Embers of Embers

Chapter 571
The composition of the members on this ship is quite complicated. They come from different forces and have different purposes. Some of them are not even human beings. But now they are all staying on this ship harmoniously and moving forward together.
The people by the fireplace, they also represent these compositions exactly. Seleucus is the ordinary mortal who knows nothing and is the target of protection. Lorenzo is the dead soul from the Demon Hunting Order, carrying with him the past. The glory of the world, the epidemic doctor is the embodiment of the fanaticism of scholars, stubbornly pursuing the truth.
Then Shrike is probably the representative of the purification agency, the will of human struggle. This is why he must participate. He has the right to know and the right to decide.
His breathing was a little hoarse, and these successive traumas almost killed Shrike, a fragile mortal, but he survived in the end. His pupils opened in the gap between the bandages, and he stared at Watson.
Another guy with the power Gabriel, like Lorenzo, is also a survivor of the old order, a man wearing ashes.
However, she is obviously much stronger than Lorenzo. She is somewhat similar to Lawrence, they are completely free from the constraints of the body, and the will of nothingness can travel freely on any body.
Lorenzo is far from these, but no one knows whether he will reach this level in the future.
Recalling the previous confession between Lorenzo and Watson, Shrike felt an unspeakable sense of strangeness when looking at Lorenzo. He remembered that the last time he had such a sense of strangeness was when he discovered that this powerful thug belonged to a demon hunter. Then, and now, Lorenzo revealed another secret he had been hiding.
Such an amazing power has been hidden under the eyes of the purification agency without anyone noticing it.
Shrike's thoughts were a little confused. The trauma and psychological pressure on his body made it difficult for him to think. Whispers rang in his ears, as if there were ghosts whispering something secretly.
This is the erosion from the Sea of ​​Silence, the erosion from Him. Although the crisis has been resolved, these crazy aftermaths are still affecting everyone.
[He is a traitor, he has hidden it from you for so long. 】
[This operation is false and you have all been deceived. 】
[Lorenzo Holmes is the enemy...]
The whispers echoed in Shrike's ears. His pupils were bloodshot and his heart could not help but accelerate.
He looked at Lorenzo behind the stove and met those gray-blue eyes.
After a few seconds of silence, Shrike spoke slowly.
"My mind...is not reliable anymore."
Doubt, greed, madness... they are like maggots growing in the shadows, biting away at Shrike's mind bit by bit.
"This is the effect of erosion. You will have hallucinations and auditory hallucinations. These things chase you, triggering the dark side of your heart and causing your emotions to rise and fall," Lorenzo said.
"I know……"
The shrike paused again,
In his eyes, Lorenzo's figure became ferocious, and the sharp claws broke through the flesh and blood, turning into a twisted monster. But in the next second, he changed back to his ordinary appearance, as if everything just now was just Just an illusion.
"Looks like I'm late."
A new voice sounded. To others, this voice was a bit unfamiliar, but when it reached Shrike's ears, it evoked his nightmare memories.
"It's not too late."
Floki walked out of the darkness. His figure was as stooped as before. Traces of alienation could be clearly seen at the ends of his limbs. Judging from the erosion indicators of Black Mountain Hospital, he would soon turn into a crazy monster. .
He should have fallen into madness, but as he came into contact with the erosion again, the erosion process at that time continued again, and his consciousness was somewhat relieved.
This was an experience gained from William. Lorenzo didn't know how long Floki could hold on, but he estimated that this guy wouldn't fall down until he reached the end of the world.
"Mr. Holmes."
Floki saluted Lorenzo, a smile on his rugged face.
"Thank you for making this great voyage possible."
As he spoke, he found a seat next to the heater and sat down, looking at the people around him with bloodshot eyes.
Although Floki was crazy along the way, he was aware of everything happening in the outside world, but he could not control his body. His consciousness was imprisoned in the "gap" and he could only witness it silently.
Therefore, everyone here is familiar with Floki, and even a weird monster like the Plague Doctor did not scare him.
Lorenzo said nothing. In his eyes, Floki was a very strange and congenial person.
In the previous naval battle, before Lorenzo had a chance to say anything, Floki knew what Lorenzo meant. He drove the Dawn Advance forward and fought smoothly, as if he was a member of the team.
But after thinking about it, Lorenzo suddenly realized that this was just because Floki also longed for the end of the world. The current situation was exactly what this madman longed for most. A journey with no turning back. They would either die on the road or they would die on the road. The last gap in the chart is filled.
That's why they are so in tune.
"Ah... this is the first time I have gone so deep into the Sea of ​​Silence, let alone escaped the pursuit of these monsters."
Floki looked up at the stars and said infatuatedly.
The others were silent, and the atmosphere of the conversation was not good. They were heading towards death step by step, and they had no good solution. Everyone seemed to be oppressed by something weighing thousands of tons, with a sullen face, even The firelight is also difficult to illuminate.
"We have arrived at the middle ring of the Silent Sea. Unlike the outer ring, which is blocked by gray clouds and storms, and where monsters are causing trouble, the middle ring is an endless glacier. The deeper we go, the lower the temperature becomes. , the ice layer will also become harder and harder."
Floki knew very well what these people were looking for. They needed him to be the navigator and lead these people to act in the Sea of ​​Silence. This was a win-win situation, and Floki had no reason to refuse this.
"This is a very perfect defense ring. Even if someone survives the storms and monster attacks, they will still have difficulty moving forward in the face of extreme cold and solid ice."
"The Morning Glory Advance can be regarded as the most advanced icebreaker. Although it was seriously damaged, it should be able to move forward for a long time." Lorenzo said.
"If it were really that simple, it would be easy to solve."
Floki said, blending naturally into the conversation.
On one side of him, there was Watson between Floki and the Shrike. No one knew whether he didn't notice the Shrike's presence, or whether he noticed it but deliberately ignored it.
Shrike stared at Floki. His appearance was completely different from what he remembered, but his words and demeanor were still so familiar.
[This is your mortal enemy. 】
【He is right in front of you. 】
More voices echoed, and Shrike clenched his fists involuntarily. Before his eyes, Floki also turned into a monster, a monster like Lorenzo.
Seryu, a mortal, still felt very cold. She moved her position and got closer to the heater. She didn't listen much to everyone's conversation. After all, she was a powerless mortal. All Seleu could do was listen. Order and devote yourself at critical moments.
The scholar's epidemic doctor remained silent, and more eyeballs opened in the corners of his body, observing the surroundings.
The divine Watson watched the audience. This was really an interesting conversation. These people not only had different identities, but also had different purposes, not to mention different enemies.
Not long ago, Lorenzo had just fought with the plague doctor, and the two were killing frantically until they died, but now they are on the same boat, moving forward for the same purpose.
This is not to say that hatred has disappeared, but that there is now something more important than revenge.
But now new hatred has been added to it. Lorenzo knows the hatred between Shrike and Floki. It is this anger that supports him until now. Before, Shrike could easily let Floki go only because of Floki. Loki fell into madness. Killing a crazy person cannot satisfy a person's abnormal desire for revenge.
But things were different now, Floki was awake.
"I have not reached such a deep sea of ​​solitude, but based on my understanding of the sea of ​​solitude, if we continue to go deeper, not only the severe cold, but also the so-called erosion will intensify. I am afraid that by that time, every step we take , will lose part of their body.”
Floki raised his hand as he spoke. The bones in his palm had proliferated a lot, and the nails were slender and had scratches on them. He had tried to cut them off before, but they grew back after a while.
"And...there are still things in the sea that I don't know about, things that are far beyond this era."
Listening to his words, Lorenzo thought he was referring to Him, but Floki's next words completely overturned his idea.
"There are many machines I have never seen before. They are far larger than the mechanical creations we know, but most of them have been broken, and they have all been frozen in the sea and turned into cold corpses."
"Where did you see that?" Lorenzo asked.
"It's almost in Central, under the ice."
Floki said and laughed.
"This place is like a battlefield. Those things and dead people are the corpses of the war. They fell asleep here not knowing how long ago... and the civilization involved in the war is far more advanced than ours. Those machines are not Inverg at all. What can be built, I can’t even imagine how big a furnace is to pour such huge steel..."
After Floki finished speaking, he expected these people to look shocked, but everyone was calm, as if they had expected this situation.
"If you had come a few minutes earlier, you might have figured out why."
Lorenzo explained to Floki.
"This world is constantly reincarnating and iterating. The current civilization in the world may have declined after countless destructions. Our former glory is unimaginable to mortals."
As he spoke, his voice dropped, and Lorenzo recalled a scene from a long time ago.
The dream of [Baptism of God’s Favorite].
What a magnificent world it was, it was difficult for Lorenzo to describe it all in words, even if he told it to others, most people would think that Lorenzo was an imaginary lunatic.
Maybe... this is true.
Knowing so much, Lorenzo only realized the connection between them when he recalled the [Baptism of God's Favor].
Cold ice grew on the deck, and the surrounding temperature dropped sharply. Lorenzo was awakened by the cold. He raised his head and saw the falling snow dust.
Thick black smoke rose with the fading firelight, and the collision angle crushed the ice. The sound became more and more violent. As the Morning Glory Advance went deeper, the thickness of the ice also increased, making advancement more and more difficult.
"Is that so...it's quite interesting."
Floki was stunned when he heard Lorenzo's story, but he quickly recovered.
"I didn't expect that this world is much more than what it seems, but it doesn't matter. If you think too much, you will have too many troubles."
"You have a really good mentality." Lorenzo said.
"It's okay, it's okay... The Silent Sea is repelling us, it's blocking our progress, the ice will continue to thicken, and we have to pay a greater price with every step we take, and then the cold follows. .”
Floki stretched out his hand and touched the falling snow dust, the temperature was freezing to the bone.
These layers of obstacles plague mortals, so even after such a long time, no one still knows the truth about the end of the world.
"We might encounter some unbreakable ice, be trapped in this cold place, and die."
"The reserves of lacquer antimony are enough, we can complete this journey." Lorenzo said.
He believed in Qi Antimony and the technicians of the Perpetual Pump. The Morning Glory Advance had endured one brutal battle after another, but none of these had defeated it.
"What about the return journey?"
Floki asked suddenly.
He showed a twisted smile, and his withered face was covered with cracks in the skin, like dead branches.
"Return..."
He repeated the word again.
"No one cares about this anyway, right? If you can get here, you are guaranteed to never come back. Returning is the least of your worries."
Floki was sincerely happy. After being stubborn for so many years and going through life and death, he was finally about to unveil the hazy veil of the Sea of ​​Silence.
No one answered, and the scene was completely silent, except for the disturbing sound of ice breaking in the front.
Indeed, it seems that most people don’t care much about the return trip.
Whether it was the epidemic doctor, Lorenzo, Shrike, etc., they were all prepared to die before setting sail, but the difference was that they did not care about their own return journey, but the return journey of another thing.
For the return journey of hope, someone must return to the outside world with hope and find a way to break the cycle of reincarnation.
The epidemic doctor leaned aside indifferently, Watson's face was expressionless, Lorenzo was thinking about something, and Shrike lowered his head and clenched his fists hard.
Only the innocent mortals were left leaning against the heater. Seliu felt a little dizzy and his body was extremely cold.
"I feel a little uncomfortable...I'm going back first."
Seliu stood up unsteadily, her consciousness a little hazy. After taking a few steps, a violent vibration came from the bow of the ship. During the shaking, Seliu almost fell, but was caught by Watson.
Watson looked down at the girl, who had lost consciousness and had her eyes closed.
"She seems to have a cold."
Watson touched her head and said.
The fatigue of the battle, the injuries on her body, and the invasion of cold and fire. Among these monsters, Seleu, as a mortal, is really difficult to resist, and mortals like her account for the majority of the people on the ship. They all You will embark on a journey with the monsters to no return.
"This is not a good thing and the erosion will continue to affect her."
Floki said that he had tried and failed many times in the Silent Sea, and he knew very well the consequences of getting sick here.
Lorenzo didn't move when he saw this. He frowned and didn't know what he was thinking about.
Watson thought for a moment, then she picked up her crown and put it on Seleu's head, looking at the girl with pity.
"Hope this makes you feel better."
(End of this chapter)