Gun of Ashes

”So, that’s probably everything.”

The old man finally said it all, and he felt an unprecedented sense of relief, not only because the pressure in his heart was released, but also because after so many years, there were still humans living in the outside world, and they even had the ability to cross one defensive line after another and stand in front of him.

It was an indescribably complex emotion; the history of humanity was full of suffering and hardships, yet it persisted tenaciously, just like the impurities in gold, no matter the intense fires and repeated refinement, it still remained within.

Lorenzo and Watson fell into silence, as the true history slowly unfolded before their eyes. Although there were many blanks, probably due to the limitations of the old man’s memory, it was already almost a complete record of the development of the disaster.

”Speaking of which, I’ve never asked you guys, how is the outside world now?” the old man asked.

”It’s pretty good. Railways and sea routes have shortened distances in the world. There are organizations emerging to combat Demons, and these organizations are different from the Demon Hunting Order; they are purely human...”

Lorenzo rambled to the old man about what he had seen and heard outside. His initial recount was somewhat forced, but he gradually found a way.

He thought of Merlin’s museum, a sunlit room filled with all sorts of strange things. He had heard Eve say that Merlin even stuffed a placenta in there, which made the museum’s bizarre factor skyrocket.

However, as odd as it was, it was like Lorenzo had previously described: the museum was a microcosm of human civilization, a place of crystallization and glory.

He recalled those things, searching for corresponding real-world situations to tell the old man about the present.

The electronic eye rotated slightly; although the face was covered with steel, Lorenzo could feel his delight, with the indicator lights on him flashing rhythmically.

”So, you guys have now entered the industrial era, although the development is somewhat twisted...”

The old man pondered. Without the interference of the shelter, humans outside had survived and developed a certain degree of industrial civilization, although this steam-driven civilization was somewhat strange, reminiscent of some fantasy novels.

”Have you heard of petroleum?”

”Hmm?”

Lorenzo thought for a while, trying to recall the term ”petroleum,” with another thing coming to mind which he wasn’t sure was what the old man meant.

”We have something called lacquered antimony,” Lorenzo said, ”a black viscous liquid excavated from underground, processed into a flammable and explosive liquid.”

”Sounds like it might be the same. By the way, what is the Armor of Original Sin?”

The old man asked again; the year’s barbaric growth of the outside world had turned into a civilization completely unfamiliar to him.

”You can think of it as a... giant version of you.”

”Me?”

”Yes, a large combat robot. But due to material constraints, its main structure uses Demon flesh. This stuff has extremely strong regenerative capabilities, and along with the toughness of the flesh, it aids the mechanics in powering the armor. It fights fiercely, but it does have an erosive impact on the operator.”

”You fused Demons and machinery together?”

”Uh-huh.”

”It’s quite... punk, I guess,”

The old man hesitated.

Now he was filled with curiosity about the outside world, an entirely new era growing freely outside the shelter’s interference. He really wanted to see Old Dunling that Lorenzo spoke of, just hoping the steam there wouldn’t rust his ’body.’

But that was just thinking; here was the [Gap], the old man in the real world had turned into a fragile, vulnerable brain tissue, even losing the means to observe the outside.

Pessimism lasted only for a little while; the old man was always a self-entertaining person. He began engaging in intense talks with Lorenzo again, amidst laughter, Lorenzo posed his question.

”Now the outside world is encountering this problem too. We came this time hoping to find a way to solve population limits.”

Lorenzo looked at the old man with anticipation. He had gone through so much, paid so much just to get the so-called hope from him.

”Human civilization is advancing, with population growth nearing the red line again. Therefore, the Nation-Builders are about to embark on a new round of rebooting... I hope to find a way to breakthrough the red line here.”

Lorenzo’s voice seemed somewhat difficult; in fact, when asking the question, he already knew the answer, but he couldn’t help but pose it, unwilling to give up easily.

”Sorry.”

The old man was silent for a long time, reluctantly shaking his head with a bitter smile.

”If I truly had a solution, wouldn’t the reboots have succeeded?”

The electronic eye glanced around, and in an instant, the prosperous shelter within the [Gap] started collapsing; containers on the well walls broke one by one, liquids poured into the darkness below, rust appeared on metal surfaces, lights went out one by one, finally falling into dim desolation.

”In order to keep all the facility buildings wrapped in Forbidden Alloy, we made many compromises, resulting in here being able to stay on standby indefinitely, but it’s just close to indefinite.

Once there were automated factories, recycling life systems, independent laboratories, large residential areas... you could say this was a war fortress capable of running completely independently. But in the face of time’s devastation, repeated failures resulted in everything collapsing, dying.”