Wasteland Echoer

"Very good, Wright." Brett praised:

"It seems that as long as I give you a little guidance, you can fully master these complex combat skills. Although it has been seven or eight years since we met in Zhuolin City, I have the impression that you have always been good at using firearms. I’m not very skilled, and I often even forget to do something as small as putting a bullet in.”

Brett looked down at Wright's short black hair with his emerald eyes. After two or three seconds, he changed his playful and doting expression to one of slight surprise.

After breaking away from Wright's body, Brett fumbled a few times in the pockets of the Zine Empire Army uniform's jacket, which was stained with dark red blood and had a few small black holes.

"Ding!"

Accompanied by the clear and subtle vibration of metal collision, Brett opened the lid of the lighter with the word "Donusk" engraved with clouds and jellyfish stripes in his hand, and rubbed the wheel several times.

A group of flames, as blue as the sky and as red as the blazing sun, powered by special oil, quickly spurted out from the small hole.

The flame came into contact with the white part at the bottom of the cigarette for only two seconds, and a halo-like white smoke mixed with a mixture of several complex breaths escaped from the edge of Brett's stubbled lips.

Mixed with the strong smell of tobacco, Wright seemed to also smell a hint of gin, which is the only official alcoholic product still produced by the empire.

"Didn't I know how to use firearms before? No wonder I... still can't handle these things after losing my memory. I need to ask you for tutoring, Brett." Wright said with a somewhat embarrassed smile.

He shook his sore right hand. After a morning of shooting training, that arm was now as if it was bound by a hemp rope with a heavy stone hanging below it, and it was difficult to move.

After placing the jet-black practice pistol on the red plastic bench again, Wright put the silver-white helmet back on and even closed the black buckle at the neck to maximize the stability of the helmet.

"Wright?" Brett took two puffs of the cigarette in his hand and shouted.

"Are you going to talk about a new mission?" Wright's tone was full of subconscious longing for world exploration.

"Of course not here. However, now I am more and more impressed by your strength. I wonder if you noticed a detail just now?" Brett asked with a little envy.

"My power? To be honest, since that... ritual? and the amnesia, I have been surprised by the power in my body. Even many parts are difficult to understand. But I don't have a [scholar] or... Magician friends give answers, but you who are trustworthy may not necessarily understand these." Wright joked.

"Moros is fine. As a battlefield observer, after all, he is also an investigative member of Sogra's Extraordinary Team and an honorary member of the Sequential Monster Research Foundation. But let's not talk about this for now. Did you notice? I was actually pointing you at your last shot just now. I didn't really support your right hand at that time. There was a certain distance between your hand and mine, but you hit the tenth ring accurately. This is a talent that has suddenly improved." Brett threw the cigarette in his hand aside to the iron garbage In the barrel, he continued:

"There is inspiration in everything, and it can also be called coincidence. But not in battles related to life and death. All progress is the accumulation of life and death again and again. There is no shortcut, just like the Ptoia Federation before the New Era. Just like the knights, their swordsmanship has gone through wearing heavy armor and sweating countless times on the training ground. Maybe you, Wright, how old are you this year?"

"I should be 24 years old." The basic information memories in Wright's mind were not completely shattered by the time travel.

"Then you have a chance to be promoted to the Dark Star level. I don't want to try to figure out how you possess the magic power, but as a superpower recognized by the Chekavsk Legion, your future in the wasteland may be Not just as simple as a general of the Human Federation. You can fight and kill the Lost without using steam guns. Just like Moros said, your future may not just be a general of the Human Federation, but may be that legendary semi- God exists." Brett had a complicated look on his face.

Wright looked at it in confusion. It was a broad face mixed with envy, longing, suspicion, jealousy, and even a little worry.

Even when Wright looked carefully, there was a faint light intertwined with four colors of red, yellow, green and black between Brett's eyebrows.

He wiped his eyes subconsciously, and the light evaporated instantly like morning dew and disappeared.

"How about Wright, go and return the practice gun to the management office, and I will take you to the top floor here. The weather is bad today and the wind is very strong. I think I can bring you some important information from Sogra." Bray Te whispered seriously.

"good!"

…

Climbing along the fairly bright corridor with incandescent searchlights turned on, and climbing up the rusty stairs that make heavy "squeaking" and "dong-dong" sounds.

It wasn't until the surrounding light gradually turned dark that Brett stopped in front of a palm-sized transparent glass door, stretched out his hand and slowly opened the valve.

The strong wind on the top floor of the training center instantly poured in from the door. Due to the difference in air pressure on both sides, Wright felt like a sailboat stretched out on the sea of ​​darkness and lightning, letting the strong wind blow.

When he followed Brett's feet on the solid concrete floor and looked at the dim sky, Wright seemed to feel that there was a giant monster hidden in the darkness and haze, using its pure black round eyeballs to Someone was staring at him, wanting to lower his huge palm at any time to pick him up and throw him around like a toy.

"The cloudy weather is coming." Brett opened his arms and broad chest, looking at the endless dark clouds above his head and said:

"According to the "Imperial Meteorological Records", less than one-fifth of the years in the New Yuan period of more than 500 years were able to see sunshine. Because unintentional human scorching fluid also has a considerable impact on the climate, once the cold winter passes. The Empire The hazy weather will last for at least three months. In these days, humans can only look up at the endless darkness and sigh, and nothing can be changed."

"What can light change?" Wright blurted out, looking blankly at a cloud that looked like a beast's maw, and sighed.

"Do you know why Sogra's beliefs are divided into two categories: the Lord of the Night and the Goddess of Light?" Brett suddenly turned his head and asked a digression.

His white hair blew with the airflow and began to spread out messily, like messy weeds.

But the intertwining of white and pitch black seemed to Wright to be inexplicably sad.

"I don't know, I stayed in Sugra for a total of two weeks." Wright shook his head and shrugged as a scholar of the habits of a superpower in the previous world.

After all, it has only been about a month since I traveled to this wasteland world. Although the information I got was an explosion, most of it was extremely complicated and difficult for me to understand.

I know it, but I don’t know why. Just like the Goddess of Light and the Lord of Dark Night, apart from their code names, they know nothing else.

"Because of balance, humans in the Steam Age hope to obtain a balanced world because of reflections on ancient wars. If there are people who believe in the Woman of Light, there must be humans who believe in the Lord of Dark Night. The Goddess of Light encourages people to yearn for light, but going one step further is endless sea ​​of ​​fire."

"The Lord of the Night expects people to go into darkness, but if they are not careful, they will fall into endless ice. Just like the city of Socra and the committee, they have fallen into darkness. Wright, I now choose to believe your words about the Blood Night Ritual. Yes." Brett said in a half-snarl.

"Has Sugra's mission been completed? Or is there something new?" Wright's heart thumped, and a trace of uneasiness flashed across his heart.

"This is a telegram, on the surface." Brett took out a telegram that had been folded many times and stained with some yellow dirt from the pocket of the jacket of the Imperial Army uniform. He handed it to Wright with one hand and said:

"Today is April 2nd. The Empire will launch a military operation called 'Silence's Advent' in Silent Highlands on April 16th. A total of 100,000 people will encircle and suppress the Lost and Heartless near the Silent Highlands stronghold. This is the time when the Empire enters a new era. The largest active military operation since the Yuan Dynasty."

"Aren't the empire's military operations to open up Route 65 and regain the Silent Highlands been ongoing? Are they planning to put everything on the line this time?" Wright guessed with a puzzled look on his face.

"Yes, as long as the empire wins this time, the balance of the battle with the Heartless People within the Empire will be fundamentally reversed. The Heartless People who have lost the guidance of the Lost Ones are just scrap metal without wisdom. When the time comes, the Imperial soldiers will It can attack from all strongholds and rebuild the era of the Steam Age." Brett explained.

"This is a good thing for us... us humans. Why do you look so bitter and resentful?" Wright asked in confusion.

"I remember I told you that the people of the Sokra Committee are lying down and they don't want to go out to attack. I got the news from a good friend of the committee. What you said about the Sokra Blood Night Ceremony is true.

They really hope to find the 'Daughter of the Mechanical Element' through the guidance of 527-MB-01, the Searing Emblem, and the Diary of the Order 51 Determinator, and in the Blood Night Ritual, they may sacrifice millions of city residents in exchange for all People fall into the collective illusion of 'Raleye's Dream' and eventually create a 'paradise' belonging to the nobles.

But as far as he knows, the Zhnetsk direction does not currently know their plans in detail. They believe that the god named 'Daughter of the Mechanical Element' is the military weapon left behind by the old Crusted, and the empire also hopes to discover and obtain it. But Wright," Brett suddenly said with a serious tone:

"Suchra now appoints me as the captain of the Z team of the escort's 'Silence Advent' operation, completely taking over the previous position of De, and you are one of my team members. Although the Sokra Guard also belongs to the Sokra Legion, it is different The standard for a detachment is 3-5 people. In fact, although I hold the rank of Red Earth 2, I am nominally half a commander. But apart from you, the only person who can be in charge of the same team is Moros, the skinny guy who also serves as a battlefield observer. "

"What is the content of the mission?" Wright asked again despite the increasingly fierce wind and the dark clouds gathering above his head that were visible to the naked eye.

"Go to the Silent Highlands and participate in the war. And cooperate with George to sneak into the core location to explore the 'Daughter of the Mechanical Element'" Brett spoke faster and replied:

"The Chekavsk Army and the Sokra Army are the last batches of the Imperial Army to go to the Silent Highlands. Together with several outposts and members of the escort in Kofu who have not yet retreated, our Sokra Guard will enter Silence later. Highland battlefield. We can take a military train to the Donusk ruins via the 'Zhixin-03' railway line, and then go south into the highlands, or we can drive there by ourselves. In short, on April 15th, we will get in touch with other highland combat regiments to register. That’s it.”

Brett said, his eyes suddenly widened, and his eyeballs were bloodshot, as if he hadn't had a good rest since the Battle of Kofu.

But then, he smiled bitterly, turned around and pointed in the direction of the Mamous River that ran through the city of Chekavusk in the distance, and said: "Before the New Year, the end of that river was actually the ice ocean in the northern part of the Krusted Federation. The fate of all of us humans will be the same, falling into the endless icy abyss. But Wright, if the Empire is defeated by the Lost Ones, where do you plan to go?"

"What about you?" Wright asked slightly seriously.

Accompanied by the gradually falling raindrops and the howling wind, Brett helplessly said in a low voice:

"The Crusted Federation, after all, they have the same roots as us."

…

The top of the bright, palace-like administrative building of the "Industrial Heart" in Chekavsk is unusually brightly lit.

Although it has just entered 8 p.m., the city shrouded in dark clouds and haze looks extremely dim, and it looks extremely scary under the haze of industrial smoke.

In a room on the top floor that was about three times the size of an average person's bedroom, the Imperial Crown Prince Ivante was sitting next to a piano, following the accurately written staff, closing his eyes and quickly playing an intoxicating piece of music.

He was wearing a dress in the royal style of the Zine Empire. The upper body of the coat was made of blue and black, with golden silk thread embroidered in the middle with an ice crystal pattern spreading out from the center, and some sunflower patterns embroidered on the edges.

His lower body is a pair of white trousers without any modification. The pure color will not make people think more about him.

The splendid room is filled with various golden furnishings. Except for the pure black style pistol called "Empire Core" on the crown prince's waist, the entire room is a product of the second and third eras, without any steam at all. breath.

After the piano music of the Crown Prince, which was like the arrival of stars and gods, finished, Chekavsk administrator Aaron pushed the golden handle and entered the room.

After bending down to salute, Yatuo held a pure black cane in one hand and a tall hat in the other, lowered his head slightly and said respectfully:

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Pusev, the leader of the Lone Wolf Society, and Vladimirski, the leader of the Blood Tribe, are waiting outside the door. They want to invite you to attend today's dinner."

"Oh?" The Crown Prince took his hands off the keys, raised the corners of his mouth slightly, tilted his head and asked in a slightly weird tone, pretending to be curious:

"Is it the [Guardian] known as the 'Wolf of Odyssey', the man who almost merged the Lone Wolf Society into the Socra Legion, and the monster man who enjoys sucking blood and can transform into a bat?"