Gun of Ashes

”In the end, an anti-meme is just a piece of information, and in this world, there are so many things that can be regarded as carriers of information. In fact, as long as it can be ’recognized,’ it can serve as a medium for the carrier and dissemination of information.”

Shao Liangye explained the power of Anonymous to Lorenzo, and as he spoke, he took out the last precision metal object from the iron box.

”Like the disturbance of airflow, you can perceive its passage, feeling a slight chill, and these can be seen as information, the interaction between oneself and the external world,” Shao Liangye asked, ”For example, this item, it just looks like a precisely processed metal object, doesn’t it?”

Lorenzo thought carefully and then nodded.

”Actually, it is indeed just a precisely processed metal object.” Shao Liangye’s answer was rather disheartening.

”But what’s important is not it, but the information attached to it.”

Shao Liangye raised the metal object, trying to let Lorenzo see more clearly; Lorenzo also focused, and with the eyesight of a Demon Hunter, he observed the surface of the object precisely. At first, it was a layer of smooth metal, but the next second, the smoothness collapsed, countless intricate texts covered the metal surface, as if an artisan had engraved them day and night.

The moment he observed this, Lorenzo felt a stabbing pain in his eyes, an overload of information poured into his vision, like suddenly facing a dense page full of words, not knowing where to start recognizing.

”The carrier of information, then how much information the carrier can bear,” noticing Lorenzo’s reaction, Shao Liangye began the next explanation, ”It’s like an opera and a book, the amount of information they express is completely different.”

”So there are limitations on the carrier, right?” Lorenzo rubbed his eyes, and the discomfort quickly subsided.

”Yes, books can only be read through words, that is to say, through words reaching vision for cognition, but an opera is different. Songs, images, actions, etc., it uses different cognitive organs to make consciousness recognize, thereby disseminating information.

And based on these, the amount of information carried is also different, which also makes anti-meme weapons come in many different kinds.”

”You said you guys, Anonymous, are also carriers, what’s going on?”

Lorenzo asked, did they engrave the anti-meme into their blood? It seemed strange.

”The anti-meme can resist the erosion of demons, so Anonymous itself is attached with a certain degree of anti-meme, but the actual process of implanting the anti-meme, as well as its effects, etc., we Anonymous ourselves do not know.”

Shao Liangxi aptly explained, this guy always had a relaxed expression, but now was surprisingly serious like Shao Liangye.

”Because you forgot.” Eve said.

”That’s right. Jiuxia prohibits any technology related to demons to ensure our purity is not polluted. The Anti-Meme Protection inherent in Anonymous is similar to your Purification Mechanism’s specialization, but you strengthen the will, and we build a wall for it.”

Shao Liangye placed the last piece of the anti-meme weapon inside, sealing it with the metal cover securely, and the Geiger Counter continued to operate steadily.

”The anti-meme force enveloping Anonymous allows us to resist erosion. This resistance is powerful but comes at a high cost,” Shao Liangye pointed to his head, ”most of Anonymous are not very good with memory.”

”The anti-meme is eroding your memories.”

Lorenzo understood the cost of this power, this influence was dual. It not only could resist erosion but also destroyed the carrier’s memory to expand the anti-meme information, occupying more ’memory.’

”Yes, the information a carrier can record is limited. When part of the memory is occupied by the anti-meme, some must be deleted. Therefore, Anonymous usually has valid memories within five years, and memories prior to that become very vague.”

”Do you forget who you are?”

Listening to Shao Liangye’s account, Lorenzo felt that the curse of this power was no less taxing than Secret Blood.

”We do, which is why we have ’creeds,’ embedded like steel stamps in the depths of our memory, they can’t be erased no matter what, guiding us when we lose ourselves.”

Shao Liangye said as he sat to the side, moving his shoulders, the work over the past few days had been tedious, making him feel exhausted.

”But don’t worry too much, after so many years of development, Anonymous has already trained a set of effective skills to ensure they don’t forget themselves, and to maintain the continuity of memory.

We usually read books, lots and lots of books... actually not just books, anything from which we can gain ’information’ cognition, we’ll do, to fill our minds with surplus, unnecessary information.”

Shao Liangxi took out a book from somewhere, continuing from Shao Liangye’s words.

”Just like offering!”

”It means using certain items to worship ancestors.” Rod, seeing the puzzled looks on the faces of the group, explained.

Having learned so much about Jiuxia’s knowledge, Rod was still able to answer these questions.

”The anti-meme is like a monster we feed in our heads; it helps us expel other monsters, but in return, we need to periodically offer it ’memories’,” Shao Liangxi said, ”for this reason, Anonymous will assimilate large amounts of junk information during their free time, allowing the anti-meme to invade and consume it, to avoid forgetting truly important information.”

”But actually, regarding these anti-memes or similar things, you Anonymous aren’t entirely clear on them either, are you?” Lorenzo asked.