Gun of Ashes

Eve had never seen such a giant ship, nor such a flag.

Just as she was in a daze, a voice with a strange accent rang out.

”Oh, you’ve finally arrived. I thought I would have to wait a bit longer.”

Eve looked in the direction of the voice and saw an elderly stranger, with more strangers following behind him.

They were dressed in the same crimson attire as the flag, adorned with gleaming scale armor that Eve had never seen before, if it could even be called armor.

The old man had a simple longsword at his waist, and a refined firearm on his back, with the other strangers equipped similarly, though varying in their decorative splendor.

Eve’s daze deepened; neither the armor design nor the weapons were anything she had seen before, even scarcely mentioned in books. Yet when she saw the old man’s black eyes, it seemed to awaken some memory, one long buried under dust.

”Jiu... Jiuxia people?”

”Yes, yes.”

The old man responded amiably, with a smile, though his Western speech carried an amusing accent.

”Then let’s begin the meeting. According to the intelligence provided by Mr. Holmo, we don’t have much time left.” The old man’s smile faded, becoming as hard as iron, ”Do you have any thoughts on your side?”

”We do. Mr. Holmo and I have devised a plan. It could potentially kill Roger Cruz and Adren Levien, eliminating these two unstable elements at one stroke.” Merlin stepped out of the carriage and spoke directly.

”What kind of plan?”

”This must start with the nature of our enemies, which is why the Cleaner and Jiuxia are involved.” Oscar spoke, with the aloof Selyu standing beside him.

Many people are involved in this plan, not just the various departments of the Purification Mechanism but also Ingwig and Jiuxia.

The personnel in the carriage mostly disembarked, crowding the platform and mingling with the temporarily stationed Jiuxia people.

”They are Ascenders who can freely traverse the [Gap], read everyone’s memories, and with their own immense power, they are practically gods walking the earth.”

Oscar continued speaking.

”If we were to make an appropriate metaphor... they are like a group of readers.”

”Readers?”

The old man showed keen interest upon hearing Oscar’s words.

”Exactly. Don’t you think? We are all characters within a story, and our actions advance the plot. We need the storyline to reach ’we kill them,’ but unfortunately, our enemies are ’readers,’ which means they can flip through the story, see our actions in the book, accurately read our thoughts, and know everything we intend to do.”

So no matter what plan we have, it’s meaningless in the face of a reader’s power. They could hear any conversation, our mental activities, even replace us, access our past, and drive our bodies into the future.”

The old man fell silent. Rarely did he hear such an entertaining metaphor, and yet this novel perspective once again made him aware of the enemy’s terrors.

”So what should we do?”

”Become people outside the story.”

A hoarse voice sounded, like a drunkard still not sober, stepping heavily as the last passenger staggered off the train.

”It’s simple really. Leap out of this story. By not being part of it, the reader can’t read this passage or know our intentions.”

His eyes were red, seemingly having not slept well in days to come up with this plan.

”The outsider.”

”An ’outsider’ unknown to the enemy and us, appearing only at the crucial moment to alter the course of events.”

He spoke, raising his hand as if pinching a tiny speck of dust.

”Just change a little bit, alter a critical part, and an ordinary plan can transform into a hunting action.”

”So is that why we must forget this meeting? Even we shouldn’t know who the ’outsider’ is.” The old man asked.

”Precisely, someone beyond the story, beyond everyone’s understanding, a hidden assassin.”

The old man glanced at the Cleaners behind the man, then sideways at his soldiers; Jiuxia’s technology was starkly different from Ingwig’s. Compared to these industries, they excelled at cunning Anti-Memes, which was why they were present at this moment.

”No one can recall what they’ve forgotten... this plan comes with great risks. Should the outsider falter, we’ll head towards a dead end with no turning back.”

Understanding Anti-Memes, the old man knew the peril within if the outsider did not correct the plan, it was doomed to fail.

”I believe in the outsider.”

The man resolutely met the old man’s gaze, his gray-blue eyes void.

After some tension, the old man laughed heartily.

”To return from the Silent Sea with such critical intelligence, filling in human history... it’s a remarkable achievement, though it’s unfortunate it can’t be recorded in books.”

The old man didn’t take long to think, stretching out his hand to shake with the man.

”Nice to meet you, Mr. Holmo.”

”Same here, Left Garrison General.”

Lorenzo watched this black-eyed stranger, lifted his gaze, sweeping over more black-eyed strangers, finally resting on the crimson flag.

”We should soon forget each other.” Lorenzo remarked somewhat regretfully.

”Never mind,” Left Garrison said, ”we’ll meet for the first time in a few days.”

Lorenzo was taken aback, then smiled and nodded.

”Yes, for the first time.”