Wasteland Echoer.

Chapter 647 The Universe of the Black Core (Part 2)

“But, Commander Nebrius, they don’t belong to Crusad, they shouldn’t… they shouldn’t have been involved.” Hoshino Shota struggled to support his aching body, leaning against the smooth, dark wall beside him. He slowly rose, spitting out a mouthful of saliva mixed with thick blood.

He gazed at the increasingly dazzling yet still dark "cosmic world," his dark, Eastern-looking eyes trembling slightly, as if in fear of the bizarre creatures hidden within the darkness.

"Speak up!"

A stern rebuke from Nebrius echoed once more from the "universe," and a fleshy tentacle, along with a rectangular solid metal box at its tip, slammed into Hoshino Shota, sending him flying again.

The relatively slender and delicate body of the boy traced a parabola with a strong geometric beauty in mid-air before landing at Dark's feet.

"What are you doing, Commander Nebrius!" Dark roared, picking up Hoshino Shota and quickly checking his injuries. Dark took out a roll of bandage from his tan military backpack and quickly bandaged him to stop the bleeding.

Then, Dark placed Hoshino Shota on the slightly cold metal ground behind him, and together with Adaloni, they stood in front of him to protect him.

"I remember you weren't such a volatile person, Commander Brius. Hoshino Shota is an important member of your 'Night Investigation Team,' and you trusted him completely before. Why are you abusing him now?" Dark questioned.

"Furthermore, if you are willing to accept us, it seems you shouldn't be hiding within the cosmic space constructed by the [Core of Khitanria], but instead manipulate those tentacles that don't belong to you to demonstrate your power."

“Power? Hahaha, power. That’s right, power, power, hahaha.” Nebrius muttered incoherently to himself for a while before finally getting the conversation back on track, saying:

"I tried to find a power no weaker than Novayask and take the 'Viking School,' also known as the 'Otherworldly Flower School,' completely abandoning the 'Universal Energy Evolution Platform' and abandoning the use of magic and extraordinary power to reconstruct human civilization, but I was still defeated by the extraordinary."

"I never imagined that Shaneva's heart was actually inhabited by a true Satan. She didn't care about the hundreds of thousands of people in Nebusk, let alone the hundreds of thousands of Krusds in Belogersk. In her eyes, anyone who opposed her needed to be eliminated, and no one could be saved."

"What's done is done, Commander Nebrius. What you should do now is destroy or take away the [Core of Khitania], and with the remaining surviving humans and Lost Ones, take advantage of the Federal Council's temporary reluctance to enter, retreat through the pipeline to Nebusk, and then plan a subsequent counterattack. Not here, beating up your trusted subordinates." Dark angrily pointed to the dark "universe" space, the source of Nebrius's strange voice.

“It’s no use,” Nebrius said again, his voice low and somber.
"What Shaneva wanted was not a united, powerful, and wealthy Crusad Federation, but a Crusad Empire that was absolutely loyal to her. Compared to Vasily, Shaneva was more ambitious and capable, but her moral sense was weaker."

"If Vasily was a politician with lofty ambitions but lacking ability, then Shaneva was an ambitious woman with both ambition and ability. What she wanted was total and utter destruction, and then rebuilding the entire country on the ruins. But reality would not give her enough time."

"So, what do you want to do?" Dark suddenly became alert, subconsciously taking half a step back, one hand on the "Imitation-Mad Bear" pistol at his waist, assuming a half-combat stance, ready to deal with any possible danger at any time.

“It’s simple, a fight to the death. In the words of the Khitans, since the strong no longer abide by the rules and are determined to exterminate the weak, then the weak will have no choice but to use their last strength and means to fight to the death.” Nabrius chuckled coldly a few times and asked Dark in return:

Do you know exactly where this place is?

“You told me that this is a ‘universe’ space that the [Core of Khitanria] created on its own to avoid being destroyed, to hide within it and evade ‘capture’,” Dark replied earnestly, his eyes remaining alert as he stared at the source of the voice.

“That’s right. Dark, it seems your memory is quite good.” Nebrius praised slightly, then continued:
"There is a lot of 'sorrow' element here, which will greatly reduce the memory of those who enter. When I was human, I was always dizzy every time I came here, and my mind was like it was covered with a layer of fog, as if I was having an exceptionally realistic dream."

"If it weren't for Hoshino Shota, a high-level professional, helping me record this, I probably would have been lost here long ago. As the mutated profession of the Explorer, the Singer, Hoshino Shota almost exhausted his magical energy to allow me to safely avoid the bombardment of the 'Heavenly Punishment Fire' and its subsequent radiation these past few days."

"Then why are you still going to hit him?" Dark asked, puzzled.

"Because 'sorrow' makes people irritable. No...not only that, Hoshino Shota...he really does have annoying qualities, so annoying! So annoying! The situation is already so bad, and we still have to consider all that nonsense about morality! Our opponents have abandoned morality! And we still have to retain this illusory morality! It's despicable! It's despicable!"

Nebrius's voice gradually became irritable and deep, as if the monster was using a human voice to vent its grievances to Dark and the others.

Gradually, as the violent sounds echoed unrestrainedly throughout the "universe," emitting eerie laughter, raging cries, piercing screams, and pleasurable sobs, the entire "universe" created by the [Core] flickered with a red light representing death, anger, rage, and destruction. Immediately afterward, distant stars emitted malevolent flames, colliding with each other and erupting in deadly ripples of energy. The malevolent flames suddenly rose, then vanished completely. Stars began to dart and crawl like ghosts, defying the cosmic rules established by the Creator.

The amorphous nebulae, accompanied by flashing red light, began to constantly change their appearance, boiling like water, darting like animals, stretching like cloth, and bubbling like viscous fluid, subverting the laws of the universe.

About three to five minutes later, this strange and bizarre scene seemed to have been paused by the Creator, and came to an abrupt end. The entire "universe" returned to silence, and all the stars returned to their original state of order. Nabrius's voice also disappeared into the scene.

“It seems that Lord Nebrius… Lord Nebrius’s ‘KZ: Endgame’ plan is about to be completed.” Hoshino Shota’s weak voice, accompanied by violent coughing, came from behind the two.

Seeing this, Dark quickly went behind and knelt down in front of Hoshino Shota. Adaloni also sat down behind Hoshino Shota, letting him lean against Adaloni's strong, but very elastic and comfortable belly.

“What exactly is Nabrius doing? And where exactly is this place? I’m sure Nabrius is withholding important information from me. Hoshino Shota, if you know the truth, please tell me. If you’re unwilling to tell us, then we’ll have no choice but to take you away from here.” Dark said, half advising and half threatening.
"We just came up from the underground palace where Emperor 'Lucky One' of Khitanris was buried. We... killed the mutated God of Choice and obtained the two Ordered Monsters that originally belonged to him. Moreover, Adaloni has also recovered more than half of his dragon bloodline, so leaving here will be quite easy. Once he spreads his dragon wings, we can reach Nebusk in an hour or two."

“We can’t leave here. Commander Nebrius has completely merged with the [Core of Khitania],” Hoshino Shota explained, sounding somewhat anxious.

"In reality... in reality, the first round of 'Heavenly Punishment Fire' completely destroyed all military facilities on the ground, including artillery, mechanized vehicles, tanks, and those few... barely flyable aerospace force fighters. Belogersk... has spies planted by the Federation Council inside, and our military intelligence is only transparent to Shaneva."

"On the first day, we lost 12 troops and 1.2 'Dedication Group' collaborators. 95% of the city was reduced to ruins, and all factories and supply depots were reduced to ruins and infernos, except for the exceptionally strong fortified layers."

“I remember Commander Nebrius said that the army here, including the lost members of the ‘Dedication Group,’ totaled less than 14. In other words, the first round of bombing had essentially destroyed Belogersk and all the military forces inside, right?” Dark analyzed.

“That’s right. At that time, there were less than 1 people left. Those were either experienced ‘warriors,’ excellent ability users, or elites from the ‘Dedication Group.’ The relatively weaker children and young soldiers, even if they withstood the first wave of attack, couldn’t cope with the subsequent radiation.” Hoshino Shota nodded slightly, shifted his body slightly upward, and leaned against Adaloni’s broad, thick chest, continuing his story:
"Nablius had foreseen everything, but not Shaneva's ruthlessness and cruelty. Previous governors of Crusad, including the rulers of the old empire, were all men who would consider all factors and make rational judgments to determine the most appropriate military deployment."

"As a woman, Shaneva's emotions would gradually take over her mind as the war situation changed, leading her to do extreme things without considering the consequences. Commander Nebrius could only try to send away the surviving elite guards and disperse most of the lost members of the 'Dedication Group' before he, along with me and a few other 'Restorers' from the 'Dedication Group' such as 'Blood Wolf,' launched the final plan to stop Shaneva's madness."

"Is this the 'KZ: Endgame' project you were just talking about?" Adaloni asked, his curiosity briefly overcoming the oppressive, fearful, and uneasy atmosphere around him.

“That’s right.” Hoshino Shota further explained:

"The plan is to have Commander Nebrius completely absorb all the power hidden within the [Core of the Kingdom of Cidanria], turning him into a monster driven to madness, so that he can perish together with Shaneva and her army, who are preparing to launch their final attack."

"In fact, the universe created by this [core] has a name; it is called the 'Black Core Universe.' The stars within it are not real, but they are not entirely illusory either. They are specks reconstructed from temporary arrangements and combinations of machines at the atomic level."

"Is it a Ranked Monster?" Dark asked warily.

“No.” Hoshino Shota shook his head, looking into the depths of the dark “Black Core Universe.” “The Core of Khitania has transcended the category of ordinal monsters; it is a technological artifact made purely using magical energy. When the Old Empire created this core, it invited the best team at the time, the Ivanov team.”

“Ivanov, that’s…”

“That’s right, he’s one of the original founders of the ‘New Structure Project,’ and the discoverer of the first generation of the ‘Heartless Virus.’ He has committed countless evils; his so-called inventions are all products of his wickedness, enough to destroy the entire world.” Hoshino Shota said with resentment:
"If it weren't for the countless sacrifices of humanity, Crusad wouldn't have survived to this day. However, when the [Core] was created, it used a derivative monster of the 'Mutant Dark Eye,' numbered 'MB-782-01: Mutant Dark Eye.' The 'Mutant Dark Eye' greatly enhances the use of dark magic power, and in extreme cases, it can directly meet the Lord of the Night."

"The 'Alienated Dark Eye' can connect to dark energy in the universe and safely transmit it to Earth. Furthermore, the user can obtain a physical state similar to that of the 'Ancient Gods.' After being modified into a [Core], it gained another special ability."

"What ability?" Dark and Adaloni asked in unison.

"It grants the user the ability to absorb all flesh, machinery, and metal. In other words, what Commander Nebrius is doing is completely absorbing the remaining dark energy here and all the machinery originally stored here, transforming himself into a massive, powerful, yet gradually losing consciousness, unknown mechanical beast." Dark pointed to the fading black "color" around him and explained:
"He planned to have the Core completely erase his will, to have the Core replace his soul, and to turn it into an ugly, massive killing machine, so that he could perish together with Shaneva."

"After all, for Commander Nabrius, who has lost everything, it is better to perish along with the dying evil Federation than to let an ambitious man win alone."