Wasteland Echoer.

Chapter 616 Miren's Revenge (Part 2)
“An officer?” Darke chuckled, glancing at Mirren before sighing softly.
"Officers are everywhere in the Federation. Whether it was during the old Empire or the current Federation era, the Crusaders have no shortage of officers. Ivan XXII's 'Double-Headed Eagle Legion' alone produced more than a thousand officers, not to mention the officers in the various provinces."

"Besides, perhaps when Wolfya died in the alternate dimension of the 'Red Illusion Ruins,' Vasily Voliganov had already removed me from the roster of officers with gold trim. From the moment the 'Old Fireworks' devoured forty thousand lives in Icefall City, I ceased to be loyal to the Federation."

"Oh?" Miren was clearly surprised. His scarlet, devilish eyes were fixed on Dark, trying to find a clue in his words that might be a lie.

However, in reality, Dark never lied; he disdained to lie. After all, he had experienced life and death, he was not afraid of death, nor did he cowardly live a life of dishonor, so naturally there was no need for him to lie.

“Age 198: The proud suffer humiliation, the envious achieve nothing, the wrathful are paralyzed, the lazy toil endlessly, the greedy vanish into nothingness, the gluttonous starve, and the lustful find no true love. But beyond the seven deadly sins, the liar is the most poisonous. Therefore, the true God said, ‘The liar is pierced by a thousand arrows and betrayed by all.’” Milren recited verses from the Book of the Word, a classic text shared by the Archbishop and the Archbishop, and, with his own interpretation, said:
"The Federation is full of lies, and the Lost Ones are full of lies. We vampires may be arrogant and sometimes greedy, but we are not hypocritical or pretentious, and we would never fool others with lies. However, you have tormented me with lies time and time again, so I can only fight back in the most intense way."

Immediately following, streams of light, a mixture of pure black and pure purple, suddenly rose from near Miren's body. His feet slowly and steadily left the ground, while a faint blue liquid, seeping from an unknown source, flowed down his body.

"Back off, back off!" Darke turned and urgently ordered Anthony.

"Retreat with 'Flame Offering,' and find some sturdy walls for cover. There's a strange power stirring within Milen; he'll soon turn into a monster."

"Now...now?" Anthony suddenly seemed a little confused and tried to confirm.

“That’s right, now.” Dark responded affirmatively. “Can’t you smell the stench of dead fish and rotten shrimp? It’s the smell of the sea. I went to the coast of the North Karlov District when I was fighting for the Federation in Mayan City, and it smelled like this everywhere.”

"The putrid smell of the ocean, you should know what that means. As long as Miren doesn't leave, 'Flame Offering's' wounds won't heal. Anthony, help him bandage it later."

"Understood!" Anthony nodded in agreement, then picked up the semi-conscious "Xianyan" and ran back quickly.

As his reason gradually crumbled, Miren seemed oblivious to the departing Anthony and "Flame Offering." His eyes were consumed by the rage of revenge, and Dark, standing before him, was now his opponent.

Soon, columns of water rose from the dry ground, forming a circle centered on Dark and Milon, continuously spewing outwards, and gradually evolving into a wave that shot straight into the sky.

The brief, bright sunlight was instantly obscured by the sea, leaving only faint specks of light. The dim space, filled with the smell of death, made Dak gag a few times.

“I have already sacrificed half of my life to the great Depthère, and of course, I have considered sacrificing the other half to Cthulhu. But Cthulhu has already entered the eternal realm with the Creator, and they will not awaken again until death loses its meaning,” Mirren said with deep emotion.

“Ah! Gods are gods because they never lie to others. Even though power comes at a price, in the burning dream, Depser still told me everything in detail.”

“You’re insane, Miren. The price of accepting ancient powers is madness, it’s worse than death. Of course, now that you’ve come this far, there’s no turning back, is there?” Darke pulled out the “Dominion” brand pistol issued to Federation officers from his waist and gently rubbed it a few times.

Immediately afterwards, he poured a stream of dark magic power into the pistol.

Soon, the pistol's casing exploded, and pieces fell off, emitting a brilliant, jewel-like blue light in the dim space.

The old outer shell has completely disappeared, revealing the extremely high-tech, dark white components inside.

“Wright Socrates, the one who received the red magical energy of the [Orderer], from the moment he came into this world, he possessed a top-tier firearm called the 'Mad Bear Brand Pistol',” Dark recounted as he assembled the gun's parts.

"The original owner of Wright's pitiful body, unable to bear the fate of transforming into a monster, chose to pick up this 'Mad Bear' pistol, aim it at the mutating heart, and pull the trigger. In fact, the 'Mad Bear' pistol was just an old item; the Socratic weapons factory of the Genie people had stopped producing it a hundred years ago."

"However, the red magical energy, the 'heartless' scorching liquid, the blood of the lost, the blood of the alien beasts, and even the blood of the Germanic Ivante, combined with the ancient power that had been nurtured for thirty years, made it an extraordinary weapon capable of obliterating the lost amidst its turbulent journey."

As he spoke, Dark had already finished assembling all the gun parts. When he picked up the 30-centimeter-long, dark white pistol with one hand and aimed it at Miren's head, strands of red thread shot out from it, instantly passing through his eyes and mouth and entering Dark's body.

“This is a replica of the ‘Mad Bear’ brand pistol. Before leaving, Wright commissioned me to use my magical energy to replicate it. Since I found the materials needed for the pistol, and with the help of Hoshino Shota's connections, I secretly used machinery to machine them all out,” Dark said in a low, dangerous voice.
"Therefore, it is a real, existing ordinal monster, not an illusion created by the interplay of energies."

"Use this, and it will be enough to kill you!"

As soon as Dark finished speaking, in the gradually darkening and suffocating environment, a bullet mixed with a clear white light, like a shooting star in the long night of pain, pierced through the dark and silent space and rushed towards Miren's forehead.

boom!
The moment the bullet struck Mirren's body, the white light transformed into a mushroom cloud, exploded, and rose into the air.

Even though Miren had used the vampire power within her body to form a blood-red shield for defense at top speed.

But the powerful impact still hurled him out of the battle cage constructed by the seawater, causing him to crash heavily onto the dry rubble. At the same time, having lost its leader, all the dark forces belonging to the deep sea instantly disintegrated, turning into wisps of dry black ash that disappeared into the rising yellow sand.

“Ancient power granted me the ability to take revenge. Dark, even if I become a monster, a mutated bloodthirsty beast, that is merely my destiny.” Miren struggled to his feet, raising his two arms, now transformed into tentacles, and glared angrily.
“'Future' is dead. He gave his life for 'Windmine,' as well as for 'New God,' and all the 'Rulers' I admired. They all died because of Vasily’s conspiracy. 'Future' was 'Windmine's' brother. I didn’t even see his body, let alone offer any prayers to cleanse his sins for his frail body.”

"I don't know if he has already paid for his sins in the sea of ​​blood in the underworld, or if he has boarded a train to heaven to pursue happiness. I only know that sinners will eventually pay for everything in the karmic retribution, and I am willing to sacrifice myself as the executor."

"Foolish!" Dark looked Milen up and down, then sneered.
"Look at you, half your face covered in crocodile scales, your claws turned into tentacles, and a pair of demonic wings on your back. Let me see... hmm, you smell like seafood. The god you prayed to, Dipser, didn't even grant you a powerful skill like 'Purple Extinction,' only changing your appearance. How can you possibly carry out your revenge?"

"You didn't give me any room to use my skills!" Miren said, looking aggrieved.

“I’m saving you.” Dark’s voice suddenly became very magnetic as he whispered:

“Miren, once your mutation is complete, you will be beyond saving. If the ancient powers are not overdrawn to their limit, at most Cthulhu will strip them of their right to use them again. 'Windmine' followed Vasily in carrying out the sinful plan of 'Evolution Platform,' and he is simply reaping what he sowed.”

Seeing that Mirren was thinking with his head down and didn't say anything more, Dark decided to add fuel to the fire:
"To know one's crime and not speak out is to share the crime; to know one's evil and not uphold it is to share the evil. The philosophers of the Kingdom of Cidanris knew this principle at least two thousand years ago. Unfortunately, what has been done will be done again. You have no ability, no need, and no right to avenge 'Wind Mine'."

"What I, the 'Dedication Group,' and Nabrius, the commander of Nabsk, are tasked with is to correct the mistakes made by Vasily and 'Wind Mine.' We will destroy the [Core of Khitania], and indeed all seven cores. After obtaining all the scientific data, we will shut down all the 'Evolution Stations' named after the Big Dipper."

"Really?" Milen couldn't believe Dark's statement. He stared at Dark with a questioning look, afraid that he would change his mind at any moment.

“Of course. I have never lied.” Dark put down the replica “Mad Bear” pistol, pointing the muzzle downwards, and further promised:

"I would advise the 'Dedication Group' or Commander Nebrius to destroy the 'Source Image Pillar' to prevent the Mind Control Console from reappearing in the world. After all, it's better to bury such a thing that can manipulate people underground."

“If you accept my terms, Milren, then please leave. It won’t be long before an even stronger sandstorm arrives. I estimate that this sandstorm will last for another three to five days before it weakens. You can go to Khotov, or head directly east to Nebsk, where the sandstorm won’t reach. I think the intensity of the ‘Fall of Atlas’ campaign will soon exceed our expectations.”

Seeing this, Mirren nodded slightly, and before he turned to leave, he said, half-threatening and half-pleading:

"If you break your promise, I will take your life myself, no matter where you go, even to the ends of the earth. Of course, if one day the war can end, peace can come, and you can control the direction of this world, please give other races besides humans... an equal chance to live."

“I… will,” Dark promised.

When he looked up at Miren again, the figure of the lost vampire was nowhere to be seen, leaving only a pool of blood that smelled of decaying deep sea and was rapidly drying.

……

After half an hour.

Thanks to Anthony's skillful driving of the mechanical vehicle, they raced along the rugged mountain road, smashing two headlights, half a door, and seven or eight trees. Finally, just before the sandstorm resurfaced, Dak and his two companions entered the "core fortress"—Belogersk—jointly guarded by the Nebusk local legion and the "Dedication Group."

After entering the city, although Belogersk is not a completely enclosed city like Sogran, which is surrounded by a dome, the unique topography of the Transnabuya Mountains, along with several gray towers deliberately built according to the terrain, caused most of the sandstorms to flow cleverly to the outskirts of the city, without causing too much impact on the city's interior.

Dark and Anthony could feel deeply that breathing in the city was like surfacing from the deep sea, clear and smooth.

A few minutes later, as arranged by the lost members of the "Dedication Group," Dark carried the injured "Dedication Flame" on his back, while Anthony parked the mechanical vehicle in the nearest military underground garage.

Soon, five people approached. Two of them were dressed in ordinary, relatively simple wasteland mechanical attire, but their slightly blue semi-mechanical hearts revealed their status as Lost Ones.

As for the other three, Dark noticed that they all wore "ice lotus" patterns pinned to their chests and were dressed in futuristic exoskeletons. This robust and expensive equipment even armed their teeth.

His chest, abdomen, back, legs, and face were all encased in sturdy black armor, and he could even speak through a sophisticated walkie-talkie.

Furthermore, behind them was an antenna for locating objects, a military rifle, a flamethrower, and a rocket launcher capable of instantly obliterating any lost person.

These devices appear to be replicas of conceptualized technological products left over from the old empire, rather than mass-produced, mature weapons from the Federation factories.

"You must be Commander Dark Tiris?" A man who appeared to be the captain stepped forward and spoke to Dark through the walkie-talkie:
“Our city’s governor, Nebrius, wishes that after you send your ally, ‘Order Restorer’ ‘Flame Offering’, to the ‘Core Hospital,’ you will go to the ‘Governor’s Office’ in ‘Fortress Level 05’ to meet with him.”