Gun of Ashes

”Philosopher’s Stone?”

”Philosopher’s Stone, Philosopher’s Stone, or some kind of Medicine of Immortality, these things in alchemy are synonyms, representing that true power of miracles. You can use it to exchange for god-like powers or obtain eternal life... At least when I was young, many alchemists were pursuing immortality.”

Merlin recalled his youth, a hint of nostalgia in his words.

”At that time, my teacher was still alive, and alchemists weren’t as rare as they are now. Sometimes we would trade resources with other alchemists, and when necessary, we would slightly exchange technology. However, more often, it was about plundering each other’s knowledge. I learned my swordsmanship during that time, killing quite a few alchemists pursuing immortality.”

”Back then, the accuracy and lethality of firearms were not very stable, and the blade was still reliable. One major reason alchemists desired immortality was to permanently possess knowledge; their greed was despicable. However, we eventually paid the price for it.”

Lorenzo was silent for a while, then slowly asked.

”So, Merlin, how long have you lived?”

Thanks to the intensity of the Radiant War, the long evolutionary history of firearms was accelerated by the war, grotesquely developing into what it is today in less than a century. But Lorenzo was well aware of how distant that era was when firearms were still in their infancy.

”Don’t worry about that. I’m not a demon or some monster. I’m just someone protected by alchemy, living only slightly longer than an ordinary person.”

Merlin directly replied. From his appearance, he seemed quite youthful, but in reality, he had lived a long time, as if time had frozen his physical body at a certain moment long ago, allowing him to maintain this look until now.

”And what about those visitors from Florence? How is Arthur talking with them?”

At this point, Lorenzo couldn’t help but ask, ”The Evangelical Church is far deeper than it appears on the surface. Sometimes I feel that even if we one day capture the Seven Hills, we would not be able to uncover all those secrets.”

”Indeed, and Arthur is also in a difficult situation now. I haven’t seen him for many days, but according to rumors, that Anthony is quite tricky.”

Merlin said, and then continued.

”Get ready, Lorenzo, the testing is about to start.”

Hearing Merlin say this, Lorenzo realized that the staff had already left the workshop, the heavy gates heavily falling, sealing him from the outside world. Lorenzo climbed back into the cockpit filled with flesh and blood. To be honest, every time entering the Black Angel, Lorenzo needed to withstand a certain psychological pressure; it felt like jumping into the jaws of a monster.

The split armor closed layer by layer, the face armor gradually enclosing Lorenzo completely. Then amidst the roar of the steam engine, the half-kneeling Black Angel slowly stood up, Iron Feather giving a humming sound with the vibrations.

The large Geiger Counter came online, and simultaneously, a heavy rain curtain fell from above, washing away the lingering pollution inside the workshop. Raindrops pattering down, the tracks slowly dragged machinery, then threw a jet-black steel object in front of Lorenzo.

”What...is that, Merlin?”

Lorenzo hadn’t seen such machinery before, but judging by this arrangement, it was the object he was supposed to experiment with.

”Third Generation Armor of Original Sin... to be precise, it’s a deteriorated version of the second generation. Alright, actually, most of the current Armor of Original Sin is just a continuously deteriorated version of the first generation. We ordinary people cannot withstand that terrifying corrosion, so we have to continuously reduce the proportion of demon flesh in the machinery.

If demon flesh is viewed as a kind of composite material, its application in machinery is still outstanding, with strong toughness and resilience. Therefore, we built on this foundation. The third-generation armor can be mass-produced on a large scale, and the operating standards are much lower. The price we pay for this is in its combat power; it is far inferior to the previous generations.”

While Merlin was explaining to Lorenzo, on the other side of the workshop, that Armor of Original Sin also slowly stood up. Due to the reduced proportion of demon flesh with more mechanical structures reinforced, it was even larger and seemed more cumbersome and sturdy than the Black Angel.

”Hello, Mr. Holmes.”

A voice came from the opposite side, unfamiliar to Lorenzo.

”He’s Night Owl, currently the test pilot for the third-generation Armor of Original Sin Sword Dancer.” Merlin explained.

Lorenzo had some impression of the codename Night Owl, but then he asked.

”Test pilot? Is this also an experimental stage weapon?”

”Yes, just so you succeeded, I want to test the gap between the third-generation Sword Dancer and the first-generation Black Angel.”

Merlin meticulously calculated for his experiment.

”What am I supposed to do? Smash him?”

Lorenzo asked, as this was his first time using the Armor of Original Sin in combat, he didn’t know what would happen.

”Of course, do your best to hit him hard, anyway the third-generation armor isn’t very valuable. If the test results are good, we can mass-produce it on a small scale anytime.”

”Won’t I kill him?”

”Do you think that thick armor at the core of the third-generation armor is for decoration?”

Merlin responded to Lorenzo, then spoke to Night Owl.

”No need to be courteous to Mr. Holmes. He’s a Demon Hunter, even without the protection of the Armor of Original Sin, he’s much tougher than you. Use all your strength to try to kill him; I need detailed data differences between these two generations of armor.”

”Okay.” Night Owl replied succinctly.

The Black Angel was on alert against the Sword Dancer on the other side of the workshop. This was Lorenzo’s first battle, and just a few tens of minutes ago, he had only learned how to raise his hand using the Armor of Original Sin.

Command issued, the battle suddenly began. Lorenzo was fully prepared; logically speaking, the first-generation armor would not lose to such a several-times-deteriorated third-generation armor. Yet the Sword Dancer did not rush to attack but stood in place, a sword several meters long springing out from its elbow, while the other hand grabbed an armor musket, the heavy armor falling to protect its vital parts.

Lorenzo was startled, frantically pressing buttons and levers, yet no new weapon emerged from the Black Angel, only those densely packed feather blades at Lorenzo’s command.

”What’s going on, Merlin!”

Lorenzo screamed; simultaneously, he saw clearly the weapon rack behind the Sword Dancer like a weapon master’s. Though the equipped weapons weren’t as many as those of a weapon master, it carried several pieces of heavy external armor, seemingly abandoning mobility entirely.

”I only realized this point during the development of the third-generation armor. We have always been entering a research blind spot. Although the first-generation armor is powerful, the piloting requirements are too harsh. Its inherent advantages are merely resilience and mobility, but our real advantage doesn’t lie there.”

Merlin was reflecting on himself. Sometimes when obtaining a new technology, the research would inevitably lean towards other excellences; the Demon Hunting Order, for example, initially positioned the Armor of Original Sin as having powerful single combat capabilities like demon hunters.

”Our greatest advantage is our fearsome industrial foundation and strong production system. Rather than increasing the proportion of demon flesh to enhance resilience, adding more plate armor and pursuing mobility is less effective than equipping it with strong firepower, after all, the Mechanical Institute can make many of these steel objects in a day.”

”Lorenzo, this is the victory of productivity.”

Merlin said as the Sword Dancer mercilessly pulled the trigger, fiery dragon’s breath blasted forth with half-melted iron, and in distress, Lorenzo instinctively commanded the Black Angel, steel feathers tearing through the rolling flames, red-hot molten iron sticking on its surface, yet a howling wind suddenly arose.

The cold steel blade sliced through the burning fire sea, as the Sword Dancer advanced in a blink of an eye to right in front of him.

”You call this poor mobility?”

Lorenzo couldn’t help cursing.

”Yes, so to compensate for these, we added many external things.” Merlin answered with a smile, he enjoyed seeing Lorenzo in a tough spot.

Fully armed, the Sword Dancer raised a sword light several meters long. On its back, the crude propulsion system provided strong thrust in the most primitive way, though it could only travel in a straight line, it was sufficient enough.

This was a dream-like armor, a group of madmen adding and attaching devices left and right, adhering to the design principle of ”inadequate performance, external setups compensate”, thus gave birth to this experimental stage weapon.