Embers of Embers

Chapter 489 The Cage
The sound of footsteps broke the tranquility of the Platinum Palace. There were only a few people walking slowly in front of the majestic palace. The sunlight passed through the painted glass and fell on a few people, reflecting the colorful colors on their pale faces.
This was not the first time for Lorenzo to come to the Platinum Palace, but his eyes were like a child's first visit here, and he was looking around randomly.
After going through so much, Lorenzo has no secrets in Old Dunling. Whether it is the mysterious eternal pump or the broken dome, he has personally visited and understood it, but only the Platinum Palace is a secret. exception.
It belongs to the Victorian royal family and is separated from the management of the purification agency. It is like a fortress that blocks everything, located in the heart of old Dunling. If it were not known that the Queen lives here, it would be so peaceful that people would almost forget it.
Lorenzo's arrival disturbed the calm, and under the leadership of Anakin, they stopped in front of a gate.
Compared with other gates in the Platinum Palace, this gate is considered simple, without any complicated patterns or patterns, but it suddenly appears in front of you, blocking the way.
"Next, you need to move forward by yourself."
Anakin stopped outside the door with no intention of moving forward. Also staying with him were the royal guards not far away.
"What's behind the door?"
Lorenzo asked. Everything in the Platinum Palace was unknown to him. What he had seen and heard before was also within the control of the queen. He had no time to explore freely.
"Royal Domain."
Arthur said suddenly. He looked at the door with a little nostalgia in his eyes.
"I've been here before... probably more than ten years ago. It's been so long that I almost forgot about it."
As he spoke, he put his hand on the door and pushed it slowly until a crack appeared between the doors. No light came out of it, and it seemed that there was a dark corridor behind it.
"Come on, Lorenzo."
Arthur walked in through the gap. Lorenzo stopped for a moment, grabbed his cane, and walked in together.
Just as he thought, unlike the palace shrouded in light, there was a dark corridor behind the door, with the steps gradually going down, seemingly leading to the underground.
"What is the royal domain?"
Lorenzo and Arthur were the only ones left in the corridor. He didn't hide it and asked directly.
"Literally, it is the realm of royal life," Arthur explained. "Didn't you notice that except for the queen, we have not seen a second member of the royal family from beginning to end?"
"And...do you know the queen's name?"
Arthur smiled and asked as he walked.
Lorenzo was stunned, he couldn't think of an answer for a moment.
"Yes, something is wrong, isn't it? Lorenzo, the queen of Inverg, has such a distinguished status, but we can't even remember her name. But, is it because we can't remember it, or we don't know it at all?"
In this huge old Dunling and magnificent Platinum Palace, the only one who can be heard is Queen Victoria. All information about the royal family is an unbreakable mystery. Under this information blockade and subtle influence, most people Some ordinary people don't know how the Queen is selected. In fact, they don't care. What's more serious is that few people know the Queen's name.
Lorenzo realized this at this moment. He was surprised to discover this illusion and expressed doubts. From the beginning, he did not know the queen's name. She was always called the so-called "queen", as if she was her own individual. It's not important, what's important is the identity she represents.
"How is this going?"
Lorenzo felt that things became interesting, as if there was some force that made him ignore the exploration of this matter. If Arthur hadn't pointed it out, Lorenzo might not have realized this.
"You'll know in a while."
The corridor has come to the end. Behind the end is a slightly empty grassland, and above it is a dome with light shining down. Lorenzo is not sure of the specific location here, but from these it can be seen that this should be the underground of the Platinum Palace. They broke through the surface and made a fortress half hidden underground.
There were people walking on the grass. They were wearing black gas masks. Their bodies were completely hidden under the heavy coats. They could not make any sound except their heavy breathing.
Lorenzo never expected that the scavengers would be here. Looking around, they were almost everywhere here, like guards.
The other group is people in white clothes. Most of them are sitting in wheelchairs, being pushed by attendants, sipping the sun. Some can move freely, but most of them are children. They are running on the grass, but soon He would be caught by the attendants, and then he would be reprimanded.
"Antimemetics?"
Lorenzo saw this and subconsciously thought of the strange power that was completely opposite to erosion.
"Well, the King's Curse curses the Victoria royal family. In order to ensure its continuation, the best way is to have everyone forget it. To the world, it is just a vague term that does not represent anyone or anywhere."
This is a forgotten area. Even Arthur, a person who has been here before, would have a hard time remembering this without deliberately thinking about it.
This place is protected by the power of antimemes and completely taken over by scavengers.
"Scavengers...is this also the base of the scavengers?"
Lorenzo asked curiously.
Whether it is the headquarters of the purification agency, the Ever-Moving Pump, or the Black Mountain Hospital, they all have a clear location as a base, but Lorenzo still doesn’t know this part about the scavengers. They are so mysterious. The agency's backup plan exists, and it also controls weird antimemes.
It can be said that with the blessing of antimemetic power, they can completely make everyone forget their existence and carry out extremely confidential tasks.
"I don't know. According to the regulations, I can't know either. After all, one of the reasons for their existence is to supervise us." Arthur shook his head and said.
The arrival of the two people did not attract anyone's attention. Lorenzo thought that the royal family members would look at him, but most of them were like dead people, looking up at the bright dome without any reaction.
The muscles of the body atrophied and clung to the bones, and the face was pale, like a patient who had lost blood. Everyone's eyes were filled with despair, and the soul underneath was also turbid.
There are countless mummies like this, as if they have been lying in wheelchairs for too long. They are like swaddled babies, huddled in the steel.
The children were still playing and running innocently, not understanding why the adults always scolded them, while the adults looked at the dome in despair. They knew their fate very well. He was a human being, but he was imprisoned here forever by the king's curse.
Lorenzo's heart suddenly became cold. Rather than saying that this is the residence of the royal family, it is better to say that this is the cemetery of the royal family.
Everyone here is protected by the antimeme. They have been forgotten by the world, and cannot get out of here because of the power of the King's Curse. They may have never seen the outside world from birth to death.
Their world is only so big, and the meaning of their lives is simply living, and nothing else.
"Let's go, the Queen should be there."
Arthur pointed to the end of the grassy field. There was also a door there, but he didn't know where it led.
Lorenzo followed him forward, but his eyes stayed on the faces of these people, unable to leave.
"Who are you?"
Suddenly a voice called Lorenzo. It was a little girl wearing a white dress. She was chasing and playing with others just now, but she stopped after seeing Lorenzo.
There was novelty in her eyes, and she couldn't hide the joy on her face.
"Are you... from outside?"
The girl said and walked towards Lorenzo. In this forgotten land, there are almost no outsiders.
"What's it like outside?"
she asked excitedly, her eyes shining, as her playmates ran over and looked curiously at the two outsiders, Lorenzo and Arthur.
Lorenzo looked at the girl's face with strange emotions in his heart.
He found it ridiculous. The so-called Victorian royal family seemed like a joke at the moment.
Although they are the royal family of Ying Erweg, they are like imprisoned living dead. The so-called power and glory are meaningless to these people. They are not even as free as prisoners. At least those prisoners have seen the world. good.
A child staggered and fell, breaking the silence. The girls exclaimed, with fear in their eyes. The boy slowly got up from the ground, only to find a scratch on his wrist. The injury was obviously not serious, but there was blood. It flowed out continuously.
He cried out in horror.
The attendants skillfully picked up the medical kit, rushed over, and treated the child's wound on the spot, but the child's cries kept going. Such cries seemed to disturb the others. The living dead lowered their heads slightly, Looking back from the unreachable sky, they looked at this eternal cage, and then they cried together.
This weird transformation made Lorenzo feel uncomfortable, and Arthur patted Lorenzo at this moment.
"Don't look, we still have things to do."
Arthur has seen this situation, and he has also experienced the same emotions as Lorenzo, but he can't change anything.
"Um……"
Lorenzo responded with difficulty, the boy's blood spread all over his body, and his pure white clothes were dyed blood red.
These children are all members of the royal family, and they are all tortured by the king's curse. As they grow older, these children will eventually become the living dead in wheelchairs.
"let me go!"
A miserable howl sounded, and an old man struggled violently in the wheelchair. Years of restraint had completely shrunk his muscles. His limbs were weak and he could only squirm with difficulty. Then he fell from the wheelchair. After biting a mouthful of green grass, he stretched out his slender hands, clawed the grass hard, and dragged his body towards the door.
All this was in vain, he couldn't leave here when he was young, and it was even less possible when he was old.
Arthur sighed feebly. Although Ovis was dead, now Arthur somewhat understood the child's madness. He was born in such despair, and finally escaped from the cage and died in the outside world. Such an ending should be what he longed for the most.
Lorenzo couldn't bear to see this anymore. He withdrew his gaze and turned into that indifferent look, walking towards the end of the grass field with Arthur.
The next journey was much simpler. They walked in this tomb-like building and took an elevator down into the darkness. Arthur was somewhat unable to confirm where he was.
Although he is the person in charge of the purification agency and has been to the royal domain, he never knew that there were such huge underground buildings here. The Victorian royal family went beyond themselves to create these. So who did this?Those scavengers who escaped from their own control?
Arthur couldn't figure it out. This falling lasted for nearly 10 minutes. During the long silence, both of them felt that this elevator would send them to the abyss.
Fortunately, it finally stopped, and behind it was a darker corridor. When they walked out of the corridor, they saw Queen Victoria.
This is a scene that is a bit like a stage play. A beam of light pierces the darkness in the endless darkness. It falls from above and illuminates the queen in the darkness. She is sitting at the long table. It seems that she has been waiting for the two of them for a long time. , as for the rest of the place, it was an indistinct darkness.
The distance was quite long, and Lorenzo and Arthur walked for a long time before they reached the long table. They did not deviate from the direction during the walk, because Lorenzo discovered through the witcher's vision that this was a long suspended bridge. If he deviated from the route, he would fall into darkness, and he couldn't see exactly how deep it was.
Looking hard, it seemed as if they were in a huge underground cavity. Some sharp edges and corners could be vaguely seen, like mechanical structures, but Lorenzo couldn't see more clearly.
At the same time, Lorenzo also sensed a strange feeling, recalling the peeping just now, if he didn't think about it seriously, Lorenzo would hardly remember that scene... Obviously it happened just now, but he will These are quickly forgotten.
"This place is protected by antimemes?"
Lorenzo and Arthur sat down along the edge of the long table.
"Well, this can be regarded as the core of the secret. Of course, all kinds of protection are indispensable," the Queen nodded in confirmation of Lorenzo's words.
"Mr. Holmes, your willpower is shockingly strong. In fact, if it were someone else, such as Arthur, he might not be aware of this, and some people who have not undergone mental specialization, as long as a little Psychological impact, after walking out of here, he will completely forget what he saw."
After hearing the Queen's words, Arthur realized this strange power, and he had to admit that there were indeed amazing differences between him and Lorenzo in this regard.
"Then let's stop talking nonsense and talk about business."
Lorenzo did not continue talking about the antimeme. He sat up and looked sharply.
"Now you may state your case, Your Majesty."
"Well, I know, but let me think about where to start...Actually, I was thinking about this before you came, but maybe I am also affected by the antimeme here, and my thoughts are messed up. "
The Queen said frankly.
"Then let me think of something and say it first..."
The voice sounded, and soon there was a distant echo. The space here was far larger than Lorenzo imagined. No one knew what was hidden in the darkness.
"Let's start with...who I am."
The queen coughed and talked about the past.
"So, do you know 'The Nation Builder'?"
(End of this chapter)