Wasteland Echoer.

Chapter 707 Awakening
"Era Seven: Repentance, repentance, repentance… An endless voice echoes throughout the near-infinite universe. When the Creator created the world, He left behind the most primordial particles. They are not called 'molecules,' not 'atoms,' not 'stellar nuclei,' and certainly not 'quarks,' which are beyond the reach of divine power… They are called 'Source Points.' Once humanity observes them through magic or science, it is tantamount to directly observing the Creator's majestic form. The vast is the small, and the small is the infinite. However, when humanity realizes this chaotic relationship, it goes mad. They will repent to the Creator, for they should not have peered into the great creation… Observing the 'Source Points' is the privilege of the Dragons." — *Dragon's Words*

"'Blood Wolf' is dead... Hahaha, 'Blood Wolf' died because of his greed and desire. He... perhaps, like me, was a lost soul, even more 'base' than humans who are born with an 'intelligent' order core. Of course, this is only in the eyes of the Creator." Hoshino Shota dragged his aching body, looking up at the azure, clear sky above through the slightly swollen hole.

The crimson has long since faded, and the gloom created by the "Functional Red Domain" has been completely wiped away by the power of the Creator, summoned by the "Chapter of Hope".

Those terrifying and bizarre rules and alien creatures, including the "air worms" that had just been struggling to float in mid-air, all disappeared, leaving only "seeds" with cracked shells and green glow of "life energy" seeping from within.

Finally, Hoshino Shota's wounds could no longer withstand the damage from the "Silver Bullet" and "Blood Wolf" magic power and burst open one after another.

"puff!"

A mouthful of bright red blood mixed with a hint of azure light gushed from his mouth, and streams of green gas that gave a gentle feeling began to "gush" out from his damaged internal organs, briefly healing the rupture in the cyborg heart in just a few seconds.

Just then, a familiar cough came from behind Hoshino Shota.

"Cough cough, cough cough... How long have I been asleep?" Wright opened his drowsy eyes, propped up his heavy head, and woke up from a pile of broken stones, damaged machinery, and biological skeletons that made up the ruins.

Wright, still feeling a bit groggy from a hangover, didn't fully wake up until the distant "scorching sun" briefly "escaped" from the clouds and cast a faint, daylight-like glow onto the narrow passage.

"Where is this?" Wright asked Hoshino Shota, pushing aside the heavy clutter covering him.

"The 'red layer' of the 'functional red zone'." Hoshino Shota deliberately maintained a steady breathing and tone, answering as normally as possible:
"You were where you were before you fell into a deep sleep, and you are still where you are now; your location has never changed."

“Something’s not right.” Wright looked around, rubbed his eyes, observed carefully, and stared at Hoshino Shota in front of him, his gaze becoming wary and worried:

“There’s no crimson color here, no stagnant engine oil, and no lingering mechanical hum. I… can’t sense the flow of ‘time element’ either. This isn’t the ‘Crimson Zone,’ it’s more like some underground cave in Nebusk. Hoshino Shota, what on earth happened?”

"Here, there will be no more 'Time Element'. In the eyes of the Creator, 'Time Element' belongs to the fourth dimension; it was merely an accidental error born after a rift appeared in spacetime. Just now, the Creator's will underwent a brief awakening under the call of the 'Chapter of Hope,' naturally erasing this error." Hoshino Shota said, withdrawing most of the magical energy within his body and putting the specially made pistol he had taken from "Blood Wolf" into his pocket.

"The error has been erased, and naturally, any anomalies caused by the error will also be restored. This is the restoration of [order]. In terms that you can fully understand, the 'Functional Red Zone' has been completely shut down by the Creator, and here, its original appearance has been restored."

"'The original appearance'?" Wright stared at Hoshino Shota with a questioning look in his eyes, his tone filled with disbelief.

He subconsciously stared at the faint blue-green halo on his wrist. Sure enough, the countdown on it had reached zero, but it was clear that he and Hoshino Shota were not in the same chaotic dimension as Atlanta.

On the contrary, Wright could clearly feel himself breathing, his cyborg heart pounding, and the blood in his body transporting the signature "red magical energy" to every corner to repair the limited damage his body had suffered in the "functional red zone." Everything around him was still so real, without the intertwining and confusion of time and space, and without those incomprehensible and unbearable sounds and images, only the most realistic three-dimensional world in the wasteland era.

"According to the *Nabusk Gazetteer*, commissioned by the Crusad Empire and written by the Khitanris, this place was a canyon called the Nabusk Rift during the Second Era. Because a 'Dragon Realm' connected to the real world existed deep within it, it could not be closed." Hoshino Shota began to give Wright a brief introduction to this historical fact.
"Perhaps it was the arrival of Adaloni during the reign of Charles XII that caused a flow of some kind of magical energy, or perhaps it was because Light Hein mistakenly mined the energy here while serving in the Nabusk Legion, causing this Dragon Realm to evaporate rapidly over several decades. As a result, the top of the Nabusk Rift began to close, and the dimension below, due to the interplay of various forces, coupled with the 'ambitious' and 'resolute' modifications by Ivan XII and Nabrius and others, became the previously dimensionally disordered 'Functional Red Domain'."

"Then, what about the 'Creator's Mechanical Heart'? Will it still exist? What about the 'Blood Wolf'? Without the 'Blood Wolf' and the 'Mechanical Heart', can Nebusk still maintain the stability of [Order]?" Wright asked urgently.

Previously, it was because of some lingering affection for the Crusad Federation, or rather, for the human realm, that Wright did not wish for the complete annihilation of the Crusad civilization. Nebusk possessed the potential to revive the Crusad civilization, and "Blood Wolf" was, to some extent, willing to create a world where humans and the Lost could coexist, so Wright was willing to help him.

But now, in this underground cave world filled with pungent dust and the thick smell of blood, apart from the dark, calm water and mottled rocks, there is no trace of the "Blood Wolf".

“The ‘Creator’s Mechanical Heart’ will not disappear; it lies quietly in the deepest part of the ‘Nabusk Rift.’ You are the human chosen by both the ‘Ancient Gods’ and the Creator, so the ‘Mechanical Heart’ should not resist you.” Hoshino Shota suppressed the churning blood and pain within him, forcing himself to remain calm and composed, and explained:
"The Creator's things do not disappear; they only appear in the right place at the right time, guided by the Wheel of Fortune. That's all. As for 'Blood Wolf,' that cruel, foolish, and stubbornly ambitious man, he has already died from the bullet he chose himself. Silver bullets do the same damage to the Lost; they can wound me, and they can certainly pierce 'Blood Wolf's' head and take his life."

"You killed 'Blood Wolf'?" Wright asked in shock, looking Hoshino Shota up and down.

He couldn't understand why Hoshino Shota, who looked so weak and had a youthful appearance, even though he was the number two in the "Dark Night Investigation Team" and a Loser carefully trained by Nebrius, should be able to kill the number one member of the "Dedication Group," "Blood Wolf," who was capable of personally slaying "alien monsters," with a single blow, leaving "no trace of his body."

However, facts are facts, and no matter how unreliable they may seem, they are still the arrangement of the Creator and fate.

Wright quickly realized what was happening and asked again:
"So, what about Nabusk?"

"The [Order] of Nabusk, huh?" Hoshino Shota sneered, glancing disdainfully at the mass of inorganic matter that had once belonged to the "Blood Wolf's" majestic and powerful body, now reduced to charred powder.

"The situation in Nebusk was irrelevant to 'Blood Wolf' from the moment he stepped into the 'Crimson Zone'—no, even before he entered. Could those lost souls of the 'Devotion Group' and the 'Spear of Odyssey' so easily seize power in Nebusk? 'Blood Wolf' is far too naive."

"Indeed, the 'Provisional Cooperative Council' of Atlanca committed an indelible crime against our 'Night Survey Corps' and betrayed the support of Nabsk and even the entire Crusaders east of Novayask. But that does not mean that these scattered outposts and cities, and all the residents of Nabsk, need to accept the leadership of a Lost Organization."

"So, what exactly happened? Also, Hoshino Shota, you came to the 'Crimson Zone of Functions' to be an executor, right?" Wright instantly understood Hoshino Shota's meaning, but still asked directly.

“Indeed.” Hoshino Shota nodded solemnly and answered without any hesitation:

"In fact, since Ato was 'easily' defeated by you, at least to outsiders, the human organization in Nebusk was not significantly damaged. On the very night that the 'Blood Wolves' announced their takeover of the city, they elected Nebrius's illegitimate son, Ierishev Nebrius, as the new governor of Nebusk."

"The moment 'Blood Wolf' thought he had everything under control and entered the 'Crimson Zone' under the guidance of false intelligence, Ilyishev had already taken office and arrested all the surviving 'Ordered Ones' of the 'Devotion Group'. I was ordered by the 'Night Investigation Team' to come and advise 'Blood Wolf' to leave Nebusk with dignity. But he refused so easily, so naturally, I executed him in the name of 'Pramini' and 'Lord of the Night'."