Embers of Embers

Chapter 371 The Magnificence of Humanity
The rainy season in Old Dunling has ended, and this gloomy city has rarely seen clear skies. The green fields are covered with dew, reflecting the glory of the sky.
Eve stopped briefly and looked at the incredible beauty.
She has almost never left Old Dunling since she was a child. In her impression, the sky seems to have always been gray, with light rain falling from time to time.
Although Phoenix Manor is located on the outskirts of old Dunling, after so many years of expansion, most of the edge areas of old Dunling have been swallowed up by the growing city, and the blue sky of Phoenix Manor has also been swallowed up by the growing city. Over the years, it became the same gray color.
Eve held the white sheets that had just been dried in her hands and was stunned for a long time. She woke up when she heard someone else's call and trotted down with it in her arms.
Countless racks were erected on the green field, with washed and disinfected sheets and quilts hung on them, as well as some hospital gowns. They swayed in the wind like dancing flags.
This is Merlin's castle. After the Black Mountain Hospital incident, in order to relieve the pressure of accommodation, Merlin generously donated this nearly abandoned castle and temporarily became a hospital for some patients.
As the technical chief of the Eternal Pump, Merlin is essentially an alchemist. Perhaps because his philosophy is different from ordinary people, he is not interested in ordinary wealth. When this land was divided, he also used it as a warehouse. I rarely come back, even if there is a place that needs to be used, most of the time it is like a temporary residence.
A few months ago, Lorenzo, Kestrel and others woke up leisurely in this castle and spent a not too long holiday, and now it has welcomed a new guest.
Doctors walked through the castle, nurses pushed wheelchairs, and from time to time there were screams of patients. The stale air was covered with the smell of disinfectant. Eve could see a group of people cleaning the house while she was walking. Sweep thick dust from the corners.
Because Merlin used this place as a warehouse, the castle's staff had been kept at a minimum. When the doctors from Black Mountain Hospital moved in, they even thought it was abandoned.
Everything went crazy after the incident, when Arthur was still in a coma, and Eve was at a loss when she suddenly remembered the last words Arthur said to her.
Merlin knew his past, so while Arthur was still in a coma and receiving treatment, Eve applied to come here. After passing the corrosion test, she became one of the caregivers.
In fact, Eve did not expect that she would sneak in so smoothly. In her eyes, this is a mysterious organization. Everyone in the organization is a demon who grinds his teeth and sucks blood, but it may be because of the revolutionary friendship of killing demons together. , these people were unexpectedly nice to her.
Eve somehow became a member of this temporary hospital and traveled back and forth here for almost half a month.
During this period, she also tried to find Merlin. His office was set up on the top of a tower in the castle. Eve heard others call it a museum, and she didn't know why.
As the technical director of the Perpetual Pump, Merlin has been extremely busy in the past half month. He has never had time to talk about this with Eve in detail. He delayed it back and forth, and finally the conversation was scheduled for today.
After putting away the washed sheets, Eve walked towards the top of a tower called the museum.
Everything I have been obsessed with is about to be answered, but at this moment, Eve's heart does not feel any excitement and joy, but is calm.
Eve has always been a sharp and smart child. After experiencing so much, she actually had a vague guess about the recurring nightmare and her own weirdness, but she was not sure about it.
It can be said that she came here this time not to get an answer, but to hope that someone would confirm her guess. But she suddenly panicked. Although all this has long become history, when she thought about the fact that if this was true, Eve Still a little unacceptable.
It seemed a long way, but Eve finished walking after a few thoughts. She was silent for a while and knocked on the door.
……
Pushing open the somewhat heavy door, the rotten air blows in. As the only "Merlin's private area" in the castle, this place has not been cleaned by the nurses. Except for Merlin's office here, few people come here .
The bright light fell on Eve's face, stinging her so hard that she couldn't open her eyes.
The dome of the entire museum is made of transparent glass. A few months ago it was still dusty and dirty, but after the storm, everything was washed away and shrouded in light, it looked extremely sacred. look.
The interior of the museum is filled with some strange things. It is more like a warehouse than a museum, with messy things everywhere.
Wheels are placed on one side of the corner, nautical charts are hung on one side of the wall, a coin is placed in a box, and an old flintlock.
There were so many weird things that Eve couldn't even see them. It was even hard for her to judge why Merlin wanted to put so many things here.
"Eve?"
Suddenly there was a voice, and under the radiance, Merlin raised his head. Only then did Eve notice that there was actually a person sitting in the pile of debris.
All kinds of documents piled up, and Merlin cleared an open space among these messy things so that he could work there.
He had never been a guy who often appeared in the sun. For most of the year, Merlin was like a mouse, nesting underground in the dark.
Now that he appeared in the sun, his pale and sickly face looked like he was about to die. Eve was actually slightly scared when she saw him, fearing that this strange alchemist would fall down in the next second.
"I know what you are going to do. Arthur told me this when I communicated with him a few days ago."
"Is he awake?"
After hearing about Arthur, Eve asked.
"I'm awake, it's nothing serious... But you, you want to know the reason for your abnormality, right... I have to think about how to tell you about this."
Merlin rubbed his temples, he doesn't like this job, explaining these dirty things to the little girl, in his opinion, this may affect the little girl's pure heart... Although he said that the little girl cuts demons, More powerful than these professionals.
Looking at the girl sitting opposite him from the corner of his eyes, Merlin sighed secretly.
Should it be said that she is Arthur's daughter?Or... the nature of the Rangers.
"In general, you, Eve Phoenix, were dead long before you were born."
After the silence, Merlin started everything with this shocking words.
"What did you say?"
Eve was confused and didn't understand what he was talking about.
"Don't worry, I will explain everything to you... In fact, this is what Arthur meant. He told me that he thought about it for a long time, and he suddenly realized that he might be wrong."
Merlin continued.
"Perhaps you already have the ability to protect yourself, and all he has done is just to restrict you, but what you need to know is that the more we come into contact with demons, the closer we are to the darkness until we are swallowed by it.
Arthur's protection for you is only to hope that you can stay away from it, but judging from these incidents, you have also become a part of the 'curse'. "
"So?" Eve asked.
Regarding this part of darkness, she had heard Lorenzo explain it before, and accordingly, she could understand everything Merlin was saying now.
"So he gave up protecting you. Instead of protecting you so powerlessly, it would be better for you to hold a sharp sword to protect yourself. After all, Arthur can't protect you forever. It is for this reason that he chose to tell you everything, It's up to you to decide."
Merlin said as he picked up the water glass and took a sip to moisten his throat. This damn place was too bright, hot and dry, and he began to miss the cold underground facilities.
"Actually, you encountered demons before you were born."
Merlin talked about the past.
"That was a long time ago. In an accident, your mother was attacked by a demon while she was pregnant with you.
You also know the characteristics of demons. As long as the physical injuries are not too serious and fatal, with our ability, most of them can be cured. However, we are helpless to deal with the erosion that directly affects the spirit. No... to be precise. I am helpless with you. "
Merlin observed Eve's expression, paying attention to her emotional changes.
"We cured your mother and also conducted corrosion testing, but unfortunately, your condition was close to birth at that time, which means that there is another fully mature but ignorant consciousness in your mother's body. I can detect her , but there’s no way to detect how much you’ve been eroded.”
"Human will is very strange, like a ball of plastic soil. In the day after tomorrow's training, it can be kneaded into different shapes by us, such as swords, shields, firearms...
One of the reasons why we can resist erosion is that we have a relatively complete understanding and can naturally fight against darkness. But for an ignorant child who has not yet been born in this world, she cannot distinguish all this, she cannot She doesn't understand light and darkness, and she doesn't know what monsters are... She even says that she may not have the concept of 'I' yet.
A child's will is like a lump of clay that has not yet been molded, and she is easily affected by erosion and molded into the appearance of a monster. "
Merlin was silent for a moment, then asked.
"You know what that means, don't you."
Eve remained silent, and the nightmare in her memory came back again. A certain monster crawled out of the flesh. With a sticky sound and a woman's wail, it opened its teeth and claws, tearing the fragile body into pieces.
Under Merlin's narration, the vague memories suddenly became clear, the darkness was swept away, and in her fear, she saw the appearance of the monster clearly.
It was a young and ignorant face, she was innocent, but her hands were stained with blood... That was herself, Eve Phoenix.
Eve's body couldn't help shaking.
"What was certain at that time was that you had been corroded, but the degree of corrosion was unknown. However, judging from the records of our purification agency, young children are extremely easy to be corroded and infected, let alone children like you who have not yet been born.
You were already close to being born and couldn't have an abortion, but we still had some risky surgeries in-house that could solve all this, but this was opposed by your parents. They had already lost many children and didn't want to lose you, the last one.
So another plan was proposed. "
"What is it!"
Eve's voice was a little excited, her pupils constricted, and fine sweat flowed down her neck.
"The Ranger Project is an enhanced experiment, but it is very risky. Your father is also a subject. Part of this enhancement is to increase people's resistance to erosion. At that time, we were going to carry out the Ranger Project on you, so that You, who have not yet been born, are resistant to erosion, and this may save you.
But even if you try it on someone with professional training, they will die from some unstable complications, not to mention you are still in the fetal state at the time.
But your mother accepted all this. She was the main subject, and those experimental drugs would be delivered to the fetus through the weakening of the mother's body.
But all this is just our expectation. No one knows what will happen when it is actually implemented. It can even be said that everyone was doing all this with an experimental attitude. No one thinks this can succeed...unless there is a miracle. occur. "
Merlin stopped talking, sat up straight, and put aside some documents that were still being processed.
"But I survived, and now I am sitting in front of you alive." Eve whispered.
"Yes, a miracle happened, and the human will triumphed."
Merlin's cold face showed a stiff smile, and then he stood up and walked towards Eve.
"Your mother survived the experiment and gave you birth safely, and you are also the first natural-born Ranger in human history."
"That's really unbelievable. I was a little skeptical about reality at the time. I didn't expect humans to really be able to do all this. The newborn you were extremely healthy. But unfortunately, your mother, as the mother of the test, suffered a lot of trauma. She Then I was often plagued by some complications until I left."
Merlin walked up to Eve, gently took her hand, and made her stand up.
Under the warm light, the two seemed to be about to dance.
"This is why Arthur acts like a psycho sometimes, because you are his last warmth. Without you, he really has nothing. Maybe he will become a monster similar to Lorenzo after that. .”
Mentioning Lorenzo, Merlin couldn't help sighing.
"The guy who has nothing is really scary. He has nothing to lose, so he has nothing to fear."
He looked at the girl's stiff expression again. Maybe she didn't notice that tears were already covering her cheeks. The vague memories became clear, and everything became so cruel.
"You look like it's going to take a while to understand this, but... please do me a favor first."
Merlin patted her, waking Eve up from the long-lasting sadness. The girl nodded stiffly. She couldn't say anything anymore. She clearly knew everything she longed for, but she felt as if she had lost her mind. .
Death is really long. Her mother passed away a long time ago, but today Eve feels that she is really dead. This long death has come to an end, and she just left.
"However, your birth inspired many people. At that time, an incident called 'Red News' occurred within us. We were severely damaged internally. Everyone lost hope of continuing to forge ahead and looked decadent. It was also for this reason. Your birth was not favored, after all, everyone was pessimistic at that time."
Merlin seemed to be rummaging for something in the clutter, old dust rising up one after another.
"But you survived. This is simply a miracle. You were crying loudly at that time, but the cry actually cheered everyone up. A child like this is trying hard to survive, so what is this setback?"
"I was also slightly touched at the time, so I've built this place since then."
Merlin picked up a container, which was filled with formalin solution.
"I was thinking at the time, how long have humans been in this world? It must have been at least a few thousand years, but we only have vague records in the last thousand years, and the history before that has disappeared into memory. People are remembering all that.
I'm wondering if one day humans will disappear. If they disappear, it won't actually matter. People are mortal, and humans are also mortal. But even if we die, I think there should be something left behind. .
As long as there is something that can represent human beings, even if we all die, we can still live in the record carrier... just like you. "
Merlin lifted the container over with difficulty.
"I?"
"Yes, you are the continuation of your mother. As long as you are still alive, she will live in your memory, and she will not really die, will she?"
Merlin gestured for Eve to take the container.
"Look here, this is what I built to best represent everything about 'humanity'."
He opened his hands and looked around the messy museum like a lord. Eve also held the container and followed Merlin's words and looked around.
"You can't understand it, right? In fact, other people don't understand it either, but if everyone understands it, then there's something wrong."
Merlin said as he walked over to the miscellaneous items and introduced them to Eve.
"This stack of paper represents the carrying of human information. We will not die with the knowledge in our minds, but record it and pass it on across the barriers of time. This wheel represents that we have shortened the distance in the world. This code is human Proof of restraining our own desires, so that we are distinguished from beasts who follow our instincts.
This... and this..."
Merlin introduced Eve to the exhibits in this strange museum, where all human cognition exists. A hazy but majestic shadow slowly rose in Eve's cognition.
"And of course this."
Merlin pointed to the container in Eve's hand as he spoke.
"what is this?"
"Your placenta."
"what?"
Eve's sadness was suddenly interrupted by Merlin's words. She almost dropped the thing with trembling hands, but in the end she steadied herself, lowered her head and gently wiped the dusty surface, revealing the formalin underneath. A mass of twisted and pale flesh was floating.
"I collected your placenta, but this is not a perverted hobby. I just think that this museum needs something to prove human will... This is one of the wills."
"what?"
"Sacrifice, a mother's sacrifice for her child."
Merlin said softly as he walked to the gate and watched everything from the gate.
"But this is not enough. Everything here is not enough to represent everything about human beings. After all, human beings are very complex existences. Some of the things we have are too nihilistic. It is difficult for me to find suitable things to represent them."
"for example?"
"For example, those things that belong to humans. Because we are human beings, we create vocabulary after vocabulary to understand everything in this world, but some things are nothing, just like the soul, which is disordered and difficult to understand. Captured, out of our control... It's hard to find a corresponding representation for this kind of thing."
Merlin smiled, looking at this beauty shrouded in sunlight and the magnificence piled up by humans.
"You know, Eve, although you were born, no one can still think that you survived. Your life is only temporary, and you may die in the subsequent time due to the backlash of the Ranger drug.
But you survived and grew up. "
"Thank you for coming, Eve, now my piece is complete."
Eve looked at Merlin in confusion, maybe because these alchemists were inherently crazy, the smile on Merlin's face began to twist, like a fanatical believer.
"Yes! Eve Phoenix! You represent human stubbornness, human persistence, and human stupidity. But under such bad nature, you have done what only humans can do."
"What is it?"
"Miracle."
The dying fetus survived tenaciously. She was hugging her placenta, standing in the pavilion built by a madman, and became a part of this work.
Throughout the past and future of mankind, miracles that belong only to mankind have been piled up.
The night is over, and the sun is burning.
(End of this chapter)