Wasteland Echoer

"Time, space."

"The past, the future."

"Up and down, left and right, four directions."

…

The moment he was bounced away by the bomb inside the "Crazy Body", Wright felt his consciousness fall into a trance due to the shock wave.

He suddenly felt that everything around him had become so strange.

It's like a dream, a dream in which the soul is imprisoned.

Unable to escape from the bondage, unable to lift one's consciousness even a tiny bit out of the abyss of pain.

Almost four or five seconds passed.

It seemed that centuries and generations had passed.

Various murmurs began to appear in his ears in a messy, messy and chaotic manner.

First it was the Zine Empire language that he was familiar with, then the ancient Zine Empire language used for spirit marriage, the ancient Krust German language, and the Central language.

They were mixed together, including the old man's dry voice as if he had lost all his moisture, the woman's sharp and high-pitched voice, as if she was playing a violin unskilledly, and then the painful cry of a child because his family had left. Shouting, and then the man's stern scolding, as if he had eaten red coal.

Immediately afterwards, he felt his body hovering in the air. Above, below, left, and right, there was only the feeling of air flowing in and out, only the feeling of breeze blowing, and only the feeling of slightly warm air waves passing by. .

Then, he felt that his consciousness suddenly became extremely awake and clear.

He suddenly opened his heavy eyelids that seemed to be stuck together with glue.

"I, am I being blown up? Or are I facing death? I heard that when humans are about to die, they will feel that time passes very slowly, and their senses, and their senses for all food, will be heightened to the extreme. I heard that only a short time A brief thirty-minute coma, and the person would feel like hours had passed. Interesting."

Wright said to himself inwardly, trying to comfort himself.

But the strange thing is that he didn't feel a trace of panic, a trace of fear, nor the fear and unwillingness to die.

On the contrary, it is an extremely calm and indifferent mentality.

He still had a little myopia before, and his eyes, which had not been completely "healed" by magic and extraordinary power, now felt extremely clear.

He saw a city that was becoming yellow, dilapidated, depressed, deserted and dilapidated.

He saw the receding vegetation, various types of mindless people and human bodies, rotting minced meat, as well as the "loess vultures", "mindless cockroaches", rats, flies and other animals that were pecking at the rot.

He saw Brett who was holding Miyou and shouting to him in pain, as well as the man behind him who was fully armed, wearing a military green uniform and a mask, and was holding a pistol against Brett's brain stem, and Behind him, a dozen "armed men" from the wilderness arrived at unknown time.

That person must not be a soldier of the Zine Empire, nor someone who belongs to the Explorers Association under the control of the empire.

"Brett, run away, run away. Leave me alone, leave me alone. Hurry and escape with Miyou, go to the Donusk Area B camp, and go to the Silent Highlands. If you don't have any luck, escape the empire, go to the northern border, and go to Japan. Netsk, go to the Krusted Federation. I heard that there is a big railway there. After passing through the endless ice and snow wasteland, you can reach the Fire Federation, which has a similar culture to the Foodie Empire, a country that most people in the West Continent dream of. .”

"I heard that they have basically driven away the unintentional virus and restored most of the order. I heard that they have barely restored half of the land and are gradually regaining all the lost land and building a country of peace, tranquility, happiness and hope."

"Vegetables, fruits, wheat and waterways there no longer need greenhouses. They are all planted, grown, bloomed and bear fruit in the rich black soil. The land there is fertile, and honey flows from the glass jars held by people. and milk. People there can eat seafood every day, including clams, scallops, oysters, lobster, you name it.”

"I heard that there is gold and food everywhere, and the people there have smiles on their faces. And in addition to weapons, their factories also produce a lot of interesting gadgets. There are cars, ships, airplanes, and airships. , even small objects such as tables, chairs, and benches, as well as ballpoint pens, especially pen tips, yes, they have gradually begun to abandon such backward things as fountain pens and use ballpoint pens.”

"They have a continuous culture. They have never used any phonetic characters or alphabetic characters at all, but hieroglyphics, the kind of characters whose meaning can be understood at a glance. A brilliant culture, a splendid culture."

"Even their starry sky is brilliant, without a trace of vapor pollution. The day is no longer surrounded by any oppressive dome, no longer heavily armored to avoid infection by unintentional viruses, and you can breathe freely."

"Brett, don't you hope to see a world like this? A world where all races will usher in peaceful coexistence, a world where racial and regional differences will disappear. No one rules, no one is ruled, only in this world The 'people' who live peacefully on the continent. Then go to the East, escape from this miserable Zine Empire, and go to the East."

However, as Wright's mind was filled with complicated and messy thoughts, his ears were once again enveloped by noisy murmurings.

This time it was replaced by church bells, ship whistles, birds chirping, and wild beasts roaring.

Under the impact of these sounds that were intertwined between humans and nature, Wright gradually felt that his thoughts were rapidly scattering. He felt that everything in front of him was becoming blurred and losing focus.

He felt like a brilliant aurora was surrounding his body.

At first it was endless blue, a blend of blue that represented the source of water.

Then there is green, the green that symbolizes peace.

The lines become twisted and intertwined, inextricably linked.

In the end, it turned into a terrifying red color!

It was like the "red curtain sky" I saw before dawn when I was at the camp in Area A of the Donusk Ruins a few days ago.

After the aurora completely dissipated, and the twisted lines with light were annihilated and ceased to exist, Wright saw a "scorching sun" that seemed to be burning and devouring everything.

The dilapidated city ruins of Donusk were suddenly shrouded in black and red.

The khaki high-rises, the tall "Volga Tower", the unnatural rivers that have dried up with only a trickle, as well as the slow-flying birds, the slow-moving humans, and the people who wake up from the corners. The alien and careless people work together to form an oil painting rendered in thick colors.

Soon after, these oil paintings gradually turned into abstract paintings similar to those of Van Gogh and Picasso.

It becomes distorted, becomes simple, and becomes only an indescribable artistic conception.

Until everything in front of you becomes completely blurry!

Almost at the same moment, Wright felt that his throat was gradually losing precious oxygen, and he felt like an invisible giant hand was strangling it.

Even his thinking and consciousness began to become dull and slow, until he seemed to have completely lost the ability to think.

He seemed to see a cover formed by a blood-red energy body collapsing inward, suppressing, and finally completely wrapping his body.

He felt like he was falling into the endless dark sea, and the cold and biting water was eroding his body, which was not very tall and majestic.

He heard the sound of gurgling water, the sound of rolling waves, and the sound of thunder and lightning.

Until his eyes were completely covered in blurred blood, and he lost all senses, perception, consciousness and the remaining ability to receive information.

…

"Beep beep, beep beep."

There seemed to be a mechanical chirping sound in Wright's ears, like a telegraph, but more like... the sound of vital sign checking instruments seen in hospitals in the previous world.

Heavy, painful, tearing pain.

My whole body seemed to be falling apart!

But my body seemed to... no longer have that suspended feeling, as if I was sleeping on a not very comfortable hard bed, and seemed to be covered with a quilt.

I feel a stinging sensation on my arm as when the needle is being inserted during an injection. Is it an illusion?

Why are my eyelids so heavy, as if they have been stapled shut, and cannot be opened at all?

"Beep beep, beep beep, beep beep."

The mechanical chirping became stronger and more intense.

Could it be that he has traveled back to the previous world?

Is that a world that is experiencing the fourth technological revolution, exploring the moon and stars, and experiencing technological explosion?

I actually don’t like the world in the wasteland, or the world where humans hurt each other or fight for survival every day. If I can go home when I wake up, I want to wake up, I want to wake up!

"ah!"

After using all his strength and roaring hoarsely like a beast, Wright finally opened his heavy eyes and sat up suddenly.

After a brief moment of star-crossing eyes and dizziness, he began to breathe in the moist air greedily.

When his perception of external things and the power to control his body were restored, Wright suddenly discovered that the mechanical sound had completely disappeared. Under his body was a cold bottom made of mahogany that could feel moisture.

There was nothing covering his body, no quilt, no other clothes, only the silver-white one, which was made of metal mixed with plant materials. It was extremely clean, like a guard uniform that had been washed repeatedly by a drum washing machine.

And the same clean, iron "Long Sword and Hammer" badge that represents the identity of a member of the Guards.

He stretched out his hands, which felt slightly heavy, as if they were tied with huge iron blocks, and rubbed his red, swollen and dry eyes.

Immediately afterwards, he slapped the back of the head with black hair hard to make sure that he was not in a dream.

"It hurts! It hurts!"

The familiar pain came and made Wright wake up completely.

He supported his heavy body vigorously and stood up unsteadily. After taking two steps forward with a slight stagger, he chose to look up at the dim space that only revealed a little light.

"Is this in a castle or a villa?" Wright asked in surprise.

The first thing that catches your eye is a huge door.

It was covered in red leather, and there were neatly arranged brass-colored nails nailed around the top, bottom, left and right of the door.

However, in the center of the door were nailed several pieces of metal that looked like they were made of copper and were covered with dirt and rust.

They are spliced ​​together to form a gear that is generally yellowish brown.

Turning around, I saw two pillars carved with iris and Higan flower patterns standing in the four directions of the room, seemingly supporting the entire house.

He also observed that the environment he was in was actually a hall, similar to the three-story villa where Western nobles used to live, or the kind of hall when entering a castle.

There are several oil lamps hung at regular intervals on the walls on both sides. They are based on purple and are engraved with double-headed eagle patterns, with a strong Crusted Empire style.

There are even many portraits of men wearing tuxedos or aristocratic dresses with red as the background color and intertwined with cyan hanging under the oil lamps.

Some of them have mustaches, some have unusually clean chins and faces, some have white hair and are haggard, while some are full of youthful vitality.

Under the portraits, the corresponding identities were written in Kruse German and Zine Empire respectively.

"Ivan I, Ivan V, Ivan XX, Toy I, Kacha I, Ivan XXII? [Order] Ivan XXII?"

Wright curiously walked past the portraits one by one, looked at them carefully and exclaimed.

He looked up at the figure in the portrait, with a tall nose, sharp cheekbones, a fair face, and a fierce domineering look in his eyes, as if the whole world was about to surrender at his feet.

Different from the movements in other portraits, most of the monarchs in other portraits have their hands placed on their knees, or resting on a table covered with white tablecloth next to them.

And he has his left hand on his hips, and the four fingers of his right hand are close together, tilting upward at an angle of seventy degrees, as if he is communicating with the gods about what he wants to touch.

He also wears a knight-specific sword under his right hand, which is inlaid with red and blue gems. With the ultimate painting skills, it actually looks like a real existence and shines brightly.

"[Order] Ivan XXII must be the great emperor mentioned in the book "The Afterglow of Crusted". Economy, technology, art and literature have all reached their peak in your era. Unfortunately, you The descendants of you did not predict the spread of the unintentional virus and some mysterious and extraordinary power, which led to the destruction of the great empire in your hands. What a pity. No," Wright said to himself with a bitter smile:

"I should have fallen into the lake. If this place is not a dream, it should be the otherworldly plane that Melinaer said, right? The inside of that huge energy body monster? So, that one that is constantly releasing energy Yes, the 'Crest of Tomorrow', one of the stone gate emblems that can open the 'Daughter of Tools' God Realm, should also be here, right?"

Saying this, Wright looked away from the portrait and looked around.

In addition to the hall, stone pillars, and paintings on the walls, Wright also saw a staircase, a large staircase leading to the upper floors. It was covered with red shabby carpets and even had a handrail to prevent falling.

But I don't know if it was too dim, or if it was done deliberately. Looking up at the top of the room, I saw a pitch black that was constantly distorting the weak light, and I couldn't observe anything more.

At this moment, Wright heard the dull roar of the door being pushed open behind him, mixed with the roar of machinery.

Wright looked back and saw a huge dark white figure appearing at the door that was a quarter open.

His body is "covered" with indescribable subtle distortions of light, as well as a geometrically rounded and square body outline that seems to have been washed by water.

But at the same time, Wright seemed to smell a mixture of dampness, blood, rust, and various indescribable smells belonging to the ocean.

Making him feel slightly nauseated.