The Divine Armor of the Old Century（Book 1）

Chapter 188

The cabin space wasn't particularly large, gently rocking as the vessel made its way toward the Dawn. It seemed the crew didn't prioritize comfort on this war machine; a faint smell of engine oil filled the air, and the light above flickered intermittently. The monotonous ticking of a Geiger counter echoed through the cabin, its steady green glow indicating stability.

In a corner, Selene sat, strapped in by Red Hawk due to the turbulence. She looked unwell, or rather, very unwell, staring blankly at something in the center of the cabin. It was a cargo platform, securely fastened with leather straps to prevent movement. On it lay a person, wrapped in a coat and wearing a straitjacket, curled up like a chrysalis in a deep sleep.

After a vigilant inspection, Arthur confirmed Lloyd's unconscious state and transferred him onto the Dawn. Given the bizarre events that had transpired, the safest course of action would have been to call for another bombardment from Shrike, considering the extremely dangerous nature of this resurrected individual. But after a brief mental struggle, Arthur discarded this thought. What happened to Lloyd was an eerie unknown, and the best way to deal with the unknown was to accept it, understand it, and turn the unknown into the known. Destroying the unknown outright was merely an act of avoidance.

There was another person in the cabin: Red Hawk, holding a preheated thermite rifle, sitting on the other side. According to the containment procedures of the Purification Mechanism, there should have been a circle of strong men guarding Lloyd, with dozens of thermite rifles aimed at him, ensuring that any anomaly would result in melting this lunatic into a statue immediately.

However, this clearly wasn't reliable for this mysterious madman. The recent terrifying bombardment and crude oil explosion had failed to kill him, making these thermite rifles laughable in comparison. Thus, only Red Hawk remained. Though there was some trust in this demon hunter, witnessing the recent horrors made him feel that carrying a weapon provided some reassurance, even if uncertain whether it would work against Lloyd.

"Are you alright?" The cabin was deathly quiet, save for the engine's roar. Red Hawk couldn't bear the oppressive silence and struck up a conversation with Selene.

"I... I'm okay," Selene responded softly, her brain still in a haze from the recent whirlwind of events that had torn and reshaped her world multiple times. Humans need to communicate, and the sudden conversation eased the heavy atmosphere slightly.

"I've never seen Lloyd like this," she said.

"What do you mean? This ultimate warrior state? I've seen it a lot... You can't imagine the thrill when I first saw him in the demon tide," Red Hawk reminisced about the first time he saw Lloyd, single-handedly holding back a tide of death aboard the demon-filled Glory train.

"Honestly, with this madman around, the sense of security is overwhelming at times."

Selene seemed surprised and then said, "You seem quite familiar with him. He never tells me these things. Sometimes, I don't even know what he's thinking." Red Hawk's expression shifted slightly, realizing something.

"That's normal. After all, we fight demons. To avoid dragging innocent people into this, we minimize interactions with ordinary folks. As you can see, though demons seemed far from your world, you got dragged into this terrifying event because of Lloyd."

As if recalling something, Red Hawk continued, "That's the way it is. Since joining this line of work, I've become like a recluse, with no normal social circle or friends... Actually, we're all the same."

"Isn't that... very sad?" Selene asked, puzzled.

"But seeing friends targeted by demons because of us would be even sadder. It's better not to have them in the first place," Red Hawk replied calmly. "Doing this job, you inevitably lose something, like a normal life. You get used to it."