Wasteland Echoer.

Chapter 628 The White Night Archives (Part 1)
"Danger, Commander Shaneva!" Mikhail shouted.

Although Mikhail's appearance was relatively gentle and clean, he was, after all, a federal officer who had fought on the front lines, and his reaction speed and strength were still acceptable.

In a flash, he lunged at Shaneva, using all his strength to hold her and roll several times on the ground, barely dodging the attack of "Sherry's" giant foot.

Boom!
The aftershocks and lingering effects of the trampling spread outwards from the spacious "shallow modified cave layer," causing even the Federation soldiers standing at the edge to feel a sharp pain in their chests, as if struck by some blunt object.

Fortunately, the reawakened "Seye" only made a few random attacks with her body before being bound by Wright's "Dark Touch".

Immediately afterward, Wright pulled hard, and "Sherry" crashed to the ground, temporarily losing its ability to move.

"Commander Shaneva, 'Seye's' consciousness has vanished; he will no longer resist your control. Activate the device connected to him now, or it will be very difficult to control him later!" Wright shouted.

"Understood." Shaneva quickly brushed the putrid dust off her "leader's uniform" and hurriedly gave the order:
"Activate 'Heart of Medusa' and set the power to maximum. As long as Seye stops resisting, gradually reduce the power until we can completely control him!"

"Yes, sir!" The federal soldiers standing around the instruments and displays quickly and skillfully operated them according to their pre-trained instructions.

They knew in their hearts that with the existence of Wright, this bizarre "human monster," "Seye's" powerful body, unique to the dragon race, was not something they should be concerned about.

On the contrary, doing the work at hand well is the only way to ensure that the young dragon is perfectly controlled by them, thereby defeating the rebel Nabrius, winning the war, obtaining a higher position, and seizing more power and benefits in the post-war peace period.

Soon, countless electric currents passed through "Seye's" head, which had completely lost its soul. Its nerves were still intact, and the pain, like being pricked by needles, burned by fire, and cut by knives, still spread throughout the young dragon's massive body.

Fortunately, after a violent spasm, "Seye" exhaled a mixture of black smoke and ash, and her body finally calmed down. Her body began to receive the gradually comfortable electric current and the continuous infusion of medicine.

Seeing that the dragon was under control, the panic in Shaneva's eyes was completely replaced by a sense of control as a leader and a strong sense of pride.

He deliberately tidied his slightly disheveled hair and changed into somewhat rumpled clothes. He pushed aside Mikhail, who was protecting him, and went straight to Wright, whose cotton clothes were torn, whose mouth was bloody, whose body was covered with abrasions, and whose tentacles were wriggling slightly behind him and slowly retracting.

Snapped!
A sharp slap landed on Wright's face, and before he could react, Shaneva posed her question:

"Was it you who caused Seraphim's madness? You tried to use Seraphim's massive body to get rid of me, and then led the ambitious people hidden around me to join forces with Nebrius, and together with your destined man Dark, wreaked havoc on the entire Federation before running away, right?"

Wright didn't respond immediately. Instead, he touched his slightly reddened, burning left cheek and gave a disdainful yet helpless smile.

“Ms. Shaneva, I know that you leaders, whether you are leaders of a city or rulers of a country… have a kind of drug-like obsession with power. You spend every sleepless night thinking about who will take your power, and you suspect everyone, including everything around you.”

“If I wanted to kill you, on the day ‘Blood Wolf’ was around, if I had been even slightly slow to react and not paying attention to you, the three claws of that ‘Devotion’ leader, which were harder and sharper than steel, would have pierced your heart. As far as I know, you are just a ‘Prayer,’ and ‘Prayers’ do not possess any resurrection abilities.”

“Perhaps you didn’t intend to kill me back then, but you’ve changed your mind now,” Shaneva muttered. Although she was still being argumentative, after calming down a bit, she realized that Wright lacked the motive to harm her.

Even so, as a leader, she could recognize and correct her mistakes, but she couldn't admit them. Therefore, he needed Wright to provide more evidence to prove that he had no reason to assassinate the leader.

"Changed your mind?" Wright couldn't help but laugh.
"Hahaha. Ms. Shaneva, I know you're under a lot of pressure. But if I wanted you to die and put the Federation in danger, I wouldn't have cooperated with you to awaken 'Seye'. Nor would I have used my tentacles to restrain that beast at the first moment, buying you time to control him."

"However, on the other hand, I just saw Seye in his real human form. He was in great pain, bound, imprisoned, and controlled by you, which almost drove him to madness."

“So what? To restore order to the Federation, to continue human civilization, anyone, anything, and everything can be the price, including myself. As a leader, I am prepared to die. If, right now, Light Socrates, you can immediately restore order to the Federation, and only ask me to die, I will not hesitate to take out the pistol issued to Federation officers, point it at my temple, and pull the trigger.” Shaneva smiled approvingly and said:
“I know you don’t have that ability. Now I can also confirm that you have no intention of joining forces with Nebrius to eliminate me. Rest assured, there is an old saying among the Khitans: ‘Trust those you employ, and do not employ those you distrust.’ Now that Seye has awakened, this ‘Heart of Medusa’ must be destroyed after its use.”

“Now, Mikhail, you can take me below this place, to the ‘White Night Archives’ which exists vertically to this location. Since Nebrius and ‘Blood Wolf’ no longer choose to enter the ‘Earthline’ and ‘Core Area’ because they fear the power of the Federation, everything that exists here should rightfully return to the Federation Council.”

……

Riding in the cage-like elevator, Wright and his two companions gradually sank deeper into the ground.

Because the elevator was not completely enclosed, with only a few metal bars resembling prison fences providing simple support to prevent it from disintegrating and falling, Wright and his two companions were forced to endure a minute of darkness and emptiness filled with fear.

Finally, with a "ding-dong" notification sound, Wright and his two companions stepped out of the elevator and arrived at a more spacious underground area with a touch of ancient charm.

As soon as Wright stepped out of the elevator, he felt a chilling, icy wind gathering from other realms, much like the biting winter wind that had been a constant companion in the extreme cold zone. Fortunately, his red magical energy naturally possessed the attributes of fire-type magical energy, so the sudden chill from the Void Realm couldn't affect his body in the slightest. Even without consciously resisting, Wright could feel his body slightly warming up, a stark contrast to Shaneva and Mikhail, who were shivering beside him.

After advancing a short distance, Shaneva stopped in front of a wide, man-made metal floor that stretched across the ends of two cliffs.

"Halt! No one may enter without the order of the Federal Administrator..." A soldier dressed in futuristic armor and fully armed blocked the three people's path. However, before the soldier could finish reciting his warning, he suddenly saw three people walking into the darkness in front of him. The one in the lead was Administrator Shaneva.

At that moment, the soldier's mind raced, even imagining how he would face the military court and how he would be executed.

Fortunately, his rationality as a Federation soldier quickly overcame his panic and fear, and almost in the same second, he immediately continued:

“I’m sorry, Commander Shaneva, I…I didn’t know it was you.”

“He’s not dead.” Shaneva said, a smile that looked particularly sinister and terrifying in the darkness.
"This is your duty, and you have faithfully fulfilled your duty as a Federation [soldier]. I hope you will continue to maintain this sense of responsibility, and even if I come here again, faithfully fulfill your duty as a guard."

"Alright, don't be nervous. Take us to the 'White Night Archives.' Remember, leave a few people guarding the entrance. If anyone sneaks in or there's any unusual activity inside, you must react immediately, understand?"

"Understood, Commander Shaneva!" The soldier felt he had escaped a close call and gave a standard Crusader salute. He immediately felt his body return to normal, and the imposing presence Shaneva had exuded as a leader was quickly replaced by a gentle, caring demeanor towards her subordinates, allowing him to regain complete control over his body and future.

Soon, led by the soldiers, Wright and his two companions arrived at a simple, ordinary cave with nothing special about it.

Shaneva took a half step forward and pressed her palm firmly onto a glass panel that emitted a faint blue glow, resembling a mirror or touchscreen.

Soon, an earthquake-like tremor reverberated through the entire underground space, and two metal doors, larger, stronger, more mysterious, and more extraordinary than the Karlov Gate, carved with dragons and double-headed eagles, slowly opened one after the other.

A brief, choking gust of wind blew by, and the "White Night Archives" was fully revealed to the three of them.

After walking a few steps forward along the opening, which was initially unusually narrow, it was not even large enough to accommodate a Federation officer as tall as Mikhail. But soon, the opening grew wider and wider until a blinding white light suddenly came into view.

"what!"

The intense visual stimulation caused Shaneva and Mikhail to scream simultaneously. A few seconds later, after their eyes adjusted to the bright environment, the three of them felt a sense of liberation, as if they had traveled from hell to heaven.

"This is the 'White Night Archives'." Shaneva, unable to contain her excitement, raised her hands at a 45-degree angle upwards, as if praising the sun, and while "praising" the "White Night Archives," she looked at the two and asked:

“Mikhail, Wright, do you know why this archive room is called ‘White Night’?”

“I would like to hear more, Commander Shaneva,” Mikhail replied.

Wright remained silent, simply observing the space that was rapidly brightening.

This place is called a "record room," but its layout doesn't match that of a traditional record room. It's more like a giant experimental field left over from an old empire, used to store all sorts of new weapons. Only a few rows of bookshelves in a small corner near the right give it a bit of a "library" feel.

"The 'White Night' actually refers to the night when the 'Heavenly Punishment Fire' descends, a night as bright as day. This is mentioned in top-secret documents left behind by the old empire. The concept of the White Night originated in the Third Era. At that time, in order to alleviate the financial crisis, large quantities of proprietary minerals were continuously imported from Khitanris. Emperor Ivan XIX at that time provided information on 'artificial Heavenly Punishment Fire' to Luo Xin, the then 'Hegemonic Governor' of Khitanris, including core secrets such as design blueprints." Shaneva looked at the "Heavenly Punishment Fire" shells that had been cleaned not far in front of her and said:
"After obtaining all the information, Luo Xin quickly ordered people to replicate the 'Blazing Heavenly Punishment Fire' and chose a desert in the 'Northern Territory' for the experiment. Because the concentration of Jurim ore used by the Khitanris was higher and the power was stronger, the experimental explosion emitted a white light that stretched for hundreds of kilometers and lasted for a full fifteen minutes, making the night as bright as day. From then on, the Khitanris people had the saying 'White Night'."

“I’ve heard that ‘White Night’ symbolizes hope and good fortune, and there are similar descriptions in the traditional culture of Khitanris. Darkness symbolizes the ‘yin’ of Taoism, and light symbolizes the ‘yang’ of Taoism. The extreme yin moment of darkness suddenly becomes the extreme yang of daylight, symbolizing the descent of the god who holds the light to save all living beings, right?” Wright asked, recalling the information about the Flame Empire that he had read in the Rhine Empire.

“That’s right.” Shaneva gave Wright a slightly approving look, then continued her story:

"Therefore, this underground experimental site built by the Khitanris is called the 'White Night Archives.' This is by no means, as Nebrius claimed, a name given by the 'Dedication Group' to highlight its importance; rather, it is simply called that place."

"We have spent a week clearing out all the materials here, including the weapons left behind by the old empire. All the important new weapons have been moved out; what remains are heavy and worthless junk."

“However…” Shaneva picked up a “Heavenly Punishment Fire” shell that was already hollow inside, a strange smile playing on her lips. She looked up slightly, seemingly gazing in the direction of Belogersk, and said:

"We have found the formula for 'artificial divine punishment fire' that can control the explosion range. We only need to give Professor Igor a week, and the factories in Novayask and Khotov will be able to mass-produce them."

“I will no longer use siege tactics to expect Belogersk to surrender. There is a secret underground passage in Nabrius that we have never been able to pinpoint, which is transporting supplies to Belogersk. Now, what we need to do is use ‘Limited Control of Heavenly Punishment Fire’ to completely destroy Belogersk and the hundreds of thousands of rebels stationed in the Outer Naboa Mountains.”