Wasteland Echoer

"Die...?" Wright felt as if his head was exploding.

If the Lord of Eternal Red had already died in that oasis area, then... who was the god trapped in the dark palace with Wright? Who was the man fighting with him under the light of the searchlight?

If it is a soul... Could it be that Wright, like the Lord of Eternal Red, has died long ago?

Dozens of complex guesses quickly filled up Wright's brain. Since he had just woken up from a long slumber less than a month ago, his brain could not handle such heavy and complicated guess information.

A few seconds later, a stream of bright red blood gushes out from his nostrils, gurgling down like a stream or a spring. It cuts across the unexpectedly clean silver guard uniform and drips onto the sand at his feet. The blood quickly joins the The surrounding sand and soil merged into one, lost almost all of their moisture, and turned into a group of dark red ticks that seemed to be squirming slightly.

"Sir Wright, what's wrong with you?" "Future" asked with concern, quickly ran to Wright, took out a handkerchief given to him by Thalia, embroidered with strange symbols in silver thread, and handed it to Wright.

It seems that as most of the "old atmosphere" begins to fade away, the "future" has completely lost its fear of the "touch of darkness" behind Wright.

After helping Wright dry up his nosebleed, "Future" comforted Wright and said:

"The Lord of Eternal Red that I saw has indeed become a withered body. If you, Lord Wright, do fight with him, then there are only two possibilities. Either, it is left by the 'old gods' A body formed by condensing power that imitates the activities of the living; or, it is the spiritual body left behind after the death of the god.

"Even if a god is severely injured, it is difficult for him to die immediately, and his body will not be affected by the disappearance of his body in the world. Unless they are imprisoned by the Creator or the 'Old Lord God' from the beginning. Of course, there is another Maybe, it’s this ‘Red Fantasy Ruins’ that will swallow up those who enter.”

"Swallowing the intruder?" The fear in Wright's heart increased a bit. Even though the nosebleed had been stopped, the fear in his heart began to stir like a kettle that was gradually being heated.

He stood up from his kneeling position and expressed his inner uneasiness:

"I'm afraid that not only the Yongchi Lord, but also me may have been devoured. Because, what I see in the Yongchi Lord is not only the gradually increasing 'ancient breath', but also a trace of divinity. I The remaining power of Dipsel in my body told me that the 'Old God' cannot create any divinity, so..."

"So you're afraid of death, right? You're afraid that you're dead, or becoming some kind of earthbound spirit, and will never be able to leave here, right?" "Future" said with a smile:

"But you still exist here. After you said this guess, you still exist, which proves that your guess is wrong. The Creator's 'reason' stipulates that anyone who has died should know that they have died. After the fact of death, it will disappear immediately, the soul will be annihilated, and the existence will be eliminated. This is the self-healing function of the huge system of the universe.

"If you are still worried that you may be swallowed by the 'ancient', you might as well unzip your clothes and touch your heart with your hands to see if it is still... running hotly. In a world eroded by extraordinary power , your eyes, nose, ears, and even your brain will deceive you, but your heart will not.”

"Heart...can't you?" Wright took off his silver guard uniform doubtfully, opened his linen shirt, and reached out to touch his heart.

Sure enough, there was a hot feeling under the rough skin. Wright simply looked at his heart, which was still glowing with azure light, and was "beating" as accurately and rhythmically as a machine.

"Indeed it won't happen, Lord Wright." "Future" walked up to Wright, stretched out his alienated palm and pressed it on Wright's heart, forcibly enduring the temperature from the "ancient power", the magic source power and the "burning liquid", explained:

"Lord Wright, you should have been a lost person... no, a person with superpowers. Haha... Whether you are a lost person or a person with superpowers, there is actually no difference between us. It's just whether we stand on the same side as humans or not. We were forcibly divided into two completely hostile races.

"The biggest difference between the Lost and the Superpowers and humans is the heart. Our hearts do not emit the terrifying red light brought by the burning liquid like the 'Heartless Man', but a gentle blue light. This is a symbol of The brilliance of machinery and technology.”

"I know this." Wright took away "Future"'s palm. He was not used to other people touching his chest. Even those who fought side by side, "there will be 'burning fluid' in the hearts and blood of superpowers." ', but because we have extraordinary powers within our bodies that we can control, we can suppress and utilize them.

"But the heart of a person with superpowers will still turn into a machine and be indestructible. This is the 'reason' added by the Creator when setting up the 'Heartless Man Virus'."

"Master Wright, maybe you already know why our hearts don't deceive us." "Future" walked behind Wright, turned his back to him, and said in a low voice:

"Everything in the universe was created by the Creator, and no power can compete with the supreme 'Power of the Creator.' Even if you are strong, just, correct, and brave, you will turn into dust and disappear in front of His power. With the snap of a finger.”

"Future" said, picking up a withered branch on the ground, slightly driving the dark magic power in the body, and making a snap of his fingers, the branch instantly turned into powder, fell to the ground and merged with the yellow sand. .

"Sometimes I think that maybe Ivan 22 is not as stupid and arrogant as I previously judged. Our hearts have the ability to resist all illusions, which shows that we are indeed evolving." "The future. " Turning around, staring closely at Wright's eight "secret touches" that were squirming slightly in the wind, he said:

"Since the beginning of the Third Age, which is what the Crusaders call the Steam Age, mankind has made major breakthroughs in the industrial field one after another. Steel towers have risen from the ground, and the 'Grand Railway' across the ice and snow wasteland has been successfully opened to traffic. , Air and Space Force combat aircraft roared past, and the metallurgical furnaces continued day and night.

"However, even though humans have already created steamships, they have not successfully opened the real age of navigation."

"I've also been wondering why this is?" Wright murmured in a low voice, a brief memory of reading the history of cities, empires and worlds in the city of Socra in the Zine Empire flashed through his mind.

The roaring steam and the dim light brought him a rare and brief moment of peace without combat missions, but now, he was destined to find it difficult to have such a peaceful time again.

"Future" did not directly answer Wright's question, but instead introduced history:

"The Ptoa people successfully discovered the route from the city of Ptoa, the center of the empire, to the southern capital of the Fire Empire, and once occupied the entire 'Ptoa-Philiga' continent, as well as independence from the mainland. The 'Alan Border', and even the 'Zhongyan Peninsula' in the southern part of the Fire Empire.

"There was once a great navigator named Goyuri Dani. Through a large number of mathematical calculations and navigation measurements, he confirmed that the entire world, that is, the planet we are standing on, is a sphere. In other words, the east side of the continent "Going further east from the Yanhuo Empire's Dongying Province, we should reach not the 'Heimin Islands', but the 'Empire Region' under the jurisdiction of Putoa."

"What you want to say is that in fact, there is still the ocean to the east, and it is getting darker and darker. Ancient books left during the era of humans and dragons describe the existence of continents and underwater worlds where 'ancient' gods live, but there are no people Can we really get there, right?" Wright asked, relying on long memories.

"Indeed, and..." "Future" reached out and stroked the "secret touch" that had drooped down Wright's back, feeling the complex lines and armor-like texture on it, and replied:

"Moreover, Goyuri did see the archipelago with 'ancient plants' through the voyage telescope, but he was still unable to get the ship to land. In the end, when their fleet was rescued by the people of the Flame Empire on the Heimin Islands , those people clamoring to explore the "ancient world" of the East are all crazy.

"I think it's because their will is so strong that they really see the true face of the 'old gods'. You know, those of us who often borrow the power of the 'old gods' can only peek through dreams and hallucinations. their existence.

"So, even if the entire Steam Age is over and human technology allows them to travel in the sky and peek into the universe where the Creator lives, they will not be able to enter the real ocean age and find all the land that exists on this planet."

"Future" said, walked up to Wright, gave him a firm look, and continued:

"But now, I believe that we 'newly created humans', including the lost and those with supernatural powers, already have the ability to resist the 'old'. Our spirits will not be overly affected by extraordinary powers, and we can Use the magic cast by the Creator to work with them...or fight.

"As long as we can reach the east, the Khitanris people..."

Before "Future" could finish speaking, a roar of thunder that resounded throughout the world appeared behind the two of them, nearly piercing their eardrums and causing the entire desert realm to begin to shake uncontrollably.

When the roaring stopped, Wright discovered that a flesh-colored, bumpy tentacle, stained with a sticky scarlet substance and exuding a strong rotten smell, had penetrated the throat of "Future", leaving him with a horrified look for help. There was a weird "snoring" sound coming from below. (End of chapter)