Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 746: Letter

Translator: CKtalon

Jiang Baimian didn’t immediately pick up the dark-green canvas backpack on the corpse and carefully said to Shang Jianyao, “Check the surroundings and see if there are any dangers that need to be eliminated.”

The two of them split up and quickly confirmed that the bedroom, kitchen, living room, bathroom, and other places were sufficiently normal and that there was no other corpse. Furthermore, they deduced that he wasn’t a Tai City resident from the traces of rotten flesh on the corpse. He was likely a member of the scientific team that Ding Ling’s husband, Ji Qiang, was a part of.

After doing this, Jiang Baimian put on her gloves and raised the dark-green canvas backpack from the corpse’s chest and thighs.

After unzipping it, she saw many documents and information. Among them, a few pieces of paper were neatly folded and placed at the top.

Jiang Baimian placed the backpack on the computer table, picked up the pieces of paper, and unfolded them.

It was written in Ashlandic. Every stroke was neat and abnormally clear as if it were worried that people of the future wouldn’t understand.

As Jiang Baimian signaled for Shang Jianyao to be on guard, she quickly scanned through it.

“I don’t know who you are, where you come from, or which faction you belong to when you read this letter. These aren’t important. What’s important is that someone has finally entered this mysterious city and found us.

“My name is Lu Fuxing, a researcher from the Salvation Army. I should’ve died by the time you are reading this letter.

“I’ll simply explain the entire matter and why I wrote this letter to you. Believe me, this is rather important. It might affect how you and your companions escape this mysterious city.

“More than two years ago, a notable earthquake happened in Icefield’s northeast. After the earthquake, a weather station our Salvation Army uses to observe Icefield’s weather realized that some objects belonging to the Old World civilization had drifted over from the river. Our Salvation Army had long surveyed the area; there were no city ruins or abandoned towns further up the river.

“As a scientific research institute in charge of investigating Icefield’s geological situation, ruins, and resource distribution, my colleagues and I came to Icefield under the protection of a detail of soldiers. We planned on reconnoitering the area.

“Our scientific team’s captain is called Chen Mingqiang. Not only does he have high academic achievements, but he’s also an Awakened.

“On the third day after entering Icefield, I didn’t feel well. My stomach hurt at night, and I wanted to get some medicine from the team doctor. After I walked out of the tent, I realized that Chen Mingqiang was silently pacing back and forth in the shadows between the two tents at the edge of the bonfire under its illumination.

“I was shocked back then. Fortunately, I recognized him in time. Otherwise, I definitely would’ve shouted to the patrolling soldiers.

“Chen Mingqiang also discovered me. He explained that he was suffering from insomnia, so he came out to get some air and think about some problems.

“I didn’t suspect anything. For scientific researchers like us, such things often happen.

“After that day, Chen Mingqiang became stranger and stranger. He was originally a cheerful person who liked to chat with the team members. However, he became quieter and quieter. He often tailed the team as if he had become our shadow.

“When we passed by Beian Lake’s rest stop, he actually ordered us to camp in the wilderness instead of going in to enjoy a clean bed and warm shower.

“Although our mission does have confidentiality requirements, it wasn’t so strict that we couldn’t even enter our faction’s rest stop and couldn’t make contact with anyone. Back then, many of my colleagues were confused, but they were forced to obey Chen Mingqiang’s orders.

“Finally, the outcome we fought for was to send three people to the rest stop to exchange for supplies and replenish the supplies we previously expended.

“After leaving Beian Lake, we continued heading to our designated location.

“For some reason, I began to feel that something was amiss with many people in the team. Like Chen Mingqiang, they didn’t like to talk and liked to walk behind the team.

“I tried asking them, believing that it was my responsibility to do so. The answer I obtained was that they had been in the wilderness for too long and were down.

“This was indeed a problem that scientific teams often encountered, but it happened especially early this time.

“After going upstream against the river for less than two days, we realized—no, we saw a city, the ruin where you and your companions are in.

“In our original records, this area was an area that suffered the most damage when the Old World was destroyed. This resulted in the entire terrain being warped. The corresponding city should’ve long sunk into the ground, buried by soil and boulders.

“But now, a well-preserved city ruin strangely appeared in front of us.

“To confirm that this wasn’t a mirage, we circled around the disconnected belt and arrived at the edge of Tai City. Yes, it was called Tai City before the Old World was destroyed.

“That night, we sent a telegram to Ubei to inform them of the situation and awaited further instructions.

“The next morning, everyone was suddenly woken up. Chen Mingqiang—who held the radio—told us that the higher-ups wanted us to enter Tai City and explore a place.

“Many of my colleagues and I were very confused. Our specialty wasn’t exploring ruins. This ought to have been left to a specialized team.

“But as a qualified Salvation Army member, following orders had already fused into my blood. After Chen Mingqiang showed the telegram sent by our superiors, and with the testimony of two colleagues and a warrior, I no longer had any objections.

“In hindsight, I suspected that the telegram was forged because the three people who proved the entire matter had previously become strange. Their silence and self-marginalization made them almost invisible.

“He actually dared to forge our superior’s orders.

“After entering Tai City, we went to a hospital. Chen Mingqiang seemed very familiar with this place and led us straight into the nine-story building on the right.

“It was called Renhui Hospital’s Vegetative Rehabilitation Center.

“That was a very terrifying place. Chen Mingqiang seemed to use us as minesweepers, getting me and many of my colleagues to enter different rooms.

“Some people went crazy, some became vegetables, and some people contracted the Heartless disease and were shot to death on the spot. Some became as strange as Chen Mingqiang and the others. Some suddenly rushed to the window, jumped down, and fell to their deaths...

“I don’t want to recall any further; it’s a very cruel memory. In short, if you enter Renhui Hospital’s Vegetative Rehabilitation Center, don’t randomly open the doors and enter the rooms.

“While suffering losses, we also gained something. We found some very important documents that exceeded my imagination.

“The remaining people were unwilling to enter those rooms again and had a conflict with Chen Mingqiang. This included some warriors, and there were Awakened among them.

“The people who had become silent and strange stood on Chen Mingqiang’s side. An intense battle broke out between the two parties.

“We were at a disadvantage, and many people died. Finally, we found an opportunity and hurriedly escaped the building.

“Chen Mingqiang actually didn’t chase after us and chose to stay in the Vegetative Rehabilitation Center.

“Two of us were separated during our escape, but the rest still gathered and found our original vehicles. We planned on leaving Tai City and returning to camp to seek help from our superiors.

“But when we returned to the edge of the city, we were surprised to discover that the road out of the city had been destroyed. The entire city was completely separated from the outside world.

“We wanted to try elsewhere, but we gradually realized that our minds were deteriorating bit by bit. We became more and more exhausted. Before long, the first Heartless among us was born.

“The second and third followed.

“We began to suspect that everyone was infected with the Heartless virus and that it would happen sooner or later. Everyone fell into despair as if they saw Death walking toward them.

“I wasn’t young anymore, and I was mentally prepared for this. I told them to write their last words before the illness acted up. They might still have a chance to show it to their families in the future.

“I also took the opportunity to write this letter and organize the documents we obtained from Renhui Hospital’s Vegetative Rehabilitation Center.

“In the subsequent period, the people who were still conscious were in charge of finishing off our colleagues and teammates who turned. The last person who remained lucid would commit suicide.

“I never expected that I would be the last one to live. I thought that my other colleagues would write the rest.

“Before that, we had already found paint and painted this window and the surrounding walls red so that the people who entered Tai City could see it at a glance and discover the problem here.

“If you are colleagues, you can go to the other rooms on this floor to search for the corpses of my colleagues and teammates. If not, read the rest.

“The documents in my backpack are very important. I don’t care if they are obtained by our Salvation Army or some other faction; they belong to all of humanity.

“My friend who’s reading this letter, please spread the contents of those documents if you have the choice, no matter which faction it is for.

“The mastermind behind Renhui Hospital’s Vegetative Rehabilitation Center is the Old World’s Eighth Research Institute. They are conducting a very dangerous and terrifying experiment that involves the forbidden boundaries of deities and the New World!

“I know that those documents lack more detailed and important information, but they can unite all the factions in the Ashlands to seek out the secrets buried by the Eighth Research Institute.

“Finally, there are still some last words left behind by my colleagues and teammates in my backpack. If you aren’t willing to trouble yourself, leave them behind. If you are willing, please pass them to a Salvation Army member and get him to deliver the letters to the corresponding person.

“I’m very grateful that you and your companions have read to this point. If you are also trapped in Tai City, you can go to Renhui Hospital to search for Chen Mingqiang’s corpse. I suspect that he has a secret that allows us to enter Tai City. This is also the key to leaving.

“I previously mentioned in my letter that Renhui Hospital’s Vegetative Rehabilitation Center is very dangerous. You should probably choose two to three people who are willing to sacrifice themselves and dare to do so.

“Alright, I feel like my mind is becoming more and more unfocused. My rationality is also unable to control the urge. I plan on ending my life with a pistol.

“Please spread the contents of those documents so that humanity’s beautiful future can be realized.

“For all of humanity!”

Jiang Baimian finished reading it silently and handed the letter to Shang Jianyao.