Embers Ad Infinitum

Gennava confirmed the authenticity of the lip reading content and then asked Shang Jianyao:

"I didn't collect any acoustic information. How did you hear her speak?"

"It rang directly in my head!" Shang Jianyao seemed to have found a fun new game.

Without waiting for Gnawa's response, he shouted to the man and woman:

"Can you hear me?"

He deliberately raised his voice, and the echoes from the walls and glass of the cafe formed a rolling wave.

The blonde woman in a white dress and the old man in formal clothes with half of his body trembling did not react at all, but still looked at where Shang Jianyao was currently standing.

Shang Jianyao thought for a moment and jumped sideways.

Relying on the assistance of the exoskeleton device, he took several meters in one step and came directly to Gnawa from the nearby coffee table.

The blond lady and the old man in formal attire then turned sideways and turned their heads towards the two of them.

However, none of them got up, and their movements were quite difficult.

The former used both hands to support the edge of the table, and then reluctantly moved his body to the predetermined position, as if he was stuck between the seat and the table. The latter looked like he could not exert any force on his left side and would fall over at any time.

"They can indeed see me!" Shang Jianyao's face, which was covered by his helmet mask, was filled with joy of a successful experiment.

"But they don't seem to be able to hear what you are saying." Gnawa helpfully added a conclusion.

Shang Jianyao suddenly became distressed:

"How can I communicate with them? How should I answer that I am indeed a descendant of 'Si Ming'?"

"Nod." The intelligent robot's thinking was always very clear before encountering a bug.

"Yes!" Shang Jianyao moved his head up and down greatly.

He nodded and muttered:

"It's a pity that I haven't systematically learned sign language, otherwise I would be able to communicate directly. I express myself in sign language, and Lao Ge interprets their lip language.

"No, they may not be able to understand sign language, they can only rely on common body language..."

However, the two men turned a blind eye to his nod, but did not look away.

Gennava was about to analyze what the situation was and asked Shang Jianyao to wait patiently to see if he could still hear the lady's words. Shang Jianyao suddenly realized:

"I understand!

"They can't actually see me, they can just vaguely sense my human consciousness!"

He immediately turned his head and said to Gnawa:

"So, it's me they've been 'looking at', not you."

"Then where did the sound you heard come from?" Gennava asked.

Shang Jianyao replied in a rather determined tone:

"Psychic transmission!

"Maybe they are also awakened ones at the 'soul corridor' level. They have arrived at my door now and are shouting inside.

"I have to go check in my room."

He did as he was told, closed his eyes on the spot, raised his right hand and pinched his temples.

Although his temples were actually tightly protected by the helmet of a military exoskeleton device and could not be touched by his fingers, the proper sense of ceremony was still there.

The next second, relying on the fixation and support of the military exoskeleton device, Shang Jianyao stood and fell into a deep sleep.

"131" As soon as his figure appeared in the room, he immediately ran to the door and tried to open the door for the guest.

The reckless Shang Jianyao was immediately controlled by the arms emerging from his body. He moved his head to the peephole and took stock of the situation outside the door.

There was no one outside.

Then, he opened the door carefully and looked around a few times.

No visitors came.

"Hey..." He sighed in disappointment and returned to the real world.

"How is it?" Gennava noticed that his body had moved.

Shang Jianyao replied regretfully:

"No."

He was always hospitable.

"How should we communicate..." Shang Jianyao fell into deep thought again.

Suddenly, he shouted again:

"She spoke to me again!

"indeed:

"Stay away from here!"

"Stay away from here..." Gnawa repeated this sentence while turning his gaze to the man and woman to check their lip language.

——Shang Jianyao spoke in gray dialect. Even an intelligent robot couldn't tell whether it was "him" or "she".

At this time, both the blond lady and the old man in formal clothes closed their mouths again.

Gennava had no choice but to ask Shang Jianyao:

"Is staying away from here a warning or a reminder?"

This can be distinguished mainly from the tone of voice.

"It feels like a reminder." Shang Jianyao recalled.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he pulled the tactical backpack in front of him.

With Zi's voice, the zipper was opened.

Shang Jianyao put his right hand into his backpack and took out the small green jade Buddha.

He immediately explained to Gennava, whose eyes were flashing red:

"In the ruins of the steel factory, this little jade Buddha is the intersection between reality and illusion. Now it may help me communicate with the people on the opposite side."

As soon as Shang Jianyao finished speaking, the little jade Buddha suddenly emitted a faint, clear light.

This was like a wave of water, flooding the entire cafe, and both the dark parts and the illuminated areas were stained with a little green.

Then, Shang Jianyao heard the blond lady's words again:

"The gift of 'Bodhi'?"

At the same time, Gnawa made a slightly synthetic voice:

"I can hear it this time."

This shows that both parties can communicate.

That little jade Buddha really worked!

"Yes, yes." Shang Jianyao answered the blond lady's question with a smile.

As a polite person, although he did not push up his mask to reveal his face, he still asked politely:

"Who are you two?"

The blond lady frowned slightly, as if thinking about something, and replied casually:

"Flora, from Orange Company."

The old man in formal attire said with a slightly unsteady voice:

"Barnard, from the Seaside Alliance."

Without waiting for the two people opposite to ask, Shang Jianyao proactively announced his name:

"Shang Jianyao, from the 'Pangu creature'."

At this time, Gennava used the communication system to inform Shang Jianyao about his search for the two names in the database:

"Flora is a common female name within the sphere of influence of Orange Company. The most famous one once served as their board director, but it is said that she has been dead for more than 20 years.

"The Linhai Alliance once had a president named Barnard. He was the first president of the Red River race there. He also passed away eleven years ago."

"All passed away?" Shang Jianyao was not frightened, but extremely excited. "Have we really encountered a ghost?"

Before he finished speaking, a distinct zizzing sound suddenly sounded in his ears.

The scene in the cafe became distorted, and there was even a lot of snowflake noise, like a malfunctioning TV.

At this moment, Flora seemed to finally understand what the current situation was about.

She shouted sharply before the darkness rolled in, tearing apart and drowning the light in this part of the cafe:

"Never enter the New World!"

As the sharp sound echoed, the green light emitted by the small jade Buddha disappeared, the yellowish light that illuminated the area by the window also went out, and the two figures disappeared.

Only then did Gnawa realize that there was no cafe in front of him, only piles of worthless garbage.

Even the window was covered with broken marks.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Shang Jianyao shouted a few more times, only to receive a blank response.

"What's going on?" he said to himself.

Without waiting for Gnawa's analysis, he answered his own question:

"It would be interesting if the Flora and Barnard we just saw are indeed the Flora and Barnard that Lao Ge said have been dead for many years.

"To be able to sit on the board of directors of Orange Company and the president of Linhai Alliance, there is a high probability that these two are the awakened ones who have explored the depths of the 'soul corridor'.

"Will their death be another expression of their entry into the 'new world'? After all, from now on, they will no longer be able to appear frequently and can only return occasionally?"

"It's very possible." Gennava commented pertinently, "Do you think what we just saw was a scene from the 'New World'?"

He skipped numerous steps of reasoning and came straight to the conclusion.

Shang Jianyao smiled and said:

"Conynmis itself has a close connection with the 'New World'. This may come from the huge 'New World' node, or from the sleeping body of a high-level existence, which has brought about the spread of the 'Mindless' virus.

"Now that the 'Wuxinsi' virus has escaped, it is normal for the old and new worlds to overlap in some areas of Conimis."

Gnawa moved his metal neck up and down:

"To put it simply, the scene just now is probably a projection created by the spillover power of the 'New World'."

"Yeah." Shang Jianyao was suddenly frustrated, "I should have asked a few more questions in one go!"

Gennava comforted:

"It's pretty good to get a reminder not to enter a new world."

"They are very nice people." Shang Jianyao commented sincerely.

He turned to look out the window and said with a smile:

"If we continue to go deeper, we might encounter more 'new world' scenes."

Gennava easily deciphered this guy's subtext:

This is so interesting!

He had to remind Shang Jianyao:

“But that also means that the probability of contracting ‘unintentional disease’ has skyrocketed.

“Moreover, those you meet later may not be as friendly as Flora and Barnard.

"At that time, under the attack of two problems, the 'Angel of Life' necklace may not be able to protect you."

Shang Jianyao's response had nothing to do with Gnawa's words. He said enthusiastically:

"Will you meet old friends?"

"Who?" Gennava asked.

"'Doctor'." Shang Jianyao looked like there was something wrong with this, "If he is still alive, I will send him a nuclear bomb!"

After saying that, Shang Jianyao put away the small jade Buddha, held the "Berserker" assault rifle again, and walked towards the door of the "cafe".

The next second, he stopped there.

"What's wrong?" Gennava asked with concern.

Shang Jianyao asked for help without any hesitation:

"Open the door for me. It's pulled inward. I can't just kick it open."

He had one hand paralyzed for "a long time," and the other hand held a weapon and was unable to use it.