Wasteland Echoer

"The blazing fire burst forth in anger."

"The light of order fades and shines."

"A red dragon ring is born."

A haiku poem with a Kitamurais flavor was recited by Hoshino Shota.

His singing voice is distant but very pleasant, mixed with a strong sense of youth and the energy ripples of notes that belong only to the [Singer].

After a few seconds, a faint light of light blue spread out from his white hair, flowing down like a waterfall, and soaking his body.

Soon, he was freed from his strange and twisted posture, and countless fragmented chaotic lights pieced together a strange, confusing and colorful picture, which seemed to be telling history, or just describing the stars in the universe and the constellations they formed.

These images were scattered and had no logic or continuity, until a dark vortex like a black hole was generated from Shota Hoshino's mouth, which turned all the strange things made up of energy into countless "broken walls and ruins", which were all sucked into his mouth.

"As agreed, I can now tell you the special secret of the 'Chitanris Ring'." Having completely recovered to normal, Shota Hoshino put on his goggles, straightened his somewhat messy steampunk work clothes, wiped the saliva from the corners of his mouth with an oily towel, and took out a beautifully packaged notebook from the drawer.

"This is The Diary of the Decider. Although it is not the original version, it is a copy my father made from memory. However, the content is almost the same as the original. The only difference is a few words." Hoshino Shota wiped off the dust on it, turned a page, handed it to Wright, stared at him with an intriguing look and said:

“We, the Chitanris, have extraordinary memory compared to the Crusaders, Eventlais, and Putoyas. This is not a supernatural power, nor is it an extraordinary strength, but it is something that the Lord of Fire prayed for from the gods when he first created this fiery land.

"'The Chooser', the 51st god, is said to have experienced the 'Dragon Celebration' and witnessed the decline of the Flame Empire and the rise of Crusad, and even the entire Western Continent. That was an era that abandoned agriculture and welcomed steam machinery."

Hoshino Shouta spoke in a passionate tone, as if he was chanting to a god, and his body unconsciously turned backwards, with his arms tilted upward at a forty-five degree angle, as if he was mistaking the simple chandelier for the sun and making a funny gesture of praise.

Perhaps the gods in the dark could not stand his attitude, or perhaps the extreme excitement caused all the blood in the body to converge in the heart, reducing the blood supply to the lower limbs.

In short, Shota Hoshino fell and hit his head on the edge of the workbench, leaving a small bump.

"No...are you okay?" Wright looked up awkwardly at Shota Hoshino and asked with concern.

"Of course it's okay." Shota Hoshino seemed to have not recovered from the excitement just now. As long as he didn't feel embarrassed, he wouldn't be embarrassed.

After recovering from the shock, Hoshino Shouta took out a medicine box with the "Sun and Ashes" city emblem printed on it from the drawer. He took out a piece of clean white gauze from it, dipped it in some iodine, and applied it to his head. He then pointed at the "Diary of the Decider" and said:

"Before... ahem, before, No. 51 was not the Decider. No one knows which god it was. At least in the mythology system of Khitanris, gods are replaced. New gods can inherit the name of the original god, or replace it after obtaining the approval of the Creator.

"The vacant position of the murdered gods will be filled by demigods after undergoing trials, and the replaced gods will be erased by the Creator, as if they had never existed in this world. That... Decider of Rank 51, if I remember correctly, should be called Ye Mingyuan. It is said that he is not from this world either, but came here from another dimension."

"Another dimension... has landed here?" Wright repeated in a low voice.

Suddenly, a mixture of excitement and fear spread throughout his body, as if someone had placed a bunch of firecrackers deep in his heart, crackling and making it impossible for him to calm down.

If this "decision maker" is also a time traveler like himself, then his diary must have left some clues to return to the original world. At least... he should know what kind of connection exists between the two worlds.

Even if we cannot return to our original world, the "Choosemaker" who becomes a god should have left behind a way to advance. After all, we are all time travelers, and there should be a way to advance exclusively for time travelers.

As if he understood Wright's intention, Hoshino Shouta put one hand on his head and stroked the yawning Cruzde blue cat on the table with the other hand, saying:

"Most of the content recorded in the Diary of the Decider is about the customs and historical events of the Yanhuo Empire and Aventlai in the middle of the Third Era. It is a report written in the form of a diary, but it is an indiscriminate record.

"My father and I once tried to find out how the Chooser could be promoted, or what he saw and heard after becoming a demigod. Unfortunately, this book only records the beginning of Nebsk... Well, according to calculations, it was the time when Ivan the Warmaker launched a counterattack against Lelita II. It seemed to be less than a year after Nebsk was bombarded by the Fire of Heavenly Punishment."

It seems that it was indeed because of the study of the "Diary" that they performed many strange sacrificial rituals, including the "Ode to the Machine" that brought themselves into this world, and even assisted in finding the oracle of the "Daughter of the Mechanical Element".

If... that "Diary" is a forgery of the Lord of Darkness, then summon myself into this painful wasteland world, guide me to obtain the red magic power, inherit the power of the ancient gods, and guide the "Resurrected God" to take me to Cruzde.

The series of events that led to my meeting with Dark and our journey to the East might not be the result of my own choice, nor the natural development of things, but the result of the planning of the god who represents "darkness" and is subordinate to the Creator.

An iron curtain across the wasteland seemed to have fallen long ago, with the Creator and the gods above, I and the dark night inside, and humans and other creatures outside.

Then, perhaps, even the "New Structure Plan" and the "New Dollar Crisis"...

Thinking of this, Wright shuddered involuntarily. He didn't dare to think any further. His wisdom and cognition did not support him to think more deeply, unless he could really be promoted to demigod.

Just then, Shota Hoshino's voice brought him back to reality, "Open page 124, Wright."

"Oh, okay." Wright agreed, turned the yellowed pages, and saw the Flame Empire language "One, Two, Four" written in blue pen.

"If I remember correctly, it records what the 'Choosemaker' saw and heard on the Nebsk Plain. There, he followed a caravan of pickup trucks preparing to return from Cruzde to the western capital of Aventlai, and saw this 'Khitanris Ring' at the home of a few tribal elders who were arrested for stealing food." Hoshino Shouta tried his best to describe the records of the "Choosemaker" in plain language, saying:

"The old man is said to be a shaman priest of the Mongol tribe, and he was often active in the area from the western border of Khitan Reis to the border of Crusde. At that time, this 'Khitan Reis Ring' was hung around his neck in the form of a 'ring', providing him with a certain amount of fire magic power to communicate with the gods and the dragons.

"Once this ordinal demon, which the Khitanris call a 'magic weapon', truly returns to the 'real dragon race', it will 'push the sluggish gears' and put the 'planet on the right track'."

"These two sentences sound like prophecies, but more like riddles. So, Hoshino Shouta, did the 'Chooser' tell us a specific method?" Adaroni curiously examined the "Chitanris Ring" on his wrist and asked.

"No." Hoshino Shouta shook his head. "The shaman told him in riddles, so he recorded it as a riddle. In fact, in my opinion, the 'Chooser' is more like an observer or recorder of history. It seems that when he came to this world, he really just 'came to this world'." Hoshino Shouta tapped his head and said:

"However, the shaman said that when you truly activate the 'ring' state with the flesh of a dragon, 'the rivers will melt, the ice and snow will disappear, death will temporarily retreat, all things will revive, all the pain will pass, and a brand new world will come.' Adaloni, since the 'Chitanris Ring' has temporarily recognized you.

"How about you become my mercenary first, help me assassinate Shaneva and the city committee's high-ranking officials, and at the same time, with the help of 'dragon scale powder', find your 'dragon bloodline'? "

"This is the only way for now." Adaloni nodded reluctantly, agreeing to Shota Hoshino.

After saying this, a few hearty laughs belonging to a young boy came out of Hoshino Shouta's throat. He stood up and stretched himself to relieve the fatigue of the night.

After doing this, he slowly walked to the window, pulled out the bolt, and while closing the glass and metal window that was constantly letting in cold air, he turned his back to Wright and said:

"The Chooser made a unified prophecy for humans like you who came from another dimension, in the last paragraph of the Diary.

"He said: The sky is still the sky, the planets are still the planets, the universe is still the universe, and the world is still the world.

"With my wisdom, it is obvious that I cannot understand such profound yet simple words. You can only comprehend these by yourself. By the way, I will give you the Diary of the Decider. It is a handwritten copy anyway and is not worth much."

Just as Shota Hoshino finished his words, the alarm clock on the tool bench began to ring, making a rapid, harsh and sleepy metal collision sound.

Reaching out to turn off the alarm clock, Hoshino Shouta stood up and walked to the wall, yawning, and said to Wright and the other two:

"It's one in the morning, and it's time for the city to go to bed. If you go out now, you will be arrested by the city's "escort team", and it's not safe either. You... just stay here tonight. I have a few quilts."

Seeing that the three Lights had no objections, Shota Hoshino flicked away the "Nebsk Blood Mosquito" that was sucking blood on the back of his hand and turned off the power.

Suddenly, the whole room and the entire city of Novayask officially entered a long night. (End of this chapter)