Wasteland Echoer

"This is my eye, it's my eye!" Pusev exclaimed, stepping forward to pick up the eyeball and trying to "install" it back.

However, as soon as he stretched out his hand, the eyeball quickly dried up, exuding a thick, foul-smelling liquid that was mixed with yellow and white.

A few seconds later, mechanical bodies that looked like cockroaches crawled out and fled around.

The eyeball eventually became dry, like a plant in a dry and water-deficient area. Under the slight influence of external force, it instantly turned into a puddle of powder. It floated into the air with the weak airflow and completely dissipated in an instant.

"Pusev, cheer up." George hurriedly stepped forward to comfort him:

"This is the 'necessary sacrifice' that is mentioned in the literature to open the 'forbidden door'. As a 'warrior', I think this little pain and this little price will be compared to what will happen soon." The activated 'paradise' is nothing to you."

"That's... natural." Pusev gritted his teeth and endured the severe pain that was like cutting into his soul. He pressed his hands tightly on the "hole" where blood was constantly flowing behind the missing eyeball. On the one hand, he stopped the bleeding, and on the other hand, he Reduce some pain with compression.

Seeing that half of Pusef's face had become bloody, and his hands were stained with his own blood, George looked around and quickly rushed towards a fallen man whose throat had been cut by Wright with a dagger. [Soldier] opened his backpack and took out a piece of gauze and some alcohol from the simple medical kit.

Then, he stepped forward and wrapped the gauze around his palm to form a gauze block, filling the area where Pusef's eyeball was missing. Then he used the remaining gauze to wrap around his head several times, and finally Pour some alcohol on the wound.

George's knowledge of temporary first aid was not that detailed. After all, he had not been on the battlefield for more than ten years. In the previous battles on the edge of the Lost Swamp and the "Central Lake", he was either a combat commander or went to deal with some things after the war. It had been a long time since he had done the work of an ordinary soldier or a low-level officer.

After struggling painfully for a while, Pusev felt that the pain had eased a little, and then he gasped for air, wiped the sweat on his face carelessly, stood up, grabbed Wright's neck, and used his remaining strength to Staring at him with one eye, he said viciously:

"Wright, don't think I don't know what you are thinking. This time I paid the eyeballs, and next time I will see you pay the 'price' with my own eyes. Wait a minute and don't tell me that the corresponding sequence group requires the corresponding profession to press , this kind of thing can't happen again. You know, the sequence group of professional representatives of you and me has already appeared. General George is not an upper-level professional at all. In any case, no matter what the inscription on the next stone tablet is, it must be You go and press it!”

Seeing Pusev's expression at the critical point of anger, Wright absolutely did not dare to provoke this big man, the leader of the "Lone Wolf Society" again.

Swallowing, he nodded with difficulty in agreement.

"Very good..." Pusev showed a terrifying smile like a beast, let go, pressed Wright's chest violently, and pushed him to the ground.

Immediately, without looking at the two people in front of him, he walked straight to the fourth stone, which was the last uninterpreted stone tablet facing the back of the Wengutes statue.

Wright, who was pulled up by George, followed Pusev's footsteps and quickly walked to the stone tablet. Looking at the last stone tablet, which was larger than the previous three and had a more unique shape, Wright became nervous for no reason.

After all, the first three stone tablets do not have too many carvings or decorations on them. They are just made of marble, with some traces of history and time, and are simply used as a medium for recording text.

But there is actually a huge gear carved on the top of this stone tablet. It seems to be made of two identical but mirror-symmetrical halves. It seems... the same as when Wo first woke up in this world. The pattern on the gift box Deto brought to General George was exactly the same.

Surprised and confused, Wright also noticed that the base of the stone tablet seemed to be carved with a coiled, sleeping dragon. Looking at it as a whole, it looked like a dragon was supporting a heavy stone tablet on its back, and an unknown piece of stone was supported on top of the stone tablet. Mechanical gears.

Seeing Wright meditating on the spot and making no further moves, Pusev urged impatiently:

"What's wrong, Wright, are you afraid of paying the 'price'? It's useless. As long as all the secrets of the stone tablet are not revealed, the 'Restricted Door' cannot be opened, and we cannot see the 'Daughter of Mechanical Element', we all have to Trapped here waiting to die. When we first came in, George and I saw everything. This palace is completely sealed and there is no exit at all. So Wright, once that moment comes, I will shoot you through the head with my own hands. , and then shoot myself in the chest. Now I will do what I say!"

"I was thinking..." Wright looked up at the stone monument, then turned to look at George and said:

"Suchla's ceremony... is the ceremony to open the 'Paradise'. If I remember correctly, it should require the power of the dragon clan."

"Well, that's right. We have already ordered Merlinal, the collaborator of the Church of Hope, to bring the young dragon Thayer that he and Dylan hatched together to the edge of Silent Highlands. We control several barracks and several The outpost is near. As long as the power and mechanical core of the 'Daughter of the Mechanical Element' are obtained, Sugra's airship will take us and the dragon back together, and the 'Blood Night Ceremony' will be held as usual according to the original date." George nodded.

"I want to know one thing," Wright said, pointing to the "dragon" at the bottom of the stele:

"Principle... What is the principle of dragon power? In other words, why is the power of dragon needed to be used? After all, the energy contained in the core of a god may be beyond our reach and difficult to understand. With the addition of dragon, Is that necessary?”

"George, it seems that this guy doesn't want to cooperate with us anymore. He's stalling for time!" Pusev rudely interrupted Wright's guess, grabbed Wright's neck from behind, and pulled his other hand from his waist. Pull out the "Lone Wolf Series" pistol, put it on the back of Wright's head and pull the trigger.

"Enough!" George shouted angrily: "If you want people to help you solve your problem, you have to provide them with enough information. I know you are angry because you lost your eyeballs, but your anger will only destroy the basis of cooperation. .'The anger of the former, the sorrow of the latter, let's not delve into the past.' I see that you have not read the Bishop's classic "Holy Words" at all. Your behavior is both rough and brainless. No wonder you have been lingering on Outside the ranks of the Imperial Army."

After scolding him angrily, George reached out and grabbed the gun from Pusef's hand, threw it on the ground, and asked Wright:

"By the way, why do you think that the dragon clan is not as powerful as the gods? They were almost invincible rulers in the First Era. Let's put it this way, at least the literature currently circulating records that the gods in the forefront are likely to be the same as the gods. The birth of the Dragon Clan is approaching. Moreover, the Dragon Clan has the most powerful physique. They are the leaders chosen by nature. As long as they appear in this world, they will be blessed by nature."

"Do you know how the Fire Empire in the Third Age declined? It was because of a dragon."

"A dragon? It's really bizarre." Wright cursed.

Being deeply influenced by materialism, he would naturally not believe in a dragon. It was incredible that a dragon clan that had been defeated by humans could directly influence a country and lead it to split.

If this thing is true, it must be the result of the combination of a fatuous emperor, a hidden crisis situation, uncontrollable desires, insidious ministers, cowardly soldiers, and countless careerists.

"Let's not discuss the Fire Empire for now. It has no substantial guiding significance for what we are going to do. But I can answer the question you just asked." George cleared his throat and said:

"You ask, the energy in the core of the gods is enough. What is the need to add the dragon's power, right? What I want to tell you is that we don't really want to use the power of the dragon. After all, the power of the dragon and the machinery we are pursuing now , and the magic source power recognized by the Lost is several completely different systems. No one has summarized the specific content, but that is the fact. What we want to use is just the 'dragon blood', the kind that is hot and full of The blood filled with power is not only an excellent fuel, but also serves as a catalyst for the power of the gods."

"At that time, the core of the gods will exist as the energy source to run all machinery, including the machines that run the 'Blood Night Ritual' and maintain the operation of the 'Paradise'. The power of the gods cannot be used directly, it is too strong and can easily damage the machinery, and' Dragon's blood is milder than the power of gods and stronger than the energy we use. It is somewhere in between. It can also become a medium to communicate the two forces and achieve the smooth operation of several systems. If everything goes well. , 'traditional energy', 'dragon blood' and 'god power' will flow smoothly and harmoniously everywhere, contributing their own efforts to the common goal. Just like the 'paradise' itself, as long as you are willing, no matter it is Regardless of their beliefs, identity, or race, people from Socra, the Zine Empire, Crusad, or Ptoia can abandon the body, enter it, and gain eternal life."

George's explanation did not move the other two people present, but moved himself first. When he came to the last sentence about the inclusiveness of "Paradise", he actually had tears in his eyes, almost burst into tears, and looked up at the non-existent place. The position of the starry sky, imagining the great and vast universe in my mind.

Faced with George's behavior, Wright has been used to it since he first entered the palace called "Underground Laputa" until now.

Simply, after roughly understanding the answer he wanted to know, Wright looked at the stone tablet again, surging as much of the remaining red magic power in his body as possible. After a red halo appeared, he placed his hands on the stone tablet. Above it, just to the left and right of the mechanical gear.

This time, the magic source power no longer pours out like water, nor does it spread like ripples. Instead, it burns like a flame from the bottom of the stone monument, as if it has been poured with alcohol, gasoline and other combustion-supporting liquids. It rushed upwards and covered the entire stone tablet in one second.

Immediately afterwards, golden brilliance also emerged, and the hieroglyphics were clearly displayed in front of Wright's eyes again.

After tentatively reaching out to touch it and discovering that the flames produced by the red magic source power were not harmful, Wright simply held the flames close to the text and looked at it carefully.

The Chinese characters on the last stone tablet are neither "ancient style of writing" nor "mottos" like Persian poetry, but two simple words "adventure".

"Adventure" should refer to "No. 5: Adventure" in the sequence card. Its corresponding upper-level profession... Moros seemed to have told me about it. If I remember correctly, it should be [Explorer] 】.

But...did you tell me the answer so straightforwardly...so directly? Not even a little bit of polish? Logically speaking, the last stone tablet should contain some intelligence tests or comprehension tests. Is there any conspiracy behind being so direct?

Thinking of this, Wright desperately surged up the remaining red magic power and groped randomly on the stone tablet.

However, it is a pity that apart from making the two Chinese characters "adventure" flash a little brighter, there is really no remaining information on the stone tablet.

After the flames gradually receded and the stone tablet returned to silence, Wright pursed his lips and said with some uncertainty:

"You have also seen that there are only two hieroglyphics on the stone tablet. The meaning is very simple and easy to understand, which is 'adventure'. If I guessed correctly, did not ignore the hidden information, and the stone tablet did not deceive me, then it means It's an 'adventure'. But what's strange to me is that the amount of information on this stone tablet is very small, very simple and direct. I'm afraid I may have overlooked something deeper. Moreover, it stands to reason that the difficulty of interpreting the stone tablet should be endless. Increasingly, and finally reaching the peak, we can't get the answer without much effort. This stone tablet...the answer is so easy to get, I'm afraid there is some conspiracy."

"Conspiracy? I don't think so. This style of behavior is actually very similar to that of the Crusaders. Their nation advocates simplicity and force, and disdains complicated and intrigues. It can be seen from their fighting style. , no matter the opponent is strong or weak, they will pick up their weapons and go forward to fight. They will never be like the group of 'Confucianists' in the Fire Empire, who have to reason with you before a fight, and even ask you to 'convince' after knocking you down. Not convinced', 'Did you learn anything from this duel?' So, I am very willing to believe that the people who built these stele that hide the password to open the 'forbidden door' are Crusted people, and so is the 'Daughter of Mechanical Element' They created gods, but due to various reasons, this great weapon classified as a god was not put into use, and the empire fell." George expressed his understanding.

"I understand, this is their unique... kind of 'straightforward romance', right? So, the last password is 'No. 5: Adventure'. Just press the corresponding number on the slate, and the real The door to the divine domain guarding the ‘Daughter of Tool Yuan’ will be opened immediately, right?”

Wright said, mustering up his courage, he turned around, walked quickly to the front of the stone slab, and stretched out his right palm...