Wasteland Echoer.

Chapter 708 The "Mechanical Heart" Within the Hall

"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind? Interesting." Wright glanced at the black, dry powder that the "blood wolf" had turned into, chuckled coldly, and stared at it with a mocking gaze for a full half minute before slowly and sarcastically remarking:
"Yes, he never imagined that even though Atlanca would fall into the torn dimension because of his stupidity, never to be reincarnated; even though the 'Dark Night Investigation Team' was severely damaged, and Ato of the 'Chaos Group' died because of me, it seemed that everything was in favor of the 'Dedication Group' to seize power in Nebusk..."

"But in reality, from the very beginning, none of it had anything to do with him. Perhaps Ivan XXII was wrong from the start. The 'virus' that Ivanov discovered and developed... even if its initial purpose was to help humanity evolve into a 'great race that can peer into the universe of the Creator,' it could not overcome the 'discrimination' of 'those who are not of our kind must have different hearts.'"

"The 'Blood Wolf' was foolish enough to give us the opportunity to obtain the 'Creator's Mechanical Heart.' Wright, perhaps that indescribable 'Mechanical Heart' is poison, a 'Sword of Damocles', to you, an 'Orderer' wielding 'Red Magic Source Power,' it is a 'Scepter of Hermes.'" Hoshino Shota forcefully suppressed the blood surging from the depths of his body, took a few deep breaths, and then pointed to the dark pool not far in front of him, explaining:

"In the mythology of the Central Empire, the gods under the banner of creation once elected a 'messenger of creation' to convey and interpret the will of the creator. When the will is transformed into a mandatory command through the 'Theory,' Hermes would hold a scepter with two serpent heads and, through hypnosis or mental interference, force the other gods to act in accordance with the creator's command."

“That ‘Hermes’s Scepter’ was born in the deep, dark pool and forged by the ‘ancient gods.’ Just like the pool in front of us, it is deep enough, dark enough, and enough to inspire a desire for control over power.”

“A deep… pitch-black pool, what lies behind it?” Wright felt the fluctuations of the red magical energy within his body, which was almost bursting forth. Under its brief influence on his brain, Wright blurted out the question.

"It is none other than the 'Creator's Mechanical Heart.' If you wish, you can personally remove your broken half-heart, corroded by the 'Heartless Virus,' and replace it with this 'Mechanical Heart,' possessing endless energy, endless cause and effect, and capable of wielding endless commands. You are the holder of 'Red Magic Source Power,' and you will surely gain the 'Creator's' approval." Hoshino Shota stared blankly at the suddenly indistinct world before him, speaking in a twisted tone filled with longing:
"This is your destiny, your mission. From the moment you were summoned to this world by George Socrates through the 'Mechanical Hymn' ritual, you have been unable to renounce your mission. Even if you try to escape some of the fate that should have been yours by turning yourself into an 'observer,' the 'reason' ordained by the Creator and the 'destiny' forged by the gods will not disappear."

"What is destined to come will come, like a river destined to flow into the ocean. The fate of every drop of water is to become the dark, deep sea, serving the slumbering Cthulhu and Depthème there. The Creator and the gods are like the 'singers' who pluck the strings of a harp. They will influence destiny and send you onto the path of fate that is destined to be yours."

“This doesn’t sound like you, Hoshino Shota… Even though I can’t find any reason to refute you. It’s true, to escape the mission and power imposed upon me by various forces, I’ve been passively accepting my fate… no, I’ve been running away from it. But I’ve already promised you, Dark, and that dragon, Adaloni. You should know that I don’t need the ‘Creator’s Mechanical Heart’ to peer into the power of the ‘Ancient’ and creation…” Wright took a deep breath, quickly walked towards Hoshino Shota, whose eyes were bloodshot, patted him on the shoulder, and said in a gentler tone:

“What I’ve always needed is a reason, a direction. George Socrates, Light Socrates, Ato, the Daughter of the Mechs, the ancient gods, and even the Creator—all of them forcibly dragged me into this world filled with bloodshed, violence, death, torture, pain, filth, and despair without my consent. The gods are always so domineering and shameless when bestowing missions upon so-called ‘chosen ones’… Even if saving a broken world is glorious enough, a heroic act worthy of being recorded in history, isn’t it a bit cruel to use so many things to… ‘temper’ me?”

“Cruel?” Hoshino Shota’s voice was tinged with an unusual lisp, like a serious middle-aged man shouting incessantly in a closed room, his voice echoing.

“No, in the eyes of the ‘Creator,’ there is no such thing as cruelty, no pain, and naturally, no happiness.” Hoshino Shota, with his back to Wright, stared intently at the gradually clearing space ahead, and slowly said:

"From the moment the Creator and the Gods created this world until the heat death that dies the universe, they will not possess any emotions. As the sage of Khitanris said: Creator and antiquity have no emotions, regarding all things as lowly ashes. The mission given to you by the Creator, you must steadfastly carry out, and believe that you can accomplish it."

"You have no reason to refuse, nor can you escape or feign compliance. We... They will use any means to forcibly 'grant' you destiny, just like this 'mechanical heart'. If you regard it as a gift from the Creator, it will be a powerful tool to help you save the world, but once you regard it as a tool to control you, then you will be, as you think, a tool for the Creator to reshape the world."

"No choice, is that it?" Wright stared at the back of Hoshino Shota's head with a serious expression, his brows furrowed and sparks seemingly about to fly from his dark eyes, but reason quickly calmed him down, and he waited for "Hoshino Shota's" response.

Shota Hoshino's body trembled violently, and then countless mysterious green lights burst forth from all parts of his body, like faint aurora borealis flickering in the long darkness of hell. He did not respond to Wright, as if he disdained such a "childish" question.

Immediately afterwards, the seemingly bottomless pool of water reappeared in the cave-like underground world. However, this time, it was no longer surrounded by pitch-black chaos. Instead, a large, horn-like, fragmented moon shone down from the sky.

“Come with me.” Hoshino Shota’s voice remained unusually low. He reached out and forcefully grabbed Wright’s right arm with astonishing strength. Even though Wright tried to struggle several times, he couldn’t break free at all.

So he stopped struggling and simply followed in Hoshino Shota's footsteps, running quickly on the water surface that swayed with the moist air currents and shimmered with the "dazzling" light of the Big Dipper.

"This is... fake water? Just like the 'Otherworldly Water' from back then?" Wright was taken aback as he stepped on the surface of the pool. Even while running at high speed, he could still feel that it was not water, but rather a cement road surface poured with steam-era technology. It was exceptionally solid and did not even cause the slightest ripple on the illusory water surface.

Soon, the seemingly eternally immovable "Big Dipper" beneath their feet began to shine with a crimson glow. Accompanied by the continuous surge of red demonic energy emanating from Wright's body, the crimson radiance began to engulf the already abnormal "seven colors," and under the power left behind by the Creator, it began to forcibly merge the reflections of the "Big Dipper."

After a few minutes, or perhaps a few days, as the massive cliff in front of Wright and Hoshino Shota gradually transformed into a colossal palace with a blend of features from the five great empires, the "Big Dipper" reflected in the water finally became a fierce, evil, yet exceptionally clear "living giant eye."

Its "whites" are mainly deep purple, and its pupils are a bursting crimson. Apart from a little bit of reassuring black at the eyelashes, the protruding blood vessels bear the last bit of its terrifying element.

Wright looked down and examined it closely. The giant eye seemed like an observation device left behind by the creator in this world, attempting to look up at this already unreal world through the deep, dark, and damp cave.

“We’ve arrived. This is the hall where the incarnation of the Creator once briefly resided. Your former phantom companion, Light Hein, once came here, but only in spirit form.” Hoshino Shota released Light’s right arm.

This gave Wright's tense arms a brief respite. He rubbed his aching arms and was surprised to find that there were no marks left, as if what had just pulled him to the deepest part of the "Functional Red Domain" was not Hoshino Shota, but a soul.

soul……

"You are not the real Hoshino Shota, are you? Or rather, he is dead, right? Who is occupying his body now?" Wright questioned sharply. In less than 0.1 seconds, he drew the "Mad Bear" pistol from his waist and, in less than 0.3 seconds of human reaction time, completed the action of loading the gun and pressing it against the back of his head.

However, the "Hoshino Shota" before him did not panic, nor did he offer any explanation. Instead, he continued to explain, using increasingly unreal and ethereal echoes, while gazing up at the hybrid wind palace before him:

“Actosia once said that this palace does not exist in any human history, nor can there be any trace of life around it. If the industrious Krusd people had not built the great city of Nebus in the icy wasteland, the surface here would only have the occasional, subtle 'call of the wind'.”