Gun of Ashes

The space in the cabin was not large, and as the Sailing Dawn advanced, the entire vessel gently swayed.

These people didn't seem to care much about the comfort of this war machine. The air was filled with a faint smell of machine oil, the light overhead flickering intermittently, and a monotonous ticking sound echoed continuously. It was the Geiger counter installed in the cabin, its readings stable, glowing with a steady green light.

Selyu sat in the corner, with the Red Falcon fastening her seatbelt due to the excessive turbulence.

She didn't look well, or rather, she looked very unwell, her expression blank, eyes fixed intently on something in the center of the cabin.

It was a cargo platform, tightly secured with leather straps to prevent sliding. On it lay a person, covered with a coat, a straitjacket worn on his body. He was asleep, curled up like a cocoon.

After a period of cautious observation, Arthur confirmed Lorenzo's unconsciousness and transferred him onto the Sailing Dawn. In reality, given all these bizarre occurrences, the safest course of action would have been to inform Bola for another artillery strike since this resurrected guy seemed extremely dangerous no matter how you looked at him.

However, after a brief psychological struggle, Arthur abandoned this idea. Everything that happened to Lorenzo was a bizarre unknown to them, and the best way to deal with the unknown is to accept it, understand it, and transform the unknown into the known. Simply destroying the unknown is merely evasion.

There was another person in the cabin. The Red Falcon sat on the other side, holding a preheated aluminothermic rifle. Originally, according to the Purification Mechanism's containment process, Lorenzo should have been surrounded by a circle of burly men, with at least dozens of aluminothermic rifles pointed at him, to ensure that if anything peculiar happened, this madman could be fused into a statue instantly.

But... for this mysterious madman, it was obviously unreliable. The terrifying artillery strike and crude oil explosion just now hadn't killed him, let alone these ridiculous aluminothermic rifles.

So only the Red Falcon remained. Although he had some trust in this Demon Hunter, after witnessing all the terrifying events, the Red Falcon still felt more comfortable with a weapon at hand, even if unsure whether this thing could counter Lorenzo, at least it provided some peace of mind.

"Are you okay?"

Besides the engine's rumbling, the cabin was dead calm. The Red Falcon couldn't bear this cursed silence and initiated conversation with Selyu on one side.

"I'm... I'm okay."

Selyu responded softly, her mind still somewhat frozen. So many things had happened in a moment, the girl's world was torn apart and reassembled multiple times.

People need to talk, and the sudden dialogue alleviated the heavy atmosphere significantly.

"I've never seen this kind of Lorenzo."

She said.

"What kind? This absolute badass state, I've seen it a lot... You don't know how exhilarating it felt when I saw him amidst the tide of demons."

The Red Falcon remembered the first time seeing Lorenzo, on the Radiant Train filled with demons. The Demon Hunter alone staved off the tide of death.

"Honestly, with this madman around, sometimes the sense of safety is off the charts."

Selyu felt a bit surprised, then she said.

"You seem quite familiar with him. He never tells me these things, sometimes I don't even know what he's thinking."

The Red Falcon's gaze slightly shifted as he realized something.

"That's normal, after all, we fight demons, and to avoid getting innocent people involved, we minimize interaction with ordinary people."

"You've seen it yourself; clearly, demons were far from your world, but because of Lorenzo, you got sucked into such a terrifying event."

As if recalling something, the Red Falcon continued.

"It's actually just like that. Since I joined this field, I've been like a recluse, with no normal social circle, no friends... Actually, everyone is just like us."

"Doesn't that feel... really sad?"

Selyu asked, bewildered.

"But if because of our connection, friends get targeted by demons, that would only make it more painful.

Rather than losing, it's better not to have at the start."

The Red Falcon replied calmly.

"In this line of work, you always lose something, like a normal life. You just get used to it."

"But it still sounds really dumb."

Selyu still couldn't understand; this feeling of giving freely, being unknown, like a wall in the dark, even in death not recorded by anyone.

"What, like dying for the greater good?"

The Red Falcon asked, nodding to himself as he spoke.

"Yes, something like that. When I first joined, I thought so too, it seemed utterly stupid, even like a fool rushing to die."

"But... someone's got to play the fool, right?"

He said self-deprecatingly.

"Some things must always be done by someone, some are the bearers of flame in the dark, and some burn like fuel… these things always need to be done by someone, that's enough."

Selyu nodded as if partially understanding, looking at the unconscious Lorenzo, her gaze becoming complicated.

"You're all just a bunch of fools?"

"Probably."

"Seems only fools can understand each other."

"If you have to say it that way, I can't really refute it."

The two exchanged words intermittently.

"But, calling us a group brought together by a common goal might be easier to understand."

"What kind of goal?"

"To maintain a world of sanity," the Red Falcon said, "humanity can't continue living in fear."