Embers of Embers

Chapter 468 Red News
Lorenzo walked to the empty street and sat down on a bench not far from the alley. He had killed the monsters in the alley. The sharp nail sword penetrated their hearts and cut the ridges connecting their heads. The bone was completely severed.
At this moment, they are nothing more than a hideous lump of flesh, exuding a disturbing aura, rotting and dying little by little in the darkness.
Reaching into his pajamas pocket, Lorenzo rummaged through and found a crumpled cigarette. He rummaged through his pockets but couldn't find a lighter. He could only slightly trigger the secret blood, and the blazing white fireworks ignited the tobacco. The ground breathes, puffing out clouds and mist.
Lorenzo recognized the identity of these demons from the remains of clothes on the floor. They were the young people who were lying down and vomiting in his own home. When he saw them, there was nothing strange about them, and there was no erosion around them that could alienate humans. Source, which means they were twisted into this appearance by someone who appeared out of thin air.
Watson can do this. Lorenzo thinks that if he guessed correctly, not long ago Watson turned one of the young people into his carrier. She should have come to find him, but when she didn't know what happened, she detonated The erosion turned these people into monsters.
In Lorenzo's perception, Watson is not a guy who kills people at will. At least she won't kill someone in such a troublesome way. So why does she alienate these people?
Dealing with an enemy?
Lorenzo speculated on what had happened.
So why alienate humans?Watson can definitely use the [gap] to fight...
Lorenzo's thoughts were suddenly interrupted, and blood writing appeared in front of his eyes.
"Don't use Gabriel..."
Unless the enemy's attack is invalid in the [gap], or in other words, it cannot be defeated.
"The Reticent."
Lorenzo could only recall the title.
In his calculation, Watson invaded the body of a certain young man. She was about to come to find him, but was blocked by the Silent One who suddenly appeared. When the [Gap] operation was ineffective, in order to repel the enemy, she destroyed these Humans become monsters.
What about Watson?
She is not here now. She is dead or escaped. Why would she leave such a message?
As Lorenzo thought about it, he felt uneasy about facing the unknown.
He has faced the Silent One more than once. Although that kind of monster is scary, it is not a fatal threat to Lorenzo. He may not be able to completely kill these monsters, but Lorenzo is confident that he can get rid of them. His men survived, and Watson must have done the same, but this time it was different.
Lorenzo looked towards the alley, and then back to the window in his room. The distance between the two was not far, only a few dozen meters, even if Watson was facing a powerful enemy like Lawrence. , Lorenzo felt that she had enough time to come to him and wake him up.
But Watson didn't do this. Even though he was so close to her, she never asked him for help, but left such a warning.
Lorenzo clenched his fists.
This can only prove one thing, the enemy is very strong, so strong that Watson thinks that if he comes to find him, he will also be involved in the crisis. The combined strength of the two may not be able to resist the enemy's offensive.
There was no trace of another person at the scene, only the corpse of the demon lying on the ground, and with the warning written in blood, Lorenzo guessed the nature of the enemy.
He is the Silent One, but he is much stronger than the Silent Ones Lorenzo has ever seen. He still remembers what Shermans wrote in his notes. Knowledge is cursed. The more you know, the faster you will die.
Many times Lorenzo felt that he knew enough. In Maruli, he even called the Silent One to come. However, even after doing this, he was not chased by the Silent One. This made him suspicious. Shermans's notes are accurate, but when you think about it carefully, it seems reasonable. After all, not everyone has the power like Lorenzo.
He is a special case, a special case of survival, and special cases need to be dealt with by special means.
"So Watson, did you discover something? Discovered some extremely important information, so important that you met an enemy like a nightmare?"
Lorenzo whispered, his thoughts interrupted by sounds coming from a distant place under the silent night sky.
At the end of the street, there were bursts of iron cries, as if something had torn apart the strong wind. Looking up, there were countless shadows behind the hazy fog. In front of Renzo's eyes.
The iron snake shook away the moist water vapor and slowly stopped in front of Lorenzo. With the rush of steam, the car door opened and the man strode out.
"Mr. Holmes, we meet again."
Gawain was wearing a long black coat, and he looked like a ghost in the night. His expression was as resolute as ever, like a solid piece of steel.
"It's not too late."
Lorenzo nodded and stood up.
The purification agency monitors every part of the city. From the beginning of the design, they planned to treat this place like a fortress. In Lawrence's prophecy, this may be the city where mankind will persist until the end.
"The peepers sensed the erosion nearby. It was very strong, but it lasted only for a short time."
Gawain told Lorenzo that he was on the way here the moment the alarm was triggered, and this information was later conveyed to him through the communicator on the road.
"Yes, it has calmed down now." Lorenzo said and glanced at the soldiers behind Gawain.
"A new batch of quick response teams?"
"Yes, after Lancelot's death, I will be responsible for these."
Gawain nodded and said, this team is on standby 24 hours a day and will arrive at the scene as soon as possible if an abnormal situation occurs, like now.
"But I didn't see the Original Sin Armor."
Lorenzo looked at the iron snakes parked in front of his house. They didn't look like they were equipped with original sin armor.
"Because it's not necessary. After all, the erosion source is near your home. I think you will solve it before we come. We are just here to control the site."
As he spoke, Gawain was led into the alley by Lorenzo. As soon as he took a step forward, he smelled the blood coming towards him, and could see twisted silhouettes one after another through the blurred shadows.
"You see that's it."
"Really?" Lorenzo was a little doubtful.
"False, it takes a lot of time to transport the Original Sin Armor. It will arrive later." Gawain said expressionlessly.
Lorenzo looked at Gawain with a strange expression. He thought for a moment and then asked.
"Is this your... sense of humor?"
"If Shrike says this, it will be easier to get along with you." Gawain replied.
"Then did Shrike say not to be too stiff?" Lorenzo looked at the iron look on Gawain's face and couldn't feel the sense of humor at all. "Don't embarrass yourself, friend, deal with it first." Let’s take a look at these.”
Lorenzo said and walked into the darkness first. He followed the route in his memory, stepped on the blood words that had not yet dried up, and erased the information Watson left for him.
There is no need to tell this information to the purge agency. It is enough for Lorenzo to have this fear alone. In the face of such a crisis, the more people who know about it, the harder it will be for Lorenzo to defend.
So the fewer people who know, the better. It is best that even the last insider will disappear one day, hiding these secrets behind the fence of ignorance, so that the lambs can live ignorantly but happily.
"A common demon event?"
Gawain looked around the scene, it looked like an extremely ordinary demon incident.
"Pretty much, I was sleeping, and suddenly I felt the wave of erosion, and then I came to kill them."
Lorenzo said that in fact, his explanation was not perfect. Swords and firearms could not cause those weird wounds on monsters, and there were also injuries caused by bone spurs when monsters fought with each other. Moreover, according to common sense, monsters There will be no civil war.
"Is that so? It doesn't look like there's anything unusual about it."
Gawain has great trust in Lorenzo. After all, Lorenzo is a witcher and an expert in hunting monsters. There is no need to be suspicious of the expert's words. Moreover, this expert has always had a deep hatred for monsters and will not do anything suddenly. What treacherous behavior.
Listening to Gawain's reassuring words, Lorenzo felt that he didn't trust everyone for a moment. Of course, these were all nonsense in his head.
Lorenzo checked one last time to see if there were any missing pieces.
"The scavengers are on their way here, leave the rest to us," Gawain said to Lorenzo.
"Hmm...but there's no sleepiness left."
Lorenzo said as he walked out of the alley, looking at the end of the night sky in the city.
In the deepest part of the darkness, there are dim lights rising slowly. They are like gray lines, outlining the outline of the city and the city, and they shine brighter and brighter as time goes by.
Its daybreak.
"I'm going to change clothes, and then lend me an iron snake and take me to the pump of perpetual motion."
"I see."
Gawain knew Lorenzo's next itinerary. Restarting the Red News incident was a big deal in the purge agency. Most people at the level of Knight Commander knew about this matter.
Soon after, Lorenzo returned to the streets. He wore the attire he often appeared in, a black loose coat, the brim of the hat was held low, and the shadow completely hid his face. He was holding a cane in his hand, looking extremely ordinary.
Gawain would not look at Lorenzo with ordinary eyes. He knew very well that there must be countless weapons hidden under this loose coat, and in the slender cane, there was also tough steel that could cut off flesh and blood.
"Let's set off... Do you want to inform Shrike?"
Lorenzo walked half of his body into the iron snake, then poked his head out again, and asked Gawain.
"No, Iron Snake will take you to pick up the shrike first, and you will arrive at the Perpetual Pump together."
"Sounds pretty good."
The door closed quickly, and with the rising steam, the iron snake galloped along the street rails, heading towards the dim light at the end of the horizon.
……
"So, that's the reason?"
The man in the dim carriage said in an unacceptable tone. He was wearing a ridiculous nightcap on his head, but he was wearing neat clothes. He looked like he had been forcibly pulled out of a warm bed.
"if not?"
Lorenzo glanced at the car window protected by barbed wire. The entire old Dunling was constantly waking up with the sunrise, and raging steam erupted from the corners of the street, as if a giant was breathing hard.
"It's already like that. I can't go back to the house and lie in bed in a daze. It's better to settle the matter as soon as possible."
Lorenzo turned his attention back to the dim carriage. After leaving the scene to Gawain, Lorenzo really couldn't find any reason to sleep back, so he started his day's journey early.
"You don't need to rest, but I do!"
Shrike yelled at the top of his lungs, probably too angry. He grabbed the nightcap from his head and threw it to the ground hard.
"It's just a matter of going to work a few hours early. It's nothing, right?"
Seeing Shrike's very irritable mood, Lorenzo realized for the first time that this guy was actually angry.
"How many hours earlier? I didn't get off work until late at night, and I just fell asleep a few hours ago!"
Shrike couldn't help shouting. As the situation between Gaul Naluo and Yin Erweg became tense, the purification agency also became busy in this dull atmosphere. The control of the lower city was tightened and strict investigation was carried out. Every stranger who sneaks into it has worked overtime for several days for these shrike.
He is now like a poor employee exploited by a black-hearted company, but Shrike can be considered a "management person" in his own right. As a result, even people of his level will still be dominated by people of higher levels.
"You have to get used to this kind of thing, Shrike, but I didn't expect you to live so close."
Lorenzo didn't listen to the Shrike's complaints at all, and he'd be damned if he did.
A few minutes ago, the Iron Snake stopped in front of a building not far from the lower city. Only then did Lorenzo realize that this was the real residence of Shrike. But it was right to think about it. How could a guy like Shrike be here? How about sleeping peacefully in the dangerous downtown area?There must be a secret passage under the building leading directly to the lower city. During the day, the shrike would pass through there and become the king who controlled the lower city. At night, he would take off his mask and return to peace to experience the rare peace.
Of course, all this was broken by Lorenzo. When he rushed into Shrike's room, Shrike woke up from the bed with an interesting expression, which could be said to be pale.
"Ah... so there is another demon appearing? What a coincidence."
Shrike complained for a while and then calmed down. He leaned back in his chair and looked at the car window wrapped in barbed wire.
The iron snake walked with its back to the rising sun, crossed the tall buildings and streets that were gradually waking up, and arrived at a lifeless world.
The industrial area is still the same as in the memory. It is a barren land with countless large-scale machinery and equipment on the ground. Some of them are still operating and rumbling, digging out ore from under the solid soil. They were covered with dust and crawled on the gray-white rocks, like dead giants. The strong wind corroded their flesh and blood, exposing the steel skeletons underneath.
In the distant remnants of night, there is thick smoke rising straight into the sky and the earth. Under the thick smoke is the fire that never goes out, as if it is a group of stars from underground, illuminating the trajectory of progress.
"Thanks to you, the Mechanical Institute has not been operating at full capacity for a long time. The last time they were like this was during the Glorious War."
Shrike sighed.
The whistle sounded, and the train drove through the gray mountains carrying the ore, entered the burning mechanical yard, and then left carrying brand-new machinery and equipment.
They are all sealed in dark green iron boxes, with various warning signs posted on them. Even people who don't understand these will know at the first glance that there is a fire of war that has not yet been ignited.
"Have you been prepared?"
Lorenzo looked at these and his expression became heavy.
"To be precise, the big shots above have been prepared for it. You don't know how high the output of the third-generation armor has been in the past few days. It is said that the output in the past few days is equal to our previous total."
Shrike shook his head worriedly, and then said to Lorenzo.
"You are right. This thing will be an excellent weapon when used to fight monsters, but when it faces humans, it will become a terrifying slaughtering machine."
Lorenzo did not respond. He had been worried about such an incident happening before. He thought he had the ability to control it all, but in fact he was still too naive.
But this time he had a different idea, an idea that was still somewhat naive. The demons of doomsday flashed before his eyes again. Maybe... maybe these weapons were not meant to fight humans?Maybe they are also used to fight monsters?
Lorenzo thought this, and the iron snake stopped.
(End of this chapter)