The rainy season in Old Dunling has ended, and this gloomy city has rarely seen clear skies. The green fields are covered with dew, reflecting the glory of the sky.
Eve stopped briefly and looked at this incredible beauty.
She has almost never left Old Dunling since she was a child. In her impression, the sky seems to have always been gray, with light rain falling from time to time.
Although Phoenix Manor is located on the outskirts of old Dunling, after so many years of expansion, most of the edge areas of old Dunling have been swallowed up by the growing city, and the blue sky of Phoenix Manor has also been swallowed up by the growing city.
Over the years, it has become the same gray color.
Eve held the white sheet that had just been dried in her hands and was stunned for a long time. She woke up when she heard someone else's call, and ran down with it in her arms.
Countless racks were erected on the green field, with washed and sterilized sheets and quilts hung on them, as well as some hospital gowns. They swayed in the wind like dancing flags.
This is Merlin's castle. After the Black Mountain Hospital incident, in order to relieve the pressure of accommodation, Merlin generously donated this nearly abandoned castle and temporarily became a hospital for some patients.
As the technical chief of the Ever-Moving Pump, Merlin is essentially an alchemist. Perhaps because his philosophy is different from ordinary people, he is not interested in ordinary wealth. When this land was divided, he also used it as a warehouse.
I rarely come back, even if there is a place that needs to be used, most of the time it is like a temporary residence.
A few months ago Lorenzo, Kestrel and others woke up leisurely in this castle and spent a not too long holiday, but now it has welcomed a new guest.
Doctors were walking through the castle, nurses were pushing wheelchairs, and from time to time there were screams of patients. The stale air was covered with the smell of disinfectant. Eve could see a group of people cleaning the house while she was walking.
Thick dust was swept out of the corner.
Because Merlin used this place as a warehouse, the castle's staff had been kept at a minimum. When the doctors from Black Mountain Hospital moved in, they even thought it was abandoned.
After the incident, everything went crazy. Arthur was still in a coma at that time. Eve was at a loss and suddenly remembered the last words Arthur said to her.
Merlin knew his past, so when Arthur was still in a coma and receiving treatment, Eve applied to come here. After passing the corrosion test, she became one of the caregivers.
In fact, Eve did not expect that she would sneak in so smoothly. In her eyes, this is a mysterious organization. Everyone in the organization is a demon who grinds his teeth and sucks blood. But it may be because of the revolutionary friendship of killing demons together.
, these people were surprisingly nice to her.
Eve somehow became a member of this temporary hospital and traveled back and forth here for almost half a month.
During this period, she also tried to find Merlin. His office was set up on the top of a tower in the castle. Eve heard others call it a museum, and she didn't know why.
As the technical director of the Perpetual Pump, Merlin has been extremely busy in the past half month. He has not had time to talk about this with Eve in detail, and the conversation has been postponed until today.
After putting away the washed sheets, Eve walked towards the top of a tower called the museum.
Everything she has been obsessed with is about to be answered, but at this moment, Eve's heart is not filled with excitement and joy, but is extremely calm.
Eve has always been a sharp and smart child. After experiencing so much, she actually had a vague guess about the recurring nightmare and her own weirdness, but she was not sure about it.
It can be said that she came here this time not to get an answer, but to hope that someone would confirm her guess, but she suddenly panicked. Although all this has long become history, when she thought about the fact that if this was true, Eve
It's still a little hard to accept.
Although it seemed like a long journey, Eve finished it in a few thoughts. She was silent for a while and knocked on the door.
…
Pushing open the somewhat heavy door, the rotten air rushed in. As the only "Merlin's private area" in the castle, this place has not been cleaned by the caregivers. Except for Merlin working here, few people come here.
.
The bright light fell on Eve's face, stinging her so hard that she couldn't open her eyes.
The dome of the entire museum is made of transparent glass. A few months ago it was still dusty and dirty, but after the storm, everything was washed away and shrouded in light, it looked extremely sacred.
Look.
The interior of the museum is filled with some strange things. It is more like a warehouse than a museum, with messy things everywhere.
A wheel was placed on one side of the corner, a navigational chart was hung on one side of the wall, a coin was placed in a box, and an ancient flintlock gun.
There were so many strange and weird things that Eve couldn't bear to see them. It was even hard for her to judge why Merlin wanted to put so many things here.
"Eve?"
Suddenly there was a voice remembering, and under the light, Merlin raised his head. Only then did Eve notice that there was actually a person sitting in the pile of clutter.
Various documents were piled up, and Merlin cleared a clear space among these messy things so that he could work there.
He has never been a guy who often appears in the sun. For most of the year, Merlin was like a mouse, nesting underground in the dark.
Now that he appeared in the sun, his pale and sickly face looked like he was about to die. Eve was actually slightly scared when she saw him, fearing that this strange alchemist would fall down in the next second.
"I know what you are going to do. He already told me about this when I communicated with Arthur a few days ago."
"Is he awake?"
After hearing about Arthur, Eve asked.
"I'm awake, it's nothing serious... But you, you want to know the reason for your abnormality, right... I have to think about how to tell you about this."
Merlin rubbed his temples. He didn't like this job, explaining 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 monsters,
More powerful than these professionals.
Looking at the girl sitting opposite him from the corner of his eyes, Merlin sighed secretly.
Should I say she is worthy of being Arthur's daughter? Or should I say... the nature of the rangers.
"In summary, you, Eve Phoenix, were dead long before you were born."
After a moment of silence, Merlin started everything with these shocking words.
"What did you say?"
Eve was confused and didn't understand what he was talking about.
"Don't worry, I will explain everything to you... In fact, this is what Arthur meant. He told me that he thought about it for a long time, and he suddenly realized that he might be wrong."
Merlin continued.
"Perhaps you already have the ability to protect yourself, and all he has done is just to restrict you, but what you need to know is that the more we come into contact with demons, the closer we are to the darkness until we are swallowed by it.
Arthur's protection for you is just hoping that you can stay away from it, but looking at these events, you have also become a part of the 'curse'."
"So?" Eve asked.
Regarding this part of darkness, she had heard Lorenzo explain it before, and accordingly, she could understand everything Merlin was saying now.
"So he gave up protecting you. Instead of protecting you in such a powerless manner, it would be better for you to hold a sharp sword to protect yourself. After all, Arthur can't protect you forever. It is for this reason that he chose 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 moisten his throat. This damn place was too bright, hot and dry, and he began to miss the cold underground facilities.
"Actually, you encountered demons before you were born."
Merlin talked about the past.
"That was a long time ago. In an accident [Yuyou Reading], your mother was attacked by a demon, and she was pregnant with you at the time.
You also know the characteristics of demons. As long as the physical injuries are not too serious and fatal, with our ability, most of them can be cured. However, we are helpless to deal with the erosion that directly affects the spirit. Not... to be precise.
I am helpless against you."
Merlin observed Eve's expression and noticed the changes in her emotions.
"We cured your mother and also conducted corrosion testing, but unfortunately, your condition was close to birth at that time, which means that there is another fully mature but ignorant consciousness in your mother's body. I can detect her
, but there’s no way to detect how much you’ve been eroded.”
"Human will is very strange, like a ball of plastic soil. In the day after tomorrow's training, it can be kneaded into different shapes by us, such as swords, shields, firearms...
One of the reasons why we can resist erosion is that we have a relatively complete understanding and can naturally fight against darkness. But for an ignorant child who has not yet been born in this world, she cannot distinguish all this, she cannot
She doesn't understand light and darkness, and she doesn't know what demons are... She even says that she may not have the concept of 'I' yet.
A child's will is like a ball of clay that has not yet been plasticized. She will be easily affected by erosion and molded into a demon."
Merlin was silent for a moment, then asked.
"You know what this means, don't you."
Eve remained silent, and the nightmare in her memory came back again. A certain monster crawled out of the flesh and blood, accompanied by a sticky sound and the woman's wail. It opened its teeth and claws, tearing the fragile body into pieces.
Under Merlin's narration, the vague memories suddenly became clear, the darkness was swept away, and in her fear, she could clearly see the appearance of the monster.
It was a young and ignorant face, she was innocent, but her hands were stained with blood... That was herself, Eve Phoenix.
Eve's body couldn't help but tremble.
"What was certain at that time was that you had been corroded, but the extent of the corrosion was unknown. However, judging from the records of our purification agency, young children are extremely easy to be corroded and infected, let alone children like you who have not yet been born.
You were already close to being born and couldn't have an abortion, but we still had some risky surgeries in-house that could solve all this, but this was opposed by your parents. They had already lost many children and didn't want to lose you, the last one.
So another plan was proposed."
"What is it!"
Eve's voice was a little excited, her pupils tightened, and thin beads of sweat flowed down her neck.
"The Ranger Project is an enhancement experiment, but it is very risky. Your father is also a subject. Part of this enhancement is to increase people's resistance to erosion. At that time, we were going to carry out the Ranger Project on you, so that
You, who are not yet born, are resistant to erosion, which may save you.
But even if the experiment is conducted on professionally trained people, they will die from some unstable complications, not to mention that you are still in the fetal state at the time.
But your mother accepted all this. She is the main subject, and those experimental drugs will be delivered to the fetus through the weakening of the mother's body.
But all this is just our expectation. No one knows what will happen when it is actually implemented. It can even be said that everyone was doing all this with an experimental attitude. No one thinks this can succeed...unless there is a miracle.
occur."
Merlin stopped as he spoke. He sat up straight and put aside some documents he was still working on.
"But I survived, and now I am sitting in front of you alive." Eve whispered.
"Yes, a miracle happened, and human will won."
Merlin's cold face showed a stiff smile, and then he stood up and walked towards Eve.
"Your mother survived the experiment and gave you birth safely, and you are also the first natural-born Ranger in human history."
"That's really incredible. I was a little skeptical about reality at the time. I didn't expect that human beings can really do all this. The newborn you are extremely healthy. But unfortunately, your mother, as the mother body of the experiment, suffered a lot of trauma. She
Later, I was often tortured by complications until I left."
Merlin walked up to Eve, gently took her hand, and made her stand up.
Under the warm light, the two of them seemed to be dancing.
"This is also why Arthur acts like a psycho sometimes, because you are his last warmth. Without you, he really has nothing. Maybe he will become a monster similar to Lorenzo after that.
."
When Lorenzo was mentioned, Merlin couldn't help but sigh.
"The guy who has nothing is really scary. He has nothing to lose, so he has nothing to fear."
He looked at the girl's stiff expression again. Maybe she didn't notice that tears were already covering her cheeks. The vague memories became clear, and everything became so cruel.
"It seems like it will take you some time to understand this, but...please do me a favor first."
Merlin patted her, waking Eve up from the long-lasting sadness. The girl nodded stiffly. She could not say anything anymore. She clearly knew everything she desired, but she felt as if she had lost her mind.
.
Death is really long. Her mother passed away 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.
"However, your birth inspired many people. At that time, an incident called 'Red News' occurred within us. We were severely damaged internally. Everyone lost hope of continuing to forge ahead and looked decadent. It was also for this reason.
Your birth was not favored, after all, everyone was pessimistic at that time."
Merlin seemed to be rummaging for something in the clutter, old dust rising up one after another.
"But you survived. This is simply a miracle. You were crying loudly at that time, but the cry actually cheered everyone up. A child like this is trying hard to survive, so what is this setback?"
"I was slightly touched by it at the time, so I built this place since then."
Merlin picked up a container, which was filled with formalin solution.
"I was thinking at the time, how long have humans been in this world? At least a few thousand years, but we only have vague records in the last thousand years, while the history before that has disappeared into memory, and there is no trace of it.
People are remembering all that.
I'm wondering if one day humans will disappear. If they disappear, it won't actually matter. People are mortal, and humans are also mortal. But even if we die, I think there should be something left behind.
.
As long as there is something that can represent humanity, even if we all die, we can still live in the carrier of the record... just like you."
Merlin struggled to carry the container over.
"I?"
"Yes, you are the continuation of your mother. As long as you are alive, she can live in your memory, and she has not really died, right?"
Merlin motioned to Eve to take the container.
“Look here, this is what I built that best represents everything about ‘humanity’.”
He opened his hands 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 it either, but if everyone understands it, then there will be a problem."
Merlin said as he walked over to the sundries and introduced them to Eve.
"This stack of paper represents the carrying of human information. We will not die with the knowledge in our minds, but record it and pass it on across the barriers of time. This wheel means that we have shortened the distance in the world. This code is the human
Proof of restraining one's own desires, thus distinguishing us from beasts who follow their instincts.
This... and this..."
Merlin introduced Eve to the exhibits in this strange museum, where all human cognition exists. A hazy but majestic shadow slowly rose in Eve's cognition.
"Of course there is this."
Merlin said, pointing to the container in Eve's hand.
"What's this?"
"Your placenta."
"ah?"
Eve's sadness was suddenly interrupted by Merlin's words. She almost dropped the thing with trembling hands, but in the end she steadied herself, lowered her head and gently wiped the dusty surface, revealing the formalin underneath.
A mass of twisted and pale flesh was floating around.
"I have collected your placenta, but this is not a perverted hobby. I just think that this museum needs something to prove human will... 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 door and watched everything from the door.
"But this is not enough. Everything here is not enough to represent everything about human beings. After all, human beings are very complex existences. Some of the things we have are too nihilistic. It is difficult for me to find suitable things to represent them."
"for example?"
"For example, those things that belong to human beings. Because we are human beings, we create vocabulary after vocabulary to understand everything in this world, but some things are void, just like the soul, it is disordered and difficult to understand.
Captured, beyond our control... It is difficult to find a corresponding representative for this kind of thing."
Merlin smiled, looking at the beauty shrouded in the sun and the magnificence built up by humans.
"You know, Eve, although you were born, no one can still think that you survived. Your life is only temporary. You may die in the subsequent time due to the backlash of the Ranger drug.
But you survived and grew up."
"Thank you for coming, Eve, now my work is complete."
Eve looked at Merlin in confusion, maybe because 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 persistence, and human stupidity. But under such bad nature, you have done what only humans can do."
"What is it?"
"Miracle."
The dying fetus survived tenaciously. She was hugging her placenta and standing in the pavilion built by a madman, becoming a part of this work.
It runs through the past and future of mankind, and piles up miracles that only belong to mankind.