Wasteland Echoer

May 19th, 557th year of the New Lunar Calendar.

Crusted Federation, Area S of the Extreme Cold Special Zone, base of the "Wildness Tourist Group".

Ding--

Snapped!

A big hand covered with dirty bandages and bleeding stains turned off the mechanical alarm and pulled down the switch.

Accompanied by the unique rhythmic sound of "bump, bump, bump", this large, empty, three-dimensional underground space gradually lit up with dim light.

This is the brilliance of gas lamps, which can always maintain light for a considerable period of time in this dark underground base where resources are becoming increasingly scarce.

After crossing the various winding pipes covered with mottled rust, Marco did not stay too much on this metal chain pontoon that seemed to be built on the endless "Vanta Black" field. He quickly walked to the circular platform on the opposite side. He held on to the metal that had been painted fresh and light blue, suppressing the sudden rise of heart palpitations and fear from his soul, and walked quickly to the wall.

Click!

Sizzsssssssss——

Under the sound of electric current that sounded like the joy of the dead, the dim space around him became a little brighter and closer to the sunlight.

The surroundings are filled with the smell of dampness and decay, and there are even a lot of pungent and choking substances evaporated from oil. The rare electric lights that can't last long still dispel a lot of the trembling and confusion lingering here. The fear and confusion made the "monster" under the semi-hollow platform become clearer and clearer.

"Marco." A familiar mature female voice came from behind him. He did not respond or turn around to answer. Instead, he took out a treasured "Anshen Involution" smuggled from the southern Zine Empire. The finished cigarette, under the sudden disappearance of the firelight and the rising smoke, slowly spoke in a hoarse voice:

"There shouldn't be any wiring here, right? Thalia."

"Did you not sleep well?" Thalia, who was wearing a black windbreaker and men's attire, did not respond directly, but asked with concern:

"Is that person crazy again? Or is Luo Nie not adapting to the environment here? As far as I know, 'Big Brother' is still at the 'Pluto' point in the southeast and several other leaders of the 'independent armed forces' are deciding on the choice of the 'new base' Address, it will take about a week to return. If you fall, I can't be responsible for such a mess.

"You know, those men who consider themselves strong have never paid attention to the women in the wasteland. If it weren't for my absolute power to suppress them, I'm afraid they would have turned upside down."

"Thalia, I think so." Marco turned his head, holding the cigarette, and half-jokingly said with a wicked smile:

"In general, all in all, from the past time to the future, we all know, maybe we don't necessarily fully understand, maybe we should know, there is no doubt, it is undeniable, from military behavior and life behavior, including For philosophical and cultural reasons, you, Thalia Ekaterina Mantenova, are already considered a real man."

Marco spoke very quickly, and even though it was a joke, Thalia was stunned for more than a minute. After thinking "seriously", she went straight forward and hammered him on the back, and said with an angry look:

"Although I don't understand what you are saying, I feel like you are mocking me no matter what I think."

"Okay, okay." Marco coughed twice, then said seriously:

"Let's get down to business. Based on the data of those boys who have been in the federal school, Thalia, do you know how long the base can last?"

"I'm not sure. I don't know anything about non-combat matters." Thalia readily admitted.

"Perhaps two weeks, as long as it is not stimulated. But once it is attacked by the 'Unintentional Man' and the Lost Ones, it may lose control in advance." Marco explained.

"Out of control?" Thalia couldn't understand. She looked at Marco with a puzzled face, then crossed the fence and looked into the depths where there was already a slight light.

"Looking for a 'new base' is indeed an important step for our 'independent armed forces' to unite and fight against the 'Heartless People' and the Federation in the future. Those abandoned city strongholds contain industrial materials that they cannot recycle, and even long-standing technological products. Of course, as a professor at the Federal University, I have ways to reuse them." Marco took a strong drag on the cigarette and continued:

"But Big Brother told me everything, especially the history of this base."

"History? I just remember that this place has existed for a long time. It is said that it was built not long after the New Dollar Crisis broke out." Thalia was a little confused and made a classic shrug.

"Even if you can't understand what I'm talking about in depth, one thing you have to admit is that he has indeed existed for a long time." Marco continued to explain.

"That's right." Thalia nodded slightly.

"But it has existed for too long, but it is not the product of steam machinery. If we compare the entire base to a mechanical vehicle or a sailing steel cruise ship, then even if one or two places are damaged, we can always find someone to repair it. , replace the parts, even if it later becomes the 'Ship of Theseus'. Whether it is new or old, it can always be used." Marco said, as if he was giving extra lessons to poor students.

Naturally, Thalia, who was strong in combat and skilled in fighting, was confused when she heard this. She asked awkwardly and pretended to understand: "What does that have to do with the base?"

"Ours is not steel, but a living thing!" Marco said in a low voice and urgently:

"All energy is supplied by it, including the 'blue barrier' outside. You have also seen that even if many lost people see through the disguise, as long as they break in forcefully, they will be beaten to pieces by its transformed laser. Not even a bit of residue is left.

"But it is a living thing after all. From the beginning when 'Big Brother' relied on the documents left by Ivanov Khatrevsky of the old empire and captured and controlled this creature according to the method formulated by those scientists, it has gone through so many years After years of providing free blood, fertilizer, converting energy, and outputting magic power, it has accumulated countless wounds that cannot be healed both inside and outside its body.

"Once its power is exhausted, it will completely lose its mind under the rules set by the Creator, become angry, and finally explode."

"I...can't understand, but according to your statement, I'm afraid it won't be possible to completely evacuate all the people and materials here within two weeks." Thalia responded with limited knowledge:

"What exactly this creature is, I've never heard Big Brother mention it."

"Since a long time ago, around the middle of the Third Era, starting from a document called "MB-012: Embryonic Breeding Plan for Ancient Beasts of Nuclear Core", humans began to study them. At that time, the organization was still alive and extremely strong. But they are included in the first batch of sequential monsters." Marco explained.

"What happens next?" Thalia's curiosity was briefly aroused and she asked.

"The scientists of the old empire, probably the group headed by Ivanov, are said to have connected an altar leading to the realm of gods in the northern suburbs of Binglin City through another unrecorded sequence monster. According to legend, they saw When it comes to the Lord of the Night, he is the god who may have appeared in Cataris during the same period." Marco looked up at the space above his head in the middle tone and continued:

"It was an extremely brutal exploration. The few people who entered were turned into decay in an instant. The two 'Extraordinaries' who escaped committed suicide due to mental pain within three days, but they stole the ancient treasure of the 'Core-derived Ancient Beast' An embryo, a round cell half the size of a human.

"However, the team led by Ivanov exhausted all scientific methods but could not activate and cultivate it. Even putting it into a liquid full of nutrients and stimulating it with high-radiation ore was of no avail. Until Ivan XXII became seriously ill During this period, an apostle who called himself the 'Lord of Machinery' brought a gear."

"A gear?"

"Yes, of course it is not a product of technology, and it will even subvert the world view of scientists. However, they can certainly explain that some kind of radiation inside the gear is equal to the frequency of the embryo, creating a certain resonance and activating the cells in it. That's it. But in the final analysis, it is the dark magic source power inside that has received the blessing of the gods, which is equivalent to a real gear installed in the right position and just started it." Marco explained:

"But not long after, Ivanov died of a virus that caused bone sclerosis throughout the body, and passed away in pain of ruptured internal organs. Finally, our 'Big Brother' discovered it and used a 'Xenogeneic Heartless' The blood activates it.”

"If I remember correctly, there can be no 'Heartless Man' in the middle of the Third Era." Thalia questioned.

"But it doesn't mean there is no virus." Marko emphasized:

"I have always suspected that the 'Unintentional Man' crisis was caused by a certain military experiment in the old empire that went wrong, causing the 'virus' with extraordinary power to leak out, causing a disaster, even though there is no evidence. But, then again, then The end of this 'plan' is a sermon; 'We have tried all methods but failed to continue to cultivate that embryo, but until we turned a heart into a machine, we fed the blood of the unconscious Imperial [soldier] It just reacted.'

"Now that I think about it, maybe Ivanov's 'skeletal sclerosis' is not accurate, maybe he has 'heart sclerosis'. In short, 'Big Brother' will feed it an animal with the same strength as the order 5 every other week. The 'Alien Heartless' or simply the hostile Lost Ones have survived until now.

"Thalia, every creature has a process of birth, growth, fitness, aging and death under the original setting of the Creator, and the 'Ancient Beast' is no exception. If it weren't for the strong aura of extraordinary creatures, The tubes connected to his body to extract bodily fluids and power would probably kill him from the start."

"In this case, if it is about to die, is there any way to delay its... uh... outbreak?" Thalia asked an extremely realistic question:

"If there is a month, most of the supplies will have the opportunity to be transferred. You also know that without those large machines and weapons, we would not be able to establish a foothold even if we went to the 'new base'."

"Of course." Marco said with an evil smile:

"I just said that the gear that activates it comes from the apostle of the Lord of Machinery. So, right now, isn't there still an apostle of the Lord of Machinery waiting here?"

"You mean, Ronai?" Thalia asked in disbelief.

But then, as the heavy breathing from the huge creature echoed in this underground space, all the searchlights around it were turned on for some reason, shining into the deepest part.

Marco and Thalia looked down together and saw a spherical monster that was close to half the castle, struggling painfully on the spot.

It is the "Core-derived Ancient Beast" cultivated by "Big Brother". It is covered with a layer of dark green and crimson down, and its eyes like a scarlet moon reveal a terrifying light belonging to the realm of death. Under the damaged villi are neat rows of polyps, crowded together like black tree bark and flowing with black milky liquid. Countless shrunken tentacles are intertwined on the ground, and below the eyeball, close to the abdomen, there is a The starfish-shaped multi-petal mouth is constantly opening and closing, grabbing the few oxygen around it.