Wasteland Echoer.

Chapter 594: The Threat from the Sunflower Theory School (Part )

"Anno 1453: The glory of the Lord disappeared from the crimson moon, and the blessing of the Lord temporarily stopped in the fire of the bronze cannon. The time sequence belonging to the universe is 7, the time sequence belonging to the gods is 6, the time sequence belonging to the stars is 5, the time sequence belonging to the monsters is 4, the time sequence belonging to humans is 3, the time sequence belonging to death is 2, the time sequence belonging to life is 1, and the time sequence belonging to the Creator is 0." - "Dark Book"

The complicated psychedelic dreams kept wandering and lingering in Dak's eyes, and the noisy tones of mechanical roars surrounded his ears.

In a trance, he seemed to see a group of orcs holding shovels, standing in front of a 30-meter-high steel furnace, muttering in the pre-Crusde dialect that he was not very familiar with, and dancing in front of the swaying flames that were shining like elves.

Soon, the ores containing the [Fire] magical power were craned into the open furnace one by one. As the furnace cover was closed, the temperature inside the furnace gradually exceeded the threshold and reached its peak. Under the flying, poetic sparks, it "played" an explosive hymn belonging to a new era.

boom!
"Ah!" Dak woke up from his dream, gasping for breath. After the golden stars in front of his eyes disappeared, he wiped the sweat on his face stained with blood and dirt.

"This is, or... or the Outer Nebuya Mountains." Dak muttered to himself in a hoarse voice, looking around.

The battle with the rituals of "Exhausting Flame" and "Exhausting Heart's Radiance" seemed to have lasted for hours, yet it seemed like days.

The "MB-003: Mechanical Crimson Moon" that was hanging high above his head had long disappeared, and the "dead things" that had once shrouded it seemed to have aged and decayed quite quickly.

Not far away, the mechanical chariots belonging to the adventurers and the Federation [warriors] were already rusted, and the blood stains and white sticky substances on them had long since dried up and formed a layer of inorganic crystals. The windows had long been broken, and all the leather and cloth inside had been corroded, leaving only some broken, tiny pieces of black material that seemed to crumble if gently kneaded.

The few plants that originally remained on the ground completely disappeared, leaving only a layer of soil that had either turned to sand or completely turned to dust. The various pine, birch and oak trees that had originally stood tall and upright in the mountains had all turned into nearly pitch-black, twisted, withered trees covered with evil, unclean and abominable ashes, completely devoid of life.

The only thing with a bit of life, apart from the "Jie Yan" sleeping on the rock diagonally behind, was the scarlet mucus that was still slightly wriggling in the deep pit formed after the explosion of the "Jie Xin Yan Point".

Dak speculated that these might be the remaining remains of the dead adventurers and federal warriors. After all, they had been completely controlled by the "Mechanical Crimson Moon" and completely sacrificed by the "Heart-Exhausting Glory" in the so-called "cauldron", turning into bright "pills" containing power.

"Since the 'pill' has not been absorbed by the 'Heart-Exhausting Flame Point', it can only degenerate into disgusting remains and pieces of flesh." Dark endured the slight nausea and looked behind him.

Suddenly, a loud engine roar that almost pierced his eardrums came from behind Dak's body. Although it was far away, it seemed to be right in front of him.

Dak looked back and saw a military mechanical vehicle with the "red" double-headed eagle flag of the Cruz Federation and the "reversed double-headed eagle" national emblem flying. It was slowly and arduously crossing the rugged and bumpy dirt road and slowly driving towards him.

The strange thing is that as the mechanical chariot got closer, the roar of the engine that seemed to shatter the eardrums and make people scream and collapse was gradually decreasing, until the mechanical chariot stopped in front of them, and the annoying noise that seemed to be imprinted deep in the soul suddenly became extremely normal.

"Dak, are you okay?" A deep and hoarse voice came from in front of Dak.

Accompanied by the laborious and cumbersome sound of machinery and steam running, the side door of the mechanical chariot slowly opened, and Anthony, who had disappeared for a long time, flipped over the cushion stained with yellow dust, jumped down, and appeared in front of Dak.

"Well, that's not good either." Dak pouted and pretended to be angry.
"I've been fighting the Lost Ones here for a whole day and I haven't seen you. Where have you been? Are you a deserter?"

"Of course not." Anthony stared at Duck with a firm tone, patted his solid, muscular chest and responded:
"I served in the border defense forces at Dongshen-02 stronghold in the Water Province. Even though it was only for three to five years, I was a soldier of the Federation after all. Moreover, since my grandfather's generation, our Fengjian family has served as officers at the grassroots level. Dark, you also know that soldiers disdain to run away, especially those who have hatred for the Lost and the Heartless."

"Hatred?" Dak looked up at Anthony curiously.

Indeed, he and Anthony only met after joining the "Adventurer's Guild" in Novaask, and even though they had fought side by side in difficult battles, he didn't know this big mixed-blood boy very well.

It just so happened that now that the local war initiated by the "Devotion Group" had come to an end, Nebrius, who was trapped deep in the Outer Nebuya Mountains, did not lack this time or two, so Dark simply developed a strong interest in Anthony's life experience.

"Can you tell me about it?" Dak showed a curious look.

"Of course." Anthony jumped over the small mound in two or three steps, stepped on the wind-dried inorganic crystals, and sat down on the fine black material next to Dak.

Then, he took out a "An Shen Nei Juan Hua" cigarette from his multi-pocketed trousers with a strong nomadic migration style, lightly struck a match, took a long breath through the rich and reassuring smoke, closed his eyes slightly, looked at the half-gloomy sun in the sky that seemed out of reach, and slowly said:
"My mother died in the 'Wave of Careless People' in the year 532 of the New Era... which nearly swept across half of Cruzde. Dak, I remember you said that you had studied in the Strategic Corps. If they really trained you as an officer, you should have studied these major 'Waves of Careless People' seriously."

"That's right." Dak nodded slightly, looked at Anthony and said, "The 'Careless Wave' in the year 532 of the New Era was mentioned in our 'Strategic Case Analysis Class'. This 'wave' is also called 'The End of the Odyssey'. It was a major military setback during the time of the 'pioneer' Viking Vladimir. It is also the pain that all the so-called 'Viking Faction' or 'Higanbana Faction' leaders are reluctant to mention.

"I remember that the First and Third Armies of the Federation Council made a historic breakthrough in the western South Kalov District. They entered the city of Budadi, which had been besieged for three years, for the first time and successfully took control of the entire Second District. But..."

"But a subsequent arrogant military adventure ruined everything." Anthony took over the conversation and said:
"The Chaos Group and the Order Society, which were active in the south at the time, controlled the Heartless and launched a Night Wave, causing heavy casualties among the soldiers of the two legions. Moreover, they took advantage of the greed of the quartermaster and used gold and supplies to induce him to sell a large amount of Federal No. 0 Potion and Federal No. 1 Potion to the independent armed Southern Sea Exploration Group. As a result, the tens of thousands of wounded soldiers of the two legions had neither potions to remove the Heartless virus nor enough Ending Cores and weapons for concentrated elimination.

"So, nearly 100,000 elite soldiers from these two legions were collectively transformed into 'heartless aliens' who were able to skillfully use weapons. It is said that these people were infected with the 'No. 2 Alien Virus', which only completely destroyed their brains, but preserved their strong muscles and bones.

"Under the control of the Chaos Team's No. 3 figure who is proficient in mastering the Seducer ability, these people's combat power is enough to rival that of 10,000 Lost Ones who have gone through painful suffering and whose strength has been sublimated."

"I remember that after that, the western defense line was completely defeated." Dak sighed and recalled the case he had learned:
"Ivan Port, Budadi City, Konigrad, and even Volga City were completely occupied. Whether it was the garrison soldiers, factory workers, or those humans who relied on federal material rations to survive, they were all devoured by the 'heartless people'. It was at that time that Choigrad was completely reduced to a ruin.

"But then again, the Five Great Cities, including Carnosk, were not taken seriously by Vasily until they were severely damaged at that time."

"Yes." Anthony said sadly:
"My mother was in Joeigler at the time. My father, and of course my grandfather, hoped that we could live peacefully in Cruzde for a few decades, and after the 'Pioneer' Vikings completely wiped out the 'Heartless People' and appeased the Lost Ones, we could rely on the accumulated supplies and weapons to cross the 'Avintlai Desert' and the 'Avin Ice Desert Trail' and return to Khitanlis. What a pity..."

Anthony's face twitched noticeably, and his solid, heavy, and stable palms trembled slightly, as if he was recalling the past events that were intertwined with sadness and terror. After several minutes, he relaxed from the state of clenching his fists, took a breath, and slowly said:

"No one could have expected that the core area of ​​Ice Province could be invaded by a group of 'careless people'. If the Viking commander had not found several 'fires of punishment' left by the old empire buried deep at the bottom of the Sennar Prison, the end of the Federation would have come 20 years earlier.

"At that time, a brown-haired Lost One from the 'Chaos Group' and a silver-haired boy from the 'Order Society' brought a few 'Heartless People with Thick Armor' into the basement where my mother and I were temporarily hiding. The brown-haired Lost One suppressed the plant-based magic power in my mother's body, while the silver-haired boy pierced her chest with a bone blade."

"So, how did you escape?" Dak asked curiously. He knew that this was Anthony's sad past, so his tone was calm and cautious.

"I was still young at that time, maybe 10 or 12? Anyway, I was in a daze during that period and I can't remember many things." Anthony smiled awkwardly and replied:

"In fact, before the 'End of the Odyssey', I didn't have any 'Heartless Virus' in my body. Even though my mother was a Lost One, I didn't seem to inherit any Lost One blood from her. I don't know if these powers were lurking... or hidden. Anyway, at that time, my heart was still a human heart with blood, beating and ordinary.

"There is no residue of the burning liquid in my body. Apart from some plant-based magic power skills that magicians in the old era could skillfully operate, such as 'Quick Healing' and 'Growing', I don't have any other extraordinary powers."

"So, you awakened the blood of the Lost Ones during the battle? However, when we were fighting at the Casta de Lake ruins a few days ago, I saw that you used firearms very smoothly and powerfully, but you didn't use any abilities of the Lost Ones." Dak said puzzledly.

"Actually..." Anthony said as he pulled up Dak and walked towards the mechanical chariot behind him, "I hadn't awakened the bloodline of the Lost Ones at that time. After my mother was killed by them, the silver-haired boy from the 'Order Society' proposed to train a group of Lost Ones while riding on the 'wave' of Joeygle.

"Anyway, the Federal Council's tolerance for people with special abilities was much lower than it is now. When it comes to issues related to special abilities and the Lost Ones, Viking is even more radical than old man Vasily.

"This silver-haired boy wanted to leave unforgettable pain in my heart. He wanted to use the pain to turn me into a lost person who could be used by them. So, he cut my wrist with a dagger and poured blood drop by drop into the wound on my chest."

"What a cruel act! This is exactly the kind of dirty thing that those crazy Lost Ones can do." Dak shouted angrily, and sat under the seat of the mechanical chariot with Anthony, looking at "Jie Yan" who was still "sleeping".

After a pause, Anthony's voice became much lower and he said:

"Perhaps the blood of the Lost Ones activated the Lost Ones bloodline in my body. Since then, I have at least possessed half of the power of the Lost Ones. But that kind of dirty, filthy, and filthy power often makes me sick, so I have never used them actively.

"I still maintain my human identity, but because the results of multiple 'radiation detection devices' and 'blood tests' have all shown me to be a 'superpower', I cannot join any legion that is affiliated with the Federation's combat sequence. Even in the later period of Viking's tenure as Chief Executive, I could only join the Border Defense Legion, not the 'Sequence Legion'."

"By the way, Dake. Who is that boy? I saw you staring at him for a long time. Why is he wearing the traditional costume of our Khitanris?" Anthony pointed curiously at the boy who was sleeping near a huge rock full of craters not far in front of him.

"He is the culprit who killed almost all of us adventurers who entered the Outer Nebuya Mountains. His name is 'Jie Yan', a man-made Lost One." Dark's gray eyes were filled with strong hatred, and he said through gritted teeth.