Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 226: Opportunity

“Captain Han?” Not only were Long Yuehong and Bai Chen surprised, but even Jiang Baimian was rather surprised.

She remembered that she had found many corpses strewn on the ground and blackened spots everywhere when she and Shang Jianyao returned to the defensive line that Han Wanghuo was in charge of.

In such an environment, Han Wanghuo could’ve died at any moment. Like the other town guards, his luck wouldn’t be better just because he was a sheriff.

If he had sold the information regarding Bishop Renato’s return to headquarters to the merfolk and mountain monsters, there would’ve been no need for him to be at the frontlines. He could’ve found an excuse to move to a relatively less vulnerable spot.

Not only was this akin to tying the noose for himself but also sticking his head inside.

That’s unless Han Wanghuo’s true strength is much greater than what he has shown and is sufficiently confident that he can survive the Subhuman Alliance’s assault to the end. However, people with such strength don’t need to be so ingratiating... Amidst Jiang Baimian’s surprise, this thought flashed across her mind.

At this moment, Shang Jianyao firmly replied, “I don’t believe you.”

Song He’s explanation was left stuck in his throat.

Dr. Weiler couldn’t help but say, “You haven’t even heard the reason. Why are you saying that you don’t believe us?”

“I trust him.” Shang Jianyao gave his reason.

“Then, why do you trust him?” Weiler seemed eager to argue with Shang Jianyao.

Shang Jianyao glanced at him. “A man’s intuition.”

“...” Weiler immediately had the contradictory feeling that the other party was filled with flaws, yet there was also none.

Shang Jianyao sincerely taught him. “You can refute the statement with: what kind of man are you?”

“Then?” Weiler subconsciously asked.

Shang Jianyao frankly revealed the subsequent response. “I’ll take off my pants and show you if I’m a man. After that, you won’t be able to take the insult and will become very angry. Then, we can go out and have a fight under the accompaniment of music.”

What the heck... Weiler was confused.

Upon seeing that Shang Jianyao had successfully diverted the topic, Jiang Baimian sighed helplessly and looked at Song He. “Harbinger Song, what’s your reason?”

As Weiler was around, their conversation continued in the Red River language.

Song He retracted his gaze, and his expression became serious again. “He might be a Subhuman.”

“Subhuman?” Jiang Baimian didn’t expect to receive such an answer.

Similarly, Long Yuehong and Bai Chen were rather surprised. Upon recalling Han Wanghuo’s yellowish eyes, they fell into deep thought.

“Subhumans are also humans.” Shang Jianyao tried his best to express his point of view.

Song He ignored his words and pointed at Weiler beside him. “Dr. Weiler discovered this.”

Weiler took over the conversation and sighed. “To be honest, I don’t want to believe it either. I have a good relationship with Captain Han. He will inform me which smuggling caravans come with prostitutes.”

At this point, his expression became a little serious. “Wasn’t Captain Han previously injured in the battle? His left arm.”

“Yes.” Long Yuehong indicated that he had seen it with his own eyes, and Bai Chen nodded slightly.

Weiler continued, “I’m a doctor after all. I wanted to take a look at his wound and treat it. It wouldn’t be good if it got infected, right? Yet, he rejected me and said that he could handle it himself. Later, when he went to the room in the Public Security Department to change his dressing, I thought that it wouldn’t be convenient for him to do it alone. Hence, I finished the rest of my water and prepared to enter to help him when he encountered trouble.

“We are all men, so I didn’t knock, just opened the door, and went in. Who knew that I would see pieces of something on his arm. It was like... not very dense scales that were amber in color. Back then, Captain Han had pulled down his sleeve—there was no wound at all. He then looked at me and asked me why I suddenly came in. Back then, his eyes looked very dangerous—just like how my superior reacted when he saw me lying in bed with his wife.

“I quickly pretended not to notice anything and said that I wanted to come in and help him change his dressing. Captain Han’s eyes quickly returned to normal as he said that he was already done.

“The more I thought about it when I came out, the more I felt that something was amiss. I rushed to the cathedral as soon as I got off work and found Harbinger Song. Harbinger Song then told me not to panic and to pretend that nothing had happened. I was to secretly carry out observation.”

After Weiler finished, Song He added, “Things were different today. It involves the selling of information to merfolk and mountain monsters. I couldn’t wait any longer, so I came to you for help.”

Jiang Baimian quietly listened and smiled. “Harbinger Song, you can actually find him yourself. I believe he won’t hide anything from you.”

He won’t do anything unfriendly to you either.

Song He sighed and said, “I have a pretty good impression of Han Wanghuo. He has done many good things in the past three years. As you know, as a clergyman, I can’t make the Redstone townsfolk trust each other and work together against outsiders because of the teachings. Han Wanghuo has at least done the latter.

“I’ve also seen how serious and responsible he is. If I were to ask him personally, everyone would have a rift in their hearts regardless of the outcome. It might not be easy for us to coexist in the future. But you are different; you are outsiders. Even if you know something, you will soon leave, and the secret will be buried.”

Weiler and Shang Jianyao agreed with Song He’s words and nodded at the same time.

Harbinger Song is implying that he wants to give Han Wanghuo a chance? As a clergyman of the Vigilance Church and Redstone Collection’s current mayor, he definitely can’t be biased. We are outsiders, so we can do whatever we want... Is this the real reason he commissioned us? Jiang Baimian thoughtfully organized her words.

“I think we should clarify something first. Whether Captain Han is a Subhuman or not has nothing to do with whether he sold information. Even if he’s really a Subhuman, it doesn’t mean that he betrayed Redstone Collection. Back then, he did risk the rain of bullets to stop the enemy.”

Song He smiled gently. “Yes, I think so too.”

Indeed... After this conversation, Jiang Baimian confirmed her guess and tersely acknowledged it. “I’ll split the mission into two parts. The first is to find Captain Han to confirm if he’s a Subhuman. The second is to find the person who sold the information to the merfolk and mountain monsters.”

“Very good.” Song He was rather impressed with this plan.

Jiang Baimian then smiled. “Since it’s a mission, what’s the reward?”

Song He swept his gaze across the four masks and said meaningfully, “I wonder if you are interested in some Awakened knowledge? I don’t dare to reveal too much confidential information either; I can only say that you’ll learn everything Tan Jie knows.”

It seems that by finishing off the Awakened murloc and safely returning after exploring the forbidden temple, it has made this Harbinger confirm that at least one of us is an Awakened. From an Awakened’s inevitable strange behavior, it’s not difficult to guess that Shang Jianyao is most likely the one... Jiang Baimian didn’t need to turn her head to guess that Shang Jianyao definitely looked eager.

She coughed and said, “Knowledge is always valuable; this payment isn’t bad. Harbinger Song, we trust you, so we don’t have to do it through the Hunter’s Guild.”

Song He smiled again. “Alright.”

Since she had already accepted the mission, Jiang Baimian quickly entered a professional state. “Harbinger Song, you have to give us a list. Bishop Renato’s urgent transfer back to the headquarters before the merfolk and mountain monsters invaded should be a secret that only a few people know.”

“I’ve already prepared it.” Song He took out a folded piece of paper from the pocket of his black cloak. “There are two parts to this. One is the people who were in the cathedral and witnessed the entire matter, and the other is the people who were later notified.”

The former knew that Bishop Renato had contracted the Heartless disease.

It’s so easy to talk to smart people... Jiang Baimian happily took the piece of paper, but she was in no rush to read it. She first sent Song He and Weiler out of the room and said that the investigation would begin tomorrow morning.

After closing the door again, Jiang Baimian spread the piece of paper on her bed.

The first part included the Qian Bai Team members’ fake names. They were Qian Bai, Zhang Qubing, October Xue, and Gu Zhiyong.

“We can ignore this for the time being,” Jiang Baimian said as she looked at the information. “But we can’t rule out the possibility that someone deliberately changed the information regarding Bishop Renato’s contracting of the Heartless disease to that of Bishop Renato being urgently transferred back to headquarters to prevent him from exposing himself later. After all, there’s no fundamental difference between the two matters for the merfolk and mountain monsters.”

As she spoke, her gaze landed on the lower portion. This included a few heads of the Ashlanders, a few relatively influential smugglers among the Red River people, and town guard brass like Tan Jie and Han Wanghuo—who were very capable.

If it weren’t for the fact that Helvig was already dead and that Anhebus was suspected of selling firearms to Subhumans, they would definitely be on the list of people who had learned of the cathedral’s unforeseen event in advance.

As her gaze moved down bit by bit, Jiang Baimian suddenly saw a familiar yet unfamiliar name: DiMarco.

Jiang Baimian was stunned for a moment before muttering to herself, “Sigh, how could I have forgotten about the Underground Ark...”

As part of a tripartite of Redstone Collection, the Underground Ark might be stronger than the Ashlanders and the Red River people. It was a faction that would be immediately informed if anything happened at the Vigilance Cathedral.

Long Yuehong immediately echoed, “That’s right. They stay underground all day. Apart from coming out to do business, they don’t even care about the Subhuman invasion...”

Upon saying that, Long Yuehong was stunned.

Bai Chen helped him finish his sentence. “They are quite suspicious.”

Long Yuehong tersely acknowledged her words and asked, “Team Leader, are you suspecting them?”

“A little, but that’s not the most important thing.” Jiang Baimian smiled as she spoke. “Weren’t we worried about how to contact DiMarco and investigate the Old World’s destruction? This is an opportunity.”

Before Long Yuehong and Bai Chen could respond, Shang Jianyao praised, “You’re so nasty.”