Wasteland: My items are infinitely upgraded.

Chapter 280 Reserve Members, Recruiting Upper Class Citizens, Private Slaves
After listening to Rong Yan's general introduction of the Holy City, Lin Feng immediately fell into deep thought.

In his mind, the Holy City should be a huge mobile city, covering an area of ​​at most a hundred square kilometers, a city cluster with a diameter of ten kilometers.

Instead of being a broad geographical concept as it is today.

But this is for the best. After all, he played such an important role in Oasis Town this time. Once he is noticed, it will be easy to follow the clues and discover the many suspicious points about him.

Lin Feng dared to show off in Oasis Town because there were only ten second-tier evolvers there. In fact, apart from the bishop in his peak condition, none of the others posed a threat to his life.

But it's a different story in the Holy City.

Whether it's the large gathering area in the inner ring or the gang area in the middle, there are powerful beings who can instantly injure or kill you, not to mention the seven bishops in the main city.

It's estimated that a single glance would be enough to see through all the secrets Lin Feng was hiding.

Including the evil god in the Taishan ruins, Zong Shiyue, a thing that can be described as a time bomb.

On this journey to the holy city, we need to get rid of it as soon as possible.

Otherwise, if a true third-tier bishop discovers the truth, even if Lin Feng had nine lives, it wouldn't be enough for the other party to wipe him out with a wave of their hand.

Therefore, a Storm City, which spans hundreds of kilometers and has a broad concept, allows Lin Feng and his convoy to temporarily lie dormant and gain time to develop and grow.

Only when Lin Feng quietly improves his evolution level, accumulates power and resources, and advances to the late stage of the second tier, will he be able to show his talent in front of a third-tier bishop or king.

To complete this series of covert developments, Lin Feng and his convoy needed an experienced guide to help them find a secluded hiding place.

Thinking of this, Lin Feng nodded, then affirmed:
"It seems that the Holy City is not peaceful either; it is a world where danger and opportunity coexist."

Rong Yan hummed in agreement, not forgetting to offer a few words of flattery:
“That’s right, but it is precisely this situation that is more suitable for Chief Lin and people like us from the countryside who hope to develop in the Holy City, so that we can find our own way to survive.”

Lin Feng nodded silently, then looked at the mother and daughter in front of him:
"Given your familiarity with and understanding of the Holy City, you can indeed provide a great deal of assistance to my convoy. I can promise you that I will save your daughter, Rong Zhiyun..."

"But as a condition for saving lives, I need you to do something else for me."

Rong Yan let out a long sigh, then said seriously:

"Please tell me, as long as it's within my power, I will do it even if it means going through fire and water!"

Lin Feng nodded, pondered for a long time, and then spoke:

“After my convoy arrives in the Holy City, it will definitely need to expand continuously to grow stronger. However, if it recruits local enhanced or evolved individuals from the Holy City, it will definitely attract attention, and it might even recruit a large number of enemy spies.”

"This is unavoidable, after all, we are not local bullies, while those gangs have been operating in the Holy City for hundreds or thousands of years..."

"Therefore, in order to avoid exposing our true strength too early, we must cultivate the core of the team in advance and appoint them to key positions in the organization when we decide to expand our power in the future, so as to prevent them from being corrupted by enemy traitors."

Upon hearing this, Rong Yan immediately realized what was happening and asked with a hint of excitement:
"You mean, recruit a group of members in Oasis Town in advance to form the core of the future power's mid-to-high-level personnel?"

Lin Feng nodded and continued:
"Yes, not only that, these people must have a clean background, preferably with no connection to the Holy City, and also have a certain potential for evolution."

"It's impossible to let enhanced humans or low-level evolved beings manage the evolved beings below them."

"Therefore, they should not have any blood relation with large families like the Li family, and they should also have at least the potential for late-stage first-order evolution."

"Of course, most importantly, they must have absolute loyalty."

Mentioning the word "loyalty," Lin Feng glanced at Rong Zhiyun, who had recovered from her shock, smiled, and continued:

"Originally, after witnessing the church's electronic collar, I wanted to use this death choke to control a group of people and gradually transform them into members of the caravan."

"But the combat skills and survival ability of the upper-class people are really too poor. Apart from having higher evolutionary potential, their actual value is even less than the hunting team and permanent residents I recruited in the fifth village."

At this point, Rong Yan frowned slightly. This was somewhat different from what she had thought. After all, given Lin Feng's previous restrictions, a clean-cut Shangmin was undoubtedly the best choice.

But Lin Feng was right later on. The vast majority of the upper class actually find it difficult to adapt to the wasteland's living environment. Taking them along, whether as slaves or trained as subordinates, would be costly.

But Rong Yan was also very clear that if she could get on Lin Feng's bandwagon and use his power to achieve her goals and plans...

Therefore, it is necessary to recruit people of the upper class who belong to one's own faction in order to balance the existing forces under Lin Feng and give oneself a certain say in the caravan.

Otherwise, even if she joined Lin Feng's team and used her daughter to gain a foothold, she would find it difficult to achieve anything due to the constraints imposed by various parties.

If they fail to produce decent results, they will gradually be marginalized within the team and lose Lin Feng's attention; it's only a matter of time.

Therefore, the key now is to get Lin Feng to decide which members from the Shangmin District will join his racing team.

Protecting the people is protecting oneself.

Only by changing the stereotypes held by Oasis's top management about Shangmin District can Rongyan's future plans proceed smoothly.

Having also come from a privileged background, she understood this very well:

"Although some of the residents are useless and spend their days loafing around in the Residents' District, this only represents the behavior and actions of a portion of the residents and does not represent all residents."

"For example, I worked hard for forty or fifty years before I finally got the chance to escape my own fate of sacrifice."

"This effort and the price paid are far greater and heavier than those of other evolved beings in the oasis."

"In order to prevent the evolution of the upper class, the Oasis Church has adopted the most severe measures. I need to compete with thousands of beings of the same level for that one and only chance to advance."

"Such a brutal elimination rate is dozens of times higher than that of the evolved beings in other villages in Oasis Town."

"In my cohort alone, there were more than ten students who worked just as hard as I did. Their potential for growth and their abilities were no less than mine."

"In the end, I won because my ex-husband was willing to sacrifice himself and cheat to get the chance."

"After this was discovered, he, who was not yet seventy, was directly chosen by the church as a sacrifice and sent to the stage of the moonlit ceremony, where he was burned alive!"

At this point, Rong Yan, who had firsthand experience of the cruel fate of the people on the oasis, became emotional and couldn't help but vent her feelings with tears in her eyes.

Looking at the woman before him, whose life had been filled with hardship, Lin Feng realized that perhaps it was precisely these experiences that had transformed her into the strong and resilient woman she was today. She also deeply cherished her son and daughter, and was willing to use her life savings to save them.

However, this is exactly the result Lin Feng wanted.

Without any weaknesses or vulnerabilities, Lin Feng dared not easily trust the other party.

Rong Zhiyun stepped forward and gently patted her mother's shoulder.

After she composed herself, Lin Feng spoke to the two of them:
“If there are still people in the Upper District who are so determined to work hard, then it wouldn’t be a bad idea to include them as reserve members.”

"But let me make this clear first: the members recruited... no, I should say the rescuers, must have absolutely no connection or relationship with the three major villages, especially the Li family. They must have a clean background. Otherwise, even if they manage to infiltrate, I will sell them as slaves to the slave market in the Holy City."

"As for the number of people to be recruited, it will be set at eighty for now."

"After that, I will go to the bishop and ask him to grant me some extra spots for taking away upper-class citizens. If there are not enough people, I can also select some ordinary upper-class citizens who are of value, such as those who are good-looking."

"Suitable for selling at a high price in the slave market."

"Since we've already decided to recruit a group of upper-class citizens, it's not a bad idea to take on a slave trade as well and earn some start-up capital in the Holy City."

After speaking, Lin Feng looked at the woman who was deep in thought beside him and slowly said:

"Arrange this as soon as possible. After the arena competition ends, I will take them away from the Oasis warship and to the rear convoy so that they can integrate into wasteland life ahead of time."

"Rong Zhiyun and Rong Xuan will also go together at that time."

Rong Yan nodded, then stood up and solemnly made a promise to the man before her:
"Understood! From today onwards, I am willing to join Chief Lin's team, along with my children, and dedicate myself to the future of the convoy!"

Lin Feng nodded. After resolving the matter, he had almost finished eating the level 20 braised horse meat on the table.

After finishing the remaining wine in his glass in one gulp, Lin Feng picked up a food box containing fifty pieces of high-quality evolved jerky and got up to leave.

Rong Yan was preparing to greet or see off the other party when Lin Feng waved his hand to interrupt her:

"No need, hurry up and get busy."

"Soon, Oasis Town will undergo a major change. When I return next time, it will be the time I leave the Oasis warship. At that time, the citizens on the list will also gather together and leave the Oasis warship with me to join the convoy behind us."

Rong Yan nodded and watched Lin Feng leave.

After the man left, the mother and daughter finally breathed a sigh of relief. Rong Zhiyun was the first to speak and ask:
"Is he telling the truth? Will His Highness the Bishop really agree to his conditions and let him take away more than eighty upper-class citizens?"

Since Lin Feng was able to rescue his younger brother, he could certainly rescue himself as well. However, Rong Zhiyun had deep doubts about the quota of eighty upper-class citizens.

After all, this is not just a few people, but eighty people. With an average slave price of 50,000 each, the total value of this group of upper-class citizens alone is as high as four million points.

Based on the standard price of a level 20 evolution agent, one unit costs 200,000 points, which is enough to exchange for 20 units of second-tier basic evolution agents, which is also 20 units of level 20 source material.

If we use Rockhorn Horse meat as the price, the fifty kilograms of level 20 Rockhorn Horse meat that Mother just offered, which is equivalent to ordinary level 20 evolved jerky, would only be worth one thousand points per kilogram.

Four million points can buy four thousand kilograms, a full four tons, of level 20 evolved jerky, enough to support a second-tier early-stage evolved being for ten years.

The entire Oasis Town's reserves of level 20 evolved jerky don't even amount to a fraction of its quantity.

With a reserve of four tons of evolved meat, Lin Feng's team can feed at least ten early-stage second-tier evolved beings. This strength is enough to rival Oasis Town.

That's why Rong Zhiyun felt that Lin Feng's explanation was somewhat unrealistic; how could the church possibly agree to cede such a large amount of benefits?

But Rong Yan shook her head upon hearing this question:
"Chief Lin's current position in the Oasis is enough to determine the balance of power in this struggle, and the Church will definitely stop at nothing to win him over."

"It's just a few hundred upper-class citizens, less than one-twentieth of the total. If this condition alone can ensure that the Oasis warship is not damaged, it's a worthwhile deal for the church."

"Anyway, as long as we deal with the Li family and others and take over all the industries in the three major villages from the church, we can completely make up for the sacrifices made under this condition."

As she spoke, Rong Yan suddenly changed the subject, her expression serious as she gave him instructions:

"Even in the Holy City, Chief Lin's strength is among the top in the central gang district. In particular, his gun-wielding ability is a special ability that all gangs dream of."

"His future development is limitless, and even third-tier kings will have to take his existence seriously."

"We can't stay in the oasis anymore. Although I arranged an escape route in the Holy City several years ago, my family is weak and outnumbered. We have a high level of evolution but no corresponding combat strength..."

"Even if we take root in the Holy City, we will still face threats and humiliation from other evolved beings. We must find a powerful backer."

“Leaders with such high potential as Lin Feng are rare these days. If he were in the Holy City, he would have been recruited and absorbed by various gangs and even large forces long ago, and treated as an honored guest.”

"Zhiyun, although life is long, the chance to change your destiny is rare, perhaps only once in a hundred years..."

"This is our family's chance to defy fate, and it's also your only chance in the future."

"From now on, you need to adjust your mindset. Lin Feng is your leader and your master. He can decide your life or death with just a word."

"Don't forget that the people he took away, who were also slaves given to him by the church, would all wear death collars and become his private slaves."

"So put down that ridiculous pride and arrogance as soon as possible. The upper class are just domesticated pigs, but now you have the chance to truly get rid of that identity..."

"As long as I can satisfy Lin Feng, even becoming a powerful second-tier being is not impossible!"

After saying this, Rong Yan got up and left, summoning his trusted subordinates to begin selecting suitable candidates from his network of connections.

Rong Zhiyun was left to clean up the table while struggling with hesitation and inner turmoil.

On the other side, after leaving the cafeteria, Lin Feng went directly to the church area, entered the church, passed through the secret passage, and finally returned to the command and control room.

The second round of martial arts competition is about to begin.

(End of this chapter)