Genava looked at Shang Jianyao—who was ‘fixed in place’ by the military exoskeleton—and did his duty as a teammate. “I’ll go in first, and you can follow after the situation is confirmed.”
He meant that even if there were New World powerhouses or projections of certain existences inside, there was a high chance that he wouldn’t be discovered and trigger the terrifying vortex as a smart bot without consciousness.
Shang Jianyao—who had his expression covered by the visor—muttered, “Once… you open… the door… the light… will… shine in… I will… also be… sensed…”
“Shall I send you down first?” The red glow in Genava’s eyes paused at the location of Shang Jianyao’s ear for a few seconds.
Shang Jianyao ‘walked’ to the stairwell exit and laughed loudly. “Are… you… sure… that you… won’t be… discovered? Here’s… the root cause… of the problem… The overlap… is most serious… Maybe… we can be… directly seen… You… have nothing… As for me… I have… the Life Angel… necklace… Six Senses Beads… small jade Buddha… Blessings… from all Kalendarium!”
Genava understood Shang Jianyao very well. With the latter around, there was still room for salvation even if an accident happened. If Genava was the only one, he—who was downstairs—wouldn’t be spared if anything really happened.
“You can give me those items,” Genava suggested. Although he couldn’t use the items, the true effects of those items in the current environment weren’t reflected by their Awakened abilities.
“You… aren’t a… company… employee,” Shang Jianyao pointed out.
He had just switched the military exoskeleton’s operating mode to prevent the artificial intelligence from failing to understand his eagerness at opening the door.
The red glow in Genava’s eyes flickered for a while before he finally chose to remain silent and didn’t stop him.
Shang Jianyao’s words actually made sense.
They had been pushed here by Fate. Items like the Life Angel necklace were only useful in their hands.
Shang Jianyao—who completed the mode switching—staggered over. Genava quickly walked over and helped him up.
The next second, Shang Jianyao stretched out his unparalyzed right palm, grabbed the wooden door’s handle, and pulled it back.
Pure white light shone in like a flood breaching the embankment, dispelling all the darkness.
Although there was only a corridor beyond the stairwell, a scene surfaced in Shang Jianyao’s mind and Genava’s ‘vision.’
It was a large living room with a carpet, sofa, and other things.
At this moment, a black figure was standing in front of a row of floor-to-ceiling windows, quietly looking out.
The black figure suddenly turned around and ‘looked’ at Shang Jianyao and Genava.
Almost at the same time, Genava’s vision turned black. He couldn’t gather any information regarding his surroundings in any way.
The drunk Shang Jianyao first recovered his clarity of mind before shouting, “Vortex!”
He then lost all his thoughts. He couldn’t see, hear, or think as though his soul had been forcefully sucked out.
On the mountain path outside Ceningmis, Jiang Baimian’s expression turned solemn. She saw the sky darken at a speed visible to the naked eye in the central city area, turning the entire area from dusk to a dark night.
A faint fog filled the area and quickly enveloped every corner of Ceningmis, but this wasn’t the end. Be it the darkness or the fog, they were spreading out.
Long Yuehong and Bai Chen grunted in pain and couldn’t help but raise their hands to cover their heads.
Jiang Baimian’s head throbbed as she felt a certain level of dizziness.
This made the three people—who had the corresponding experience—suddenly have a thought: Heartless disease!
Amidst his horror, Long Yuehong saw that the darkness and fog were still expanding. He subconsciously recalled something: The Eighth Research Institute’s commissioner had said that if not for their early quarantine, the disaster in Ceningmis might’ve affected the entire Ashlands.
At this moment, the intense pain and dizziness suddenly disappeared.
Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen returned to normal. If not for the fact that their memories remained, the sky was still dark, and the surroundings were filled with fog, they would’ve suspected that they were hallucinating.
The next second, they saw the fog quickly thin and fuse into the air. The darkness rapidly shrank before finally disappearing from Ceningmis.
Sunlight shone down from the sky, making the area no longer dark.
Long Yuehong was speechless for a long time as he took in this scene.
After a few seconds, Jiang Baimian laughed self-deprecatingly. “If it were Hey, he definitely would’ve sincerely thanked the Kalendarium, saying things like ‘Newborns are likened unto the sun; life what’s most important’ and ‘Namo Annutara-Samyak-Subhuti.’
…
“Newborns are likened unto the sun; life what’s most important.” Shang Jianyao—who had woken up—stood at the door to the stairwell. He bent his right arm and gently rocked it like a disabled person carrying a baby. He then shouted, “The End will belong to the Arbiter of Fate!”
After he completed the ritual, Genava asked, “Are you sure that the Life Angel necklace has taken effect?”
“I’m not sure,” Shang Jianyao replied confidently. He then raised his right palm and chanted a Buddhist proclamation. “Namo Annutara-Samyak-Subhuti.”
Following this, he took a step back and loudly said, “Wariness is a hint from the Goddess!”
Just like that, he went through the prayers corresponding to the Kalendarium on the Blessings from all Kalendarium. He made it clear that everyone had a part in this.
Genava didn’t continue the topic. He looked at the corridor that had lit up because of the sunlight and said to Shang Jianyao, “There shouldn’t be any problems now. We can go in and search.”
“There’s no problem for the time being,” Shang Jianyao emphasized.
Nobody was sure if the overlap between Ceningmis and the New World would happen again.
“Therefore, we have to make the best use of our time.” Genava stepped into the corridor.
Shang Jianyao was unwilling to fall behind.
There was only one suite on the entire top floor, so they quickly arrived at the main door.
The first thing they saw was an open door, a spacious living room, and a row of floor-to-ceiling windows. All of this was identical to the scene they had previously ‘seen.’ The only two differences were that the black figure and the night scene outside the window were gone.
Shang Jianyao was just about to walk into the living room when he suddenly heard human voices coming from the other side of the corridor. “We have to rush back now!”
“Eh…” Shang Jianyao chose to ‘watch’ the commotion first. At the same time, he told Genava, “I don’t sense any human consciousness.”
Genava didn’t discover any signs of human activity either.
When they approached the corridor, they saw a person wearing bionic artificial intelligence armor that resembled the Chameleon. This person was discussing something with his two companions, completely indifferent to Genava and Shang Jianyao’s approach.
“The Eighth Research Institute person from last time?” Shang Jianyao recalled Jiang Baimian’s description.
Genava made a judgment of the situation. “It’s a side effect of the chaotic electromagnetic environment. Their conversation was recorded by the environment. With the disappearance of the overlap between the two worlds, it got replicated at the penthouse. It’s like there’s a projection screen here, and a projector projected the scenes from afar.”
Shang Jianyao and Genava had seen many such situations in the depths of Ceningmis and had personally witnessed the many scenes of the disaster back then. However, Ceningmis and the New World were still overlapping back then.
“Without the overlap, it won’t be long before the electromagnetic environment disappears.” Shang Jianyao assumed a ‘fear of missing out’ attitude. He planned on hearing what the Eighth Research Institute members were saying.
After the replay, he and Genava roughly knew why these Eighth Research Institute personnel didn’t return to the previous sentry post.
They hid all the way to the east of Ceningmis. The electromagnetic environment there was relatively okay, allowing them to send a telegram to the Eighth Research Institute for help.
Before the help arrived, they didn’t dare to leave their hiding spot to confirm the Old Task Force’s situation because the Mind Corridor Awakened was quite injured and needed time to recover.
When the injured were almost recovered, the Eighth Research Institute sent a telegram, requesting the team to return to headquarters immediately.
These matters were extracted from the conversation between those people by Genava and Shang Jianyao. Back then, they should’ve passed through Ceningmis’s central area and headed north.
They had doubts about the Eighth Research Institute’s orders, so they had this discussion.
“From the timing, it should be the day after we captured Professor Qin and obtained the Eighth Research Institute’s exact location,” Genava analyzed.
Shang Jianyao came to a realization. “Are they making preparations regarding the exposure of the headquarters?”
“Very likely.” The red glow in Genava’s eyes flickered.
The two of them walked back to the door of the penthouse and entered the living room.
The moment he walked in, Shang Jianyao eagerly looked around, searching for any possible figures.
He and Genava saw several corpses at the same time.