Gun of Ashes

Actually, that’s not strange. The strangest part is Bola’s expression when caressing the revolver; it’s as if he’s touching a person, looking gentle but then suddenly becoming fierce, as if he wanted to strangle someone.

”It’s just... this revolver holds deep meaning for me.”

Bola gently touched the cylinder, his fingers brushing over the faces of the ghost gods.

Lorenzo’s expression became interesting, but in Bola’s eyes, he always appeared damn irritating.

”A gift from your first love?”

On second thought, that’s unlikely. What kind of girl would give this as a gift?

Bola’s face predictably turned a shade darker. He couldn’t beat Lorenzo, otherwise, he would have thrown him overboard long ago.

”Tell the story, it’s boring anyway.”

Knowing there was a story to hear, Lorenzo grinned and urged on.

Although they had set sail for many days, the boredom in these past few days had already worn everyone down. Even Lorenzo couldn’t escape it. The knight novels he snatched from Red Falcon were almost finished, and in the remaining time, everyone would often gather to tell stories and chat about random things to pass the time.

”Forget it, it’s nothing good.” Bola hesitated for a moment and refused Lorenzo.

”Is that so?”

Lorenzo seemed a bit disappointed and then grabbed the Nail Sword.

This startled Bola; he thought Lorenzo would resort to threats or bribes, but instead, he swung the Nail Sword to cut the tuna at his feet.

Thanks to Lorenzo, everyone had been enjoying incredibly fresh seafood these days, and because of this, Lorenzo had acquired a skill for cutting fish.

”Want a piece first?”

Lorenzo sliced a piece of fish and handed it to Bola.

”It’s raw.”

Seeing the bloody fish, Bola quickly shook his head.

A fierce white flame rose briefly and vanished, and the fish in his hand was instantly heated, with a slight char on the surface releasing a tantalizing aroma.

Lorenzo looked provocatively at Bola, who stared in disbelief. He never expected Lorenzo to use a power meant to hurt demons in such a ridiculous manner, but Bola still adamantly shook his head.

”How about your previous operation in the Silent Sea?” Lorenzo asked again. ”You’re the second-in-command on this mission, my senior advisor, the person who understands the Silent Sea best in the whole purification mechanism. It’s been so long since we set out, it’s time to tell us what’s going on.”

”Lorenzo, you...”

Bola looked at Lorenzo, feeling somewhat troubled and even more uncomfortable with this guy’s sudden seriousness.

He was just spewing nonsense, but now he suddenly turned serious again. It was unclear if Lorenzo was truly concerned about the task or targeting him. No... Lorenzo was always like this; it’s hard to tell what he wants to do.

”Go on, Bola, I’m genuinely curious about the so-called Silent Sea.”

Lorenzo stood up; he often made such swift transitions. Though he still wore the ridiculous flowered shirt, his serious demeanor suggested he could leap out and start slashing at any second.

”I’ll go get Blue Jade, she needs to know about this too.”

As Lorenzo spoke, he picked up the bloodstained Nail Sword and dragged the dead fish on the ground.

Seeing Bola still sitting on the bench, Lorenzo called out to him again.

”Are you sure you don’t want to come in?”

”What’s up?” Bola found it strange.

Lorenzo raised the Nail Sword and pointed behind him.

”A storm is coming.”

Bola looked at the sea behind him; it remained calm, the sky was clear, and there was no sign of an impending storm.

”A Demon Hunter’s senses are much keener than an ordinary person’s!”

As if knowing he wouldn’t believe it, Lorenzo added.

...

Rain clouds began to gather, mixing into a massive storm, clashing like steel, emitting flashes of lightning and thunder in the dark crevices. Perhaps from the heaviness, they detached from the sky and sank toward the sea, like a falling iron curtain, which then slowly moved, stirring up fierce winds and waves.

Bola watched the sky outside the porthole, which was still azure a few hours ago, now twisted into a menacing form by the storm, with torrential rain pouring down, causing the sea to boil over.

”Thanks to you, we discovered it just in time!”

The captain of the Morning Glow Advance expressed his gratitude to Lorenzo.

”It’s just sensitivity, luckily. I noticed the air pressure seemed off while catching fish, too stifling,” Lorenzo said, looking out the porthole, his expression somewhat more serious. ”Just didn’t expect it to be so intense.”

”Yes, if we hadn’t accelerated our departure, we might have been swallowed up. Facing a storm directly isn’t a good thing.”

The captain’s face was filled with fear. Though he was the captain, most of the power was still concentrated with Lorenzo and Bola, so he obediently commanded the crew to speed up and leave under Lorenzo’s orders.

”I’ve been at sea for so long, but this is the first storm of its kind I’ve seen, almost like it’s devouring the world.”

The captain said with a palpitating heart. Lorenzo and Bola might not fully understand, but to the captain, this was probably the biggest storm he’d seen in recent years. Fortunately, it appeared far from the Morning Glow Advance, and they took precautionary measures in advance, not being affected too much.

If they had faced such a storm directly, the small ship would likely have capsized in an instant, and it was uncertain what would happen to the heavy cargo underfoot, though it probably wouldn’t end well.

”I understand. If it weren’t so fierce, I probably wouldn’t have noticed.”

Precisely because of the storm’s severity, even someone like Lorenzo, who knew nothing about sailing, could sense the danger.

”Then thank you, Captain Tanor.”

Lorenzo signaled to Tanor, who nodded in response and went to direct the others. Now is not the time to relax; all the sailors sprang into action, manning the ship’s critical parts, leaving the private space to Lorenzo.

The cabin door closed, isolating the noise from outside. Lorenzo returned to his seat, with Bola on one side and the silent Blue Jade squeezed in between them.

”Barring any unforeseen events, in about ten days, we’ll enter the seas of the Viking lands. We should study the mission and make some preparations in advance.”

As Lorenzo spoke, he spread out the nautical chart, which had several symbols marked beforehand. His finger pointed to the northern part of the chart, an area of glaciers and archipelagos, further north of which was a sea colored black.

That was the Silent Sea, located north of the Viking lands, completely isolating the World’s End from the understanding of mortals.

”So as the only advisor among us who understands the Silent Sea, it’s your turn, Bola.”

Lorenzo handed the floor to Bola, who uncharacteristically quieted down.

Bola looked at the chart before him, falling into silence. Perhaps he was wrestling internally or dealing with some tangled emotions. He sat there for a long time before he slowly spoke.

”I actually don’t know much about the Silent Sea. According to the mission, we will later search for someone in the Viking lands who truly understands the Silent Sea to be our navigator, but that’s a matter for later.

In short, rather than understanding the Silent Sea, I’m more of a returnee from it.”

He lowered his head, his gaze somewhat unfocused, as if recalling something, his voice quieting down.

”That was probably about ten years ago...”

As Bola’s voice rose, the thunderstorm outside also seemed to echo in concert.

In the sound, Lorenzo felt something familiar, resembling something from his past.

Rage? Or despair? He wasn’t sure, but the only certain thing was that even after ten years, these things still lingered in Bola’s heart, never having left.