Embers of Embers

Chapter 270 The Last Case
This sudden and vigorous meeting ended in this way.
Lorenzo has been gone for a long time, but no one in the conference room has left. They remained silent and looked at each other with vigilant eyes.
Their dispute is not over yet, in fact it has just begun.
"You won't give up so easily, will you?"
Arthur looked at Anthony on the side, he was so well prepared to target Lorenzo, if it wasn't for Lorenzo being so uncontrollable, maybe he would have succeeded this time.
A guy with misaligned self-perception might really cooperate with Anthony after a few words of brainwashing advice.
"It is natural that the Pseudo-Grail is a great asset to the evangelical church."
Anthony answered unabashedly.
"But this is Old Dunling."
"Perhaps...perhaps for some reason, you will also be on our side?"
Anthony said such a meaningless sentence, as if everything was still under his control.
"Arthur, do you think a person's will can be defeated?"
Arthur didn't respond. He couldn't understand why Anthony suddenly changed the topic to this, and then Anthony continued to talk to himself.
"That's a terrible will. Even after going through so much, Mr. Lorenzo Holmes still gave us a heavy blow at the end under the condition of cognitive dislocation."
Recalling Lorenzo's ferocious expression at that time, Anthony couldn't help laughing. He really wanted to witness the glory of the old order with his own eyes, and what kind of belief could create such terrifying witchers.
"But he is still a human being. No matter how much of his body the powerful secret blood occupies, he is still a human being and possesses human inferiority.
As long as you are human, you will be tired, you will feel pain, you will hesitate, you will be sad..."
Anthony spoke softly, looking at the door of the conference room. Lorenzo's figure when he left seemed to still be imprinted in his eyes.
"Mr. Lorenzo Holmes is really powerful. He has a will far beyond all of us, an iron will. Even if he falls into madness, he can still find a rational path. It's incredible... …
But a person's self-deception is doomed not to last long. He deceives himself to be 042, a non-existent person, a weapon with a human body. How long can such a deception last?
Maybe the toughness in front of him is just the toughness he deliberately showed to us?Lorenzo Holmes could not fall, at least not in front of his enemies. "
Anthony said and laughed.
"Maybe he is hugging his head and crying in a corner right now."
"So this is what you're after?"
Arthur looked at Anthony without emotion. Everything today was a conspiracy and an unavoidable situation.
"Probably...what we said is the truth anyway, isn't it? Lorenzo is carrying a false Holy Grail, and his own identity is also a mystery. Your purification agency needs to understand it, and our Evangelical Church also needs to use it on him. pressure.
Now there are gaps in that iron will. Although Lorenzo tried his best to maintain his will, he is still a human being, isn't he?He couldn't live with the weapon forever, and he was going crazy. "
Anthony stood up and left as he spoke, and the demon hunters guarding the door also left with him, leaving only the side that purged the mechanism.
"Their purpose is more than that," Gawain, who was watching, said at this moment, "They should have more ulterior thoughts."
"That's natural, the evangelical church... they're far more complicated and scary than we think."
Merlin thought of the living Temple of Stasis, and he was more curious than Lorenzo about what kind of life form it was.
"It stands to reason that compared to the False Holy Grail, Lorenzo, shouldn't the Evangelical Church care more about the lost Book of Revelation at the moment?"
After silence, Arthur also expressed his confusion. Anthony's purpose in this conversation was obvious. He pointed all the fingers at Lorenzo.
"Maybe... maybe this has something to do with Mr. Holmes?"
said Percival, who was incompatible with the serious atmosphere.
"You have also seen that Mr. Holmes did not intend to deceive us. He seems to have been distorted by the pseudo-Holy Grail. Is there such a possibility?
Lorenzo Holmes is related to "Apocalypse", and even more complicated, the inside story that only the evangelical church knows. After all, he is the witcher named Metanzor, and now all this is just him Did you forget or didn't realize it? "
As Percival spoke, the surroundings became quiet, and she suddenly found that the remaining people were looking at her with a strange look.
"What's wrong...is there something wrong with what I said?"
Arthur put away his emotions and waved his hands.
"No, I'm just curious. Are you really stupid, or have you been pretending to be stupid?"
"Are you discriminating against me?"
Percival had no idea what she had said.
"However, as Anthony said, it looks like Lorenzo may not be in good shape at the moment."
Arthur also looked in the direction of the door, where Lorenzo left not long ago.
Lorenzo is a madman, and ordinary people can never judge the mental state of a madman, not to mention that this madman also has a serious tendency to self-destruct.
Arthur didn't know what Lorenzo's state of mind would be now. Should he continue his cold-blooded madness, or sit in a corner and cry?
But Lorenzo is different from everyone else. Everyone has a place called home to take refuge in when they are in a desperate situation, but he does not.
Arthur can go home and talk to the photos of his dead wife, or cry to Eve, although the girl may not like her father like this. Gawain and Percival can also go back to their hometown, and everyone here can be in a normal state. Human societies all have normal social circles, and they all have so-called families, except for Lorenzo.
Maybe Lorenzo had too, but with the fire of Advent that all disappeared, and Arthur didn't know what he would do.
I just looked out the window with some worry. The sky was gloomy and light rain was falling.
……
The unique light rain of Old Dunling fell and fell on Lorenzo's head. He was in a daze and sat in the corner of the alley. The severe pain in his mind was relieved a lot by the coolness.
Huge amounts of water vapor are emitted every day, and they accumulate in the sky above Old Dunling, making the sky always so gloomy, like an inverted ocean above the city, with giant steel whales swimming in it.
The cold rain hit his face, and his somewhat empty eyes gradually became shiny.
"I am...Lorenzo Holmes, I am...042."
Lorenzo looked up at the sky and said a little stubbornly.
Until now, Lorenzo still thinks that he is 042. As for the fact that he is 047, there must be a mistake somewhere, it must be like this.
Either Anthony fabricated the evidence, or what he said was true, but there was more to it than that...
In fact, Lorenzo was very troubled when he thought about this. If he was 042, then who is the ghost living in his [gap]?Or what the hell is that split personality, but...it doesn't make sense...
He worked hard to digest the information, slowly lowered his head, and looked at his reflection in the water.
"Night of Holy Advent..."
Lorenzo said to himself.
If there was any doubt about all this, it was undoubtedly the Night of Advent.
Human memory is coherent and logical. During Anthony's questioning, Lorenzo could not remember the specific details of the Holy Night. He only remembered that he killed 047 with his own hands. This memory was inserted into him out of thin air. In his mind, he kept hinting to himself.
In fact, Lorenzo has begun to waver slightly. Maybe what Anthony said is true, he is really crazy, and he continues to stubbornly insist that he is 042, and is undoubtedly continuing to move forward on the road of madness.
But Lorenzo didn't want to give up.
All the evidence proves that 042 does not exist, but Lorenzo does not believe it. He still firmly believes in the existence of 042, as if if he abandons these, himself, named 042, Lorenzo Holmes will really disappear.
Continuing to think hard, Lorenzo tried hard to recall everything about the night of Holy Advent. These thoughts made him feel painful and helpless. He tried to restore everything about that night in his mind.
But in the end, that night was still blank, as if someone had cut off everything about that night, so Lorenzo forgot. However, for the sake of memory coherence and logic, the brain completed the memory of that night on its own, although it was full of loopholes. , but as long as you don’t think about it seriously, it is true.
"Am I really...047?"
Lorenzo said hesitantly.
This idea may make sense. He is 047. Because of the pseudo-Holy Grail, his memory fragments have conjured up an identity of 042 to rationalize all this.
But is this the real answer?
This is a paradox that cannot be proved by itself. Lorenzo is like a drowning man. He struggles hard but cannot find the only way.
He suddenly had a terrible thought. Maybe his anger towards the demon also originated from this, right?
The best way to forget one thing is to let another thing occupy your life, so Lorenzo was so obsessed with the demon, pouring all his passion and anger into it until he almost forgot about it.
He rubbed his head vigorously, trying to break open the solid skull, trying to find the missing fragment from the blood, but Lorenzo couldn't do it. He didn't even know where to go next?
Anthony succeeded, he did it, he could not destroy this iron will, but he could make it confused and full of cracks.
But at this moment of despair, the sound of clattering footsteps suddenly sounded. He stepped on the stagnant water, and soon the black umbrella covered the sky and dispersed the rain.
"You look really embarrassed right now, Mr. Lorenzo Holmes."
The man looked at Lorenzo with a regretful expression, and there was a furry chinchilla lying on his shoulder.
It's rare to see this tough man who can kill people with a spoon actually look like this, and it's unclear what he went through.
But Hercule soon discovered that the drowned rat's eyes had changed.
I don’t know why, Lorenzo’s eyes looked at him more and more strangely. If he was like a frustrated drunk before, now there was a fire slowly rising in his eyes. Even before he could say anything to comfort him, this guy was looking at him again. Come to life, your vitality is astonishingly tenacious.
"You came just in time, Hercule."
Lorenzo stretched out his hand, grabbed his collar, and climbed up from the muddy ground.
The invincible Mr. Holmes stood up again, his eyes blazing.
"what happened?"
Hercule was a little confused. Originally, he received a tip that a homeless man found Lorenzo lying here. Hercule thought he was dead and hurried over, but he did not expect that it would turn out like this. This way.
"I'm 042, I'm Lorenzo Holmes."
He was embarrassed and said stubborn words, like a rebellious child.
"Hercule, you have a good memory, don't you?"
"Yes, it is."
Although Hercule had not known Lorenzo for long, he could feel that there was something wrong with this guy, like fireworks rising in a heavy rain, dying but burning brilliantly.
"Then can you remember something you forgot?" Lorenzo asked.
"Of course you can. In essence, all your memories are stored in that magnificent palace. The reason why you forget it is because you forgot which door it was placed behind."
Speaking of his specialty, Hercule explained seriously that he relied on this terrifying memory to build a kingdom in the shadows.
"Then teach me, teach me everything!"
Lorenzo seemed very tired. He put a hand on Hercule's shoulder and asked him to carry half of his body. Maybe it was because he was too dirty. Poirot obviously didn't like the dirty Lorenzo. Jumped onto Hercule's head.
"what are you going to do?"
Lorenzo gave him such a strange feeling, dying but yet full of life.
"I'm a detective, aren't I? What else can I do besides solve crimes?"
Lorenzo gasped, then laughed, the laughter was a bit miserable, and then he vented loudly like he was singing some opera.
"This is the final case, Hercule."
The gloomy world was reflected in the gray-blue eyes. They began to twist and collapse, and finally returned to nothingness.
This is the final case. Lorenzo needs to figure out what happened to the void on Advent Night.He wants to know who he really is?
042 or 047, or neither?
Who cares?
"This...maybe the last case of Lorenzo Holmes's detective career."
Lorenzo shouted loudly, as if questioning the weird people hiding in the shadows, and then he laughed uncontrollably.
Hercule supported him, and the drizzle became heavier, and then the heavy rain poured down. Thousands of water droplets fell, hitting the ground, steel, and umbrellas... They shattered into countless shapes and rose into the sky. Then, the whole city was dragged into the hazy rain and fog.
(End of this chapter)