Gun of Ashes

”This poor Baron Abel didn’t receive an invitation to the ball, but he bribed the guards and snuck in. Given his financial situation, he was probably hoping to meet some wealthy people at the ball and use their fleeting friendship to alleviate his debt.”

”Don’t be surprised, there are many such nobles who couldn’t keep up with the times and still rely on their ancestors’ accumulations, dying gradually under the hefty taxes.”

Arthur watched the gradually receding figure; Baron Abel stared blankly ahead, his soul completely sealed inside.

”He directly encountered a Demon, which intensely corroded and corrupted him. By the time we found him, he had already reached the second stage, completely insane, extremely aggressive, and the corrosion continued to affect him. Demonization was just a matter of time.”

”So, you used that... frontal lobotomy on him?”

Lorenzo asked cautiously, not knowing exactly what this procedure was, but seeing a person’s mind sink into nothingness, turning into something akin to a corpse had an impact no less eerie than a Demon’s presence.

”Yes, the procedure is performed at the forehead.”

Arthur pointed to his forehead, where beneath the sturdy bone lay soft flesh.

”Using a cerebral protein removal needle, starting at the eye socket above the eyeball, the needle is driven into the brain, quickly destroying the neural system within, severing the nerve fibers.”

”The procedure is swift and doesn’t even require an operating room. It disrupts the nerves responsible for higher-order thinking; this means after performing the procedure, the body no longer possesses concepts of ’thinking’ or ’thought.’ If humans had a sort of numerical gauge for Demonic corrosion, this procedure would eliminate that gauge altogether.”

”Just as a blind person won’t fear bright light, someone who has lost the concept of thinking won’t be affected by the corruption... it could even be said they are no longer human, just a breathing corpse.”

Brutal and dark technology, Lorenzo could glimpse a corner of its evilness merely from Arthur’s words. To prove this procedure’s validity, how many heads had to be opened for analysis?

”This is currently the best solution, otherwise for someone like Baron Abel, who is on the verge of Demonization, our only option is to completely eliminate them.”

”I can understand these things.”

Lorenzo said blandly. After the initial shock and fear, there was instead a helpless understanding. They were all travelers on a brittle ice surface, dropping everything they carried in order to reach that ideal land without breaking through the fragile ice.

Discarding emotion, humanity, morality... until nothing is left, until they’ve reached that ideal land.

”Sometimes, many sinful decisions can produce good outcomes, and the blame is better borne by us.”

Arthur said softly. Such heavy matters seemed so light to him.

”And what about the others? What about the members within your Purification Mechanism? Do they also undergo this procedure when they lose control?”

Lorenzo asked again.

”It depends. Generally, each soldier is equipped with an alarm, which serves as a cue to withdraw from the battlefield when it sounds intensely. Of course, some may delve deeper, but these tasks typically fall to specialized Knights who can endure more corrosion.”

”Accordingly, we have corresponding curative measures. For example, this poor Baron still has a sliver of hope for survival, but his own value doesn’t warrant such measures from us.”

So cold and mechanical, everything was precisely priced, devoid of sympathy, running with machine-like precision.

Lorenzo looked at Arthur, then at Joey behind him; they had long made such decisions.

”Mr. Holmes, this incident has clearly exceeded our control. I don’t think there’s any need for us to be cautious of each other, right?”

Arthur gave Lorenzo a deep look. The two did not speak openly, but as if there was a tacit understanding, they had already made their decisions.

”Joey, push faster. Mr. Holmes has a lot to see today.”

Urging Joey behind him, the wheelchair moved a bit faster, and Lorenzo had to endure the pain in his leg to keep up.

”What are you going to show me?”

”A lot, all related to that Lawrence Father.”

Arthur said wearily.

”He left us so much. If the information about Demons could be disclosed, that Lawrence Father would be deemed the greatest terrorist in Ingwig history since the Radiant War.”

...

The air was filled with the smell of engine oil, and with the rumbling engine sound, the entire carriage slightly shook. The light swayed along with it. Lorenzo looked out the window, and the spewing steam dampened the walls, while the wet rocks in the darkness rushed past the carriage, the scenery converging to a point at the end, as if endless.

They were now racing twenty meters deep beneath Old Dunling. This was Lorenzo’s first time riding this thing called the steam subway, which was also part of the Midcourt Serpent system, though only a few lines were open to the public so far.

Unlike the public lines, Lorenzo was on a hidden line not on the transit schedule. The entire track ran through Old Dunling. Initially, this tunnel was excavated for constructing the Furnace Pillar System, laying long tracks inside to transport tons of earth, hollowing out the underground.