Gun of Ashes

Ingwig, Thunderous Cape Military Port.

This is a secret port located at the northern wilderness end of Ingwig. Due to its overall terrain, which resembles a sharp cape jutting from the land, and the waves constantly crashing against the rocks below, it was named Thunderous Cape Military Port.

Ingwig once attempted to develop its desolate north, but for various reasons, it was abandoned. Of course, these are the surface explanations; in reality, it was secretly developed as a military facility. After years of development, it has become what it is today.

It is directly controlled by the Purification Mechanism, almost like its second heart, with complete military and research facilities. Besides serving as a secret port, it also conducts industrial development.

It was on this desolate land that people dug out strange crude oil from deep within the soil, which was transformed through complex processes into the lacquered antimony used today. The train carrying Lorenzo and Lawrence was originally headed here, but it was eventually blown to the sky, keeping this place’s secret hidden from view.

Perhaps due to its proximity to the north, or maybe because this place is too desolate, Arthur couldn’t help but feel a wintery chill as he walked here.

Looking around, apart from scattered rocks and wild grass, there were towering man-made structures, resembling a steel jungle rising from the wasteland.

He stopped, standing in place, gazing at these steel behemoths.

These were new-style ironclad ships, using lacquered antimony as fuel, equipped with weapons derived from the Perpetual Motion Pump. They would form an invincible fleet and were one of the reasons why Ingwig had the confidence to go to war. They had been docked here for too long.

The morning fog entirely engulfed this place. Though visibility was not much restricted, it added a sense of mystery.

However, today’s focus was not on them, but on a guest who had yet to arrive.

”According to time, Lorenzo and the others should have set sail by now,” Arthur looked at his pocket watch and then gazed into the boundless north, ”Loaded with responsibility and anticipation, hopefully, they will bring back good news.”

”I suppose he must be wondering why no one came to see him off. Despite being given high expectations, he left just like that.”

A voice spoke, from a woman sitting in a wheelchair, wrapped in a thick coat, with a medical team on standby in the distance.

”Probably... this is the farthest you’ve traveled in recent years, isn’t it? I remember the last time you came here, there weren’t as many buildings, just a construction site.”

Arthur walked over to the Queen, standing with her, waiting for something.

”Yes, everything changes so quickly.”

The Queen greedily took in the surrounding scenery: the endless sky above, the vast desolate plains, the twisted grotesque architecture, and the vast blue sea before her.

She felt like a prisoner temporarily released from prison. If she could, the Queen truly wished to engrave everything she saw deeply into her mind.

”Every time I see these, I can only feel my own absurdity. As a queen, I know so little about my own land.”

The Queen spoke sadly.

Arthur didn’t know what to say, so he put his hands behind him and stared straight ahead.

The atmosphere fell silent. Neither knew what to say to pass the time, so they fixed their gaze forward, maintaining this long silence, until a gentle breeze began to blow, emerging from the thick sea fog, as if a huge creature lurked behind, breathing at them.

Something was coming from the other side of the sea.

”So... is it really as you said that day? That the distance between us and them isn’t as vast as we thought, but due to isolation, the Nation-Builder modified the maps, misled the public, sealed off all information, is that right?”

Arthur recalled the Queen’s previous words and thought of the guest they were about to meet, and couldn’t help but ask.

”Isn’t it obvious? Jiuxia’s territories are located beyond the Caucasus Mountains. No matter how vast the Caucasus Mountains are, if you sail along its edge, surely one day you will arrive in Jiuxia. But in reality, no one can reach there.”

The Queen spoke calmly, sending a chill down Arthur’s spine.

It was as if an inscrutable mist, where all uninvited ones would get lost within.

”Apart from that visit decades ago, Jiuxia has never shown any trace of its existence again. They seem to have vanished into thin air, yet sometimes strange monks and bronze artifacts come from the other side of the sea. They wander around us, and just when we are about to forget them, they release some bits of information to prove their existence.”

There is a peculiar relationship between the Western and Eastern worlds, which the Queen sometimes finds hard to articulate.

”It reminds me of those conspiracy theories.”

Listening to the Queen’s talk, Arthur also recalled some interesting things and couldn’t help but relax a bit.

”Many say there’s nothing in the East, it’s just an expanse of the sea, and the whole of Jiuxia is a fabrication by us, Ingwig... After the Kui Dragon Fleet, they never appeared again, as if they never existed.”

”Indeed, this is what the Nation-Builders hoped for—a misdirection, a lie. You must know that Jiuxia and we specialize in different directions. We have a complete industrial foundation, while their focus is on Anti-Meme research. Now, the Cleaner Squad is based on Jiuxia’s Anti-Meme technology.”