Gun of Ashes

”We’ve reached the Central of the Silent Sea now. Unlike the Outer Ring, which is blocked by gray clouds and storms, and plagued by those monsters, the Central is an expanse of endless glaciers. The deeper we go, the lower the temperature, and the harder the ice becomes.”

Froki knew very well why these people sought him out. They needed him as a navigator to guide them through the Silent Sea. It was a win-win situation, and Froki had no reason to refuse.

”This is a very perfect defense ring. Even if someone gets past the attacks of storms and monsters, they’ll find it difficult to move forward when faced with the extreme cold and hard ice.”

”The Morning Glow Advance is considered the most advanced icebreaker. Although it’s severely damaged, it should be able to keep going for quite some time,” Lorenzo said.

”If it were really that simple, it would be easy to solve.”

Froki said, naturally joining the conversation.

On one side of him, there was Watson between Froki and Bola. It was unclear whether he didn’t notice Bola’s presence or noticed it but deliberately ignored it.

Bola stared intently at Froki. His appearance was drastically different from his memory, but his words and demeanor were so familiar.

[This is your mortal enemy.]

[He is right before your eyes.]

More voices echoed, and Bola couldn’t help but clench his fist. To him, Froki transformed into a monster, just like Lorenzo.

Selyu, still human, felt very cold. She moved closer to the hearth. She hadn’t listened to much of their conversation, being a powerless human. All Selyu could do was follow orders and give what little help she could at critical moments.

The Scholar Plague Doctor remained silent, more eyes opened in the corners of his body, observing the surroundings.

The god-like Watson observed the entire scene. It truly was an interesting discussion, characterized by individuals with different identities, differing purposes, and diverse enemies.

Not long ago, Lorenzo had just battled with the Plague Doctor. The two of them fought madly to the death, but now they were on the same ship, advancing toward the same goal.

That didn’t mean the hatred had disappeared; rather, there was now something more important than vengeance.

But now, new hatred had joined the mix. Lorenzo understood the hatred between Bola and Froki, which was the rage that sustained him until now. Previously, Bola could easily let Froki go, only because Froki was in madness, and killing a madman couldn’t satisfy the twisted desire for vengeance.

But things were different now, Froki had regained his sanity.

”I haven’t gone this deep into the Silent Sea either, but from what I understand about it, the deeper we go, the greater the cold and so-called erosion will intensify. At that time, every step forward might mean losing a part of our bodies.”

Froki said as he raised his hand. His palm had grown many bone spurs, with long, scratched fingernails. He had tried cutting them off before, but they just grew back after a short time.

”And then... there are things in the sea that I don’t understand, things far beyond the era we’re in.”

Listening to him, Lorenzo initially thought he was referring to Him, but Froki’s next words completely overturned his notion.

”Many machines I’ve never seen before, far larger than any machines we know, but most of them are broken, frozen in the sea, turned into cold corpses.”

”Where did you see them?” Lorenzo asked.

”About in this Central area, beneath this ice layer.”

Froki said with a laugh.

”This place is like a battlefield. Those things and the dead are the corpses of war. Who knows how long they’ve been slumbering here... and the civilization involved in this war is far more advanced than ours. Such machines could never be crafted by Ingwig. I can’t even imagine how large a furnace would be required to cast such massive steel...”

After Froki finished, he expected the others to show shocked expressions, but everyone remained calm, as if they had anticipated such revelations.

”If you had come a few minutes earlier, you might have known why.”

Lorenzo explained to Froki.

”The world is in a cycle of reincarnation and iteration. The current civilization might be the representation after countless destructions, and our past glory is unimaginable to mortals.”

His voice lowered as he spoke, and Lorenzo recalled a distant scene.

The dream of the Divine Favor Baptism.

What a magnificent world it was, and Lorenzo found it hard to put it into words. Even if he told people, most would think he was a delusional madman.

Perhaps... it was real.

With this much knowledge, recalling the Divine Favor Baptism, Lorenzo realized the connection between them.

Chilling ice began to grow on the deck, and the temperature around dropped significantly. Awakened by the cold, Lorenzo looked up to see the falling snow dust.

Thick black smoke rose with fading flames, the prow crushing through hard ice with increasingly intense sounds. As the Morning Glow Advance pushed onward, the thickness of the ice increased, making progress more difficult.

”Is that so... rather interesting.”

Hearing Lorenzo’s explanation, Froki paused for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure.

”Didn’t expect the world to be far more complex than it appears, but it doesn’t matter. The more you think, the more troubles you have.”

”You have quite a commendable mindset,” Lorenzo said.

”Not bad, not bad... The Silent Sea is rejecting us, preventing our advance. The ice layer will keep thickening; with each step forward, we’ll pay a greater price, followed by the trailing cold.”

Froki extended his hand, touching the falling snow dust, the temperature painfully freezing.

The layers of obstacles troubled humans, and so even after such a long time, no one knew the Truth at the World’s End.

”We might come across an impenetrable ice layer, be trapped in this cold place, and perish.”

”The lacquered antimony reserves are enough, we can complete this journey,” Lorenzo said.

He trusted in the lacquered antimony and those technicians of the Perpetual Motion Pump; the Morning Glow Advance had endured battle after fierce battle, yet nothing had defeated it.

”What about the return journey?”

Froki suddenly asked.

He displayed a twisted smile, his gaunt face lined with cracks, resembling withered branches.

”Return journey...”

He muttered the term again.

”Anyway, no one cares about that, right? Getting here with no way back is already a given, and thus the return journey is the least concerning thing now.”

Froki was genuinely pleased. After stubbornness through so many years and experiencing life and death, he was finally about to uncover the veiled face of the Silent Sea.

No one responded. The scene was silent except for the disruptive sound of icebreaking up ahead.

Indeed, it seemed that most people didn’t care much about returning.

Whether it was the Plague Doctor, Lorenzo, Bola, or others, they were all ready to die before setting sail. But unlike some, they didn’t care about their own return, but they cared about something else’s return.

The return of hope; someone needed to bring hope back to the outside world and find a way to break the cycle.

The Plague Doctor leaned indifferently to one side, Watson was expressionless, Lorenzo pondered something, and Bola hung his head low, tightly clenching his fists.

Only the innocent human leaned against the hearth, Selyu felt dizzy, her body unbearably cold.

”I’m not feeling well... I should go back.”

Selyu wobbled as she stood. Her consciousness was blurry, and just after a few steps, she nearly fell due to a violent tremor from the bow, but Watson caught her.

Watson looked down at the girl; she had lost consciousness and closed her eyes tightly.

”She seems to have caught a cold.”

Watson said, touching her head.

The fatigue of battle, her injuries, and the cold and searing fires were simply unbearable for Selyu, a mere human amidst these monsters, and on this ship were primarily people like her, embarking on a journey of no return with the monsters.

”That’s not a good sign, the erosion will continue to affect her.”

Froki said, having tried and failed multiple times in the Silent Sea. He knew well the consequences of falling ill here.

Lorenzo didn’t move upon seeing this. He furrowed his brows, lost in thought.

Watson pondered for a moment, then picked up her crown and placed it on Selyu’s head, looking at the girl with pity.

”I hope this makes you feel better.”