Wasteland Echoer

"Alas." The silver-haired lost boy sighed, not daring to look at Dylan. He turned his head and looked at the clean bluestone floor to one side, and said with a painful expression:

"He was besieged by vampires and superpowers. When he escaped back to the castle, both arms were cut off, a bone spur several meters long penetrated his chest, and there were gunshot wounds everywhere. Although the two purple cardinals I used magic power to treat him for several days, and purified the dirt in his body several times, but he still couldn't bear it and left us forever."

"Dead...dead? I have only left here a few months, and is he dead? I remember what he said..." Dylan spoke in a deep voice, his nose felt sore, but he could not let out a drop. tears.

The lost, especially those in upper-level professions, will lose a lot of their ability to express emotions. Being unable to cry is one of the side effects of gaining strength.

"I remember what he said..." Dylan muttered repeatedly. Ignoring the dust on the ground, he sat directly on a brick step near the iron gate, holding his head in pain and wanting to scream.

However, there are strict rules in the "Silent Stars" castle of the Church of Hope. No one is allowed to make loud noises, let alone shout at will. Otherwise, it will destroy the environment for communication with the gods, and it will also destroy other lost people's cultivation of upgrading the order level. habit.

In the view of the Church of Hope, gaining promotion through fighting and devouring is an inferior way, because war is full of violence and will cause the Lost to become a machine that only knows how to kill.

Only by absorbing the magic power from the natural environment, constantly pursuing and exploring the gods, and comprehending the "true meaning of life" under the scorching sun, under the night sky, and in the violent storm, can we reach the stage of purifying the soul and enlightening philosophy. It is the most perfect way to get promoted.

Therefore, in the sight of the two lost teenagers, Dylan opened his mouth wide, held his head in his hands, and his eyes were wide open, almost popping out of his eyes.

But he suppressed his emotions as much as possible and did not make any sound. His face was twisted and ferocious for several minutes.

Until a familiar sound of high-heeled footsteps came from directly in front of him.

"See Lord Cardinal."

Facing the sound of footsteps, the two lost boys hurried forward and bowed to the woman holding a parasol in front of them with a standard ninety-degree bow.

"I said, the rules here are not so strict anymore, you can just call me Sister Amei. Last year our Pope promulgated the "Daily Rules of the Church of Hope" based on the Zine Empire. We must also embody friendship and peace."

The woman in front of her stretched out her white and delicate hands, stroked the hair of the two teenagers one after another, and spoke in a gentle and beautiful voice.

Seeing the "happy" smiles on the faces of the two teenagers, she nodded slightly and waved the teenagers back to the small bungalow in the nearby duty room.

After the boy left, the woman put away the black parasol held in her right hand, slightly adjusted the round sunhat on her head and the black mask on her face, squatted down, and reached out to pull down Dylan's right hand that was holding his head. .

"Dylan, are you back too? I have been looking forward to meeting you for a long time. I have been lurking in the human world for three years, and I just went to report to the Pope a few days ago. I originally wanted to take a walk at the door and try my luck. I was looking to see if you would come in today, but I didn’t expect it to be you. What’s wrong? You’re squatting here with a dejected look on your face.” The woman asked with concern.

"Abermann is dead, he's dead," Dylan replied in a painful tone.

"Human beings will all face death, and the lost are no exception. All intelligent beings will experience birth, old age, illness and death, but I heard that Abermann's death is valuable. In this case, we must learn to bear it." The woman He tried to persuade her in as gentle a tone as possible.

"Red... Cardinal, Ms. Melinal. Hug... I'm sorry, I'm a little excited." Dylan said with a little embarrassment in his tone, raising his head cautiously.

"It doesn't matter, Dylan. I won't punish you for this, and I hope the Pope won't punish you for this either. Because we have to face more cruel dangers. You just broke away from the human race and came here, right. I must You should know that the empire wants to use all its military power to completely annihilate us. Now, just south of the Silent Highlands, local lottery has begun. It is believed that in a few days, the ferocious attack of the imperial crown prince Ivant will come. We don’t have time to be sad, there are so many pressing matters to deal with right now.”

Melina took Dylan's scarred right hand in her hand, stroked it gently a few times, and said.

"Then, Miss Melinaer, can you let me go and see Abermann's cemetery? The two teenagers just said that he finally collapsed in the castle, and he must be buried in the 'Memory Area' in the back area. Right?" Dylan asked with a sigh.

"Logically speaking, yes." Melinal put down Dylan's hand, stood up and looked down at him and said:

"Members of the Church of Hope, in addition to those from subordinate orders and churches, as well as those lost people who temporarily defected to us, all those who died near the Silent Highlands include those lost people who died because of contact with the gods and heard the 'song of confusion' Those who are found guilty, even if they may be contaminated, will be buried in an area of ​​the cemetery called the 'Remembrance Area'."

"The ones closer to the inside are some of the elders of our church and the lost ones with high status. The ones closer to the outside are all the recently deceased... people whose souls are in contact with the Lord, but their status is also much lower. Aberman and the recent ones A group of people who died should be buried together in the 'Ji-A01' section, but I don't recommend you to pay homage now."

"Why?" Dylan looked up and asked in confusion.

"We have more important things. Do you remember your old friend? Mechanical body Luo Nie." Melinaer said, pulling down the sun visor to cover as much as possible the parts that were not covered by the mask. facial area.

"Luo Nie? Why is he here? He is not a lost person, you should not recruit him." Dylan said in a scolding tone.

"I know he is very powerful, and his strength is not inferior to yours. No, his strength should be far above yours. After all, it is difficult for mechanical bodies to be 'seduce' and hypnotized. But we did not recruit him. I talked to him yesterday Once, I learned that he left Sugra's "Mechanical Element" factory and was guided by the prophecy on the stone slab and a "Crest of Life" to come to the Silent Highlands to explore the gods. You should know that he has always had a obsession. Read it." Melinaer smiled helplessly.

"He wants to obtain the 'wisdom' core and become a real human, right? Where does he live now? How is he doing?" Dylan asked with concern.

"In the living area, now living with two children from the Tenyin sect. It is [Goddess of Love] Natasha's disciple Sai. In fact, from an emotional point of view, he is already her son. And the one who claims to be The [Hunter] Rosen Dunwuha of Forest Glory also came with him. It is said that their journey through the green forest was very difficult. All the remaining children of the Tenyin sect were killed by the special operation of the Sugra Corps. The team killed.”

"I heard that the leader of the group, Atwood, sacrificed other children as sacrifices in order to awaken the 'Forest God'. I heard that Ronie was also killed by the sequence monster 'Replacement Eye' in that incident. Injured, now I am often in a chaotic state of half asleep and half awake." Melinale recounted.

"I want to see him, Luonie. After all, we have been friends for a hundred years. Last time we were in Sunida Town, we didn't dare to recognize him because we couldn't reveal our identity. Now that he has come to our castle this time, I I don’t want to live with regrets for the rest of my life.” Dylan looked at Melinare with pleading eyes and begged.

"Of course there is no problem. They are now living in the residential area behind the core area of ​​the castle, where there is ample food and water, and there is also a garden. Now most of our lost ones are performing tasks in the highlands, and some are hiding in the dark In the corner, together with the Church of Dark Night, they are preparing to launch harassment attacks against the empire. Some are training with the Church of Giants, planning to confront the imperial army head-on. Those who are still in the castle, except for our senior commanders, are many weak ones, and some are still in the castle. Logistics and medical care are provided for our fellow lost people. Therefore, you don’t need to worry too much about their situation now.”

Melinaer said, raising her head and looking around.

Then, she squatted down and deliberately lowered her voice and said:

"Actually, our Pope found out through tarot cards this morning that you will come back here, so let me wait here. In addition to needing some information about the empire, the Pope also asked me to take you to the 'City Palace' In the 'warning room' at the top of the auxiliary tower, go and see those dragon eggs, they are rare things."

"Dragon egg?" Dylan had an expression of disbelief on his face and looked at Melinaer with confusion.

"It's an egg that can hatch the legendary giant dragons. The Socra Committee didn't know where it got this from, and asked us to hatch it as much as possible, or absorb their power and use it for the 'blood ritual'. It seems that the power of the gods is not yet there. It's enough to activate 'R'lyeh's Dream', and they fantasize about getting the power of the real dragons." Melinal explained.

"No wonder, I smelled a similar scent when I followed the Sugra Guards into the city to report. The information in my hands at that time was not enough to sort out some results. It seems that I still have many shortcomings in obtaining intelligence. By the way. , Miss Melinaer, how did you get these dragon eggs?" Dylan asked curiously.

Melinaer subconsciously touched her chest and looked to the left, wanting to say something.

But when the words came to her lips, she felt extremely heavy. She simply remained silent for a while and said in a roundabout way:

"In short, it was sent by a traitor. That person is the private liaison between the Socra Committee and us, but I can feel that he is a lost person. But he has actually been living in the human world, and he knows Socra's The 'Blood Night Ritual' may have devastating consequences, but he has become our matchmaker without hesitation."

"I remember what was said in "The Secret Book", Anno 21: Human beings are always pitiful beings, fighting against danger, fighting against death, and even fighting against various emotions. When human beings are close to collapse, they are the ones who do the things that lead to collapse moment,” Dylan intoned.

"Yes." Melinaer said deeply:

"Human beings always see no hope. Those who are in contact with the magic source power, or extraordinary people, have a very difficult time getting promoted. For twenty years, they have devoted countless efforts to taking the magic source potion. It only allows them to advance from 'wisdom' to 'inspiration'. And it will take another thirty years to move from 'inspiration' to 'pain'. After this calculation, human life is about to come to an end. So now human beings are Researching powerful weapons of destruction and embracing steam machinery, most people no longer believe in magic."

"But the lost are different." Dylan took over and said:

"We only need to devour humans, or simply seize the magic power or take potions. Most of us can be promoted to 'Inspiration' within a year, and we can touch 'Pain' within ten years at most. Even if we need to be promoted to 'Hope', It’s just a matter of contacting gods or monsters at the top of the order. Even worse, there are people who are forced to be promoted by being put into a near-death state through magic source potions. It can be said that becoming a lost person can naturally become a god faster than others. "

Dylan said and actually stood up with his head held high.

His eyes were staring straight at the bright sky where the scorching sun existed at noon, looking up, as if searching for something.

"That's right," Melinal nodded in agreement. She looked up at Dylan's body in suits and ties, which looked much taller than her, and added:

"Our life span is at least a hundred and fifty years, and a hundred years at most can change our appearance from a teenager to a middle-aged existence, and we will not age immediately."

When Melina looked up at the bright sky affectionately and followed Dylan, she was so excited that she took off her round sun hat and mask and "bathed" in the sunshine as much as possible.

She felt happy, as if she were in a hot spring, in nature, and in contact with the gentlest soul of the Creator.

Until Dylan's surprised voice came.

"Miss Melinal, what happened to your face? Was it injured in the battle?" Dylan exclaimed.

Then, he looked down at Melinal with concern, and placed his hands gently near her cheeks, with a worried look on his face.

"'Crazy Body' and I met a not very powerful vampire boy, a powerful big human without magic power, and a [Order] young man. The big guy's name was Brett, and the names of the other two seemed to me. I forgot, but I’ll find out if I investigate.”

"My face was scratched by the dagger in his hand. Yesterday, I asked the church's 'witch doctors' to take a look. It should have been done by the half-demon 'Kusa's Blade'. I want to fully recover. If you don't, it won't work without half a month." Melina said close to Dylan's body in a coquettish, slightly coquettish tone.

"Brett, I remember him. If I meet him on the battlefield, I will kill him." Dylan said angrily.

He looked at Melina's face, which was wrapped in white medical bandages, with only her mouth and eyes exposed, and her head, which had lost its bright brown hair and looked like a shelled egg. There is a feeling of love and anger that envelopes the soul.