Wasteland: My items are infinitely upgraded.

Chapter 266 Confession, Turning the Salvation Army Against the Beast Tide

Lin Feng frowned slightly, feigning deep thought, then said "Oh."
"Yes, the Salvation Army is also involved in this!"

"The reason they went to the Mount Tai ruins and infiltrated the bottom of the underground shelter was not for the armory. The armory in the shelter had been discovered years ago and had long been emptied by other wandering forces."

"The Salvation Army's real objective is actually a military factory at a lower level."

"That's right. Back then, the Mount Tai refuge was large enough to accommodate tens of millions of people. It not only had complete facilities, but also a complete industrial system."

"The military factory is the most important project among them, so it was placed at the bottom level."

"Unfortunately, at the bottom of the ruins, there are a large number of aberrations. They originated from an evil god sealed deep within. The divine power contaminated the life forms, causing severe mutations."

"The deeper you go, the stronger and more powerful the mutants become."

"Even more serious is that after coming into contact with the aberration, there is a very high probability that one will be contaminated or even assimilated, becoming a cursed aberration."

"In addition, the underground environment is dark, and the number of aberrations is countless. They will launch an attack from all directions. Even if you manage to fight your way out in close combat with these monsters, there is a high chance of being infected."

"And the Salvation Army, as a wandering force, even if it inherited the legacy of the former Salvation Army, does not have enough firepower to kill thousands of hordes of aberrations from a distance."

"Therefore, they desperately need fire support."

"As a gun-wielding ability user, with the help of Father Suan, I have advanced to the late stage of the first tier, and my ability has been greatly enhanced, enabling me to provide a continuous output of firepower."

"So we started working together."

"I used my cannons to assist and cover the Salvation Army as they infiltrated the bottom of the shelter ruins, while they provided me with the leader-level rockhorn source material I needed for my evolution."

"They advanced from level seventeen to level nineteen, and the price was protecting them as they entered the fifth basement level."

"However, after some speculation, I also discovered that the Rockhorn Evolution Agent they possessed likely came from the pilgrimage caravan in Oasis Town."

At this point, Lin Feng simply revealed all his initial speculations, only concealing his secret collaboration with Zong Shiyue:
"Because shortly before we set off for the Taishan ruins, news came that the pilgrimage caravan had been attacked on its return journey, and coincidentally, only the pilgrimage caravan sent by the Li family to the holy city was attacked and looted."

"The supplies that the Li family bought from the Holy City, especially the source material used to prolong the life of the leader-level rockhorse, were stolen."

"The Salvation Army has a large amount of fresh Rockhorn Horse life essence. If nothing unexpected happens, they are the only ones within a few hundred kilometers who have the strength to plunder the pilgrimage caravans from the oasis."

"As for what happened next, I successfully used long-range firepower to help the Salvation Army kill a Tier 3 Aberration and help them get to the lower-level military factory."

"The Salvation Army took away three large pieces of equipment: two precision machine tools and an automated ammunition production machine."

"Enough for them to produce a large number of individual weapons and achieve self-sufficiency in light weapons."

After listening to Lin Feng's confession, the bishop nodded and then asked:
"So what do you think is the connection between their elaborate attack on the Li family's pilgrimage caravan, their looting of supplies related to the Rockhorn Horse, and their risky descent underground to transport weapons production equipment?"

Lin Feng paused for a moment, then continued in reply:

"The Salvation Army's leader, Bai Ye, has become a level 29 evolved being, and has demonstrated a portion of the power of a level 3 mutant in his battle against the level 3 aberration..."

"This means her evolution level is about to break through the second tier and transform into a third-tier king!"

"To achieve this goal, she must make thorough preparations, including creating a medium-sized settlement and building her own first-class royal city!"

"That's why she needs weapons production equipment to ensure that her forces have the ability to produce weapons and equipment independently."

"As for the pilgrimage caravan that attacked Oasis Town, the fact that they only targeted the Li family for looting makes perfect sense..."

"Because they want to seize the livelihood of the Li family, namely the rockhorse breeding industry in Farm Village, in order to ensure the Salvation Army's future food autonomy."

"The Salvation Army leader, Bai Ye, mentioned this to me, asking if I would be willing to cooperate with them in launching an attack on Farm Village and the Li family."

"At that time, they are willing to offer more than two portions of Rockhorn Horse second-order source material as payment."

"But I politely declined them all."

Seeing Lin Feng's honesty, His Holiness the bishop nodded with satisfaction, and then asked about another matter:

"Since the Salvation Army originally planned to attack Oasis Town, do you think their troops might also be lying in ambush on us?"

Lin Feng was startled, but remained calm on the surface. After thinking for a moment, he nodded:
"Probably!"

"In fact, when the Salvation Army leader Bai Ye invited me to join forces against the Li family, he mentioned that they had already held talks with the Wasteland Wolf Clan in the Fallen Wolf Valley near the ruins."

"The Salvation Army wants to invite the Wasteland Wolves to raid Oasis Town with them. The Salvation Army will only need a portion of the Rockhorn breeding industry, and the rest can be given to the Wasteland Wolves to strengthen their forces."

"Especially the descendants of the Wasteland Wolf Clan, who have not made any progress for several hundred years, their evolution level has stagnated. However, in the Farm Village of Oasis Town, there are a large number of Rockhorn Horse evolved individuals, especially Li Hao, the head of the Li family, who is a mid-stage second-tier Rockhorn Warrior."

"If we can kill Li Hao, we can help the Wasteland Wolf Clan give birth to a mid-stage second-tier Wasteland Giant Wolf."

"Unfortunately, this proposal was directly rejected by the wolf clan leader, Wolf Ao. He did not want to get involved in the attack on Oasis Town, so as to avoid getting involved in unnecessary trouble and attracting retaliation from the Holy Spring Cult."

At this point, Lin Feng suddenly realized something:
"Now the Wasteland Wolves are besieging Oasis Town, contrary to their usual behavior. Perhaps the Salvation Army is offering a bigger bargaining chip, such as annihilating Oasis Town."

"Both sides' leaders are at level 29, and they have quite a few second-tier members under their command. They are more than capable of dealing with an oasis town."

"And most importantly, the Salvation Army planted a spy in Farm Village, and this spy also holds a high position in the Li family and is able to obtain a lot of high-level intelligence."

"For example, the way the duels are conducted in the ring, as well as the results and details of the duels."

"Provide the Salvation Army with real-time intelligence so they can find the best time to strike."

"In this way, when Wolf Ao, the leader of the Wasteland Wolf Clan, learns about the fierce infighting in Oasis Town, he might actually be tempted to join forces with the Salvation Army to take action."

His Holiness the bishop nodded; this was also the issue he was concerned about.

The Wild Wolf clan could not possibly be an ally of the Li family.

The wolf pack's purpose in attacking Oasis Town was to kill the Rock Horse Warriors and, at the same time, slaughter and devour all the humans in Oasis Town.

Even if Li Hao wanted to take over Oasis Town, he couldn't defeat the Oasis Church by destroying the Oasis itself.

Moreover, the Wilderness Wolf Clan's target was not the church in the oasis, but Li Hao himself, this extremely rare mid-stage second-tier rock horse warrior.

Therefore, there must be another reason why the Wasteland Wolf Clan dared to attack Oasis Town.

If this was fueled by remnants of the Salvation Army, then it would be easily explained.

After all, Bai Ye, the leader of the Salvation Army, is also a second-tier, level 29 evolved being.

Moreover, he is a renowned figure on the Heavenly Ranking, ranking among the top ten, and is hailed by the Hunter's Guild as the most promising young generation in the last five hundred years to advance to the third-tier king.

Of course, this selection includes individuals without the backing of a large power. For example, some second-tier hunters or wanderers.

Many rising stars from top powers, as well as successors nurtured by first-rate royal cities, will not be included in this Heavenly Ranking.

After all, compared to those top-tier organizations that have cultivated their talents over many years, the so-called geniuses from the bottom are just the tallest among the short.

Just like a top-tier power like the Church, which absorbs the vast majority of geniuses, it naturally has no shortage of priests who can be promoted to the third-level bishop.

However, due to the sheer size of their power, and the fact that most of their resources needed to support existing high-ranking kings and the Holy Spring Lord they all worshipped…

Therefore, there were no extra resources to train new bishops.

Within the Hunter's Guild, there are also many highly talented Hunter King seeds who already possess the strength to advance to the third tier.

Even so, as a survivor of the destruction of the once-saved royal city, Bai Ye's background is different from that of many self-made wilderness hunters.

The other party already knew at least how to advance to the third-tier king level, as well as the necessary steps and resources.

In addition to his exceptional talent and the combat performance that Lin Feng witnessed firsthand...

At less than five hundred years old, Bai Ye has a very high chance of taking the final step, advancing to the third rank, and becoming another king in the last few hundred years.

But to achieve this, she must first establish her own third-tier royal city, the most important aspect of which is not a military system...

Rather, it was about how to feed the tens of thousands of evolved beings and the tens of thousands of wastelanders.

Even establishing a breeding industry with thousands of wildebeest is just the beginning. Large-scale mobile water storage equipment and a mature breeding and production system will be needed later.

But everything is difficult at the beginning. The well-established rock breeding industry we have today would have taken decades to build.

Therefore, Bai Ye will definitely take action against Oasis Town.

They even promised the Wasteland Wolf clan even greater benefits.

For example, after that, help them inherit the Wolf King's Source Essence from the Wolf King's Tomb in the Fallen Wolf Valley, so that the Wasteland Wolf Clan can re-birth a third-tier king beast.

This would surely tempt the leader of the Wasteland Wolf Clan, since this promise came from a third-tier king.

As for Bai Ye not fulfilling his promise after becoming king, the Wasteland Wolf Clan can also threaten him with the disappearance of Oasis Town.

Even if a royal city is established, the new generation of Salvation Army will once again suffer a devastating blow from the Papacy, and the royal city will become a missionary site for the Papacy, where a new bishop will be trained.

Therefore, their joint attack on Oasis Town became a death knell binding them together.

Thinking about this, the bishop felt that this was probably the truth behind it all, though it wasn't impossible that something had happened inside the Mount Tai ruins.

However, the Taishan ruins are now completely covered by the scorching sun's forbidden zone, so even if problems occur, they will not have a significant impact in the short term.

It will take four or five years, until the scorching sun-exposed area leaves the Taishan ruins, before verification can be carried out.

Whether His Holiness the bishop himself will live to see that day remains to be seen.

After a long silence, the bishop slowly spoke:
"The Salvation Army values ​​you so highly, there must be some connection between you, right?"

"You helped them eliminate the Tier 3 Aberration and obtained important weapon production equipment. The reward you receive should be more than just Rockhorn Evolution Agent."

Lin Feng showed a hint of surprise, then took a deep breath and nodded in agreement:
"That's right. Bai Ye gave me a batch of pure evolution agents, but they were all Tier 1. After returning to the oasis, I felt that they wouldn't be of much use to me, so I sold them to the Wilderness Hunter Guild in exchange for a batch of ordinary Rockhorn Source Material, as well as armor and other weapons and equipment."

"However, my convoy recently recruited a team of hunters, who are all foreigners and are proficient in individual combat and tactical coordination, so I appointed them as instructors."

"At the same time, this team is also the Salvation Army's intelligence squad, which was previously stationed in Oasis Town to collect information on what was happening in the Oasis and report it to the Salvation Army regularly."

"So I think Bai Ye probably set his sights on the rockhorn horse industry in Oasis Town a long time ago and started making plans in secret decades ago."

After saying that, Lin Feng breathed a sigh of relief and then stared intently at the old man in front of him.

His Excellency the Bishop's control over Oasis Town far surpasses that of other Oasis Governors and even Second-Tier Powerhouses.

If it weren't for the initial efforts to revitalize the town and recruit local forces to join Oasis Town, thus promoting its development, the bishop wouldn't have been able to relinquish power and establish a parliamentary system to coordinate the interests of all parties.

It would not be in the current situation where the Li family and other rebel forces are threatening and seizing power, and the church's position is in grave danger.

But this does not mean that His Holiness the bishop will reduce his surveillance of Oasis Town.

After all, the number of monks in the church in Oasis Town, as well as their spies in the vicinity, was already countless.

No matter what happens, the hunters or deserters involved will always turn to the Oasis Church, the only official organization.

Over the years, His Excellency the Bishop must have come to know about the various forces lurking within the oasis.

As for a sensitive figure like Lin Feng, they would naturally investigate him thoroughly.

Knowing this, Lin Feng decisively admitted it instead of trying to hide his connection with the Salvation Army.

Seeing Lin Feng's honesty, the bishop no longer harbored any doubts and began to explain his plans:
"The Salvation Army is only after the Li family's rockhorse business, and I can satisfy her on that. Anyway, the Li family is about to be identified as traitors. As wanted rebels, they are not protected by the Holy See, nor are they part of the Oasis."

"The Church can overlook the Salvation Army's mistakes, provided that they assist the Oasis in dealing with the Wasteland Wolves."

"I'll leave this to you."

Lin Feng nodded. Turning the Salvation Army against the Salvation Army was originally one of his plans.

His Holiness the bishop's tone remained calm, but his breathing was steady, sustained, and powerful:

"Secondly, we can lure the giant wolf beast and launch a surprise attack on Li Hao during the subsequent arena battles..."

"In this way, the Li family and the farm village will be blinded by hatred and will feel at ease cooperating with the church to jointly deal with the threat of the Steppenwolf."

"Then we'll use Steppenwolf to wear down the leaders and captains of the rebel army and eliminate the high-ranking members."

"Finally, I need to know if you are confident that you can lead the Oasis warships and your men to withstand the tide of tens of thousands of evolved beasts?"

Upon hearing the bishop's assignment, Lin Feng immediately nodded solemnly:

"Unless a second-tier ravenous wolf of the clan chief level attacks..."

"As long as we prepare in advance, set up fire defenses, and protect the Oasis warships and the five villages, we can still withstand the first-tier evolved wild wolves!"

(End of this chapter)