Gun of Ashes

”Fire! Fire! Don’t stop!”

The muzzle flashes exposed the followers’ positions; most of them could only squat down to avoid being hit by bullets from behind. But soon, the muzzle flashes illuminated things that shouldn’t exist.

It was pitch-black armor, not completely covering Lorenzo, just wrapping around his arm like a simple gauntlet, but this shield blocked most of the attacks in the darkness.

This narrow space didn’t allow for accelerated punching, but that didn’t mean close combat was ineffective. Lorenzo directly held the follower’s body with one hand, using him as a shield in front of him.

The follower struck Lorenzo forcefully, but it was just powerless resistance. More gunshots sounded, killing the follower in front of Lorenzo, bullets continuously falling, blood splattering everywhere.

In this dark, closed-in environment, he was frightening like a monster.

Picking up the Staff Sword from the corpse, Lorenzo used the follower’s body to advance further. Upon approaching the next follower, he discarded the corpse, thrusting the Nail Sword in the narrow space, piercing the follower’s hand and nailing him to the spot.

”Promise me, stay here honestly, okay?”

In the darkness, Lorenzo spoke to the follower nailed in place, who was already terrified, but Lorenzo was so close to him that he didn’t even have the courage to fire a shot.

The remaining followers had already disappeared; they fled in fear before Lorenzo’s arrival but had already bought time for Yage.

Lorenzo glanced around; as he neared the platform, he saw the priest. From the attire, it was clear; he was the one who knew everything.

But now Lorenzo didn’t know where to advance. The tunnel had many branches, and the priest was not a Demon, so Lorenzo couldn’t track him.

But just then, a faint sound came from the darkness. Lorenzo could vaguely see a large rat crawling out from somewhere, with a warning yellow tag hanging from its tail.

It seemed to possess intelligence; it stopped not far from Lorenzo and then proceeded to move toward one of the entrances.

”So... metaphysical?”

Lorenzo, somewhat disbelieving, nevertheless followed the rat’s path.

...

Outside the tunnel, in the Rat Nest, the intelligence broker stood at the edge, raising his head to look at the deserted platform. Although Lorenzo had been inside for a while, he still felt both apprehensive and excited, staring fixedly at the platform.

”Do you think that’s something a human can do?”

After a long silence, he suddenly spoke.

Only he and Kamu remained, the Inferior Rats, all sharp-eared individuals who scattered upon hearing the first shot.

Kamu knew this question was for him. He recalled Lorenzo’s incredible actions on the wall, stunned for a long time before slowly speaking.

”I... I don’t know.”

But after a while, the intelligence broker suddenly laughed; he had gathered so much information that when small bits of gossip were intertwined, they formed a complete story.

But the intelligence broker would assign a value to these stories, he called it ”deviation value.”

These stories were derived from the associations of intelligence hence they always differed from actual events. To ensure the logical consistency of the derived story, he would allow for some ”deviation” from reality, or indeed a ”revision” to fill the gaps in the story.

Just like Lorenzo’s wall climb earlier, if the broker hadn’t witnessed it, he might revise the story to make it logical by adding many footholds on the wall, for example.

But such revisions wouldn’t be overly deviant. For instance, Lorenzo charging up again with just a Staff Sword in a short time, this would be an overly large deviation value in the story.

The intelligence broker had lots of news information in his mind, which could integrate into countless large stories, but these stories contained some ridiculously large deviation values, like Bola, Lorenzo, and Old Dunling.

He could sense the loopholes within these stories; to fill such gaps, he needed to make unreasonable revisions to the original story... but this is a story, and what about reality?

Could reality be as incredible as this? And if it were reality, then what force is doing the revision?

That would-be terrifying power, hidden in the shadows of Old Dunling, and now the broker witnessed these firsthand, possibly the closest he’s been to this cryptic secret.

Something is lurking in the shadows, and he’s about to see it.

”The Rat King will be pleased.”

The broker said, Kamu didn’t understand what was going through his mind.

”Stop!”

But just then, a voice sounded; the follower, after fleeing in panic, circled around the tunnel and finally returned here. He raised his gun, warning the two.

Kamu was instantly terrified; he was just a surviving Inferior Rat, instinctively stopping.

The broker slowly turned his head, looking at the lost follower.

He bore a smile but his gaze was full of pity.

”You people are a bunch of rule-breakers.”

”Shut up!” the follower roared, ”Get me out of here!”

This tunnel was too complex; he couldn’t find a way out.

The broker paid no heed to the gun muzzle, continuing to speak.

”The Lower City District is chaotic, but it’s still bound by invisible order, allowing everyone to survive in turmoil... those who break the rules will die.”

The broker looked at the follower, then whistled sharply. The sound was piercing, pervasive. Just when the follower prepared to fire a warning shot, numerous piercing sounds responded to the whistle... from the tunnel behind him.

He turned sharply, something was wriggling in the darkness, and the next moment they emerged from the shadows.

It was a black tide... the deadly rat swarm.

With the whistle as their cue, they swarm around the follower, showing their teeth and claws. Repeatedly gnawing and biting on the follower’s body, he wailed in pain, firing madly but to no avail.

Struggling desperately, the rats kept leaping, teeth biting hard into him. Under the continuous onslaught, he could no longer stand, finally curling on the ground, covered with the feasting rats.

The broker calmly left his side, amidst the dense rat crowd, blood oozed out. From the exposed openings, one could even see the gnawed flesh and bones.

The screams began to weaken, turning to silence; only the sound of dense feeding remained.

Kamu was so terrified he forgot to breathe; he never imagined the rats he casually played with would one day be so fearsome. Next, he looked at the broker.

The broker only taught them how to train rats for intelligence transmission, but never taught such... such lethal skills.

His heart raced; maybe with another whistle, he would be swept up by the rat tide and devoured.

Seeming to sense his fear, the broker spoke leisurely.

”You are one of us, don’t worry, I wouldn’t kill to silence you.”

Whether this was a lie or the truth was unclear, but at least it made Kamu’s fearful heart temporarily calm down a bit. The broker gestured to him.

”Follow me, the Rat King is waiting for us...”

”Rat King?”

Kamu was hesitant to believe, could it be said he truly existed.

”Kamu, you’ve seen things you shouldn’t have. Now... either prove your worth and show you deserve investment, or be abandoned.”

The broker continued with a strange smile. Kamu was dazed for a long time; he knew he had no power to refuse, so he followed.

The two entered the tunnel, the consumption process ended quickly during this short time. The rats scattered, leaving only blood stains and fragmented bones.