Wasteland Echoer

The clear and bright ringing of the bell came from the end of the "Chekavsk Independent Garden" near the city.

This is the twelve o'clock noon bell of the Chekavsk Church.

Crown Prince Evante looked back with some reluctance to gaze at the scattered chamomiles that should not grow in this season, as well as the sunflowers that had not yet produced fruit, and a trace of nostalgia for the light flashed in his heart.

Immediately afterwards, his eyes passed over the Zhnetsk escorts in silver-white uniforms behind him, as well as the security personnel in black suits and pure black masks, and passed several trees left behind by the "Psius Empire" in the center of the garden. The pure white stone pillars gaze towards the sky at last.

There are white clouds floating in the azure background, and pure black crows flying in the sky from time to time making a "husky" sound are very consistent with the tone of this wasteland world.

Reflected on the endless surface of the Mamouse River at the end of the field of vision is the chimney of the "Dark Night Lights" factory not far away that emits limited black smoke.

After stopping for a long time, Crown Prince Evante sighed and said to Aaron, who was standing behind the crowd:

"Aaron, don't go back to the office at the Industrial Heart for now. Come to the top floor of the palace with me. I have something to talk to you about."

"Uh, yes, Your Highness." Aaron bowed and saluted respectfully.

…

At the other end of the garden, past the pure white carved pavilion corridor, is a magnificent palace.

Although it is not comparable in scale to many buildings in Sokra, Zhnetsk, or even Chekavsk itself, this is the place where the crown prince stayed by name, including the old emperor Reka I. Through "Zhixin 01" and When the "Zhixin 02" railway line is making a transfer on the way to Sokra, the palace in Chekavsk will be chosen as much as possible.

For no other reason than because this city was once the capital of the Pusius Empire, and this palace named "Psius's Legacy" was where the royal family of that empire lived.

Two soldiers wearing red and white uniforms and holding rifles with bayonets pushed open the huge pure red cowhide door with neatly arranged brass edges. A tall man in a black suit stepped aside, turned around and invited Aaron into the palace.

Looking at the magnificent buildings around him, as well as the oil paintings depicting various gods and women, as well as the electric lamps that emitted bright light at regular intervals, Aaron followed the crown prince's footsteps upward along the clean marble floor.

Following the "squeak" sound of the mahogany door being pushed open, Aaron took steady steps and entered the transparent, bright and simply decorated medium-sized office room on the top floor.

"Aaron, sit down." Crown Prince Ivante said to Aaron with an unknown smile on his face, pointing to the black leather sofa next to him.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Aaron replied respectfully.

He held the black cane in his hand with both hands, supported it in front of his body, and deliberately slowly and steadily sat on the black sofa that seemed to be made from the skin of some animal contaminated with magic power.

"The situation in Chekavsk...how much do you know so far?" The Crown Prince did not greet Aaron, but went straight to the point.

"Military aspect...or material production aspect?" Aaron asked rhetorically.

"Let's talk about it all," the Crown Prince crossed his arms and looked at Aaron with side eyes and said:

"The upcoming military operation in the Silent Highlands is no longer limited to one or two cities, but is an action of the entire empire. The Church of the Lost now entrenched near the highlands can be regarded as gathering all the lost within the empire. If this operation can If we catch them all, the Empire will solve the problem once and for all, including the tens of millions of unintentional people who have no sense at all.”

"Your Highness, according to the statistics of the city council yesterday," Aaron took out a wrinkled, fairly white piece of paper from his chest and read:

"The remaining number of the city's legion is 25,000. We have taken over the Sokla Legion, the Sokra Guards, and the defeated army of the Lone Wolf Society and other civil cooperation organizations, a total of 5,000 people. The total number of people who can fight is 30,000. The dark night with factory production - There are 100,000 No. 01 rifles and 160,000 Dark Night-02 rifles, with sufficient ammunition. And,"

Aaron turned the paper over and continued reading the text printed on it with a manual printer:

"We have a total of 1,000 howitzers and rocket launchers, 175 fighter jets, 15 airships, and two battleships, the 'Chekavsk' and the 'Mamous'. If it were before the New Year, these weapons would be enough to support a battle. It’s a medium-sized war.”

"Are the supplies sufficient? Give me an approximate figure." Crown Prince Evante asked.

"Enough to last an army for two months in a war." Aaron replied affirmatively.

"Two months, that should be enough to resolve the battle. There are still more than 30,000 people in the old capital of Zhenetsk who will be transported to us on Highway 24 in two days. More than 15,000 people in Donusk have been assembled. You see map."

Crown Prince Ivante stood up from the black leather seat and picked up a pointer-like object supported by steel from the table.

He strode forward a few steps and pointed with his steel pointer at the gray-yellow military map hanging between two rows of bookshelves under the electric lights.

"Look here." Crown Prince Ivante pointed to the top of the map titled "Form Map of Silent Highlands" printed by the "Zhnetsk Military Research Institute" and said:

"To the north of the Silent Highlands is Donusk. The legion has been assembled. To the south is Kofu. Although we experienced a disastrous defeat after being bombarded by the second-level fire of punishment, there are still more than 2,000 people stationed outside the ruins of the old city. To the west It is Migov that has fallen and Chekavsk where we are, the city with the strongest military strength in the empire. And to the east are mountains and deserts without human traces. And Aaron, as far as you know, the Silent Highlands How many people have the Church of the Lost gathered? I heard that they have evacuated all the Lost who were lurking in various stronghold cities in the empire."

"Go back to Your Highness." Aaron stood up slowly with his cane and said:

"About 40,000 to 50,000 people. And most of them are elites, but their target is obviously the god there, the daughter of the Mechanical Yuan." Aaron deliberately threw out the target of the god, taking the opportunity to test the crown prince.

"If you don't count Sugra who is ready to move, and the unintentional people they can control, our numbers are at an absolute disadvantage. But I want to remind you, Aaron, the order of the empire will always be restored by people, not by those who The so-called gods in the fog. Extraordinary things will eventually dissipate into the order built by humans. Only machinery and steel will gain eternal power." The crown prince said with emotion.

"Your Highness," Aaron sat back on the black leather sofa and said in a low and slow tone:

"If it were before the New Yuan Dynasty, I would agree with your point of view infinitely. But those unintentional people, the lost, and even the order monsters appear in front of us all the time, lingering like ghosts. The world of science has still not appeared. , the extraordinary magic is shrouded in front of our eyes. Perhaps you should change your thinking."

"No." The Crown Prince said decisively, with a hint of anger in his eyes:

"My father was addicted to the extraordinary and was attacked by the Heartless and fell into a serious illness. I will use steam machinery to destroy all the Heartless and the Lost, and restore the powerful Sune Empire. As for the so-called sequential god named the daughter of Tool Yuan , of course our empire must control it. As far as I know, she is a humanoid weapon created by the Crusad Empire."

The Crown Prince's expression suddenly changed from anger to admiration:

"It was a powerful empire that pushed the steam age to its peak. The steel behemoths they invented, the powerful artillery, and even the various firearms they created can be regarded as synonymous with power. The Daughter of Tool Yuan is just a creature they created with perpetual energy. It's just a machine. The Lost regard it as a god who can advance in level. Naturally, we can wait for them to be lost in the ruins, divide and surround them, and completely annihilate them. People who admire steam machinery will never do anything stupid, and everything can be controlled by Let science explain it. Even if they are temporarily unspeakable horrors.”

Aaron's lips moved. He wanted to use the Crown Prince's words to argue something, but when the words reached his lips, he could only swallow them back due to his identity.

He thought for two seconds and finally said:

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, you are right. But will you still attend the banquet tonight with those vampires... oh, humans who call themselves vampires?"

Crown Prince Evante did not answer Aaron's question directly. Instead, he walked directly in front of him, making a "click-click" sound on the leather shoes and wooden floor, half-crouched down, and whispered:

"You are my teacher. I don't care which camp you belong to, as long as you serve the empire. This is why I strongly recommended you after the death of the former administrator, the fifth-level Dark Star Kaigu, in battle. No. Under my influence, you are still the leader of the urban opposition party, and no one will notice your existence."

Aaron looked up at Evante's slightly ferocious expression. Even though he was a lost person with powerful abilities who belonged to the ranks of extraordinary people, he still felt the biting cold from the power as if he were in an ice field.

Ignoring the sweat on his forehead, Aaron said tremblingly:

"Thank you... Your Highness. I... will definitely tell those vampires... to demand their loyalty to the empire..."

"This is inevitable." Crown Prince Evante added:

"There are two more things. First, please help me sort out the heraldic information related to the Daughter of Tool Yuan. This is a key. Second, as I told you just now, send a message to Sugra that they I am well aware of the Blood Night Ceremony and closure plan. I advise them not to joke with the citizens of the imperial capital. Of course, if there are traitors, the empire will not forgive them."

"Yes, Your Highness." Aaron said in a cautious tone.

…

Zine Empire, Chekavsk, No. 302, Ever Secret Garden Block, Home of the Blood Tribe.

Aaron, who tried his best to calm down the discomfort caused by his violently beating heart, finally returned to the door of the villa belonging to his private residence in a "Kaci" car.

After driving the car and the driver away, Aaron inserted the copper key into the door lock, turned it half a turn, and pushed the iron door open.

"Mr. Aaron, there is a guest looking for you today. He may have a special purpose. I felt a strong aura of magic power from his body, as if he had just experienced a battle." What came to meet him was his Assistant Kashaeva.

Nominally she is the secretary of the administrator Aaron, but in fact she is responsible for not only the daily work, but also the "daily work" content that belongs to Aaron's life.

"Where is he?" Aaron asked, trying not to give away anything through his facial expressions.

If his "guest" is a lost person who transcends superpowers, or even an upper-level professional, the information he inadvertently reveals may betray his inner thoughts.

After all, he has never invited anyone here these days!

This is a hidden place in the city. Except for the vampires, the lost ones and [Slayer] John, he has never met any human beings here!

"He is waiting for you in the study. Do you need to prepare a weapon? That Wolf pistol?" Kashaeva whispered carefully.

"No need for the time being. If the purpose of the visitor is not clear before a conflict arises, I will become the stupid person described in "The Secret Book"."

With steady and careful steps, Aaron walked across the living room and dining room with a cane, and came to the door of a dark room that was almost incompatible with the entire villa.

After waving Kashaeva away, Aaron felt a stronger aura of magic source power near the open wooden door than the Lost One.

He even felt some strange fluctuations deep in his spirit, like seeing a god.

At this moment, the ancient god Dipser seemed to appear in front of him in the painting, spreading his wings, wriggling octopus-like tentacles, and waving his fist amidst the waves and lightning.

He is a lost person with a pain level of 5, whose profession is [Seducer]. He can be disturbed mentally by some inexplicable magic power near this small study, which really makes him feel a little different.

After taking a deep breath, Aaron muttered a spell composed of the Chinese language of divination, surging up the "dark" magic power in his body as much as possible, walked into the study, and suppressed the unfamiliar magic power and residue. Smell with the smell of fighting, he groped for the gas light switch on the wall.

Snapped!

As the familiar mechanical sound passed through, the dark study room was suddenly filled with bright yellowish light.

Aaron followed the breath and looked towards the red leather sofa on the right. There was a man with some blood stains on his body, wearing a black windbreaker with several cuts made by sharp objects and a hoodie. A pair of black eyes flashed with a strange aura, but He is not a tall "human" in stature.

Seeing Aaron walking in, he tried his best to restrain the magic power and some kind of mental fluctuations that had just been released due to the battle spirit. He stood up slowly, stretched out his right hand stained with mud and blood and handed Aaron a half-new card. The business card with the word "Aaron" written in the middle, said in a voice half hoarse due to the excitement of the battle:

"You are Mr. Aaron, I am Wright Sugra, introduced by Pastor John. I would like to know some information about the Tenin sect, Natasha, the highland gods and the [Order]."

The first official confrontation between Wright and Brother Yato.