Wasteland: My items are infinitely upgraded.

Chapter 190: Oasis Past, Bishop Zhang Hui, and the Deal

Li Mingquan's words made Lin Feng fall into deep thought.

In fact, he realized a problem a long time ago.

The church in Oasis Town is facing rebellion from local clans. Why is the Holy City ahead doing nothing and not even sending high-ranking priests to support it?

There was no expression of support or opposition.

It was as if the Oasis Town stronghold did not exist.

At first, Lin Feng thought that the journey was very long. After all, the global migration voyage was tens of thousands of kilometers long, and it would take a long time to go back and forth.

But with the appearance of the pilgrim caravan, they can make a round trip within half a month. Even if the Oasis Church only discovered last month that the Li family and other big families really had the intention of rebellion and put it into practice, there was still time to inform the Holy City and request support.

At that time, just sending a second-level Templar Knight can easily resolve the rebellion crisis in Oasis Town.

And given the importance of the oasis, there is no possibility of it being abandoned.

Lin Feng took a deep breath and spoke in a deep voice:
"Are you saying that someone in the Holy City Church wants to abandon Oasis Town? But the Moonlight Ceremony aboard the Oasis warship and its observation of the Fiery Sun Forbidden Zone are of undeniable importance to the Holy City ahead..."

"Do they really dare to risk the destruction of Oasis Town and the evildoers because of internal strife?"

"You must know that the disaster caused by the Yang Xie crisis can even cause the fall of a holy city and severely damage the vitality of the entire church!"

After listening to Lin Feng's analysis and rebuttal, Li Mingquan's eyes flashed. He obviously didn't expect that the other party would know the restricted area so well.

But even so, those high-ranking priests never care about the lives of the lower class. To them, the power in their hands is more important than the church.

A top-level large-scale force of this scale has long been corrupted by the erosion of time, and the internal strife and struggle are almost obvious.

Otherwise, the Li family would not have endured for so many years just to seize this critical opportunity.

Li Mingquan nodded and first confirmed Lin Feng's conclusion:
"You're right. Even if the internal divisions are severe, no one will joke about the Oasis warships. But what if some people don't care about the Yang Nie crisis?"

"Let's not even count the current wasteland era. Just take the Old Earth period you once experienced. From ancient times to the present, how many times have internal conflicts led to foreign invasions?"

"Isn't it often that people would rather give to friendly nations than to their domestic slaves?"

"If Oasis Town is truly valued by the Holy City, why would the local church, Bishop Zhang Hui, and Father Su An go to such great lengths to win you over, even going so far as to use the blood of an alien race and defile the power of the Holy Spring within you?"

Lin Feng's pupils shrank slightly. In fact, he didn't care about the internal disputes in the Holy Spring Church or the good or bad of the church. As long as he could get the promised reward and fulfill his obligations as agreed, it would be fine.

But what Li Mingquan said now involves a most critical issue. If the Oasis Church is not welcomed by the Holy City, can the benefits they promised be fulfilled after everyone goes to the Holy City?

Just like the honorary deputy mayor position given by Father Su An, if the Archdiocese of the Holy City does not recognize it, then Lin Feng should risk his life for the church and get away from this place of trouble as soon as possible.

Seeing Lin Feng's conflicted expression, Li Mingquan immediately decided to strike while the iron was hot and continued:

"It seems that the bishop and Father Suan didn't say anything to Chief Lin..."

"Think about it, are they deliberately deceiving you? Compared to the once-mighty Holy Spring Church, how could the Oasis Church have fallen to this state?"

Lin Feng frowned slightly. He already believed 70% of what Li Mingquan said. After all, there was no logical problem, so the problem could only be with the Oasis Church.

But Lin Feng couldn't just believe one side of the story. He had to understand the whole story before drawing a conclusion:
"Since Village Chief Li knows so much, why don't you tell us more about the origins of Oasis Town?"

"I heard that the Oasis Battleship was once part of the Holy City. Because the Holy City's resources were limited and its population was nearing its limit, the Oasis Battleship brought a group of people to the edge of what is now the Fiery Sun Forbidden Zone."

"Is it because the oasis is too far away from the Holy City that it is gradually being marginalized?"

Li Mingquan smiled, and seeing that Lin Feng really didn't understand anything, he continued:
"Chief Lin, you are putting cause and effect before effect..."

"It wasn't because Oasis Town was located on the edge of the restricted area that it was gradually marginalized. Rather, the departure of the Oasis warship marked the beginning of its abandonment."

"A major event occurred in the Holy City that year, regarding the selection of the next third-level bishop."

"You must know that the Holy Spring Cult is essentially a religious state, governed by the church system. Aside from the Lord of the Holy Spring, all worldly affairs are governed by the Immortal Saint."

"There are numerous factions within it. There are the Original Faction, who believe in the First Holy Spring Scriptures and adhere to the old rules. There are the Secular Faction, who follow the Immortal Saints and obey the holy scriptures. There are also some more radical groups..."

"In short, with the long slumber of the Lord of the Holy Spring, the church has been divided into various factions, large and small."

"The selection of bishops for the Holy City that year became the fuse of a dispute. Each Holy City can have a maximum of seven bishops, supporting seven third-level bishops."

"The old generation of bishops have returned to the temple, and the vacant position has become a target of competition among various factions. Zhang Hui is one of the strong candidates."

"He is the current acting bishop of Oasis. He was one of the peerless geniuses back then. In less than a hundred years, he was promoted to the upper limit of the second rank and became a high priest of the 29th rank."

"Of course, he ultimately lost. Otherwise, he wouldn't have fallen to this point, becoming the pathetic Acting Bishop of Oasis."

"So the Oasis warships' departure from the Holy City settlement definitely wasn't due to overpopulation or resource shortages. Even if that were the case, they definitely shouldn't have come to the edge of the restricted area. The harshness of the environment here is several times greater than the wasteland ahead..."

"The temperature is 40 to 50 degrees Celsius year-round. If you're not careful, you'll be engulfed by the scorching sun behind you. Living on the brink of death year-round, what's the difference between this and being exiled to a remote frontier?"

Lin Feng nodded. On this point, he fully agreed with Li Mingquan's remarks.

Oasis Town is too close to the restricted area. Even on Holy Spring Day, the distance is no more than forty or fifty kilometers, leaving only two days of free time.

Living here is like giving yourself a 24-hour death countdown every day. You can only move forward without stopping, feeling physically and mentally exhausted and in a constant state of anxiety.

Speaking of this, Li Mingquan sighed:
"After Zhang Hui lost the election and was exiled here, he began performing the Moonlight Ritual to gather intelligence on the Fiery Sun Forbidden Zone for the Holy City."

"Actually, this job could be done with any fleet, but the data collected wouldn't be as detailed and accurate as using an entire Oasis settlement as a guide and an Oasis warship as a telescope."

"For this reason, the Holy City is willing to support the Oasis. Every pilgrimage caravan sends a large amount of supplies as a lifeline."

"This has also indirectly promoted our development, to the point where Oasis Town can support more than ten second-level evolvers, and has become a medium-sized settlement."

"But precisely because of this, the value of the oasis has risen ever higher. As a result, in the past century, not only has support from the Holy City decreased, but our goods, when brought to the Holy City for sale, are subject to extremely high tariffs, and the local church must first plunder them."

"This means our photovoltaic panels, batteries and other downstream products of the wildebeest industry are being exploited three times."

"In the Oasis, you have to pay money to support the upper civilian area. When you arrive at the Holy City and enter it, you have to pay money. After completing the transaction, you have to pay another fee based on the transaction amount."

"The most brutal part is the portion of water that is diverted to support the upper residential areas of the oasis. It almost eats up most of the profits of our entire industry."

"But we still endured it and continued to work hard for Oasis Town, making a great contribution. Even though I have been promoted to a second-level evolver for many years, I am still stuck at level 22 and cannot get the evolutionary agent to reach level 23."

"It wasn't until recent years that things finally started to turn around."

Lin Feng narrowed his eyes slightly, and had roughly guessed what the turning point Li Mingquan was talking about would be.

Without the appeasement of the Grand Diocese of the Holy City, these local families would not dare to challenge the majesty of the Holy Spring Church even if they had a hundred guts.

Even the parish in Oasis Town was already weak.

"Is it that the Holy City, seeing how well Oasis Town is developing, wants to take it back into their own hands?" Li Mingquan looked at Lin Feng with a hint of surprise in his eyes, and nodded in affirmation:

"That's right. In fact, the day you become the acting bishop and choose to seriously govern and develop Oasis Town, you are destined to be targeted by those with ulterior motives sooner or later."

"A Oasis warship that can steadily provide observation intelligence for the Blazing Forbidden Zone, and a medium-sized force that can provide the resources needed to support ten second-level evolvers..."

"After gaining absolute dominance, it is fully capable of cultivating a late-stage second-order, twenty-nine-level evolver. Further vigorously developing one or two more, it is not impossible to support a third-order king!"

"So those people in the Holy City set their sights here, hoping to take back the Oasis battleship."

"But the prerequisite for seizing it is to find the right time to intervene. If they come to rescue us directly, even if they destroy us, it will only make the rule of Acting Bishop Zhang Hui more stable."

"We will even devote all our efforts to cultivating the next generation successor, the current Father Suan!"

Having said that, Lin Feng had roughly understood the whole story and couldn't help but sigh:
"While the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits. The Holy City Archdiocese wants to make both of you lose, so that they can intervene with justification and take over the entire Oasis Town without any troops."

As he spoke, Lin Feng changed the subject and looked at Li Mingquan:
"So, are you, the Li family, willing to be used as pawns by the people of the Holy City? They can't possibly promise you rule Oasis Town, right?"

Li Mingquan laughed.

The reason behind this cannot be made public, of course. It is the biggest secret of their Li family, and it is secretly supported and instructed by another large organization in the Holy City, Life Farm.

So what he introduced to Lin Feng were all unimportant old stories. Anyone who had been to the Holy City for a day could learn a thing or two by asking around.

Now most of the senior officials in Oasis Town also know about it.

“When you’re under someone’s roof… you have to bow your head.”

Li Mingquan sighed twice and continued:
"The will of the Holy City cannot be resisted."

"We have no choice. Either we are suppressed by the Bishop and never rise up, or we fight hard and seize control of the oasis before the Holy City can react. We can control the warships and leave at full speed."

"I'm going to die anyway. Rather than being exploited even more after arriving in the Holy City, I might as well take a gamble."

"The worst that can happen is that our family will be destroyed and we'll become wanderers and have to start over. If we win, we can directly rule a medium-sized settlement, train many second-level experts, and ensure that our family heritage will last for thousands of years!"

"Chief Lin and I are similar, both of us achieved success at a young age."

"If it were you, what would you choose?"

Lin Feng was stunned for a moment, without thinking:

"Then we must give it a try!"

Li Mingquan laughed:
"It seems that Chief Lin is also a reasonable person. If that's the case, I believe you can also make the right choice."

Having said that, it would be even more unreasonable for Lin Feng to still insist on his previous point of view.

Then he smiled and said:

"You're right, but people can't be without faith, especially since I've been cooperating with the church..."

"But I won't completely obey the church's arrangements. After all, my own interests come first. Otherwise, I wouldn't be selling grenades to the families."

"Now, as long as Village Chief Li agrees to the deal and both parties successfully exchange grenades and source meat, I can guarantee that I will not interfere with any of your actions on the Oasis battleship."

"Even if the church asks for help, I won't set foot on the warship!"

Li Mingquan narrowed his eyes and thought secretly:

"Will Chief Lin attack the three villages while we're away?"

Lin Feng shook his head. The Farm Village was being targeted by the Salvation Army, but he didn't need to take action.
"Father Suan entrusted me to protect Holy Spring Village and did not require me to attack the farm village."

"But by then, with no leader, I'm sure many vicious and ruthless individuals will take desperate risks..."

"Perhaps the major villages still need my protection."

Li Mingquan twitched the corners of his mouth. The man in front of him was even more arrogant than himself, and he was a little bit arrogant.

If the situation wasn't so pressing that everyone would come to win him over, how could he possibly be so shameless as to come and ask for a meeting with him, a nouveau riche with no foundation.

After forcing a smile and nodding, Li Mingquan said:

"So, Chief Lin has agreed to remain neutral?"

Lin Feng raised his eyebrows and waved his hand:
"After the matter in Oasis Town is over, I will lead my team to the Holy City for development."

"Unlike Village Chief Li, who can advance or retreat."

"So I have always supported the Holy Spring Church."

"As for who represents the Holy Spring Cult, Village Chief Li should know better than I do."

Li Mingquan looked at Lin Feng deeply and nodded:

"Okay, then let's do as Chief Lin said. Tomorrow morning, we'll exchange two thousand standard grenades for seventy level ten, thirty level fourteen, and ten level seventeen first-order evolution agents."

"As for the enhanced meat and evolutionary meat, prices in Oasis Town have skyrocketed. If we calculate it at double the price, the remaining 100,000 points can be converted into six tons of enhanced meat and one ton of early evolutionary meat. What do you think?"

Lin Feng did the math.

The original price of fortified meat is five points per kilogram.

The original price of level 10 evolutionary meat is 20 points.

This is exactly the number after doubling. Li Mingquan is quite honest. The current black market price for private transactions is estimated to have doubled or tripled.

"Okay, that's it!"

Lin Feng immediately spoke and agreed.

With fifty mouths to feed, the daily consumption is not low. Even if there are several tons of dried meat, it will only be enough food for four or five months.

After some communication, the two sides completed the transaction and reached a consensus.

Before Lin Feng stood up and left, he suddenly remembered something:

"By the way, tomorrow afternoon, I'll be testing the power of my weapons on the right side of Oasis Avenue. You can come and watch."

"My level has been increasing rapidly recently, and I haven't had time to test the power of my two cannons. I hope Village Chief Li will do me a favor!"

(End of this chapter)