Wasteland Echoer.

Chapter 525 The Call of Light and Darkness (Part )

When Dak and Wolfya stepped into the chaos realm, they discovered that the "ancient" aura that had made them feel mentally exhausted had suddenly disappeared.

Instead, there was an unpleasant, pungent smell, as if a huge mountain of trucks had dumped tons of gasoline in front of them.

The disgusting and choking smell made Dark unable to help but mobilize the water-based magic power that was still abundant in his body, forming a fine ice crystal film at the position of his nostrils to resist this feeling of physical collapse.

"This is... the smell of machinery." Wolfya lowered his head, stretched out a finger, smeared a little sticky liquid and put it to his mouth. He first smelled it, then licked it with the tip of his tongue and analyzed:
"Asphalt, and it is a special asphalt that is blended with Dark Ore. Back then, at Ivanov's suggestion, Ivan XXII had envisioned creating an army that 'never gets tired and will not stop fighting until it falls apart.'"

"An army, a machine that fights tirelessly?" Dak turned around and asked Wolfya curiously.

"That's right." Wolfe nodded.
"Moreover, Ivan XXII also requested that this 'army' should not need any food or energy from the logistics department. Ivanov naturally rejected the emperor's extremely unreasonable request and only suggested using the plan of the artificial god 'Daughter of Mechanical Yuan' instead.

"However, the subsequent Crusad Emperor Ivan XXIII, the biological son of Ivan XXII, became very interested in this. To this end, he used machinery to build a huge open-air altar and sacrificed half of his life in exchange for a 'draft' given by the 'Master of Machinery'."

"Draft? What kind of draft can be made?" Dak asked with interest.

Wulfya did not answer immediately. Instead, he stood up and stood in front of Dak with his back to him. He wiped off the "special asphalt" in his hand and spoke slowly, word by word:

"Budjimira."

"Budjimira?"

"Yes, it was the 'Giant Mechanical Bear' we encountered after the first entrance to the 'Kushen Ruins'. Because they are both products of the Master of Machinery, all the information about them was naturally generated in Luo Nie's brain." Wu Fuya recalled:
"Before leaving the 'Kushen Ruins', Luo Nie told me more detailed information about it, as well as the other half of the 'draft' that Ivan XXIII exchanged his life for."

"The other half? Is it also a mechanical monster?" asked Dak.

"No, the monster already exists. According to the 'principle' of the 'Creator', 'a monster can only appear once in the series of extraordinary things created by God.' So, that half is a 'human', very similar to us, but a 'robot' without skin, muscles and bones." Wolfya said in a low voice, as if Satan had descended.

As soon as he finished speaking, countless rapid metal collision sounds came from all directions towards where they were standing. A large number of red light spots sprouted in the deep darkness, and then flashed continuously, as if there were giant man-eating bats hidden.

Soon, countless green lines began to appear in the surrounding world. They continued to replicate, multiply, and scatter in front of Dak and Wolfya, and eventually evolved into a magnificent, bright, pure green world.

Just like resentful souls awakened by humans who had mistakenly entered them, the owners of those red spots, countless giant "robots" nearly 2 meters tall, stood up from unnoticed corners, dragging their rusty bodies or wiping off the engine oil that had become extremely sticky, and slowly walked towards the center of the entire space.

Squeak, squeak...

The harsh sound of violent mechanical friction turned into a devastating sound of resentment after being piled up in the closed and empty space. In addition, as if it was a pre-set program, all the "robots" would constantly emit a cycle of sad sounds such as whimpering, sobbing, wailing, screaming and cursing in their throats while walking.

"Are these humans made up of 'machines' the 'robots' you mentioned?" Dark asked with a slightly trembling voice. He looked around and subconsciously put up his fists in a fighting stance.

Wulfya did not answer. It seemed that the sudden appearance of these "robots" was far beyond his expectations. He was speechless for a moment, his lips moved, but in the end, he did not make a sound. He just nodded passively. But the sharp question from Dak forced him to respond.

"Wolfya, I know... you are very familiar with the 'Kushen Ruins', the Old Empire, Ivan XXII, and even the 'Red Fantasy Ruins' where gods and evil gods coexist. I know that now is not the time to force you to make a complete statement, but please tell me one thing, are these 'robots' related to the Master of Machinery? In other words, are they the 'products' of the Master of Machinery himself?"

"Yes and no." Wulfya gave an extremely funny answer. He knew that this mischievous answer would not satisfy Dak, so after thinking for a while, he sighed slightly and continued to answer:
"They were originally human, just like us, they were Crusaders. So, you see, Dak, after being activated by us intruders, they did not choose to attack us immediately. Instead, under the control of the pre-placed programmed heroes, they all headed for the center of this underground experimental field, waiting for the last bit of humanity in their bodies to disappear before they faithfully perform their duties."

"Why?" Dak's voice was extremely cold. At this moment, Wolfya felt as if Dak had merged with the water power in his body. In this remote, cold, gloomy and damp area, it had condensed into solid ice that would never allow people to obtain warmth and light.

In this case, Wolfya no longer concealed anything and told Dark everything he knew, like spilling the beans:

"This is the other half of the 'draft' of the Lord of Machinery that I mentioned just now. The official of the Cruzd Old Empire called it 'El Mimana', which means 'machines in the ancient domain'. They are indeed the same 'products' as 'Bud Ji Mira' produced by the Ice City Royal Machinery Factory, but their raw materials are the best soldiers and officers of the Old Empire at that time."

"Using humans as raw materials? The emperors of the old empire are indeed lunatics, to be able to do such a series of mentally ill actions. It's sad that among such a group of lunatics, there can actually be a 'greatest emperor' who has been praised by us Crusaders for a thousand years." Wright felt sick and criticized with gritted teeth.

"But after all, Ivan XXII is completely dead. You saw it with your own eyes. So, let the dead be swallowed up by the calm ocean like endless ice and snow." Wolfya continued:
"Let's talk about 'El Mimana'. The power needed to make them is not magic and steam, but 'ancient' power. Back then, scientists from the old empire refined and extracted the 'severed limbs of Deepser' that were salvaged by fishermen in the west, and made them into a medium-sized crystal cube. After that, scientists used sophisticated instruments to cut it into 500 small pieces the size of soybeans of the same size, volume, and weight, and put them all into the brains of the soldiers and officers who served as containers."

"So, they have become like this mechanical appearance since then?" Dak asked curiously.

"Of course not that fast." Wulfya smiled bitterly and replied:
"They participated in the military campaign against Ivan XXII. Even if they become raw materials for mechanical 'products', this 'great' emperor must give them unforgettable painful memories for a thousand years.

"These 'containers' were first imprisoned in a damp, cold room in close contact with seawater for ten years. Afterwards, under the influence of the 'Deepth's Broken Limb' crystal, they could only feed on 'steel' for several years... until their skin was completely ulcerated and their muscles and bones were covered with a layer of dark metal."

"Hearing you put it, this doesn't seem like a punishment, but rather a kind of experience where you can gain strength by paying a price." Dak waved his hand, not seeming to feel cruel or surprised.

Naturally, humans who were born in the wasteland and are accustomed to evil and filthy things can easily have their normal emotions and thoughts smoothed out by reality.

Even if Dark's mind and cognition are not broken, he will regard ordinary pain, cruelty and madness as basic common sense that cannot be questioned in a combat environment.

After all, in this battle with the Wasteland Era, tens of millions of humans have already fallen into eternal sleep in the long night.

With an embarrassed expression, Wulfya shook his head and continued:
"Training requires retaining a steely will, but becoming an 'Armimana' requires destroying human consciousness. The 'Deepth's Broken Limb' crystals will continuously promote the growth of steel skin, thus continuously affecting normal bones and muscles.

"After their dark skin was completely formed, the scientists imprisoned these soldiers and officers in the dark 'Red Fantasy Experimental Field'. Because their bodies were extremely stiff, they could not speak, move, or even think.

"The 'old power' that fills this place will cause steel to gradually eat away and replace all tissues in their bodies. These poor creatures can only sit here passively, feeling unbearable pain, but unable to faint, unable to die, until Ivan XXII truly dies and his enemies break into this area where bombs are buried."

(End of this chapter)