Embers of Embers

Chapter 17 The Feast of Bliss
Lorenzo pulled Eve into the crazy banquet, and everything was clear before his eyes. The long corridor led directly to the deepest part, but like a spider web, it branched out into dozens of paths as it went deeper, and at the corner People with blurred eyes are lying everywhere at the intersection, they seem to be intoxicated by a dream that they cannot wake up from.
"What is this..."
Eve was almost suffocated, and her words were hard to describe.
"The feast of bliss."
Lorenzo replied in a calm voice. This blood-boiling atmosphere could not make him excited at all, as if his blood was cold. His eyes were on the four people lying on the ground. They were embracing each other passionately, and they were together. Intoxicated in dreams.
This is just the outside. No one knows how many people are addicted to it under this huge underground palace.
But Lorenzo didn't care about this, he pulled Eve forward, stepping over twisted and wriggling bodies.
"What are those people doing?"
"Sweet dreams, this is their way of relief."
Lorenzo held Eve's arm and said as he walked.
"Do you know the hallucinogens that are rampant in the outer city? That's what they inject. Just a little bit can escape reality for a long time. This is also one of the programs of the Sabo Ball. People in the lower city usually call this kind of gathering a feast of bliss. To them this behavior is like going to heaven together.”
His eyes were slightly cold. Lorenzo never liked this method of escape.
"But I can only go there for a while. When the dream finally ends, I will fall hard from the beautiful paradise, wake up in the dirty downtown area, and cry loudly."
Eve was stunned. The cruelty of the world was only revealed to her, and she felt extremely depressed.
"Why...why do you do this?"
It seems to be asking why they don't work hard and love life.
……
This is the era of steam technology. The rumbling steam engines push the technology of the entire world forward, but the beauty brought by this technology does not favor everyone, even in this old Dunling of Ying Erweg. middle.
The entire Old Dunling is in a morbid deformity. The sky is covered with dark clouds. Zeppelins never dive. The world's top technology is nurtured in this hotbed of industry. Everything is developing in the best direction.
But the price of all this is also so painful, the air mixed with exhaust gas reverberates in the lungs of every Inrwig, in order to keep the furnace from going out, the old forest has been burned to the ground, and now only the Wasteland to be developed.
The top end of science and technology always prioritizes serving the military, so Yin Erweg finally won the glorious war that lasted for hundreds of years. The dividends of the war and unique military technology made it rise rapidly. Under the twisted development, the Snake of the Atrium Covering almost all of Yin Erweg's territory, the silent steel torrent is enough to easily destroy any country that refuses to surrender.
But the darkest thing is always the deep shadow under the day.
The gradually emerging public foundation can only meet the needs of the nobility and some people. The Mechanical Institute has been able to send hundreds of tons of war machines into the sky, but it cannot make electric lights light up in every dark home. After liberating productivity, it will It is the madness of countless people who are unemployed, expelled from their own country like wild dogs, living in damp sewers, and finally entering a desperate situation.
"The whole old Dunling is like a pyramid, with classes pressing down heavily, and finally those who are powerless hold up the foundation."
Lorenzo said cruelly.
"Machines don't need wages or rest, but people do, so they are eliminated and can only survive here."
Eve didn't say anything. As an aristocrat, she couldn't say anything.
After walking a long journey, multiple senses such as vision and hearing were constantly impacted by this confusion. When she entered the real ballroom, Eve finally breathed a sigh of relief.
As the two people walked in, all the guests had arrived, and the door behind them slowly closed tightly. The singing gradually started, and the men and women twisted and danced on the dance floor, as if the door blocked the entire world, completely shutting out the confusing warmth. Isolated.
Countless crystals hang from the huge chandelier, and they reflect the light and make the dome look like daylight.
The space of the hall is much larger than what is seen in the corridor, and the stairs rise upward layer by layer, just like the duel field in ancient Rome.This place was unimaginably prosperous. Eve had never thought that there would be such a facility in the poor downtown area. It was as if all the wealth in the downtown area had been gathered here to build this great place.
"Can you dance?"
Lorenzo pulled Eve, bowed, and led her to dance on the dance floor without waiting for Eve's answer.
"I'm not very good at it."
Although Eve said this, she felt that it was too late. The two of them had already started moving, walking back and forth among the crowd on the dance floor.
The band played selflessly on the high platform, and the songs stirred everyone's emotions.
"As a noble, you should learn more. Maybe your future husband will meet at a ball, right?"
Lorenzo showed incredible proficiency, and Eve was like a marionette, swinging and dancing in his hands.
"Then how come you, a detective still has to learn to dance?"
"You also know that most of the time the mistress is caught after the dance."
Lorenzo's voice was a little dry, and it was indeed a bit bad to always mention his dark history like this.
Eve showed a bad smile and relaxed a lot unconsciously. If you forget how you came and what your purpose is, this is no different from an ordinary dance.
"Look around carefully, we are going to find Sabo next."
Holding Eve and spinning, the girl was much lighter than he imagined, and the long skirt spread out with the spinning, like a blooming lotus.
"You don't know what he looks like?"
"I'm just a detective, how could I have seen him before, so we have to find a way to find him before the end."
He was talking to Eve, but Lorenzo's eyes kept darting back and forth.
"He's a Viking. He's tall and should stand out."
Eve gave her own advice, but Lorenzo shook his head.
"He will not appear on the dance floor. He is the master here, and now is just a warm-up. There is no need for the master to appear so early."
His eyes wandered back and forth in this splendid hall. If it weren't for the mask, Lorenzo would have looked like a little thief who came to steal something.
"This is his kingdom, and the king should sit on the top and look down on his people. No matter what happens, he can see it first."
The girl's slender waist was like a willow branch in Lorenzo's hands, and the two of them swayed and spun, constantly moving through the crowd with the help of music.
"Like those Zeppelins, they are always above the clouds and they can see clearly no matter what the people on the ground do."
His eyes finally fell on the high platform, and Lorenzo whispered in Eve's ear.
"I seem to have found him."
It was a high platform, and the more distinguished guests had been seated there early. They were talking to each other, tasting fine wine and food, and discussing things they didn't want others to know.
"You said he was in that group of people?"
Eve also saw it during a spin, she whispered.
"No, it's further up."
Lorenzo's eyes were always on the upper part of the high platform, where was the magnificent glass-like wall.
We are obviously underground, but the walls are covered with stained glass, depicting myths like those in a church. But here is the underground, and the sacred light can never shine down to illuminate everything.
"This is underground. The painted glass is so abrupt. There must be a room behind it. He is behind the glass, quietly observing us."
"Then what should we do? Shoot where?" Eve was so reckless.
"In that case, we will die here together today. This is underground. You have also seen how complicated the route is. The only exit we know is the way we came from. That is an advantageous terrain. As long as someone holds a blunderbuss Blocked there, he can fight a hundred with one enemy, and it is difficult for even an army to break through."
Just like the Thermopylae that Leonidas defended, no matter how many enemies there were, they were all evenly matched in that narrow terrain.
"Then how?"
"Wait."
Lorenzo looked confident.
"There's always a chance."
(End of this chapter)