Gun of Ashes

On the surface here, we used the anti-meme weapon named ”Echo of the End” to severely damage The Inexpressible, but we were also severely damaged. The anti-meme not only erased The Inexpressible but also erased humanity itself.

That should be the first great break in human history, at least in my understanding, this should be the first great break.

In reality, even without the ”Echo of the End,” the history of human civilization was almost severed, at the time The Inexpressible had destroyed the vast majority of human civilizations. Its invasion polluted one library after another, and we could only burn those treasures of civilization, forget again and again.

And later at No. 13 Fortress, we carried out the ’Dimension Reduction Plan’, using No. 13 Fortress as bait. There were tens of thousands of people there, intentionally exposed to The Inexpressible’s vision, but because it was protected by Forbidden Metal, to invade it, a physical intervention was necessary.

”You gave the void’s will a physical form and released the ’Echo of the End’ there, forcing it into a deep slumber, thereby imprisoning The Inexpressible.”

This was the story narrated by the Pioneer, and Lorenzo repeated it at this moment.

The old man nodded, affirming Lorenzo’s story, but immediately he said.

”That’s right, the crisis of The Inexpressible was temporarily controlled, although it fell into a deep slumber, its mumblings still surrounded it, covering the entire... Western world, as I remember you called it.

No. 6 Fortress, as the only remaining war fortress, became a sanctuary. After collecting all of humanity’s knowledge and technology, we sealed ourselves off and began the era of rejuvenation.”

”The survivors on the surface began to rebuild civilization, but soon The Inexpressible revealed its abilities. Neither the Forbidden Alloy nor the anti-meme could completely suppress it, and some power leaked out. Under its influence, more and more people turned into monsters, eventually sparking conflict and war. The first attempt at rejuvenation ended in failure, but fortunately, we still had many opportunities.”

The old man said while looking at the containers on the well wall, densely packed and endless.

”Those are artificial embryos, and after periodic cultivation, the sanctuary can continuously produce tens of thousands of healthy humans, filling the world’s population when necessary. The newly born humans will use the knowledge of the sanctuary to become the second batch of Rejuvenators.

The Rejuvenators are led and guided by the Nation-Builders carrying knowledge. After leaving the sanctuary, they will have all cognition related to the sanctuary erased by the anti-meme to protect the existence of the sanctuary.

But regrettably, after centuries of war, most surface structures have been destroyed, and infrastructures are gone. It seems we have to start from scratch again.”

His voice was low, then it soared high; judging by his excited posture, he could start farming by wielding a hoe.

”But it doesn’t matter; at least we have an opportunity to start over.

To avoid another extinction, we realized that although the influence range of The Inexpressible was wide, it was still limited, that is, the place you call the Eastern World, which was on the edge of The Inexpressible’s influence. Another batch of Rejuvenators was dispatched there, carrying anti-meme technology to build a new civilization and see if they could escape the influence of The Inexpressible.

Actually, we also thought about whether to shift all the focus of rejuvenation to the Eastern World... Perhaps we indeed did so, but I have no record of this in my memory, probably erased by the anti-meme.”

The old man appeared somewhat puzzled but quickly felt relieved. Dealing with anti-memes and erosion all day, he had long been accustomed to the confusion of memory.

”There’s no need to dwell too much because, for various reasons, it seems like my memory has been deleted over and over. Anyway, it’s forgotten when forgotten, no need to be too troubled.

After all, all of this is related to the anti-meme; this kind of power always deceives the enemy while also deceiving our own people. According to the records, the East-West was isolated from that time.

Remember? The Inexpressible was formed by the Ascension of humanity due to some ’factor’, just like the Demon emerged from the alienation of humans.”

The old man’s emotional changes were great; Lorenzo was unsure whether it was his character or if the long years had also turned him into a ridiculous lunatic. His words at this moment seemed somewhat sad, somewhat repressed.

”We were wrong; we overlooked one thing from the beginning. The Inexpressible was formed by the Ascension of humanity, from the very beginning, humans had some kind of vague connection with it, no matter where we fled, this connection was never severed.

It’s like...

Like from the very beginning it had eroded ’all of humanity’, we cannot destroy ourselves, so we can only continue to imprison The Inexpressible. Its mumblings drive people insane, but this also nourishes it, lulling it to sleep.

We are of the same origin.

It’s like...”

”Requiem.”

Lorenzo suddenly understood everything. He looked at the Secret Keeper and slowly narrated that dreadful speculation.

”This is not just imprisonment; it’s sacrifice. One human after another falls into insanity, offering a tribute to this nameless God, to serenade a lullaby of the requiem.”

”That’s right; all we can do is continually diminish the connection between ourselves and The Inexpressible, that is, using the anti-meme weapon.