Wasteland Echoer

"What do you want to do, Marco?" "Future" only panicked for a second, then quickly regained his composure, maintained his original posture, and asked Marco behind him:

"Is this how your wilderness tour group treats its collaborators?"

"No, I just want to ask you if you are afraid of death." Marco said, quickly walked to the "future", looked straight into his light black eyes, and held the large and complex pistol in his hand. , still aiming at the heart of the "future".

"What does this mean?" "Future" wondered. In such a dim environment, his consciousness seemed to be disturbed by some unspeakable force, and he began to breed a dangerous emotion called fear.

Almost subconsciously, he raised his hands, which had almost nothing to do with human limbs, above his head in a standard surrender gesture.

But Marco just sneered and said in a contemptuous tone:

"Now, 'Future', your life is in my hands, and my life can be ended by you at any time. The underground of the 'Administrative Building' is not suitable for fighting. Once you try to attack me, even if you Knock me down and you will also offend the 'mechanical twins' that maintain the energy supply.

"You are a subject of darkness and antiquity, and it is also a subject of darkness and antiquity. At that time, you will not be able to borrow any power from the gods. On the contrary, you will be swallowed up in an instant and turn into a pool of dark goo. The energy material is integrated into its body."

"What do you want to express?" "Future" asked, avoiding Marco's eyes and looking at the metal cabinets where various documents were stored.

"It's the same question just now, are you afraid of death? Of course, you don't have to answer me." Marco waved his hand and continued:

"According to reliable information, Vasily has added a lot of people to Sener Prison. In addition to some high-level superpowers, there are also many people from your 'Order Society'. Even if you can defeat one or two of them , by luck you have reached the deepest part of the prison, where the high concentration of radiation will also break your spirit.

"In other words, this is a trap waiting for prey to jump into it. The Senale Prison is a huge iron pot that cooks delicious food and exudes tempting smells, and you and I are not paying guests. , but the ingredients.

"You should know a cruel reality better than I do."

"What...reality?" "Future" asked, his lips trembling slightly unconsciously.

"Vasili actually doesn't trust the 'Order' enough. Except for his direct members in the Federal Council, he doesn't trust anyone. Everyone can be a pawn in his eyes. Now, the 'Chaos Group' is headed The organization of the Lost is already on the verge of survival, and the 'Order Society' has become the next target of elimination." Marco said:

"Out of your twelve leaders, except for you standing in front of me, only five are alive. Except for the arrested 'New God', 'Xu Ling' and 'Fu Bing' who have completely surrendered to the Federal Council, As well as the unknown 'Lei Ye', it can be said that the 'Master', the organizational core of the 'Order Society', has ceased to exist in name only.

"Going back to the capital now, in order to get emotional satisfaction, or to try to fulfill your wish before possible death, is a stupid behavior. Besides, if you are controlled by Vasily again, you will become someone who only knows killing. Puppet, then perhaps no one can stop these disasters."

"But I can't break my 'oath'. We swore to the Lord of the Dark Night that if we fail to see the old leader 'New God' before death, our souls will suffer eternal torture in the endless scorching ocean. "Future" half roared:

"Even if I face the threat of death, I think I must go back."

"Oh? 'Future', does that mean you are ready to die?" Marco threw his head back and laughed a few times, then suddenly pulled the trigger of the large pistol.

To Future's surprise, the pistol did not fire a bullet, but fired a ball of purple energy, which rushed into Future's heart.

After a brief period of paralysis, "Future" felt a heartbreaking pain in his heart. This pain seemed to be based on the spiritual level, as if countless extremely strong hands were tearing at his soul.

He was forced to half kneel on the ground, his breathing became rapid due to the pain, and large beads of sweat continued to leak out on his forehead.

With his trembling right hand, "Future" tore off the fabric covering his chest and discovered that the heart that was supposed to emit azure light was now emitting a frightening red light. The mechanical part could no longer be seen clearly, and was replaced by a heart covering it. A strange growth composed of purple blood vessels.

Gradually, these growths began to grow from pure muscles and messy fat edges to thick, bloody tentacles with sharp nails and fluff.

Immediately afterwards, after completely wrapping the heart of "Future", the proliferative bodies quickly hardened, forming a very ugly and weird shell on the surface.

"What...is...what?" "Future" asked enduring the pain, and gently touched the shell with his hand.

But the outer shell of the proliferative body trembled violently, and the tentacles inserted into the muscles tightened their grip, causing more pain to be transmitted from the heart to "Future"'s whole body, forcing him to fall sideways to the ground. , clenching his hands into fists and breathing heavily.

Seeing the painful look of "Future", Marco relaxed. He dropped the pistol on the table, sat cross-legged opposite "Future", and explained to him:

"This is a by-product of 'Mechanical Twin', a true half-living organism. I named it 'Mechanical Twin-A', and Thalia prefers to call it 'Ioka'.

"As long as it is driven into your heart through a special device, just like what I did, it will live there until my special medicine is injected into it to kill it. As long as you coexist peacefully with it, no If you anger it, it will enhance some of your heart's abilities to assist you in combat.

"But if you insist on leaving here and going to Binglin City, it will eat your heart, eat your brain clean, and take over your body within three days."

"So, you... put a bomb... in my... heart?" "Future" held back the pain, stared at Marco angrily, and asked.

"No, it's not a bomb. We don't want you to die. Your power is of great use to us." Marco stared at the "future" and finally showed a proud, devilish smile.

…

September 12th, 557th year of the New Lunar Calendar.

Crusted Federation, Extreme Cold Special Zone, at the junction of Area A and Area Q, Mamo Constantine Village, the latest development area of ​​the "Man-made Lake" camp.

"The thick fog hasn't subsided yet. How long has it been?"

Standing on a high slope, holding a military telescope produced by the Federal Military Supplies Factory, he looked at Duck Tucao Road in the distance.

"It lasted for about a month, which was about the few days you came out of the 'Suffering Relics'." Wofya responded.

"'The Ruins of Deep Bitterness'...?" Dak thought for a moment and said:

"Could it be because I...well, we ended the life of Ivan XXII?"

"I think so. I heard Chief Yaroslav say that the information given to him by the Federal Council said that Ivan XXII was an emperor who was good at precise planning. Every project he led, even the construction of roads, , will prepare a destruction plan after failure." Wulfya said while wiping the new rifle in his hand:

"If the conversations you heard in 'The Ruins of Bitterness' are true, then you can be regarded as destroying a huge plan that he spent his whole life building. It's like...well...you spent so much time After all the hard work, I finally defeated a brown bear, but it was defeated by a cold shot from my own people."

"You mean, it was his anger that caused the fog?" Dak put down the military telescope, turned to look at Wulfya, and asked.

"In addition to the fog, there are also... bombs." Wovya said, making an explosion gesture with his hands spreading outward, "This is what Chief Vasily entrusted Chief Yaroslav to give us 'K -The reason for order A0577'."

"In other words, after all, I have opened a Pandora's box?" Dak laughed at himself a few times, and then quickly became serious and said:

"However, this is consistent with our original purpose. After all, I still have to go to the ruins within the wind wall to see the 'Echoer' and 'Plamini' who is also bound there. The more I I am more and more willing to believe that even the death of Ivan XXII will not bring any benefit to the end of the Wasteland Era. If we want to find the real way to salvation, we have to rely on ourselves as humans."

"Yes." Wulfya agreed:

"But the current problem is how to get through the thick fog and enter the 'Belunai region'. It seems that Chief Yaroslav sent his granddaughter Sofia to the 'Old Mine' to negotiate with Yato and the others smoothly. The 'Chaos Group' The remnant forces expressed that as long as the Federation does not attack them with the 'Howl of Amykes', they are willing to move the camp in a month and station north to end this anticlimactic war."

"This is a good thing. A major threat has been eliminated." Dak showed a little joy on his face.

"But." Wofya said with a sad face:

"That fog... is very long, like a ribbon. Although the people from the Air Force said that it can be crossed by driving in half a day from above. But it is too long and is still extending to both sides. It is not expected to be used. How long will it take to reach the sea.

"If you want to reach the several settlements controlled by the people in the Demonic City near the 'Beslunai' area within a week, you either have to take a plane from above, or you have to walk through."

"Aerospace Force? Didn't you say that the airport established in the northeast of Mayang City was invaded by 'unintentional people' last week? I heard that 90% of the aircraft under the control of the Federation were destroyed. If you want to rebuild, you must at least A year or two," Duck said.

"Yes, we can only go through it forcefully. But that fog can swallow people's souls. From the time the expedition team was dispatched to the 'Man-made Lake' camp last month until now, no one who has gone in has been able to successfully cross or It’s to come back alive.” Wovya recounted:

"Even those who are lucky enough to escape will either see charming and terrifying monsters, or they will become completely crazy. Fortunately, the federation sent us some cigarettes made of 'Anshen Neijuanhua' a few days ago. After lighting them If you go in again, you can probably stay awake for half a day."

Hearing "rolled flower cigarettes", Dak became interested and asked Wofya:

"Didn't it mean that because of the 'wave of unintentional people', our trade with the Zine people in the south was interrupted? I remember... the land of Crusted is not suitable for the production of any 'inner rolled flowers'. Could this batch of cigarettes be... stock?"

"Of course not." Wovya said, taking out the box of cigarettes with the Zhinian flag printed on it from his pocket, handed it to Dak, and said:

"Do you still remember the story of the 'Continental Explorer 5' that Chief Yaroslav told you? The port they docked at should be called 'Nantoya Port' if I remember correctly. In fact, this successful long-term The sailing experience inspired Chief Vasily, and the envoy he sent conveyed the idea of ​​developing maritime trade to the Zhnetsk authorities after passing through the dangerous 'unintentional gathering place'."

"Oh? What happened next?"

"Actually, the Zine people are also very interested in trade, and their shortage of materials is more serious than ours. After all, after the two events of the Battle of Silent Highlands and the explosion of Sogra city, the Zine Empire has completely lost its relationship with the 'unintentional' within the territory. Man' and the Lost have the ability to launch an all-out war." Wulfya explained:

"The Zhne people are basically holding back the three important strongholds of Chekavsk, Zhnetsk and Sunida for defense. Almost half of the main agricultural and industrial towns have been lost. Anyway... we negotiated between the two parties. It went very smoothly. Two weeks ago, the ship sailed from their Dilin Province, carrying the first batch of supplies, arrived at our Kru-Putograd, and the 'Anshen Neijuanhua' products were delivered to us as soon as possible. assigned to the front line.

"I have to say that it was my old comrades who took care of us. When they heard that we had accepted a dangerous mission, they secretly gave us a whole box of 'Anshen Neijuanhua' cigarettes. I estimate that we can use it in one day." Three calculations, it will be enough for us at least for a month. I plan to have a good sleep today and go into the fog tomorrow morning. I estimate that the big bomb left by Ivan XXII will be destroyed soon. It's going to explode."

"Okay, I will listen to your arrangement this time." Dak nodded.

While they were chatting, suddenly, there was a moderate explosion not far in front of the two of them. Wofya turned his head and took a look, then immediately pulled Dak and entered the mechanical chariot.

"That's the car of our federal [soldiers]. They had an accident. We have to go there quickly to rescue people." Wofya said urgently, closed the car door, stepped on the accelerator, drove the mechanical chariot, and rushed forward. go.