Gun of Ashes

”From the theater square to the dock, this is the shortest route.”

Under the dim streetlamp, Lorenzo sat on the steps of the square, while Hebdo picked up the map and pointed out the route to him.

Due to its maritime trade, Maruri’s economy is quite developed; correspondingly, its urban scale is also large, the entire city is growing abnormally, and it is very crowded.

Seeing this, Lorenzo felt a headache. He began to miss Old Dunling; although it was also crowded there, at least it had the Iron Serpent as the main transportation, but here, the streets were filled with speeding carriages, racing like horses, with dust flying.

”We need some fine horses, preferably war horses,” Hebdo said. ”When the time comes, the scene will be very chaotic, and we’ll have to blindfold the warhorses.”

”Where should we set them up?” Lorenzo asked. ”The two events must occur simultaneously, which means the Orthodoxy believers will definitely gather here, and it’s possible the surrounding streets will be paralyzed and temporarily controlled.”

Even in front of that crowded crowd, warhorses may not be able to run and could even be held back.

”Without warhorses, how do we leave? Running? Even if we run as fast as we can, it would take at least twenty minutes to reach the dock, and that’s assuming there are no enemies intercepting.”

Hebdo frowned; the plan was even more difficult to implement than he had thought.

The plan got stuck, and Lorenzo looked up at the somewhat spacious theater square.

The sky had darkened, yet no lights came on, everything seemed blurry, only near silhouettes could be seen.

The two injured, Red Falcon and Erin, had been sent back first, but Lorenzo still felt uneasy, tying Erin’s hands with shackles and handing the key to Red Falcon.

Having suffered a loss before, Red Falcon was much more cautious this time. He threw the key directly into the sewer right in front of Erin, then pulled her back to the hotel for rest, uncertain about how the two were getting along.

Eve stood not far away; at the end of the day, she was just a young girl, and there were so many things in this foreign land that attracted her. While Lorenzo and Hebdo were discussing the plan, she was strolling around the theater square, even chasing pigeons for a while.

The sky had darkened, and Eve couldn’t see the pigeons’ locations anymore, but soon lights appeared on the street.

It was an old man holding a long pole, with the top part ignited. He walked to the streetlamp, inserted the burning pole into the lampshade, and then bright light poured out from it.

”What is he doing?”

Eve approached Lorenzo, sitting beside the two, and asked curiously.

”A Lightkeeper.”

Lorenzo glanced up and explained.

”A Lightkeeper?”

Eve clearly didn’t understand this unfamiliar profession.

”Yes, Maruri is different from Old Dunling. Old Dunling is a city of advancement and technology. Thanks to the Perpetual Motion Pump, large-scale electricity has already been used within the Inner City District. Even outside the Inner City District, electric lights are used to keep light always protecting us.”

Lorenzo slowly began talking about the technological differences between the two nations.

”But Maruri is different; it doesn’t have a Perpetual Motion Pump, even steam technology is struggling to keep up, let alone electricity. Consequently, the city’s lighting system is relatively outdated coal gas lamps.”

Lorenzo said, pointing to the burning pole in the Lightkeeper’s hand.

”Inside these coal gas lamps, there are pipes releasing gas. When night falls, they are turned on, and that’s when the Lightkeepers appear. They insert the burning pole into the lampshade, letting the flame ignite the gas to release light.”

As Lorenzo narrated, the Lightkeepers lit up one streetlight after another, gradually filling the square with abundant light.

”Decades ago, Old Dunling also used these things, but now they’ve mostly been phased out. Only some places have remnants, yet they exist as a kind of memorabilia,” Lorenzo continued, ”These things are very inefficient, requiring Lightkeepers for turning on and off for handling as well.”

”So, these things are connected to the gas pipeline? Isn’t it dangerous?” Eve asked.

”Initially, because of the danger, gas lamps were used as streetlights rather than household lighting. As for the pipeline, it’s buried deep underground... probably nothing will happen.”

While Lorenzo said this, his expression was somewhat odd.

”Eve, you sure are full of nasty ideas!”

It seemed Lorenzo thought of something; he praised Eve.

”Huh?”

Eve was completely confused about what Lorenzo was thinking.

Lorenzo wasn’t planning to explain; he directly grabbed the map from Hebdo’s hand, randomly tracing his finger on it.

”Hebdo, if I succeed in assassinating the Pope, will I become a terrorist?”

”More or less... I guess.”

Seeing Lorenzo’s face full of excitement, Hebdo felt a bit uneasy; after spending days with him, Hebdo realized Lorenzo was somewhat of a neurotic who occasionally had some ridiculous yet reliable ideas, and when those ideas emerged, he generally had such an expression.

”No matter what, I’m already a terrorist, going to be executed, one more or one less crime doesn’t make much difference.”

Lorenzo muttered while searching for spots on the route Hebdo mapped out, until he finally found a spot that satisfied him.