Wasteland: My items are infinitely upgraded.

Chapter 305 Li Hao's backup plan, the Li family's response, Bai Ye's plea for help
Watching the chariot speed away, Zhao Mingsheng dropped his respectful expression and turned to look at the two people behind him with a blank expression.

This newly emerging second-tier powerhouse, though young, was extremely meticulous and did not give away the Rock Horse Armor for the sake of cheapness.

It seems things won't be easy to fool them later on.

The remaining two high-ranking members of the Li family, Li Litian and Li Lihe, exchanged glances, then looked at the acting village chief before them:

"Old Zhao, are we really going to hand over the core technicians to Lin Feng? They are extremely experienced; they can assess a rockhorse's condition just by touching it..."

"We can't replicate or preserve this kind of practical experience. It takes years of experience to become a qualified horse breeder."

"A hundred years from now, there will be a shortage of skilled workers in the industry, and it may not be easy to recover."

Zhao Mingsheng looked at the two of them and snorted coldly, saying that none of the second-generation offspring of the Li family were any good.

It would be better to select a promising young person from the third generation of descendants than to expect them to shoulder the burden of family revival in the Holy City later.

Of course, Zhao Mingsheng already has better options.

He was rescued by Li Hao four hundred years ago when the Li family was just being established, and has followed the family head ever since.

It can be said that the person who understands Li Hao best is not a descendant of the Li family, but rather the head of the family's assistant who serves as a steward.

Li Hao had already anticipated the dire situation in his plans, and the current situation is even better than the initial failure.

Although the appearance of the Wasteland Wolf Clan forced Li Hao to complete his personal redemption, it also left a way out for the Li family.

Without this town-level beast calamity, the Li family would have had no chance of survival after the patriarch Li Hao perished together with the Oasis Bishop.

The top leaders were beheaded and their heads displayed to the public, while the lower-level members and those in the branches were also exiled as slaves and tortured to death.

However, the crisis in Oasis Town is not over yet, and the Oasis Church needs someone to withstand this scourge and protect the Oasis warships from damage.

Therefore, the original plan to lie low could be brought forward a little earlier.

Lin Feng is willing to offer 150 spots.

They were able to take away the entire high-level combat force of the Li family, enough to assemble the foundation of an ordinary second-rate power.

It is equivalent to a second-rate gang in the Holy City gang district, not a bottom-tier gang in a small or medium-sized settlement.

In this way, the dormant phase originally planned by Li Hao can be skipped, and there is no need to select a member with decent talent from the remaining members of the family to advance to the early stage of the second tier and lead the family to develop for decades.

Instead, they went directly to a large settlement, found a branch of the Life Farm, extracted the stem cell information that Li Hao had stored when he was young, and used the Li family's contribution points to apply for the execution of a cloning project.

They directly bred a second-order clone of Li Hao with a higher degree of genetic integration and better match with the rock hornbill horse, and then took over the remaining members of the Li family.

Lead your family to expand your influence and become a top-tier gang in the gang district. Quickly plunder enough evolutionary resources to pave the way for the subsequent recovery of your strength.

The clones optimized through gene editing are part of the Life Farm's third-stage Horse King Project, a complementary solution to address compatibility issues.

Therefore, the new generation of clone Li Hao was able to successfully advance to the late stage of the second tier, and then, as one of the official members of the Life Farm, he launched an attack on the only third-tier Horse King.

This plan was also Li Hao's final contingency plan in launching this rebellion.

Even though, due to various factors, I myself am unable to witness the third-stage breakthrough of the Rockhorn's evolutionary path in my lifetime...

He also wanted his clone to complete this feat in his place.

As the executor of this backup plan, Zhao Mingsheng, who is loyal only to Li Hao, is undoubtedly the best candidate.

As for the Li family, born into Li Hao's bloodline, they were merely one of the tools in Li Hao's hands from beginning to end.

It would obviously be extremely risky to let them know about this plan.

After all, no one wants to be betrayed by the patriarch once and then have to continue to be a slave to his clones.

Looking at the Li family executives before him, each with their own agendas, Zhao Mingsheng gave a cold laugh and slowly spoke:

"Chief Lin got to where he is today not just because of the guns and cannons he has. You dare to fool him? Aren't you afraid of being discovered and dying on the way?"

"Once we leave Oasis Town, we don't even qualify as slaves of the cult. In this dog-eat-dog wasteland, they could kill us with the flick of a finger..."

"Now that Li Mingquan is dead and the patriarch has fallen, without the protection of a second-tier evolver, the Li family's power and status are even lower than those of the Fifth Village. I advise you to put aside those thoughts and manage your subordinates well, lest you anger the second-tier lord and use the Li family as a human shield and bait to be driven to the front line to fight against the evolved wolves."

"Right now, our only goal is to reach the Holy City alive, pay Lin Feng a ransom, and hope that he will be magnanimous and release us."

After saying this, Zhao Mingsheng let out a long breath, ignoring the two men's pale faces, and got into the chariot to return to the farm village.

Li Litian and Li Lihe were left behind, their initial shock followed by doubt.

Li Lihe, the younger brother, scoffed and spoke angrily:
"If it weren't for the two of us discovering the wolf attack in time and organizing people to defend against it, Farm Village would have been overrun by the wasteland wolves long ago, and the frightened rockhorse herd would have suffered heavy losses."

"Old Zhao followed the patriarch to participate in the martial arts competition, but was not only chased back by the wolf army, but also lost his father to the wolves. In the end, he couldn't even protect his father's body, which became someone else's spoils of war..."

"This guy actually dared to brazenly use his position as the butler to take over the management of the farm village. How hateful!"

The eldest brother, Li Litian, nodded calmly and composedly.

"Now that things have come to this, we should think about what to do next and not let him lead us by the nose."

“He was able to act with impunity because his father valued him. Now that his father is dead, the clan’s reserves have been mostly depleted because of the martial arts competition.”

"After we reach the Holy City..."

Li Lihe quickly realized what was happening, and his expression changed slightly.

“Father must have left a backup plan. The resources that the family secretly stored in the Holy City, the identity registered in Father’s name, the credentials and passwords should be in Old Zhao’s hands.”

The eldest brother, Li Litian, narrowed his eyes slightly and nodded slowly:

"Don't panic, he alone can't amount to much!"

"Besides, Lin Feng needs technicians from Farm Village right now. We can send Old Zhao's men to Lin Feng to complete the task. This way, more of the clan's high-ranking members can escape Oasis Town, break free from their fate as religious slaves, and head to the Holy City."

"Then, under the guise of rest and encouragement, the collected corpses of evolved wild wolves were distributed to the members who had taken them away."

"As long as we can keep the people below in check, even if Zhao Laogou has something to rely on now, he will have to obediently use the family resources on our clansmen when we are in the Holy City."

"Otherwise, this team of 150 evolved beings wouldn't be so easy to deal with."

"The daily food expenses alone are enough to give him a headache!"

"If he dares to embezzle it, we can completely side with Lin Feng and use him to devour the wolf!"

Li Lihe nodded, then thought of something, and after a few seconds of thought, he hesitated slightly before saying:
"Brother, I can bring along the candidates for the quota..." Before Li Lihe could finish speaking, Li Litian directly rejected his request:
"Forget about it. Of the more than 700 evolvers in the clan, apart from those who are exempt in the later stages, the rest in the early and middle stages are selected based on their evolutionary potential. Those who are over 200 years old can only be abandoned."

"We must leave opportunities to young people."

"Even our own family members are no exception!"

After saying that, Li Litian patted his underling on the shoulder and then boarded his chariot.

As the group returned to their camp in Nongzhuang Village, Lin Feng arrived at the convoy camp outside Shengquan Village.

Having returned to his own forces, Lin Feng was finally able to temporarily lower his guard and remove the heavy branded armor he was wearing.

By adding alloy wolf bones and steel wolf teeth, the style of this armor changed abruptly. It was no longer as swift and agile as other power armors, but instead appeared somewhat clumsy due to the increase in its total weight.

However, its destructive power far exceeds that of standard armor of the same level, and its defensive capabilities are also somewhat enhanced.

This level 22 branded armor is a balanced set between the Rock Horse Armor and power armor, but it far surpasses both in terms of lethality and combat power.

Given the current situation in Oasis Town, Lin Feng only feels safe when he goes out wearing it.

As the various attributes are enhanced, the energy consumption also skyrockets. Every time I return from a mission, the first thing I do is recharge the high-density solid-state battery on the back of the armor.

Chen Shanshan took out a fully charged spare battery from the Wild Wolf vehicle and replaced the armor of the two of them.

Lin Feng then followed Ding Yi, who had arrived, to the right side of the main road to conduct a patrol and inspection.

Wolf Ao's roar earlier not only prompted his army of wild wolves to attack Oasis Town, but also the Wild Wolf Clan lying in ambush on the right flank.

The attack here, led by another offspring of Wolf Ao, a second-stage early-stage wild wolf behemoth, launched a fierce assault on Lin Feng's caravan.

The main reason was that the village of Shengquan next to the convoy was that it was too conspicuous. With its uniform white paint, it looked like a white pearl in the sand as it drove on the desolate wasteland.

Therefore, the team is under the greatest defensive pressure.

Of course, as a combat squad under Lin Feng, A-Lian and Ma Chenfeng's firepower far exceeded that of other villages, easily repelling an army of several thousand wild wolves.

However, the convoy did not exist alone, but was interdependent with the village of Holy Spring ahead.

Furthermore, the original plan required them to go to Holy Spring Village for assistance in defense.

Therefore, the powerful firepower network could not be concentrated to repel the enemy from a kilometer away, so half of it had to be sent out to help Holy Spring Village.

However, the team also benefited from some things.

Because the guards in Holy Spring Village, apart from the ordinary gun-wielding enhanced humans, are all first-tier combat priests who are very skilled in close combat.

With the combat squad helping to relieve the pressure, the combat clerics would also come to the outer perimeter of the convoy, stationed at the outermost edge of the position, to protect the firing points on the vehicles behind, and to intercept and eliminate any that managed to break through the fire net.

Both sides can complement each other's strengths and weaknesses, thereby enhancing their defensive capabilities.

Therefore, this first attack by the wolf army did not cause any damage to either side, except for the consumption of ammunition.

At this moment, the combat squad members are driving their armored vehicles, along with support personnel, to clean up the battlefield a kilometer away.

Some combat priests also went along, responsible for guarding various locations, patrolling and keeping watch to prevent the wasteland wolves from attacking again, or to prevent a few evolved wasteland wolves from hiding in some horned areas.

Seeing this, Lin Feng said to Ding Yi beside him:

"Let's divide the spoils equally. The second-tier Wild Wolf warriors stationed in Holy Spring Village also helped us a lot."

Despite having the most powerful firepower, there were indeed no Tier 2 Evolvers stationed in the camp during that battle.

It is also the only place in Oasis Town without a Tier 2 commander.

Even the Fifth Village was guarded by Xu Wanfeng, the fully armed leader of the Hunting Guild, who had returned in time.

That's right. Before the first match, the church had already discussed it with Xu Wanfeng. She could just slip away after the second match started.

There's no need to participate in the upcoming struggle.

After all, neither the life-or-death battle between the bishop and Li Hao, nor the successful luring of the wasteland wolf clan into the fight, were things that Xu Wanfeng could participate in.

She was only a mid-stage Tier 2 cultivator, and even with the equipment boost from the Hunter's Guild, she could only fight against a strong opponent of the same level...

However, in the battle at the peak of the second tier, they rarely even have a chance to make a move, as they will be instantly killed by Wolf Ao, who is at level 29.

Therefore, she was the second person to flee during the entire arena competition, after Su An and the church convoy.

As for the logistics convoy sent by the Li family, Zhao Mingsheng, following Li Hao's instructions after the sacrifice of the Wilderness Wolf Clan, decisively chose to withdraw.

They barely made it back to Oasis Town before the wolf army attacked their settlement, and quickly set up a defensive formation in the farm village.

Fortunately, Ding Yi had already ordered Old Duncan to find Wang Chen, who had advanced to the late stage of the first tier, and to incite the farm village to take precautions.

At the same time, we confronted the Li family's top management, making them understand the severity of the situation at this moment.

After Li Litian and Li Lihe placed the second-tier leaders of Shuguang Village and Jiche Village respectively, they immediately realized the seriousness of the situation and quickly began preparations for battle.

However, before they could even ask Ding Yi for support, the Li family's logistics support convoy, along with the wolf army behind them, came into view.

Fortunately, before the martial arts competition began, Li Mingquan had made an arms deal with Lin Feng, buying a batch of standard grenades, which came in handy in time.

After the competition, the corpses of the evolved wild wolves collected by the Li family, along with their rock horned horse breeding business, were sent to the rear of Shengquan Village and entrusted to Lin Feng's caravan for safekeeping.

Only in this way can we obtain subsequent fire support.

The Li family's current situation is even worse than that of the others. Without a second-tier evolved being to protect them, they are powerless against the attack from the second-tier evolved wild wolves.

The same thing happened to Lin Feng's caravan before. If it weren't for the high priest in Holy Spring Village who had advanced to the second rank, the giant wolf on the right might have launched a sneak attack.

Furthermore, when Lin Feng and his group went to hunt the giant wolf beast, the caravan still needed the protection of a second-tier high priest.

Therefore, there is no problem in dividing the results equally.

Just as Lin Feng was giving instructions to Ding Yi, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind him.

It turned out to be old Duncan running over quickly, shouting:

"The Salvation Army! The Salvation Army continues to provide support from Chief Lin!"

"They were just outside the mountains on the right, blocked by thousands of evolved wild wolves!"

(End of this chapter)