Embers of Embers

Chapter 147 Death of Alchemy
Just as Merlin said, Lorenzo was in a steel cage a few minutes later.
It was more like a heavily guarded interrogation room than a cage. There was an electrified iron fence between Lorenzo and Merlin. Judging from the blood in the air, this was not a good place.
The two kept a strange silence until Arthur arrived, and the three of them got together again, but this time Lorenzo was tied to the iron bed, and by pulling the machine, the entire iron bed slowly folded up, so that Lorenzo could Renzo can stand from a seated position.
"So why on earth are you so nervous, Merlin."
Lorenzo said slowly, this series of events made him a little irritated.
"Next thing you'll know, Mr. Holmes."
Merlin nodded to Arthur, and the two of them sat opposite Lorenzo, looking like they would be lenient when they were frank but not strict.
"So……"
"Mr. Holmes, can you tell us about your experience in the Original Sin Armor? Be specific and detailed."
Merlin asked crisply, as if he knew something, he went straight to the center of the question.
"The armor experience? I went in and fell into a coma."
Lorenzo didn't say much. This was related to Watson, the weird pseudo-Holy Grail. No one knew whether the purification agency would really treat him as a guinea pig after learning about this.
"Please think about it carefully. You are the only case so far. You fell into a coma but did not lose control. This is an extremely special case."
Merlin said again.
"..."
Lorenzo remained silent.
He is absolutely vigilant against Watson as a false Holy Grail, something that cannot be trusted.
Lorenzo was still hesitating whether to reveal the important information about the [Gap]. For the first time, Lorenzo felt troubled by this thing.
"So let's change the subject."
Seeing that Lorenzo remained silent, Merlin did not continue to ask. Instead, he asked Lorenzo a question from another angle.
"Do you know anything about alchemy?"
"alchemy?"
Lorenzo couldn't understand why this guy mentioned this. If there is any most profound skill in this world, it must be alchemy.
A power beyond the reach of mortals, it is said to connect ghosts and gods.
Seeing Lorenzo's hesitation, Merlin continued.
"Alchemy...in fact, it can be regarded as the embryonic form of modern chemistry. In the era when it was born, human productivity was far less powerful than it is now. Just casting iron swords is a very difficult thing, so alchemy can be regarded as the beginning. A metallurgical technology.”
Merlin said somewhat mysteriously.
"Understand a substance, decompose a substance, and then recast it... sublimate cheap metals into precious metals, and ascend from the mortal state."
"This technology has been continuously derived with the development of the times, and a mysticism has been constructed, and many strange and weird things are more or less related to it."
Merlin turned around and asked again.
"So do you know why alchemy is gradually disappearing from the world?"
"disappear?"
It seemed to have touched Lorenzo's thinking. Although there had been traces of it for a long time, it was only now clear that this once dominant mysterious skill was quietly fading away.
"Yes, the purification mechanism is also undergoing upgrading. Technologies related to alchemy are slowly being phased out, and new technologies are gradually taking their place. It may not be as efficient as alchemy, but in today's production industry, it is enough to support the entire purification mechanism. operation."
Merlin said slowly. As the last alchemist of the old Dunling, in this situation, he seemed particularly calm and indifferent.
"Do you know how alchemy continues?"
The alchemist continued to explain.
"Modern scholars are happy to share knowledge, unite and build schools, but alchemists are on the contrary. Every alchemist pursues the ultimate in alchemy, the deepest soul, the philosopher's stone, and the sage's stone. Stone, or panacea, these are just the pronouns of the illusory, what they are after is that kind of 'sublimation of the soul'."
"But in the world constructed by alchemy, this is a balanced scale. Sufficient price must be paid to achieve the other extreme behind the scale, the sublimation of the soul, and it obeys the conservation of energy."
"That is to say, it is limited..."
Lorenzo replied subconsciously.
"That's right, only a handful of alchemists can reach that extreme, so every alchemist is in a competitive relationship."
Merlin replied affirmatively to Lorenzo.
"This is taboo knowledge. Just like the erosion of demons, it will amplify the greed in your heart. Your incomparable desire will make you crazy about it! In order to pursue those things, you can abandon everything!"
"Every alchemist is an enemy to each other!"
His words became more passionate and angry. Lorenzo looked at Merlin's empty eyes. He suddenly felt an unspeakable fear, fear of the weird mystery, fear of the extremely hateful hollow in Merlin's eyes, as if it was just a shell. .
"Calm down, Merlin."
Arthur reminded him at the right time.
Merlin paused for a moment, as if he was unaware of his gaffe. After swallowing, his voice calmed down again.
"I'm sorry, I haven't talked about this for a long time. I'm a little rude. Alchemy is like this. It has great power, but it can also inspire the most primitive greed of mankind, the greed for knowledge, the greed that cannot be shared."
"Then let's talk about the continuation of the alchemist. We have a one-to-one apprenticeship system internally. All the knowledge is recorded in the notes and passed on to the next apprentice. In order to ensure that their skills will not be When other alchemists get it, they will be equipped with a corresponding code book, even if others get the notes, they won't be able to see anything."
"But this also leads to a very serious problem."
Merlin said somewhat sadly.
"Alchemy is very prone to technological chronology."
In the long research, each alchemist exists independently, and the techniques they master are different. But once one inheritance is cut off, then this long research will disappear, and even the notes will be missing by one or two pages. This will cause the entire alchemical system to collapse.
"The inheritance of alchemy is now a crumbling and dangerous building. Every time a inheritance is cut off, a stone brick will be removed. But modern science has shared everything. Scholars have spent their entire lives studying different directions to continuously strengthen this building."
"It is even said that even after death, there are books left behind, and some alchemy notes are corroded with varying degrees of intensity because they record knowledge about monsters. Maybe they will turn into monsters after studying them."
Merlin sighed as he spoke, judging from his tone, he seemed to have suffered a lot.
"Then why don't you expand your enrollment? Now that's the case, why don't you want to find more apprentices?"
Lorenzo didn't understand. Isn't the best way to deal with the severance a few more apprentices?
"I have been able to restrain my greed for knowledge, but what about my apprentices? Not to mention that in the construction of alchemy, only a few people can reach the ultimate level."
Merlin suddenly showed a strange smile, as if everything in front of him was foreshadowing for the next topic. Lorenzo sat behind the electrified iron fence and felt something bad.
"And there is one more point, which led to alchemy being doomed to be abandoned by the times... You should have a deep understanding of Mr. Holmes."
"You understand? I know nothing about alchemy, Merlin."
Lorenzo shook his head. After all, the university in Old Dunling didn't teach this kind of thing, so he couldn't even get a class if he wanted to.
"Remind you, the Book of Revelation of the Evangelical Church."
he smiled.
Lorenzo's pupils narrowed slightly, with an extremely vigilant gaze.
"You mean it... is actually an alchemy notebook?"
"No, how is it possible? I haven't even seen that book, but it has a wonderful thing in common with alchemy, and that is the 'core technology'."
Merlin slowly revealed the truth.
"When the Evangelical Church loses the Book of Revelation, it loses the secret blood technology. Once the alchemist dies, the alchemy that supports the entire society will be cut off... To build a stable society that can fight against demons, use this kind of thing as a Core technology... don't you think the risk is too high?"
This is the current predicament of the Evangelical Church. When the Holy Night broke out, all the alchemists died, and the mysterious "Apocalypse" was also stolen by Dean Lawrence. The powerful secret blood technology was cut off for a while. .
"This is the reason why the purification mechanism gradually reduces the proportion of alchemy. Once I die, or there is no apprentice to inherit, this place will fall into the same predicament as the Evangelical Church. But with modern technology, it is different. If I die, the old Several excellent universities in Dunling will continue to send talents, even the whole of Inlwig, and the whole of the Western world.”
This is the advantage of promoting basic knowledge. Even if there is a terrible war, the world will not go back to the ignorant era. Even the most ordinary train conductor will know basic mechanical maintenance after years of influence.
"And this is not the reason why alchemy is destined to be abandoned. In the old era, its productivity was just right, but now it is different. This is a new era, the steam age, the industrial age. We have the most powerful production lines in the world, and weapons are no longer Not the blade crafted by a craftsman, but a modern weapon flowing off the production line.”
"Alchemy is destined to be abandoned, I just speed it up."
It's like a grand speech, but also like a sad funeral.
The funeral of alchemy, the funeral of old times.
"Then let's talk about the situation when you piloted the Original Sin Armor."
For some reason, Merlin pulled back on the Armor of Original Sin again, like a deep trap, and now he wanted to push Lorenzo into it.
"Do you know that when you were dragged out of the armor, you were very quiet and didn't respond at all."
"Looking like a glorious reflection of a completed revolution?"
Lorenzo asked rhetorically.
"I'm not sure what you look like, but it's very familiar."
Merlin ignored Lorenzo's snarl, in his opinion this guy was trying to change the subject.
"What are you familiar with?"
"You look like your soul is gone. Transferred, or... sublimated?"
Another corner of the truth was wiped away from the dust. Lorenzo kept the calm in front of him, but his heart was turbulent. If Merlin was not deceiving him, then it was obvious that the [Gap] was related to the ultimate in alchemy... sublimation.
"Of course you can't achieve sublimation, and it's a mystery whether sublimation actually exists."
Merlin said.
At this time, there was a knock on the door of the cell. I didn't know who was knocking on the door, but as if he knew who was coming, Arthur stood up, opened the door, and took a black suitcase.
"Well, Mr. Holmes, it looks like the conversation can move into phase two."
"what?"
Lorenzo was a little confused. Sure enough, these people had already planned it. His being unconscious in the armor only made the incident happen in advance.
Arthur put on his gloves, then opened the suitcase and took out something that Lorenzo was very familiar with, a silver-white spine.
"The Silver Bolt...did you know that this thing also has alchemical skills?"
Arthur asked.
Lorenzo nodded naturally. Not to mention the Silver Bolt, the demon hunter's power was inspired by the engraved alchemical matrix.
"So, going back to the technological dating I mentioned before, do you know? Mr. Holmes, the alchemy technology of this silver bolt is far beyond what I know, and it also has complex modern machinery... and even some precision. There are parts that even we can’t cast.”
Arthur's voice was filled with panic.
"Do you know what this means? The modern technology and alchemy of the Evangelical Church, at least the casting process, is far more powerful than it appears."
"But there is another contradiction. The productivity of the evangelical church cannot reach this level, and its basic technology cannot meet the standards at all. It is like if you put the design drawings of a steam engine hundreds of years ago, they Know the principle of this thing, but they can't even smelt the most basic metal."
Arthur took a deep look at Lorenzo and slowed down his speech.
"Mr. Holmes, we have decided to re-establish contact with the Evangelical Church, just after the celebration of the Nativity of God."
"..."
Lorenzo was silent. He looked at Arthur in a daze, as if he didn't understand why he did this, or why he told himself.
"Wait...you told me you wanted me to join in?"
Lorenzo started to laugh uncontrollably at the end. First it was Metanzo, and then Arthur, as if an unknown big hand was stirring fate, throwing him into the center of the vortex.
"I just think that as a cooperative relationship and your relationship with the Evangelical Church, it is necessary for me to tell you, and since you are a demon hunter after all, you know the location of the Seven Hills, maybe... it will be useful."
"No, no, no, no way, I won't go back."
Lorenzo refused. He didn't even think too much. Looking at the cell, he felt like the world was gradually collapsing.
"I won't force you, and this is just for sharing information."
Arthur kept his cold mind, weighing the pros and cons.
"Then, that's it for today. You don't have to worry about what excessive measures we will take on you. This cell is only effective for 24 hours. We have to ensure your condition before we can let you leave."
Walking to the door, Arthur said again.
"Goodbye, Mr. Holmes."
　Return home and update first.
　
(End of this chapter)