Wasteland Echoer

"Era 125: The reason why humans are an intelligent race is because of adventure and exploration. When slash-and-burn farming replaces drinking blood, the roar of machinery replaces agriculture, forestry and nomadic herding, and the reverence for nature turns into endless demands, only then can humans truly control this world. A piece of land. But beyond the earth, oceans, forests, mountains and ice fields, there are stars!" - "The Secret Book" (Motto of the Sunida Explorers Association)

The Sunida Explorers Association has a history of at least 150 years. It was established by a private organization during the period of Tou I of the Zine Empire. It was officially recognized after Reka I issued the "Imperial Exploration Regulations" when he first came to the throne a few years ago. , the Explorers Association has gradually become a major feature of Sunida Town.

There are countless organizations in the wasteland world that have broken away from the human empire or federation. Most of them explore wasteland ruins, city ruins, and even some that were isolated from the world before the New Age to avoid being invaded by "viruses" and "mysterious extraordinary forces". villages as targets.

In general, the consistent policy of the Zine Empire is to re-establish order in the wasteland. Although Sokra, as the capital, tends to hide and protect itself, develop the city itself as much as possible, and was the last to go in the Battle of Kofu with minimal losses.

However, other cities in the empire are expanding as much as possible, and rely on the mass production of Potion No. 15 and Potion No. 20 to maximize human survival in the exposed wasteland environment.

About fifteen years ago, the empire tried to organize an official team of explorers, so it chose to require registration of voluntary explorer groups from various places, including the Sunida Explorers Association, Zhinetsk, Chekavsk, Memeli The Explorers Association of the City, Zorin City, and Kusha City have all become semi-official organizations.

The empire publishes adventure directions or tasks in a unified way. Each registered team receives standard weapons and corresponding clothing after receiving them. Then, under the leadership of a mid-level professional recognized by the Zine Empire Professional Alliance, they can obtain rewards after completing tasks or exploring designated areas to find items. .

Similar to a bounty hunter in a sense, but due to its official nature, most empires need to play a supporting role and undertake some combat tasks when fighting against the Church of the Lost or wandering unintentional people.

In Room 56 of Hotel No. 1155, he collected some of his and Sai's personal belongings, including a large blue travel backpack, a dark red wooden medical kit, and the "Grey Coat of Arms" made under the guidance of "Echoer" , and after packing up the other half of the masks obtained from the auction.

Luo Nie took off his leather jacket, which was stained with some blood and dark oil, and changed back into the robe, cotton coat and black cotton pants he wore when he entered Sunida.

Although the temperature in the Empire will generally get warmer near April of the New Lunar Calendar, in most cases, the temperature in the Empire, which has a temperate continental climate, is like the face of a girl who fascinates men. There is no regular pattern in the transition between high and low temperatures. Word.

Glancing around Room 56, which has a wooden single bed and an old red leather sofa, which is twice the space of an average-sized family bedroom, as well as the rare bathroom that has been cleaned, Luo Nie felt a little reluctant to leave.

After all, Say has made contact with the remaining members of the Tenin sect, and his time in the entire town of Sunida is coming to an end.

After sorting out the belongings he carried with him again and counting the remaining 85.25 yuan in new coins, Luo Nie took out the remaining banknotes with the portrait of the hero Sogra on the front and the cityscape of Sogra on the back, as well as copper or silver banknotes. After putting the high-quality coins casually in his pocket, he took out the telegram sent from the city of Sugra a day ago and called back.

The white paper was headed with the city of Sukra where the telegram was sent and the person named Bude. In the middle were four concise abbreviations. Luo Nie translated as "Green Forest, Holy Relics and Predecessor Arrival", and the tail used blue and Two languages ​​are written in red.

The blue part says "Delivered on March 27" written in Zine Empire language, and the red part says "Sender has paid" in Western Continent Common Language.

After fumbling with the message and thinking for half a minute, Luo Jie coughed a few times with his green throat, looked at the bright world outside the window, sighed, tore the message into pieces, and placed it in the tin trash can aside.

…

After returning the brass key to the old man with gray hair and a hoarse voice as if he had eaten chili pepper, Luo Nie walked along the steam-style cement streets of Sunida Town and passed through the crowded streets of people of all races. After walking down the street, we finally arrived at No. 02 Zhenxin Street, where Say and Rosen were currently located, near the magnificent building of the Sunida Explorers Association.

The last time because Sai was suddenly attacked, Luo Nie did not take a closer look at this huge building with a white base and covered with a light yellow substance that had a strong flavor of the times.

The current time is about 5 o'clock in the evening. From 11:58 when Luo Nie successfully made the "Grey Coat of Arms" and participated in the auction of "Klassen's Mask" to the battle with Rosen Dunwuha, this series of events has made Only more than 5 hours had passed since the intense adrenaline secretion event.

Although Luo Nie's body has been guided by false gods and influenced by hundreds of years of human society, his mechanical core can still support him to maintain long-term physical strength and less sleep.

Standing at the door of the Explorers Association and looking up, the gray-white architectural style of the ancient Central Empire caught his eye.

White stone pillars arranged in a semicircle like a gladiatorial arena support the front of the association, with a dome at the top mixed with green and pure white styles.

The horizontally developed building looks bloated. Counting from bottom to top, the white and yellow building only has four floors.

In addition to the huge "Sun Scarlet Star" flag and "Silver Double-headed Eagle Flag" planted on the top, fluttering in the breeze, declaring the sovereignty of this place, only the various "human beings" coming in and out show its busyness.

Luo Nie, who was carrying a blue travel backpack, walked naturally through the open black iron door.

Walking along the floor tiles carved with sunflower patterns, his ears were filled with messy whispers and footsteps containing various sounds.

There was the clack-clack of military boots, the brisk pace of shoes made from the chemical industry for sports, and the clang of metal feet that had replaced legs with flexible machinery.

Luo Nie's sapphire-like eyes only glanced briefly in the noisy environment.

Immediately afterwards, he passed through the crowd that contained the Lost, human explorers, military personnel, and people with a vampire aura, and walked towards the back door of the hall with a dark passage near the fountain and garden.

After repeatedly confirming the "Temporary Residential Area for Explorers" sign written in Zine Empire and Western Continent Common Language at the top of the passage, Luo Nie followed the kerosene that was lit at regular intervals with a hazy yellow smell and light azure flames. The light passage goes down.

Luo Nie walked to a small metal door with the smell of metal pipes and damp and putrid smells, mixed with the upper smell of sulfides and ammonia produced by the sewage that had not had time to disperse.

After pushing it open with his white right hand, he walked down the narrow passage for almost five floors. After pushing the iron door open again, Luo Nie finally arrived at the residential area that resembled a prison environment.

After walking along the dim passage with some dim light for five or six minutes, Luo Nie finally found the room No. 58 that Sai and Rosen told him.

Push the door open and come in!

"Luo Nie...brother."

Sai's boyish voice reached Ronie's ears from the relatively bright room with two gas lamps lit.

After placing the blue travel backpack on the metal bench beside him, Luo Nie closed the green-painted iron door and walked towards the fairly spacious room that accommodated five wire beds and two broken wooden beds. The table is on the far right side of the room.

Lying on the wire bed there were two children who had just fought with Luo Nie and were injured by the shield formed by his first "Light of Mechanical Spirit".

At this time, the six teenagers or children in the room, including Sai and Rosen, did not wear masks, but instead showed their innocent faces.

"You just told me that all the children here are lost, right?" Luo Nie asked in a feminine voice.

"Yes, but not entirely right." Rosen stood up from Sai and stood behind Luo Nie and said:

"They are all humans with the blood of the Lost. To be precise, they are half-Lost, the product of the combination of humans and the Lost. In more than five hundred years of evolution, although the Wuxin people are no longer human at all, the Lost and the Lost Humans are not reproductively isolated.”

"Also, you are all members of the Tenyin sect, right?" Luo Nie said, sitting next to one of the half-lost children who was still in a coma, reaching out and stroking his head covered with dark black hair, and said :

"You just said that the Tenyin Sect is a sect affiliated with the Church of Hope. It was originally a legal organization. You have never helped the lost people, and naturally you have not helped humans. In my opinion, you belong to the category of wandering between the lost people and humans. The existence on the edge seems to be the same as me.”

"I have brought MB-1499 Klassen's mask. Because of Sai, I can provide it to you for free, but you must tell me the reason." Luo Nie said with his back to Rosen.

"Have you ever learned about the totems and former managers of the Tein Sect?" Rosen asked instead of answering directly.

"We can learn more about it." Luo Nie replied.

"Our totem is called Tengyin. An inverted triangle is formed in the middle of the square along the midpoints of the three sides. There is a six-pointed star in the center of the triangle that fits the sides. The triangle is stable, so it represents caution; the three shapes are intertwined and constrain each other, visually. Difficulty in movement represents slowness; refined lines and common patterns represent knownness.”

"Caution, slowness and knownness are the mottos represented by the totem. And the administrator of our sect is [Goddess of Love] Natasha herself, who is also the former apostle of Pope Hope. However, because of the infamous "City Happiness Act", Ten Apart from sister Natasha, brother Yato, and a nominal manager who abandoned us, the only members of the sect are us, a group of children," Rosen explained.

"Child?" Luo Nie asked with some confusion.

"They are the semi-lost people she took in. But now, in addition to the six of us plus Sai, there are three or four others whose whereabouts are unknown. In addition to these, three more people have been confirmed to have been 'accidentally killed' by the imperial army. Two of them were lost after being lost. Frozen to death in the snow. So after sister Natasha was executed and brother Yato disappeared, as the eldest among us, I chose to accept the mission of the Church of Hope and use the remaining property of the Tenin Sect to purchase this half. Mask." Rosen answered the question Luo Nie just asked naturally.

"I hope the church needs the mask because of the coat of arms on it, right? It's a necessary part to unlock the secret of the Girl of Silent Highlands, right?" Luo Nie guessed.

"That's right. As long as we provide the coat of arms on the mask, even half of it, I hope the church will accept us to live in the highland stronghold and survive with the lost ones. But when it comes to the daughter of Tool Yuan, Sister Natasha is also because He lost his life during a ritual called 'Machine's Chant', which used the body of a member of the Guards named Wright Socra to summon an apostle of the gods."

"Wright Sugra? The so-called [Order], the false god and an old friend in the tavern provided me with this information." Faced with the children in the Tenin sect to which Sai belonged, Luo Nie did not have any feelings for him. Information was exchanged without any precautions.

"The ritual did fail at that time. But Brother Yatuo said that the chooser's diary suggested that the ritual would definitely summon the apostle of the gods, and at least it would bring the mysterious power of red magic source power. The diary showed that the red magic source power was also removed.' The "Confused Song" and the three coats of arms are the key to finding the daughter of the Mechanical Element. He also asked Sai to sneak into the three-story dilapidated building near the smelly ditch in Area Z twice and bring two things to Wright." Rosen said.

"Two things?" Luo Nie asked curiously.

"Sister Natasha learned through divination that the ritual indeed summoned the apostle of the gods, and that after arriving, he would become an [Order]. Brother Yato also wanted to know whether he had really erased Wright's related memories. So let Sai Sneaking in, I placed a test question about order, and a package with a postcard of our Tenin sect’s temporary residence. These were all approved by that bad old man George.

Later, the man named Wright did go to the station, and the divination result of the sequence card was indeed [Order]. But sister Natasha fell into madness in the next few days, and was finally killed by the bad old man George! "Rosen's words were mixed with strong anger.

"But how do you know this so clearly?" Luo Nie asked curiously.

"Sister Natasha gave me her diary a few days before she died, as well as several fragments of the Determinator's diary." Rosen explained:

"Do you... want to see it?"

"Don't look now." Luo Nie shook his head, glanced at the unconscious semi-lost child beside him and said:

"The two children who were... injured by me just now have not yet seen the 'life aura' flowing in the bodies of the lost ones and those who use magic. I want to treat them first and wake them up. The magic power of plants and trees is originally used for healing.”

Luo Nie said, his hands surged with the light green magic power in his body, and he said:

"I pray for the blessing of the Lord of Machinery."

"Give me the power to heal."

Instantly, Luo Nian's hands emitted green light and green threads poured out.

He then stood up, and as a pure green light flashed in his eyes, the thread patterns unexpectedly converged into artistic branches with leaves, converging towards the brains of the two semi-lost children on the wire bed.

A lot of foreshadowing has begun to be gradually recovered. The foreshadowing in this chapter corresponds to a series of events in the first section related to Wright's crossing in the previous chapters.