Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 832: Local Customs

Shang Jianyao stood up and ran to the window, searching for the source of the bell. He looked excited with unconcealed curiosity.

This made Jiang Baimian feel like this fellow was only about ten years old.

She walked to the window. From the pedestrians’ reactions, she determined that the bell was something the residents here were accustomed to. It wasn’t worth fussing over or raising their vigilance.

However, she didn’t turn her head because of this to instruct Long Yuehong and Bai Chen to turn on the lights to dispel the darkness brought about by the evening.

She remained standing there and traced the bell’s source like Shang Jianyao. This was a habit built from her professionalism as a folklore scholar.

Jiang Baimian quickly confirmed that the bell came from Gesterbourg Castle. As the tallest building here, a large bell seemed to be installed on its top floor.

Not long after the bell stopped its ringing, bicycles tore out of the factory area and entered the streets and alleys of this settlement. They were like white pigeons that had escaped their cages, but their colors weren’t uniform.

On these bicycles of different models, the workers were either overjoyed, filled with the desire to return home, or were excitedly conversing with their fellow cyclists.

Compared to their peers in First City, their skin was darker—the sun, rain, chimney smoke, and hot furnaces had taken a toll on them. They also couldn’t hide their fatigue. Sweat dripped down their cheeks from time to time, but it was more ‘vibrant.’ They didn’t have a numbed attitude to life.

After most of the bicycles were out, a crowd resembling a tide left the factory area on foot. Their clothes were grayish-white or blue. The cloth used was rather rough, and they were covered in stains and sweat marks. Their expressions were similar to those on bicycles, and not many of them looked depressed.

“So the bell signifies the end of a workday...” Shang Jianyao came to a realization.

At this point, he, Long Yuehong, and Jiang Baimian—who were born in Pangu Biology—were no strangers to this.

At the same time, some older residents and obviously disabled people rushed to the ancient castle’s door. Soldiers in thick linen clothes carried out rye bread and other food, prepared to distribute them.

“There are fewer elderly than I imagined,” Jiang Baimian muttered to herself thoughtfully.

She originally felt that, with the White Knights’ style of often helping the poor and their specialty in biological and medical research, the number of Gesterbourg elderly in their fifties and above would just be slightly lower than that of Pangu Biology.

But from the looks of it, it was about the same as First City.

“They probably have it hard in the factories.” Long Yuehong had his own explanation.

The charging Genava interrupted at the appropriate moment. “Before the Old World was destroyed, the area occupied by the White Knights wasn’t suitable for farming and herding.”

“When I was in First City, I also heard that the White Knights had relatively poor living conditions.” Bai Chen nodded and added, “It’s all thanks to the mineral resources and advanced biological technology that they could exchange for supplies that meet their basic needs.”

At this moment, Shang Jianyao retracted his gaze and rubbed his stomach. “The White Knights are already handing out food. It’s time for us to consider what to eat for dinner.”

He used his body language to indicate that he was hungry.

Jiang Baimian thought for a moment before saying, “Old Ge, continue charging. Let’s go downstairs and ask the front desk to see what food we can get in the hotel. Let’s try not to go out.”

This hotel named Fire & Iron didn’t have a telephone installed in the room, or rather, most places in Gesterbourg didn’t have the conditions for such an installation.

“Alright!” Shang Jianyao went out first.

He stomped from the third floor to the ground floor and asked the man at the front desk, “Can we order some food?”

“Order food?” The person didn’t seem to understand why they were ordering food at the hotel. “Shouldn’t you go to a restaurant?”

“You guys!” Shang Jianyao felt pained. “How can you guys expand with such poor service? In the Old World, in other places...”

He rambled on and finally made the receptionist understand what food-ordering services were.

The blond man shook his head and said, “None of our hotels here have such services.”

He showed no intention of upgrading themselves at all. Instead, he advised Shang Jianyao, “It’s boring and depressing to stay in the room all the time. It’s better to go to a restaurant or café. If it weren’t for the relatively cold weather, I wouldn’t be willing to do this job. Carrying a hunting rifle and hunting in Icefield while searching for ruins is what a knight’s descendant should do.”

Although that’s not the whole picture, this likely signifies a certain culture in the White Knights... Jiang Baimian nodded and asked before Shang Jianyao could, “Are there any restaurants nearby where we can place orders over the phone?”

“None have phones.” The receptionist shook his head again.

In Gesterbourg, there were only a few places where phones were installed.

The residential area wasn’t that big, but neither was it small. Twenty to thirty minutes was enough for healthy people to reach any destination.

“Then, we can only head out for food.” Jiang Baimian frowned. “Or we can move some canned food from the car and make do with our meals?”

Long Yuehong instinctively revealed a troubled expression at the thought of having canned food again.

Shang Jianyao said righteously, “There’s a problem with the latter plan.”

“What problem?” Jiang Baimian asked in amusement.

Shang Jianyao glanced at the receptionist and took a few steps toward the hotel entrance.

After Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen followed him, he suppressed his voice and said, “There’s not much food left; we will definitely run out after a few more meals. When the time comes, we have to go out and purchase supplies. With Little Red’s destiny, this will also easily trigger an accident and cause a chain reaction. If this forces us to leave Gesterbourg, not only will we not have fully charged batteries, but we won’t have any food either. It will be even worse! Therefore, we have to ensure that our food reserves are above the safety line.”

“It’s clearly your destiny...” Long Yuehong muttered in retort. Apart from this, he actually felt that Shang Jianyao made sense.

Jiang Baimian was momentarily speechless by Shang Jianyao’s usage of her views to refute her.

Although the Old Task Force didn’t have as little food as Shang Jianyao made it out to be, there really wouldn’t be much after that many days.

After a while, Jiang Baimian slowly exhaled. “Hey, go upstairs and tell Old Ge to charge in peace. We’ll find food nearby.”

“Yay!” Shang Jianyao beamed.

Due to their caution and fear of triggering any accidents, the Old Task Force found a nearby restaurant on the street of the Fire & Iron Hotel. It was called ‘Old Henley.’

Only two lights were switched on in the shop, and the lighting was very dim.

Shang Jianyao and the others were just about to search for seats when they suddenly saw the waiter serve four dishes to a table of guests.

One of the guests with light blond hair and a hooked nose pointed at the strange meat in front of him and asked, “Is this beef steak?”

“Sir, it’s indeed beef steak, but you should know very well that most of the beef steak available in Gesterbourg comes from mutated species. The price also elucidates that,” the waiter replied calmly.

“Mutated species?” The hooked-nose guest was shocked. Can this thing be eaten?

The waiter immediately revealed a vigilant expression. “You aren’t local?”

The hooked-nose guest was confused for a few seconds before saying, “We come from a ranch in the south. We recently joined the White Knights and heard that Gesterbourg has many jobs and plenty of supplies to earn, so we came over.”

Like other large factions, the White Knights could only rule the towns along the transport roads. There were still humans or Subhuman settlements of various sizes in the mountains, wilderness, and deserts.

The waiter’s expression softened. “It’s no wonder you don’t know about the mutated species. Long ago, a type of cow mutated and adapted to the environment here. It was relatively easy to breed, so our White Knights used this as a blueprint and used genetic technology to nurture such cows. It produces plenty of meat and is cheap. It’s the prime choice for most people.”

“Why is it so cheap?” the hooked-nose customer asked.

The waiter smiled and said, “Eating too much makes one prone to mutations and various malignant diseases. Don’t worry. Nothing will go wrong if you only have it a few times. When you find a job, have enough money, and can buy genetic enhancement drugs, you won’t have to worry any further. The cheapest X-3 drug can give you the ability to resist such abnormalities...”

Not only did this make the guests exchange looks, but even Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen looked at each other with a magical feeling.

In biological technology, the White Knights seemed to have taken completely different directions from Pangu Biology due to the different environment.

The four of them hesitated for a moment before finding a table to sit at. Another waiter came to serve them.

Many people came from other places in the White Knights’ territory. The restaurant’s business was good, and they could hire about four people.

Jiang Baimian stopped Shang Jianyao’s attempt to try the mutated species and ordered a pile of normal meat. It wasn’t cheap.

After she was done, Shang Jianyao—who had finally found an opportunity—looked at the waiter. He suppressed his voice and asked mysteriously, “D-do you have that?”

The waiter’s expression changed. He looked around, bent down, and asked in a very low voice, “Are you talking about that?”

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