Embers of Embers

Chapter 667 Golden Lake
It was like an earthquake, the vibrations from the top of the head continued, and the dust fell endlessly, like heavy rain, making everyone gray.
The pipes were also trembling violently, and some even broke. A large amount of water vapor and liquid gushed out. Under constant pressure, the water flow spurted, making the scene even more chaotic.
The Cai Gongs stood among them with expressionless faces, as if they had no emotions, and the leader of them was Zuo Zhen who stood high up.
Zuo Zhen raised his head. He was very clear about the current situation and what was coming. They were advancing at a very fast speed, easily breaking through Zuo Zhen's defenses, and then continued to move forward.
If it were Kestrel and the others, they would probably be scared to death right now, talking rubbish and trying to relax their nerves.
But Zuo Zhen is different, whether it is the god of death or a friend who comes next, his face is like a hypocritical mask, without any change.
People often say that, as a subordinate, when you see Zuo Zhen's demeanor, you will always feel at ease.
After all, this foreigner from Jiuxia has always been like this. No matter what kind of crisis he faces, he always has a faint smile on his face.
He seemed to be separated from the story. Whether it was sadness or joy, it seemed that everything had nothing to do with him. He always had a calm and calm expression on his face.
Even with peace of mind, some people will feel fear, as if no one has ever understood Zuo Zhen, and they don't know what is hidden under that mask-like face.
"The guests are coming soon, I'm really anxious."
Zuo Zhen said relaxedly, turned his head and looked at Mr. Cai on the side.
Mr. Cai's face was stiff. The so-called "Gong Cai" was just a title. As for who they were, they probably didn't know clearly.
"What are you thinking about? Zhao Lun."
Zuo Zhen asked coldly. "Cai Gong", known as Zhao Lun, thought for a moment and said slowly.
"I'm reminiscing about my childhood," Zhao Lun said.
"Oh? Sounds good."
"Well, Anonymous has existed in our family for generations, so I started training when I was very young."
Zhao Lun recalled.
Zuo Zhen nodded lightly and said something silently, seemingly following Zhao Lun's words.
"I remember that the training ground was built by the lake, and the ground was covered with bluestones..."
The memory was very vague. No matter how hard Zhao Lun tried to peek, the picture he saw still had a sense of unreality, like a hazy dream.
But even so, he still stubbornly believed that this was real, something he had personally experienced, and was engraved in his soul.
"I remember there was a huge maple tree there. I don't know how many years it had grown... It was probably the largest maple tree I had ever seen. In late autumn, the leaves turned into fiery red gold and fell everywhere. , coating the lake with brilliant gold, like flowing gold."
Zhao Lun's voice was full of nostalgia, and at the same time he cherished it very much.
In his mind, apart from orders and tasks, this seemed to be the only memory he had that belonged to him.
Due to the influence of the antimemetic protection on Anonymous, as time goes by and the protection increases, his memory will be eroded little by little, and he will even lose all his memory, and finally even his own existence will be completely destroyed. Die, be completely erased from this world.
Zhao Lun woke up from the good memories. He soon realized something and looked at Zuo Zhen doubtfully.
"You said that our 'Cai Gong' has no name." Zhao Lun didn't understand.
"Yeah, it's probably because I said it smoothly," Zuo Zhen looked to one side and looked down at the Cai Gongs below, "Habits are hard to break."
"Have we been working together for a long time?"
Although Zhao Lun's memory is shallow, he still has his major as an anonymous person. Even if he understands Zuo Zhen's meaning, the two have worked together, and they seem to be familiar with each other, but Zhao Lun himself forgot.
"For a long time... quite a long time, just because you guys have been too deeply affected by antimemes, your brain capacity is pitifully small, and you can't remember too many things at all, so I don't bother to give you these 'Cai Gong' 'What's the name? You can't remember it anyway."
Listening to Zuo Zhen's words, Zhao Lun nodded and muttered as if he understood.
"Is that so..." Only then did Zhao Lun understand the meaning of "Cai Gong", "Is that why we are called Cai Gong?"
"Yes, this is the ending of the anonymous people, the ending under the influence of antimemetics. The lucky ones will spend the rest of their lives in a nursing home like Alzheimer's, or they will be like you unlucky ones, here with me, spreading out The last remaining warmth.”
Zuo Zhen said, and then asked.
"Are you scared? Zhao Lun."
Zhao Lun shook his head, his expression was very confused, and the memory in his mind could not answer Zuo Zhen's words.
"I...I don't know if I'm afraid or not. I think many things are relative. Only when you have experienced the ecstasy of life will you be afraid of death."
"Have you not lived the ecstasy of life?"
Listening to Zuo Zhen's words, Zhao Lun's eyes flashed with the flowing gold lake, and he murmured.
"maybe."
Then he realized something, and his eyes became trembling and frightened.
"Is that real? Or is it just some false illusion."
This feeling was terrible. He was originally a confused doll, but under Zuo Zhen's words, he briefly regained some... clarity.
"It's true, that kind of thing must be true, after all, that's the residence of our Anonymous."
Zuo Zhen smiled, recalling the same golden color in his mind.
"To be honest, I miss it there too and really want to go back again."
Zuo Zhen sighed.
"This is really not a good time to miss, don't you think so, Zhao Lun."
Then Zuo Zhen handed over something, it was his favorite gun, a weapon called Falling Star.
"Ok?"
Zhao Lun didn't understand what he meant. This was Zuo Zhen's favorite gun. The old man in front of him rarely showed love for something, and this falling star was one of them.
"Roger is coming and I need you to do something."
Zuo Zhen looked at him and said in a deep voice.
Zhao Lun's eyes seemed a little wandering. He held the falling star tightly, looked at Zuo Zhen again, and then asked.
"Will our death be meaningful?"
"I don't know, who knows this kind of thing," Zuo Zhen said, "We are like crossing a river, a fast river, one body after another is thrown in meaninglessly... But I think, one day, Corpses can block this damn river, and someone will always step on our corpses and walk to the other side of the river."
"Aren't you afraid of death? Zuo Zhen." Zhao Lun asked back.
"Do not."
He patted Zhao Lun on the shoulder, and the vibrations above him got closer and closer.
"I think death is just scary for mortals. For those crazy monsters, maybe death is the relief they long for."
Zuo Zhen showed that iconic smile without any emotion, just like a false mask.
……
Fire and explosion, death overlaps with death, as if it will never end.
The demons cleared the way ahead and pushed forward with their flesh and blood bodies, defeating all the defense lines prepared by the purification agency. Corpses were scattered everywhere, and even the descriptions became pale and feeble in the end.
But the deaths of mortals were not meaningless. The red molten iron surged and then slowly solidified, sealing most of the passages. The poured firepower also destroyed the flesh and blood of the demons. In the end, there were not many demon legions left.
Roger has the ability to use erosion to transform other people into demons, but the place has been turned into a restricted area of ​​life by successive wars, leaving only monotonous silence.
"This world is a huge Hall of Valor. Resurrection, then death, continuing this endless reincarnation."
Roger whispered, and the hot fire surged through his body, easily boiling the iron, and the molten iron was opened up, opening a path downwards.
He was alone, heading towards the depths of darkness, which reminded him of what happened a long time ago, when he was doing the same thing, heading towards the depths of the underground, trying to reach the well of sublimation.
In that deep, lightless darkness...
There were constant crackling sounds in the silence, and Roger was like a porcelain doll on the verge of collapse, getting closer to breaking with every step he took.
A sudden explosion sounded, and a heavy release echoed in the underground.
The surface defenses were captured, but the underground ones were not. Unfortunately, these counterattacks did not have much effect. Most of the infiltrated demons dispersed. The impact of the explosion could not change the situation, not even delay it.
The obstructed road was melted by the high temperature, and the red molten iron dripped down, and Roger went all the way down.
Zhao Lun raised his head. He could already see the red light in the darkness above. He turned his eyes to the others. He raised his hand and made gestures.
Most Cai Gongs have flaws. Under the influence of antimemetics, many people have lost part of their cognitive abilities. Some people can't speak, some can't listen, etc...
At Zhao Lun's signal, some people hid, while others stood on the gate, trying to make a final resistance.
They would be exposed to Roger's sight for the first time. I'm afraid they wouldn't even have a chance to fire, and would be killed in an instant. They were destined to die, but their faces were expressionless.
At this moment, Zuo Zhen is no longer here, and no one knows where he went.
Zhao Lun didn't bother to think about these things, he started to step back until he was completely covered by the shadow, he set up the falling star, and took out the special bullet.
This is an extremely special bullet. It is the only [Forget River] in Zuo Zhen's knowledge whose existence can be known.
That's right, in fact, Zuo Zhen didn't know what the carrier of [Wang Chuan] was, but he realized through clues that he had forgotten something, and he had forgotten the information related to the death row.
As the leader of the Anonymous, Zuo Zhen knew exactly what this meant, and he worked hard to achieve that goal based on his own experience.
Zhao Lun took a deep breath. He was wearing a silver crown on his head, holding the falling star tightly, and thinning his existence continuously. Under the protection of the antimeme, Zhao Lun seemed to not exist.
And then...then Roger came.
The hot molten iron slid down from the top of the head, followed by the sound of gunfire. Cai Gong poured firepower towards the target above his head. At the same moment of firing, the huge erosion expanded instantly.
A twisted and disgusting feeling spread from the heart, and then the silver crown burst into countless cracks, and then completely collapsed.
This is the lifeline of Cai Gong, and now it is broken.
A huge amount of erosion impacted his mind, his pupils were scarlet, blood overflowed from the tip of his nose, and his bones began to become distorted and alienated.
In the crazy nightmare, they maintained their only sanity. Sporadic gunshots rang out, and Cai Gong opened fire on others, killing those defeated Cai Gong before transforming into monsters, and then himself.
This was a one-sided massacre, and soon there was only Cai Gong standing in a pool of blood. He watched Roger's arrival, and then shot himself to end his life.
As the last Cai Gong fell, Roger also stepped into a pool of blood. He looked around and felt a little bored.
This is the last line of defense for the Purification Agency, but this line of defense is so fragile... Think about it, the Purification Agency has devoted all their strength along the way. This is the last resistance of the dying person, and it is powerless. Hammered.
"It's finally over."
Roger's tone was slightly relaxed, as if he was about to relieve himself of a heavy responsibility.
He stretched out his hand, and the blazing heat was about to erupt, melting through the steel in front of him.
The power Roger mobilized surged, and then suddenly stagnated and collapsed at a certain moment.
He was confused and lowered his head, only to see the bloody hole in his chest and the bullet embedded in it.
"I...I succeeded, Zuo Zhen."
Zhao Lun looked at Roger who had been hit by him, and his calm and boring heart finally brought up some different emotions, the same ecstasy as that of the golden lake.
He wanted to get up and celebrate, but he also wanted to continue to pull the trigger and pour out his anger on Roger.
But Zhao Lun couldn't do it. The moment the bullet hit, the moment Roger was injured, the moment Zhao Lun knew he had succeeded.
Roger discovered him and discovered this assassin hiding in the darkness. He had sacrificed so many lives of Cai Gong just for this one shot.
The silver crown shattered, Zhao Lun's smile solidified, and then completely shattered into countless pieces of flesh.
Also broken was the detonated [Forget River].
The antimeme surged like a tide, so powerful that it kept eating away at the erosion, as if there were thousands of worms biting at Roger's will at this moment, just like the blow he encountered when he invaded Lorenzo.
The sound of breaking continued, and there were more and more cracks on Roger's body. The hardened porcelain-like skin kept breaking away, revealing the deep darkness underneath.
He wailed, and his voice had a strange overlap, as if thousands of people were wailing with Roger. After the will of Roger Cruz collapsed and was destroyed, only pure beasts remained.
As the antimeme spreads its fury, the shadow is shattered, and the assassin lurking in it leaps high.
Sacrifice and shooting, all to draw Roger's attention so that he could get close to the monster and deliver the killing blow
"Well done, Zhao Lun."
Zuo Zhen whispered, quickly swinging the folding knife.
The wind of the sword is fierce and swift as the wind.
Stab down Roger's neck, pierce the spine, break the heart, then whip out another folding knife and cut off the head just like Lorenzo said.
The body was broken and there was a stalemate, and blood filled the sky.
(End of this chapter)