Wasteland Echoer.

Chapter 495: Settlements near the Wind Wall (Part )

September 557th, 9th year of the New Lunar Calendar.

Cruz Federation, Arctic Special Zone, Q Zone (old Arctic Zone), "British Luna" area, settlements outside the wind wall.

"Wolfya, I heard the call of the 'Echo' again." Dak, who woke up again from the dark, terrifying, deep, depressing and cold nightmare, wiped the sweat from his forehead and leaned weakly on the seat filled with dust, blood and the indescribable breath of "Sorrow" left by the thick fog.

"What? Did he come to see you again?" Wolfya glanced at Dak in the rearview mirror, leisurely pinched the lit "Anshen Inner Roll Flower Cigarette" with two fingers, put it into his mouth, and then took a deep puff with great satisfaction, exhaled a puff of "second-hand smoke" that exuded a peaceful smell, and asked.

"I... I'm not sure." Dak shook his head and tried to struggle to sit up, but the deep hangover left over from the dream made him feel dizzy and extremely weak. He simply stopped trying to get up and continued to lie in a lazy half-lying posture, answering in a slightly weak voice:
"Ever since he showed me his 'Dark Touch' in the 'Gray Dream' with snow, the 'Echo' has never revealed his true appearance again. In the following dreams, I could only see the empty altar and the tree in the center that was gradually disappearing."

"Trees?" Wolfya asked curiously, holding a cigarette in his mouth, holding the steering wheel with both hands, and continued to steadily operate the mechanical chariot that he had modified, driving on a small area of ​​ice field that was also empty and covered with a layer of snow that was neither shallow nor deep.

That’s right, this should be considered the deepest part of the entire Arctic Zone, and it can also be called the most desolate and lonely area in the Cruz area.

The "Wentnos" River, which originates from the depths of the wilderness, belonged to a barbaric nation that had been wiped out of history before Ivan I arrived here. This river is a seasonal river, and due to extreme ice in its middle section, it has a dry period of several months. The water that did not flow smoothly into the North Endless Ocean did not flow to other locations, but seeped into the ground, perhaps entering the realm of the underworld.

Since defeating the monster incarnation of the "Lord of Darkness", Dak and Wolfya took the badge that Daniel valued most and walked with Talia and "Future" through the dense forests and valleys, walked north along the Winternos River for a while, and saluted the old imperial ruins that had been looted by the "ruin hunters" before coming to the current section, a very desolate old road not far from the settlement outside the wind wall.

Due to inhaling too much "Sorrow" after coming out of the dense forest, "Future"'s consciousness has been in a state of sometimes good and sometimes bad. Talia simply stole a "Sword and Shield" brand mechanical chariot that originally belonged to the Federal Vasilsk Corps, removed the flags of the Federation and the city, and smashed all the patterns. Then she drove the chariot, pulling the drowsy "Future", and followed closely behind the chariot carried by Wolfya and Dak, heading north.

Looking out the car window at the still bright and clear sky above, Dake replied:

"That's right. In yesterday's terrible dream, I saw with my own eyes the towering tree... collapse. Everything in the dream... was pure white, the Khitanlis landform, the path, and the altar. It was very quiet. Apart from the slight sound of the wind, I could hardly hear any sound.

"But when I focused my attention on the towering tree, its dark, thick branches quickly withered and exuded black, brown and red sap, which combined with the snow and evaporated. The tree turned into a pile of debris... just like... um... a pile of torn cardboard."

“Is the Echo conveying some message to you?” Wulfya asked, frowning.

"Maybe, maybe not, I'm not sure. But this dream made me feel more tired and uneasy. In fact, this time, I felt it was more difficult to wake up. After I realized that I was dreaming, I tried desperately to wake up, but no matter how I concentrated my spirit, activated the energy of the 'Silent Wolf Fang', or stabbed my heart with a sharp object, I couldn't wake up." Dak's face was covered with cold sweat. He looked ahead with unfocused eyes and answered:

"It was as if the gray dream was reality, and the world I had always wanted to return to was an illusion. I even suspected that I was a general of the old empire, and was invaded by miasma while on a mission to Gubin City in Qidanlis. This caused me to have hallucinations and enter a twenty-year-long wasteland nightmare.

"Fortunately, I finally woke up in a daze. Wulfya, tell me... Was it me who dreamed of the 'Echo' in the Gray Dream, or was it the 'Echo' who dreamed that He had become me?"

"'Zhuang Zhou's Dream of the Butterfly'?" Wu Fuya laughed and said, "This is just an interesting philosophical topic raised by the Khitanris people. If we follow the words of the group of patriarchs who do not do their job, the Lord created everything, and He also created dreams. Reality is a world, and dreams are just another world in another dimension, but dreams have half a dimension more than reality.

"However, from my point of view, your dream this time is neither good nor bad. The collapse of the towering trees symbolizes the destruction of the old [Order] and the arrival of a new [Order]. If I remember correctly, the documents in the hands of the Federal Committee mentioned that the profession of the 'Echoer' is an upper-level [Orderer]. This dream may indicate that He no longer needs the 'Gray Dream' for the time being. His body may be slowly recovering, and His spirit may have already revived. However, He does not have enough strength to break free for the time being, and He is waiting for our rescue."

"Maybe." Dak answered perfunctorily, continuing to sit back and closing his eyes to rest.

The mechanical chariot driven by Wolfya and the "Sword and Shield" mechanical chariot driven by Talia followed closely behind continued to move forward along this small ice field, leaving behind a continuous mark that seemed to never be erased.

We continued driving forward for about an hour, as the bare, straight poplar trees around us began to "grow", and finally the vague outlines of houses belonging to human settlements appeared in the distance, as well as the dark shadows that shone and squirmed under the sunlight.

The moisture in the air began to gradually increase, and the originally bright, blue sky began to be covered with a deep gray haze, just like an old man opening an even darker purple book next to a dim, dirty fireplace that exuded the pungent smell of burnt dust, telling a horror story that tormented the human spirit.

Soon, an unusually bright white flashed across the black sky, as if a segment of white as bright as heaven was mistakenly inserted into a videotape that was all gray and black.

About half a minute later, a huge roar resounded throughout the desolate area belonging to the Crusaders.

"Boom!"

The sound of thunder seemed to penetrate the powerful armored mechanical chariot and go straight into Dak's heart. Although it made his heart stop for a second, it seemed to have shattered the shackles of "fatigue" lingering in his spiritual realm.

He finally recovered from his hangover-like state, temporarily put aside the horrific, resentful, and sad dream, and sat up from his half-lying position.

"Where are we? Wolfya." Dak asked, pointing to a row of messy buildings not far ahead.

"Well, it seems to be a settlement in the 'Bersluna' area." Wolfya analyzed:
"We just walked along the most desolate old road for a while. Not far away from there should be a part of the middle of the Winternos River that has stopped flowing. Now it should be some distance away from 'Ice Creek No. 1'. As far as I know, there should be some settlements here. If I had come here half a year earlier, I could tell you without hesitation that those settlements belong to our federation. But now, I can't say for sure."

"Why?" Dak asked puzzledly.

"When Chief Executive Viking ruled Cruzd, he had a plan to operate the Arctic Zone and repaired a short section of the road heading north. He paid special attention to the 'Bisrunai' area where miracles were buried, and did everything he could to establish a number of official settlements. This is why Chief Vasily was able to get information about the 'red tide' in this area from the federal army and the 'Order Association' at any time." Wolfya explained:
"It's just that starting three months ago, in order to completely win the 'Bitter Sorrow' campaign, the Federation was forced to transfer all the elite [fighters] here to the south, resulting in a number of independent armed forces and Lost Organizations moving in. You may know that outside the core areas controlled by the Federation, if you want to establish long-term and effective relations with them, you must allow them to break away from the Federation's complete control in some operations.

"To put it more clearly, the organizations that run these settlements, such as the 'British Luna Regional Development Committee' and the 'Arctic Special Zone Development Committee', may be directly controlled by Governor Vasily at the beginning, but in the end, they often evolve into semi-independent 'liberalized' organizations. Not only will they accept the entry of [Warriors] according to the orders of the Federation, but they will also allow the independently armed 'Relic Hunters' to rest here for the sake of money and resource benefits.

"In fact, these organizations that have connections with the government but do not exclude independent armed forces and the Lost are the norm in the Wasteland Era. However, Vasily is a great enough figure. We have lived in the Federation's actual control area for too long, and we always have the illusion that the Federation controls everything."