Gun of Ashes

In later times, it became a maintenance passage, and ultimately was transformed into a steam metro. With it, Lorenzo could avoid the crowded traffic on the surface and reach depths unattainable by ordinary people.

”The Furnace Pillar System is quite complex. Even today, it continues to expand along with the expansion of Old Dunling, as if it has a life of its own.”

Arthur sat in a chair on the other side. The environment here could hardly be called good, with little decoration and everything appearing rusty, exuding a sense of industrial decay.

As the carriage sped along, aside from the rumbling engine noises, there were strange metallic scraping sounds, as if the carriage might disintegrate at high speed the next second.

”Due to its complexity and underground establishment, many times we can only rely on these routes to reach places that conventional methods cannot.”

”Maintenance passage?”

Lorenzo leaned against the rusty wall, looking out into the dimness outside.

”That’s right, that thing was initially a passage used by workers for maintenance during construction. The entrances are hidden, and most people cannot enter; moreover, they are locked after construction or maintenance is complete.”

”So what?”

”You’ll know when we get there.”

Arthur waited for the carriage to stop.

In the dark and deep underground, it was like traveling through an endless and dim abyss. No matter which direction you went, the scene was repetitive.

Perhaps the world after death is like this, without dazzling light, without mind-devouring darkness, neither Heaven nor Hell, just a dim gray that blankets everything. No matter how you struggle, it’s a powerless resistance until you collapse in despair and lose your last bit of sanity in this grayness.

In the dimness, eye-catching signs flashed past, each bearing a different number. Below were rusty iron doors, as if there were residents in this underground, with each rusty iron door leading to an apartment.

It’s hard to imagine that the city of Old Dunling is so multidimensional, with large structures even in this deep underground, as if the whole city is turned upside down, like a shadow.

A few minutes later, the carriage slowly stopped, the door opened amid jetting steam.

Stale and damp air rushed in, causing Lorenzo to cough a few times, stirring up more dust that danced in the light like shattered particles.

”Please endure it for now, the ventilation system here hasn’t been turned on for a long time, after all, it’s not visited daily.”

Joey pushed Arthur off the carriage and said, and it was then that Lorenzo noticed the sound of fans spinning in the underground stillness.

They worked hard to bring fresh air into the depths of the underground; otherwise, the three of them would have long since fainted from lack of oxygen.

”So what do you want me to see?”

Lorenzo asked.

”Lawrence Dean’s ’workshop’ has many strange aspects. As his ’colleague,’ perhaps you can explain some of it to us.”

The dusty iron door on the rock wall opened at this moment. This maintenance worker’s passage, with Red Falcon wearing a miner’s lamp on his head, was unveiled with a heavy odor of blood rushing in as the door opened.

It seemed like a hell of flesh and blood, a slaughterhouse for creatures behind the door.

”It’s finally your shift, I need to take a break.”

Red Falcon’s expression was extremely unpleasant, and without much greeting, he moved to the side to gag.

”Let’s go, Mr. Holmes.”

Arthur said slowly, as if he had seen what was behind the door before and remained calm.

Lorenzo didn’t say much and walked right in. Soon, a red world unfolded before his eyes.

Behind the door was like some sort of creature’s nest. The floor and even the walls were covered in sticky blood, and various human skeletons and severed limbs were everywhere. There were a few surgical tables with corpses that had long since withered.

A nausea rose inexplicably from deep within Lorenzo’s throat, as if someone had grabbed and twisted his guts tightly, followed by waves of unnamed emotions flooding in, disturbing every nerve.

”There were demons here once?”

Lorenzo’s voice sounded pained. Joey on the other side wasn’t faring any better, taking just a few steps before he retreated, handing the wheelchair over to Lorenzo.

”Yes, demons, very powerful demons. So powerful that just their presence here caused intense corrosion.”

Arthur’s expression was also extremely pained, but as a product of the Ranger program, he was much more resistant to corrosion than Joey.

”After we discovered this place, we scrubbed it with tons of Neutralizing Liquid, attempting to reduce the corrosion, but with little success.”

”Go further in, Lorenzo, this isn’t everything yet.”

Stepping over the sticky floor, countless threads clung to the soles, as severed limbs and blood were everywhere, as if they were being digested inside some giant monster’s stomach over time.

Weird sounds whispered in Lorenzo’s ear, reminding him of those monks during the exhibition, who also chanted unintelligible languages, but now it felt as if, at that moment, some incomprehensible entity was using the monks to speak.

Inside was a passage, where countless footprints could be seen on the sticky floor. The people from the Purification Mechanism had examined it before.

”What on earth... is going on?”

Lorenzo’s heart trembled slightly. He had never seen such a scene, even during his time with the Demon Hunting Order.

”A breeding ground, a demon breeding ground. I presume those demons were bred here.”

At the end of the passage was a high platform, with complex steam pipes spreading across the view. At the very bottom were roaring machines, but this wasn’t the focus. The focus was on the crimson that enveloped everything, like some giant spider’s lair.

Red sticky threads were all around, with shattered white hard shells scattered everywhere. Among them were still intact structures similar to eggs. The hard shell had been opened, filled with the same sticky liquid, and soaking within was a long-dead corpse, its clothes not yet fully dissolved. From its attire, it appeared to be a common worker.

But this was just a corner; such white remnants covered the ground, stretching to the visual horizon.

”This... this is...”

Lorenzo felt a shock he had never experienced before. Arthur didn’t need to say anything; Lorenzo understood everything at first sight.

”He’s... breeding demons.”

Arthur nodded.

”And the breeding technology appears to be quite advanced. When we previously conquered the Underground Palace, we found a similar breeding ground inside, but nowhere near this scale.”

”But... what about your Peeping Toms? With breeding on this scale, how could you not detect any reactions?”

”This is the reason.”

Arthur pointed around the walls.

”Mr. Holmes, did you know that Holy Silver can block the corrosion of demons?”

”What?”

Lorenzo was puzzled; he only knew that Holy Silver had deadly lethality against demons, but he had never known this point.

”It seems you didn’t know either. This conclusion was reached by the Perpetual Motion Pump after dissecting that Demon Hunter.”

Arthur slowly said, seemingly indicating that the Demon Hunting Order had also kept many things from the Demon Hunters.

”Are you referring to Ed?”

Lorenzo’s gaze grew dangerous, indicating that to some extent, the Purification Mechanism had acquired the Secret Blood.

”We conducted multiple experiments on that Demon Hunter’s corpse to reach this conclusion. Holy Silver can, to an extent, block the spread of corrosion.”

Arthur said bluntly, regardless of Lorenzo’s feelings.

”Lawrence Dean was clearly aware of this as well. To prevent the spread of corrosion, he coated the entire breeding ground with a layer of Holy Silver. We only discovered the anomaly here after increasing the sensitivity of the Geiger Technology Device.”

”That’s impossible, there simply isn’t enough Holy Silver for him to use!”

Lorenzo immediately rebutted. Holy Silver had always been scarce, and after the Order’s disbandment for so long, Lawrence Dean could not have obtained more.

No, wait...

The Revelation, right, there’s that damn thing. If Lawrence Dean stole the Revelation, then he should also have the technology to manufacture Holy Silver. But even with a whole country’s logistics back then, the Order’s Holy Silver production was still terribly low, so how could he manage this alone?

Or maybe he’s not doing it alone... Even if Lawrence Dean knew how to make Holy Silver, this isn’t something one can accomplish solo. He has a massive team behind him.

”No more beating around the bush, just spill it all out at once.”

Lorenzo’s gaze was icy, realizing that the complications left by the Night of the Holy Arrival were a thousand times more intricate than he saw.