Wasteland: My items are infinitely upgraded.

Chapter 336 A Hidden Enemy, With Great Ambitions, The Mission
Upon hearing Father Su An's words, Lin Feng's expression immediately changed slightly, and he fell into deep thought.

He thought for a few seconds before speaking in a low voice:
"How many members does a knight battalion typically have, and how strong is its combat capability?"

"Given the Templar Knights' organizational structure, they shouldn't be weak, right?"

Since it concerned the future safety of Oasis Town and whether Lin Feng could leave Oasis Town smoothly and arrive at the Holy City safely, he was more concerned about the strength of the enemy.

Father Su An sighed and slowly replied:
"Very strong. A knight brigade with three squads. Each squad leader is at the mid-stage of the second tier and is a formal knight. Each of them has three apprentice knights at the early stage of the second tier under their command."

"So, there are a total of twelve Templar Knights. Given how much importance the Holy City attaches to this mission, the team leader should be a Knight Commander at the mid-stage of the second tier, which is equivalent to a level 26 evolved being."

"After merging with the holy spring water, its combat power can rival that of a peak second-tier being."

"The other two squad leaders are comparable to late-stage second-tier evolvers, and the nine trainee knights, according to the selection rules, are also comparable to me and President Xu Wanfeng, and can be regarded as mid-stage second-tier evolvers."

"In addition, these Templar Knights will be accompanied by nine to twelve knights as squires."

"They are candidates for membership in the Knights, and are called Knight Apprentices."

"Becoming a knight apprentice gives you a very high chance of being promoted to a trainee knight in the early stage of the second tier."

"Those who can obtain this qualification are the strongest combat archpriests in the Holy City, that is, the best of the best at level nineteen evolution."

"The four high priests of Oasis Town are already comparable to ordinary early-stage second-tier evolvers in terms of combat strength, but in the recruitment conditions of the Templar Knights, they can only be considered as having a chance to be included in the apprentice training program."

"However, apprentices must be under 100 years old, so many senior priests get stuck at this stage."

"A knightly brigade like this, in the current wasteland, without the intervention of a third-tier king, would be virtually untouchable by any other wandering forces or second-rate powers."

As he spoke, Father Su An's expression became slightly agitated, for no one understood the Templar Knights' combat prowess better than him, a priest skilled in both literature and martial arts.

“Take the Salvation Army for example. They have the heritage of the Salvation City and a leader who is at the peak of the second tier. They are just one step away from advancing to the third tier.”

"Such a top-tier second-rate force is enough to stand out among the heroes in the wasteland, but if they were to face a knight brigade, let alone Bai Ye, even if two or three top-tier second-rate forces came together, they would have a hard time gaining an advantage."

"After all, the Knights Templar are the elite of the Holy See, representing the pinnacle of martial prowess. Whether it's their personal combat skills or the weapons and equipment they are equipped with, they are all top-notch."

"They are far beyond what second-rate beings in the wasteland can match. Even if the individual combat strength of the two sides is equal, the gap will widen due to the difference in equipment."

"But now, this invincible Templar Knights team has suffered heavy losses. Not only did they fail to arrive at Oasis Town on time, but they have also disappeared without a trace..."

"Only our breakout team, while searching for and contacting the pilgrimage caravan, happened to encounter a severely wounded knight apprentice who had fallen into a coma in the shadows behind a rock on the right side of Oasis Avenue."

"The apprentice not only suffered severe injuries, but also extensive burns all over his body, presumably from being directly hit by a large-caliber artillery piece."

"Before falling into a coma, he left several messages in the armor's log system, warning us to get away from this place as soon as possible, or to go down to the area covered by the Temple of Mount Zhuma at the crossroads to seek shelter."

"As for the specific details of the encounter, although the intelligent central system inside the Undying Armor has some records, it was damaged along with the camera during the battle and is currently being repaired by technicians, so we cannot know the enemy's true identity."

After listening to Father Su An's analysis, Lin Feng's heart sank.

The Templar Knights, whose strength was far superior to that of the enemy, were clearly no match for even Bai Ye, the leader of the Salvation Army at the peak of the second tier.

Otherwise, it would have been impossible to destroy such a powerful team, whose strength was comparable to several top-tier second-rate forces, so easily.

This was not good news for Lin Feng, who was about to leave Oasis Town for the Holy City.

But Lin Feng quickly calmed down.

The purpose of their actions was clearly to prevent the Templar Knights from reaching Oasis Town to support the Oasis Church and suppress the rebellion from the Li family.

If that's the case, the enemy's identity can obviously be deduced.

That was the mastermind behind the rebellion that propelled the Li family and other local clans in the Oasis, the root of all the turmoil, and the Life Farm, a large, top-tier power in the Holy City.

Thinking of this, Lin Feng immediately said:

"Although this group was able to severely damage the Templar Knights, it was obviously because they had laid an ambush beforehand and caught the Knights off guard. If the two sides were to truly engage in combat, they might not be able to directly defeat the Templar Knights."

"Besides, anyone who dares to ambush and attack a large knightly contingent within the territory ruled by the Holy See, even if no third-tier kings are among them, must have other first-rate forces behind them..."

"No, ordinary first-rate forces don't have that kind of guts; only large forces would do it."

"And the result of defeating the Templars would be that Oasis Town would not receive timely support from the Holy City. Putting aside my sudden rise to power and the unexpected attack by the Wasteland Wolves..."

"The three rebel armies led by Li Hao have clearly been able to storm the Oasis warship and seize command and control."

"Then we will take control of the warships and head north, thus successfully achieving their objective."

"Therefore, the unknown enemy that attacked the Templars is clearly the same group that instigated Li Hao to launch a rebellion and seize power!"

Lin Feng's analysis made a lot of sense, and Father Su An nodded in agreement:
“That’s right, I’ve thought about that too…”

"But at present, the only large force that Li Hao can come into contact with is the Life Farm, and although the latter can be called a large first-class force, it doesn't have much actual combat power."

"Among its members, combat personnel are the fewest, and the vast majority are research support personnel, including their leadership team. Several third-tier kings are also from research and technical backgrounds, similar to the Salvation Army leader, Bai Ye."

"As for abilities, most of them are related to brain evolution, and their mental talent is extremely high, but in terms of combat ability, they are not even as good as Chief White."

"That's why the Holy City Church tolerates the existence of life farms, mainly because their biotechnology can greatly help the Church alleviate the pressure of food needs."

Thinking of this, Father Su An suddenly remembered something:

"By the way, the higher-ups at the Life Farm are not very strong in combat, but they can create some artificially synthesized evolved life forms, such as evolved beasts, in the biological factory."

"But these stitched-together monsters cannot move around at the edge of the Sun Restricted Zone."

"The relentless, penetrating sunlight will carry a deadly curse, destroying the synthetic gene sequences within the evolved beasts."

"So even if Life Farm had a motive, it didn't have the ability to destroy an entire knight force without deploying a third-tier king."

After Father Su An's explanation, Lin Feng realized that Life Farm couldn't directly intervene, since once their identities were exposed, it would be solid evidence.

Therefore, it is more likely that they arranged for outsiders to come and intercept them, just as they had manipulated Li Hao.

"Is it possible that there are other Rockhorse warriors, like Li Hao? There should be quite a few Tier 2 Rockhorse warriors in the wasteland who would serve them faithfully and follow their lead because of the Rockhorse evolution path that the Life Farm has conquered?" Father Su An shook his head immediately, rejecting the idea outright.

“Absolutely impossible. You have to understand that due to the inherent flaws in the pathway itself, all the Rock Horse Warriors are stuck at the mid-stage of the second tier. Even though the Life Farm has developed a method for advancing to the later stage, it can only allow the test subjects to temporarily enter the late stage of the second tier.”

"At most, they can only hold their own against captain-level Templar Knights, and they can't even last a few minutes. It would take at least three to five late-stage Rock Horse Warriors to suppress a mid-stage Tier 2 Templar Knight."

"After all, due to the rockhorn horse factor, rockhorn warriors are more focused on defense than offense. Just like Li Hao before, even in the later stages, he could only contend with two early-stage wild wolf behemoths and found it difficult to suppress them."

"To severely damage a knight squadron of up to twelve Templar Knights, we need to gather at least thirty or forty mid-stage Tier 2 Rock Horse Warriors, and ensure that they can all advance to late-stage Tier 2 and be fully armed again."

"These people are all elites among the Rockhorn Horse Path Evolvers. It would be difficult to gather so many powerful individuals near Storm Holy City. Even if they were transferred from other places, it would be impossible to complete such a large number of mid-stage Evolvers quietly."

"Moreover, even with a large number of late-stage Rock Horse Warriors, they would still be no match for a Knight Commander who has evolved to level 26."

"Under absolute power, the accumulation of quantity is meaningless."

"That's what worries us. If their real purpose isn't to stop the Templar Knights from coming to support Oasis Town, then..."

Following Father Su An's reasoning, Lin Feng blurted out:
"Their target is the Templars themselves!"

"We came here to kill the Templar Knights, not to hinder their support of Oasis Town. After all, it's just an interception; there's no need to inflict heavy damage on the Knights' army. Achieving that would come at a great cost to ourselves!"

Father Suan nodded with a furrowed brow.

That's the real reason he's worried.

If it's just about hindering the Templars' support, there's no need to worry so much, since their target is at least Oasis Town.

But if these guys are there to ambush and kill Templar Knights, then the situation is completely different.

This behavior is a hundred or even a thousand times worse than fighting for ownership of Oasis Town.

To dare to massacre a squad of Templar Knights within the territory ruled by the Papacy is clearly not just a provocation against the Holy Spring Church, but an attempt to directly challenge the Church and even destroy its rule.

This is a momentous event for the Holy City and the entire Church.

After all, the enemy is in the shadows, while they are in the open.

The enemy could launch another attack at any time.

This incident must be investigated and clarified as soon as possible, and then the relevant information must be immediately transmitted back to the holy city at the front to take action and sound the alarm.

Then the bishops of Storm City would issue warnings to the other seven holy cities.

Those with such strength must have started as large, established powers.

Without deploying third-tier kings, a whole Templar Knight squad could be wiped out with just second-tier members.

In the wasteland, only the giant corporations of the north or the kings of the south, including a few late-stage Tier 3 Heavenly Kings, could accomplish this.

The specific reasons will only be known after the higher-ups in the Holy City conduct an analysis.

As for the people in Oasis Town right now, besides sending the message back to the Holy City as soon as possible, the most important thing is to block the news and prevent panic from spreading.

Without alerting the lurking enemies, they prayed that the inconspicuous oasis town could safely leave the vicinity of the blazing sun forbidden zone and return to the holy city.

As for the important task of delivering messages...

Entrusting it to the pilgrimage caravan is clearly not a safe bet.

After all, the other party's real purpose was to target the church, and dealing with the pilgrimage convoy was just a side effect.

The best solution would be to have Lin Feng, who was about to leave, secretly arrive in the Holy City with this important and confidential message and report it to the higher-ups there.

This is one of the reasons why Father Su An wanted to reveal this news to Lin Feng alone.

Father Su An, who was looking at Lin Feng at that moment, then made this request.

After blurting it out, Lin Feng truly realized the seriousness of the problem and naturally guessed why Father Su An wanted him to stay.

After much deliberation, Lin Feng knew he had no other choice. Staying might only lead to his death, after all, he was capable of annihilating a whole Templar Knight squadron, a full twelve Templar Knights...

Such power was something that even Oasis Town at its peak could not contend with.

Not to mention that the bishop is currently only half alive, and Li Hao has become a late-stage flesh and blood. The strongest being is Father Su An, who is in the middle stage of the second tier.

Once the Salvation Army was ready, they left the oasis...

At that time, any late-stage Tier 2 powerhouse would be able to easily destroy Oasis Town.

Therefore, Lin Feng had to leave in advance to avoid any connection with the church.

Father Suan's request must be granted.

This was a matter of life and death, so Lin Feng immediately asked:
"Is just sending a message enough? Or do we need written documents or other evidence?"

Father Su An nodded. Of course, it was impossible to convey the message verbally, and the Holy City Diocese could not trust Lin Feng, a stranger who had suddenly arrived.

In addition to the Oasis Church's tokens, concrete and feasible evidence must also be presented.

"The knight apprentice we found, his Undying Holy Armor's intelligent core recorded the battle process."

"Due to damage to internal modules, Oasis Town's conditions prevent timely restoration..."

"Take this and return to Oasis Town."

“Each central module has a unique number, and the Church in the Holy City will definitely take it seriously.”

"Take this and leave immediately!"

"If you have any other needs, feel free to speak up now!"

(End of this chapter)