Wasteland Echoer

…

After an unknown amount of time, Wovya, who was physically strong, was the first to wake up from the coma.

He looked around. Except for the faint light behind him, which seemed to exist outside of consciousness, seeping out from the steel-like stacks, the place was almost dark, lingering with ghostly dim colors, and filled with a choking atmosphere. of dust and a plant-like dampness.

Wulfya, who barely stood up holding on to the dry rock wall, bit his thumb hard. The severe pain and slight fishy smell made him feel a little relieved. After all, this was enough to prove that he was completely conscious.

After moving his hands and feet for a while, Wulfya breathed a sigh of relief. The tentacles summoned by the "mechanical dog-headed" monster just knocked him away, and his body was not affected by the explosion except for a few scratches in some places.

Through a little memory he saw in mid-air before comatose, Wofya deduced that this location at the end of the woods, between the desert and the water source, might be the location where several of the already-explored routes into the "Bitter Depth Ruins" were located. Cave.

If you are now in the area where the "Bitter Relics Ruins" belongs, the situation will not be too good.

After all, according to the information currently available to humans and the Lost, both sides have not dared to rush into this land where the former emperor of the old Crusted Empire, Ivan 22, is buried after such a long period of analysis and preparation. The world once organized scientific experiments here to dig a "tunnel" into the "so-called underworld".

According to the data, the closer you get to the core area, especially the "lowest bottom" as the Lost One calls it, the more intense "sorrow" it will become.

Since the death of Ivan XXII and his burial here, this place has condensed the twisted emotions from the infinite unknown realm that were either vicious, sad, horrifying, or sad during the long period of two epochs. These obscure, The obvious danger is more sinister than all the filth in the realm of human control, and it is enough to blaspheme any gentle thing and make it manic, crazy, sad, angry and hysterical.

Wulfya decided to escape with Dak and the others before the "sadness" here eroded his human body, and did a simple mental check after returning to the federal army's tent camp in the "man-made lake".

Thinking of this, Wulfya first determined the direction of the light seepage. After all, if this was indeed a cave, the place with the light source would be the exit.

Immediately afterwards, he touched his waist. Although the "KLSD-22" rocket launcher was missing, the only weapon he had was a "Northern Bear", but that one was not half the size of his palm. The "Improved Yongguang Flashlight" was not damaged.

After all, this is the latest product produced by the "Old Weapon Reproduction Team" under the Federal Council's Strategic Group. The material of the "Ivan 22" aluminum alloy is enough to withstand "Fire of Punishment" level attacks.

Pulling the switch that glowed with a weak but strong red light spot, the "flashlight" flashed for a few seconds, then emitted a huge light that was close to half daylight level.

Looking around, in the environment dominated by rocks, he finally found Luo Nie and Dak beside a rusty and worn iron escalator connected to a semi-frozen rock wall, and about seven or eight meters to the right. , on the staircase under some exceptionally smooth and clean old earth-colored stone slabs, Wofya discovered Abena curled up on top of her Krusted style robe that had been scratched, exposing some of her pure body.

"Dak? Abena? Ronai?" Wulfya shouted, running forward to check the situation one by one.

Fortunately, Dak and Luonie were only slightly injured and woke up quickly under Wulfya's shaking.

When a few people walked near the stone slab and Wofya picked up Abena, although Abena came to life after taking a few deep breaths, what was not good was that there was a bone-deep mark on his neck. Wound.

If it weren't for the unique physical qualities of the Lost, I'm afraid Abena would have gone to meet the rightful owner and God.

"You're injured, Abena." Dak said with concern, and quickly took out a bottle of alcohol from the inside of the cotton combat uniform, and also took out a small bag of sugar and a few pieces of military gauze.

After all, for humans, the "unintentional virus" still exists in the blood of the lost, and they can be infected if they are exposed to too much, but usually through bites, scratches, or direct contact with blood. If it is normal life and contact There is no danger. This is one of the reasons why the top brass of the Federal Council do not completely exclude the Lost.

But now he is in the "Bitter Ruins", and for a while there is no "Federal Agent No. 0" on hand to prevent or detoxify. Duck has no choice but to pour alcohol on Abena's neck to disinfect it, and then apply it. White sugar, wrapped with gauze for emergency treatment.

After feeling no more blood seeping out, Dak asked the doubts in his heart:

"Abena, isn't the wound healing speed of you Lost more than three hundred times that of humans? Why is there still such a deep wound?"

"I don't know." Abena shook his head, looked around the surrounding space illuminated by the flashlight, closed his eyes slightly, feeling the rich shuddering, nauseating and manic atmosphere in the air, and speculated:

"Perhaps 'sorrow' is too strong."

"How to say?" Duck asked.

"The magic power and burning liquid in my body constitute the basic power to repair the body. I remember that before I fell into coma, the beam of light and those tentacles did not touch my skin at all. I think it was probably caused by the rocks when I fell here. It's scratched.

"The 'Bitter Relics' not only bury many great and unyielding souls, but also communicate with the 'underworld' where those arrogant, violent, cowardly, insidious, cunning and hypocritical ghosts gather. There are thousands more here. The aura of despair of laborers who suffered and eventually died for Ivan XXII's so-called 'projects related to the universe'.

"Their existence pushed the 'sorrow' to the extreme, suppressing the fire-based magic power that was burning in my body, and also restrained the operation of the 'burning liquid'. Moreover, I could feel... inside the object that scratched my neck. The 'sorrow' is too strong and it is eroding my body."

"Then it looks like we have to get out quickly." Wulfya said with concern:

"Can you still move? Abena."

After shaking his arms, Abena felt fine, but when he moved his legs, he felt a paralysis that almost paralyzed his lower limbs. After struggling for a few times, Abena, who looked like a turtle with his belly facing up, chose to give up. , said with a helpless look:

"It probably won't work, Wulfya."

"Then I'll carry you."

Wofya said, handed the flashlight to Dak and then picked up Abena. For Wofya, who is two meters tall, huge and muscular, Abena with a child's physique will not cause much damage. A burden, to others, is as easy as picking up a piece of clothing.

After standing up, Wulfya did not forget to turn his head to look at Luo Nie who had mistakenly entered this place with them, and said in a voice as thick as rock:

"I'm sorry, Luo Nie, it's our federal army that has put you in trouble. But you know the current situation well. We can work together to find a way, but there is still hope of getting out of trouble. If you leave alone to find a way to the outside world, I'm afraid Either they will be driven crazy and self-mutilate by 'Shang' in the end, or they will be captured and devoured by inexplicable creatures. I hope you understand the truth. Truly outstanding people will not complain about the difficulties of any environment. They will choose to go together, temporarily abandon their differences, and move forward hand in hand. "

"Of course." Luo Nie's voice was slightly hoarse and he responded in a green voice:

"This was originally a disaster for me. Since none of you have complained, I won't either. There is an old saying among the Khitan people: 'Cooperation creates a win-win situation, and disagreements lead to a lose-lose situation.' Moreover, Igor also told me that in a state of 'sadness' If there are people walking together in a place with a strong concentration of 'sex', it will generate an electromagnetic field belonging to human beings, which can counteract some of the erosion of 'sad' on the brain."

"Just understand." Wulfya breathed a sigh of relief and nodded:

"When I wasn't using the flashlight just now, I saw some bright light on the left. According to my inference, this place should be not too far from the cave entrances of the 'Kuchen Ruins'. You should be able to find a way out quickly by walking that way. , let’s go.”

Although the light of the "Improved Everlight Flashlight" is indeed bright enough in a dark and dim space, the bluish bright light does not reach the softness of daylight, and there is a strange feeling that the surrounding things are covered with a layer of cyan.

As we walk through the straight passage, the surrounding rocks, remaining rusty iron frames, damaged stone roads and fixed spaces have become scorched black. The crumbling wooden products seem to have experienced a strange experience that transcends time and space. Chaos superimposed.

Walking along, it seems that you are constantly jumping to different eras of the Krusted Empire. As you continue to move forward, slogans written in Krusted from different periods appear on the walls. Red, green and yellow are intertwined. Although they have become dim, they have become It's incomplete, but you can still get a glimpse of the optimism of the people who worked hard to build these passages at that time.

"The Lord's blessing, the great Crusted Empire."

"The emperor ascended to heaven along this road, and the builders can also escape to heaven."

"Labor is fighting, **(words are incomplete) is victory."

"The rest of a great monarch will protect the great empire for thousands of years..."

Looking around, Luo Nie's mind seemed to have a surge of ancient memories that seemed to belong to him, but also didn't seem to belong to him. Wrapped up by these dusty words, he felt a sense of chaos, as if he was in the booming world of the third era. , the "Great Era" in which mechanical civilization flourished and the steel beasts of the Krusted Empire controlled half of the continent.

This is a prosperous civilization, an ancient civilization, an...interrupted civilization.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, when the surrounding rock walls were gradually covered with complex, winding rusty metal pipes and a steel mesh that served as a fixation, Wulfya, Dark and Luonie stopped.

In front of them was a huge door, and the light that seemed to belong to the outside world came from a keyhole-shaped part in the center of it.