Gun of Ashes

”So the Mystic Phoenix has already gone?”

Endless light poured from the dome above, sunlight appearing exceedingly luxurious in the gloomy Old Dunling, making those working here feel quite content.

In the central monitoring station of the Broken Dome, Red Falcon asked Blue Jade beside him. After their injuries healed, both had been assigned here to handle some simple tasks, treating it as a sort of vacation.

”Yes, and has already met with Lorenzo.”

Blue Jade stood at the central map sand table of the monitoring station, where precise machinery elevated the models from the sand table. These were models of buildings, and as they rose, they formed a massive map. From streets to castles, rings of buildings rose and fit snugly into the map, symbols lighting up as they were electrified.

In about half a minute, the mechanical models formed a complete map of Old Dunling on the sand table. Insulating cooling liquid gushed from the pipes, filling the final gaps, representing the Thames River flowing through the entire Old Dunling.

”This is the third case this month, all related to demons, it’s truly troublesome.”

Bluebird walked over from the other side, holding a coffee cup. The sunlight from the dome lit him up, somewhat dazzling, so he raised another hand to slightly shield his eyes.

”And there’s no pattern to it. We’ve already increased the sensitivity of the Geiger Counter, but still can’t catch it.”

Blue Jade also wore a troubled expression. Usually, under the pursuit of the Purification Mechanism, demons couldn’t escape for long, but clearly, this opponent was different this time.

”So that’s why we found that Lorenzo? It seems we can only rely on this Demon Hunter now, let’s see what surprise he can bring us.”

Red Falcon also walked over, staring intently at the mass of maps together.

This was a series of brutal murder cases, but from the start, the Purification Mechanism had taken the lead, covering everything up well. They hadn’t expected yet another case today. It was only due to a connection with Lorenzo that Suyalan Hall discovered the anomaly.

”Logically speaking, our Peeping Tom System should have warned us immediately, but this time it completely stayed silent. It was solely thanks to Lorenzo that we uncovered this. This system was developed by the previous Director of the Perpetual Motion Pump. If the system isn’t broken, then the demon has already managed to evade Peeping Tom’s detection.”

Blue Jade explained slowly; this was not good news.

The Peeping Tom System, mentioned by Joey as the Foreseer, wasn’t the result of some mysterious power, but rather black technology from the Perpetual Motion Pump, and like the Midcourt Serpent, is one of the key systems maintaining the entire Purification Mechanism.

Utilizing Old Dunling’s complex underground steam machinery, the Purification Mechanism had disguised large Geiger Counters and strategically placed them in every corner of Old Dunling. The lines and steam pipes extended together, finally delivered to the central monitoring station, expanding like a web.

In other words, all of Old Dunling was covered by countless large Geiger Counters. Any anomaly in Geiger readings would feedback to the central monitoring station, thus achieving control over the entire Old Dunling.

This was a simple and brutal approach. The Purification Mechanism could even determine a demon’s direction of movement based on the feedback of timing and fluctuation. After the Peeping Tom System went online, the most problematic demon in Old Dunling only survived for a week, and that was because it crawled into the combustion chamber pipeline of the Furnace Pillar, where personnel took ages to check that treacherous place.

”An enemy that can evade Geiger Counter detection, looks like we really have to rely on this Demon Hunter.”

Heaving a lengthy sigh, though this Demon Hunter had saved his life, Red Falcon could only think of this guy’s madness. In the Ende Town operation, every decision made by this Demon Hunter seemed insane. Red Falcon always felt a strangely dangerous vibe towards such an uncontrollable element.

A green glow flashed between the gaps of the building clusters on the mechanical map, indicating the normal Geiger reading. This mechanical map was also linked to the Peeping Tom System, offering a visual response to any anomaly in reading.

Most of Old Dunling was bathed in harmonious glowing green, with only some concealed places shining a glaring red, while other regions had no light at all. Those were areas beyond access rights, only Arthur was entitled to observe the indices in those places.

”Hmm... Shall we have some afternoon tea?”

Feeling melancholy, Red Falcon glanced at the watch and suddenly proposed.

The central monitoring station was an extremely secure place. When demons appeared, it was the busiest here, but in the absence of demons, the work here was deathly dull, after all, demons didn’t appear every day.

The most legendary story was about a former deputy director of the central monitoring station, during his five-year tenure, demon appearances were rare. This old fellow thought his life would be full of excitement, pointing at maps and hollering furiously, then launching mighty attacks. In reality, he spent every day staring into the bland green glow.

To relieve his boredom, this old chap began writing novels, modifying and embellishing stories of the Purification Mechanism, eventually submitting them to magazines, becoming famous overnight across Old Dunling as a celebrated author.

Do you think this was a happy ending? Although he had beautified and altered everything related to the Purification Mechanism, he was ultimately penalized for violating the confidentiality agreement.

Under normal procedures, he should have been thrown in jail for a few years and then exiled to the frontier. But someone recognized his literary talent and reassigned him to the Cleaner department, where he misled the public about various demon incidents through newspapers and other channels. The previous literary personnel was too poor in writing skill, rendering every incident a mere gas explosion.

”Ah, it feels so good not to work on the front lines, to have food and drinks and not face those bizarre entities.”

In their leisure, Bluebird sighed as well, but Blue Jade didn’t join the two’s indolence; she remained by the mechanical map, pressing buttons, printing out the indices from various regions each moment.

Yet, suddenly, a red dot abruptly lit up amidst the green glow, after a brief pause, an alarm blared loudly.

The leisurely duo was initially dumbfounded, then rushed to the sand table, but Blue Jade was faster than both. She directly connected to the communication channel and shouted.

”Geiger index anomaly detected, location is... Mystic Phoenix! Target is near you!”

The voice echoed mechanically, finally reaching Joey. Blue Jade’s voice emanated from the communicator beneath his clothes. In his hesitation, the detective in front of him became menacing all of a sudden, and the Demon Hunter noticed it too.

”I suppose, for that kind of creature, the fire ban in the city can be lifted, right?”

This wasn’t a question since the detective hadn’t waited for Joey’s answer but had already mounted the Winchester, the next moment smashing through the glass and leaping down the fire escape ladder.