Chapter 20：The Kui Long of the East
Heavy clouds blocked out the moon, and tonight the old city of Dunlin looked especially dark, with tall buildings rising up in clusters that looked like twisted, hideous forests against the dim light.
The zeppelins still cruised in the night sky, the bright lights poured down, but did not want to share a little bit of the lower city where it was so dark, so deep that you could hardly see anything.
It was a night of martial law, the intersections leading to the Lower Town were strictly guarded, but it wasn't the mounted police that stood guard, it was the Royal Guard with their loaded guns, no one knew when they came, when they realized they were already there.
Iron boots stomped against the damp ground, and a cold iron roar echoed through the deep, deserted alleys.
The soldiers wore red cloaks and were armed with the new "Dragon's Roar" rifles from the Mechanic's Yard, a heavy gun described as a rifle, which brought up a three-foot flame at the muzzle of each shot, and then the heavy projectile discharged at high speed in the roar of the dragon, penetrating the enemy along with the deck in front of them, a weapon that had been conceived as an offensive weapon. The weapon was originally conceived as an offensive, and the stone-brick bunkers were vulnerable under its flurry of fire.
Iron whistles were held in their mouths, and every now and then a crow-like whistle sounded in the darkness of the night, as if it were a messenger from the Grim Reaper.
"They're not going to step into the lower town, are they?"
Burrow asked, sneezing. High above the ground, this was on top of a high platform, masking its identity as a steam tower to the outside world but in reality it was Burrow's watchtower, where the commander could see everything on the battlefield and give orders.
Despite the blazing steam surging through the air, Burrow still felt the cold and wrapped his clothing tighter with all his might.
"They're in charge of the blockade, and with that dragon's roar, no one will be able to leave the lower city before dawn."
There was much that must not be publicized tonight, not even by the Royal Guard.
Galahad looked at the shimmering light in the darkness and said lightly, his gaze steady and deliberate, as he always was.
"What if the enemies are numerous? Can they hold under the onslaught of so many demons?" Burrow was a bit worried, the lower city was next to the outer city, the so-called hell and heaven were very close to each other.
"This is the old metropolis, we can't let any of the demons go, we can't even say that we can't let them leave the underground palace."
Galahad knew exactly what was going to happen this night, not far in front of them was a ruined building, but both men knew that the feast of supreme bliss was just below that surface at the moment, where the people were drunkenly reveling, unaware that death was at the door.
"This is the age of steam, and the fire of flaming guns is enough to destroy any foe, remember the winged cavalrymen who still lingered in the days of 1 day? They crisscrossed the continent, nimbly changing their armor, they could be heavy or light cavalry they stuck their wings behind them and were like descending angels when they charged."
Galahad spoke disdainfully, scoffing at that old age.
"But in the end all they could do was to be buried with the old times, strong armor is nothing in the face of black powder in the end a winged cavalry was killed by artillery on the way to the charge, only their commander rushed to the high platform, but he was only one man and the battle was already decided."
"Burrow this is the dawn of a new age, winged cavalry once clad in heavy armor have fallen at our hands, let alone those demons, they are relics of that old age and deserve to die well."
Galahad's voice was as calm as ever, the shimmering light of the night illuminating his mask, the smell of gunpowder permeating him.
"It looks like a lot of people will die tonight ... I'm a little curious as to why you chose this night to attack, knowing that we have yet to discover the identity of that mysterious duke, and now we are undoubtedly spooking the enemy.
Burrow looked down on his kingdom, which was a dirty dump, then he was that rat king, and he knew very well how many people would die this night.
Iron whistles were held in their mouths, and every now and then a crow-like whistle sounded in the darkness of the night, as if it were a messenger from the Grim Reaper.
"They're not going to step into the lower town, are they?"
Burrow asked, sneezing. High above the ground, this was on top of a high platform, masking its identity as a steam tower to the outside world but in reality it was Burrow's watchtower, where the commander could see everything on the battlefield and give orders.
Despite the blazing steam surging through the air, Burrow still felt the cold and wrapped his clothing tighter with all his might.
"They're in charge of the blockade, and with that dragon's roar, no one will be able to leave the lower city before dawn."
There was much that must not be publicized tonight, not even by the Royal Guard.
Galahad looked at the shimmering light in the darkness and said lightly, his gaze steady and deliberate, as he always was.
"It's too late, we've discovered the Epidemic Doctor's whereabouts, he should be in that Extreme Feast right now, you know very well what he'll do, things will be irreparable at that point."
Burrow was silent, he knew exactly who the Epidemic Doctor was that Galahad was talking about and that tonight Galahad was the commander he was only there to assist.
"That great detective should be there by now, right."
"Yes, without his information we wouldn't have thought it would be Saber who helped them."
Galahad looked at the pocket watch in his hand, the time hadn't come yet, there was still time.
"Can you still contact that detective? If you can tell him to get the hell out of there, this is not a night for one detective to be involved in anymore."
"You want to purify the entire dungeon?"
Burrow looked cold, this was going to be a massacre.
"No one knows what that epidemic doctor will leave behind, Arthur means to cut down the roots. "
There was a long pause, Burrow sighed, he couldn't reach Lorenzo, the quickest modern communication was something called a radio, but this was currently only equipped within the purification organs, and even the outside world didn't know the technology existed.
Lorenzo could not hear Burrow's call, he was now alone.
"Looks like your great detective is going to die out there." Galahad said icily.
"No, that's a scourge, as they say in the East, a scourge leaves years behind." Burrow grinned, confident about the great detective.
"A scourge that lasts a thousand years?"
Galahad raised an eyebrow, he didn't understand the words from the east, even though the world had become very small under the Serpent of Atrium, the far east was still a vague word for everyone.
Steam technology set off a revolution, and the dragon that coiled in the east also woke up for it, after the end of the war of glory, the power of steam technology reached its peak, the new style of steam ships and war zeppelins, all kinds of powerful artillery brand-new appearance, everyone thought that there is no one can challenge the position of the kingdoms of the kingdoms in the east of the dragon came.
It was a foggy morning, the crew was still checking the hull of the ship as usual, ready to set sail, but at that moment the endless waves kept on rising, hitting the fishing boats heavily, as if there was a storm coming.
Lifting their heads, all of them looked at the behemoth that sailed out of the fog, it was so huge, so big that it seemed like a monster from an ancient myth.
It was a direct collision between two cultures, many of the crew members were stunned in place, they had never seen such a big ship, even the Royal Flagship of Ingvig was like a toddler in front of it, what was even more shocking was its construction, the steamer had already appeared for almost a hundred years, but that big ship was just like it was sailing out of history, it didn't use any steel, it was just sturdy wood that formed all of it, it was as one as it was from a single ship, and it was as if it was from an ancient myth. It was as if it had been carved out of a tree that held up the world.
That is the big ship named Kui Long.
Vertical sails to cover the sky, sewn on top of the coiled oriental dragon, hundreds of guns from both sides of the hull to reach the bow of the ship is that hideous dragon head, no one has ever seen that kind of creatures thought it was the end of the world.
Desperate is that sunrise, the wet fog with daylight dissipated, the sea became clear, then people see in that huge ship behind the sea, that is hundreds of the same as it is the same ship, hundreds of flags flying, as if migrating cardinals, burning the canopy of the rain of fire.
It was a fleet that spanned the world.
Panic and despair swept through the harbor of Reyndona in an instant, spreading all the way to the Ptarmigan Palace in Old Turin, the fleet from the east was clearly decades behind in weapons, but still no one thought they could win the war.
This was the first time the people of Invergar had seen people from the east, they thought they would be as horrible as the legends say but the general named Zuo Zhen didn't bring the war, he walked into the Ptarmigan Palace in his armor and said that he came with the Emperor's decree and left a gift from the east, the Queen then returned the gift with the knowledge of the Mechanics' Yard, and so the group of orientalists left Invergar with the technology of steam and never saw it again until decades later have not reappeared above that sea level.
"A good man does not live long, but a scourge leaves years. That's the full meaning of the saying, which probably means that those who are bound by their own moral principles usually don't live long, while on the contrary, those unprincipled and shitty scum live to the end."
Burrow said wrapping up tightly in his shirt once more, there was no more steam spewing out and those condensation droplets were extra cold." You think he's shitty scum?" Galahad was a little surprised, not expecting Burrow to judge him like that.
"Yeah, only the scum need a new life to escape their past, and Lorenzo Holmes is one of them." Burrow said blandly.
"But it's precisely people like that who survive to the end, don't worry about him, let go of the offense, this detective will surely survive."
Thinking back to the first time he saw Lorenzo, Burrow simply could not imagine what the wretched man in front of him had gone through, the near-rotting wounds, the empty eyes . . that I fear was the great darkness, but even then Lorenzo had not died, let alone this tonight.
"Drip... drip..."
Suddenly a voice rang out, and in the darkness the communicator on Burrow's chest flickered to a dim light. This was a new technology from the Mechanical Institute, they called it radio communication, as long as one held this thing, even if the two people were separated by the whole old Dunling they could still receive messages, it was faster and more maneuverable than a telephone, it would be something that would change the battlefield, but right now it was only equipped within the purification organs.
Listening to the news conveyed on the communicator, Burrow's expression gradually became grave, and despite the darkness, Galahad felt the change in Burrow's demeanor.
"What happened?" He asked.
"Four teams of mounted police tried to enter the lower city however they have been stopped by the Praetorian Guard."
It's reasonable that only mounted police patrolling the streets would be present at this time of night, but four teams appearing together is a bit too much of an anomaly.
"Could it be that Suarland Hall has been corrupted as well?"
Galahad's tone was angry for the first time.
"No, it's that scum."
Burrow was clearly more furious than Galahad as he cursed angrily.
"Hold off on the attack, there are important targets in the underground palace."
"What important targets? "
Galahad was the commander this night, and he didn't understand why Burrow had suddenly overstepped his authority.
"That scumbag Lorenzo, he and said I'd have no problem dealing with Saber on my own, I thought he'd have some novel plan, and as you well know, he single-handedly created the Red River fiasco, he's the detective who spies on everything, and he can turn out to be the perfect criminal.
"I finally know where this son of a bitch gets his confidence from!"
Burrow explained, angrier than he had ever been, and with that he tried to pull out his revolver, but only halfway through touching it did he remember that Lorenzo had it. Now he was beginning to regret not killing Lorenzo.
"Half an hour ago Suarland Hall was hit with an anonymous piece of mail, an address, a name."
Burrow said as he pulled the silver and white rifle out of the darkness, with an extended barrel with a high powered lens, and a slender body with sharp bumps so that it could be used as an exotic sword in battle if necessary.
This weapon came from the Mechanical Institute, a concept weapon that was powerful but could not be mass produced due to cost issues, it rarely appeared on the battlefield simply because it was owned by Burao, the king of the underground, and when the king drew his blade as well it would be a war that would concern everything.
"The address is the underground palace run by Saber in the lower city, the battlefield of this night, and that name is Iguan Phoenix."
At the sound of that name Galahad froze, for the first time an emotion other than calmness appeared on the knight's curmudgeonly face he held his head and paused for a long moment before speaking slowly.
"Arthur will kill us all."