Wasteland Echoer

May 21st, 557th year of the New Lunar Calendar, is the Day of Love.

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

The underground floor is still under the huge semi-mechanical statue in the large square.

It was empty and quiet, and the lights were dim. Luo Nie, who stood under the huge shadow of the statue, did not sit on the chair and feel sad like yesterday. Instead, he had a serious look on his face, holding the "生" coat of arms in both hands and closing his eyes tightly. , silently reciting the incantation for spirit formation.

The green radiance symbolizing "life" and "nature" gradually radiates outward from the body. In the dim style, it hits Luo Nie's face, creating a scary look that is rich in the weirdness of Eastern culture and appears to be completely indifferent. Lifeless.

Fortunately, Varvaf, who was standing behind him, bit his finger in time and dropped a few drops of blood containing the power of the earth's magic power into the "生" emblem, causing the light to change from weird to bright and dazzling.

Under the dual effects of the "grass and tree type" magic source power rich in the charm of the Western Continent and the "earth type" magic source power rich in the Eastern charm, the "生" emblem slowly rose into the sky, as if falling into the invisible, eternal In the rotating vortex.

Immediately afterwards, the words on it began to become blurred due to the accelerated speed, and countless sparks flew outward, until a ray of two-color light jumped out from it and pierced directly into Luo Nie's eyebrows.

"Ah!" The sudden sting almost made him faint. However, after the brief sharp pain, a trace of cold, cool, and soft energy quickly spread from the brain to every nerve in the body.

Within a few seconds, as the "生" emblem quickly fell silent and fell back into his hand, Luo Nie felt a wonderful sense of transparency that he did not have when he was a "machine" or after he became a human.

It's as if his thoughts are becoming clearer as he continues to run at high speed, briefly entering the four-dimensional world from the three-dimensional space and time where humans live.

All the objects around him were no longer simple points, lines, and bodies. Even the small coat of arms in his hand, its internal structure seemed to have been completely flipped over before his eyes.

Including Vallaw in front of him, everything seemed to have stopped in the time dimension.

Along with the clearer and clearer pain caused by his clearer thinking, Luo Nie actually saw countless messy, irregular, overlapping, worm-like existences in front of him. He understood that this was countless time. Combinations, the totality of them, are the totality of the objects they represent.

Soon, as if just for a moment, that sense of clarity quickly dissipated, and the surroundings returned to the same brief calm as the previous few days.

"I think this is the exclusive power of the 'birth' emblem." Varvaf walked up to Luo Nie and asked seriously:

"What did you see just now?"

"Did you see...what?" Luo Nie, who was in a temporary stasis of thought, asked mechanically.

Shaking his head helplessly, Varvaf grabbed Luo Nie's hand and asked him to hold tightly the still-glow "生" emblem. He shook Luo Nie awake hard and warned him sternly:

"Listen, the power within the 'Born' crest may not only come from the gods. Yesterday, Captain Marco told me that he found a fragment of it from a book from Catharris. Originally, I didn't want you to come into contact with it now. Strength, Captain Marco also means this.

"However, considering that it has been abandoned for a long time and has just been activated, it is not particularly dangerous. Therefore, it is recommended that you use it to find the feeling of breaking through the demon source order. If because of this, you are contaminated with extraordinary power or even evil spirits If this happens, we will be very sad, not only mentally, but also in terms of the future development of the 'wilderness tourist group'."

"I...have nothing to do, Varvaf." Luo Nie's expression returned to normal, and he said slightly apologetically:

"It's just that this coat of arms is very important to me. Whenever I have some free time these days, I will think of that child, the half-lost Sai who died for me. This has become a worry for me. If I press the Eastern If the people of the Flame Empire continue to develop, it will become like the 'devil living in the heart' that comes from learning 'Kung Fu'.

"Furthermore, I remember that the place where it was first discovered was the Silent Highlands of the Zine Empire, and it is highly related to the slain god 'Daughter of Machinery'. I think Marco should have told you that I am the 'Lord of Machinery'" 's... Apostle, I was once a 'mechanical body', and the [personality] I have now was given by the 'Daughter of the Mechanical Element'."

Seeing Ronie's slightly sad eyes, Varvaf did not continue to scold him. Instead, he held his hand and said with a heavy tone:

"Yesterday, while I was still fully awake, Captain Marco told me that this base will be abandoned by us, and then we will move to a new base, and then we will build a city with other 'independent armed forces'. This is also This means that a more brutal and larger-scale battle between us and the Federation is about to come.

"You are a talent. This is something even 'Big Brother' recognizes. You do not have a different attitude towards some of the ideas we uphold. In other words, you are unlikely to be our enemy in the past, present and future. Since So, we don’t want you to get hurt.”

"Really..." Luo Nie sighed slightly.

"Of course." Valvar continued:

"This 'birth' emblem, I seem to remember something about its past. I remember that it has the ability to communicate with the gods and can give life a new, higher-level form. But the rules it follows are The culture of the Khitanris, their Taoist magic practice, always emphasizes 'comprehension'."

"I agree with this." Luo Nie nodded and said:

"Just now, for a moment, I seemed to feel that I had transcended three-dimensional time and space, and entered the realm where the 'Lord of Machines' mentioned that their earlier gods lived, entering a higher dimension. This feeling is very strange. , it seems that it will not only upgrade me by one or two levels, but give me the ability to touch 'reason', understand 'reason', and even transform 'reason'.

"Perhaps this is the 'comprehension' jointly promoted by the Taoist Religion and the older country to the southwest of the Fire Empire?"

"Using 'comprehension' to describe it still seems narrow." Varvaf commented:

"Captain Marko told me that the 'understanding' proposed by the prologue cards is not enough to describe the grandeur and ineffability. Thousands of years of history tell us that the culture of Khitanris is closer to the ethereal and mysterious promoted by the old gods. Unpredictable but enough to arouse a sense of curiosity.”

"How to understand?"

"The 'Tao' they believe is indescribable yet omnipresent, powerless yet capable of controlling everything. Your body, your spirit, your destiny and your future are all following a set trajectory that is difficult to predict. Move forward. These may be 'half-lived and half-dead cats'. You can only be sure if you are in the position of an 'observer', but they will tell you that there has long been a force that has occupied the absolute and undisputed position of the 'observer'. Location." Valvar explained:

"But unlike the atmosphere created by the old gods, the Khitanris encourage you to understand it as much as possible, 'comprehend' it, and then try to control it, and finally achieve a feeling called 'enlightenment'.

"But from a rational point of view, if you want to achieve this state, you must first have a strong magic source and extraordinary power as a foundation, then go through countless wrong paths, accept the fate of failure calmly, and continue to learn after countless attempts. , absorb knowledge, and eventually naturally enter a situation of comprehensive understanding."

"So, as long as you do this, even without contacting the gods, you can naturally enter the state just now, without relying on the guidance of the gods?" Luo Nie opened his palms and stared at the "生" emblem in his hands, confused.

"Of course." Varvaf's answer was decisive, "First of all, I don't recommend that you try to use the power of the 'Life' emblem again, at least until the secret of the 'Evolution Platform' is completely revealed, and before you see what you are seeing. Before the person you want to see.

"Second, it belongs to the Khitanris. Before you fully understand their culture, it will cause unpredictable damage to your spirit. Since now, our power can temporarily avoid its fate of destruction, then you can Let’s keep it first and wait for the opportunity for the ‘big railway’ to open up again and go to the East.”

"Dongfang?" Luo Nie murmured:

"Perhaps after finding Wright Sugra, I might go there, that mysterious and hopeful country."

"Our war may fail." Valvar patted Ronie on the shoulder and added:

"It may last for a long time, but if it leads to the most tragic ending, the ending of destruction together, I and Captain Marco hope that you can escape from here and survive until the end."

Before Varvaf could finish his words, a loud rumble came from the top of the main square.

The two looked up, and saw a fireball emitting intense heat that spread outwards in a limited manner, and the light it emitted almost illuminated the entire large square.

Fortunately, the explosion only opened up a small area, but it was accompanied by several chains extending downward. Soon, a group of slightly petite people wearing black masks and cotton-padded clothes jumped from the top one after another and landed in the center of the large square.

There were about twenty or thirty people.

They are basically equipped with weapons.

In addition to the common "CK-47" rifles, "Shadow" brand submachine guns, "Ice Shadow" brand rifles, "Purple Thunder" rifles, and "Ice Tiger" brand single-shot rifles, there are also rare "Federal Double-Headed Eagle Rifles" ” and “ Shield Pistol ” to name a few.

There are even larger destructive weapons such as "Sunflower" rocket launchers. In short, they have different styles, different uses, and the configuration is very scattered.

Seeing Ronie and Varvav, the group of people quickly approached, and they all raised their guns and pointed them at their heads.

But with the magic power and the aura of "sadness" emanating from their bodies, coupled with their costumes and weapons, the two Luo Nie quickly understood that they belonged to the Lost Organization.

After a slight pause for a second, before the leader of the Lost Man could speak, Luo Nie quickly took out the "Crazy Bear" pistol from his waist, pointed it at the leader's heart, and pulled the trigger.