Gun of Ashes

”Wait a moment, Shao Liangye.”

Lorenzo called out to him and asked.

”The Anti-Meme is targeted at corrosion, which means it’s targeted at Ascension. I suppose, in front of it, there’s no difference between me and a demon, right?”

The radiant world became clear once again. Lorenzo watched as the iron armor gradually cracked, declining.

”That’s right. The only difference is that you might need an Anti-Meme weapon of the Wangchuan level to kill, and this detonation just slightly affects you,” Shao Liangye said without hiding anything.

”Is that so... not bad.”

”Aren’t you afraid?”

”Are you referring to death?”

Lorenzo shook his head and revealed the secret hidden in his heart, ”What I fear is that you have no means to kill me.”

”Why?” Shao Liangye couldn’t understand why this guy would speak of his own death so casually.

”A monster requires shackles, regardless of stance.

In my imagined hypothesis, there’s the worst possibility, which is that we all failed, Old Dunling was destroyed, and the Death Row couldn’t protect anyone.

Roger became the ultimate winner. Not only did he corrupt Edlun, but I also couldn’t escape.”

Lorenzo pondered, continuing to speak.

”I can die, but I want to die as a Demon Hunter, not as an Ascended monster.”

”If it really turns out that way, and if I’m still alive, I’ll leave you a piece of Wangchuan,” Shao Liangye paused and said to Lorenzo.

Lorenzo didn’t discuss this any further. He looked around—Red Falcon and others were struggling to crawl out of the ruins. After the Anti-Meme detonation, these mortals lost more of their cognition. At this moment, Red Falcon was writhing on the ground like a maggot, and he seemed to need some time to remember how to walk on two legs.

Some other survivors were similar to Red Falcon, and some more severe cases regressed directly to infants, crying and making a fuss.

Their cognition was stripped away, and mortals were turning into ignorant beasts.

”Do you think Roger is still nearby?” Lorenzo asked.

”I don’t know, shouldn’t you be the one to ask such things? You’re the expert.”

Shao Liangye was cautious, but facing an invisible enemy, his vigilance had many gaps.

”Then consider the worst direction, Roger is still nearby. He’s hiding in someone’s body, spying on us, eavesdropping on our conversation... It could be you, it could be someone else, or even me.”

Lorenzo felt an invisible pressure. This attack had made the already pessimistic situation even harsher.

”His attack this time seemed more like a feint to learn about our armed forces,” Shao Liangye said, ”This time, we indeed suffered a major defeat. The Anti-Meme weapons were exposed too early.”

”It’s not too bad. At least Wangchuan is hidden deeply, right?” Lorenzo recalled something, looking at Shao Liangye, and asked, ”Do you know what Wangchuan is?”

Shao Liangye was a bit dazed. He tried hard to think, but suddenly realized that his impression of Wangchuan seemed to be just a name, and nothing beyond that.

”I... don’t remember.”

Shao Liangye’s face didn’t show the confusion of amnesia. As an Anonymous, he knew very well what it meant when he couldn’t recall something extremely important.

His memory was erased, possibly permanently, or it might recover shortly after the Anti-Meme dissipates.

Shao Liangye only felt enveloped by something invisible, like someone was walking with him in the shadow under his feet.

”Don’t remember.”

Lorenzo repeated, pondering in his mind.

Wangchuan is undoubtedly a major weapon carried by Jiuxia, and this weapon has a great possibility of being plundered by the Gap in front of an Ascended One, even becoming a sword pointed at oneself.

So the Jiuxia Anonymous must have thought of this situation. To avoid such a possibility, they must forget everything but the fact that they have Wangchuan, to thoroughly protect it.

Does anyone remember?

A person who is sober, is it Left Garrison?

But this doesn’t seem right either. Once Left Garrison is invaded by the Gap, all plans will be shattered.

Therefore...

”Stop thinking about it. What shouldn’t be known, shouldn’t be known. I guess even Left Garrison doesn’t know what Wangchuan is,” Lorenzo said.

That’s right, all the Anonymous are unaware of the specific information of Wangchuan.

But they need Wangchuan, need to remember it at the right time, but the timing is very important. Too early or too late will affect the course of the whole situation.

Lorenzo suddenly clapped his hands.

”What a defense indeed,”

A smile suddenly appeared on Lorenzo’s face. He had probably guessed the answer, whispering.

”So did you hear that, Roger Cruz? We still have a weapon that can threaten you.”

Lorenzo murmured to himself. He didn’t know if Roger was there, or if he could hear, but he liked to say such harsh words. If possible, Lorenzo wanted to provoke Roger. Whether a human or a monster, when controlled by extreme anger, they always have flaws.

”There weren’t significant casualties, at least not on our side.”

Shao Liangxi walked over, covered in dust. She was dragging Rod, whose chest was covered with footprints.

”Don’t worry too much. He seems to have forgotten how to breathe. I just helped clear his airway.”

Looking at Rod’s deathly expression, Lorenzo felt this had nothing to do with breathing.

”What next? No matter what, Roger indeed appeared, and I don’t think he’ll leave so easily,” Shao Liangye asked.

”Then think in the worst direction, Roger has already infiltrated... so who’s going to hurry up the Mechanical Institute? We need more Holy Silver to ward off the invasion.”

Lorenzo’s expression was serious, but internally he was thinking differently.

Roger had the ability for high-speed movement. He could throw Old Dunling into chaos in a short time, and the supposed feint now seemed to be Roger’s mercy.

So something must be restricting him, preventing him from acting so recklessly.

Edlun has arrived.

Lorenzo felt a surge of joy inside. His plans had worked. Edlun’s primary target was Roger. Until Roger is killed, he won’t take any other actions, meaning until Roger is dead, they are considered safe.

”So, where is the other battle happening?”

Lorenzo suspiciously surveyed his surroundings. With the baptism of the Anti-Meme and the entry of the Purification Mechanism, the demons in the Lower City District were gradually being cleared out, and the areas out of control were being reclaimed.

But he knew well that the battle was far from over. In places they couldn’t see, another battle far more chaotic than the current situation was raging.

Bursts of thunder came from the depths of the clouds. Old Dunling was always so gloomy, as if a storm could hit at any moment.

Roger stood in a desolate ruin, looking around, the ground littered with massive metal wrecks. No sign of life, only endless dust and smoke, and pits scattered everywhere.

The minerals in the industrial area had been exhausted many years ago, and later on, it became a large testing ground to trial new weapons of the Perpetual Motion Pump and store useless discarded equipment.

It was a graveyard of steel, fallen together, forming twisted forests of iron branches and steel arms.

Sunlight broke through, fragmented.

Roger waited a while, not for too long, as a twisted singularity appeared out of nowhere, dragging surrounding matter and even rendering the whole space into a twisted perception.

This time, the flashing was the blazing Thunder Group, with dense currents snaking around, evaporating surrounding matter, constructing a new body at its core.

”Every time I see this, I find it ironic, Edlun.”

Roger showed no signs of annoyance at this unwelcome guest’s arrival, mockingly saying.

”To casually construct a body... no matter how you look at it, you are the one closest to the end.”

From the depths of the lightning, a gaunt figure slowly emerged.