Embers of Embers

Chapter 609 Carriers
In the morning there was constant noise, an adult complained endlessly in his ear, then there was the slight sound of getting dressed, and then the iron bed started to shake.
Lorenzo closed his eyes and tried not to let this bad thing disturb his exquisite meditation. He lay flat on the bed with his hands clasped together, like a deceased person who died bathing in the holy light.
After a brief sway, Lorenzo could hear panting. The guy might have slipped on his foot and stepped on the wrong spot.
He stepped on the air and screamed, and this scream completely broke Lorenzo's tense nerves.
"Kestrel, can't you roll away and go to sleep?"
Lorenzo glared at his new roommate with red eyes.
"Huh? But the only thing left is the warehouse."
Kestrel was wearing pajamas, holding one hand on the railing, and stretched out the other hand to scratch his back. He looked like he was awake, his hair stood up, and he couldn't understand what Lorenzo was talking about.
"Are you praying?"
He pointed at Lorenzo's clasped hands, wondering if there was something wrong with these religious believers, so they all lay on the bed and were still praying.
In Kestrel's view, the bed is a rare safe haven, except for sleeping, everything is profane to the bed.
It's a pity that Lorenzo doesn't know Kestrel's inner thoughts. If he knew, he would definitely burst into tears and accuse the purification agency of turning people into ghosts. The good Kestrel has been numbed like this.
In fact, Lorenzo held his breath and wanted to curse but couldn't.
Kestrel ignored him at all, and opened the closet beside him, put on a change of clothes, and scratched his head vigorously to make himself look good.
Lorenzo also stood up and got out of the quilt. Only then did he realize that this guy was already dressed. This made Kestrel stunned and couldn't help but ask.
"Are you like this at home?" Kestrel was amazed. "Is this Mr. Holmes? He is fully equipped even when sleeping."
"Are you worried about being embarrassed in your pajamas when you're attacked?"
Hearing the sound of the kestrel, Lorenzo only felt a headache. He should have left him in the port of Maruri.
"I got up early!" Lorenzo replied, "I just want to lie down quietly."
He sat on a chair nearby, looked at the damn bunk beds, and then at the dormitory, which was not too big. The sound of a fan whirring above his head made Lorenzo feel even more irritable.
This is the dormitory that Arthur arranged for him, located deep underground in the old Dunling.
Lorenzo urged him to get a single room, but Arthur said that every inch of land was precious in this damn place, so he told himself not to choose too much... Lorenzo suspected that he was targeting him.
"What are you doing today? Checking those big Geiger counters?"
Lorenzo asked.
This is the third day since he moved in. With the arrival of the Jiuxia Anonymous, they began to further transform the old Dunling. For example, Lorenzo is in charge of placing antimemetic weapons all over the place. When excessive erosion is detected on the large Geiger counter in Old Dunling, the antimemetic weapon is triggered to reverse the erosion of the entire area.
I don't know how effective it is, but it is still much more efficient than the previous method of purging the mechanism.
Lorenzo still remembers the tedious steps of the purification agency. Areas with residual erosion will be judged as contaminated areas by them, and they will be quarantined for varying lengths of time, etc.
"Well, idleness is idleness, you have to find something to do."
Kestrel has completely become a laborer, and he has begun to get used to it.
Looking at the Kestrel who was doing his duty, Lorenzo was filled with emotion for a moment, and then said, "Then can you not take me with you? I'm not your employee."
"No, you have to go!"
"Why! Just because you work overtime and see me idle, do you feel unhappy?" Lorenzo shouted. After working for three days, he realized that he didn't have to do this.
"You have nothing to do anyway. Instead of hanging around here, you might as well do something meaningful, okay!"
Kestrel took Lorenzo with him. With the idea that he could not make things easier for others, he had to take Lorenzo with him no matter what, in the name of fulfilling his duties.
While the two were arguing, someone knocked on the door.
The two stopped fighting, straightened their clothes, and then opened the door with serious faces.
"Hey, good morning," Eve leaned against the door, glanced at Kestrel who came to open the door, and then looked at Lorenzo who was sitting on a chair in the room. She asked, "So who of you two wins?"
The soundproofing of the dormitory is not good.
……
The elevator slowly went up, and the shadow of the gap fell on the face, flickering on and off.
Eve sneezed on the side, and old dust floated back and forth in the air as the machinery operated.
Lorenzo breathed, the surroundings were quiet, no one spoke, waiting for the elevator to reach the ground. After a while, the iron fence was pulled to both sides, the iron door opened, and dazzling sunlight poured in.
"Let's go."
Kestrel pushed Lorenzo from behind, but in the end Lorenzo still couldn't resist him and was forced to come over to work.
"Good morning!"
A crisp voice sounded, and in the blurry light, Lorenzo could see someone waving to them. The other person spoke non-standard Western language, which sounded quite interesting, like a child learning the language.
Xie Liangxi and Shao Liangye have been waiting here for a long time, and the work these few days has been assisted by both of them, so Lorenzo is more or less familiar with these two strangers from Jiuxia.
Rhodes stood beside the two of them. As an interpreter, he didn't have much to do. Sometimes he felt like a dispensable passerby, and he felt very bad about it.
"She said good morning."
Rhodes said in time.
"I know, I know." Lorenzo responded with a smile. He really couldn't understand some of what Sagaraki said, but due to the context and other reasons, Lorenzo could guess what she said.
Kestrel looked at the silent Shao Liangye and saw the iron box in his hand.
"Is this from today?"
"Yeah." Shao Liangye responded simply. Like Zuo Tang, he didn't talk much.
Without much chatting, the Iron Snake had already stopped aside. Several people boarded the Iron Snake and headed towards the destination with a roar.
Everyone in the car had different expressions. Lorenzo was in a daze, not knowing what he was thinking. Eve sat on the other side, looking down at the mission report. She also became more dedicated, and she seemed really ready to accept it. The cultivation of Arthur has become the next generation of the purification organization.
I don’t know whether to congratulate her on finding her direction in life, or whether to say she fell into a den of thieves by mistake.
Kestrel squinted his eyes. He was actually very sleepy and was going to recuperate on the way. Shao Liangye crossed his arms, lowered his head and remained silent.
Lorenzo opened his eyes slightly, observing Shao Liangye.
After getting along for a few days, he thought that Shao Liangye, like Zuo Tang, was an indifferent guy, but soon he discovered that things didn't seem to be like this.
This is like a kind of code of Anonymous, they make their own behaviors like antimemes, completely closed, making it difficult for ordinary people to spy on their thoughts and judge their behavior, so these guys all look indifferent, as if they have no emotions Same.
This is their disguise.
But there are some anonymous people who don't seem to care much about this, like that chirping guy.
"Hey! Rhodes, what is this!"
"Rhode! What is that!"
Sa Liangxi didn't look like Anonymous at all. Everyone in the carriage was filled with murderous auras, as if they were going to the lower city to fight for their lives, but she was the only one who seemed to be really traveling and kept calling for a tour guide.
Rhodes also had a look of helplessness on his face. There was no use for him as a translator. He had been practicing so hard for so long, but he just wanted to be a tour guide?What's even sadder is that he doesn't seem to have the power to refuse.
"This is...that is..."
Rhodes explained to Xi Liangxi, looking at her curious eyes, sometimes Rhodes felt that all this was not so bad.
Thinking of myself when I was studying, like her, I was full of curiosity about foreign countries.
The two of them became outliers in this small team. When others were carrying antimemetic weapons with a serious face, they were traveling, and when others were installing defensive measures, they were experiencing the local customs.
Well, actually Lorenzo doesn't hate this. Thanks to this existence, the team has a little life, instead of being a silent stagnant water.
More importantly, Lorenzo also likes this. He likes the current non-serious look. If possible, he hopes to continue like this.
The more leisurely it is, the more it means that no disaster is coming, everything is peaceful and wonderful.
But everyone knows that this is just an illusion. The storm is gathering deep in the clouds, waiting for the day when it will completely detonate.
Iron Snake stopped, the car door opened, and the slightly cold wind rushed into the car, waking up the sleepy Kestrel, making his body tremble.
"There are not many tasks today. We just need to install the antimemetic weapon on the large Geiger counter here." Eve said holding the task list.
Lorenzo walked out of the carriage, the gloomy sky collapsed, and the sun fell from it, shining right in front of his eyes, making him unable to open his eyes for a while.
His vision soon became clearer and became familiar.
The dilapidated buildings, garbage everywhere, homeless people hiding in corners, spying on a few people, and the familiar smell floating in the air, made Lorenzo feel like he was home.
"Where is... here?" Sa Liangxi asked. She had never thought that under the glory of the old Dun Ling, there was such a dirty place.
"Downtown," Rhodes explained, "You can understand that this is the garbage dump of Old Dunling."
He couldn't give a proper explanation for Xiacheng District, so he could only reluctantly let Sa Liangxi understand.
"It's been a long time since I've been here, it's still like this here."
Kestrel also stepped out of the carriage and said with some nostalgia.
Unlike the rapidly developing old Dunling, no one cares about places like Xiacheng District. No matter how the city iterates, it still looks dilapidated.
Now that I'm back here, it feels amazing. It was in this mud that the kestrel climbed up.
"Let's go, Blue Jade is waiting for us." Eve said.
"Blue Jade?" Lorenzo was stunned, "Isn't this place under the control of Shrike?"
"Shrike is still lying in the hospital, and the place has been temporarily handed over to Blue Jade to take care of." Eve explained.
"Wait a minute, is it really reasonable for the shrike from the lower city to become a woman?" Lorenzo said quickly.
"Do you really think that in the entire lower city, except for Shrike, there is no one who can clean up the mechanism?" Eve looked at him helplessly, "Do you think that during the time when Shrike followed you to the Silent Sea, how did this place keep it secret? From the past?"
"The entire Lower City area has always been under the control of the purge agency. Shrike's power here is more like a purge agency outpost disguised as a gang than a gang."
Kestrel also explained at this time.
Lorenzo said no more. Since encountering the demon, he has rarely come to the lower city, let alone come into contact with these things.
After going around and around, several people came to the outpost along the secret passages all over the lower city. This place is also located underground. Above it is Shrike's casino and office. Lorenzo never expected that he had a relationship with this secret agency. So close.
There are not many people in the outpost, most of them are scattered in the lower city, monitoring the movements of various gangs to prevent them from causing any big trouble in the lower city. In the center of the underground space is a large Geiger counter that operates calmly. Like a giant mechanical copper pillar, it runs through the entire space.
A steady and gentle ticking sound can be heard, and everything seems to be normal. This is also the first time for Lorenzo to observe this thing so closely.
"Can I touch it?" Lorenzo asked.
"random."
Lan Jade, who had been waiting for a long time, said that the injury on her arm has not healed yet, and she is tied with a thick bandage, but compared to the Shrike who is bedridden so far, she is already considered lucky.
Eve, as a qualified supervisor, stood aside, watching and recording something. Kestrel fell to the side and was lazy. Only then did Lorenzo understand why this guy didn't die suddenly after going through such intense work. reason.
Sa Liangxi and Shao Liangye also showed their due professionalism at this moment. They rattled around the mechanical copper pillars, opened the heavy iron box, and took out the precision objects inside.
"Is that an antimemetic weapon?"
Lorenzo stroked the cold expression of the copper pillar and asked the two of them.
"Well, to be precise, it is the carrier of antimemetic weapons."
Shao Liangye finally stopped being silent and explained the principle of this weapon to Lorenzo.
"So...what started it?"
Lorenzo was very curious. For many people, this thing was considered a black box technology, and after the encounter in Lonely Sea, Lorenzo became more and more curious about this thing.
"'Trigger'," Shao Liangye said, "The carrier is the firearm, and the antimeme is the weapon. To trigger it, we also need a trigger condition, which is the 'trigger'."
"There are many types of 'triggers' that we can set. For example, this one is set up now. When excessive erosion is detected, if the erosion intensity does not decline within a certain period of time, it will be triggered as a 'trigger'."
Shao Liangye explained, putting the precision metal in his hand into the copper pillar.
"Type? What other triggering methods are there?" Lorenzo asked.
"There are many, but they have to be used according to different situations. For example, the antimemetic bullet is a continuously running antimemetic weapon. It has no trigger conditions, but its range of influence is very small, and it can even be easily isolated. So it needs to be injected into the enemy to be effective."
Lorenzo raised his eyebrows, "Sounds interesting."
"Actually, there are more interesting ones."
Shao Liangye raised his head and glanced at Lorenzo. His cold expression became a little relaxed, and he said as if he was looking at the same kind of people.
"Anonymous is actually very similar to a demon hunter."
"what?"
"The witcher is the carrier of the secret blood, and the Anonymous itself is also the carrier of the antimeme."
(End of this chapter)