiaobai come, right? She has to drive."

Bai Chen immediately interrupted:

"It's almost time to switch to Xiaohong."

"I'll do it." Long Yuehong made an instant decision, "It's not a big deal anyway."

Bai Chen pursed his lips and finally said nothing.

She found a relatively open place and stopped the jeep.

In the next few minutes, Jiang Baimian experimented with changes in his three abilities. The final result was:

"Space Illusion" originally could only affect one person, with a maximum range of fifteen meters, but now it can affect four people and twenty meters. It is a type that loses its effect once you stop using the ability;

The maximum range of "object agnosia" has been increased from ten meters to thirteen meters, but it can still only affect one target, and the target will only misidentify one item at a time. For example, Long Yuehong just mistook the can thrown by Jiang Baimian this time. Bombs, roll to avoid subconsciously, and the effective time is currently one minute;

"Stimulus dissonance" still modifies a related response for one target at a time. For example, Long Yuehong chose to close her eyes when she heard the sound this time. The duration was increased from one minute to one minute and twenty seconds. The maximum range is currently ten meters. .

In general, after breaking through this fearful island, Jiang Baimian's ability increased by about 30%, with slight differences between different abilities.

…………

As we approach the Nu Lake area, the soil gradually becomes moister and various vegetation becomes more lush.

One winter has passed, and the road that was originally "walked" has to be "opened up" again.

The "Old Tune Team" suffered an attack from an atavistic bird.

It is huge and flies at an alarming speed. It knows how to grab rocks and throw them down to hit people, just like a helicopter with relatively backward equipment.

However, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao didn't even need to take action, and the team didn't use the exoskeleton device and bionic smart armor. Long Yuehong used it a little, and Bai Chen found the opportunity to shoot a headshot.

After modifying the relevant points, her shooting ability improved to a very terrifying level.

"How do you eat this?" Shang Jianyao stood next to the huge bird monster and asked a thought-provoking question.

His scar healed and he forgot about the pain. Not long after his dizziness subsided, he began to look forward to game.

Before Jiang Baimian could answer, Shang Jianyao was already minding his own business, clenching his right fist with his left palm and saying:

"I've thought about it, let's make soup!"

"Where can you find such a big pot?" Jiang Baimian sneered, "It may not even fit on a grill."

During their discussion, Bai Chen suddenly said:

"Two cars are coming from a distance."

The terrain here is open, and she can spot something from a few hundred meters away.

Shang Jianyao was immediately "horrified":

"Isn't this their pet?"

Jiang Baimian was too lazy to pay attention to him and said to Bai Chen:

"If they insist on entering the 150-meter range, stand some distance away and fire into the sky as a warning."

The reason why she limited it to 150 meters was because Shang Jianyao could exert influence after entering this range.

The two cars that arrived had been modified so much that they almost didn’t know what they were originally. They had machine guns mounted on the tops and flags flying on both sides. Although the outer shells were gray, they were spray-painted with patterns such as blood, organs, and half-red humans.

This reminded Long Yuehong of the modified vehicles and motorcycles in the advance camp in the mountains on the north coast. They were unique, diverse and amazing.

In an extremely repressive environment, humans will inevitably have a place to vent their anger.

The two cars seemed to have noticed someone here, and began to turn to the side, preparing to bypass the "old tune team".

At this moment, someone in the car in front shouted in surprise:

"Bai Chen?"

Note 1: Quoted from "The Price of Love", Li Zongsheng