Wasteland Echoer

May 16th, 557th year of the New Lunar Calendar.

Crusted Federation, in the western part of the Extreme Cold Zone, at the junction of Area S and Area W (Old Water Valley Area), abandoned villages and settlements.

The warm light from dawn dissipated the chill that had accumulated on the ice sheet for thousands of years and brought some warm wind. However, before noon, sudden dark clouds dominated the sky, bringing an oppressive dark atmosphere.

After driving for more than a month in the desolate ice fields of the extreme cold zone, "Wind Mine" and "Future" are leaning against a dilapidated wall and a tall but dry giant tree, lighting a bonfire, preparing to take a short rest and continue Head north.

In front of them was a semi-old "Corona 1" mechanical combat vehicle. When escaping from Xinfeng Town, he and "Future" snatched it from federal soldiers in the chaos. If it was still the flashy "Kachi" If it's a brand-name car, I'm afraid it will be scrapped before it goes very far.

Although this trip is not much different from previous explorations to the north, it is just as long and just as hard.

But this time, he and "Future" both left the federal stronghold as "wanted persons" and fled north for their lives.

They met several semi-lost "relic hunters" a few days ago, and learned from those people that after "Wind Mine" escaped, the "New God" was forced to come out of the mountain and was attacked by the federal chief executive and the new chairman of the Federal Council. The highest personal audience with Vasily.

Those semi-lost people who have been away from the capital for almost two months are very disgusted with the cooperation between the lost organization and the federation. After all, deep down in their hearts, the lost people have long been different from humans. No matter how harmonious they are on the surface, they will reject it from the bottom of their hearts. .

"Feng Mine" naturally understands this deeply. After all, he was deceived by Mo Lun's "Hongmen Banquet" just now. He also knew that the cooperation between the "Order Society" and the Federation would not last long.

After all, "Yin Min" who wanted to repay Vasily with all his heart was dead. Next, as long as there is even a slight conflict between the two's core interests, this seemingly unbreakable alliance will fall apart in an instant.

"Wind Mine" who chose to rescue "Future" and escape together was indeed gambling to escape a possible purge of the lost people who cooperated.

But in fact, the "Order Society" has classified them as "defectors". During the journey, "Wind Mine" not only could not get any help, but on the contrary, in addition to fighting "alien monsters", he also had to evade Attacks by former "friends" and henchmen.

In addition, due to its previous cooperation with the Federation, "Wind Mine" has also cooperated with the Federation Legion on many occasions to attack hostile Lost Groups and "Independent Arms".

In this vast, lifeless realm, he was besieged on all sides, isolated and helpless, and with enemies lurking around him, he had no choice but to move forward cautiously and on thin ice.

Fortunately, this settlement that was once built at the junction of the two districts has long been deserted. From observation, "Wind Mine" judged that this place may have been abandoned 5-10 years ago.

From a distance, the houses here are all made of pointed logs and belong to the customary construction pattern of the Crusted Federation. Except for the occasional promotional slogans on the gray walls, almost all of the structures are intact and rarely collapse.

Their surfaces are only occupied by dust and dead branches, full of mottled traces of time, but there are no scars from gunfire. The residents obviously moved away voluntarily due to resource shortages or war pressure.

There was no snow on the streets anymore, and they were filled with low weeds.

As traces of humanity disappeared, cultivated farmland became desolate and repaired fortifications fell into disarray.

It seems that the Federal Council has not been operating here for too long, the traces of steam civilization are not clear, and agriculture is not very developed. It is estimated that in the near future, this place will be completely "returned" to the "Lord of the Earth".

Seeing the dark clouds above his head gathering more and more closely, accompanied by the occasional thunder and lightning, "Wind Mine" quickly finished the meat in his hand, stood up, prepared to extinguish the fire, and took "Future" to find an abandoned house to take shelter for a day.

But looking around, "Wind Mine"'s face quickly darkened. He sniffed the abnormal smell in the air hard, and a trace of panic flashed in his eyes.

"'Future', get up and let's go." He pulled up "Future" and urged.

"What's wrong, Brother Feng Mine?" "Future" stood up in confusion and asked:

"It's going to rain soon. It's safer to stay in the village. Further north, there will be fewer and fewer abandoned settlements, and it will be more dangerous."

"It won't be safer to stay here. We need to leave quickly, right now, quickly!" "Wind Mine" urged, walking straight towards the "Corona 1" mechanical combat vehicle.

"Do you want to run away?" A child's voice appeared in their ears.

"Wind Mine" took out his pistol and looked around vigilantly. The voice was particularly ethereal and deep, like a resentful soul. It seemed to be coming from all directions, and it was impossible to determine its location.

Moreover, although "Wind Mine" and "Future" both immediately mobilized the magic source power in their bodies to detect each other, it seemed that the order of the demon source on the opposite side was higher than the two of them. Even though they were concentrated enough, the magic source power was not there. Bring any feedback.

"Are you looking for me?" The ethereal children's whisper came again. I don't know whether it was the blessing of the magic source or the other party deliberately taking off his disguise. A dark bird appeared not far away from "Feng Mine" and "Future". shadow.

If you look closely, it looks like a ghost wandering outside the area. From the pure black outline, you can only slightly see the shape of the child.

"Come out, don't hide there and try to do some sinister things!" "Wind Mine" yelled angrily.

"Insidious?" The black shadow in front of him got closer and closer, and the voice became real enough. "Compared to you, Mr. Feng Mine, we can only be regarded as poor people born in the dark realm."

"Who are you?" "Feng Mine" asked in the most stern tone.

"Oh, take a look quietly, our Mr. Wind Mine." The black shadow did not answer directly. As he gradually faded away his black disguise, he teased in a weird tone:

"Aren't you a popular figure in front of the Federal Council? Aren't you a careerist who is preparing to succeed 'Yin Min' and enter the great and supreme Federal Council? Why, are you so slovenly now? I heard that when you were in Binglin City, you Lovely is clean, look at it now, you can smell a stink from far away.”

"'Chaos Group'? Or 'Comprehension Sect'? I don't remember there being such an rude kid like you in the 'Order Society'." "Feng Mine" guessed.

But the black shadow in front of him didn't give him any response, and just stopped more than ten meters away.

With a cold snort, "Wind Mine" inserted the pistol back into his waist, used the fingertips of his right hand that glowed green to draw a simple pattern of magic source power in the air in front of him, whispered in his mouth, and recited a spell in the language of the Sune Empire. :

"The strong wind empowers quick thinking, the vegetation dispels the darkness of confusion, the light of truth gives insight, and the truth is glimpsed behind the dark fog."

A green halo spread outward from the center of the "Wind Mine". After passing through the black shadow, it actually stirred up bright silver starlight like dust.

Immediately afterwards, these stars exploded one after another, completely removing the shadow disguise of the young man in front of him.

Behind the black shadow in front of "Wind Mine" is indeed a child, similar in body shape to "Future", about 1.4 meters tall, and his eyes, nose and other facial features are no different from those of ordinary Crusted teenagers.

The face was very harmless, with a very fair and childish background, but it was limited to the left half.

The right half is covered with a twisted pattern of eyeballs and tentacles related to the old gods, and a scar runs through it, as if the half of the face is split from it.

In addition, six squirming, pink flesh-colored tongue-like tentacles protruded from the boy's back.

They are covered with viscous liquid, with purple eyeballs the size of human heads growing at their roots, and their tips are covered with hard strips of bone, forming sharp claw-like weapons.

In the cold environment, the young man only wore a black classical magician's robe, and his bare hands and feet wore four ring-shaped wristbands, with streams of thick red liquid flowing out from them, like a gurgling stream.

"It is indeed very strong, 'Wind Mine', but that's it." The young man stared at "Wind Mine" with his brown eyes, and said with a subtle smile on his lips:

“In the past, relying on the power of the ‘Order Society’, you could act as a traitor to the Lost and kill any uncooperative organization.

"But now, you are just a wandering mouse, but the leaders of the 'Chaos Group' and the 'Comprehension Sect' want to give you a chance to change your ways. As long as you kneel down to us, repent of your mistakes, and become our Slave, then you have a chance for forgiveness and redemption.”

"What if I don't?" Feng Kuang asked.

"Then use these tentacles to pierce your heart, hollow out your brain, crush your internal organs, and break your bones. But don't worry, after knocking you down, I will inject you with a 'cardiotonic drug' so that you will not Die so soon.

"We will cut off your flesh bit by bit, along with the broken bones and internal organs, and chew and bite them bit by bit until you fall into hell." The boy's voice turned deep and mixed with anger.

"So awesome." "Wind Mine" smiled disdainfully:

"Even if I am abandoned by the 'Order Society' and the Federation, it does not mean that you can despise me. Are the 'Chaos Group' and the 'Comprehension Sect' already in such bad shape? Just send a child to kill me. I guess , you must be out of talent and out of business."

Facing the ridicule of "Wind Mine", the young man was obviously a little angry. His face quickly darkened and he argued in a low voice:

"I'm afraid you still don't know my identity, 'Wind Mine'. In fact, there are almost no lost people within the two organizations who can fight with you. You are the leader of the 'Order Society', a lost person of Order 4. And I, Gleb Dacris, am also one of the leaders of the 'Chaos Group'.

"You probably have never known my existence, but you will soon feel the pain from the 'old days'."

Gleb said, suddenly twitching two tongue-like tentacles and shooting out a black sphere.

Fortunately, "Wind Mine", which was surging with the force of the wind-type magic source, had enough agility to pull "Future" and easily sideways to avoid the impact.

However, the hit "Corona 1" mechanical chariot quickly decayed and aged, and in an instant, only an old, dilapidated, rusty, and vicissitudes of metal frame was left.