Gun of Ashes

Chapter 24: Chapter 18 1/6

”Finally, I can take a break.”

Eve said weakly. From the start, she had been dancing with Lorenzo, and during the change of music, she finally had a chance to rest for a moment.

So far, their infiltration had been relatively successful. No one noticed anything unusual about them, and no one approached them for conversation. Instead, a few curious glances were directed at them, making Eve a bit flustered.

”Don’t worry, they are just curious.”

Lorenzo’s words came at just the right time.

”This kind of masquerade ball has probably been held countless times. Even with masks, guests tend to have a familiar feeling with each other. And today, with us here, they naturally want to know where we came from.”

”Should we engage in conversation?”

”No need, the more we say, the more likely we’ll give ourselves away.”

Lorenzo truly had a strong ability to perform. The way he acted so casually made it seem like he had attended many of these events before.

His gray-blue eyes scanned the surroundings. In truth, he was also quite uneasy, but he didn’t mention it to Eve. Ever since he saw the stained-glass windows, that feeling had been rising within him. Originally from a church, those windows now appeared in this eerie underground setting, as if beyond the glass lay the gates to Hell.

”Eve, did you see any guards?” Lorenzo suddenly asked.

”Guards?” The girl looked around. Everything was bathing in a sea of joy; there was no sight of any guards.

”Yes, since we arrived, apart from the very beginning, I haven’t seen any guards.”

Lorenzo’s expression was unusually serious. Sitting in his seat, everything seemed ordinary, like a typical ball, yet he suddenly noticed something. Attendants moved through the crowd, carrying trays with coins and gold.

The transaction had already begun, or rather, from the moment the two of them entered, it was already underway. Lorenzo initially thought there would be some formal presentation here, eventually leading to a grand entrance surrounded by beautiful women. But now, the goods being traded were like drinks, laid out on trays, passed among the crowd.

Damn, then Sabo is very likely not going to show up.

Everything tonight was a perfect script. Lorenzo had anticipated everything, but had not considered this.

And just as Lorenzo was feeling troubled, an attendant approached with a tray containing Butcher Coins and gold and silver jewelry. Lorenzo pretended to be familiar with it, ready to take out the last few Butcher Coins he had to dismiss the attendant, but the attendant spoke up.

”Sir, someone invites you.”

The attendant, wearing a mask, had a cold voice that made Lorenzo feel somewhat uneasy in this situation.

”Invites me?”

Lorenzo asked again, only to see the attendant step aside. On the platform behind him, a man wearing a bull mask was waving at Lorenzo.

”Eve, prepare your weapon. I think we’ve been exposed.”

Lorenzo stood up, whispering to Eve during the process.

The girl’s expression also changed a bit, her hand gently resting on her thigh, with only a thin layer of clothing between her and the cold weapon.

”What are you going to do?”

The girl asked him softly, and Lorenzo picked up his pocket watch, noting that it was 1 a.m.

”Attend the meeting. There’s no escaping now.”

With that, Lorenzo took Eve’s hand and strode forward.

...

This was the highest point of the hall, right beneath the stained glass. When Lorenzo looked from below, he remembered seeing many people on the platform. But when he arrived, only the man waving at him remained, with an attendant standing far away.

It clearly was a lively, joyful ball, yet a vast emptiness spread here.

”Welcome, my new friend.”

The man expressed his welcome, spreading his arms wide. His sturdy build matched his mask perfectly, reminding Lorenzo of Bola’s mask.

”It looks like I’ve been exposed. I’d like to know how you discovered me, Mr. Sabo.”

Lorenzo and Eve sat opposite Sabo. He did not hide anything, directly stating it all, maintaining his composed demeanor.

There was no need for pretense; that would only seem ridiculous. Sabo could easily have them killed, rather than inviting them.

Sabo smiled slightly; he was the master here, everything under his control.

”From the moment you got in the car, sir. You know this business can’t see the light of day. Usually, guests are sufficient to keep outsiders sealed off. Even bringing new guests requires old guests to apply to me. But in a place like this... who would speak out?”

Everyone wore masks, dancing lightly in the ballroom.

”This is the Celestial Kingdom, but people are greedy, and no one will share it with others. So there can only be fewer guests, not more, let alone your Butcher Coin.”

The Shrike’s coin flipped on the table, and finally landed with the Shrike side up. Sabo looked at Lorenzo, his eyes beneath the bull’s mask seemed to be shining.

”Do you know, sir, one Butcher Coin can be exchanged for three Golden Lion Coins, enough to support a family in the Lower City District for several months, and it doesn’t depreciate with inflation. As long as you take it to an exchange point, you’ll always get money for it.”

Sabo said softly.

”The Lower City District is a dump. To protect their Butcher Coins, the poor hide them in their most intimate places, rubbing them lightly with their hands at all times to ensure their presence. This is their fate.”

”But look at your Butcher Coin, brand new as if it just came from the mint, the kind of new coins only the esteemed Bola possesses.”

All these details exposed Lorenzo, who nodded slightly. However, with the plot revealed, there was no need to hide anything, so Lorenzo directly took out that silver revolver and pointed it at Sabo. It was a dangerous move, yet the attendant not far away seemed not to notice it.

”Then I suppose you should recognize this gun, right?”

”Bola’s gun, of course, I recognize.”

Sabo seemed unsurprised by the appearance of the gun, showing no reaction, as he picked up the wine glass and poured in a wine as red as blood.

”It’s called the Funeral Bell because Bola said when it fires, the sound is like the tolling of a dead man’s bell.”

The bell tolls as the bullet leaves the chamber, and so the dead sleep eternally beneath the earth.

Lorenzo looked at the Ghost God engraved on the cylinder, with the ghosts attacking God’s domain, then burning to ashes in a great fire.

”I just want to ask a few questions, there’s no need for bloodshed.”

”But when you came bearing arms, you were already prepared for bloodshed, weren’t you?”

The two stared at each other for a moment, both revealing the same emotion in their eyes, like hunters meeting on a narrow path, fully aware of what would happen next.

Just a simple conversation, but the bizarre pressure gripped Eve’s throat, rendering her speechless from the moment she sat down, unable to even move, even when Lorenzo lifted her skirt to take the gun named Funeral Bell, she offered no resistance.

The joyful ball was not disrupted by Lorenzo’s gun drawing, yet both clearly sensed the undercurrent flowing beneath it all.

”How about we find a compromise?”

Lorenzo suddenly put down the gun, abandoning the tough stance, smiling with assurance beneath the brass mask.

”You seem quite clear about the situation.” Sabo observed the man before him, suddenly finding a bit of interest.

”Yes, even if I kill you, so what? I surely can’t leave here alive. You’re running a shady business, you have to protect not just yourself but satisfy the guests, who are in fact the power holders of Old Dunling without their masks. Your existence is their blemish, if they unite, you are certainly doomed.”

Lorenzo looked at the luxurious hall, hard to imagine the amount Sabo invested here.

”At your command, I’m sure a group of guards will come to evacuate the guests, then turn this place into a bunker, where no one can leave, and no one can enter.”

Just like the Thermopylae of the corridor, where one guards with a blunderbuss outside. Even if an army is hidden in the Underground Palace, it’s hard to leave; similarly, as long as Sabo holds that passage, no one can break in here.

”You won’t resist Bola, but that’s not to say you won’t resist; as long as you keep silent, I can’t dig out anything.”

”Then what will you do, sir?”

”How about a gamble?” When it came to gambling, Lorenzo’s eyes suddenly lit up.

”Gamble?”

”Yes, only on the gambling table, we are evenly matched. The Goddess of Fortune shows no favoritism, there is no bloodshed, no conflict, perfectly harmonious.”

”Hmm...interesting.”

Sabo was a bit surprised but went along with it. He clapped his hands, and the attendant came with a luxurious box, opening it to reveal a complete set of poker and dice.

”Which one do you want to play?”

Sabo said as he shuffled the cards, the queen and king rolling between his hands before finally spreading them on the table, like an unfolded army.

Lorenzo shook his head and picked up the revolver again, but this time he opened the cylinder, ejecting every bullet.

”Actually, I’m not very good at cards. I prefer pure... luck, to those mathematical calculations.”

Five bullets lay horizontally and vertically on the table, reflecting the masks of the three in their brass casings, the cylinder spinning vigorously, making a rattling sound.

Lorenzo’s voice was soft, reciting the familiar words from memory, then said.

”One-sixth probability.”