Wasteland Echoer.

"We actually made it out. It turns out the exit from the underground palace no longer exists. The only way to escape was to forcibly activate your dragon bloodline, allowing you to grow these wings and fly us out." Dark looked at the surrounding ruins, clutching his chest, secretly relieved.

"If I had fallen down myself, I probably would never have seen this blazing, scorching sun again."

"Don't be so pessimistic, Dark." Adaloni folded its large wings, narrowed its vertical pupils slightly, and stared directly at the exceptionally bright sun overhead. With its blood-stained and dust-covered claws, it patted Dark's shoulder and his equally tattered and filthy cotton coat, "advising" him:

"Even if we don't fall, we might not see tomorrow's sun. Look at the sunlight overhead, can you feel how much brighter it is than before?"

"It seems...it seems that's how it is." Dark squinted and secretly glanced at the scene, then felt a sharp pain and couldn't stop the tears from flowing. Even after a minute or two, a dark spot of light remained where the sun had appeared in his vision.

"This is a power of our dragon race, a perception of the sun called 'Solar Awareness'," Adaloni proudly explained, head held high.
"We can sense energy fluctuations in the surrounding space by observing subtle changes in the intensity of sunlight, and thus take the next step accordingly. Factors affecting the sun's radiance can be divided into cosmic and continental factors."

"How do you interpret this?" Dark looked at Adaloni curiously. He noticed that Adaloni was still staring straight at the scorching sun, without shifting his gaze at all.

If it were a human, looking directly at the sun for more than three minutes would cause blindness. In fact, most people would start to tear up after looking at it for a dozen seconds, let alone three minutes.

Even those with mutated eyes and super high light tolerance, or those whose eyes have been specially modified by the "Heartless Virus," can only stare at the sun for two or three minutes at most. The dragon race truly deserves to be a race that associates with fire, a powerful existence favored by the Creator!

"We dragons are not afraid of any fire or light. On the contrary, fire can temper our bodies, and light can strengthen our spirit and heart," Adaloni explained, clenching his fists and bulging his upper body muscles as much as possible.

"Our eyes can look directly at the sun for a long time, until it goes out. So, in the First Age, whenever I was bored after eating, I would not go to play with the hares, leopards, and tigers, but would stare at the sun and ponder the mysteries of the planets, the universe, and the Creator all day long, until it set behind the mountains."

"And without realizing it, my 'sunshine' ability was cultivated. Unfortunately, after being exiled to the Dragon Realm by humans through the five great sealed artifacts, I have never seen the sun again. Even the chosen ones..." At this point, Adaloni paused unconsciously.

He strode towards the cave entrance he had just flown through, looked down at the underground palace that had now completely sunk into a realm resembling the underworld and darkness, sighed softly a few times, then turned to Dark and said:
"After the Chosen One was rescued from the Gate of Karlov, my human form as a half-dragon was no longer able to withstand the glaring sunlight. Now, having returned to my dragon form as a half-dragon, I have also regained a considerable number of my dragon abilities."

"What other abilities does it have? Can it help me and Wright cross the great rift in the Eventlay no-man's-land in the future?" Dark asked curiously, his gray eyes fixed on Adaloni's muscular body, a dragon-beastman, unable to look away.

Adaloni rested his chin on his hand, made a cute expression, thought for a few seconds, and replied:
"Perhaps. If the 'Khitan Rys Ring' continues to work and the 'Dragon's Return' continues to activate and allow my dragon bloodline to reproduce, then there should be no problem. Right now, the dragon bloodline in my body should have recovered to about 60%. Although it still cannot resist high-powered rocket launchers, aerial bombs, or heavy weapons like 'Heavenly Punishment Fire,' it can withstand bullets without any problem."

"As for 'Sun Awareness,' this skill grants us an exceptionally high level of perception of our environment. Right now, right here, not far from Belogersk where Nebrius is, the concentration of sunlight here is around 6%, of which 4% is fire-type fluctuations and the remaining 2% contains a certain amount of light-type magical energy. This indicates that the previous rounds of 'Artificial Heavenly Punishment Fire' have already been completed."

"Then why haven't any Federation troops arrived yet? There's not even the roar of mechanical vehicles?" Dark looked around, gazing at the charred road, puzzled.

"It should be waiting for the aftershocks of the 'Heavenly Punishment Fire' to dissipate. When 'Fubing' took me north, he told me about the history of the 'Artificial Lake,' and naturally, he also told me about the 'Heavenly Punishment Fire' in detail. Actually..." Adaloni suddenly felt drowsy, yawned, leaned against a relatively sturdy, dilapidated wall, and stroked the strange, thriving plants around him, explaining:

“Each ‘Heavenly Punishment Flame’ releases radiation upon explosion. The more ‘Refined Jurim’ ore is added during its creation, the stronger the radiation will be, and the longer it will take to dissipate. The more ‘Suppression Chain Element Supplement’ is added, the less radiation will be released, and the shorter it will take to dissipate.”

"It's obvious that in order to achieve the 'targeted strike' that Maxim mentioned, I believe Shaneva must have added a large amount of highly concentrated 'refined Jurem' ore to guide the targeted explosion of the 'chain' element. This would not only cause the 'chain' reaction to be quite violent at a certain point, but also make the radiation difficult to dissipate."

"It's like... if you dissolve a bucket of paint in water and spill it, it's relatively easy to clean up and it's also easier for it to decompose naturally. But if you concentrate a bucket of paint into a can and pour it into a room, it would probably take a lot of effort to shovel it away."

“I understand.” It seemed that the “Flesh of Hatred” made Dark’s mind work faster and improved his intelligence slightly. He quickly understood what Adaloni meant:
"You mean the Federal Council is afraid to come in and clean up the battlefield, so it has been slow to launch an attack. I guess the 'artificial divine punishment fire' was bombed yesterday morning, and Shaneva is afraid to risk the lives of his soldiers, so he has chosen to hold back for the time being and wait for the radiation to dissipate before taking action."

“That’s right. ‘Fubing’ told me that under normal circumstances, the radiation from ‘Heavenly Punishment Fire’ will dissipate within 12 hours. After all, the radiation emitted by the ‘chain’, which relies on extraordinary power and magical energy, contains a huge amount of magical energy, which is easily absorbed by nature’s ‘magical depletion’.” Adaloni further explained:

"The 'Artificial Heavenly Punishment Fire' uses a large amount of radioactive ore that does not contain magical energy, along with many artificial materials, which means the radiation will take more than 24 hours to be absorbed. I predict..."

Adaloni, with his prominent, dragon-like nose, lay prone on the ground, inhaling deeply the various scents of nature, and analyzed:

"The radiation from this 'divine punishment fire' will probably take three days to dissipate enough for humans to enter. As for us, why are we able to remain calm and composed in such a high-radiation environment, speak fluently, and not suffer a mental breakdown?"

“Perhaps it’s because our bodies can already withstand high concentrations of ‘Scars.’ Don’t forget, ‘Scars’ is also a type of radiation that humans talk about.” “So, what should we do next?” Dark walked quickly to Adaroni and shared his thoughts. “I still want to go to Belogersk first, partly to check the situation there after the bombing; and partly, if Nebrius is still alive, I want to ask him for the [Core of Khitania].

“Why do we need that core? Wouldn’t it be better to let that ominous thing sleep forever in the cosmic illusion it created?” Adaloni looked at Dark with a puzzled expression, frowning as he asked.

“Even if Nebrius is killed in the explosion, Shaneva will still have her eye on the [Core of the Kingdom of Kydalia]. Even if she abandons the 'Cosmic Energy Evolution Platform' project for various reasons, the next Federal Administrator might still be interested in it.” Dark rested his chin on his hand, acting like a gentleman, a strategist, or a detective, and analyzed:
"If we obtain the [Core of Khitanria], we can destroy it and head east without hesitation to Khitanris, hoping to save the lost human civilizations in various places in the future. If Wright is really imprisoned by Shaneva, we can use it to exchange for Wright. You know, none of us can defy the fate arranged by the Creator. Without the existence of the [Orderers], I, the [Troublemaker], will be worthless."

"Even if Shaneva uses it to find the 'Source Image Pillar', successfully activate the 'Mind Control Panel,' and turn all the Crusaders into slaves who are unconditionally loyal and obedient to her, or even if the Crusad Federation is destroyed by flood, would you still be willing?" Adaloni stared intently into Dark's gray eyes and asked.

“The Khitans have a saying: ‘After me, the deluge.’ Now that we’ve decided to leave Crusad, we shouldn’t care about this federation filled with killing, death, intrigue, decay, and deception anymore.” Dark took a deep breath, made up his mind, but put on an indifferent expression, and said:

“Since Shaneva has chosen civil war, the Crusd Federation is destined to be destroyed. If the Lost Ones and the ‘Heartless Ones’ destroy the Federation, we can take it back with the help of the Khitanris. If the flood and the sun destroy the Federation, we can rebuild it on this land after the war ends. Only destruction can bring about new life. This is a truth I have only recently come to understand.”

“Since this is your wish, then let’s go see Belogersk. Perfect timing, I also want to see Nebrius.” Adaloni said, pointing to his broad shoulders, then to Dark’s bleeding thigh, and added:
“Come on up, I’ll take you there. Your thigh is injured, and because of the strong ‘Sorrow’, you probably didn’t even realize it yourself. ‘Sorrow’ suppresses human senses, and once it completely dissipates, the pain will compensate you doubly. So for now, let’s not torture your injured thigh.”

……

About half an hour later, relying on his strong dragon muscles and powerful cardiopulmonary function, Adaloni ran wildly through the heavily radioactive area and finally reached the edge of Belogersk.

Along the way, he and Dak saw no fewer than dozens of craters ten meters deep, as well as many humanoid "creatures" that had been reduced to ashes or piles of charcoal.

Perhaps because the bombing of the "artificial divine punishment fire" was so intense, there was no trace of blood to be seen here, nor could one smell the strong stench of blood and rotting corpses that emanated after past wars.

All that remained was a pungent smell reminiscent of sulfur and gasoline, a metallic taste from mechanical damage, and a faint, naturally occurring metallic odor in the mouth.

When they arrived at the gates of Belogersk, in front of this core fortress, Dak was shocked!

The place is no longer the sturdy and magnificent place it once was. The clearly defined "fortress layer," "industrial layer," "production layer," and "residential layer" are now all piled up together, making it impossible to distinguish any functional areas.

Here, ruins and rubble are everywhere, and the black smoke and still-burning flames add a touch of the underworld to this city dominated by death.

The once towering "fortress layer" building was cut in half, with human and superhuman corpses scattered everywhere, along with messy supplies and abandoned, long-dead mechanical wreckage.

Even more remarkably, the entire Belogersk was shaving off a layer after several rounds of bombardment by "artificial divine fire," leaving behind a desolate space where no living creature could be seen.

Just then, several black monsters covered in mutated limbs, with protruding eyes and wriggling tentacles, seemed to have smelled the scent of humans—no, the scent of meat—and began to wriggle rapidly toward where Dark and Adaloni were standing, following the charred and dusty ground.

When they were about ten meters away from Dak, Dak saw a broken "Ice Lotus" badge on the chest of those creatures.

“They were probably soldiers of Nabrius’s guard in life, but now they’ve mutated into this state due to radiation. It seems that Commander Nabrius and the lost members of the ‘Dedication Group’ are probably in grave danger,” Dark sighed.

However, his hand movements were not affected by any emotion.

When the mutated creatures rushed to within five meters of Dak, Dak skillfully drew his "Imitation-Mad Bear" pistol, loaded it, aimed, and pulled the trigger in one fluid motion.

Bang! Bang! Two shots.

He then shot the two mutated creatures away, rendering them completely lifeless from the impact of the bullets. (End of Chapter)