Wasteland Echoer

"Up and down, left and right, time, space, future."

"Up and down, left and right, time, space, future."

…

After an unknown amount of time, Dak woke up faintly in a dark space filled with the smell of putrefaction and blood. Opening his eyes, he actually felt a little surprised. The surrounding environment was neither the "noisy" streets of Binglin City Square nor the simple layout of the strategic group dormitories, but a dark place with only a faint glow far above his head. A bright, empty hall.

After hitting his head hard and dispelling part of the chaotic hangover, Duck stood up suddenly and looked around with a blank expression.

This is a prison!

A ridiculous and terrifying idea ran into his mind.

Indeed, there is no lighting device on in the empty room. Near the corner of the wall on the right is a small door that only allows a single person to pass through.

Running quickly, Duck discovered that the material of the small door was not ordinary steel or brass, but a composite material called "Stern" that he had seen and was widely used in the Crusad army. metallic material.

It is a solid material made from a mixture of various ores with magic power and a variety of newly discovered rare metals, such as titanium. If used on the outside of a tank or armored vehicle, or softened and made into a mechanical armor, it can not only protect against high temperatures and high pressures, but also against attacks by sharp objects and even artillery bombardments.

The most important point is that "Stunen" has a unique ability to prevent "unintentional" liquid burns. If it is made into a flexible gas mask, it will be able to filter 99.99% of viruses.

But as far as Dark knows, last year, in 576 New Era, an article published in the first issue of the Federation's official military journal "The Range of Truth" mentioned that "Stern" is a high-tech material and is currently in It is in the semi-secret development stage and cannot be mass-produced.

If "The Range of Truth" hadn't released false information to confuse the public, using "Stern" here, in a prison cage, would probably be for the purpose of extreme hostility and prevention.

Thinking of this, the chaotic, messy, and panic emotions in Duck's mind suddenly took over. He desperately held the handle and tried with all his strength to pull it open.

Yet, aside from the dull, mind-rending noise, the door was as motionless as it knew it would be.

Until, behind him, epileptic laughter came from the dark, empty room that was rumored to be the "Realm of the Dead" that existed in the "New World".

"Who?" Dak was startled. Ignoring the sweat dripping from his forehead, he touched the place where he wore the gun on his waist.

The feeling of nothingness came, and Dak was stunned for a second, but after thinking that this was a prison, all weapons should be taken away, he quickly calmed down.

Immediately, he chose to surge the magic power of water in his body that was in contact with the darkness, and walked towards the continuous sound with slow and cautious steps.

Fortunately, there was no magic-forbidden equipment similar to the "Demon Annihilation" series in the room. The extraordinarily abundant magic source power gave him an incomparable sense of security and gradually calmed him down.

Not long after, he came to the person who made the sound. Through the subtle light coming through the skylight, he could barely see the person's appearance.

It was an old but majestic face. Against the backdrop of the interlaced light, Dak judged that it was a face that had experienced countless life-and-death battles.

The cold breath came from the scars across his face. The aura coming from his face alone was enough to make Duck, a federal soldier, feel oppressed.

But when it comes to appearance, Dak doesn't feel disgusted or disgusted, nor does he feel the disgusting feeling when faced with something rotten and dead.

But as the hole in the old man's throat opened and closed, objects like snakes were spit out and retracted, and he slowly stood up, stretching the parts of his body that were exposed under the light, an inexplicable feeling suddenly surged in Duck's heart. of hatred.

This is the hatred engraved in the DNA of human beings when they face "careless people", lost people and "alien monsters".

Silently reciting the spell for spirit formation, Dak's right hand instantly generated a short blade made of ice that exuded a strong cold aura.

"Here comes the new one." A low, cold voice came from the throat of the monster in front of him.

Duck observed that even though the transparent viscous liquid seeped out as he spoke, the monster's voice was not affected in any way, but was incomparably clear.

"Who are you?" Dak asked again. He bent his legs slightly and held the short ice blade in front of his body, showing a semi-threatening fighting posture.

"Who am I? Yes, who am I? Who can I be?" The monster murmured, twisting its head in a circle in front of Duck, and then "smoothly" returned to its original position.

Immediately afterwards, he shook his pure white, giant maggot-like tail a few times, and vigorously flapped his fly-like wings that could barely lift his huge body off the ground. Seeing that Dak's facial expression did not change much, the monster felt very bored, and then stretched out its arms covered with downy hair similar to ape-like species.

At a glance, Dak saw that those arms were like the devil using all his evil power to create a supreme work with a sense of abstraction and madness when he was delirious.

The arm with the wind of hell is extremely strong, like a barrier made of solid stones. Under the hair, there are almost exposed blood vessels, which are flowing with hot and hot scorching fluid, and the glow is as breathtaking as a ghost. of light.

Under the villi outside the blood vessels are scales that stand up one after another. At their tips are dandelion-like "flowers" made of mold. When the monster contracts its muscles, the scales actually cover down, replacing The original existence of fluff was eliminated, and "petals" exuding a strong rancid smell floated out.

As the other two skylights at the top of the room opened, more light shone on the monster's body. Only then did Duck realize that the only human-like parts of the monster in front of him were the head and arms, and the rest was a strange and beating mass. , a mass of flesh occupied by tiny crocodile-like tentacles and strange devil-like eyeballs.

"Are you a 'Alien Heartless'?" Dak asked warily.

According to the classification of the level of magic source power, although he has been recognized as an upper-level professional, his professional power has not been developed and the level of the magic source is close to the sixth level of "inspiration". When facing monsters, he did not retreat unscathed. of certainty.

Besides, this is a closed prison.

"'Alien Heartless', this title has been around for a long time. My name is Alexander Nabsnov, and I was the commander of the Far East Central Strategic Regiment. I remember that before I completely lost my mental power, I was just killed by that 'Dancer' Chief Executive, the boy named Mendolev Vick was promoted to Dark Star 1." "Monster" Alexander said in a proud tone:

"Back then, I personally killed tens of thousands of 'Heartless Man' and was the commander who resisted the invasion of the 'Heartless Man Wave' in the 'Death of Nebusk'. It's a pity that the power of the Burning Liquid is too powerful. As long as it is attacked by it, Invading the heart, there was no medicine to detoxify it at that time.”

"So, you've become like this?" Dak's tone and demeanor softened a lot, and he put down the short ice blade with its tip downwards and asked.

"Of course. I am unlucky that I did not evolve into a superpower and continue to fight for the great Federation. But I am lucky. My mutation does not follow any existing laws. It is like a naughty devil touching the paintbrush of the Creator. Such results are beyond mysteries." Alexander smiled:

"Back then, many people like you who were proficient in magic power, and even the lost ones, collapsed and shouted, 'Occult science no longer exists!' Logically speaking, I should have lost all human consciousness after turning into a monster. , but if I retain my consciousness, I should mutate into a lost person with many human traces left. Even if I am a monster with independent consciousness, I should have either strong physical fitness or extraordinary power."

"But the fact is that I neither have the so-called [professional] ability nor magic power of the Lost, nor do I have the superpowers of superpowers. However, the natural appearance of me has provided the federal scientists with indispensable resources. The best experimental material, this may be the greatest contribution I can make to the Federation and mankind."

"By the way..." Alexander moved his body closer to Duck and said in an admiring tone:

"You are the kid Dak who went crazy at the fireworks show as those members of the security team said. You are lucky. All the humans in the square a few days ago melted, except for the soldiers who were protected by the 'fireworks of the old days'. You He is one of the few people who can escape unharmed... a person with super powers."

"The fireworks show set off in the square... turned out to be a sequential monster?" Dak asked in surprise, and the short ice blade in his hand fell to the ground in a subconscious trance and disappeared.

"I didn't believe it at first." Alexander replied:

"But when you were sent in yesterday, my old friend told me that in order to activate the 'Universal Energy Evolution Platform' in the newly discovered ruins, the Federation needs to use the modified 'Old Fireworks', that is,' The old fireworks' draw enough energy."

"Of course, the Federation can claim that this was a mistake made by temporary military personnel. It can also blame it on the Lost Ones organization that is against us, saying that they deliberately sabotaged it. Speaking of Dak, after being born in the wasteland world for so many years, I Gradually I understood some truth.”

"What's the point?" Duck asked curiously.

"Whether in the eyes of gods or in the eyes of human leaders. In the final analysis, we are just a number in their minds. When we are valuable, they will use 'love' and 'unity' as slogans to educate us. As consumables When the time comes, we will be abandoned without hesitation." Alexander explained:

"I heard from them that the magic source power in your body has some strange resonance with the 'fireworks of the old days'. Although I don't know what the positive impact on you is, but when it is released, your mental power will be It wears away."

"Mental strength?"

That's right. Alexander nodded with difficulty and said:

"Mental power, someone uses Putoya's term, calls it sanity. In the process of continuous decline, what you see, hear, feel, and think will be quietly changed. Normal humans will become distorted and sparse. Ordinary things can turn into indescribable weirdness. I think your last attack on those federal soldiers may have been out of your 'twisted original intention'."

"Maybe." Dak said blankly, "It may also be caused by the wrong guidance of the sequence monster. After all, what I saw were not real federal soldiers, but fake and weird humanoid creatures."

"Real?" Alexander sneered:

"Everything you see is real, they are always the truth, just a distorted existence. Just like your past, the humans you saw when you were a 'alien monster' are no different from what you see now , the reason why you cannot accept the past is because as a human being, when you recall those memories, you will be intimidated by parts that do not belong to human morality and worldview. But the distorted reality is also true, and it is the eternal truth."

"How do you know my past?" Dak asked in a panic.

"This is the ability to 'know'. It is a gift I gained when I understood Eastern religions during the more than a hundred years I lived in this prison called 'Senaer'."

"It's a bit like the professional ability of [Prophet], but..." Dak suddenly reacted, "You said this is... the notorious 'Senaer' prison!"