Embers Ad Infinitum

Jiang Baimian glanced at Long Yuehong, nodded slightly and said:

"This possibility cannot be ruled out."

"If it was caused by a 'nightmare', according to previous cases, what happened in the dream should be reflected in reality. But even if Boss Ugo died of suffocation in the dream, reality would not be able to take the initiative to trap him. Such a plastic bag directly shows various characteristics of suffocation and death." Gnawa analyzed the information related to "Real Dreams" and gave his own opinion.

"Yes, yes." Shang Jianyao was currently in agreement.

Bai Chen nodded:

"Either Boss Ugo abused himself too violently and had an accident, or someone suffocated him to death but faked the scene of suicide."

Among the members of the "Old Tune Group", Bai Chen and Ugo have known each other for the longest time and have the deepest friendship. However, she recovered quickly and now there is nothing strange about her. It seems that she is used to seeing the deaths of acquaintances.

"Old Ge, come in and check the scene. Be careful not to destroy anything or leave anything behind." Jiang Baimian stood up and left the task to Gnawa, who was more professional than himself.

She had already put on her gloves and began to search the entire room.

She picked up sewing needles, old knives and other items one by one, put them back in their original places, and then opened the drawer of the table.

There were some coins and banknotes in the drawer, and a stack of documents half a thumb thick.

Jiang Baimian glanced around and discovered that this was the arrangement of the "Primary City" troops in the peripheral area of ​​Wasteland No. 13 ruins.

Boss Ugo has contacted General Phocas and obtained the information we need? That they're not missing means Boss Ugo's death had nothing to do with it? As his thoughts turned, Jiang Baimian reached out and picked up the stack of documents and briefly browsed through them.

After confirming that there was no entrance to the North Shore Mountains, she put the document into her tactical backpack.

After doing this, she checked the bed and bathroom again, but found nothing worth noting.

At this time, Gnawa also completed his work.

He said in a slightly synthetic baritone:

"Because the body cannot be dissected, I cannot give an accurate time of death. The preliminary judgment is that it was between 11 o'clock last night and 1 o'clock in the morning.

"No one else left any traces at the scene. Boss Ugo should have been the only one there at the time..."

In the middle of the night, Boss Ugo suddenly got up and abused himself with a sense of suffocation? Long Yuehong felt that this could not convince her.

Based on the schedule of most people in the Prime City, that time is almost equivalent to a deep sleep state.

"What should we do now?" Long Yuehong said thoughtfully, "Leave it to the 'Hand of Order' to handle it?"

Jiang Baimian shook his head:

“Once we call the police, we will definitely receive the attention of the ‘Hands of Order’.

"This is not a good thing for a wanted criminal with a high reward in the Prime City."

This was what Long Yuehong was worried about just now, and he agreed deeply:

"It's better to pretend that you haven't discovered anything and evacuate quietly.

"Sooner or later the hotel guests will notice that something is wrong with Boss Ugo."

Jiang Baimian pointed at the door:

"Did you forget that there were cameras there? Did you forget that any hotel guests saw us?

"As long as someone calls the police and the 'Hand of Order' checks, they will definitely notice us."

Long Yuehong originally thought that she should destroy the camera and the corresponding surveillance video, and at the same time let Shang Jianyao "persuad" the two guests who stayed in the hotel just now, but after thinking about it carefully, she felt that this was not the case. One hundred taels.

The more coincidences there are, the more attention the "Hand of Order" attaches to them, and they may directly ask for help from the awakened ones from the "Last Man" realm.

"What should we do?" Long Yuehong could see that the team leader had a plan.

Jiang Baimian carefully walked out of Ugo's room and closed the wooden door:

“Go to the people from the ‘True Self Teaching’ and let them handle it.

"They have inextricable connections with the senior officials of the 'First City', so it shouldn't be a problem to cover it up for us.

"Huh, luckily the hotel's business has been declining during this period. No one came in or out when we checked the scene."

Long Yuehong immediately remembered that the "True Self Cult" had a stronghold nearby, where the "Old Tune Group" had seen General Phocas shirtless and whipping himself.

As the team leader, Jiang Baimian took off his gloves and headed towards the hotel door.

"Side door..." Shang Jianyao reminded him quietly from behind.

Jiang Baimian had outstanding strength in his waist and abdomen and forced himself to twist his body.

Under the leadership of Shang Jianyao, several members of the "Old Tune Team" left the hotel from the side, walked through an alley, and arrived in front of an apartment.

This apartment has only five floors and looks ordinary.

As soon as he entered the apartment, Shang Jianyao took out a blue and white loudspeaker, pointed at the stairs leading to the basement, and said in a deep voice:

"You have been discovered!"

Jiang Baimian couldn't help but raise his free right hand and cover his face.

She lowered her voice and said:

"We are friends of Boss Ugo, and something happened to him."

Soon, a man in ordinary clothes emerged from the shadows at the bottom of the stairs.

He clenched his fist and lightly hit his head:

"My true self lives forever!"

The current Shang Jianyao did not imitate, and seemed to be still immersed in the sadness caused by the unexpected death of boss Ugo.

The believer of the "True Self Cult" walked up the stairs and said to Jiang Baimian and others:

"Follow me."

It was as if there was a piece of sandpaper stuck in his throat.

Shang Jianyao followed Shanruliu and was the first to follow the man.

They walked all the way to the innermost room on the left side of the apartment and saw a thin, half-century-old man.

The old man's brown hair was mixed with a lot of silver threads, and his black robe had many patches.

His appearance and temperament are ordinary. If he stayed at the door of the apartment, he would probably be regarded as a doorman.

"What happened to Ugo?" the old man asked.

After asking, he remembered to introduce himself:

"You can call me Cliff, a 'dream breaker'."

Jiang Baimian, who didn't know much about the rank of "True Self Cult", nodded gently as a greeting.

She waited until the door was closed before she answered:

"Boss Ugo is dead."

"Cause of death?" Cliff's face changed slightly and quickly returned to normal.

"Suffocation." Jiang Baimian spoke concisely and without adding any unnecessary description. "He had a translucent blue plastic bag on his head. The time of death was probably between 11 o'clock last night and 1 o'clock in the morning. No one else could be found at the scene. The traces left behind by people..."

Cliff did not interrupt her narration and waited for her to finish before nodding:

"We will conduct further investigation into the specific situation, thank you for your information."

Jiang Baimian said "hmm":

"While you are investigating, please help hide our existence. You know, we are still wanted."

"No problem." Cliff promised, "Did you find out that something happened to Ugo when you were looking for him to get that information?"

"Yes." The reckless Shang Jianyao responded actively, "We found the information in the drawer in his room and it was not lost."

"Please confirm." Jiang Baimian took off his tactical backpack and took out the stack of documents, "See if there is anything missing or anything extra."

Cliff looked her up and down and said approvingly:

"Very cautious."

He immediately took the document, looked through it carefully and said:

"no problem."

While taking back the information, Jiang Baimian deliberately sighed:

"We visited Boss Ugo today because we actually wanted to ask about the collective dream in the Green Olive District. Who knew that he had already obtained the information we wanted.

"Your efficiency is so high, it's less than twenty-four hours."

Cliff was silent for a moment and said truthfully:

"Because we are planning to go to the ruins of Wasteland 13 to explore the secret laboratory."

"Maybe we can cooperate by then." Jiang Baimian said politely.

Cliff turned to the recent anomaly:

“We have noticed that collective dream and are looking for the root of the problem.

"This matter is not that simple. It may bring great danger to investigators. It is best for you not to participate."

"Thank you." Jiang Baimian expressed his gratitude.

After leaving the apartment and returning to the jeep, Shang Jianyao rubbed his chin and said:

"The 'True Self Cult' is already investigating the origin of collective dreams. Boss Ugo's death may be related to this..."

The time of Ugo's death was indeed too close to the time of last night's nightmare, which made people a little suspicious.

"Yeah." Jiang Baimian nodded, "Cliff seems to be so suspicious, at least that's the feeling he gave me."

After hearing the exchanges between her teammates, Long Yuehong suddenly figured out a question.

He raises his voice and seeks discussion:

"The reason why other people had nightmares without incident, just feeling dizzy, nauseous, weak, and insomnia, but Boss Ugo suffocated to death in a strange way, is it because he awakened the ability to 'dream'?"

Most people are unable to conduct effective detection when faced with that nightmare, but Ugo can!

Bai Chen, who was driving, thought about it carefully and agreed with Long Yuehong's guess:

"I think so."

As soon as she finished speaking, Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian blurted out at the same time:

"Oops!"

"not good!"

"What's wrong?" Long Yuehong was trembling with fear.

Jiang Baimian turned sideways, frowned and said:

"Odik also has the ability to awaken in dreams."

"Don't let anything happen." Shang Jianyao prayed beside him.