Wasteland Echoer

"It... looks so pitiful." Thalia looked at the weak monster huddled deep underground, and she felt a surge of sympathy in her heart.

This dangerous emotion in the wasteland world may not come entirely from sensibility, but more like some temporary resonance between the same creatures about their future destiny.

When the lightning flashed down on the dying "monster" from ancient times, Marco and Thalia did not hear the expected angry roars, pleadings, or continuous low roars or whimpering.

When the entire body was bathed in the short-term light, it became extremely calm, like a furry pet, more like an ignorant sleeping child.

"Is it quiet?" Thalia asked in surprise, turning to look at Marco, trying to seek his confirmation.

"Of course." Marco nodded. His words seemed to slightly reduce the discomfort lingering in the environment:

"This is my new discovery, and I haven't had time to report it to 'Big Brother' yet."

"What did you find?" Thalia asked curiously, maintaining her posture leaning on the fence.

"Have you seen these lights? Do you see anything different? Or can you use your magic power to feel it?" Marco asked, pointing to the searchlights above.

"Weird?" Thalia closed her eyes and felt it carefully. After about half a minute, she slowly opened her eyes and said:

"It seems to contain some kind of upper-level magic power. These lights are not pure, but they are not evil or extraordinary power. In short, they are harmless to humans. Could it be said that they will affect that... uh...' Ancient Beast ' to calm it down?"

"You're half right." Marco nodded and said:

"These lights are indeed not extraordinary power. Indeed, they may not have anything to do with the magic source power. They are mechanical powers, coming from the 'Lord of Machines'."

"'Master of Machinery'?"

"That's right, the only supreme god in charge of machinery and technology. He has the power to promote scientific progress, and can also limit the development of all science and technology through the use of 'reason'. For an era where magic power is withered and steam is booming, He is Even more powerful than the 'Creator'." Marco maintained his head-raising posture and said with deep affection and piety.

"Are those searchlights made from relics of the gods?" Thalia said bluntly, not interested in Marco's gesture.

"They each placed a 'Core of Mechanical Spirit'. Their functions are similar to the 'Limited' series of chips that 'Yan Xi' is trying to collect, but they are one-time use." Marco said.

"How do you understand? One-time...?" Thalia continued to ask.

"It's like a battery, it's useless after it's used up. It was found by 'Big Brother' at the same time as the embryo. It should have been left by Ivanov and his team. It was probably prepared in advance for future research." Marco explained:

"It is said that it was rubbed out by the 'Lord of Mechanics', but these faint lights have a name, it is called 'Light of Mechanical Spirit'. Maybe it is the arrangement of fate, no, it is the gift given to us believers by the 'Lord of Mechanics'" of the gospel.

"He sent Ronai, His apostle, His creation. Do you still remember the legend that has been popular in the old empire for a long time?" Marco turned around and asked.

"Could it be him, the rumored 'mechanical body'?" Thalia said with a shocked expression, looking at Marco in disbelief.

"I can't be sure at the moment. I need to find a way to get his past out of him." Marco said cautiously:

"While fighting that huge dragon-shaped creature, which allows me to use such an inaccurate name, I clearly heard the name Luo Nie recited when using his skills.

"Although this method seems stupid now and may even be dangerous, it is in line with the chivalry spirit that remained in the old empire in the early days of steam mechanical civilization."

"A fair duel, a battle etiquette rooted in Crusted culture." Thalia added that as a woman proficient in combat, she was no stranger to this aspect of combat culture.

"The New Dollar Crisis has gone through its long, seemingly never-ending lifespan, and almost no human beings or lost people abide by the so-called spirit anymore. People nowadays, as long as they can achieve their goals, no matter how they use fraud, robbery or murder There will be no psychological burden if you wait for other means." Marco said slightly helplessly:

"I don't know when it started. Sincerity and responsibility have become worthless garbage. Morality and standards have become things that have been trampled on. The strength of unity originally given to us by the Creator and the gods has become an act of 'Mother's Heart'. If When Satan sees us, he will probably sigh at the beauty of hell.

"But back to the topic, from the moment I saw the shield made of those lights, I concluded that he was the target I needed to find. Even if I just simply exchange interests with him, so that he can release the light of the mechanical spirit, for this... The monster's energy can be replenished while slowing down its mania, which can also buy us precious time."

"So, you don't intend to take any violent action?" Thalia smiled meaningfully:

"Afraid that you can't beat him, or that I can't beat him?"

"Do you know what is called 'sorrow'?" Marco suddenly changed the subject and asked.

"I've heard that it's said to be a product of the old gods, and some say it's caused by the 'Heartless Man Virus'. In short, it's a substance that represents death and can cause people to have mental breakdowns and go crazy." Thalia replied , she clearly knows a lot more about the occult than science.

"The aura of death on Luo Nie's body is very strong. For him, violent methods may be counterproductive. If he is really the 'machine body' created by the rumored 'Lord of Machines', I shouldn't say it, 'Big Brother'" I can’t beat him either.”

"'Mechanical body'..." Thalia thought for a few seconds before speaking:

"But no matter how you look at it, Luo Nie's living habits, behavior, and tone of voice are no different from ours. If he is not a human being, then I can only admire the extraordinary structural power of the Creator and the 'Lord of Machinery' .”

"Do you know the 'Daughter of Tool Yuan' who was found dead in the Zine Empire?" Marco asked, as if it was an unrelated topic.

"I know." This time it was Thalia's turn to nod.

"It is rumored that when the old empire relied on the power of the gods to create the new god 'Daughter of Machinery', it was said that half of the heart of the 'mechanical body' was cut off. Rumor has it that a tortured dragon in the abyss later donated the heart to It was because of him that the 'mechanical body' did not completely collapse." Marco told the story in a slow tone, as if he was describing a long-standing myth:

"That dragon may be the lucky one who escaped the war in the first and second eras and was not exiled to the 'Dragon Realm'. He has been living among humans and has completely integrated into me... us. Unfortunately, it was not avoided later. Corrupted by the power of the 'Lord of the Night', he fell into the invincible dark abyss of sin.

"If Ronie is a 'mechanical body', then he must have possessed human emotions a long time ago. Thalia, the power of time is very strong, enough to change everything. The long years may wear away the memory, but it is also enough to give him enough [Personality]. As long as a little external force prompts you to connect a certain line and make it smooth, you can become a complete human being."

"By the way, Marco," Thalia suddenly had an idea and said:

“Do you still remember that a few days ago I had a team that went to the northeast, a little further north of the Kanosk ruins?

"They seem to have found a scientific relic of the old empire, which is said to be related to the 'evolution platform' that the Federation and Luo Nie are looking for. Perhaps, we just need to tell Luo Nie that he can skip the 'device limit' chip and find the 'evolution platform' ' position, and on the condition of protecting him to the vicinity of Kanosk, I hope he can help stabilize this poor 'monster', and I guess he will not refuse this deal."

"It is indeed an attractive deal. I believe he has no reason to refuse." Marco looked directly at the pathetic squirming body of "Ancient Core Beast" and said:

"Anyway, it's not up to us whether we can confirm that it is the 'evolution platform'."

…

May 20th. "Wilderness Tourist Group" base, underground level, in the main square.

Under the huge semi-mechanical statue, Luo Nie was leaning on a seat made of scrap steel, holding a dark red style wooden medical box in his hand.

He remembered that this was the first gift given to him by Bude, his former "master" in the city of Socra. Later, when he met the blond half-lost child Sai, he even took out a bandage to bandage him. Wound.

It is a pity that Bude was killed on the eve of the end of the "Silence Comes" war, which is really infuriating and regrettable.

But now that I think about it, even if he managed to escape arrest, given his stubborn mentality, he probably wouldn't be able to escape the "Socra Explosion".

And Sayi, such a cute, down-to-earth, hard-working kid, even though he never paid Sayi even 1 Singapore dollar in remuneration, the half-lost child still followed him to the end.

It is no exaggeration to say that he died under the "mechanical butcher knife" indirectly "swung" by Luo Nie.

"What is the meaning of life...?" Luo Nie murmured, not even paying attention to the tears flowing from the corners of his eyes.

Fortunately, today is the outing day of the "Wild Tourist Group" base. Even in the residential area and living area, it is difficult to see a few people. Naturally, no one can pay attention to Luo Nie, who is sitting under the semi-mechanical statue, feeling sad alone.

After all, when the previous disaster occurred, he was not fully human, and his emotional indifference was close to complete. Naturally, humans would naturally feel that he was an alien, and it would be difficult to completely integrate with him.

But only after the "Daughter of Tool Yuan" obtained [Personality], Luo Nie truly felt the emotional pain belonging to human beings.

For machinery, death is just parts broken and unable to operate, requiring reassembly in the worst case, but human life is different.

Death is death, there is no rebirth, and there may not even be an underworld or a heaven.

Thinking of this, he reopened the medical box that had been sealed for thirty years in the small alien space created by mechanical power, and took out the coat of arms engraved with the Fire Empire's word "生".