Gun of Ashes

”Do you need painkillers? This will hurt a lot,” the nurse asked.

”No, just hurry up.”

Eve urged.

The nurses exchanged a glance, perhaps admiring Eve’s courage, and without further warning, they started the machine. As the current surged through, an intense pain exploded in Eve’s mind, feeling as though someone had shot her in the head, causing her vision to scatter momentarily.

She grabbed onto the edge of the bed’s railing to keep herself from collapsing. After a series of flashes, her view gradually cleared. The nurses surrounded Eve, disinfecting the wound with a cotton swab after removing the electrodes, while another nurse checked the machine’s indicator lights. After so many days of treatment, they finally turned to a gleaming green.

”Congratulations, the erosion in your body has receded.”

While recording the information, the nurse spoke to Eve, who was holding her head.

Though the girl had only recently woken up, refreshed and ready to start a new day, she suddenly turned pale, with the pain still echoing in her mind, as if someone had hit her with a series of uppercuts.

It hurts so much, it really hurts.

”Then... can I be discharged?”

Hearing this news, Eve’s pale face forced a hint of cheerfulness as she clutched the bed’s railing and asked the nurses.

”Not yet, you need to be observed for a while longer and undergo a comprehensive examination; this was just a routine check to ensure there’s nothing wrong now.”

As expected, the nurses wouldn’t let her off easily.

They left with the machine, but not far. They moved down the corridor and into another ward, and before long, a piercing scream rang out.

Eve had grown somewhat accustomed to this. She lay back on the bed to ease the pain in her mind as the screams continued.

There weren’t many patients residing here, but they all seemed somewhat special like Eve, so the nurses offered the most attentive care to each patient to ensure everyone could be examined. Typically, the screams on this floor would last about half an hour.

But some could withstand the pain without screaming, like Eve, and there was another patient on this floor like that, though Eve never met him.

This is Black Mountain Hospital, an institution under the Purification Mechanism focusing on mental research. If the Perpetual Motion Pump seeks material truth, then they pursue spiritual truth.

Black Mountain Hospital is mainly divided into three areas. The first is the light symptoms area, housing the majority of normal mental patients. After all, few survive demonic erosion, and these normal patients are also research subjects of Black Mountain Hospital. Compared to those eroded by demons, their symptoms truly count as mild.

The second area is where Eve currently resides, the heavy symptoms area. Here are mostly Purification Mechanism’s injured personnel and some who suffered demon erosion. Many, like Eve, retain their rationality but become dangerous due to erosion.

The final area is called the research area, where doctors conduct mental research. However, Eve is unclear about where this area actually is. She can somewhat feel that the names of these areas are just disguises. The Purification Mechanism enforces strict hierarchical information lock; if you’re not at that level, you’ll never know how many secrets lie within Black Mountain Hospital.

But Eve can at least roughly guess what the so-called research area is doing: the light symptoms area is a group of normal mental patients, the heavy symptoms area is some who suffered erosion... Eve has reason to suspect that the subjects of research in the so-called research area are live demons.

What a chaotic world. Eve felt much of the pain alleviate, then picked up another apple from the fruit basket and started eating it.

Opening the ward door, the guard had been waiting for quite some time. He wore a helmet wrapped in barbed wire, maximizing the field of view while protecting, and his body was dressed in pitch-black clothing with weapons at his waist.

Eve walked ahead, and the guard followed behind. He wasn’t there to protect Eve but to prevent the girl from suddenly jumping out of the window to escape. In previous chases, he witnessed the agility that her so-called nimbleness entailed. He even suspected there was an issue with the upbringing within the Phoenix family produced such a wild monkey-like individual.

Guards and nurses were omnipresent inside the building, along with countless iron doors, each person’s waist carrying a large bunch of keys. Information and areas were strictly sealed.

The atmosphere was dark and somber, and through slightly ajar door gaps, one could see patients with vacant eyes. They sat blankly on the beds, resembling soulless sculptures, staring at the gap in the curtains, feeling the remaining light.

Eve remembered the doctors telling her about this; it was a type of surgery called prefrontal lobotomy. These patients reached the third stage of erosion, irretrievable. Without this, they would turn into demons.

Most of them were knights of the Purification Mechanism. Upon realizing they would transform into monsters, some chose death, while others opted for surgery, becoming experimental subjects for Black Mountain Hospital, serving as bricks for the wall of reason.

The iron gates slowly closed, and the elevator began descending. The guard possessed only the lowest level of authority; his keys could only access specific areas, and all of Eve’s actions required him to open doors.

Finally, the main gate slowly opened, and Eve walked out of the ancient building entwined with ivy, basking in the faint sunlight.

Eve couldn’t remember how she came to be here, but upon waking, she found herself at Black Mountain Hospital.

Black Mountain Hospital had a bizarre phenomenon; many in Old Dunling were aware of such a large psychiatric hospital there, but when trying to pinpoint its location, no one could recall its position, and seemingly, no one had really visited here.

Eve felt the same way. Sometimes she could only look at the gloomy clouds in the sky and feel the drizzling rain to confirm she was still under the shadow in Old Dunling.

The guard stopped, standing not far from Eve. This was an activity area, surrounded by several buildings in the middle, a place for patients to take a break. Some patients sat dazedly on benches while others were pushed by nurses, and a few had some active ability, chasing and playing on the damp grass like children.

With laughter and songs, for a moment, Eve questioned if she had come to the wrong place, but humans are highly adaptable, even here.

”Good morning, General Cole!”

”Good morning, Sir Delun.”

”Good morning, Soldier Gavin.”

”Good morning... Um, don’t eat that! Mr. William!”

Eve couldn’t stay idle in this crazy place, so during this recreation time, she made friends with a few patients who could barely communicate.

General Cole was an old soldier, old enough so that he could be Eve’s grandfather, yet still robust, the quickest among those running about.

Eve wasn’t sure of his condition, but she knew Old Cole still believed the Radiant War had not ended, and he himself was a wounded general recuperating here. He constantly asked doctors when his injuries would heal, claiming his soldiers were still waiting for him to drive the Gaulunaroans back... But in reality, the Radiant War had been over for years.

Sir Delun was the man standing under the tree. He bore a slight smile, carried himself elegantly, considering himself a noble. He detested Old Cole, thinking this guy who yelled about fighting all day lacked etiquette, while the chap digging in the corner was Soldier Gavin.

Gavin believed he was a soldier on the battlefield. You might think he was digging, but to him, he was trenching. Old Cole often bullied Gavin, branding him a deserter, and Gavin never retaliated, as Old Cole was a general.

As for the fellow lying on the ground aggressively munching grass, that was Mr. William. He appeared about the same age as Old Cole and believed a group of people dwelt in his mind, each one convinced they were an Alchemist.

Wailing, laughter, vomiting.

With a wry smile, Eve recognized this place as indeed a paradise, a lunatic’s paradise.