Embers of Embers

Chapter 374 Epilogue
925 in the Inlveg calendar.
"So...what kind of guy is that?"
Shrike asked lazily while sitting behind his desk enjoying the wine and music.
As a secret force placed here by the purification agency, Shrike appeared in the lower city as a gang boss and cut a piece of the world. This was the second month after he led his younger brothers to establish their status.
With the help of the purification agency, Shrike's power penetrated wildly into the lower city and temporarily stabilized these violent foreigners with various gray industries.
I thought that those gangs would be a little wary of this newly rising power, and that Xiacheng District would usher in a semblance of peace, but this hypocritical peace lasted for two months and was broken.
"It's so fierce! Several people have been killed by him, but he didn't continue killing. He just said he wanted to see you." said the younger brother on the side.
"see me?"
Shrike was stunned for a moment, a little confused.
"A stranger suddenly came in and killed so many people just to see me? What are you doing!"
He was a little confused.
"We don't know, but he has arrived nearby... Others revealed the location. What should we do?"
The younger brother said again, his voice trembling slightly, obviously panicked.
Shrike's power is not yet stable at present. Under the surface of peace, he has been secretly fighting with other gangs for a long time. In this young man's view, this sudden arrival of a stranger is obviously a ploy by other gangs. Maybe he is using this guise. , the next moment a group of people will surround their stronghold.
"What are you panicking about!"
Shrike scolded, but he still couldn't help but pick up the silver revolver.
"Are you nearby yet?"
"Yes, our enemies are showing him the way."
"damn it."
Shrike thought for a while, and finally decided to go out and take a look.
With the expansion of Old Dunling, the problem of foreigners in Xiacheng District has become more and more serious. The city needs a place to discharge garbage, but this tumor cannot be allowed to harm the city itself.
Through the efforts of Shrike and the support of the purification agency, it is only a matter of time before Shrike takes control of the entire lower city if this steady development continues.
After staying in Xiacheng District for so long, fights like this happened from time to time, but today this time, Shrike always felt a strange uneasiness, which made him want to go and see that mysterious guy in person.
Walking out of the basement, under the pile of rocks is a magnificent casino. Of course, the scale is not very big. Shrike will continue to steal the business of other gangs bit by bit in the following time.
It has to be said that Shrike feels that life as a gang boss is much more exciting than working in a cleanup agency.
As soon as he walked out of the dark tunnel, the rising melody in the casino stopped. Looking around, the gamblers stopped, and the guard held his hand on the gun bag, looking wary.
Shrike looked at the end of the red carpet. At the gate, the stranger was facing the light, his figure dark.
There are many wounds on his body, many of which have begun to heal, and they seem to have been left from elsewhere. His clothes are torn, his cheeks are covered by messy hair, and his whole body smells bad.
Such strangers are very common. He smuggled into Old Dunling in various strange ways, looking as miserable as a homeless man.
But the difference was that this stranger was carrying a heavy box on his back and holding a blood-stained shotgun in his hand.
Shrike's eyes were serious and he felt a little pressure.
The stranger seemed to have just come from a battlefield, exuding violent murderous aura and malice. In a daze, Shrike even felt that he was not facing a human being, but some kind of monster with a human shape.
"Everyone, please step aside and let me have a good talk with this gentleman."
Despite the tremendous pressure, Shrike remained calm. He clapped his hands and signaled the others to leave. In a blink of an eye, only he and the stranger were left nearby.
Barbara pulled up a chair and sat down.
"They said you wanted to see me."
The stranger stood there and nodded stiffly.
"See me after killing people? It's very interesting."
The shrike under the table has grasped the death knell. As the boss, he needs to remain calm and elegant, and he also needs cunning to protect himself.
"They wanted to kill me...so I killed them."
The stranger's voice was a little hoarse, with pauses from time to time.
"Then what do you want when you see me?" Shrike asked again.
The stranger suddenly fell silent, and a little pain suddenly appeared on his face. He covered his head and tried to think, but his broken consciousness brought about incomparable confusion.
"Life, new life, they say you are the only one in Xiacheng who can give others a new life."
After a long time, he seemed to remember the reason and said slowly.
This is the wish of another person, who has always longed to come here and live a fantasy life in Old Dunling.
So he ran over here just for this?
Shrike wanted to curse loudly. He thought someone hired a murderer to kill him. He was ready to fight to the death and wait for reinforcements, but it turned out to be like this.
But it can also be seen that this strange stranger is really persistent about this matter.
"A legal status to live in old Dunling? Indeed, I am the only one in the lower city who can do it."
As a gang boss who relies on the purge agency, Shrike is an expert in this area. Different from what others can do, what Shrike can give is a serious official identity that can pass official review.
The shrike became calmer, and after learning what the stranger wanted, the rest of the conversation became much simpler.
"So can you pay the price? A new life is expensive."
"I can kill for you. I'm good at it."
The stranger replied with murderous intent. He had no money and nothing worth exchanging. All he could do was kill, endlessly.
"Killing people? This is indeed a bit heartwarming."
Shrike hesitated for a moment. He really needed a group of killers to deal with those damn enemies. Only in this way could he completely control the lower city.
Thinking like this, he then observed the stranger carefully.
Judging from how he came here safe and sound, he does have impressive lethality, but the Shrike has seen many people like this, most of them are the tools of the Shrike, and after they are exhausted, they die like wild dogs In the sewer.
Shrike smiled.
"Well... you can, but if you want a new life, you have to say goodbye to the past. Can you do it?"
"Say goodbye?"
"Yes, in a new life, everything is brand new. Everything in your past will be swept into the corner, and you will survive as another person."
The stranger was in a daze, recalling all the chaos, burning fires, broken bodies, and falling figures one after another in his mind.
It was all so bad and sad that he tried to forget it, but he couldn't stop thinking about it.
If only I could forget this pain.
"Of course," he replied.
"Then can I ask what you want to do in Old Dunling? You're not here to experience life, are you?"
Shrike was quite interested in this stranger and asked next.
"doing what……"
The stranger became confused for a moment, he only remembered that he was going to Jiudunling, yes, why did he come to Jiudunling?He couldn't remember it, and vaguely remembered that this seemed to be someone's wish.
As for what to do... his memory gradually became clearer, and he answered in a strange way.
"Detective, I want to be a detective."
"Well, that's quite interesting."
Shrike was a little surprised. He never expected that the stranger in front of him actually wanted to be a detective. According to Shrike's brief observation of him, this guy was a natural killer and could never get along with a detective.
"So, what's your name? Stranger."
"name?"
"Yes, a name. Everyone has a name. You don't have a name, do you?"
"Name..." Several numbers suddenly flashed through the stranger's mind. He didn't know what the meanings of these numbers were, but he read them out anyway.
"0...42."
"Numbers? What is this? Numbers are not names, stranger."
"Doesn't it count? Then... what's your name?"
The stranger tried his best to think about the meaning of the "name", but his thinking only caused severe pain, and his consciousness was constantly fragmented. He remembered that he seemed to be a person named 042, but then another familiar face appeared with They overlapped, and gradually he couldn't distinguish himself.
[I want to see that beautiful era, the era without sadness, the era without monsters. 】
The sudden voice recalled in his mind, and the stranger vaguely saw a golden sky, soaking everything into sacred gilded gold.
But the roars of monsters and the clanging of swords could be heard in his ears, as if he was listening to a war from hell.
[A detective agency, are you interested in being my assistant? 】
Another familiar voice sounded, and he asked with a smile, planning for a future that did not exist.
This is a simple and small wish, hidden deep in the soul of a stranger.
Everything in chaos swallowed him like a torrent, and the broken edges cut repeatedly.
Anger, panic, grief...
If you say... you must have a wish.
He remembered his name, with a painful look on his face, and reluctantly opened his mouth, like a beast with its fangs open, and like a child learning to speak, with a clumsy and hoarse voice.
"Lo...Lorenzo."
"what?"
Shrike didn't hear something clearly.
"my name is……"
The fragmented consciousness was put back together, and his gray-blue eyes gradually became radiant. He looked at the shrike, with the afterglow of the setting sun behind him and the golden fireworks burning in the sea of ​​clouds.
The stranger's eyes were full of joy and sadness, and he held the Winchester in his hand tightly, like a child who was at a loss.
"Lorenzo Holmes."
　The third volume, Deep in the Soul, is finally finished! (This volume is finished, the fourth volume is being planned...
　
(End of this chapter)