Wasteland Echoer

"Is this a revolver?" Wright wondered as he weighed the revolver-like object.

Judging from the texture of the touch, it is relatively round and smooth, as if the surface has been polished in some way.

But hold it tightly and feel it with your heart, and you can feel the cold feeling of the water in the ocean or lake.

Wright subconsciously looked up at his surroundings, closed his eyes again, breathed carefully through his nose, and felt the air in the room.

Although it is true that we are not in a water source, we can still smell the unique smell of water.

It was cool and cold, mixed with the sense of decay of deep-sea creatures, and a vague smell of blood.

It was as if this revolver-like object had just been placed in the cold lake water. It was not until Wright opened the drawer and took it out that it came into contact with the air in this breathable room underwater.

"It is the search device in my mouth. If I use the name given to it by those 'extraordinary people', it should be called 'The Gun of Seeking Light'." Wen De used a steady voice with a slight echo. explained in a standard tone.

"'The Gun of Seeking Tomorrow'? Can I understand it as a gun of fire that seeks the emblem of tomorrow?" Wright guessed by expanding the word.

“Perhaps it can be understood this way, but those ‘extraordinary people’ are said to be named after Gurji’s poems.

I don’t know if you have heard of him, but two hundred years ago, when I was in the Empire, his poetry was very popular in Zhnetsk at that time, and many military operations of the Empire were named after him. .

His poems are infectious and the artistic conception is very beautiful. Although some individual poems do not rhyme completely, they have a unique flavor when sung with the piano. "Wende raised his head slightly, turned his body and looked up at the outside of the giant red door.

It's like looking up at the past empire, the past capital of Zhnetsk.

It’s even like looking up at the starry sky, the bright moon, the Big Dipper that guides the direction, and the bright and gorgeous Milky Way in the night sky that can only be seen in summer.

"Let's not talk about this search... uh, this 'Guild of Seeking Ming', I want to know something about Gurji. I remember Brett and Moros mentioned this poet, and I heard that he is also a novelist who wrote " "Empire's Starry Future" is a science fiction novel about the envisioned future starry era." Wright thought of what Brett mentioned when he was chatting with him at the camp.

"Yes, that's him. His literary attainments are very high. However, in the steam era, the Putoa Federation was dominant in culture. Although they were a powerful empire that claimed to be 'the sun never sets', they did not seem to have We fought with the Crusted Empire in the north, which had a torrent of steel. But at that time, people still called their two empires great and strong, two 'pole' existences."

"Bipolar... pattern?" Wright interjected.

Wende didn't pay attention to Wright's impolite behavior. He actually nodded slightly, acknowledged Wright's statement, and continued to explain:

"Yes, that's what we have always called them. One south and one north, two extremes. The world revolves around them.

The southern country has a maritime civilization and is good at overseas exploration. The countries in the north are land civilizations and like to expand their territories.

As for the Central Empire, the Eventele Federation, the Fire Empire, etc., they can only be regarded as regional powers, and their diplomacy and policies are affected by these two countries, including our Zine Empire. Having said that, these are also the basic contents of the history courses in the education we receive. "

It sounded similar to the structure of the world during the Cold War before I traveled through it. It was like two giants with the power to destroy the world existed at the same time.

It is precisely because every move of the two of them will affect the world and cause disasters, they actually maintain a kind of peace and tranquility on the edge of destruction, but there will be no large-scale war.

On the contrary, it created world peace.

"I'm not very good at studying history. This is the first time I've heard of this history, but it's very interesting." Wright subconsciously scratched the black hair on his head and said a little embarrassedly.

"It doesn't matter, these are not important anyway. According to those 'extraordinary people', people in the wasteland rarely have the time and energy to look back. But due to the existence of killing and war, they are constantly affected by Life is threatened, so we can't look forward. Everyone can only take one step and look at the other, live in the present, and are forced to live in the present." Wen De sighed and said.

"Living in the present actually restricts our thinking and our vision, making us unable to let go in many choices. We are always worried about gains and losses, which in turn leads us to only live in the present, unable to see the future. There is no future state.

So, I seem to be beginning to understand Socra’s combat operations, and I understand a little bit about Crown Prince Evante’s actions to fight against the Lost with the power of the whole country, instead of just relying on the power of the capital Socra, or one or two large cities. . "

Wright seemed to be infected by Wende's emotions, and he also sighed, but his eyes were bright, and he seemed to be looking up at the giant red door like radiating light. Like Wende, he was looking up at the stars in the vast sea.

"Let's go back to Gurji, the poet and writer. This 'The Gun of Seeking Light' comes from his poem "The Light of Nabsk"." Wende coughed a few times, as if he was cleaning his Phlegm and foreign matter in the throat that do not exist.

Then, he chanted in a measured tone:

"The blood-red moon hung high among the stars."

"The world at night looks forward to the coming of dawn."

"Silent humanity will eventually cry out."

"There are eternal legends in the silent world."

"When the sun rises tomorrow."

"All that is dark will fade into silence."

"You and I will explore, seek, perceive, and contact."

"The tiny spark from a musket, a flintlock, a revolver."

Snap, snap, snap.

Wright hooked the trigger of "Miming's Gun" with his little finger and clapped with both hands.

Perhaps it is because his literary background is indeed insufficient, or perhaps he has existed in a silent world and a wasteland world full of killing and crisis for too long. After hearing such words, Wright seemed to see light and saw the end of mankind in the wasteland world. That little ray of hope heading towards the Starry Era.

It's just that they are short-lived, temporary, and weak.

After Wen De's voice stopped suddenly, the light he had just "seen" suddenly disappeared, leaving him completely lonely.

"I feel a little bit about the last sentence." Wright rubbed his sore nose vigorously, suppressing the feeling of tears gushing out, and whispered:

“I remember Brett mentioning when he was doing my ‘personal tutoring’ on shooting lessons that we were no longer in the days of flintlocks and revolvers, there were all kinds of guns invented.

For example, the powerful 'Bear Series', the flexible and lightweight 'Bingshen Series', and the mass-produced standard guns 'Socera Series' and 'Dark Night Series'.

Under the pressure of the unintentional and the lost, we are now in a period where a hundred flowers are blooming, at least in terms of offensive weapons. Gurji is from the Krusted Empire, right? Could it be that in his time, he had achieved technology that surpassed ordinary pistols, surpassed firearms and weapons, and was ahead of the times? "

"Yes. And this poem was composed in Nabsk. That city is a weather-beaten city. Legend has it that it was destroyed four times and rebuilt four times.

In the middle of the Steam Age, the Eventrai Empire once occupied the then border city of Nebusk twice in the "desperate raid" operation, and burned the entire city before the arrival of Crusted's army.

Speaking of the Aventrai Empire, it can be considered a rebellious habitual offender. Around the time of Ivan XXII, their entire country originally surrendered to the Krusted Empire and declared to be their vassal, but as soon as Ivan XXII died, they quickly rebelled, and finally continued Decades of fighting indirectly destroyed both empires. "Wend explained.

"I remember this history," Wright said, his voice rising a few degrees:

"Natasha told me that King Leita I declared war on Crusted at that time. During the long war, the Heartless virus was born, which caused the current situation where the Heartless and the Lost are everywhere."

"That's right. It seems that your memory ability is fine. You just don't read history very much, right?" Wen De teased, reaching out and gently "stroking" Wright's black hair, and continued:

"Speaking of Nebusk, this city was destroyed twice by the 'Fire of Divine Punishment' in the two major imperial wars. The first time Crusted lost more than 500,000 troops, and the second time it was destroyed due to early evacuation. Not much was lost.

After that, the empire successfully won the war and once again fully controlled Aventale. But it was too late by then. Although the Krusted Empire did not collapse directly after entering the New Yuan Dynasty, that era was also the era when it was most prosperous. However, due to the Wuxinren virus, she struggled to persist for decades. Years ago, after exerting all their efforts, they finally fell apart like an old man who was seriously ill and could no longer do anything, and became the loose Krusted Federation that is now based on strongholds. "

"So, when I hear Gurji's poems now, it feels like a prophecy. He is like a [prophet]." Wright smiled bitterly.

Immediately afterwards, he picked up the "Gu Ming Gun" again and looked at it carefully.

Judging from the weight, this revolver-like object is heavier than the thirty-centimeter-long "Crazy Bear" pistol. It is also heavier than the picture frame with a golden texture around the edge, which looks like gold.

The purple aura comes from the dark purple spray paint all over the gun, as well as the purple shimmer diffused by the light of the same color reflected from the sea water, or the light naturally emitted by the material used for the spray paint.

However, Wright opened the wheel and did not see any bullets being loaded.

He tried to wave the wheel, and the clear sound reminded him that the "Gu Ming Gun" seemed to be intact and ready for use.

Then, he looked at the barrel, chamber, base, lock and other parts inlaid with red gems. He felt that there was almost no essential difference from the traditional revolver that had long been out of fashion, but that most Imperial soldiers had come into contact with. .

Just... there are no bullets, so don’t you need to load bullets?

"How to use it?" Wright looked at the "Miming Gun" for a while, then raised his head and asked Wen De with a slightly eager look.

"I heard from those 'extraordinary people' that it is necessary to pour in the magic source power. As long as you have the magic source power poured in, and then go inside the huge machine, the whispers in your ears will naturally tell you how to use it. This should be a production This pistol is a magic mechanism set up by the creator, or it is... a taboo." Wen De recalled, feeling a little unsure.

"Where is the giant machine?" Wright then asked doubtfully.

"It's right outside the door. It can be seen directly with the naked eye. We just need to dive and swim in the direction of the lake to get there. But I want to remind you, Brother Wright, that machine is always running and will increase the power from time to time. , the existence that swallows everything around it. But as long as you get close to it while the mechanical movement is small, you can see a door at the bottom of it, which can only be opened with magic power and some wisdom." Wende explained. .

"Door?"

"At the bottom of the huge machine. Those 'extraordinary people' said that they had the magic power all over their bodies at that time, and entered the door after answering some enigmatic questions.

And as long as you enter the door and use the search device, which is the 'Bun of Seeking Light', you can light up the internal space and discover some hidden passages.

Then go deeper into the machine, and finally find the core of the sequential monster and the 'Crest of Tomorrow'. "Wend said, pointing to the 'Miming Gun' in Wright's hand.

"Then let's go. The human body can only survive three days without eating or drinking, and I remember that I experienced a night of fighting, so I probably don't have much energy left.

If I had been unconscious for a long time before entering here, I'm afraid my time here would be shorter. " Wright analyzed, put the "Miming Gun" in the holster on his waist, and put it in the holster where the "Crazy Bear" pistol was originally stored, and continued:

"I may not be able to feel hungry temporarily because of my magic power and my status as a superpower, but this is not a good phenomenon, and if I am hungry for a long time without knowing it, I suspect that I will be affected and change. Become an unintentional person, or join the ranks of the lost. So, let’s go.”

"Brother Wright, there is another key issue." Wind said:

"Can you swim? I have this diving suit on me, so I can freely shuttle between the huge machinery and the ruins of the city, and visit those old friends who don't want to breathe in this room. I didn't know you could swim in the water. How long will it last?”

"I should be able to." Wright suddenly became aware of this very difficult problem.

But immediately after, he felt the red magic source power in his body suddenly filling up. It seemed that this was a guide. Relying on the red magic source power, he could move forward freely underwater.