Embers of Embers

Chapter 516 Expectation
"Check casualties and hull damage!"
"Go put out the fire first!"
"Ship doctor! Ship doctor!"
Various sounds arose on board the Morning Glory Advance, and the crew members anxiously ran around the deck, transporting the wounded and cleaning up the debris on the ground.
Notar also walked out of the command room. He was experienced in dealing with such post-war matters and took charge of the on-site arrangements.
The deck trembled slightly, there were sounds of footsteps, and a tall figure came slowly.
The weapons master passed by the crew with scorching steam on his body.
The Forged Spears were fired one after another, causing part of the weapon master's armor to begin to burn slightly red, and the rainwater fell, making a sizzling sound.
No matter who passed by, they couldn't help but look at this hideous machine. This weird machine just showed its awesome power. It had been sleeping at the bottom of the cabin, and no one knew about its existence.
Shrike drove the weapon master back to the lifting platform. The iron rope was hung on the Original Sin Armor, fixing it tightly in place. The machine pushed the flesh and blood, and the armor at the back of the neck was lifted. Shrike climbed out of it with great effort.
He didn't seem to feel well. Although the weapon master was a second-generation armor, it was still difficult for a mortal to control it. Therefore, Shrike injected a Florund potion to ease the pressure caused by the corrosion.
Awakening and chaos swirled in my mind, and I felt an inexplicable feeling of vomiting.
After the engine stopped rotating, the squirming flesh fell into a deep sleep, and the nerve cables connected to the body were disconnected one by one. The shrike climbed down from the tall weapons master with great effort.
Shrike's body is sticky, which is derived from the secretions of the demon's flesh and blood. These gelatinous things will fill the gap between him and the armor, completely fitting the body to cushion impacts and the like.
"I'm so tired..."
Shrike rubbed his head vigorously. He raised his head and saw a stream of fire rising into the sky. The Black Angel rose from the burning wreckage and rode the strong wind towards the Dawn Advance.
A fixed pile has been placed on the deck, which is reserved for Black Angel to prevent its hook from hitting other places and causing damage to the ship.
After a brief shock, the Black Angel fell on the deck, retracted the hook, and fought like a python. Then he hunkered down between the iron feathers and fell into silence. The Black Angel walked towards the weapon master. Here is Chen Hui advancing. The only lifting platform on the ship leads directly to the maintenance compartment.
"How's the damage to the ship?"
Lorenzo crawled out from the back of Black Angel's neck. After the engine stopped, the demon's flesh and blood shrank back under the armor and machinery, making Black Angel look even thinner, like a silent sculpture.
"Fortunately, the reinforced outer armor of Baitie blocked most of the shelling. A few of them penetrated the armor and hit the cabins, but they were all sealed cabins, and some of the terraced cannons were seriously damaged. " Shrike said.
"It looks like it's going to need repairs for a while."
Lorenzo jumped off the Black Angel. Maybe it was just a physical difference. After driving the Original Sin Armor, Shrike felt a little sluggish. Even when he climbed out of the armor, he looked like an old man, trembling.
The Lorenzo in front of him had a different look. He was full of energy, and the naval battle just now was as easy for him as going out shopping.
"More than that, the damage to the artillery is not a problem. We never lack firepower. The most important thing is the outer armor," Shrike explained. "Part of the outer armor is severely damaged and needs to be replaced directly."
"It looks like we have to stay in Lingbing Bay for a while longer."
Lorenzo said helplessly that if one wanted to maintain the ironclad ship, in this barren Viking country, only Lingbing Bay could do it.
When he heard this place name, Shrike's expression was very calm. Maybe it was because the armor made him too tired, and even if he wanted to make any expression, he couldn't show it.
More footsteps were approaching, and several guys in white coats could be seen walking out of the cabin. The robes were engraved with poisonous snakes biting their tails.
For this operation, the Perpetual Pump also dispatched some accompanying personnel. They were responsible for maintaining the complex equipment on the Morning Glory Advance, such as the Original Sin Armor, which came from the Perpetual Pump.
"Get ready to leave this sea area, Captain Notar, we seem to need to speed up."
Lorenzo shouted to Notar.
"Where are these pirates?"
Notar looked at the burning sea of ​​​​fire in front of him. As the day rose, it illuminated the desolate battlefield. Dead bodies and debris were floating on the sea, and the huge iron-clad ship sank slowly like a white whale.
Faint cries for help could be heard, and the battle was brutal, but some pirates still survived. The furious waves were beating against them. In this cold environment, they could not hold on for too long.
"Don't worry about them, the storm will swallow them all."
Lorenzo said nonchalantly.
The storm in the distance continued, bringing violent winds and huge waves. The wreckage of the iron-clad ship formed a temporary fortress on the sea, which could help them withstand it for a while, but when the fireworks went out and completely sank, they would be involved. In the vortex of death.
"We have to leave quickly. This storm will catch up with us soon."
This encounter seriously slowed down the progress, and Lorenzo just wanted to get away from this bad sea as soon as possible.
The sky became brighter, and the clear light blue slowly advanced, finally stopping in front of the gray-black iron curtain. It and the storm each occupied half of the sky, presenting a scene that was difficult for ordinary people to see.
The weapons master and the Black Angel slowly sank below the deck and were dragged back to the hidden maintenance cabin by the elevator. The crew was busy, but the two combatants, Lorenzo and Shrike, were idle.
The Morning Glory Advance was sailing away from the storm, and the storm was also moving away from the ship. Its trajectory finally changed, just like a predator on the sea, heading in another direction, searching for prey.
The pirates were also wrapped up in him, slowly advancing with the broken wreckage, or sinking to the bottom of the sea.
The rain gradually became lighter and became drizzling. Countless slender raindrops fell softly, which relieved everyone's nervousness a lot.
"After all, do gods really exist?"
Lorenzo stood in the shadow of the building, sheltered from the rain.
"How did you come up with this?"
Shrike sat leaning against the wall, breathing heavily, greedily pouring the fresh and cold air into his mouth to ease the terrible feeling of nausea.
Notar and Blue Jade started working. Lorenzo and Shrike didn't need to worry about the rest. They only needed to have a good rest.
"Just now I met a pirate. The other pirates were scared out of their wits and waited to die. Only he yelled about God Odin and chopped it up with a hand axe."
Zeo's angry face flashed in front of his eyes, but what really made Lorenzo remember him was not his roaring anger, but his final expression of despair. Death was obviously such a thing worth fearing, but after realizing that he could not die, When it was in his own hands, Zeou showed a very heavy despair, compared with which death was a great mercy to him.
"Heroic death, that sounds stupid."
Shrike lamented that it was difficult for him to understand these ideas of the Vikings, no... to be precise, it was difficult to understand their mythological beliefs.
Everyone is afraid of the reckoning after death, but only they are eager for the arrival of death, as if it will usher in some kind of greatness.
"Indeed, but it's this kind of stupid thing that keeps him from being timid in the face of despair..." Lorenzo seemed very conflicted, "I'm thinking, whether ignorant beliefs are right or wrong, it limits our thinking, But it does support us to a certain extent.”
"It sounds very complicated. This kind of thing should be left to the scholars to think about, not us."
Shrike didn't want to discuss such profound things. His mind was a mess and he just wanted to take a good rest.
"What are you going to do soon?" Shrike asked.
"Make a plan, we have to stay in Ice Bay for a while, too many places need maintenance, what about you?" Lorenzo frowned as he looked at the mess on the deck.
"I...I want to go back and take a nap."
The shrike was very tired.
This was a really bad start for him, first the nightmare, then this encounter, he was dying of a headache, he just wanted to sleep well and get rid of all his troubles.
"I started to hate the sea. The cabin was shaking so much that I couldn't even sleep."
"At least you don't get seasick. Hercule almost puked his stomach out on the boat when he was with me."
"That sounds pretty miserable."
The two chatted without saying a word, and finally became silent.
"Aren't you going to make plans?" said the Shrike.
"Don't worry, this kind of scenery is not common. I want to see it more."
Lorenzo raised his head, the Dawn Advance had just crossed the boundary between gray and white and escaped from the storm.
"You don't want to see her?"
Shrike saw through Lorenzo's lies. After knowing him for so long, he also understood some of Lorenzo's behaviors.
"Absolutely. I just told her that this is just an ordinary operation. We will finish the trade with the Viking countries, and then Seliu will return with the cargo ship and we will move on."
Lorenzo looked at the sea with black smoke still rising, and said helplessly.
"But she was suddenly stopped by these pirates, and the Original Sin Armor came out. She couldn't be fooled."
"You don't want to tell her this?" Shrike asked.
"What's the use of saying it? It's just more trouble." Lorenzo said.
"She does seem to like you."
"Like a demon hunter? This is not a wise decision." He shook his head, "Maybe we will die at the end of the world this time? Even if we don't die here, we will die somewhere in the future. On the battlefield.”
"Shrike, it's not like you don't know this. How many people in the purification agency can live safely until retirement?"
"Is it for this reason?" Shrike asked.
"Otherwise, the world is about to usher in a cruel war. No matter how heartless I am, I can't be untouched at all," Lorenzo sighed, "Do you want me to respond to this situation?" Whatever she said, it felt like everything she said was nonsense."
"Despite my virtue, I also know some truths. If something cannot be accomplished, don't promise it. The feeling of expectation can crush a person. I have experienced it, and I even say that I am being expected now."
The destruction of the old order, Lorenzo Medici's last wish, there were too many messy things, and Lorenzo's life was also messy.
"But there is a solution to all this." Shrike was not so pessimistic.
"Kill all the monsters? I know, aren't we working hard on this?"
Lorenzo became interested at the mention of eradicating demons, with a cruel smile on his face.
"It seems that everyone, whether it is the Demon Hunting Order or the nation builders, are aware of this. Some secrets can only be known by a few people, but too many people can't change anything if they know them. On the contrary, it will make the world a better place. Oops."
"Like the Silent One and the Fence," the Shrike responded.
"Yes, almost. It seems that we are indeed on the right path and getting closer to the truth."
All the clues correspond to each other and call the same name.
"Seeing that Viking reminds me of my days at the Evangelical Church." Lorenzo looked sad.
"I think of my God, the God I once was."
"Something from the Gospels?"
Shrike asked, he is not a believer, but he still has a certain understanding of this thing.
Before the rise of Yin Erweg, the Evangelical Church controlled the Western world. There were their believers in almost every land, and the same was true for Yin Erweg. But fortunately, Yin Erweg was not too deeply dominated by his faith. Finally it broke free.
"Well, demons are born from the shadow of God... I once thought this was the crazy talk of the cardinals. They couldn't explain it, so they put on the shell of faith."
His eyes fell to the north.
"But now it seems that maybe this is true."
Lorenzo sorted out his thoughts. After experiencing so much, his understanding of the world was refreshed again and again.
"Due to the existence of memetic contamination, the saints who received the knowledge were unable to pass it on perfectly, and could only use theology to distort its original meaning, so that we can understand this without being contaminated, or with a small amount of contamination. There’s a certain awareness of the darkness of the world.”
"Maybe...if your words are spread back to Feilengcui, they might be able to shake the rule of the Evangelical Church," Shrike said slowly. "All mysteries are just unknowns that we don't know yet. Every step forward in rationality will lead to ignorance." Take a step back.”
Lorenzo nodded in agreement with Shrike's words.
"In the past, I might have been excited by such conjectures, but now it seems that I am used to it. Everything is connected, whether it is a demon or a witcher, a country builder or the end of the world, an invisible net traps Lived for each of us.
Now we are heading towards the source of it all, the end of the world. "
Lorenzo's voice changed, and he lowered his head and said to Shrike.
"Actually, there is another reason why I say this."
"what?"
"If our speculation is correct, we may be able to see Him at the end of the world."
"Who is that?"
"The source of all, our God."
(End of this chapter)