Ember Gun

  Chapter 371 The grandeur of mankind

  The old rainy season is over. This gloomy city has rarely ushered in a clear sky of thousands of miles, with a little dew on the green fields, reflecting the brilliance of the sky.

  Eve stopped briefly and looked at this incredible piece of beauty.

  She has hardly left the old Dunling since she was a child, and the sky seems to have always been grey and gray in her impression, with patters of light rain falling from time to time.

Although the location of Phoenix Manor is located in the suburbs of Old Dunling, after so many years of expansion, most of the edge of Old Dunling has been swallowed by the growing city, and the blue sky of Phoenix Manor is also Over the years, it has become the same gray.

  Eve held the white sheet that had just been dried in her hand, and was stunned for a long time. She woke up when she heard the call from others, and ran down with it.

   Countless brackets are erected on the green field, on which are hung cleaned and disinfected sheets, quilts, and some sick clothes. They sway in the wind, like dancing flags.

  This is Merlin’s castle. After the Black Mountain Hospital incident, in order to relieve the pressure of containment, Merlin generously contributed this ancient castle that was about to be abandoned and temporarily became a hospital for some patients.

As the chief technical officer of Perpetual Pump, Merlin is essentially an alchemist. He may have a different concept from mortals. He is not interested in ordinary wealth. When he was divided into this land, he also regarded it as a warehouse. Treated, rarely come back, even if there is a place that needs to be used, most of the time it is like a temporary residence.

  Lorenzo, Kestrel and others woke up in this castle a few months ago, spent a not too long holiday, and now it welcomes new guests.

The doctors walked through the castle, the nurses pushed the wheelchairs, and the patients screamed from time to time. The stale air was covered by the smell of disinfectant. Eve walked in the meantime and could see a group of people cleaning. Thick dust was swept from the corner.

  Because Merlin used this as a warehouse, the staff of the castle always maintained the lowest manpower. When the doctors from the Black Mountain Hospital entered, they even thought it was abandoned.

  Everything went into chaos after the incident, when Arthur was still in a coma, Eve was at a loss and suddenly remembered what Arthur said to her last.

  Merlin knew her past, so when Arthur was still in a coma for treatment, Eve applied to come here. After an erosion test, she became one of the caregivers.

In fact, Eve did not expect that she would come in so smoothly. In her eyes, this is a mysterious organization. Everyone in the organization is a blood-sucking evil spirit, but it may be because of the revolutionary friendship of the demons. , These people were unexpectedly good to her.

  Eve just became a member of this temporary hospital inexplicably, and ran back and forth here for almost half a month.

  During this time, she also tried to find Merlin. His office was set up on the top of a tower in the castle. Eve heard other people call it a museum, but she didn’t know why.

  As the chief technical officer of Perpetual Pump, Merlin has been busy for the past half a month. He has not had time to discuss this carefully with Eve, dragging it around, and finally this conversation is set to today.

  After putting the washed sheets, Eve walked towards the top of a tower called a museum.

  Everything that I have been attached to is about to be answered, but at this moment, Eve's heart does not have any excitement and joy, but rather calm.

  Eve has always been a keen and intelligent child. After experiencing so much, in fact, she has a vague guess about the reverberating nightmare and her own weirdness, but she is not sure about it all.

It can be said that she did not come here this time eager to get an answer, but hoped that someone would affirm her guess, but she suddenly became a little flustered. Although all this has already become history, when she thinks of the facts if it is true, Eve Still somewhat unacceptable.

  Obviously it looked like a long way, Eve walked in a few thoughts, she was silent for a while, and knocked on the door.

  ……

Pushing open the heavy door, the decaying air rushed in. As the only piece of "Merlin’s private area" in the castle, it was not cleaned by the caregivers. Apart from Merlin working here, few people came here. .

  The bright light fell on Eve's face, stabbing her a bit unable to open her eyes.

The dome of the entire museum is made of transparent glass. It was still dusty and dirty a few months ago, but after the storm, everything was washed away, shrouded in light, and it was very sacred. Look like.

  The inside of the museum is filled with some weird things. It is not so much a museum as a warehouse. There are messy things everywhere.

  The wheel was placed on one side of the wall, the nautical chart was hung on one side of the wall, a coin placed in a box, and an old flintlock.

  There are so many weird things, and many Eve can’t come across it, and she even has a little difficulty in judging why Merlin has put so many things here.

   "Eve?"

   Suddenly there was a voice remembering, under the light enveloped, Merlin raised his head, only then did Eve notice that there was still a person sitting in the pile of clutter.

  All kinds of documents were piled up, and Merlin cleared a lot of space among these messy things so as to use it for office work.

  He has never been a guy who often appears in the sun. For most of the year, Merlin is like a mouse, nesting in the dark ground.

  Now he appeared in the sun, his pale and sick face seemed to be dying, and Eve was actually faintly afraid, afraid that this strange alchemist would fall down in the next second.

   "I know what you are going to do. When communicating with Arthur a few days ago, he had already told me about this."

   "Is he awake?"

  Hearing about Arthur, Eve asked.

   "Wake up, there is nothing serious... But you, you want to know the reason for your abnormality... This has to make me think about what I should say to you."

Merlin rubbed his temples. He didn't like this job. He explained these dirty things to the little girl. In his opinion, this might affect the little girl's innocent heart... Although he said that the little girl chopped up the demon, More fierce than these professionals.

   Out of sight, she looked at the girl sitting opposite her, and Mei Lin secretly sighed.

  Should it be said that it is Arthur’s daughter? Or to say... the nature of the Rangers.

   "In general, you, Eve Phoenix, you died long before you were born."

  After the silence, Merlin started everything with this somewhat shocking remark.

"What did you say?"

  Eve was a little confused and didn't understand what he was talking about.

   "Don't worry, I will explain all this for you... Actually, this is what Arthur meant. He told me that he had been thinking for a long time, and he suddenly realized that he might be wrong."

  Merlin continued.

  "Perhaps you have the ability to protect yourself. All he has done is just a restriction on you, but what you need to know is that the more we come into contact with demons, the closer we get to the dark, until we are swallowed by them.

   Arthur’s protection for you only hopes that you can stay away from it, but looking at these events, you have also become a part of the ‘curse’. "

   "So what?" Eve asked.

  About this part of darkness, she had listened to Lorenzo's explanation, and correspondingly, she could understand everything Merlin was saying now.

"So he gave up protecting you. Instead of protecting you powerlessly, it is better to let you hold a sharp sword to protect yourself. After all, Arthur can't protect you forever. It is for this reason that he chooses to tell you everything. It's up to you to make the decision."

  Merlin said as he picked up the water glass and took a sip to moisturize his throat. This ghost place was too bright, hot and dry, and he began to miss the somewhat cold underground facilities.

   "Actually, long before you were born, you encountered a monster."

  Merlin talked about the past.

   "It was a long time ago. In an accident, your mother was attacked by a monster, and she was pregnant with you.

You also know the characteristics of demons and physical injuries, as long as they are not too serious and fatal, most of them can be cured with our abilities, but the erosion that directly affects the spirit, we are helpless, no... to be precise Is helpless against you. "

  Merlin watched Eve’s expression and noticed her emotional changes.

"We cured your mother and also performed erosion tests, but unfortunately, your condition was nearing birth, which means that there is another fully mature but ignorant consciousness in your mother's body. I can test her. , But it cannot detect how much you have been eroded."

  "The human will is very peculiar, just like a mass of plastic soil, which can be kneaded into different shapes by us in the training of the day after tomorrow, such as swords, shields, firearms...

One of the main reasons why we are able to resist erosion is that we have a relatively complete understanding and can naturally fight against the darkness, but for a ignorant child who has not yet been born in this world, she cannot distinguish all of this, she cannot Understand the light and darkness, and don't know what demon... She may not even have the concept of'I'.

  The child’s will is like a mass of unplasticized soil. She will be easily affected by erosion and be shaped like a demon. "

   Merlin was silent for a moment, and then asked.

   "You know what this means, don't you."

  Eve remained silent, and the nightmare in the memory was recalled again. A certain monster crawled out of the flesh and blood. Accompanied by the viscous sound and the woman's wailing, it opened its teeth and danced its claws, tearing the fragile body to pieces.

  Under Merlin's narration, the vague memories suddenly became clear, and the darkness was swept away. In fear, she could see the monster's appearance clearly.

  It was a young and ignorant face, she was innocent, but her hands were stained with blood...It was herself, Eve Phoenix.

  Eve's body trembled uncontrollably.

   "At that time, it was certain that you had been eroded, but the extent of the erosion was unknown, but judging from the records of our clean-up agency, young children are extremely susceptible to erosion and infection, not to mention you, a child who has not yet been born.

  You are about to be born and cannot have a miscarriage, but there are still some risky operations inside us that can solve all of this, but this has been opposed by your parents. They have lost many children and do not want to lose your last one.

  So another plan was proposed. "

   "What is it!"

   Eve’s voice was a bit agitated, her pupils tightened, and fine sweat flowed across her neck.

"The Ranger plan is an enhanced experiment, but the risk is very high. Your father is also a subject. Part of this strengthening is that it can increase people’s resistance to erosion. At that time, we were planning to conduct a Ranger plan on you. You, who have not yet been born, have resistance to erosion, which may save you.

  But even if you experiment on people with professional training, they will die due to some unstable complications, not to mention that you were still in a fetal state.

  But your mother has accepted all this, and the main subject is her, and those experimental drugs will be delivered to the fetus through the weakening of the mother’s body.

But all this is just what we expected. No one knows what will happen when it is actually implemented. It can even be said that everyone is doing all this with an experimental attitude at the time. No one thinks this can be successful...unless there is a miracle. happen. "

  Merlin stopped as he said. He sat upright and put aside some documents that were still being processed.

   "But I survived, and now I am sitting alive in front of you." Eve whispered.

   "Yes, a miracle happened, and the human will triumphed."

  A stiff smile appeared on Merlin's indifferent face, and then he stood up and walked towards Eve.

   "Your mother survived the experiment and gave birth to you safely, and you are also the first natural ranger in human history."

"That's incredible. I was a little skeptical of reality at the time. I didn't expect that human beings could really do all of this. You are very healthy as a newborn, but unfortunately, your mother, as the mother of the test, was very traumatized. Later, I was often tortured by some complications until I left."

  Merlin walked to Eve and gently took her hand to make her stand up.

  Under the warm light, the two of them seemed to be dancing.

"That's why Arthur is like a crazy person sometimes, because you are his last warmth. Without you, he really has nothing. Maybe after this he will become a monster similar to Lorenzo. ."

   Mentioned Lorenzo, Merlin couldn't help sighing.

   "The guy who has nothing is really scary. He won't lose anything, so he is fearless."

   looked at the girl's stiff expression again, maybe she hadn't noticed it herself, tears had covered her cheeks, the fuzzy memories became clear, everything became so cruel.

   "It looks like it will take a while to understand this, but... please do me a favor first."

Merlin patted her and awakened Eve from this long-lasting sorrow. The girl nodded stiffly. She couldn't say anything. She knew everything she wanted, but the whole person seemed lost. .

  Death is really long. Mother left a long time ago, but today Eve feels that she is really dead. This long death has come to an end, and she just left.

"But your birth inspired a lot of people. At that time, we had an internal incident called'Red News'. We were hit hard internally. Everyone lost the hope of continuing to forge ahead and looked decadent. It was also for this reason. Your birth was not optimistic. After all, everyone was pessimistic at that time."

  Merlin seemed to be looking for something in the clutter, and the old dust rose up one after another.

   "But you survived. This is nothing short of a miracle. At that time, you were crying, but the cry made everyone a lot of excitement. Such a child is trying to survive. What is this frustration?"

   "I was also slightly touched at the time, so I have built this place ever since."

  Merlin picked up a container filled with formalin solution.

"At the time I was thinking, how long have humans existed in this world? At least several thousand years, but we only have vague records in the last thousand years, and the earlier history has disappeared in memory. People are remembering all that.

I was wondering if humans will disappear one day. If they disappear, it’s actually nothing. Humans will die, and humans will die. But even if they die, I think there should be something left. .

  As long as there is something that can represent human beings, even if we are all dead, we can still live in the carrier of records...just like you. "

  Merlin carried the container laboriously.

"I?"

   "Yes, you are the continuation of your mother. As long as you are still alive, she can live in your memory, and she will not really die, right?"

  Merlin motioned to Eve to take the container.

   "Look here, this is what I built, which best represents everything about ‘humanity’."

  He opened his hand and looked around the messy museum like a lord. Eve also held the container and followed Merlin’s words and looked around.

   "You can't understand it, right? In fact, other people don't understand all of this, but if everyone understands it, then there is a problem."

  Merlin said, walking to the side of the clutter and introduced Eve.

"This stack of paper represents the carrying of human information. We will not die with the knowledge in our minds, but will record it and pass it on across the barrier of time. This wheel means that we have shortened the distance of the world. This code is human The proof of constraining one's desires, so we are distinguished from the beasts that obey instinct.

  This...and this..."

  Merlin introduced the exhibits in this strange museum to Eve. All human cognition exists here. A hazy but majestic phantom slowly rises within Eve’s cognition.

   "Of course there is this."

  Merlin said and pointed to the container in Eve's hand.

"what is this?"

   "Your placenta."

"what?"

Eve’s grief was suddenly interrupted by Merlin’s words. She almost shook her hands and threw this thing down, but in the end she stabilized her figure, lowered her head and gently wiped the dusty surface, underneath the formalin. A group of distorted and pale flesh and blood is drifting.

   "I have collected your placenta, but this is not a perverted hobby. I just think that this museum needs something to prove the will of mankind... this is one of the wills."

"what?"

  "Sacrifice, a mother's sacrifice for her child."

  Merlin said softly, and at the same time he walked to the gate and watched all this from the gate.

  "But this is not enough. Everything here is not enough to represent everything about human beings. After all, human beings are a very complicated existence. Some things we have are too nihilistic, and it is difficult for me to find suitable things to represent it."

"for example?"

"For example, things that are exclusive to human beings. Because we are human beings, we have created one word after another to know everything in this world, but some things are nothingness, just like the soul, it is disordered and difficult. Captured, beyond our control...It is difficult to find a representative for this kind of thing."

  Melin smiled, watching the beauty shrouded by the sun, the magnificence piled up by human beings.

  "You know, Eve, even though you were born, no one can feel that you survived. Your life is only temporary. You may die from the backlash of Ranger drugs in the following time.

  But you survived and grew up. "

   "Thank you for coming, Eve, now my work is complete."

  Eve looked at Merlin a little blankly. It may be that these alchemists were inherently crazy. The smile on Merlin's face began to twist, like a fanatical believer.

  "Yes! Eve Phoenix! You represent human stubbornness, human perseverance, and human stupidity, but under this inferiority, you have done what only humans can do."

   "What is it?"

"Miracle."

  The dying fetus survived tenaciously. She was holding her placenta in a hell, standing in a pavilion built by a madman, and became a part of this work.

   runs through the past and future of mankind, and builds up miracles that belong only to mankind.

  The long night is over, the sun is blazing.

  (End of this chapter)