Gun of Ashes

Rod stood next to the two, and as a translation officer, there wasn’t much he needed to do. Sometimes, he felt like an insignificant passerby, which made him feel quite awful.

”She said good morning.”

Rod chimed in at the right moment.

”I know, I know,” Lorenzo replied with a smile. There were some things Shao Liangxi said he truly didn’t understand, but due to the context, Lorenzo could guess what she meant.

Red Falcon glanced at the silent Shao Liangye, noticing the iron box in his hand.

”Is this for today?”

”Yeah.” Shao Liangye simply responded, much like Zuo Tang, he wasn’t one for many words.

Without much chit-chat, the Iron Serpent had long been waiting nearby, and the group boarded. With a rumbling sound, they headed toward their destination.

Everyone in the carriage wore different expressions. Lorenzo was staring blankly, lost in thought, while Eve sat on the other side, looking down at the task report. She was becoming more diligent, evidently preparing to accept Arthur’s training to become the next generation of the Purification Mechanism.

One didn’t know whether to congratulate her on finding her direction in life or say she’s walked into a trap.

Red Falcon squinted his eyes; he was still quite tired, ready to catch some sleep on the way. Shao Liangye sat with arms crossed, keeping his head down in silence.

Lorenzo slightly opened his eyes, observing Shao Liangye.

After a few days together, he assumed Shao Liangye, like Zuo Tang, was a cold character, but soon he found out that wasn’t quite the case.

It seemed like an Anonymous rule; they made their behavior mimetic like an anti-meme, completely closed off, making it hard for normal people to gauge their thoughts or actions. So, these folks always had a cold demeanor as if they were emotionless.

This was their disguise.

But there were some Anonymous who didn’t seem to care much about this, like that chattering one.

”Hey! Rod, what’s this?”

”Rod! What’s that over there!”

Shao Liangxi was completely unlike the typical Anonymous; inside the carriage, everyone carried a sense of murderous intent as if they were heading to the Lower City District to conquer it, while she seemed genuinely touring, constantly calling for a guide.

Rod was also helpless; as the translation officer, he found little utility in his role. After all this practiced effort, was it just to serve as a tour guide? What was worse, he seemingly didn’t have the right to refuse.

”This is... that is...”

Rod explained things to Shao Liangxi, seeing her eyes filled with curiosity. Sometimes, Rod felt it wasn’t all that bad.

Remembering his own academic days, filled with curiosity about foreign lands as she was.

The two became the outliers in this small team, while others seriously transported anti-meme weapons, they toured around, and while others set up defensive measures, they experienced the local culture.

Alright, actually Lorenzo didn’t mind this. Thanks to these existences, the team gained some spirit rather than being a pool of silent, stagnant water.

Even more importantly, Lorenzo also liked this; he enjoyed the relaxed demeanor he had now, and if possible, he wished it could continue.

The calmer it seemed, the more it indicated no disaster was looming, everything was harmoniously peaceful, blissfully beyond reach.

But everyone knew these were mere illusions; the storm was gathering deep within the clouds, waiting for the day it would completely explode.

The Iron Serpent stopped, the door opened, and a cold breeze rushed into the carriage, waking up Red Falcon and making him shiver.

”Today’s task is not much; we just need to install the large Geiger counter here with anti-meme weapons.” Eve stated, holding the task sheet.

Lorenzo walked out of the carriage, the gloomy sky sunk in one portion, sunlight falling through, blinding him momentarily.

His vision soon cleared, becoming familiar again.

Broken-down buildings, litter everywhere, and homeless people hiding in corners, watching them, familiar scents wafting through the air; for a moment, Lorenzo felt like he was coming home.

”Where is... this?” Shao Liangxi asked, never expecting such filth beneath the old Dunling’s glow.

”Lower City District,” Rod explained, ”You can think of it as old Dunling’s garbage dump.”

As for the Lower City District, he couldn’t give a proper explanation, only letting Shao Liangxi understand it this way.

”Haven’t been here in a while, it’s still the same,”

Red Falcon also stepped out and spoke with some nostalgia.

Unlike rapidly developing old Dunling, places like the Lower City District were unmanaged. No matter how the city evolved, it remained in that state of disrepair.

Returning here felt quite peculiar; Red Falcon crawled out from such muck back then.

”Let’s go, Blue Jade is waiting for us.” Eve said.

”Blue Jade?” Lorenzo was puzzled, ”Isn’t this Bola’s territory?”

”Bola is still lying in the hospital; this place is temporarily overseen by Blue Jade.” Eve explained.

”Wait, how could Bola in the Lower City District just become a female, is that really justified?” Lorenzo quickly said.

”You really think that besides Bola, there’s no Purification Mechanism presence in the Lower City District?” Eve looked at him helplessly, ”How do you think it was kept concealed while Bola accompanied you to Silent Sea?”

”The entire Lower City District has been under Purification Mechanism control all along; Bola’s influence here is more akin to a gang disguised as a Purification Mechanism surveillance station.”

Red Falcon also explained at this time.

Lorenzo didn’t say more; ever since encountering the demon, he rarely came to the Lower City District, let alone interacted with these things.

After going around, the group followed the secret paths throughout the Lower City District and arrived at the surveillance station. It’s situated underground, right above Bola’s casino and office; Lorenzo never thought he was so close to this secret agency.

The number at the surveillance station wasn’t many; most were scattered throughout the Lower City District, monitoring various gangs’ movements to prevent them from causing major disturbances. In the center of the underground space was the large Geiger counter running smoothly, like a giant mechanical copper column, piercing through the space.

The steady tick-tock sound indicated everything was normal; it was the first time Lorenzo observed this thing up close.

”Can I touch it?” Lorenzo asked.

”Feel free.”

Blue Jade, who had been waiting, said; her arm was still not healed, wrapped in thick bandages, but she was fortunate compared to Bola, who still couldn’t get out of bed.

Eve, as a qualified overseer, stood by, watching and recording something, while Red Falcon lazily sprawled somewhere. Only then did Lorenzo realize why this guy survived high-intensity work without sudden death.

Shao Liangxi and Shao Liangye were also demonstrating their professional skills, clinking around the mechanical copper column, opening the heavy iron box to take out the precise objects inside.

”Is that the anti-meme weapon?”

Lorenzo basked in the cold touch of the copper column as he asked the two.

”Yes, to be precise, it’s the carrier of the anti-meme weapon.”

Shao Liangye finally broke his silence, explaining the weapon’s principle to Lorenzo.

”So... what activates it?”

Lorenzo was curious; to many, this was black-box technology, and after the Silent Sea experience, he became even more intrigued by this thing.

”’Trigger’,” Shao Liangye explained, ”The carrier is the firearm, while the anti-meme is the weapon within it, needing a trigger condition or ’trigger’ to activate.”

”We can set various ’trigger’ types like the one now, upon detecting excessive erosion; if the intensity doesn’t decline within a certain time, it pulls the ’trigger’.”

Shao Liangye elaborated, putting the precise metal into the copper column.

”Types? What other triggering methods?” Lorenzo asked.

”Many, but depending on different situations. For instance, the anti-meme bullet is a continuously functioning anti-meme weapon without triggering conditions, but its influence range is small, easily isolated, requiring it to be shot into the enemy to be effective.”

Lorenzo raised an eyebrow, ”Sounds pretty interesting.”

”Actually, there’s more intriguing.”

Shao Liangye lifted his head, glancing at Lorenzo; his cold expression somewhat relaxed, as if seeing a peer, he said.

”Anonymous shares resemblance with Demon Hunters.”

”What?”

”Demon Hunters are Secret Blood carriers, while Anonymous themselves are anti-meme carriers.”