Embers of Embers

Chapter 576 Oblivion
How many days and nights is this since departure?Floki couldn't remember clearly. He just stared blankly at the day rising in the distance, feeling the warm sunlight that illuminated his figure into gray.
"Why are you so eager?"
There was a vague auditory hallucination in my ears, as if a woman was asking something.
"Does it really matter what is on the other side of the sea? In the end, it is just another boring sea, so why should you devote your life to it?"
The woman gently rubbed Floki's face, trying to smooth out his frown, but no matter how hard she tried, Floki still had a straight face, and these wrinkles were carved on his face like scars.
Floki moved forward with difficulty, and in front of him he could see the figures of Lorenzo and the epidemic doctor. The ropes connected them together to ensure that each other was within sight.
His skin began to crack, and a woman's whisper kept ringing in his ears.
Floki knew that this was a sign of being affected by power. In Lorenzo's words, antimeme can actually be understood as a reverse "erosion". If understood in this way, Floki would not be affected by anything that happened. Feel surprised.
Fortunately, now he only heard chaotic auditory hallucinations, and no hallucinations appeared in his eyes.
It may also be due to the influence of antimemes. Floki found that his own alienation was delayed a lot. He didn't know whether this was a good thing or a bad thing, but at least his expected lifespan was longer than before.
"It's so hard..."
Floki stopped and looked at the surrounding scenery. Under these various influences, coupled with the monotonous scenery around him, Floki had faintly lost his sense of time, and his cognition began to blur. Some cannot remember how far they have moved forward.
Probably only a few hours, or a few days, or dozens of days.
The memory began to fade, becoming the same as the world in front of me, leaving only a monotonous gray.
Everywhere was filled with dazzling light, which made people feel at ease, but after seeing so much, Floki felt that this place had become a pure white hell.
This is a never-ending journey. They will keep moving forward, but they will not die and wander in this white desert forever.
Floki thought, the rope in front of him was pulled to the maximum length, and the tension brought tension, and he mechanically moved his legs, following the already blurry back, and at the same time, the woman's voice in his ear came again. sounded.
"Do you really want to fill up the chart?"
Floki should have remained silent, but perhaps the reality was too unbearable, and he responded erratically.
"if not?"
This time Floki responded to the woman's words, and he began to communicate with the auditory hallucinations.
Before the woman could ask any more questions, Floki poured out all the words he had buried deep in his heart.
"Everyone will die, meaninglessly. It is even said that we are born meaningless... But I don't want to be like this. I think the value of a person is judged by what his death will contribute to."
"You want to be the one recorded in history?"
"Maybe, but that's too difficult. How many people can leave a mark in history?"
Floki said sadly.
"I just hope that my life can have some value, and value varies from person to person, doesn't it?"
Looking at the blurry figures in front of him, Floki could still barely distinguish the figures of Lorenzo and the epidemic doctor.
"Some things are worthless to other people, but they are worth a lot to me. That's probably it."
"Your dream is about to come true, and you are about to explore this untrodden land... Why do I think you are not happy?"
The woman came to Floki and blocked his way, asking.
Floki also stopped. He couldn't see clearly what the woman looked like, or even whether she really existed. He just felt that there was something in front of him, blocking him.
"Why are you unhappy? Because all this is meaningless..."
Floki let out a long sigh, revealing the despair in his heart, and the darkness began to swallow him up.
"The end of the world is not untouched. Someone has already built high barriers there. My persistence for so many years is just walking the path of the old people."
He looked forward confusedly, and Floki wasn't sure whether he should continue to be stubborn.
"Leave a mark on history? This is even more ridiculous. This world has been reincarnated countless times, and no matter how glorious the palace is, it has not fallen into ashes."
Floki slowly squatted down and pushed aside the cold sand, revealing the dark blue ice underneath, which reflected his somewhat twisted and ferocious face.
“There is no so-called eternity and immortality, everything in the world will disappear.
All things come to an end, and death remains forever. "
The woman laughed mockingly and disappeared.
For a moment, the auditory hallucinations in Floki's mind disappeared, and he found that his palms gradually became stiff.
Huge panic exploded in his heart, and Floki lost the feeling and control of his arm. He panicked a little, and used his only sense to calm down. Before completely losing consciousness, Floki grabbed the rope in front of him, only to find that The rope had long since broken. Looking ahead, Lorenzo and the epidemic doctor had long since disappeared.
"Ah...ah..."
Floki wanted to call out their names for help, but suddenly no sound came out, only a whimper.
It wasn't that he couldn't speak, but that for a moment Floki actually forgot how to speak. The cognition of "language" in his mind was constantly collapsing, being stripped away together with other cognitions.
Floki didn't know exactly what was going on, but his warrior instinct warned him.
He tried to move himself, but his feet were like hands that had lost consciousness. He had forgotten how to walk and could only move on the ground like maggots.
He placed his hope on the Black Angel following behind, but then he saw those huge footprints out of the corner of his vision.
At some point the Dark Angel had passed him, and these guys were unaware of Floki's fall.
"Damn..."
Floki swore, and his last words came.
Falling to the ground, Floki completely lost control of his body. His biological instincts were constantly collapsing and forgetting, so that he fell like a corpse in the snow, with only the slight rise and fall of his chest still showing his life. The presence.
But is Floki still alive like this?
Floki could feel a scythe slashing at his body, cutting not his flesh and blood, but his soul. His past memories were disappearing little by little, and the information that had been engraved on Floki's life was reversed. The meme thus becomes blank.
This feeling is terrible, an erasure more desperate than death.
Within the scope of the antimemetic influence, all information related to "Floki Wilgdason" is being erased.
Floki's soul wails, but no one can hear his cry, and everything that builds "self" is falling.
According to Viking mythology, the three goddesses of fate weave the thread of a person's destiny, and now Floki's thread of destiny has been interrupted, and the power of erasure is coming from the starting point to the end.
Floki seemed to be standing on a suspended corridor. He stood at the end of the corridor, looking at the collapse spreading from the starting point. The cornerstones of his memory were crumbling bit by bit, falling into the endless abyss below. middle.
Viking Kingdoms, Lingbing Bay, Silent Sea, The End of the World, Vikings, God Odin, King of the Ice Sea...
The cornerstone continued to disintegrate, and Floki backed away in horror, but the corridor had come to an end, and he had no way to retreat.
Soon, the collapse of the foundation stone came under his feet.
The last cornerstone, named Floki Wilgdason, also crumbled.
The man's eyes were empty and he lost all emotions. As the foundation stone collapsed, he fell into the abyss together with these broken foundation stones.
……
In the vast white desert of ice and snow, three tiny figures moved forward wearily.
Lorenzo stopped on a high slope. He looked around, and then looked at the Black Angel behind him. The Black Angel understood what Lorenzo meant, and soon a bottle of water was thrown over.
"How long do you think we have to go? Epidemic Doctor."
Lorenzo poured water from the kettle into his mouth, and then asked the epidemic doctor beside him.
The epidemic doctor shook his head. He didn't know the answer, so he could only answer casually.
"Who knows? Maybe we'll never get there, or maybe we'll just get over the next slope."
The epidemic doctor took the kettle from Lorenzo, took off his gas mask, and poured it into the bloody mouth.
Looking at the scarlet scene, Lorenzo couldn't help but turn his head. He was wondering whether to throw away the kettle. Physically, it was indeed difficult for him to accept the appearance of the epidemic doctor.
"Epidemic doctor, in fact, you are just like Lawrence, you are a real bastard. If I could, I really don't want to cooperate with you. I even said that without these damn problems, I would have killed you long ago."
Lorenzo's words were harsh, but his tone was very calm.
The epidemic doctor smiled and didn't care about Lorenzo's words.
They have been walking for several days and nights, and no one can tell the specific time when the sense of time is blurred, and they dare not sleep, for fear of getting lost in this strange land.
Fortunately, these monsters didn't seem to need much sleep, but in order to maintain their concentration, Lorenzo started a conversation with the epidemic doctor.
The two chatted about a lot of random things, from childhood anecdotes to blood feuds.
Lorenzo showed his intention to kill the doctor many times, and the doctor also expressed his indifference many times. To be honest, the reaction of the doctor made Lorenzo feel very boring, and it reminded him of Lawrence That guy.
You hate an enemy and you are full of rage, but when you actually wield the blade of revenge against him, he doesn't care about all this.
This is an indescribable feeling of frustration.
No...it's not just frustration. As Dr. Epidemic told himself before, Dr. Epidemic believes that he is already beyond human beings. The crimes he committed before are not considered at all in his cognition. crime.
"Guys like you are really annoying."
Lorenzo said helplessly, then reached for the pocket behind him, but found nothing.
"Do you still have the Florund potion?"
Lorenzo asked the epidemic doctor.
The epidemic doctor also touched the backpack, but it was empty and contained nothing.
Lorenzo's expression immediately became tense, "When did we use up the potion?"
"I...can't remember."
The epidemic doctor also realized the problem, and his scarlet flesh tightened.
They have always been affected by the power of antimemes, coupled with this blurred sense of time, they may have used the potion just a few minutes ago, or they may have used the potion a few hours ago.
Lorenzo didn't know how long they had been exposed to the influence of the antimeme, and the Black Angel behind him also understood the situation and reacted immediately.
Watson is the most sober among the few, which is probably the reason why her level of sublimation is deeper than everyone else. Although she remains silent, Watson has been reporting for Lorenzo in the "gap". Showing his sobriety and reminding Lorenzo at the same time.
Black Angel knelt down on one knee, opened the weapon box, and poured out the materials inside. Lorenzo kicked open the sealed iron box, revealing one Florund potion after another.
"Here! Use it immediately!"
Lorenzo handed a few to the epidemic doctor, and he directly grabbed several potions and plunged them into his neck without hesitation.
You could feel the medicine rushing through the blood vessels. The doctor also let out a long sigh after the injection. Then he raised the empty medicine tube and asked curiously.
"Is this kind of thing really useful? Antimemes should be something completely beyond cognition for you."
"Maybe. I remember that the purge agency also has antimemetic troops, and Florund's potion is also their standard equipment."
Lorenzo injected several shots in succession. He could not tell how long he would be in the "vacuum period", so he could only inject as many as possible until his body felt uncomfortable.
"This thing is like a black box. I don't know its principle. I can only act like a primitive person. I just do what others do, hoping that it will be effective."
Lorenzo said and looked at the epidemic doctor and asked.
"How do you feel? Epidemic Doctor."
"I feel nothing. I can't tell the difference between before and after the injection."
The epidemic doctor twisted his neck. He felt that Florund's potion had no effect in helping to resist antimemes. He felt that this was a meaningless act.
"Of course you can't tell the difference, Plague Doctor."
Lorenzo has a completely different attitude from the epidemic doctor. He seems to be in awe and treats every step rigorously.
"I don't think you need to keep calling me the plague doctor, it sounds disgusting."
The epidemic doctor couldn't stand Lorenzo's endless words, but Lorenzo then retorted.
"This is not to disgust you, but to remind me of myself." Lorenzo said and stretched out his finger, pointed at the epidemic doctor, and then pointed at himself.
"You are the epidemic doctor, and I am Lorenzo Holmes."
This repeated call is a deliberate move by Lorenzo, who is strengthening his self-awareness to prevent him from forgetting himself.
"I don't think you need to be like this. Maybe this place is not covered by antimemes..."
"Can you sense the existence of antimeme? Epidemic doctor," Lorenzo said again, "You can't, because it is completely opposite to erosion. Erosion is crazy expansion, while antimeme is self-closure. , it’s normal if you can’t feel its existence.”
He was silent for a while, and the doctor could feel the excitement in Lorenzo's words. His mood was a little wrong, like a wild beast being targeted by a hunter, panicking.
"A very simple question."
Lorenzo looked at the epidemic doctor and raised a finger.
"Can you remember what you forgot? Plague Doctor."
"I……"
The doctor was about to reply that he could, but then he realized the absurdity and contradiction of Lorenzo's question.
One cannot remember what has been forgotten, just as one does not know what one still does not know.
All the flesh and blood in the epidemic doctor's body squirmed violently at this moment. He suppressed his breathing and was about to say something when he saw Lorenzo raise his hand and hold up the snow in his hand.
"What is this thing?"
Lorenzo looked curiously at the snow in his hands.
"These cold...crystals? They will melt when exposed to heat. I can't remember what they are, epidemic doctor."
The epidemic doctor almost screamed, Lorenzo had been affected by the antimeme, and he even began to forget the existence of "snow".
Lorenzo noticed the epidemic doctor's demeanor, threw away the snow, and laughed.
"I know, this is snow, I haven't been affected to that extent yet."
The epidemic doctor froze on the spot, then cursed loudly.
"Holmes! Damn you!"
If it weren't for the remaining Florent potion in his hand, the plague doctor would really be ready to beat Lorenzo.
"Don't be angry! Don't be angry! I'm just demonstrating the situation we may encounter. Maybe we will forget not only the snow, but also some more important things, and we are completely unaware of these changes."
Lorenzo laughed and became serious again. This time, the medical doctor also listened to his words. What Lorenzo said was really frightening. The medical doctor immediately injected the remaining Florund medicine. in the body.
"You said, is it too late for us to start writing a diary now?"
The doctor asked. He remembered that they brought pen and paper with them on this trip. As for why they brought these two things, he couldn't remember clearly. He seemed to remember that Lorenzo wanted to draw a route map and lay the foundation for future exploration.
"If it could be solved so easily, the end of the world would not have been hidden for so long. Perhaps the moment we write the handwriting, we will lose the ability to recognize the handwriting."
Lorenzo talks about the antimemes he knows about.
“Antimeme is not a substance or an item, it is a piece of information, and any infected information will be blocked.
Like vision.
Humans can observe objects because light is reflected on the object, reflecting the color of the object and reflecting it in our eyes. When the object is infected by antimeme, even if we see it, we cannot identify it. exist. "
Lorenzo remembered the past, and he was surprised and happy that he had not forgotten this memory.
"It's like a person walks by you, you feel his presence, but you are blocked from cognition, and you subconsciously recognize it as a disturbing wind."
"wind?"
"Well, another similar example is a ladder, but I'm too lazy to explain that much."
Lorenzo said, grabbing the rope tightly and lifting it hard.
"But don't sound so relaxed, Doctor Epidemic. If you were captured by an antimeme, even if we were connected by a rope, I wouldn't be aware of your existence. I wouldn't be able to recognize the pull from the rope, nor would I be able to Judging your existence from sight, let alone hearing your voice... I will lose even the memory of you."
"What do you want to say, Holmes?"
The epidemic doctor calmed down, and he suddenly felt that Lorenzo's words seemed to be more than just a warning to him.
Lorenzo did not answer immediately, but turned around, looked at the snow covered with footprints behind him, and asked in confusion.
"I remember...there is only one person who is right."
(End of this chapter)