Wasteland Echoer.

"Anno X-01: Night is not night, day is not day, day is not day, long night is not night. White bear and double-headed eagle are in the west, great philosophy and sculpture are in the middle, torii cherry blossoms and immortals are in the east, none of them have lowered their proud heads, overlooking the "heart-exhausting" light spot under the clouds. The white robe is not a sin, the crown is evil, the side of the shaking light, the mine of redemption, the axe comes again, the evolution has not yet begun, the red has arrived, the red plum is far away, the dragon roars and the wilderness, destruction in the west." - "Dark Book"

September 558th, 1th year of the New Lunar Calendar.

Cruz Federation, Far East Central Region, outskirts of Hoptov city, "Xintuo No. 1 Express Line".

After resting for a whole night and slightly relieving some of the extreme fatigue, Dak woke up from a psychedelic and chaotic dream.

He stood up and opened the coat that Anthony had put on him, staggered to the bathroom in the carriage, and after rinsing violently for two or three minutes, he walked back to his room.

Anthony had already awakened. Due to the Cruz bloodline inherited from his ancestors, this big guy was used to going to bed late and getting up early, being on call 007 hours a day, and being able to endure in the extremely harsh environment of such fierce battles, continuing to fight with full strength without suffering a mental breakdown.

"Good morning, Anthony." Dak yawned and said good morning to Anthony.

"Good morning, Dak." Anthony simply responded and walked to the aisle to fiddle with the "explosive fishman" he captured in yesterday's fierce battle.

"Anthony, why are you fiddling with such disgusting things so early in the morning? Although the cargo box of the train has been temporarily abandoned, other adventurers have hung their captured 'prey' outside. Why did you bring it in?" Dark complained, trying to endure the pungent and choking stench, as well as the discomfort that seemed to come from the deep sea that even the extremely cold weather could not suppress.

"This is the only complete 'explosive fishman'." Anthony put on gloves and took out a small notebook with a black cover and yellowed pages while observing. "'Explosive' type 'heartless people' are a special category. Although they are not as dangerous as those guys who weaken your sanity and cause mental breakdown, they are disgusting enough."

"Disgusting?" Dak asked casually, glancing at the exploding fishman in front of him.

This "explosive fishman" was indeed a product of the ruins of the Kastard Lake. Because this place was once the exclusive fief of the nobles of Nebsk, it was once home to a number of highly polluting steam plants.

When Dak was in Mayan City, he saw two documents titled "Atlas of the Eastern Region of the Old Empire" and "Detailed Explanation of the Abandonment of the Castadian Lakes", which clearly recorded:

"Ivan XIX, who called himself the 'Ice Emperor', once discovered the Heart-Exhausting Ore near the Outer Nebuya Mountains and the Castadian Lake at the end of the industrial boom. This type of ore has an energy conversion rate several times higher than that of oil. It can also provide power blessing for users of fire and light magic power, and is also famous for helping half-dragons to temporarily obtain the body of the dragon clan at the cost of their lives.

"Therefore, 'Ice Emperor' Ivan XIX established the 'Dragon Restoration Center' near Lake Custard to assist the old empire in reviving the true dragon race and to assist the empire in fighting to eliminate the military threats from the Endless Ice Ocean, the Uninhabited Desert, the Aventre region, and the Central Lake.

"Years of high-polluting emissions, occasional 'Heavenly Punishment Fire' experiments, and several failed 'Dragon Power Stimulation' experiments have caused a layer of black, viscous oil that is difficult to dissolve to accumulate on the surface of Lake Custard. Coupled with the evaporation of water sources, by the year that 'Ice Emperor' Ivan XIX died, Lake Custard was almost dry."

"I... have read a lot of documents about Lake Custard. Indeed, after the evaporation of Lake Custard, the dry bottom left behind lost its ability to purify pollution. Due to the terrain, the pollutants here are difficult to transport out by truck. If pure manpower is used, I am afraid that Emperor Crusad will be beheaded by angry civilians in a few months." Dak recognized Anthony's description based on the content in his memory. He continued with his chin in his hand:
"However, logically speaking, since the evaporation of Lake Custard, the fish, shrimps, and even the aquatic plants here have all withered and died. How did the later...'explosive fishman' come into being? I'm very curious about this."

"A ranked monster." Anthony gave an unexpected but reasonable "common answer".

"After the disappearance of Lake Custard, the 'Resurrection Institute' was abolished by Ivan XXII, who believed in science. The rest of the research, including the 'Heart-Exhausting Ore', was taken to the old sub-frost area of ​​the Arctic Special Zone. But..." Anthony's voice became deeper and deeper, as if there was a devil living in his not-so-big throat:

"This place once belonged to the Patriarch Paulus. After the decline of those Nebsk nobles, in order to maintain their superficial luxury, they signed the "Custard Use Rights Transfer Agreement" with the Empire's "Central Church" and "sold" the dried-up lake to the church. "And during the time when the "Central Church" had the right to use the lake, it did not have the technology to detect and mine the rich reserves of "heart-exhausting ore" under the riverbed, nor did it use the rich salt mine resources left on the riverbed to make a profit. Instead, it carried out many evil magic source experiments that it had not dared to dabble in before."

"You mean... the experiments conducted by Patriarch Paulus and the church behind him produced the 'explosive fishman'?" Dark guessed.

"Of course not. At that time, the 'Ivanov virus' was still in a test tube in a laboratory in the Arctic Zone and had not been leaked." Anthony carefully stroked and examined the intact "explosive fishman" with his hands, as if he was treating an exquisite sculpture carved by an ancient artist from the Central Empire with his life's work, and responded in a semi-intoxicated tone:
"Experiments can only cause new pollution and more complex and difficult to understand magical power flows. During the Steam Age, the magical power in the natural world was on the verge of exhaustion, so much so that at that time, Sequence 4 was already the top level. In order to become a demigod, Paulus tried to use the ruins of Lake Custard to create a petri dish that could continuously release magical power."

"Petri dish? What an interesting idea." Dak muttered in a Putto-style humorous tone.

"Of course. Magical guardians are generally determined gamblers. Paulus has never used any steam industry products in his life. Even when eating, he would rather use Chitanris bamboo chopsticks than factory-produced knives and forks." Anthony explained:
"But then again, Paulus believes that the exhaustion of magic is because humans have abandoned gods. He believes that human faith is the key to the existence of gods, and the Creator and gods are the key to the formation of magic power. With faith, humans can reshape the magic power of nature with just a wave of their hands. Once it accumulates to a certain level, the magic power will flow freely and become more prosperous.

"So, he tried to create an 'angel'."

"'Angel'? Doesn't he dare to create a god? After all, the Crusaders did create the 'Daughter of Mechanical Element'." Dark teased.

"'Daughter of the Mechanical Element' was a failed product of the old empire, but the 'Five-Colored Angel' created by Paulus is a true success." Anthony sighed and looked up at the top of the carriage, as if observing the dark and boundless universe behind the daytime sky. "He sacrificed Mei Yishi, who has a strong metal magic source, Weiss, who has a plant magic source, Yami Purgatory, who has a water magic source, Shayi, who has a fire magic source, and Alexi, who has an earth magic source.

"These five magicians who possessed the strongest magic power at the time were driven insane by drugs. When they gathered all their magic power into their hearts, bullets pierced their brains. As a result, their bodies with abundant magic power became 'magic power plants' with endless growth potential, and were planted in the dry riverbed."

"How cruel." Dak shook his head and sighed.

"Sacrifice and sacrifice have always been cruel since ancient times. Even in the Federation, such cruel stories are played out every day." Anthony continued:
"Originally, the five magic sources could create a perfect 'five-color angel' in a delicate balance, but who would have thought that a lake valley surrounded by mountains with little rainfall would usher in a rainstorm. The strange weather broke the fragile balance created by magic and evil. The water-based magic source power devoured the other powers. In the terrifying atmosphere formed by thunder and lightning, it was as if a black egg wrapped in red blood vessels was born from the sky."

"A water angel was born?" Dark tried his best to imagine the image of a devil-like weird angel in his mind based on Anthony's description. However, Anthony shook his head and denied it in an unquestionable tone:

"It's impossible. Unless the water source freezes, it can't form a fixed entity. The moment the failed angel rushed out of the black egg, it turned into strange black oil, swallowing up everything amid the terrified screams of the Central Church members.

"The sculptures of the seven great gods, rare magical materials, heavy machinery, laboratories, and even ancient magical books transferred from all over the Federation were all contaminated and fell apart and turned into dust under the shining of the 'Scorching Sun'."

"So, the experiment is a complete failure?"

"Not really. In a sense, Paulus succeeded." Anthony explained:
"After all, this place has gathered an indelible magical power of water. However, humans cannot set foot here unless they wear professional protective equipment like space suits. Otherwise, people will melt and turn into black oil before they even get near the lake.

"When the first 'Heartless Man' successfully broke into this place, the 'Ivanov Virus' transformed the terrifying world created by the 'Five-Colored Angel' ritual. From then on, the virus combined with the alienated water-based magic power to continuously transport 'Explosive Fishmen' outwards, unless the magic power was exhausted.

"Dak, you see, these 'explosive fishmen' are generally 1.6 meters tall and thin. They have a sac storing oil fuel in their throat, chest, abdomen and lower limbs, which will explode as long as they are stimulated. Moreover, they do not need any food. As long as they do not leave the ruins of Custard Lake, they will not lose their fighting ability due to hunger." (End of this chapter)