Chapter 557 Plague Burns on Torches
Chapter 557 Plague Burns on Torches
”Today is January 1, 2342 of the Lunar Calendar, and January 1, 213 of the Wasteland Era. Here is the Alliance’s news for today.”
”The New Year’s Eve event ended successfully. All the settlements in the Alliance held grand celebrations that night to celebrate the arrival of the new year…”
”The City Hall of Giant Stone City announced that the curfew will be lifted from today, and the blockades of the gates of the giant wall will be officially lifted from now on. At the same time, the city entry tax levied for the construction of the giant wall will be cancelled, and the height of the giant wall will no longer increase.”
”On the other hand, in order to cope with the impact of the turbulent situation in Qingquan City, a 200-person volunteer team composed of teachers, medical staff, biologists and engineers has arrived at the Dawn City North Airport from Ideal City.”
”The manager said in his New Year’s Eve speech that improving residents’ living standards will still be the focus of the Alliance’s work in the new year. At present, the registered population of the Alliance has exceeded one million. In addition to the affordable housing and rail transit under construction, the Alliance will also add 12 full-time schools and 8 social support facilities…”
”The Survivor Daily is here for you!”
The firewood in the fireplace crackled.
The warm temperature made people drowsy, as if even the clear and melodious voice on the radio and the movement of the wall clock were stretched.
This is Dust Town, located on the edge of the ruins of Jinhe City in Jinchuan Province, 700 to 800 kilometers away from Qingquan City, which is equivalent to the distance from Jiangcheng to Shancheng in reality.
Since Boulder City joined the Alliance, the Alliance has recently built several new signal stations, and several radio stations including the Survivor Daily have added medium wave and short wave signal bands.
Although the electromagnetic wave signal will be affected by the special climate such as radioactive clouds in the wasteland, this interference is not absolute.
Now Jinchuan Province can also hear some voices from the Alliance intermittently.
”That’s great.”
Listening to the content on the radio, I thought Jingjing had a little fascination on my face.
I heard that there will be red envelopes for participating in the New Year’s Eve event, with the lowest prize of 6 silver coins and the highest prize of a dragoon power armor.
And it is the kind with no level restrictions!
What a pity…
This event is only available within the Alliance.
There are only three players in the whole Dust Town. Although the locals were dragged by them to hold a sacrificial ceremony, the food offered as tribute was only a few pitiful ones. He
shared the unfinished tribute with the children in the village. He simply did not go online last night. He went offline and ordered a takeaway to enjoy.
Sighing, Jingjing looked at the lizard who was huddled by the fireplace and roasted the fire and shouted.
”Hey, brother Trash.”
The 99-level picker patted his butt, changed his posture and lay down, and replied lazily.
”What are you doing?”
I think Jingjing couldn’t help but say.
”We have been in this broken place for half a year. How long do we have to stay?” We
agreed to go south together.
But the other two guys refused to leave.
Junji smiled and said.
”Don’t worry, don’t worry. The matter of ‘Naguo’ has not been resolved yet. We can’t just leave those villagers alone, right?”
According to the information on the official website, it has been confirmed that Naguo and Emerald Fruit are the same thing. It is suspected to come from the South Sea Islands and flow into various places in the southern part of the Middle Continent through the port of the Coast of Death.
Jinchuan Province is one of the most affected provinces.
Combined with the predictions about the next version on the official website, Jun Laji and Qiang Ren Suo Nan agreed that there was some kind of ulterior conspiracy behind the Naguo.
So they decided to stay.
On the one hand, they observed the situation of the user in the village, and on the other hand, they sent some observed samples back to the biological research institute in the alliance.
At the same time, they monitored the movements of the mutant tribe called “Qi”.
However, several months have passed, and neither the Naguo nor the mutant tribe has made any new moves. I think Jingjing is a little impatient.
They have not made any progress for several consecutive months!
Forget about not continuing to go south, at least form a team and go home to save a file!
Looking at Jun Laji with a leisurely face, I think Jingjing couldn’t help but complain.
”Are you addicted to being a god?”
Jun Laji was stunned for a moment, and then laughed.
”Hahaha, how could it be!”
The smile was somewhat fake.
I think Jingjing couldn’t help rolling her eyes.
At this time, there was a knock on the door outside, and the sound seemed to come from the floor.
Guessing who the person was, he sighed, got up from the blanket-covered chair, walked over and opened the door.
A fat rat as tall as his knees slipped in from outside, and the cold wind that blew into the room made Junkman shrink his neck.
”Something happened.”
Upon hearing that something happened, Jingjing suddenly became excited. Junkman, who was lying by the fireplace and warming himself by the fire, was no longer sleepy. He quickly got up and came over.
”What’s the matter?!”
”Tell me!”
Seeing the excited expressions of his two companions, he cleared his throat despite himself and said mysteriously.
”Haven’t I been keeping an eye on Hope Town all this time? A few charlatans came there yesterday.”
I think Jingjing was stunned.
”A charlatan?”
”Well, they were priests or apostles. I thought there was something wrong with those people, so I followed them in and eavesdropped on their conversation. They said a lot of nonsense. In short, the light of the sky fire will soon shine on this land corroded by chaos, all sins will be cleansed, and embracing the glorious evolution will allow you to join the kingdom of God away from all suffering and pain… Then they asked the locals to build a church for their son.”
I wanted to ask quietly.
”What does evolution mean…”
This was the only key word he understood.
Qiangren Suonan shook his head.
”I don’t know, maybe it’s Nago. I thought Nago was brought by mutants at first, but I didn’t expect it was the gang in the south…”
As he said that, he stretched out a finger and dipped it in the snow water on his hair, and drew two inverted triangles on the floor.
”This symbol is drawn on their robes.”
Trashman leaned over to take a look, and his brows gradually frowned.
”Torch?”
Qiangren Suonan nodded.
”Well, the Torch Church.”
I want to quietly touch the back of his head and said with some confusion.
”Actually… I don’t quite understand why you are keeping such a close eye on the Torch Church. As long as they don’t cause trouble, it doesn’t matter what they believe in.”
It seems that there are many people in the Alliance who believe in the Great Horned Deer God, and most of the survivors in Luoxia Province also believe in their Sand Sea Spirit.
When there are no laws to restrain people’s words and deeds, faith can play a little role.
Although the Torch Project is not a good thing, the Torch Church and it seem to have no connection except that the symbol is very similar.
He is a newcomer who came in from the B test and doesn’t know much about what happened in the A test. I
forced him to glance at him.
”What if there are mutants among the missionaries?”
I want to quietly be stunned. ”
Mutants?!”
Don’t mutants treat humans as food?
What kind of belief is so bad that it can assimilate all mutants! ?
Garbage said with a grin.
”Even if this incident hadn’t happened, we wouldn’t have let them go. I haven’t forgotten that during the Bone Chewing Rebellion, the Legion and the Free State provided weapons to the group of plunderers, and they provided faith and high technology to the group of plunderers. The earliest batch of neural connection equipment of the Alliance was seized from them.”
The entire central part of the Valley Province was almost completely slaughtered by these guys. Many residents of the Alliance are survivors of that catastrophe, and this account will be settled sooner or later.
Qiangrensuan said with a frown: “I don’t know what they are going to do, but I have a bad feeling… and if the surrounding settlements all believe in that torch, what about the Horned Rat and the Horned Deer God?”
When I heard the first half of the sentence, I thought Jingjing was still thinking seriously, and when I heard the second half, I almost choked on my own saliva.
”…You are just worried that you will be driven off the altar!”
Trash coughed and ignored his complaints.
”Anyway… since it involves the Torch Church, we can’t be careless about this. I’ll go to the official website to ask everyone’s opinions first.” What
he really feared was another thing.
Maybe it wasn’t the Torch Church that assimilated the mutants, but those lunatics used some method to systematically turn people into mutants, and made the land here suitable for mutants to survive.
Ordinary people and animals who eat Naguo for a long time will have hallucinogenic effects and enter a state called “wandering”.
However, for mutants, Naguo seems to have only the good part. They will become stronger, and their desire to fight and reproduce will be stronger. The
mutant tribes that rely on looting for a living are at most a hundred people in size, while the mutants in the Great Desert have learned to plant, raise and master the social division of labor, and only then have their number increased to more than a thousand.
And here, the mutant tribe called “Qi” has a scale of more than 10,000!
It is impossible to maintain such a large population with only primitive breeding methods.
His intuition told him that there might be some great conspiracy brewing in this land…
Closing his amber eyes, the “Lizard God” of Dust Town hurriedly went offline and went to the official website.
Jingjing opened his mouth and was about to say something, but a sudden and urgent knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.
He walked over and opened the door, only to see the village chief standing at the door, looking nervous.
”Sir, I’m sorry to bother you… There are guests at the entrance of the village.”
Jingjing frowned and asked.
”Guests? What guests?”
It was winter now, and there were almost no wandering merchants outside. Some merchants, for safety reasons, went straight to their destinations. If the supplies were not running out, they would not approach those settlements that did not look very wealthy.
The village chief lowered his eyebrows and said respectfully.
”That guy claimed to be the servant of the Holy Son, and he was full of nonsense. He insisted that we were blinded by barbarism and wanted to save us from suffering…”
As he said that, the old man clenched his fists and cursed indignantly.
”I’ve told them, we have our own beliefs, we don’t need their heresies, let alone their na-guo!”
Jingjing glanced at the fat rat behind her.
Wow!
It’s spread here?
This speed is too fast!
… ”
Wasteland OL” official website.
The forum is still as joyful and lively as ever.
[Event Announcement: New Year’s Eve event ended successfully!
Boulder City Division Selection Results: The most popular food among players is “Cream Leech Mushroom Soup”, the most popular food among Wastelanders is “Marshmallows”, and the most popular food among managers is “Corn Fried Beef Patties”! ]
[Update: Added “Mercenary Guild” system]
[Description: Some commissions of the Merchant Guild have been transplanted to the Mercenary Guild. Now players can register as mercenaries and accept tasks through VM. 】
Tail: “Woo woo woo, Mercenary Guild! My Mercenary Guild! It was obviously me who thought of it first! QAQ”
Quit Smoking: “Haha! It’s confirmed that A Guang copied the forum! (smirk)”
Sisi: “Pat your head, don’t cry, A Wei, we can get one outside the alliance.”
Guigui: “Oh oh oh! Our marshmallow was selected!”
Feng Qing: “Great, the limited title is unlocked! Hehe, happy!”
Ye Shi: “Damn it, why is it sweets again! It seemed like it was sweets last year too! Do these wastelanders like to eat candy so much! (Crazy)”
Scrambled Tomatoes and Eggs: “That’s right! Why is our braised battleship shrimp not good! It’s so delicious! TT”
Ye Shi: “The most hateful thing is that Fang Chang’s wife only gave us 8 points!”
Fang Chang: “You guys… you have to look at the face, you chose a group of beautiful sisters as judges, and you blame them for liking sweets. (Slant eyes)”
Last night he dragged Dolly to visit the brothers’ stall, and ordered a big pot of it very politely.
As a result, Dolly only ate two bites because it was too oily, and finally all the shrimps he peeled went into his stomach.
The full score is 10 points, and 8 points is actually not a small number.
However, since the final score of the event is not a simple average or cumulative score, but is calculated according to a specific formula, the “good review rate” and the number of judges attracted are both very important weights. Obviously, it is difficult to win a prize with only a high score.
Although the oil-smoked warship shrimp did attract many customers, it couldn’t stand the cotton candy floating all over the street last night.
But that thing doesn’t take up any space in the stomach, so you can still have a couple of bites even when you’re full. With
so many buffs stacked up, the outcome seems to have been decided from the beginning…
Ye Shi: “Hiss… too careless!”
Lao Bai: “Hahaha, got it, next time I’ll pick a few from my drinking buddies! Make some side dishes or something! (smirk)”
Teng Teng: “Ah, but having said that, it’s so healing to see Xiaoyu soaking in the marshmallows with a happy face. (@`@)” Ya Ya
: “Yeah~”
Ye Shi: “!!! I vote for Xiaoyu!”
WC Zhen You Mosquito: “Woo woo woo, damn, I want to raise one too!”
Wei Tail: “@Guang, uncle policeman, that’s the guy! (｀)Ψ”
WC Zhen You Mosquito: “Damn! I just talked a little! (horrified)”
Irena: “Make a record, bro. (funny)”
There are really mosquitoes in the WC: “%￥#@!”
Level 99 garbage collector: “Big news! There seems to be movement in the expansion pack in the south!”
Fang Chang: “What’s the movement?”
Level 99 garbage collector: “Several apostles of the Torch Church have come to Dust Town to preach! They have extended their hands to a place only 800 kilometers away from us!”
Mole on the run in the canyon: “Where is Dust Town…”
Level 99 garbage collector: “Uh, it’s the place I told you about before, hehe.”
Debt-ridden big eyes: “Oh, your village. (funny)”
Construction site boy and brick: “Well, I thought it was a big deal. (funny)”
Level 99 garbage collector: “Damn! I’m talking about serious matters!”
Lao Bai: “Brother Garbage, your settlement is near Jinhe City, right.”
Level 99 garbage collector: “Yes! It’s right there!”
Lao Bai: “Okay, I’ll be there in two days. We have a mission to go to Jinhe City, and by the way, see what’s going on there. (grin)”
Edge paddling: “Damn! What mission?”
Lao Bai: “Recycle nuclear fuel. (grin)”
Edge paddling: “Awesome!!!”
Fountain Commander: “I’m so jealous! TT”
Lao Bai: “Hey, please take care of the supplies!”
Garbage Picker Level 99: “Haha, don’t worry! We lack everything here, but not food! By the way, bring us a few bags of seeds and fertilizers, there haven’t been caravans here for a long time!”
Night Ten: “Damn, you are helping the poor there!”
Garbage Picker Level 99: “What do you mean by poverty alleviation! This is called helping the alliance expand its territory!”
Elf King Fugui: “Isn’t it being a charlatan? (funny)”
Garbage Picker Level 99: “Hey, that’s all bragging, don’t take it seriously…”
Irena: “Why did I hear that there are statues of gods. (funny)”
…
The administrator’s office in the City Hall of Giant Stone City.
Just as the players were discussing on the official website, Chu Guang was holding a survey report from the Guards.
Long before the snow fell, he asked Lu Bei to withdraw a hundred-man team from the Guards and go to Jinchuan Province in the south to collect information about “Naguo”.
At that time, Naguo first appeared at the Alliance celebration.
Although Heya told him that the thing was not as scary as he imagined, he still smelled a hint of conspiracy from it.
The results of the Guards’ investigation and the discussions of the players on the forum just confirmed his previous speculation.
”It seems that not only viruses and bacteria… even the Torch Church, mutants, and slave owners in the south, these three unrelated garbage, have been mixed together by this little fruit.”
After reading the report in his hand to the end, Chu Guang couldn’t help but click his tongue.
According to the results of the Guards’ investigation, the sphere of influence of the Torch Church and the planting range of Naguo are highly overlapped!
This is obviously not a coincidence!
Those believers took advantage of the fact that the slave owners in Jinchuan Province lost the grain market in the southern part of the Valley Province to secretly promote the economic crop called “Nago”, and then exported the belief of the Torch to the survivors’ settlements that were completely dependent on Nago.
As for why those survivors were so obedient, the clue found by the Guards Corps was that the Torch Church had an antidote called “holy water”.
It is well known that most people and animals will become more and more docile after eating Nago for a long time, and will enter a hallucinogenic state called “fugue” from time to time.
The specific manifestation is that they lose their response to all external stimuli and are immersed in a happy illusion until death, and will not resist even if they are preyed.
Just like the iron wire worm to the mantis.
Considering the characteristics of Nago, people or animals who enter the “fugue” state will become Nago in another sense, and continue to pass on the “seeds” along the food chain.
Only mutants and death claws, which are powerful species born in the laboratory, can be exempted from Nago’s capture to a certain extent.
The holy water developed by the Torch Church can wake people up from the “fugue” state and live soberly in a happy illusion.
At first, some slave owners only let their slaves eat Naguo to make them docile and obedient. Later, after experiencing the “benefits” of Naguo, the slave owners began to eat it themselves, and finally willingly offered their loyalty to the Torch Church, which controlled the holy water.
But the Torch Church did more than that.
They played the role of shepherds, educating the survivors’ settlements and turning the people there into sheep in the sheepfold.
At the same time, they used the lambs in the sheepfold to bribe the mutants in Jinchuan Province.
The addicts who entered the “fugue” state would not go bad no matter how they were tossed. For the brutal mutants, they were not only the most delicious delicacy, but also the best seedbed for reproduction.
This was also the clue found by the Guards during the investigation.
Originally, the slave owners in Jinchuan Province could fight the mutants on equal terms with the weapons produced in the southern part of the Valley Province.
However, after being infected with Naguo, the survivor settlements that originally had the upper hand almost immediately lost their combat capabilities and were quickly included in the sphere of influence of the Torch Church.
At the same time, mutants rarely invaded the settlements of survivors that were included in the sphere of influence of the Torch Church, and even if they invaded briefly, they would withdraw quickly.
This undoubtedly showed that the Torch Church and the mutants in Jinchuan Province should have reached some kind of tacit understanding, or even a contract.
After reading the report on Naguo, Chu Guang immediately looked at another investigation report on the Torch Church.
Previously, he had always suspected that there was a connection between the Torch Church and the Enlightenment Society, but to his surprise, the results of the Guards’ investigation pointed in the opposite direction.
The core of the Torch Project is to destroy the world first and then create the world, and finally achieve nirvana and rebirth in the sense of civilization.
The teachings of the Torch Church are in line with the unfinished Torch Project. They also agree that the world should be destroyed once, but the specific route is completely different from the Enlightenment Society. What
they want to build is not a new world ruled by the pre-war elites, but they hope to use biological technology to allow humans to complete the transformation from cocoon to butterfly in the sense of species –
that is, to use the civilization heritage of the old humans to hatch the cocoon of the new humans!
They do not have efficient neutron killing technology, nor do they expect to remove all species on the surface with one click.
Their real purpose is to use their best biotechnology in a long and slow process to make this land suitable for the survival of only “the life forms they define themselves”.
They promised their believers that all survivors who suffered or carried sins in the old world will receive eternal blessings in the new world.
In layman’s terms, as long as believers work diligently and contribute to the plan of the Torch Church, they can all become great “perfect life forms” in the new world. The
so-called perfect life forms are the roots of the Weylandts, the eight-fold growth clones, and the mutants – the singularity technology that was not completed in the pre-war era.
This is undoubtedly a crazy plan.
If the Enlightenment is a terrorism against the post-war order and the old civilization, then the Torch Church is a terrorism against the old humans in the sense of species.
In the teachings of the Torch Church, mutants are explained as “intermediate products on the road to perfect life forms for humans.”
Those vulgar and barbaric green gorillas are not perfect, both in terms of aesthetics and civilization. However, in the teachings of the Torch Church, mutants who are more adapted to the wasteland than the old humans are still superior to the old humans and have a higher “starting point” than the old humans.
So they will use biological technology to transform some of the devout believers into noble mutants, giving them unrivaled physiques and privileges that are superior to ordinary human believers – that is, those docile lambs!
However, the top leaders of the Torch Church will not take the initiative to become mutants.
They are still waiting for a more perfect container.
And those middle-level church members who have become mutants are also waiting for better containers, ready to transform into new life forms at any time.
”… There is no doubt that the Torch Church is the most urgent trouble at the moment, far more urgent than those criminals in the north.”
After reading the report to the end, Chu Guang made a concise evaluation.
”I think so too,” Lu Bei, who was standing next to him, nodded and continued in a deep voice, “But there is one thing that concerns me. The nuclear fuel given to us by the academy happens to be in Jinhe City, and the mutant tribe called ‘Qi’ is also there… I suspect that those cunning researchers intend to use us as guns.”
Although it was obvious, Chu Guang still unexpectedly looked at the young man more and smiled approvingly.
”Yes, I am glad that you can see this.”
Lu Bei smiled shyly.
”It’s all your advice…”
Chu Guang smiled faintly, looking at the map hanging on the wall, his sight passed over the Free State and the Great Rift Valley, and fell on the Wandering Swamp in the north.
”Many of us have the impression that the academy is a group of nerds, but in fact, those guys are not stupid at all, but very cunning.”
”They may have more tricks than the Legion and the Enterprise combined, and they are good at disguise. In order to make us willingly take the bait, they will deliberately pretend that we have picked up a bargain. When we were fighting fiercely with the Legion in Luoxia Province, they were probably already eyeing our south.”
Lu Bei frowned.
”Is it true…”
Chu Guang nodded.
”This is an open conspiracy. Even if we know that they are using us, at present we can only go in the direction they envision.”
That’s one thousand cubic meters of liquid helium-3! A
full 127 tons of nuclear fusion fuel!
Whether it’s for the Alliance’s power armor or for the fusion reactor in Xizhou City, he must get these energy sources!
Even if he helps the academy once more, this rich energy will be more than enough as a reward.
Moreover, the Torch Church will soon extend its hand to Jinhe City. If the Alliance does not take any action, the nuclear fuel may fall into the hands of the Torch Church.
Moving his eyes away from the map, Chu Guang slowly spoke.
”Xiao Qi.”
An energetic voice came from his ear.
”Here, Master.”
Without any hesitation, Chu Guang immediately gave the order.
”Notify the Burning Corps and ask them to gather at least a hundred-man team in Boulder City and set off for Jinhe City, Jinchuan Province within three days!”
The voice that responded to him also did not hesitate.
”Received!”
(End of this chapter)
