Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 287: Night Road

Upon hearing his team leader’s shout, Long Yuehong quickly turned his head to Genava and said, “Follow me.”

With that said, he turned around and jumped out of the broken window.

Genava looked at the disciplinary robot on the ground before following closely behind.

At the same time, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao retraced their original route and ran across the lush lawn toward the jeep parked not far away.

The jeep’s doors were open, and the vehicle was already slowly driving off.

Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao jumped into the passenger seat and drilled into the backseat respectively.

Bai Chen floored the accelerator, speeding up the jeep instantly.

The car quickly returned to the spacious road. After making a slight detour, Long Yuehong and Genava—who had interfered with the multi-purpose surveillance cameras—happened to arrive in time. They entered through the door Shang Jianyao had deliberately left open and directly got into the jeep that didn’t slow down.

Thud!

The car door closed.

According to the plan, Bai Chen didn’t let the jeep return to River East. Instead, she drove toward River West, where almost no robots lived.

This was the route they took when entering Tarnan, but they were now driving in the opposite direction.

The jeep drove for nearly a minute when sirens sounded and echoed throughout Tarnan.

The multi-purpose surveillance camera by the side of the road emitted a voice: “Stop the car immediately or face the consequences!”

Bai Chen acted as if she hadn’t heard the warning. Not only did she not hit the brakes, but she also exerted more force on the accelerator.

Amidst the simulated engine sound, the jeep drove as if it were about to lift off.

“Stop the car immediately or face the consequences!” The multi-purpose surveillance camera gave two more warnings.

The Old Task Force completely ignored it.

The next second, muzzles extended out of a number of cameras and fired.

Bullets shot out one after another, hitting the car windows, rubber tires, and thick armor, but they dealt zero effective damage to the modified jeep.

Amidst the rain of bullets and sparks, the jeep—which didn’t slow down at all—rushed out of River West and out of Tarnan.

“Exciting!” Shang Jianyao cheered.

Genava—who was sitting in the middle at the back—looked at Shang Jianyao in confusion, not understanding why he felt this way. “They will catch up soon.”

This referred to the disciplinary robots, Tarnan robot guards, and the corresponding auxiliary combat robots.

“Don’t worry, we have a plan,” Jiang Baimian consoled Genava. She then smiled and said, “However, we still need you to give us some guidance. You definitely know the terrain around Tarnan better than us.”

“Alright,” Genava replied.

Although the road wasn’t too flat, Bai Chen still managed to drive the jeep quickly.

Jiang Baimian couldn’t help but praise her. “Little White, if you participate in the Old World’s off-road racing competitions, you will definitely win the championship.”

“Don’t speak,” Bai Chen replied expressionlessly.

“Oh.” Jiang Baimian no longer shared her feelings.

At this moment, Long Yuehong only had one thought: How does Team Leader know about off-road racing competitions in the Old World?

Shang Jianyao lowered his voice and quietly said, “She secretly watches many episodes of the Old World’s drama serials with the help of earphones while we sleep.”

Long Yuehong came to a realization.

“Ah, what did you say?” Jiang Baimian touched her ear.

The silver-black smart bot, Genava, looked around and couldn’t help but ask, “Aren’t any of you nervous?”

Shang Jianyao immediately answered his question. “Everything is but a dream. Why so serious?”

He also mimicked Abbess Zhou Yue. He raised his body and slightly raised his arms to honor the Shattered Mirror in the void.

“...” Genava suddenly felt that these people weren’t too reliable. Yes, apart from Qian Bai, who was driving.

As expected of the team leader!

In the passenger seat, Jiang Baimian didn’t turn around and simply explained, “There’s not much point in being nervous at a time like this. It’s enough to maintain it to a certain extent so that the corresponding adrenaline can be secreted.”

“Indeed.” Genava analyzed and accepted this explanation.

Shang Jianyao looked back and asked curiously, “Do you smart bots experience nervousness?”

“Our core module will simulate a similar feeling, but the main goal is simply to experience it,” Genava answered truthfully.

As they spoke, the stumbling jeep rushed to the bridge upstream and quickly crossed it.

After driving a little further, they arrived at Mount Chilar.

Long Yuehong looked at the thin bridge behind him and couldn’t help but suggest, “Team Leader, should we blow up this bridge?”

He felt that this could effectively delay the robot guards’ pursuit.

“There’s no need,” Jiang Baimian replied quickly. “They should have jetpacks that allow them to fly directly over a river. There’s no need for them to use the bridge. Besides, the bridge isn’t high up, and the water isn’t deep during winter. They can completely climb down and cross over.”

Of course, it would indeed take some time if the robot guards used the latter method but not too much.

On the other side, if the Old Task Force wanted to blow up the bridge, it wasn’t something that could be done by firing the rocket launcher two to three times. They needed to install explosives in the corresponding spot before detonating them together with the rocket launcher.

This would take a long time. In conclusion, there was no need.

Just as Jiang Baimian said that, Genava suddenly said, “Accelerate!” He had relied on his equipment that was similar to the comprehensive warning system and his understanding of the robot guards to discover something amiss in advance.

At the same time, Jiang Baimian also sensed the arrival of their pursuers.

Bai Chen didn’t ask any questions. Ignoring the rugged road ahead and the numerous rocks, she floored the accelerator.

Amidst the simulated howling sounds, the jeep jumped forward by a large margin. During this process, the car was almost thrown into the air by a rock.

Almost at the same time, flames flickered as shells rose from the opposite bank of the river, densely bombarding the area.

Boom! Boom!

Most of these shells landed on the bridge a distance away from the jeep.

Amidst a loud series of explosions, the bridge couldn’t withstand the blow and shook violently. Finally, it broke into several pieces and collapsed.

This... Long Yuehong was dumbfounded. For a moment, he wondered if the smart bots in pursuit had been infected with a virus. This resulted in their positioning error, and their attacks were a little off-axis.

The greatest threat to the jeep was the spreading shockwaves.

They even completed what Long Yuehong wanted to do but couldn’t—destroying that bridge!

Shang Jianyao turned around and looked across the river through the back window. He smiled and said, “It’s Alpha and the others.”

Shang Jianyao’s friend, Alpha Stuart.

Genava turned his neck 180 degrees when he heard that. He saw familiar faces and familiar bodies.

As the robot guards rushed to the collapsed bridge, they seemed to be arguing about something. They didn’t make up their minds on whether to cross the river using their jetpacks.

This method indeed made it easy for them to be shot down midair.

Genava watched this scene in silence for a long time.

These smart bots really resemble humans... Jiang Baimian sighed inwardly.

At this moment, Bai Chen had already let the jeep enter Mount Chilar. The terrain became increasingly complicated.

Genava finally retracted his gaze and suggested, “We can fire a rocket at that area.” He was referring to a seemingly ramshackle path.

The jeep had to circle around it using a fork in the road.

Jiang Baimian immediately understood Genava’s thoughts and nodded. “Alright.”

Genava wanted to mislead the pursuers and make them think that the Old Task Force was driving in that direction and had destroyed the corresponding path to stall for time.

As Jiang Baimian nodded, she could only hand the Death rocket launcher to Long Yuehong because of the direction in question.

Long Yuehong—who was wearing a military exoskeleton—easily picked up the rocket launcher and fired a round to the side with the precision aiming system’s help.

Rumble!

Amidst the flames, the mountain path collapsed. Rubble also fell from the rock walls above.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Shang Jianyao clapped for Long Yuehong.

As Genava switched off his GPS module, he said, “It’s nighttime now, and the terrain in the mountains is complicated. We don’t have to consider a drone search... If we go further northeast, it will exceed the range of Tarnan’s base station. The ones chasing after us can only communicate through functions like walkie-talkies and telegrams. Their connection with the Source Brain and the commander won’t be as tight anymore...”

He explained the limitations the robot guards would face in Mount Chilar in a way that Shang Jianyao and the others could understand.

This effectively enhanced Long Yuehong’s confidence.

Just like that, under the terrain expert Genava’s command, the jeep advanced and reversed from time to time. It went left and right at times. Sometimes they deliberately misled the enemy, and at other times, dealt substantial damage.

They finally left Mount Chilar in the middle of the night. In front of them was Tarnan, where the street lamps reflected the stars.

Long Yuehong looked around and said, “This is the intersection we previously guarded?”

“Yes.” Genava nodded. “We’ll circle around and enter the mountains from another intersection. If nothing unexpected happens, we’ll basically be rid of the pursuers.”

“That’s inauspicious,” Shang Jianyao reminded sincerely.

Genava replied seriously, “We smart bots don’t believe in this.”

“Then, do you believe in fate?” Shang Jianyao asked with interest.

“Fate...” Genava ruminated over this word and didn’t respond.

Upon seeing this, Jiang Baimian deliberated and asked, “Do we need to hide in the mountains and find an opportunity to return and rescue Susanna and Rides?”

The blue light in Genava’s eyes lit up. After a few seconds, he slowly shook his head and said in pain, “Not for the time being. This might not be a good thing for them, especially Rides. She still has many modules that haven’t been added, many algorithms that haven’t been unlocked, and plenty of data that she hasn’t obtained...

“As long as they aren’t in contact with me, they should clear the subsequent investigations. At most, they will forget my existence. In the future, I’ll find an opportunity to meet them again...”

At the same time, Genava knew very well that it was impossible for him and this Ruin Hunter team to snatch Susanna and Rides from Mechanical Paradise with their strength. This might very well result in a large number of casualties.

At this moment, Bai Chen had already gotten the car to bypass the intersection where they had previously been on duty and drove into another mountain entrance.

The jeep soon drove into Mount Chilar again, and the road became complicated.

Genava noticed this and turned his body and head to the back. He looked through the window at Tarnan, which was gradually distancing itself from him.

The rows of street lamps in this small city appeared exceedingly bright in the night. The other parts were already sleeping in the darkness.

“The star lights my way[1]...” Shang Jianyao suddenly sang.

[1] [Annotation text missing]