Wasteland: My items are infinitely upgraded.

Chapter 248: Ancient Zhengzhou City, the Knights, and the Cult of the Fiery Sun

The fork in the road where the Salvation Army and the wolf pack are now is the ancient Zhoukou City. To the southwest is the Zhuma Temple, and to the northwest is Zhengzhou City, where the main road passes.

On the edge of Zhengzhou City is the ancient Yellow River Road from the old Earth period.

However, in today's wasteland and desert, the endless Yellow River is now reduced to a dry and cracked riverbed, becoming one of the references for the original global migration route.

Following the ancient Yellow River Trail, you can smoothly enter the secondary terrain terrace of the East Asian continental plate. From the plains, you can slowly and smoothly climb up the Taihang Mountains, cross the Loess Plateau, and then follow the Hexi Corridor to the desert basin in the center of the continent.

After completing this trek of four to five thousand kilometers, one can cross the territory of ancient China.

That is the hometown where most of the survivors, including Lin Feng, lived during the old Earth period.

At the starting point of the plateau, near the ancient city of Zhengzhou, bursts of loud noises and vibrations were heard at this moment.

The strong movement caused the earth to tremble slightly, and the dust and gravel on the surface flew all over the sky.

However, the ancient Zhengzhou city is two hundred kilometers away from the fork in the Oasis Avenue. Even a second-level evolver would find it difficult to sense movement at such a long distance.

Only the Steppe Wolf clan, when using scout wolves to explore the surrounding environment, can sense the faint vibrations coming from the ground through their sensitive foot pads.

As for Oasis Town, the Oasis battleship and the ancient Zhengzhou City are more than 200 kilometers apart in a straight line, so they are even less aware of the battle that broke out in the distance.

One of the two sides in the battle was a team sent by the Holy City Bishopric to support Oasis Town.

A standard battle formation of twelve people, consisting of three mid-level second-order official Templar Knights and nine early-level second-order apprentice knights.

When the Knights Templar go out of the city, they are usually led by a formal knight in the middle stage of the second level, and two apprentice knights in the early stage, forming a standard team of three.

Depending on the nature and difficulty of the mission, there will usually be nine to twelve knight apprentices, or nineteenth-level high priests, who will serve as the knight's escorts and follow him on the expedition.

Don't underestimate these knight apprentices. Those who can become apprentices and serve as squires, and follow the knights out to complete operations, are basically the top combat priests.

The four high combat priests of the Oasis Church are considered top-tier combat forces in Oasis Town and can easily rival early-stage second-order evolvers.

But in the Knights Templar, he did not have the strength and qualifications to be selected as a knight apprentice and become a candidate for trainee knight.

A standard Templar squad can basically handle most of the unrest in the wasteland when the third-level king does not show up.

Even an ordinary late-stage second-level evolver, or even a level 29 warrior, would find it difficult to deal with a standard three-person team.

The minimum standard to become a Knight Templar is to easily defeat three or more evolvers of the same level.

Being able to challenge opponents of higher levels is a basic requirement.

A full-fledged knight in the middle stage of the second stage, in a fully armed state, can challenge a late stage of the second stage without much problem. With the help of teammates, even a level 29 upper limit powerhouse of the second stage can be suppressed.

After all, the weapons and equipment of most evolvers in the wasteland are not as complete and sophisticated as those of the Holy Spring Sect.

With its own strong strength and absolute advantage in weapons, it can be said that a standard three-person team of the Knights is enough to complete most suppression missions or offensive combat orders.

And in a small oasis town, the Li family, the most powerful local force, only has a Level 26 Rock Horse Warrior in the middle stage of the second order...

Logically speaking, there is no need to send out a knight brigade consisting of three standard teams.

But the third-level bishops of the Holy City Diocese are not foolish and good-for-nothings. On the contrary, they have lived for at least a thousand years and are more shrewd than the other.

It is very clear that the current Oasis Town is a piece of fat meat in the wasteland and has the foundation to be promoted to a royal city in the future.

It's not just the Holy City that's coveting Oasis Town; there must be other potential forces as well.

This includes wanderers in the open and officially recognized organizations in secret.

If they were taken individually, they would definitely not be a match for a small team, but if they were to unite, it would be difficult for a standard small team to ensure that Oasis Town would return safely to the hands of the Holy City.

In fact, if we are to blame, it is the Holy City that is to blame for the situation developing to this point.

Because they had excluded the current Bishop of Oasis, Zhang Hui, the Holy City intended to reduce the amount of Vatican military force sent to Oasis.

Not even a second-level early apprentice knight was sent here. Only four high priests were retained to garrison permanently, two of whom were recruited by Bishop Zhang Hui himself.

This has resulted in the Oasis Church's armed forces being barely sufficient.

As time goes by, church members grow older, and local forces gradually grow stronger...

With the help of time, the real conditions for the Li family to launch a rebellion gradually matured.

Even without the instigation of forces behind the scenes, a power struggle will break out sooner or later.

And now, just as the Holy City Bishopric had expected, the three teams of the Knights Templar were intercepted along the way.

Their original mission was to set up an ambush near the ancient city of Zhengzhou and wait for the enemy to tire themselves out.

After the rebels inside the Oasis seize control of the Oasis battleship, they will recapture the battleship on the northwest Oasis Avenue.

This is the most ideal outcome.

After all, nominally speaking, the Oasis was lost to the Oasis Church, especially Bishop Zhang Hui, and the Holy City Diocese not only protected the church's precious assets, but also obtained a promotion to a third-level bishop for the Holy See.

But there is no internal power struggle, everything is in accordance with the procedures.

And if the Oasis Church had suppressed the rebellion before the knight squad arrived, and had driven the Oasis warship into the temple territory...

Then the knight squad will follow plan two and go to the temple exit at the rear to issue the holy order from the Holy City Diocese.

This is the order of the Archbishop of the Holy City Diocese, the Storm Saint. Even Bishop Zhang Hui, as the acting bishop, cannot disobey the order.

They could only obey the Holy Order and, under the protection and supervision of the Knights' Squad, lead Oasis Town to embark on a three-year high-speed advance, a long journey without stopping to the Holy City, and then accept the transformation of the Holy City, become part of the diocese, and build a new cathedral.

In response to different possible outcomes for Oasis Town, the diocese has made various plans for it, but the ultimate outcome is that it will become a direct jurisdiction of the Holy City.

But the sudden appearance of the blocking force now makes the fate that the diocese has arranged for the oasis different from the possibility.

Because the people who came to intercept were so powerful that they could even withstand the combat power of three knight teams.

At this moment, in the ruins of the ancient Zhengzhou city, a fierce battle broke out between the two sides. The knight team members were wearing standard white power armor, all of which were immortal holy armor, and their level was far higher than that of the high priest.

These exclusive armors, specially built for the evolvers of the Holy Spring Road, have extremely strong amplification effects and can resonate and combine with the Holy Spring genes in the bodies of the Templars.

The degree of matching and integration of driving is almost 100%, which is comparable to the armor of biological colonization.

The increase it brings is naturally far more powerful than that of ordinary second-level general-purpose power armor, and the side effects are also lower.

However, such a powerful knight brigade, a group of twelve second-level strongmen, encountered an unprecedented counterattack and resistance here.

In today's wasteland, the wanderers are vulnerable, the hunter groups have surrendered, and the forces of the royal city have long since surrendered... Logically speaking, no other force has the courage and qualifications to challenge the Knights Templar.

There are exceptions to everything.

After all, the Holy Spring Cult is not the only top-level large force in the wasteland apocalypse. There are many hostile first-class forces outside its ruling territory.

The forces that came to stop them this time were none other than the Templars' old rivals, a force with which they had long fought and fiercely engaged in conflict...

The most notorious and least-welcomed organization in the wasteland...

It is precisely in the past thousands of years that the evil church group has become well-known:
The Fiery Sun Cult!

The reason why they are notorious and unwelcome is that these guys are basically all tainted with the curse of the scorching sun.

The radiant energy from the scorching sun is their main means of attack.

In other words, this group of guys are a group of time bombs in human form, with the characteristics of spreading the curse virus and attracting the energy of the scorching sun.

As long as you get close to them, you will be at risk of being infected with the curse of the scorching sun, not to mention close combat.

There was once an evolver who fought with them. After a long time, he spontaneously combusted and was eventually burned to death, becoming the nourishment for this group of cultists to survive.

Even the Knights Templar had to be extremely cautious in dealing with such a difficult enemy.

Among the Fiery Sun Cult cultists who came to intercept and attack the Knights' Brigade at this moment, there were as many as twenty-five second-level ones!

The leader is actually a late second stage being!
There are more than six people in the middle stage of the second stage, which is far beyond the evolutionary strength of the knight team.

Although the individual strength of this group of cultists is far inferior to that of the Knights Templar of the same level, their numbers are simply too large!

It is almost possible for two second-level beings to besiege a second-level Templar.

The Templars can deal with one of them, but if there are two cultists cooperating with each other, if they don't want to be contaminated by the terrible curse of the scorching sun, they can only deal with them and find the opportunity to take action.

It is difficult for a knight apprentice who has only evolved to level 19 to participate in a battle of this level. If he rashly joins the battle, he may become fuel for the cultists and boost their strength.

What's more, these forty or fifty knight apprentices have to deal with the low-level existences among the cultists, that is, the first-stage evolved cultists.

Although these people cannot directly release the energy of the scorching sun curse like the second-level cultists, there is still a possibility of the curse invading if they come into close contact with the other party.

The number of low-level cultists is even larger, with hundreds of them scattered throughout the city ruins.

With such a powerful scale, it is an important force even within the Fiery Sun Cult.

In fact, the scale of the Fiery Sun Cult's power has long since lost its former strength due to the high-pressure attacks from the Holy Spring Cult in recent years and the joint encirclement and suppression by various major forces.

As a rat crossing the street that everyone wants to kill, the Fiery Sun Cult now rarely holds large-scale gatherings, and its believers are scattered all over the place, each developing their own subordinates to expand the power of the church.

Therefore, to connect so many beings, at least they must be dispatched from several medium or large settlements, as well as the church headquarters in the wilderness.

Only then can we put together a "luxury" lineup of this scale.

So after realizing the enemy's strength, the captain of this Templar brigade, a formal knight commander of level 26, immediately smelled a conspiracy.

For the Cult of the Fiery Sun, Oasis Town, which only has one acting bishop, is indeed a good piece of fat meat. Whether sacrificing the entire Oasis Town or incorporating it into their own rule is a good choice.

But a team of this size definitely did not come for a small oasis town.

According to the characteristics of the actions of the Cult of the Fiery Sun, they often use the smallest cost to gain the greatest results.

In places like Oasis Town, their strongest fighting force consisted of an elderly, vulnerable Level 29 High Priest and a mid-level Level 2 Rock Horse Warrior...

Generally, only one early second-order Fiery Sun Priest is needed to complete the sacrifice, or several first-order Fiery Sun Servants can lurk in it and incite the wastelanders and permanent residents through secret preaching, causing serious civil unrest.

Set off a wave of self-sacrifice.

In short, it is simply unrealistic to mobilize such a large force just for a small oasis town.

Unless they have another purpose.

In other words, they didn't come here for Oasis Town.

With this in mind, after the initial confrontation, the Knight Commander led his men into the ruins of the ancient Zhengzhou city, using the ruins for cover to reduce the consumption of meaningless fighting.

After all, the current territory is very close to the Fiery Sun Forbidden Zone behind, less than 300 kilometers away from the forbidden zone.

The cultists of the Fiery Sun Cult can obtain sufficient Fiery Sun energy here, which is equivalent to a continuous source of amplification and assistance.

If the stalemate continues, the only ones who will suffer will be the Knights.

As long as you hide in the deep shadows where the scorching sun cannot reach you, you can effectively avoid the damage of the curse. At the same time, the curse energy and blessing on the cultists will be weakened a lot.

As the ruins of the ancient city, in addition to the complex drainage channels below, there are also many underground shelter remains deeper.

These places never see the sun...

As long as the Knights hide in there, they can take a breath and recover their strength and condition.

At this moment, the Knight Commander was killing the first-level Sun Servant while summoning his men to discuss the subsequent action plan.

A mid-level second-level knight captain said:

"Our whereabouts have been leaked. This group of cultists' target isn't Oasis Town. Their real purpose is to use the arrival of the Fiery Sun Forbidden Zone to stop us!"

"I guess he wants to get revenge and use our life force to sacrifice to the scorching sun to advance himself further!"

The Knight Commander took off his head armor, revealing a resolute face with deep eyes and white stubble on both sides.

He is not young anymore, a veteran who has fought countless battles.

If it were not for the blessing of the temple and the gifts bestowed by the Immortal Saint, I would have lost myself and my soul would have returned to the kingdom of God long ago.

At this moment, the Knight Commander looked around at everyone. The knight squad had not suffered any damage, but the knight apprentices who served as squires had lost ten members in the recent battle.

It was originally just a routine mission to lead the newcomers out, but before the operation even began, they suffered heavy losses and lost ten knight candidates...

The Knight Commander, feeling heavy-hearted, spoke in a deep voice:
"The cult's High Priest of the Fiery Sun, I know him."

"Six hundred years ago, during the Scorching Sun Siege War, I personally killed his successor..."

"Someone leaked our whereabouts and knew the specific personnel arrangements, so we secretly revealed it to him..."

(End of this chapter)