Wasteland Echoer

"Please go to the 'Proving Ground' on the edge of the town through the 'Jump Formation'. People from the federal army and our 'Order Society' have been waiting there for a long time. Today is enough to give everyone a new understanding of the power of artillery. know."

Standing in front of the small door at the edge of the dark conference room, "Wind Mine" made an elegant and gentlemanly greeting gesture to the people present.

Immediately afterwards, he began to surge the magic power of the strong wind in his body, forming a bright light green wind field that surrounded his fair right hand.

"Start!" "Wind Mine" shouted and opened the small door.

Suddenly, the biting and howling winter wind poured into the conference room from inside the door, making everyone present feel a biting chill and became unsteady and almost fell down.

Fortunately, the wind only lasted for a short while. When everyone turned their attention to the small door again, there was only a dark purple chaotic area inside the door that seemed to have no edge.

"'Wind Mine', there is no risk in teleportation like this, right? I remember that the old empire did scientific research on similar projects and tried to use technology to teleport living people, but in the end only half of the body was sent." Gennadi looked worried. asked.

"This is magic, not technology." "Wind Mine" said:

"Although this is an era when magic is dying and technology is recovering, the magic source power can still do many things that technology cannot achieve. 'Leap Technique' is just a type of space displacement magic that is not difficult. For thousands of years, countless A magician has used it, and the probability of danger is about the same as being struck by lightning.

“Furthermore, the operation mode of similar technological research conducted by the old empire is not essentially different from the ‘leap technique’. The only difference is that their energy comes from the sun, while ours comes from the magic source.

"Gnadi, if you are afraid, I will go inside the door first and teleport to the 'Trial Ground' to wait for you. You can just drive there, and it will probably only waste you half an hour."

After "Wind Mine" finished speaking, he glanced at Gennadi with disdain, rushed straight into the door, turned into a ball of particles like sparks, and disappeared.

"Then let's follow." The old man in a dark tuxedo said hoarsely, following "Wind Mine" into the door.

Seeing someone taking the lead, everyone present no longer hesitated and followed suit. Even Gnady, who had just questioned, hesitated for two seconds after everyone disappeared, and then rushed in with a single stride.

…

After sleeping comfortably on the sofa on the first floor of Igor's villa in the "dark neighborhood", Luo Nie was "awakened" by a long-lost aroma of food.

He yawned, stretched and stood up, rubbed his sleepy eyes, and asked in a vague tone:

"Mr. Igor... ha... what a good thing you made. It smells so good and tastes delicious when you smell it. It makes my mouth water."

"Luo Nie..." Igor responded while busy in the kitchen:

"Wait a little longer, it's not done yet. These are oriental dishes. You know, the Crusaders and Putoyans have never been good at food. A third-rate chef can make a lot of money in our city. Full. I only learned a little bit from a master from Khitan Reis more than ten years ago to ease my appetite."

"That's it, that's alright, Mr. Igor, I'll wait for your oriental food. I haven't had enough food during my trip to the north during this period, so you have to satisfy me completely today." Luo Nie joked with a smile. .

"Of course." Igor answered very simply, "I promised you that from today on, as long as your food, clothing, housing and transportation in the town are within my capabilities, I will definitely satisfy you."

Naturally, Igor is grateful to Ronie for saving him from danger, but Ronie's "personality" has not been affected by anything corrupt, and he will not use or blackmail Igor for anything.

Choosing a small town to live temporarily for a period of time, on the one hand, he needed to inquire and understand information related to "Plamini"; on the other hand, he needed to understand the guidance of the "false god" in his dream and find the whereabouts of Wright. As for the "Core" and "Universal Energy Evolution Platform", although he was interested, it was only an interest.

He knows very well that human beings cannot think seriously about problems when they are nervous and busy. Only when the mind calms down can the needed one be picked out among the messy clues.

Luo Nie, who suddenly went from busy to temporarily stable, suddenly felt extremely bored. He crossed his hands and hugged the back of his head, pacing back and forth in Igor's villa, observing the surroundings aimlessly.

Igor is indeed a scientist, and this is Luo Nie's deepest impression of him. The first floor of the villa has a large space, but it is piled up with all kinds of messy debris, making it difficult for people to walk.

As soon as you enter the first floor of the villa, there are two rows of shoe cabinets and wardrobes covered with dirt. The shoes and clothes inside are arranged in a twisted, messy, and profane manner.

Walking further inside, two rows of shabby yellow leather sofas were piled with various documents and information. Luo Nie picked them up and looked at them. The densely packed Krusted and Putuoya languages ​​gave him a headache.

Luo Nie knew every word in the document and could clearly tell its meaning, but when put together, it seemed so strange.

In the middle of the two rows of sofas is a glass table covered with yellow oil paper. There are various sundries piled messily on it, including the remains of ordinary cans, worn rags, uncovered books, open hot water bottles, and dismantled coffee. The machine and the half-broken little saber, arranged in such a messy manner, actually gave Luo Nie a nameless and invisible feeling of diaphragm.

Being in it is like being in a pool full of dirty mud, facing crazy and abominable weird tentacles that can stretch out from it at any time.

Parts made of copper, iron, and unknown rare metals piled on the ground intensified the slightly nauseating feeling.

But fortunately, the dining table in the other half of the space was deliberately tidied up. The simple Cruze style, coupled with the large chairs and the candles placed in the middle, lost the blessing of all kinds of sundries, and actually revealed the An inexplicable warmth.

Luo Nie walked to the dining table and sat on the seat facing the messy half of the room. Suddenly, the last ray of light that the golden sunset poured on the town hit the room through the window, dividing it into two distinct halves in the middle.

In his opinion, the part that was splashed with light was full of hope, like the hearts of humans who were confident about surviving the Wasteland Era. The other half is connected in lines along the dim parts, drawing a shadow like the underworld.

He held his chin and stared blankly at the dusk scene for about fifteen minutes. As the sun disappeared from his sight, the darkness in the room became almost eternal.

Until the intoxicating aroma penetrated into his mind, the incandescent and bright electric lights in the room were turned on, and everything returned to the beginning.

"It's done, Luonie." Igor said, placing four plates on the table, and then brought a plate of white, round, bread-like food, complete with cutlery, and placed it on Luonie. before.

"These dishes... are indeed completely different from Crusted in flavor. They are appetizing just by looking at them. Speaking of Mr. Igor, do they have names?" Luo Nie swallowed, his eyes seemed to be shining with blue light, staring at them intently. Eat these tasty and tasty foods.

"This." Igor pointed at a plate of red and white tofu and said:

"It's a daily food loved by the Khitan people. It's called tofu. The master who taught me at that time told me the name of the dish in the language of the Fire Empire. The literal translation is 'tofu made by women with pockmarked faces'."

"There is a kind of absurd humor." Luo Nie said with a smile, "What about the others?"

"Well, the dish made from shredded potatoes is called 'Hot and Sour Potato Shreds', which is a home-cooked dish of the Khitanris people. It is said that after the potato crop was introduced to the East from the Putua people, due to its high yield, it alleviated a lot of stress. Due to the food crisis caused by natural disasters, Easterners created many dishes related to it as a commemoration." Igor said:

"There is also this dish called 'Poet's Pork', which is made by cutting the pork, adding various seasonings, and steaming it to remove the original greasiness. It is said that during the Second Era of the Fire Empire, due to the northern and western borders, The rebellion dealt a fatal blow to the empire's livestock industry.

"At that time, most of the empire's pastures for raising horses, sheep, and cattle were in the north. They lost the supply of cheap meat. The empire began to develop large-scale pig breeding in the south. But at that time, the breeds of pork were poor and the meat quality was average. The food tastes very bad.

"So, during the reign of the 'Shangzhen Emperor', an anonymous great poet improved the production method, making the pork with excellent taste become the mainstream food of the empire, getting rid of dependence on other meats. Because of that poet No name was left, so this is a way to commemorate him.”

"It smells so good." Luo Nie leaned over, smelled the pork at close range, and praised:

"If I could eat oriental food every day, I would have no regrets as a human being. Igor, seeing these foods, for the first time, I felt that human life is not only about war and killing, but also about making the spirit happy. enjoyment.”

"Let's talk about the other two." Igor did not echo Luo Nie's emotion and continued to explain:

"I don't know much about the stories behind the remaining two dishes. Maybe they don't exist. One is 'Sweet and Sour Carp' and the other is 'Three Fresh Foods from the Ground'. They were both taught to me by the master. But the one in front of you The story behind this round, bread-like food is not simple.”

"White bread? I have seen people in the east making them. They seem to be the most basic daily food, just like our toasted bread and big bread." Luo Nie picked up one and looked at it carefully.

"This is called a 'steamed bun'. It was originally used by the people of the Fire Empire to sacrifice the souls of the dead. It is shaped like a human head. It is said that throwing it into the fast river can calm the anger of the dead caused by the war. "Igor explained in a low tone:

"The people of the Fire Empire have always had a kind of mysterious self-confidence, thinking that they are at the center of the world, so they also call themselves 'people of the middle country'. They feel that their mysterious culture has strong superiority, so they treat the primitive people around them The tribes are collectively called 'barbarians'.

"Their emperor follows hypocritical morals. As long as the 'barbarians' submit to the empire's rule and learn the Fire culture, they are loyal slaves and can become the same kind. Once they show any disobedience, they will be punished by the empire. Invasion, forced integration.

"In the middle of the Second Era, when the Yanhuo Empire had not yet controlled the Nanxi and Nandong provinces, the then imperial general Yan Ming led an army to attack a barbarian tribe. In a fire, nearly 10,000 people in the tribe were burned to charcoal .At that time, due to the overflow of mysterious power, many people in the army were confused, in a trance, and even acted aggressively.

"Yan Ming believed that the chaos in the army was cursed by the undead souls of the dead barbarians. In order to calm down his anger, he improved the local sacrificial supplies and invented 'steamed buns'."

"What happened to Yan Ming's army afterwards?" Luo Nie asked curiously. After hearing the story, he suddenly felt that the "steamed buns" in his hands no longer tasted good.

"Who knows, maybe they returned safely, or maybe they were destroyed by mysterious power. However, it will be about 300 years before the Fire Empire completely conquers these two provinces. Luo Nie..." Igor picked up one "Steamed bun" said while biting:

"Did you know that the roots behind the mysterious and splendid culture of the Fire Empire are those great creatures that are close to eternity. They were once the masters of the world and later influenced all aspects of the empire, including its food culture."

"What...are they?" Luo Nie asked in confusion.

"Dragon, the supreme dragon clan. It is said that the 'half-dragon' imprisoned by the old empire has recently awakened, and it seems that he is inextricably linked to the mysterious red power." Igor replied, his eyes squinting Looking up, staring at Luo Nie with strange eyes.