Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 594: The Devil Opens Its Eyes

A hint of surprise flashed across Song He’s face when he heard Jiang Baimian’s words.

Her question was very strange. Furthermore, it had a clear direction as if she was investigating something.

As a Vigilance Church clergyman who was content with exercising sovereignty over a small area, Song He’s understanding of things was ultimately limited to a small place like Redstone Collection despite having plenty of life experience and sufficient knowledge. It mostly involved the Church’s personnel changes and religious disputes. He had almost zero understanding of the city ruin a mountain away. This resulted in him being unable to make a guess despite clearly learning that Jiang Baimian was trying to investigate a secret.

As his thoughts raced, Song He laughed bitterly. “To be honest, I’ve only met DiMarco’s great-grandfather, Modeus. I was only a nobody back then. Heh heh, it’s the same now. In short, I interacted with him not more than five times. From time to time, he would leave the Ark and come to the surface to go to different places. As for where he went, I’m not sure. Later, he converted to our religion and believed in the Kalendaria. Then, he never left the Underground Ark until he died. His son and grandson—in other words, DiMarco’s grandfather and father—were the same.”

Perhaps it was because he had been in Redstone Collection for too long and needed to use the Red River language to preach to his believers from time to time, but Song He would occasionally use this language’s grammatical characteristics.

Uh, you call that conversion to your religion and believing in the Kalendaria? He was beaten into submission... Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and said, “What kind of person was DiMarco’s great-grandfather, Modeus?”

“He was arrogant to the point of being insufferable, and his gaze was very intimidating,” Song He replied frankly. “As for his exact personality, I don’t know him well since I didn’t interact with him much as I’ve just said. Compared to me, you might as well ask the Ark’s old servants and old guards and flip through Modeus’s library. Perhaps he has a habit of writing a journal?”

Shang Jianyao laughed. “Which normal person would...”

He was cut off by Jiang Baimian. “If Modeus was hiding a secret, he definitely wouldn’t keep it in his diary unless he wanted to inform others via appropriate methods at an appropriate time.”

“What if he has OCD?” The honest Shang Jianyao argued.

Song He’s expression didn’t change, and his tone remained gentle. “I’m only raising a direction for the investigation.”

“Understood,” Jiang Baimian said sincerely. “Thank you.”

She then bade farewell and walked to the door with Shang Jianyao, Bai Chen, and Long Yuehong.

With the corridor just inches away, she suddenly turned around and casually asked, “Did your cathedral send people to investigate the Underground Ark’s library back then?”

After forming the Ark Management Committee, the Old Task Force actually hadn’t written off the books underground. They just didn’t know that there was a Buddhist holy land in the nearby Iron Mountain City ruins. They weren’t interested in what kind of person DiMarco used to be or what he had experienced. Their focus was mainly on the books regarding the apocalypse.

The DiMarco family’s ancestors were apocalyptic fanatics, and they specially built the Underground Ark for this very reason. Their family’s library naturally had the corresponding content.

Song He’s eyes flickered as he nodded slightly. “We sent a few clergymen because the Underground Ark’s library has plenty of technical information and precious books that involve Old World civilization. This has a relatively important role for Redstone Collection’s future and for humans to welcome the New World’s descent. This is the wealth our ancestors—Old Calendar humans—left us.”

At this point, Song He changed the topic. “However, we didn’t take away any lone books. We only copied them.”

His other meaning was that the Vigilance Church had taken one or two of the more common books.

“Okay.” Jiang Baimian nodded slowly. “Did you discover any records worth paying attention to?”

Song He shook his head.

...

In basement two inside the Ark, in the reception room from before.

The Old Task Force had gotten Ulrich, the former Ark butler, over.

Jiang Baimian went straight to the point. “What kind of person was the Ark’s first owner—DiMarco’s great-grandfather, Mr. Modeus?”

Ulrich recalled for a few seconds and deliberated over his words. “He died before I was born, but my grandfather was a warden he appointed. He mentioned him to me. His personality was very similar to DiMarco in all aspects, but he wasn’t that irritable or brutal.”

That’s because he hadn’t been confined to the Ark for years. His mind was completely warped in his later years... Long Yuehong ‘helped’ explain inwardly.

“What about things besides personality?” Jiang Baimian asked.

Ulrich looked at Shang Jianyao—who was still wearing the monkey mask. “He was once a believer of an ancient religion in the Old World and often carried the religion’s Holy Bible with him. DiMarco, his father, and grandfather always wore the clothes of the Old World’s clergymen because they were directly influenced by him. However, he ultimately believed in the Kalendaria and joined the Church. He obtained peace in the last few years of his life.”

That’s because the same person has a consistent fashion sense... Long Yuehong replied inwardly again.

Religion... Scriptures... Jiang Baimian muttered silently.

Bai Chen asked, “Is the Holy Bible—the one that Modeus often carried with him— still in the library?”

“Yes, the Church only took away the other Holy Bibles.” Ulrich was rather certain.

As Shang Jianyao was already on the brink of drowsiness, Jiang Baimian—who didn’t need to worry about the topic deviating—tersely acknowledged his words. “Do you know what books Mr. Modeus often read? Did he leave a diary?”

Ulrich shook his head. “He’s not a person who likes to keep track of things. Besides, him, DiMarco’s father, grandfather, and even DiMarco himself hated it when others pried into their privacy. They never let anyone know their reading preferences.”

Jiang Baimian fell silent for a few seconds before asking, “Oh, right. The family autobiographies we saw last time are still there, right?”

It was an autobiography written by the DiMarco family before the Old World was destroyed. The Old Task Force had previously flipped through the parts regarding the apocalypse and the Ark and realized that their ancestor was indeed fanatical. This resulted in him building the Underground Ark, not because he had obtained some information in advance.

Jiang Baimian decided to go through it again. She planned on carefully reading the stuff she had previously skipped or scanned through a few times.

“It’s there,” Ulrich replied calmly.

...

In a library on a certain floor of the Underground Ark.

Ulrich picked up a dark-red, leather-bound Holy Bible from the desk in the middle and handed it to Jiang Baimian. “This is the book Mr. Modeus often carried.”

As Jiang Baimian took it, she looked at the bookshelves around her. She felt that this place was more like a stack room than a library.

“Thanks, we’ll call you if we need your help,” she said to Ulrich.

Ulrich didn’t insist on staying because he didn’t know if it was suitable for him to participate in the subsequent matters.

After Ulrich left the library, Jiang Baimian said to Long Yuehong, Bai Chen, and Shang Jianyao, “I’ll read this Holy Bible. You guys read those DiMarco family autobiographies again. Hey, sleep against the bookshelf for a while if you feel dizzy.”

“Alright,” Shang Jianyao said with his eyes closed. Then, he slowly slid to the ground and fell asleep on the spot.

He really doesn’t care about the little things... Long Yuehong muttered and picked up a book of autobiographies that Ulrich had placed on the desk.

Time quietly passed, and only the rustling sound of page-flipping was heard.

After an unknown period of time, Jiang Baimian saw the parts regarding hell and the Devil in the Holy Bible.

She suddenly found a sentence in dark-blue ink at the bottom of a blank page. The sentence was written in the Red River language: “I awaken from the darkness; the Devil opens its eyes.”

For some reason, this sentence written in a scrawl sent a chill down Jiang Baimian’s spine.

She quickly flipped through the next few pages and didn’t find a new ‘comment.’ This seemed to be the only additional ‘content’ in the entire Holy Bible.

“Take a look at this.” Jiang Baimian made a guess as she summoned Long Yuehong and Bai Chen. “After the Old World was destroyed, did Modeus leave behind this sentence when he first woke up in the Ark? Back then, he had already figured out what abilities he had obtained. His emotions were complicated and uncontrollable, so he wrote this sentence and felt that he had become a devil?”

Long Yuehong was just about to stand up and walk to his team leader when he suddenly saw a sentence in the autobiography: “To expand the family’s architectural business, the eldest son—Modeus—was sent to the neighboring country’s Iron Mountain City to participate in an old city rejuvenation bidding...”

Long Yuehong’s pupils dilated as he blurted out, “Team Leader, Modeus has been to Iron Mountain City! Before the Old World was destroyed!”

There was actually a certain connection between the two!