Embers of Embers

Chapter 709 Laughter
The waves of sea breeze blew by, making Merlin feel a chill, but it also made him sober up a lot. His muddy and tired will was slightly dazed, and then he woke up, stood up slowly, and moved his body.
Stretching his muscles and bones vigorously, his body made soft sounds one after another, like a misaligned machine being corrected back to normal.
Merlin sighed, looking exhausted both physically and mentally.
It was indeed exhausting. Sometimes Merlin felt as if the rest of his life had been compressed, and all the joys, anger, sorrows and joys were piled on his face in one breath, crashing towards him.
Starting from vaguely knowing the existence of the fence, finding the secret of the end of the world, and even heading towards the final battle, all of this happened a little too fast for him. Thinking back carefully, he and his teacher pursued hard The results that have not been seen in decades have actually been seen in the past few years.
"Teacher, it would be nice if you lived a few more years."
Thinking of this, Merlin muttered.He was very curious, how would he feel if the teacher also knew the truth about this world?
Rounding things off, Merlin can be regarded as knowing the so-called "truth", but this "truth" seems a bit disappointing now. Of course, this may be because Merlin has too much expectations.
"I used to think that my teacher was a pitiful man who dedicated his life to an illusory thing and didn't know the whole story until his death.
Later, I felt that I was the more pitiful one. The teacher died with full expectation. Death was approaching, but he still had full enthusiasm. After his death, I was alone and wanted to abandon this world for the progress of mankind. Foolish alchemy completely buries what one is proud of. "
"what about now?"
Arthur came over, and late at night, the two of them did not return to their respective rooms, but strolled on the deck.
"Now?"
Merlin thought for a while, his monotonous voice rising and falling slightly.
“I feel like I’m very lucky and unlucky.”
Merlin raised his head and looked at the huge, twisted steel bird's nest. There was a shimmer in it and the sound of hammering iron. The technicians were working overtime, not even wasting the time on the road. Sail to Dawn is undergoing maintenance and equipment additions.
"I am happier than all alchemists. In these thousands of years, I am the only one who has seen the truth. More importantly, I seem to have paid nothing on this path of pursuit."
Merlin reached out and brushed the railing, feeling the rust on it.
"I did nothing, just waited in place, and then these guys drove this ship and miraculously brought the truth back from the cold end of the world."
Looking at Arthur, Merlin looked serious.
"You know, how many rounds do alchemists have to plunder each other's knowledge and kill each other? To me, this truth is like picking up for nothing."
"For nothing?"
Hearing Merlin describe the truth like this, Arthur couldn't help laughing. Looking at Arthur with a smile on his face, Merlin also let out a few hollow laughs to cooperate with him.
The two of them were leaning against the railing, with the dark seawater tumbling and rolling beneath them.
"I feel so unlucky again."
Merlin added, "I will come to the end."
"Isn't it a bad ending? All this will come to an end." Arthur asked rhetorically.
"No... I'm just a little scared. It's not so much about the ending, but more about the world after the ending," Merlin's voice paused for a few seconds, and then asked, "Arthur, have you ever thought about the world after the ending? "
"No."
Arthur had nothing to hide from this old friend.
"I somewhat understand your fear, but I am different from you. I am full of expectations for the unknown future."
Arthur said, straightening up.
"It could be bad, a future where everyone dies, but it could also be great, a world where everyone is happy."
"By the way, these things remind me of some of the conversations I had with Lorenzo before." Arthur remembered something and said again.
"Huh? What, what do you think Mr. Holmes has to say?"
Hearing Lorenzo, Merlin became somewhat interested. In his opinion, Lorenzo was more like a guy who gave people "surprises" than interesting. When you are constrained by some thoughts, you might as well Listen to his opinion. Although it may not be useful, it will definitely break your conventional thinking.
"He doesn't know what the future will be after the ending, but he heard another person say it."
"Sending a message? One after another, so who is that guy?"
Merlin asked. They all knew very little about Lorenzo's past, and Lorenzo himself never mentioned it. Sometimes this gave them the illusion that Lorenzo's life started from the old Dunling. Before that, it was blank.
"I don't know. He didn't tell me that much. He only talked about his vision for the future."
Arthur was lying on the railing, looking at the sea level in the distance. In the endless darkness, a few glimmers of light rose, like flames growing on the land. They turned into dark torches, illuminating the way forward.
"He called the future after the ending the golden age."
"The golden age?"
Merlin savored the word and smelled the sunshine.
"Sounds pretty good."
……
The weather tonight is not good. Dense dark clouds have covered the stars, and not a single ray of light has fallen. If you look at the outside world through the porthole, you will find that darkness spreads across the sea and the night sky, and the boundaries between the two are blurred. Fusion into one, swallowing the ship into boundless darkness.
In such darkness, the light on the ship became the only torch. Apart from the breathing of the people around him, the only sounds left in his ears were the roaring sea wind and the sound of surging waves.
Lorenzo leaned aside, huddled himself in the corner, and looked into the darkness outside the porthole.
With his previous experience in the Lonely Sea, Lorenzo was already used to this slightly weird darkness, and even said that compared to his trip to the Lonely Sea, everything was much more comfortable now.
There were no monsters, no extreme cold, and no reverberating erosion. It was just a slightly unsettling voyage, but other than that, there was nothing special about it.
Looking back from the porthole window, the lights in the cabin were dim, and most of the cabin was plunged into darkness. The atmosphere was quiet, with only the sound of calm breathing echoing.
Relying on the demon hunter's excellent eyesight, Lorenzo easily saw clearly those people leaning in the darkness. It was obviously late at night and it was time to go to bed, but no one went back to their respective rooms to sleep. They all appeared here by chance, silently.
Shrike, Kestrel, Eve, Seliu, Blue Jade... There were many familiar faces in the room. Everyone occupied their respective positions. Some people raised their heads as if thinking about something, while others closed their eyes and fell asleep.
Lorenzo guessed that they must want to say something, but no one started and could not bear to break the calm. They could only sway with the slight sway of the cabin.
Suddenly Lorenzo felt that this scene was very good and unexpectedly peaceful.
"This reminds me of our previous return trip."
Lorenzo said calmly, with a gleam in his eyes.
The shrike's voice came from the darkness. He thought for a while and then said, "Are you talking about the return journey from the Silent Sea?"
"Sea of ​​Silence? Return? Tell us!"
At this time, another voice sounded, it was Sa Liangxi, she was very curious about all this.
"I just remember that on the way back, I was either unconscious, vomiting, or just dizzy and vomiting."
There was a bit of suppressed laughter in the silence. When Shrike said this, Lan Jade also said with a smile.
"Yeah, you were in terrible shape at that time, with multiple injuries, blood loss, and erosion... we thought you wouldn't survive."
"Probably because of hard luck."
"Looks like that trip was really bad," Kestrel said at this point.
"Well, you should be thankful that you didn't come, maybe you will be lost there if you are lucky." Lan Jade said.
"how is this possible!"
"Don't be too confident Kestrel, do you remember the story I told you before?" Lorenzo reminded.
Hearing Lorenzo speak, Kestrel's voice was a little weaker, but you could vaguely hear him muttering nonsense like "Lucky Kestrel" under his breath.
"It must be an unforgettable experience, right?"
Eve asked curiously. She still remembered the encounter in the office. It was probably the first time she met Watson.
A ghost that has traveled through an unknown period of time is rushing to the north without stopping.
Eve peered into the darkness, trying to search for the ghost who accompanied Lorenzo, but she did not have the excellent eyesight of a demon hunter, and could only barely distinguish one outline after another in the darkness.
"A bad experience, a nightmare experience."
Seliu spoke at this time, her voice as always, calm and a little cold.
"You came here in a terrible time, curled up in bed like a hibernating bear."
At this time, Lan Jade spoke again. On the way back from Jihai, she was like a medical soldier, taking care of several people back and forth.
Hearing Lan Jade's words, Seriu fell silent suddenly, probably because she thought she was in the dark, she didn't control her expression, showing a slightly embarrassed and shy expression, and all this fell into the eyes of the demon hunter opposite .
Lorenzo felt like a voyeur, watching everyone's reactions in the dark.
"Are you hurt?" Eve asked concerned.
"No, it doesn't count..."
"She caught a cold and was affected by erosion, and she was depressed for a long time." Lan Jade explained.
"cold?"
Eve never expected this to be the reason. It may be that the threshold has been raised a lot after being in the purification agency for a long time. Sometimes, in the eyes of these neuropaths, being shot is only a minor injury. As for the cold?This word does not exist in the dictionary.
"I don't seem to have a cold."
Eve muttered, maybe because of being a ranger, Eve's body has always been very good, and she rarely catches a cold. This disease is very unfamiliar to her.
"To be precise, you caught a cold because you saved me."
Then Lorenzo spoke.
At the end of the fight with the sea serpent, Seleu caught Lorenzo and rescued him from his armor.
"save you?"
Kestrel screamed, extremely surprised.
"It's unbelievable. I always thought that Mr. Holmes was the only one who saved others, but there are times when others come to save you?"
"You piece of shit, I'm a human being too, and humans will be in trouble sometimes."
Faced with Kestrel's ridicule, Lorenzo laughed and cursed. Then he calmed down for a few seconds. Lorenzo thought about it seriously and said.
"Actually, I have been rescued by many people, just like Seliu that time."
Seleu rescued Lorenzo's body from the Black Angel, and Watson, who arrived, pulled Lorenzo's consciousness out of the "gap".
Looking back on it now, Lorenzo still feels a bit of fear and at the same time wonders, if the two of them are not so synchronized, Lorenzo can't imagine what it will be like in the end.
"You are not the savior, Lorenzo. You also need to be saved."
A steady voice sounded, and Shao Liangye spoke at this moment. Lorenzo looked in the direction of the voice, and through the darkness, he saw Shao Liangye closing his eyes in deep thought.
"I know."
Lorenzo responded, others were not sure what the two were talking about, it was "black language" that only these two people understood.
He sighed and said to Shao Liangye.
"To be honest, when I heard you say 'rescue', I actually felt a damn familiar feeling."
"why?"
"Didn't I mention to you?" Lorenzo said, "I was once a priest. Although my tenure was short, I was saving at least a dozen souls every day."
Lorenzo's words caused another burst of laughter, and Kestrel suppressed his laughter and asked.
"Actually, I've always been curious about your days as a pastor...how did you save their souls?"
"How else can we save them? Tell them what is said in the Gospel."
"Gone?"
"Gone."
"Are all the pastors of your evangelical church so perfunctory?" Kestrel yelled.
"You don't believe this thing, what do you call it!"
The two scolded each other again, shouting loudly, messing up the quiet and peaceful atmosphere.
"Savior……"
Seleu whispered, savoring the word.
This is a good word, with hope and fresh life. When you hear this word, it is as if someone is coming like lightning, sweeping away all the darkness and opening up a bright way forward for you.
Of course, if it were on Lorenzo's body, the painting style would probably be like this guy humming a strange ditty, slashing and killing all the way, then kicking open the door and asking you, hiding under the table, what you want to do tonight Have you eaten anything?
If you answer "don't know" or "casual", this guy might just grab an enemy who hasn't died and ask him for advice.
Thinking of this, Seleu couldn't help laughing out loud.
Laughing and laughing in the darkness, there is only a slightly lonely figure, who is incompatible with everything here, like a ghost, and no one cares.
She sat not far from Lorenzo, looked at Lorenzo, and then at the friends chatting around. Watson seemed to be enjoying the current atmosphere, although it had nothing to do with her.
"That's great, Lorenzo."
She whispered inwardly.
"so good……"
Before the words were finished, the piercing alarm bell rang, dragging everyone out of their joy to face the coming darkness.
(End of this chapter)