Wasteland Echoer

July 10th, 557th year of the New Lunar Calendar.

Crusted Federation, Iceland Province, Iceland City, "Scream of Steel Flame" palace, top floor of "Ape Domain Main Hall", "Chief Executive's Office".

Originally, during this month, except for the extreme cold zone, most of the other territories with a temperate continental climate had entered the blazing summer.

But the strange thing is that since the Federal Council ordered a large number of troops to be transferred to the extreme cold zone to carry out the most critical military operation in recent years, the temperature in various parts of the federation, especially in the Ice River Province, has plummeted.

The ancient bronze bell of "St. Ivan's Cathedral" in the central area of ​​the city has just rung twelve times. Human beings who should be radiated by the hot sunlight do not feel any warmth. Instead, they feel an extreme energy, as if coming from the underworld. The discordant coldness of the place.

Dark clouds gather together and form a black fuel, smeared on the gray canvas. The noon wind stirred and the thunder roared. In less than a moment, it completely covered up the brilliance of the eternal sun, creating a day-like night landscape.

Kuka, holding a rolled-up flag in his hand, walked quickly to the office area of ​​the palace and approached the gate.

He looked up at the sky. The area where the lightning flashed, combined with the accumulation of clouds, made Kuka feel as if there was an evil, indescribable monster with seven or eight tentacles lurking in it, opening its bloody mouth. The black teeth were exposed, as if they were going to devour all life in the most cruel way.

Taking a deep breath and swallowing, Kuka walked quickly up the stairs that had been cleaned many times and were still stained with dirt and subtle red marks that could not be removed all year round.

He deliberately put on a white shirt today, so he did not dare to get close to the railings that were still mottled with rust even though they were polished.

Halfway up the stairs, Kuka took a rare breath and rested against the wall for a while, but his eyes were fixed on the huge windows that had been built in the Second Era.

This is the pattern that was designed when the palace, now converted into the Federal Council Office Building, was built.

It is wrapped in two sides of tempered glass, and the inside is an exquisite pattern of metal bent and folded together.

Although the Federal Council has not been able to completely solve the "unintentional crisis" after the New Year, almost every chief executive has no flaws in his personal ethics. Even the most greedy David Rulick remained the same before his death. They chose to donate the hoarded goods and new rubles to homeless people in several large cities in the provinces of Ice and Water.

I don't know whether it was due to overwork or something else, but when the brief and subtle sunlight burst out from the gaps in the dark clouds and shined directly at the huge window, Kuka discovered that the window seemed to have briefly turned into a window that had been developed during the peak period of the old empire. The screen that receives the projector image.

The left side is a golden brilliance, reflecting the simple figures of hundreds of human dragons, Emperor Crusted holding the sacred weapon, and humans setting sail to explore the ocean, as well as the round, unadorned sun at the top.

The right half is the last resistance of the dragons in the "Karlov's End War". The human warriors are holding sharp swords, and the two giant dragons are leaning against the mottled stone pillars that are about to collapse. But at the bottom, there is A dragon egg is pierced by thorns, and the wheel of fortune is almost out of the picture.

The dim environment, the palace that had not been significantly renovated in a century, the winding gas light pipes on the walls, and the bright and dark paintings made Kuka feel a little dazed for a moment.

After the somewhat pitiful sunlight dissipated, he shook his head vigorously to dispel the strange feeling.

Finally reaching the top floor of the palace, he briefly joked with the two Vasily's personal security guards who were guarding there, then knocked on the wooden door and walked into Vasily's office.

"Have you brought anything, Kuka?" Vasily asked impatiently as soon as he entered the door.

"That's it, Master Vasily. This is made by the best tailor in Binglin City overnight." Kuka said, after closing the door, he spread out the flag in his hand and placed it on the simple wind wood used to receive guests. On the table.

Straightening up, Vasily stood up from his seat, bent down and looked at the flag carefully for half a minute, then wiped away the seriousness and coldness on his face, nodded with a satisfied smile, stroked the flag and said:

"What an excellent piece of work, Kuka."

"Yes, Master Vasily." Kuka responded, pointing to the pattern on the flag and introducing:

"This flag is made of red cloth, replacing the old empire's yellow national flag, or the three-color royal flag. It not only reflects that we are breaking the so-called 'divine right of kings' of the old empire, and 'the emperor is the slave of God' The untimely statement better reflects the unity and struggle of mankind.

“Of course, it also expresses the federation’s highest long-cherished wish, which is to eliminate all injustices that dominate people, and after the New Year crisis is over, create a new era in which people from all over the world coexist harmoniously, no one is oppressed, and there is peace, prosperity, security, and friendship. .”

"That's natural, and that's why our predecessors were able to replace the old empire so quickly and establish the new federation. However, Kuka, I hope that the 'harmonious coexistence of people' includes various types of superpowers." Those, but don’t include the lost.” Vasily said with disdain:

"They will always need ideological edification and education to completely transform their spiritual world that has been eroded by evil spirits, so that they can completely transform into superpowers and be accepted by us. Their extraordinary power has given them species-level contempt and a sense of superiority towards us. The pain they suffered before the mutation left them with nowhere to vent their anger, and they usually go to extremes when thinking about problems.

"Not to mention the other lost people who oppose the Federation, let's just talk about the lost people of the 'Order Society' who cooperate with us. When all the 'evolution platforms' are activated, we will have enough energy to eliminate the 'Heartless People' and start the 'Restart Era' , I will personally invite them to the capital, and let them understand responsibility, fraternity, justice and courage by guiding them to regain their humanity." Vasily said, sighed and shook his head:

"We cannot completely expel them physically from the world, so only by transforming them into the 'qualified superpowers' we expect can we completely end this race contaminated by the 'Heartless Virus' and end their existence. By then. , they are no longer the lost ones who bring evil and irritability, I hope that they can become human beings."

"Master Vasily, you are so great." Kuka admired from the bottom of his heart:

"You do not agree to directly eliminate them with physics, nor do you want to completely exclude them from the human world. Instead, you give them the right to be 'born as humans' through transformation. In this way, we will not move towards the future. The Nirvana people's twisted dream of 'paradise', the Ptoa people's injustice in segregating foreign races, and the Khitanris people's fearless sacrifice in fighting to the end. Transformation, compared to deliberate assimilation, can better reflect the greatness of the Federation.

"By the way, Lord Vasily, look. The yellow sword edge on this flag symbolizes our upholding the power of light and cutting off the shackles of the night, and this double-headed eagle is an eternal symbol of Crusted culture. , and we insist on it forever.”

"That's right." Vasily nodded, quite satisfied with Kuka's explanation.

"So..." Kuka continued pointing to the content of the flag and said:

"The soaring double-headed eagle represents the federation's absolute strength to end the New Dollar crisis, while the outstretched claws represent the Federal Council that coordinates everything. We grab the sword, with the blade pointed upward, pointing directly at the gods, which means that we do not believe in anything The main demon elves and the gods of light and darkness are not so-called vassals created by the Creator, but truly independent individuals.

"We do not rely on the emperor of the old empire or the so-called sequential gods. Instead, we use the most praiseworthy courage and power of mankind to fight continuously until we achieve the final victory. This flag of 'Eagle Claws and Blades' is exactly what we want." All Cruxed humans conveyed this message:

"The supreme principle hangs on the edge of the sword, and the eternal fate hangs between humans. Gods actually do not exist, ancient powers do not exist, and creators do not exist. If they existed, it would be impossible for humans to Trapped in the quagmire of crisis and wasteland, if they existed, they would have appeared to save us long ago. Therefore, if we want to end the crisis and win, we can only rely on ourselves as humans."

"It's exciting enough, Kuka." Vasily applauded and praised:

"You are still as determined as ever, which is good. It shows that you have not been corrupted by the lost ones. With this new flag..."

Vasily said, picked up the new flag of "Eagle Claw Sword Edge", said firmly, and then asked:

"We are indeed not far from the final victory. Kuka, do you know why this summer is not as hot as before?"

"I don't know, Master Vasily." Kuka replied, coughing a few times to relieve the dryness of his mouth caused by the excessive excitement just now.

"They also know that the key to activating the most critical 'evolution platform' is a 'device limit' technological device. The last one of it is at the bottom of the 'Bitter Relics' where Ivan 22 is buried. The location of this great emperor." Vasily explained:

"So, the lost people lurking in various cities in the western provinces, the lost people wandering in the wild, and the careless people under their control are constantly being transported to the front lines of the extremely cold zone. The 'Sorrow of Deep Bitterness' is a game that determines the relationship between mankind and The war over the fate of the Lost Ones for the next hundred years has only just begun.

"As for the so-called evil gods that the lost people are concerned about, that is, the superpower Light Sugra from Zine, the so-called god 'Lord of Eternal Red', as well as the sequential monsters that may exist in the wind wall in the ruins. Not our focus.

"Kuka, you and I are very interested in the culture of Khitanris, so naturally you have played a chess game they designed that has been around for thousands of years, right?"

"You mean, Go?" Kuka asked.

"That's right, Go. This kind of permutation and combination surpasses all the atomic number games in the universe and has its endless charm. The entire 'Evolution Platform Plan' is just a carefully designed chess game. We are in charge of the white chess piece. On one side, the loser is the one holding the black chess piece. Now, the layout stage of this chess game has been completed and is about to enter the most intense battle in the middle game." Vasily said, stood up, stared at the federal map in front of him, turned his back to Lorca ordered:

"The previously reproduced old empire's 'Electromagnetic Pulse Rifle' and 'Multiple Laser Cannon' weapons can be put into actual combat testing. I estimate that there should be one or two hundred [soldiers] who have received training in 'weapon use'. You, Kuka, tomorrow Just set off and take them and their equipment to the camp near the 'man-made lake'.

"I estimate that, except for the 'Ice Blade', the Lost Ones who control powerful extraordinary powers should soon arrive in the Extreme Cold Zone and join them. I have no doubts about the 'Order Society' group, and the 'Half-Dragon Man' Ya Daroni is not at ease, besides, I want to see with my own eyes the power of technology created and controlled by humans to defeat evil, sin, and backward magic."