Embers of Embers

Chapter 111 Similar people
Sacrifice oneself, or kill others to save more people... In fact, this is a difficult question to come to, and it is full of hypocritical dialectics everywhere.
Lorenzo stared at Merlin quietly. He felt that he had underestimated this mysterious alchemist. What he wanted to express was far heavier than what Lorenzo thought.
"I'm not saying you have to sacrifice yourself, Mr. Holmes. What I hope is that you make your own decision, whether it's killing others, sacrificing yourself, or indifference without bearing any consequences. I I don’t care, what I care about is your own decision and what you will do.”
Merlin rejected Lorenzo's words, making this more of a moral debate than a question.
In fact, by slightly replacing all the words, Merlin's meaning becomes extremely clear.
Will Lorenzo make a decision for the sake of all humanity lying on the railroad tracks? Either ignore the demon's train that ruthlessly runs over it, sacrifice others to block the demon's erosion, or say that he is on the rails? , fighting with the demon until the last moment.
For the sake of mankind and to be forever separated from monsters, can Lorenzo escape from the shackles of morality and even his own shackles?
Lorenzo took a deep breath, he felt that the conversation became interesting, and then said.
"I'll push that unfortunate guy onto the tracks."
"You mean you survived at the expense of others, right?"
The train roared past, and Lorenzo pushed the unfortunate guy off, leaving a bloody mess.
The man was innocent, he did nothing wrong, the only thing wrong was that he was with Lorenzo, so he died.
But his death saved the remaining humans and brought the demon train to a slow stop, but is this really the case?Why was he the one who died? Why must he be sacrificed?No one asked his opinion and he just died.
Ethically speaking it was Lorenzo who killed the man, he made the decision for that man's fate.
Lorenzo nodded firmly, and Merlin at the end looked a little confused, he asked.
"Sacrifice others to keep yourself alive. To be honest, Mr. Holmes, such a choice makes it difficult for people to think that you are a trustworthy person, but I think you also have a reason why you made this choice. It can be said that Do you want to listen?"
"Simply because I'm more valuable."
Lorenzo's tone sounded extremely cold. At this moment, he was having a very serious conversation with Merlin.
"Since one person is destined to be sacrificed, then let it be decided by value. I will survive and that person will die."
"Then why do you think you're worth more than him?"
"Because I can make decisions."
Lorenzo said again, he looked at Merlin and smiled disdainfully.
"Whether it's you or Arthur, or even those high-level people who hide behind you, if you put you in this problem, you are also the one who pushes people off the railroad tracks, and the person who is pushed off the railroad tracks can be the Shrike , or it could be Lancelot.”
"In the end, all of this requires someone to make a decision, and someone needs to experience the pain and guilt of the decision. I feel that I am more suitable for making a decision than sacrificing myself."
"Deterministic, cold, and ruthless. People who make decisions are like this, without any emotions. The so-called human life is just a numerical value. In order to pursue the greatest benefit, use the least sacrifice to exchange for the survival of the largest part of the people."
"So I need to survive. Only people like me can indifferently push innocent people onto the railway tracks one after another to maintain the continuation of mankind and the silence of demons."
Lorenzo seemed to recall something, and then sneered.
"Rather than some passionate leaders sacrificing themselves one after another. Although that sounds great, it is stupid."
long silence.
In the dead silence, Arthur slowly clapped his hands. The emotion in his eyes was like admiration, but more like seeing the same kind.
Merlin spoke, his voice sounding like sharp metal rubbing against each other.
"A very evil answer. It sounds like the villain in the story, but in fact it is the real reality. Absolute rationality and absolute choices."
The raucous laughter was like a flock of crows croaking in mourning for the body lying on the tracks.
"There are many times when righteous things do not bring good results, but many times sin can bring about the greatest justice."
"You are now like an evil conspirator with a chilling aftertaste."
Lorenzo answered.
"But isn't it the same for you? The only difference between us is that in front of the railway track, we were surrounded by people. Just like you said, Shrike, Kestrel, Galahad, Lancelot, etc. Wait, they are all victims who can be pushed down.”
Merlin's empty eyes were like a cage, reflecting Lorenzo's appearance in the darkness, as if he was trapped in the darkness.
"But Mr. Holmes, you are different. There is no one beside you standing by the railway track. You are alone. You have no other choice but to step forward and face the train bravely. "
"And this is the difference between us. As you said, we are a group of evil decision-makers who control other people's lives and deaths behind the scenes, and you...you are the only one."
Lorenzo stretched his body, his expression gradually melted, and the corners of his mouth raised.
"So that's why you've gone to all this trouble to ask?"
"I'm just a little curious and it helps me better judge what kind of person you are."
Merlin looked directly at Lorenzo. His empty eyes made it difficult for Lorenzo to judge whether he was looking at him or not, which made him feel unspeakably uneasy.
"how do you feel."
"not bad."
After looking at each other for a long time, Merlin said again.
"What do you think, Arthur? Although you don't like him, he is indeed the same type of person as us."
Merlin was very confident in his own opinion. No matter how bad or crazy a person was, there was something that bound them, and for this group of people, this thing was surprisingly consistent.
demon.
As long as there are the same interests and purposes, trust can naturally be relied upon.
Arthur didn't speak, just nodded lightly, so Merlin lifted a box from under the table. It was made of solid iron and looked very heavy, but under Merlin's somewhat sick body, it was lifted very easily. , then the buckle opened, and a faint air of cold air came out from the gap in the box.
"In the past half month, not only the demons have been active, but also a new type of hallucinogen has become popular in the lower city. There are some special ones among these new hallucinogens. I think you will know after you try it."
As Merlin said, he rushed to the box and took out a hallucinogen, tiny drops of water condensed on the surface, and then Merlin swiped across the table.
Lorenzo reached out to take it. The glass was extremely cold, and he didn't know why such a thing was placed in a cryogenic box.
Lorenzo is no stranger to the hallucinogen. This substance is very popular in the lower city. Several official rectifications have been difficult to be effective. It is even said that this substance has become popular among the upper-class noble circles of old Dunling.
During the fight with Sabo, Lorenzo accidentally took hallucinogens. It was truly a hellish scene. Under the hallucinations that mislead the nerves, it is difficult for a person to have normal judgment.
Looking at the translucent liquid in the container, Lorenzo soon noticed something strange.
This thing was different from ordinary hallucinogens. Lorenzo felt inexplicably familiar with it. Without waiting for Merlin to say anything, Lorenzo opened the hallucinogen and drank a little.
There was a faint astringency, and a few seconds later Lorenzo felt that his brain began to feel dizzy, and not only that, his body became hot, and then the alarm bell rang.
The Geiger index began to rise, and the sound of metal friction came from the darkness, like iron scales rubbing against each other, but before anything happened, Arthur raised his hand toward the darkness, and then the sound slowly fell silent, along with the The alarm bells disappeared together.
He quietly watched Lorenzo's changes, but he couldn't help picking up the revolver under the table.
About 5 minutes passed, Lorenzo raised his head again, cold sweat ran across his forehead, and his eyes were full of coldness.
"I think I understand why you are so wary."
Seeing Lorenzo's reaction, Merlin smiled slightly. It seemed that his guess was right.
"We don't know how long this thing has been in circulation. It seems that the so-called hallucinogens are just a cover for this thing, and then you can see the effect. This thing has some..."
Arthur said solemnly that the previous destruction of the underground palace and the suppression of the epidemic doctors were actually all for these reasons. Someone was using the old Dunling as a testing ground, and the purification agency had no idea who he was.
"Like mystic blood, I can feel it. To be precise, this hallucinogen is mixed with very rare and inferior mystic blood."
What a terrible secret, Lorenzo looked at the two people across the round table and said coldly.
"Someone is trying to copy the secret blood technology, and it is obvious that he has achieved something. Although it is not as pure as the religious order, it can still be demonized stably to a certain extent..."
Lorenzo suddenly remembered everything he had encountered before. Everything made sense. The secret blood that demonized Sabo might have come from this, and the murderer of the murder case could basically be determined to be a person who could also be stably demonized. .
"That's why we're looking for you. It's obvious that our pursuit is in the same direction. We were the first to discover this hallucinogen mixed with secret blood. It was circulating in Old Dunling in a very small amount. We didn't know it at first. What it is is determined by your determination.”
"That is to say, there is an unknown organization that has already recreated the secret blood, and it is still in the old Dun Ling."
Lorenzo interrupted Arthur with a look in his eyes like "What do you do with the purification agency?"
Arthur tried his best not to look at Lorenzo's provocative eyes and continued.
"We don't know. The situation is very chaotic now. As you can see, our Peeper system cannot search for those people. We can only detect them when they are demonized. But there is a time lag from discovery to arrival at the scene. We almost always It was all in vain."
"But sometimes there are exceptions. The instability you mentioned can basically be confirmed. We hunted a demon before. According to what you said, he has lost his stability and cannot change back to a human. But obviously an out-of-control demon has many problems. It’s hard to find any clues.”
The intelligence of the two groups of people was put together, and a ferocious appearance was revealed behind the fog.
Lorenzo was silent and didn't speak. After a long time, he spoke, but he didn't answer Arthur's words. Instead, he whispered, as if he was convincing himself.
"No one can recreate the secret blood, no one can do it..."
That's a taboo from the Book of Revelation, and even the evangelical church has spent endless hours taming this ferocious beast, let alone others who don't have this knowledge.
No one can do this unless...
Lorenzo's thoughts couldn't help but return to that burning night.
On the night of the Holy Advent, Ed survived, the inferior secret blood, the new pope, the reorganized Demon Hunting Order, the Stasis Temple that began to connect...
It was as if a storm had come upon his mind and tore his thoughts apart, and he was well aware that these broken things were vaguely connected, but Lorenzo couldn't connect them, he couldn't.
Everything came to a standstill in an instant. Lorenzo stared blankly ahead. Unexpectedly, someone else had sat down next to Arthur, and Watson was looking at him with a smile.
So the only answer appeared in Lorenzo's mind.
I was not the only one who survived, and Ed was not the only one who survived. There were many people who escaped from the Seven Hills. Many people, many people...
So, to change the way of thinking, only the Evangelical Church masters the secret blood technology. Is it possible that there are still people causing trouble in that burning night?
Yes, the Night of Holy Advent itself is the flashpoint of a huge conspiracy, so it is not impossible for a scholar with secret blood technology in his mind to escape, right?
The source of the secret blood in Old Dunling, the mysterious man behind Ed, and the lost sacred coffin.
At the end of the operation in Ende Town, all the demons were eliminated, but only the sacred coffin that no one had ever seen was missing...
There seemed to be a big net covering the entire Old Dunling, and Lorenzo felt that his breathing had never been heavier.
"So what do you want me to do?"
Lorenzo seemed to be talking to Arthur, and seemed to be asking Watson beside him.
So he replied.
"We would like to hire you to serve the purge agency, just like you would be an external detective at Su Aran Hall."
Arthur said slowly, putting aside those damn personal grievances, Lorenzo is one of the few experts in Old Dunling in terms of hunting monsters.
"These are documents about these events. After you leave, Joey will help you handle the next procedures..."
"Don't you ask me if I agree?"
At the critical moment, Lorenzo suddenly asked indifferently, but this time Arthur was uncharacteristically lifeless, he just said lightly.
"Mr. Holmes, you are the same kind of person as us. Your only long-cherished wish is the devil."
Looking at him with dull eyes.
"Even if I don't invite you, you will hunt them to the ends of the earth, right?"
Lorenzo took the file that slid over the round table, opened the first page, and then smiled.
"Is this the code name for the entire case?"
"Yes, the most active demon is the one you were chasing before. If our speculation is correct, he should not be dead yet."
"Brutal killings, bloody handwriting...these are his characteristics."
"Is that why it's called research on letters in blood?"
"Any questions?"
"fine."
Lorenzo said slowly while looking at the document.
"I like this name."
(End of this chapter)