Wasteland: My items are infinitely upgraded.

Chapter 346 The Army Sets Off, One Last Glance

The unrest in the Fifth Village naturally did not escape the watchful eyes of the Oasis Church.

Father Su An had long been aware of the Hunter's Guild's actions, but since it was related to Lin Feng, he did not step in to stop them.

Now that Lin Feng had personally brought up the matter, Father Su An immediately understood that the other party intended to package and transfer these more than 10,000 low-level permanent residents and wasteland dwellers to the Salvation Army through the Hunting Wilderness Guild, under the guise of his own reward.

After all, Lin Feng doesn't have much need to expand his power right now, and simply absorbing the lower-class people won't bring him much profit.

The current scale of over a thousand people is the limit that Lin Feng can control and maintain.

The bishop had seen this out, which is why he generously promised Lin Feng a reward of 30% of the total number of survivors.

Upon closer examination, Lin Feng's demands were not wrong, and the Oasis Church could only acquiesce to such divisive behavior.

But for Father Suan, it actually had no impact on him personally.

The main issue is that his current status as the leader of the Oasis is only temporary, not even acting. Once the support forces from the Holy City Diocese arrive and take over Oasis Town, he will have to return to the Holy City, just like Lin Feng.

At the same time, he completed the mission he took over in the Holy City, bringing Oasis Town, mainly the Oasis Warships, back under the control of the Holy City.

As for the state of Oasis Town at the time of handover, no hard and fast targets were set for Father Suan. As long as the Oasis warships remained intact, the deaths of countless lower-class civilians would simply be a numbers game with no real impact.

The most valuable assets of Oasis Town, besides the core Oasis warship, are the more than two thousand pampered citizens on board.

They were preserved, representing the high-end resources accumulated by Oasis Town over many years, and were transferred to the Holy City through the Evolvers.

As long as the upper class doesn't cause problems, no matter how many of the worthless lower-class villagers die, it won't affect the future promotion of Oasis Town to a large settlement.

After all, the price that an uncontaminated, pure evolved being can fetch is enough to support hundreds or even thousands of low-level slaves.

Provided with sufficient water and food, the population of the desert dwellers can multiply several times over in seven or eight years.

Father Su An nodded in agreement with Lin Feng's request:
"They're just some wastelanders. If they want to go with you, let them go. Whether they stay in Oasis Town or go to the wasteland, their fates are not much different."

"Actually, staying here would at least provide a safe haven. If it weren't for the attack by the Wasteland Wolves, Oasis Town, with the Vatican's reputation, would have been virtually untouched by any other forces."

"From the beginning of Oasis Town's development to the present, it has gone through nine hundred years, and only this one serious attack has caused such heavy losses..."

"But the Wasteland Wolf Clan will also pay the price for their crimes. The Holy City will not easily let go of the events that have happened in Oasis Town."

"Once the future bishopric takes over, the defense of Oasis Town will only get stronger and stronger, rivaling any first-rate power."

Lin Feng nodded.

Father Suan was actually right.

Even if Oasis Town is in a state of decline, it is still nominally a force under the Holy Spring Sect. Without the support of the Holy City, it would be impossible for it to grow and expand on the edge of the Blazing Sun Forbidden Zone.

In the future, with the upgrading and expansion of its status and scale...

Once it becomes a large settlement, with a third-order bishop personally overseeing it, things will only get better and better.

However, this only applies to the middle and upper levels of the oasis.

For the permanent residents and the wilderness dwellers, the direct control of the Holy City meant that more benefits had to be squeezed out of them.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to sustain the consumption at the upper level.

After becoming a believer, one will not only become a slave who loses his freedom, but will also be controlled by the church for generations, and even his descendants will not be able to escape such a fate.

It's better to be free now, with hope of advancing to become an evolved being and living like a human.

Therefore, those hunters and herdsmen who were willing to leave were not fools.

They were well aware of the nature and tactics of those in power.

Even if there are benefits, they won't get a share. If they suddenly make empty promises, they'll be the ones getting divided up.

However, if you are looking for stability, just want to survive, and are willing to suffer, then staying is also a good option.

After receiving permission from Father Su An, Lin Feng turned and left.

With the convoy about to depart, he, as the leader, must be present to maintain morale.

After leaving Shengquan Village and returning to the camp, the team ahead had slowed down and was preparing to rest briefly before heading northwest towards the fork in the road, towards the location of the ancient city of Zhengzhou.

Then, passing through the ancient river ruins, we slowly climbed up the slope into the Loess Plateau, which is the second step of the continental terrain, and finally headed to the center of the continent.

That place was also a chaotic one, with the Holy Spring Church allied with a giant corporation in the north, and they were constantly at odds over the mineral and oil and gas resources on the edge of their territory.

The King's Alliance in the south is also locked in a fierce conflict with the Holy Spring Cult over the oil fields in the southern desert region.

In order to obtain resources, these top-tier forces, along with hundreds of first-class royal cities, engaged in a massive war.

Therefore, when facing an unknown future, a leader with prestige is needed to serve as a pillar of support for the team members, enabling them to persevere.

For example, Bai Ye, the leader of the Salvation Army.

She is the pillar of the Salvation Army. As long as she is there, even if the Salvation Army suffers heavy losses, the team will not fall apart.

And she lived up to expectations, working with Lin Feng and Xu Wanfeng to rescue the convoy from the pursuit of the Wilderness Wolf Clan.

Lin Feng is about to take on this role.

Although he had already established his authority by using the corpses of two giant wild wolves, thus gaining the trust of the newly joined industrial technicians from the three major villages, as well as the surrendered villagers.

They also learned of Lin Feng's strength and his ability to save them from the invasion of the Wilderness Wolf Clan army.

He even led the crowd in a counterattack.

But strength only provides basic security.

Oasis Town can also provide this.

Therefore, what is truly important is the rules and regulations implemented within the team, especially the reward and punishment mechanisms and the specific rules for the division of benefits.

The former is merely a prerequisite for everyone to follow, while the latter is the condition under which everyone is willing to pledge allegiance to Lin Feng and dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to the team.

In order to create this cohesion and centripetal force, it is necessary to establish a reasonable order in the settlement. Lin Feng asked Ding Yi to quickly compile the results and gains of this battle, in order to reward them and then show the team's abundant reserves, so as to stabilize people's hearts.

The former allows the strong members of the team to see the hope that they too can be promoted, while the latter is to reassure the vast majority of ordinary members, especially those who make up the largest number of industry personnel.

Let them know that the team is not short of supplies.

As long as production is carried out step by step and one fulfills one's responsibilities, one can receive the compensation one deserves.

This creates a virtuous cycle, sustaining the settlement's long-term operation and allowing it to gradually grow and expand, eventually enabling Lin Feng to advance to the third-tier king realm.
When Lin Feng returned to the team's camp, he was quickly welcomed by Chen Shanshan, Ding Yi, and others, followed by the main members of the team.

The group consisted of about fifty people, including the main leaders and managers from the three major departments.

In addition, there are the combat squads and logistics personnel, numbering about fifty or sixty, who made outstanding contributions in resisting the invasion of the Wasteland Wolves. They will also receive personal commendation from Lin Feng, including the evolution agents and evolution meat collected this time, as well as formal appointments to their positions.

Able to serve as a squad leader in the team.

Seeing that everyone had arrived and the convoy was ready, Lin Feng ordered them to continue their journey, crossing the barren Gobi Desert directly from the middle of the fork in the road, and embarking on their journey to the Holy City.

The lead wolf-themed war chariot immediately roared with the sound of its engine, accompanied by a few faint wolf howls, and sped out of Oasis Town at a speed of forty kilometers per hour.

The main force behind them began to slowly accelerate, from one kilometer per hour to ten kilometers per hour, and eventually stabilized at twenty kilometers per hour.

This speed represents the limit that the heavy transport vehicles in the convoy can reach in the desert and Gobi.

The main obstacles are the rocks and potholes along the way, which hinder the progress of heavy transport vehicles, making them prone to getting stuck halfway or in narrow bends, leaving them in a dilemma.

Therefore, combat squads need to drive armored vehicles as scouts, using their high mobility to conduct preliminary reconnaissance.

Explore the terrain ahead to find the best route forward, while also detecting any enemies or potential threats and promptly relaying the intelligence back to the main force.

If placed on a flat oasis road, even a heavy truck carrying hundreds of tons of goods can drive at speeds of fifty or sixty kilometers per hour.

The problem is that the energy is being consumed too quickly, and the battery packs cannot sustain the operation for long. After traveling for twelve hours, the system needs to rest, deploy more photovoltaic panels, and replenish its power.

Even so, they could quickly cross the wasteland and reach the holy city ahead.

Traveling for twelve hours and resting for twelve hours, covering 600 kilometers a day, that's four or five thousand kilometers a week.

It would be enough to reach the outskirts of the holy city within five or six days.

But if there is no vehicle to get around, and you have to travel on foot, the 4,000-kilometer journey, coupled with the 24-hour high temperatures and harsh environment, is extremely difficult.

Even first-tier evolved beings find it difficult to leave the desert, and even second-tier evolved beings, without kinetic armor and sufficient supplies, can be swallowed up by the wasteland and storms.

Therefore, the convoy is the foundation for traversing the wasteland.

It is the foundation of today's migratory civilization.

At this moment, Lin Feng was in the center of the convoy, on a modified heavy-duty truck.

As a leader of a large convoy of a thousand people, the chief of a small settlement could no longer use a heavily armored vehicle as his mount, as he had done before.

Therefore, as early as when Ding Yi gathered the industrial personnel of the three major villages and used them as collateral to purchase artillery shells, he recruited a group of technicians from Shuguang Village and Jiche Village. Under Cheng Wentian's leadership, they began to build Lin Feng's vehicle.

It was also the residence for managing the affairs of the settlement.

Given the future scale of a village of a thousand people, it would naturally be necessary to modify it, just like the Hunting Wilderness Guild, by using a heavy-duty truck as the basic chassis.

As for the renovation process, apart from Ding Yi giving some general requirements, the rest was left to Cheng Wentian and the technicians from the locomotive village to make their own decisions based on their experience.

For example, the first floor serves as a service hall, consisting of two long shipping containers, each 30 meters long and 10 meters wide, divided into four areas.

They were respectively responsible for the affairs of the Corps, logistics, production, and the summary office.

It was used to coordinate with the three departments of the convoy, and also to collect all intelligence and report it to Lin Feng.

The second floor, on the other hand, served as the offices of the team leader and other department heads, and was also used to receive distinguished guests from other factions.

The top three floors are the private residence of leader Lin Feng, and also the highest point in the entire convoy.

Based on a floor height of three meters, the floor where Lin Feng lived, plus the tires and chassis of the heavy truck, was at least nine meters above the ground.

The grandstand above the accommodation is twelve meters high, offering a panoramic view of the surrounding area, thousands of meters ahead and behind, making it easy to observe the entire convoy.

In this way, Lin Feng can sit in the center of the team and firmly control the movement of the entire team.

At this moment, Lin Feng looked ahead and saw that the Oasis warship had already stopped in the center of the fork in the road.

Following closely behind are the three major villages with industries.

Then came the fifth village, which had broken away from the camp.

A yellow transport vehicle slowly drove out of the fifth village and joined its own team.

Inside the carriage was Su Yueyue's hibernation pod, which Father Su An had entrusted to him.

With Su Yueyue by his side, Lin Feng was able to maintain contact with Father Su An, even if the latter harbored other motives in grooming Su Yueyue...

But for now, Lin Feng and his convoy both need Father Su An's support and secret assistance within the Holy City Diocese.

Therefore, the two sides can continue to cooperate.

After Su Yueyue was safely received by the team, Ding Yi personally arranged for her to be placed in a research team under the Logistics Department.

In the future, Su Yueyue will also be adopted by the team as one of the experimental subjects, and a fusion experiment will be conducted after the evolution path of the Steppenwolf is developed to maturity.

Seeing this, Lin Feng slowly turned his head and saw the fifth village at the very back of Oasis Town, where two teams had already been divided.

One group consisted of a massive force of ten thousand people following the Wilderness Hunting Guild, while the other group comprised resident civilians who had slowed their pace, along with over thirty thousand wilderness dwellers.

However, the deserters did not stop completely, but continued to walk towards the oasis warship.

After the crisis is over, they need the church's comfort and grace more than ever before.

In particular, the gospel of the holy spring water on the day of the Holy Spring can greatly alleviate their thirst.

Meanwhile, a church squad consisting of deacons and combat priests emerged from Holy Spring Village and entered the Fifth Village to take control of the situation and maintain order.

Taking over the power vacuum left by the departure of the Hunter's Guild.

While announcing that all members would become believers, preparations began in advance for the subsequent arrival of the Holy City Bishopric.

For example, by setting rules for everyone and assigning tasks, the church gradually brought the accustomed free and undisciplined permanent residents and the uninhabited people under its control and management.

As the Hunter's Guild led tens of thousands of followers away from the main force of Oasis Town and closely followed the footsteps of the Lin Feng convoy, the figure of Oasis Town gradually disappeared into the wasteland behind.

The members of both teams slowly raised their heads and looked behind them into the Sun-Scorched Earth Forbidden Zone.

The blazing sun gradually receded into the distance from them.

This is the first time for the vast majority of people that they have escaped the scorching sun and the area baked by the blazing sun...

The road ahead is long, but the sun shining on my skin is no longer so scorching and stinging...

A sense of relief and ease appeared on everyone's faces.

The Oasis arc is complete.

(End of this chapter)