Embers of Embers

Chapter 143 First Test Drive
The steel is interlaced and bitten to death. Sometimes you will feel that the entire perpetual motion pump is like a mechanical life with life. The heavy and complex mechanical structure is its organ. In the conduit made of metal, the current of blood is surging. .
The boy raised his head and looked at the metal ceiling above his head. Maybe everyone who wakes up from the hospital bed has this in common. What he sees when he wakes up is not the eyes of concern or the fireworks surrounding him, but just a monotonous look. ceiling.
"You look fine, kid. The armor is protecting you, otherwise you might never wake up."
When the doctor saw him waking up, he checked his body and told him what happened during his coma.
The boy didn't speak, he just stared at the ceiling blankly, immersed in his own world.
The doctor seemed to be used to this and didn't care about the boy's reaction. He just did various tasks for him and placed new medicines on the other side of the bed.
He was the only one in the entire ward. This was a room customized for him, a room that only belonged to him.
As the doctor left, the room became calm again. Perhaps because of the effect of the medicine, the boy felt very sleepy, but he did not want to fall asleep like this. He had no feeling in his lower body. He tried to use his hands to sit up, but The residual pain in his body made it impossible for him to do anything.
"Yo, Ovis, I'm so happy to see you wake up."
Suddenly the door was opened again, and Merlin walked in cheerfully, although the smile on his almost dead face was a bit scary.
Immediately after, Merlin walked to the bed and helped Ovis sit up. He looked very young, and looked a little underage.
"How do you feel this time? Do you still have nightmares?"
Merlin didn't pay attention to Ovis's indifference. He had long been used to it and continued to ask with concern.
"Yes, but vaguely."
Owes finally spoke, his voice calm.
It is very dangerous to pass out in the armor. The demon's power will continue to corrode the driver. While in coma, the driver's will is completely defenseless, which will accelerate the degree of erosion.
It's been a long time since Ovis passed out in the armor, but this time he suffered huge trauma, and it was lucky to survive.
"What exactly is it?"
Merlin asked next, as if he was doing some research.
"It's very blurry... You also know that people can't record dreams completely. I can only see false grays and obscure sounds... Why are you asking these?"
Orvis looked at Merlin. He usually didn't ask such questions.
Dreams are a very strange thing. Usually you can't remember how you arrived in the dream. The weird world is extremely chaotic, but it's like there is another force hinting at you, even if it is completely inconsistent with the laws of physics, But your brain also recognizes it as a norm.
"We have a new test driver. You met him, Mr. Lorenzo Holmes. To be honest, I am also uneasy about the witcher test driving the original sin armor."
"After all, every knight's first time driving armor is accompanied by huge risks."
"Everyone's first drive is fraught with risk."
Merlin expressed what he felt uneasy about, and after a long pause, he spoke again.
"You should remember that I told you about 'contact', right? The more you interact with demons, the more you endure erosion, the more you can feel some indescribable things."
"connect?"
Merlin nodded and continued.
"I also asked Mr. Holmes, and he said that weird feeling is called the connection with darkness... It's like you are going deep into a deep blue sea. The deeper you go, the more gigantic and scary it becomes. "
"This is something I suddenly realized recently. After all, corrosion can interfere with our nerves. All false hallucinations can be attributed to this, but this connection is different. It is as if your spirit is reaching another world."
In fact, there was something that Merlin had not told Ovis. He was an alchemist, and in that ancient and mysterious skill, he also had a name for the depth of the spirit.
【gap】.
"At first I thought it was just erosion, but I found that everyone who is eroded will have a specific and confusing hallucination. Everyone has..."
The voice gradually became distant, but then suddenly disappeared.
"Ovis, what did you see when you piloted the armor for the first time?"
Merlin then asked, this alchemist seemed to have inspired himself, and he could feel something called passion from the empty eyes.
Ovis thought about it for a while, that was his clearest dream, and it was hard to forget even if he wanted to forget it.
"That is……"
But the moment he was about to say it, a roaring alarm bell spread throughout the Ever-Moving Pump. You can see that all the indicators turned to red, and everything was bathed in the bright light. A layer of ferocious scarlet.
Like a boiling and burning hell.
It seemed as if an evil spirit had invaded the entire underground facility. According to emergency measures, the steel gates were lowered and sealed one by one, and current was connected. Security guards took experimental weapons and walked onto the emergency passage, and all scientific researchers evacuated.
"what happened?"
Merlin said and tried to open the door to the room, but because the entire Perpetual Pump entered an emergency state, the door was tightly sealed. He yelled and cursed while looking for his key. He was the technology of the Perpetual Pump. Chief, his key can open any door under any circumstances.
"It's... the Original Sin Armor, I can feel the erosion."
Ovis yelled from the bed, the hidden erosion was everywhere.
"Let me go out and prepare the Original Sin Armor for me. I can subdue it."
"Shut up, you're going to die if you use that damn thing again!"
Merlin turned his head and shouted.
For a moment, the anxious and restless atmosphere seemed to disappear. Ovis sat blankly on the bed and looked at Merlin, as if he couldn't believe it.
"what are you saying?"
"I said you can't use armor anymore! Lancelot, you can perfectly control the armor, but that doesn't mean erosion doesn't exist!"
Merlin opened the door and rushed out, as if he was afraid that he would come out. He also sealed the door tightly again, leaving him looking at all this with some disbelief, whether it was the danger of breaking free or something else. Nothing can disturb him.
……
Half an hour ago, workshop.
"So you want me to test drive this?"
Lorenzo looked up at the container lowered from the rails and asked Tesla.
After a series of inspections, the three mice were all in good health. It happened that one of the second-generation armors had been debugged, and the first test drive experiment began naturally.
There are warning yellow signs on the container, and the iron surface is covered with scratches, just like some kind of beast struggling to death inside. As the container is opened, the corrosion comes, revealing the ferocious armor.
Different from New Hope, the second-generation armor is obviously much smaller. After being cast with modern top technology, the sophisticated armor and fully protected internal mechanical equipment, the cumbersome and magnificent patterns are engraved on the shiny armor.Lorenzo looked at this second-generation armor and felt that it looked familiar.
"The registration code of this second-generation armor is Weapon Master, and it was unveiled during the operation in Ende Town."
Tesla explained to the three of them that it was produced at the Berhans Military Factory and was urgently dispatched to Old Dunling during the operation in Ende Town.
"I think you all have seen it. During the operation in Ende Town, this was the armor driven by Shrike. In order to make it perfect for high-ranking knights, we greatly reduced the proportion of demons on the second-generation armor. The result is less flexibility, but the impact is not too great.”
"I remember it being... more dangerous than it is now."
Looking at the armor, he always felt something was different in his impression. Lorenzo could only say it vaguely.
"You mean its armament, code-named Weapon Master. Its positioning is to use a variety of weapons to suppress demons. There are two large weapon racks on the back, as well as many external weapons and new armor, but after all it is only It's just an experiment, so there's no need to be so heavily armed, right?"
Tesla knocked on the sturdy armor. This ghost thing was extremely deadly even without mission weapons, let alone being fully armed. Once out of control, this ghost thing could kill through the entire Perpetual Pump.
Walking around the original sin armor called the Weapon Master, it looked like it was carved from a single piece of steel, with no gaps left for people to attack.
"So, where do I get in?"
Lorenzo walked around and didn't know where to enter.
"here."
Tesla said and pulled the valve, the cable connecting the armor was energized, the steam engine roared slightly, and then the entire armor came to life.
There are two ways to activate the original sin armor. One is that the driver himself is placed in the central frame, and then the flesh and blood that grows will connect it with the filled armor. The second is that Lorenzo is now like this, After the armor is fully assembled, enter from the open position of the armor after preheating.
The entire armor moved strangely. It knelt down on one knee and lowered its head. The whole armor looked like a rugged hill.
Lorenzo originally thought that it would be opened on the chest like New Hope, but in fact it was opened at the place where the back of the armor was connected to the back. As the steam escaped, the dark door opened to Lorenzo.
"Is there anything you need from me when I get in?"
Lorenzo climbed up the ladder and stood on the back of the armor. Looking at the darkness inside, he suddenly felt uneasy.
"Nothing is needed, but this is your first time connecting to the armor. I don't know what will happen, not to mention you are still a demon hunter."
Tesla also felt a little uneasy. The Demon Hunter and the Original Sin Armor, two extremely dangerous things came together, and no one knew what would happen.
Whether it is the Evangelical Church or the Purification Agency, no one has ever really understood what a demon is. Because of the strange erosion, the scholars of the Eternal Pump have been troubled by this. Scientific research cannot continue to deepen, and the Evangelical Church can only Use the name of God to explain all these unknown things.
"I only have one thing to say to you, Mr. Holmes, stay rational. Please stay absolutely rational at all times."
As he said that, he started to back away, took the remaining two mice to the lifting platform, and began to lift to the safe area with the rotation of the gears.
The entire workshop was running again, the gate to the outside world was sealed and powered on, the Geiger counters on the well wall bounced one by one, and the ancient taboo ceremony was about to begin.
Lorenzo looked up at the scorching sun on the dome, and then he was in the darkness.
He could clearly hear the sound of the steel around him fitting together again, and a warm feeling came from the surface of his body. It was very soft to the touch, filling the gap between him and the steel like flesh and blood, and finally along the back of his neck. At first, the slender probe was inserted into the body, and began to connect with the demon's flesh and blood.
Then a new heartbeat sounded. It was more powerful than Lorenzo's heart, clearer and heavier than a war drum. It hammered Lorenzo's chest hard, giving power to this body of steel. .
"Mr. Holmes, how do you feel?"
Tesla's voice rang in his ears. From the high platform, Lorenzo was still kneeling on the steel altar after activating his armor.
"Please try to move Mr. Holmes. We won't be able to get any experimental data if you just stay where you are."
"Mr. Holmes?"
Tesla's voice echoed in the narrow armor, but no one responded to his call.
"Mr. Holmes, if you are still awake, please reply to me immediately."
Tesla's voice became serious this time. On the high platform, looking at the sculpture-like armor, he knew that the most dangerous thing had happened.
Suddenly the armor slowly stood up, but unlike what was expected, dark red flesh and blood gushes out from under the plate armor, and the overgrown muscles twist the entire armor into a weird monster.
Steel and machinery were mixed in, until the flesh and blood completely covered the faceplate, and finally it opened, revealing a scarlet mouth.
The Geiger counter screamed bleakly, and the indicator lights of the entire workshop turned red. Tesla stood on a high ground and looked at the bottom of the well. Accompanied by the twitching of flesh and blood.
Pressure, endless pressure came from the armor. Although it stood still like a sculpture, the erosion that was enough to make people crazy was continuously spreading from it.
The index has reached the limit value, and rain composed of neutralizing fluid began to fall from the dome above the head. It washed across the well wall and finally fell on the armor.
"He...he's out of control! Find a way!"
Kestrel couldn't stop shouting. It was obvious that the flesh and blood of the Original Sin Armor would not grow so vigorously under normal circumstances. It twisted and extended, seeming to completely swallow up Lorenzo in the armor.
"No, it's not out of control yet."
Tesla gritted his teeth and said slowly.
The body bathed in the neutralizing liquid was reflected in his eyes. It just stood there without any abnormal reaction, looking at the burning light of the dome.
"Keep your wits about you, Mr. Holmes."
Tesla prayed at last, and inside the armor, Lorenzo had closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes again, he was sitting on a bench, surrounded by howling cold wind, and endless gray, It seems like an ice field at the end of the world.
(End of this chapter)