Ember Gun

  Chapter 273 Dunling Tower

  The torrential rains are getting more and more violent, like revenge that has been accumulated for a long time. They fall from the sky and wash away the sins of this city.

Obviously, this rainy season is extremely fierce. The pale thunder snakes are marching in the billowing dark clouds. Every time they appear, they bring dazzling light to this gloomy world. Then these lights disperse the steel giant whales, those The behemoths that never dived landed one after another. Such a terrifying thunderstorm day, the existing human strength is not enough to fight.

  It seems that there are monsters making mocking noises behind the dark clouds, swaying natural disasters wantonly.

  The thunder that flashed by was like that flashing light, reflecting the distortion of the city, and in the center of everything, the sharp spire still pointed directly at the sky, lonely but indestructible.

  Herkeley stood at the outlet of the sewer, and the rushing water gushed from the channel beside him and poured into the Thames below. Because of the heavy rain, the stagnant water was about to overflow to the shore.

   "It's magnificent, that tower is not often seen."

  Herkeley was enjoying the thunderstorm. He was in the gloomy sewer, but he looked up at the high spire.

   "I don't remember that there is such a building in Old Dunling."

Lorenzo held on to the damp wall, and then sat down slowly. Maybe he really needs to rest for a while. He looked at the lonely spire outside, which is so huge and far higher than the old Dun Ling. All the buildings seem to communicate with the heavens.

"Because it is usually covered by exhaust gas, those thick fogs not only cover up the sky, but also cover up those tall buildings. Usually the upper part of the tower is covered by cumulus clouds. Only in this bad weather Then, the strong wind can disperse the smoke so that it can really be revealed."

  Herkery obviously knows a lot, then he asked.

  "Do you know its name?"

  Lorenzo shook his head, the confused mind has no extra energy to think about something else.

   As if to make Lorenzo interested, Hercule paused for a while, then said.

   "Dun Ling Pagoda."

  Lorenzo raised his head slightly, with confusion in his eyes.

   "Yes, it's called Dunling Pagoda, Dunling Pagoda and Old Dunling, it's very interesting, isn't it."

  Herkery said and sat down against the damp wall, shoulder to shoulder with Lorenzo, holding the big furry mouse in his arms.

   "Lorenzo, we are now in a city of innovation. The things born in this city have changed the whole world, and similarly, those things are also changing the city itself."

   "You seem to know a lot."

  Lorenzo raised a little interest, temporarily setting aside the mystery of the **** identity.

   "Yeah, these are the secrets in the royal archives, but you also know my desire for control. I will not allow those secrets to be out of my knowledge."

  He pointed to his head, and Lorenzo just grinned reluctantly.

   "You haven't been executed yet, but you are really dead."

   "It's not that serious. This is an abandoned project. Maybe the current people in power don't remember such a thing."

  Herkery explained this to Lorenzo as he spoke.

   The rainwater surging in the channel in front of him dragged the leaves and debris into the Thames River. The two of them were like big mice shrinking in the shadows, talking about the things under that splendor.

  "Don’t you have any doubts about the name of this city? The old one, the old one, where is the new one?"

  Herkeley looked at the spire surrounded by thunder behind the rain.

"This plan was put forward at the end of the Glory War, and it has been almost several decades since now. Now those parties are either dead or dying, and are gradually forgotten by the world... There are many such situations, those whimsical ideas. The guy can always come up with something novel, but it can't be realized for various reasons, so he can only be locked in the iron cabinet and covered with dust.

   Generally speaking, it was a great revolution after the steam engine. Although the power of steam has changed the world, scholars who are at the forefront have also realized the shortcomings of the steam engine. They need more powerful power.

  For example...electricity. "

  Herkeley stared at the Dunling Pagoda in the distance. The thunderous clouds became thicker and thicker, like falling iron curtains. They slowly approached the ground until they crushed everything they touched.

"They have demarcated a new urban area in the old Dunling, an experimental urban area that is not recorded on the map, and named it Dunling. They plan to initially try power supply there, and then spread to the whole area after the experiment is successful. Old Dunling, at that time, the old Dunling was reborn and became a new city named Dunling.

Scholars built a towering Dun Ling Pagoda, and countless cables wrapped around the building to transmit the electricity. But in the end, the experiment failed due to the loss of power transmission, some technical difficulties, and factors of the time. , Dunling Project was locked in an iron cabinet, and the tall tower was also covered by dark clouds, no one knew. "

  Herkeley’s words are full of regrets. He has seen those dusty documents with his own eyes, and he can read the ambitions from decades ago in the vague handwriting.

"At that time, the steam engine was already a mature and powerful technology, and electricity was just a speculation on the future direction. Everyone was afraid of failure. Coupled with the immaturity of electricity technology, it is better to push all the bets on this. On the steam engine... the result was also good. The Glorious War was won, and the technology of the steam engine pushed Inervig to the top of the Western world.

  But...but I always feel that those people have not given up, have not given up on electricity. "

"what happened?"

  Lorenzo is very interested in the past of this city, and asked.

"It's very simple. The Dunling Project failed, but the city covered by electricity has not been erased, and the electricity has been expanding with a little effort. Although it has not conquered the city after so long, it has also changed. It has to be seen everywhere, isn't it?

  This is also the reason why the old Dunling is so fascinating. This city is like the epitome of the entire Western world, and you can feel the change in it. "

  There was a cold wind pouring into the sewer, and the coldness made Hercules somewhat unbearable.

   "This is the end of the review, Lorenzo, now your problem is the first."

  Herkery stood up as he said, he motioned to Lorenzo to also get up and follow him.

   "Where are we going?"

   "A safe place."

  Herkery looked back at Lorenzo.

   "Didn't you tell me? Those people in the mission won't let it go. Maybe they are looking for you all over the city with a knife?"

   "Is there a safe place in this sewer?"

  Lorenzo was a little skeptical. He knew very well that the terrain here was complicated, but it was just complicated, and safety was definitely not considered safe.

  "Do you know? There are also two kinds of mice."

  Herkeley laughed.

  "One is wild mice, they are usually mixed in dirty sewers."

  As he raised Poirot, the food might be good. This big mouse was a bit older than the last time Lorenzo saw it.

   "One is raised by Poirot. The domestic rat lives in a delicate nest."

  ……

  Walking along the sewer for a long time, passing through a series of complicated passages, Hercules pushed open a hidden door with great effort, climbed several stairs, and then a warm living room appeared in front of Lorenzo.

Lorenzo feels that they are more like termites than bad rats, digging a lot of holes in the ground, countless roads corresponding to countless doors, like a maze, maybe there are only guys like Hercules. Can remember the route.

  "The safe house of the Rat King...one of them."

  Herkery put Poirot down as he spoke, and the little guy ran happily in the house, but because the place was not big, he bumped along the way.

   "There are prepared clothes in the closet. Let's change the wet clothes."

  Herkeley then said to Lorenzo that this guy was really drenched.

  Lorenzo nodded, and then opened the closet on the side, but the contents made his facial expression a little complicated.

  Different uniforms were hung up neatly, ranging from workers’ clothing to doctors. Lorenzo even wondered if Herculi had some strange hobbies.

   "That is just to deal with emergencies. For example, if it is exposed here, we can change into the clothes of a maintenance worker and escape. After all, this is the best way to integrate into the environment."

  Maybe he was aware of Lorenzo's eyes, Hercule explained in time.

Lorenzo didn’t say anything. He took out a plain gray shirt and put it on. Hercule took a blanket from another room and handed it to Lorenzo. The two sat on the sofa face to face. Poirot returned it. After bumping into the cabin, Lorenzo looked out the window.

  Lorenzo didn’t know where he was, but he could still see the towering Dun Ling Pagoda from here, the heavy rain, and the oppressive clouds that made it difficult to distinguish between day and night.

  The old rainy season is like this. It may be the catharsis of heaven to mortals, just like the end of the day.

  Although it is fierce, the mature and complete sewer system of the old Dunling Underground will not cause any severe natural disasters.

  "So, where should I start with your question?"

  Herkery looked at Lorenzo on the other side. There was no lighting in the room. He could only rely on the depressed light to see Lorenzo's face clearly.

  Lorenzo is like a confused child, all his previous anger and anger disappeared.

   "Memory Palace... I want to learn that... I guess I must remember something, but I just forgot, just like I don't remember myself as 047... It must be hidden in the depths of my memory."

  Lorenzo hesitated in his words. He firmly believed that he was 042, but when he was talking, he was still hesitant in the face of the indefeasible evidence.

  "Compared to those, it's better to talk about yourself first."

Hercule tried to help Lorenzo. Lorenzo told him a lot in the sewer before, but some of the more secret parts were hidden by Lorenzo. He must go to the hunting sect, such as the false holy grail. In Hercule's eyes, Lorenzo is now a patient with a split personality.

"You said you split a 047 personality... to be precise, that 047 personality split you, your personality named 042, and then 047 died. You think you are normal until now. "

  Herkeley tried to figure out the relationship between them, and then he was amazed.

   "Your state is a bit like me when I was in a shipwreck, but I didn't have a split personality, but became the way I am now."

  He immediately started nagging.

   "Lorenzo, sometimes I am just like you, a little bit confused about myself."

  Lorenzo moved his gaze back from the window. He didn't know why Herkeri said that.

   "I have read a lot of books, and they are still stored in the magnificent palace in my mind. A few of them are really interesting. They talk about ourselves.

  The meaning of being alive. "

   "Then the answer?" Lorenzo asked.

"Pointless."

  Herkery spread his hands, indicating that he was also helpless.

"It can be seen between the lines that he is a pessimistic but very intelligent guy. He said that everything is meaningless. Everyone is dying. Hercules died in the last second, and then the next second. Hercules came alive and then died again.

  In this way, we fall into a weird cycle, until we can't survive anymore. "

  Herkeley laughed helplessly.

  "There is indeed so much truth. He also said that this world will eventually go to extinction, losing all the light and heat, and becoming everything that is cold.

  The only meaningful thing is to find a fairly comfortable night, a moment that I think is interesting, and end my life in a relaxed way. "

   "Is the author alive?"

   "I don't know, who knows?"

  Herkeley nestled comfortably, Poirot was crazy enough, and jumped into his arms skillfully.

  "But I just summed up one thing. People shouldn’t think about these strange philosophies without problems. This will only trap us. Then come back to me.

  Think about Lorenzo carefully, do you think it is possible for humans to have such a memory? "

   Hercule said seriously.

  "Such power is beyond the ‘normal’ we perceive. It is an ‘abnormal’. Sometimes I wonder if there is such a possibility."

   "What is possible?"

   "The real Hercules is dead."

  Herkeley still had the familiar expression, without the slightest fluctuation, as if what he had just said was just a very ordinary sentence.

   "Yes, the former Hercules didn't have such a good memory, but now Hercules has built up the glory in the shadows with such power."

  He narrowed his smile and said solemnly.

"Perhaps the real me died at sea long ago. The Hercules you know now is just a monster that has invaded this body. It has a terrible memory, but it remembers too many things. This memory called Hercule overlaps, and I think I live to the present."

  The voice with strange power turned into a whispering terror in this thunderstorm, but many Hercules let go of their seriousness and smiled again.

   "Look, it's like this, the serious Hercules just died, and now the smiling Hercules is alive.

  Every transformation of human beings can be regarded as a death and rebirth, and so is Lorenzo for you. Perhaps Fei Lengcui’s 047 died, so the old Dunling 042 came back to life. "

  "It doesn’t matter who I am or where I come from. What I want to do is important, right?"

  Lorenzo slowly said, he knows this truth well, yes, it doesn’t matter who he is, it doesn’t matter whether it is 042 or 047, what matters is what he wants to do, but...but...

"But you always want to know the truth, don't you? 047 obviously left important traces in your life, so important that you can't even accept that this is just a split personality... What a beautiful memory that is, but now it's just a fake Yes, everything between you and him is fake, just your imagination, even saying that you...

  You, 042, everything you think is false, how can you accept such a result? "

  Herkery looked at the sad Lorenzo, and then said lightly.

   "You have the body of 047, but you think you are 042... Then talk about him."

"Who?"

   "Another self, or...047."

  (End of this chapter)