Wasteland Echoer.

Chapter 521: Petrified Monster (Part )

At the same time, outside the "wind wall".

The brief moment of dusk, when golden light and red sun intertwined, came to an abrupt end the moment a gap appeared in the wind wall.

Instead, a high concentration of "abandoned chains of old times" and "energy particles" that spread wildly from the "wind wall" caused all the people present to be delayed for a few seconds. After waking up, everyone simultaneously felt a hazy feeling that was almost like being in a dream.

About three to five minutes later, Sophia, Ross, Stanislav and other people who were familiar with the magic power and the psychics were the first to relax and began to wake up the nearby federal [warriors].

It seemed that he had anticipated this unexpected situation. After being awakened, Yaroslav did not appear to be very flustered. Instead, he picked up the intercom again according to the predetermined rhythm. After the noise inside eased slightly, he continued to command:

"Keep bombarding, don't stop. The gap in the 'wind wall' isn't very obvious right now, and it can be easily closed again with the help of the surrounding energy."

"Beep, beep, beep...beep, beep..." After a very confusing noise mixed with faint laughter, the voice of the federal [soldier] in charge of commanding the artillery came from the intercom:

"Yes, Commander-in-Chief. But..."

"But what? But what?" Yaroslav asked loudly, with an ominous premonition rising in his heart.

"Red...appeared, Red appeared! Commander-in-chief, there is...a monster, a...a...monster with snake-like hair..."

Although the intercom was still working, the voice of the federal soldiers in it suddenly stopped, and even the sounds of artillery shells and guns around them disappeared simultaneously. Everything seemed to cease to exist in an instant, like a videotape with the pause button pressed.

After four or five seconds, just when Yaroslav thought the walkie-talkie was broken, a faint electrical noise was barely heard from it.

"Commander-in-chief, the 'Red Swamp' is getting worse. Should we still go out?" Stanislav rushed into the temporary command center from outside and asked in an extremely anxious tone.

Sophia keenly discovered that the special mask worn by Stanislav had already been rendered dark red by the surrounding environment, and was dripping with blood that had flowed from Stanislav's face or external liquid that had been tainted with the mutated power.

Moreover, his combat uniform was covered with a layer of red "dye" that emitted a faint glow, and even the "cyber auxiliary power unit" made of precious special metal was covered with a layer of rust, and some parts had already cracked, curled, broken and fallen apart.

"Captain Stanislav, have you... just experienced a battle?" Sofia asked the key question first.

However, Stanislav did not seem to notice the difference in his appearance. Instead, he took off his special mask and replied in an extremely relaxed tone:

"No, the previous series of bombardments went very smoothly. The Red Wave also appeared, and the gap in the Wind Wall... We have been attacking. I estimate that in half an hour, it will be completely unable to heal. Oh, Secretary Sofia, you are talking about the previous battle, it was indeed thrilling, but it ended a long time ago."

Sofia did feel that there was a strange power that could not be expressed in words lingering around Stanislav's body, but because of Yaroslav's gesture, she had to swallow her words back for the time being.

"Take us out to the artillery emplacement point. There seems to be a problem there. The current situation may have some unexpected circumstances." Yaroslav ordered.

Soon, Yaroslav and Sofia boarded the "Crusad" mechanical chariot and followed the battle convoy in front. They passed the γ point which was already in a mess, covered with scattered, broken limbs, crimson liquid and gray-black powder, and drove towards the "artillery placement point" closest to the "wind wall".

On the way, Sophia looked up at the sky, suppressing the feeling of the demonic power surging in her body. She found that the whole world had become completely dark, and the deep red clouds covered the pure red sun that seemed to be emitting endless light.

The rumbling sound of artillery fire continued, mixed with the whistling of bullets and the sad cries of the federal soldiers before their death.

At the same time, the sky was filled with the mournful cries of birds and the fierce roars of wild beasts. Thunder and lightning were heard from time to time, with the sound of thunder serving as the most powerful accompaniment to this "song" of war.

As the degree of the "red wave" deepened, the sky began to flash red light frequently. If it were not for the experienced [warriors] who had experienced many battlefields, they would probably go crazy on the spot or end their lives with bullets. The closer the convoy got to the "wind wall", the darker the color of the "wind wall" became. When the convoy finally stopped at the edge of the "artillery placement point", the "wind wall" had already turned into a blue mixed with ghostly purple.

Looking from afar, Sophia observed that the huge gap caused by the artillery bombardment was like a huge eye observing the entire world, stretching across the center of the entire battlefield in three dimensions. In addition to the strong smell of sulfur and smoke, there was also a strong stench of decay in the air.

After confirming that the location was temporarily safe, Yaroslav and his party got off the car on a high slope several hundred meters away from the wind wall and walked into the temporary front camp built with tents. Soon, the [Soldiers] affiliated with the Federation Committee gave Yaroslav and his party a pair of "special strange goggles" produced by the "Krused Special Material Factory". After wearing them, they walked forward for about 200 meters and finally saw the "Federation [Soldiers]" in a dangerous situation.

These federal [warriors] were turned into stones one after another by extraordinary power, and the artillery used to bombard the "wind wall", among which the ones closest to the battlefield, had long since been transformed from steel into "proportional artillery models" made of salt.

Although the federal warrior who turned into stone still retained his original appearance and final movements, his body was no longer human. The human body is not like rock, and even if it is distorted, it should retain the most basic trace of flesh and blood.

Even the "heartless people" who are enemies and the Lost Ones who still retain some consciousness always have a human part.

Humans exist by relying on the part that belongs to humans, and monsters go wild by relying on the part that belongs to weirdness. But when a Ship of Theseus completely loses its original part, its existence will disappear and become a new and unknown substance.

These human bodies that turned into rock still retained the movements and postures they had before petrification. Yaroslav speculated that they were suddenly petrified without any preparation.

Because, there was no fear or panic on the faces of these [warriors], but they still kept their mouths wide open and roared, as if they were conveying urgent orders.

Their movements were either running or operating weapons, and without exception, their bodies were facing the direction of the gap in the "wind wall", as if the energy that petrified them was coming from there.

Soon, countless high-pitched, passionate, bright and harsh voices came from the direction of the "wind wall", which immediately made the people present recall terrible memories from long ago. After a brief trance, Yaroslav, under the protection of Stanislav and his team members, temporarily entered the "pre-war command post" built in advance with special steel plates to take shelter.

But as soon as he entered the room, Yaroslav found the federal [warrior] who had just talked to him. As expected, he had also turned into stone, but still maintained the posture of holding the phone to report to their commander-in-chief. However, his body was indeed facing away from the direction of the "wind wall", as if his subordinate inadvertently glanced back when reporting to him and was petrified on the spot.

Seeing this, Yaroslav looked at the "wind wall" angrily, then walked forward, picked up the black microphone that had already fallen to the ground, and put it back in its original place.

Then, he shook off the mixture of snow and dust on his shoulders, walked to the middle of the room filled with red fine particles, sat down on a bloodstained chair, took a deep breath, and asked:

"Where did the energy that petrified the Federation [Soldier] come from? Have you investigated? Are there any survivors at the scene? Bring one in. I want to question him."

"It is said that a rare monster appeared behind the 'wind wall'. It appeared briefly after the first round of shelling and is now hidden in the wind again. As for the survivors, there is one. I caught him when he was about to escape at the edge of the γ point. He is now outside the door." Stanislav replied.

"Bring him in." Yaroslav expressed his anger in the briefest command.

"Bring him in!" Stanislav ordered.

Soon, two tall members of the "Northern Bear Stormtroopers" were slid in with the help of Oaks and thrown heavily in front of Yaroslav.

Looking down, even though he was wearing goggles, Yaroslav could still see the miserable appearance of this federal [warrior].

Even if this federal [warrior] could not be said to be naked, he was at least in tatters. There were many cracks in the middle of his white combat uniform, as if they had been cut by swords. If it was pulled a few more times, the uniform could be used to make strips of cloth and a mop.

His hair stood up as if he had been struck by lightning. He fell down in front of Yaroslav, his eyes bloodshot and lifeless. He just stared blankly at the light bulb above his head that was emitting a dim light in the red world.

His face was covered in dirty blood, and blood was flowing gently from all parts of his body, including the corners of his mouth. Looking closely, one of his fingers seemed to have been broken long ago, and the broken end was slightly grayish white, very close to the essential color of rock.

(End of this chapter)