Gun of Ashes

Chapter 22: Chapter 16 Banquet of Bliss

Lorenzo pulled Eve into the frenetic party, and suddenly everything became clear before their eyes. The long corridor led directly to the deepest part, but like a spider web, it branched into dozens of paths along the way. Everywhere at the corners lay people with vacant eyes, seemingly lost in an unawakenable dream.

”What is this...”

Eve was almost suffocated, words failed her.

”The Banquet of Bliss.”

Lorenzo replied in a flat tone. This blood-boiling atmosphere couldn’t excite him in the least, as if his blood were cold. His gaze fell on those sprawled on the ground, clinging passionately to each other, united in a shared dream.

This was merely the perimeter; no one knew how many were entranced beneath the vast Underground Palace.

But Lorenzo didn’t care. He continued to lead Eve forward, stepping over undulating, twisted bodies.

”What are those people doing?”

”Dreaming, that’s their way of release.”

As they walked, Lorenzo explained while holding Eve’s arm.

”Do you know the hallucinogen rampant in the Outer City District? That’s what they inject, just a tiny amount allows them to escape reality for a long time. It’s also one of the programs at the Sabo ball, often called the Banquet of Bliss by people in the Lower City District. To them, this act is like ascending to Heaven together.”

Lorenzo’s gaze turned cold. He never liked this means of escape.

”But you can only go for a while; the dream must end eventually, falling forcefully from a beautiful Heaven, waking up in the filthy Lower City District, crying out loud.”

Eve was stunned. The cruelty of the world had barely revealed a corner to her, and she felt an overwhelming oppression.

”Why... why do they do this?”

It seemed as if she was asking why they didn’t work hard or love life.

...

This was the era of steam technology, where the rumbling steam engines propelled the world’s technology forward vigorously. But the beauty brought by this technology did not favor everyone, not even here in Ingwig’s Old Dunling.

The entire Old Dunling was in a kind of pathological deformity, with thick clouds hovering in the sky, the Zeppelin Airship never descending. The world’s cutting-edge technology was nurtured in this industrial hotbed, everything progressing towards the most beautiful direction.

But the cost of all this was so tragic. The air, mixed with waste gases, reverberated in the lungs of every Ingwig person. To keep the furnace forever alight, the ancient forests had long been burned to exhaustion, leaving only undeveloped barren lands now.

The pinnacle of technology always prioritizes military service; therefore, Ingwig finally emerged victorious in the century-long Radiant War. The war dividends and unique military technology enabled its rapid rise. Under twisted development, the Midcourt Serpent almost covered all of Ingwig’s territory. The silent steel torrent could easily destroy any nation refusing to submit.

But the darkest is always the deep shadow beneath the daylight.

The public infrastructure, gradually starting up, could only meet the needs of the nobility and part of the populace. The Mechanical Institute could already send hundreds of tons of war machines into the sky but couldn’t light up electric lamps in every dark household. After liberating productivity, countless people became unemployed. They were expelled by their own country like wild dogs, eking out a living in the damp sewers, ultimately descending into madness.

”The entire Old Dunling is like a pyramid, with class upon class pressing down, finally supported by those powerless people at the base.”

Lorenzo said with cold cruelty.

”Machines don’t need a salary or rest, but people do, so they’re eliminated, ultimately surviving here in misery.”

Eve said nothing, as someone of the noble class, she couldn’t utter a word.

After a long journey, with sight, sound, and multiple senses constantly bombarded by this disarray, upon entering the actual ballroom, Eve finally let out a sigh of relief.

With their entrance, all the guests had arrived, the door behind them slowly closed shut, song arose, men and women twisted and danced in the dance floor as if the door severed off the entire world, completely isolating that bewildering warmth.

Hundreds of crystals hung from the massive chandelier, reflecting the light and illuminating the dome like daylight.

The space of the hall was much larger than seen in the corridor, the steps rising layer by layer like an Ancient Roman arena. It was unimaginable prosperity, Eve never thought such a facility existed in the poor Lower City District, as if all of Lower City District’s wealth converged here to build this magnificent place.

”Do you know how to dance?”

Lorenzo took Eve’s hand, bowed, and without waiting for her reply, began to whirl her around the dance floor.

”I’m not very good at it.”

Eve said this, but felt it was too late, as they were already moving, weaving back and forth through the crowd in the dance floor.

On the high platform, the band played passionately, the music stirring everyone’s emotions.

”As a noble, you should learn more, maybe your future husband will meet you at a ball, won’t he?”

Lorenzo displayed an unbelievable proficiency, making Eve sway and dance in his hands like a puppet.

”How about you? Does a detective also need to learn to dance?”

”You also know, most of the time you catch mistresses after the ball ends.”

Lorenzo’s voice was a bit dry, always bringing up his spotty history was indeed somewhat embarrassing.

Eve flashed a mischievous smile, uncontrollably relaxing more, forgetting how she got there and the purpose, this seemed no different from an ordinary ball.

”Careful observation of the surroundings, next we need to find Sabo.”

Spinning with Eve in his arms, the girl was much lighter than he imagined, her long dress swirling open like a blooming lotus.

”You don’t know what he looks like?”

”I’m just a detective, how could I have met him, so we have to find a way to locate him before it ends.”

Speaking with Eve, but Lorenzo’s gaze kept scanning back and forth.

”He’s a Viking, tall and should be very conspicuous, right?”

Eve offered her suggestion, but Lorenzo shook his head.

”He won’t appear in the dance floor; he’s the owner, and now is just the prelude, the owner doesn’t need to appear so early.”

His gaze roamed around the luxurious hall, without a mask, Lorenzo would seem like a little thief surveying who came to steal something.

”This is his kingdom, and the King should sit at the highest position, overlooking his citizens, ready to see anything happening at the first glance.”

The girl’s slender waist in Lorenzo’s hands swayed like willow branches, they swayed and turned, constantly shuttling through the crowd with the accompaniment of music.

”Just like the Zeppelin Airships, always above the clouds, no matter what people on the ground do, they see it all clearly.”

His gaze finally settled on the high platform, Lorenzo whispered in Eve’s ear.

”I think I found him.”

It was a high platform, where more distinguished guests were already seated, talking amongst themselves, savoring wine and food, discussing matters they didn’t want others to know.

”You said he’s among them?”

In a spin, Eve also saw that area, and she said softly.

”No, further up.”

Lorenzo’s gaze remained above the high platform, onto the exquisite glass-like walls.

Clearly underground, yet those walls were plastered with stained glass that depicted mythologies akin to those in chapels, though here underground, the sacred light could never spill forth and illuminate all this.

”Here it’s underground, those stained glasses are so abrupt, there must be a room behind them, he is just beyond that glass, quietly observing us.”

”Then what to do? Shoot towards there?” Eve recklessly suggested.

”If so, then we’d die here today. This is underground, you also saw how complex the path is; the only known exit is the way we came, a terrain of advantage, a single person armed with a musket could fend off hundreds, even a regiment would struggle to break through.”

Just like Leonidas’s stand at Thermopylae, no matter the enemy’s numbers, it’s an even fight in that narrow terrain.

”Then what to do?”

”Wait.”

Lorenzo exuded confidence.

”There’ll always be a chance.”