Chapter 917: Chapter 917: The Root of Contradiction
After reaching the agreement, the group temporarily returned to the side of the convoy.
Looking at Wyatt Chilarch, who wore an expression of confidence, Ogg, the bodyguard and deputy beside him, said in a low voice.
"Can we rely on these guys?"
Hearing the concern in his tone, Wyatt smiled faintly and said nonchalantly.
"If we wait until we are one hundred percent sure about everything before taking action, we won’t accomplish anything."
Ogg said in a low voice.
"I just worry that these guys might betray us."
Wyatt chuckled.
"That’s actually the thing I’m least worried about; they won’t do it."
Ogg gave him a surprised look.
"You trust a bunch of Looters?"
"Not trust; if these scumbags had even a shred of morality, they wouldn’t end up fighting over food with rats and cockroaches," Wyatt said calmly while taking out a wet wipe to clean his hands, then tossed it by the roadside, "However, in this matter, they have no other choice."
...
After reaching a cooperation agreement, Wyatt and his group stationed in Rock Mountain City and soon arranged surgery for Claw, the leader of the Cannibal Tribe.
The surgery was very successful.
Their cybernetic doctor not only installed a set of retractable titanium alloy steel blades and radial bones for Claw but also strengthened the motor and neural components of his leg tendons.
Claw was quite satisfied with the welcome gift they provided, and other Looter Tribes in Rock Mountain City became envious, actively seeking cooperation with Wyatt, fearing that agreeing late would mean missing out on benefits.
As for those Looters willing to cooperate, Wyatt was also generous, with only two operating tables working overtime.
In fact, the expensive cybernetic body parts were merely to show the Army’s sincerity and buy over the leaders of the Looter Tribes.
The real enhancements to the Looters’ combat power mainly relied on exoskeletons procured from the Free State, as well as assault rifles and anti-armor rocket launchers.
Because the Southern Legion didn’t have a fixed base in the Far East, even the surgical tables for installing cyborg body parts were procured from the Free State, using silver coins.
Those people were willing to sell anything, even weapons for opposing themselves, as long as they got paid.
But as far as Wyatt was concerned, they were clearly not smart enough.
What purpose could the Army have for buying these weapons? It’s nothing more than targeting their "old friends" in the south, the City of Dawn.
At least, in Wyatt’s view, once the "guillotine" operation succeeds, whether the "Tsunami" plan goes smoothly as expected or not, the Alliance is bound to fragment.
And once the Alliance disintegrates, its currency will quickly become a pile of waste paper.
By then, even if they have a pile of silver coins, they’ll have nowhere to cry.
Meanwhile, as the surgery proceeded, truckloads of munitions gradually arrived near Rock Mountain City, with Looter Tribes in the city coming to pick them up.
In this way, the Southern Legion successfully gathered a troop of heavily armed drifters on the eastern side of the Alliance.
And those Looters, having received their equipment, also began eagerly preparing for action.
However, not everyone was confident in the impending war.
For example, some of Claw’s Chilarchs were cautious about whether to join forces with the Legion.
It’s worth noting that the Cannibal Tribe is only a thousand-strong Looter Tribe.
Although their leader, Claw, calls himself a Ten Thousand Leader, he doesn’t have a ten-thousand-man troop under his command, nor do his Chilarchs command a thousand people.
This situation is quite common in the Wasteland, with some tribes having various Centurions and Chilarchs.
In fact, the only Looter Tribe that can assemble a true ten-thousand-strong troop is the Chewing Bone Tribe.
After all, those guys received Army assistance and gained quite a few people through their southern raids.
Yet, even the Chewing Bone Tribe, with tens of thousands of troops, ultimately lost to the Alliance.
The concerns of the Chilarchs are precisely because of this.
With the precedent set by the Chewing Bone Tribe, they struggle to see their own chances of winning.
Not to mention their force is somewhat lacking compared to the Chewing Bone Tribe.
Inside the meeting tent.
Seeing Claw enter, a burly Chilarch spoke with a hoarse voice.
"Boss, do we really want to cooperate with those guys? That Army."
His name is One-Eyed, and he was previously a Waste Land Wanderer in Yue Ma Province, working as a caravan guard for a while before becoming tempted by the goods of his employer and colluding with Looters for a heist, living away from civilized society ever since.
Later, as Survivalists from Yue Ma Province migrated to the Alliance’s settlement points, the surrounding easy targets became scarcer, so he followed the migrating Survivalists to the Haiye Province area and ended up near Rock Mountain City, joining the Cannibal Tribe.
As for why he’s called One-Eyed, that’s a story that can’t be explained clearly in a few thousand words.
The Legion fitted him with a mechanical prosthetic eye, and now his right eye has regained its light, with several additional features it didn’t have before, such as zoom focus and ballistic calculation.
However, unlike other fanatical Looters, he wasn’t thrilled by the Legion’s charitable acts, nor did he think highly of the Weilante people’s plan.
Eliminating the Alliance does them no good.
Those civilized people are like the source of the river, and these guys who live by plundering always need a river to fish dryland sustainably.
Moreover, speaking from a position of strength, a head-on clash with the Alliance doesn’t seem like a smart idea.
If the Legion were truly as omnipotent as they bragged, why wouldn’t they eliminate the Alliance themselves, instead of hiring mercenaries like us to do the Work?
Seeing One-Eyed’s hesitant look, Claw didn’t take it to heart but just said indifferently.
"What else then?"
One-Eyed lowered his voice and said.
"I’ve heard they have quite a bad reputation... In the north, the River Valley Province there were some idiots who listened to them and eventually got ground into a pile of dust."
"I’m sure the benefits the Legion promised them aren’t necessarily less than what they promised us."
The people in the tent looked at each other upon hearing this, and many who were initially excited now wore expressions of hesitation on their faces.
They all knew who One-Eyed was talking about, none other than the legendary Looter— the Chewing Bone Tribe, which swept through half of the River Valley Province.
Whispers spread around.
"... This is a tough deal."
"Anyway, the weapons are already given to us, it’s fine if we don’t do the work, right?"
"Exactly! We’ve done black-on-black deals before too..."
"Selling them to the Alliance wouldn’t be bad, anyway, if we disguise ourselves as mercenaries, the Alliance won’t recognize what we did!"
Watching the whispering crowd, Claw sneered but didn’t join the discussion.
He also understood that a direct confrontation with the Alliance wasn’t a good idea.
But he also knew that once he was on this path, he had no other options.
"We have no choice."
Hearing the leader’s voice, the originally chattering Looters fell silent immediately.
Seeing those faces, either anxious or ferocious, Claw raised his voice and continued.
"For us, this is not just a business deal; it’s about whether we can survive in this Wasteland!"
"Think about why you are here!"
"The fat sheep of the Yue Ma Province have all run away, first, some survivors moved, and finally the entire Settlement moved. Without those Settlements, the Slave Master’s Farms can’t be operated. These guys are either moving or preparing to move!"
"And it’s not just those Survivors Settlements, the Commercial Team from the East Coast doesn’t travel by land anymore, they’ve taken their treasures to the sea!"
"Think carefully about why you’re here!"
Seeing the speechless Looter leaders, Claw raised his voice further, injecting hatred into his voice.
"If we do nothing, those self-proclaimed civilized people will continue to strengthen their power, then build high walls along their borders, completely isolating us from the civilized world! Letting us rot alongside mutated creatures!"
"Listen to what they’re saying! They’re not aiming to eliminate just one or two Looter Tribes, but to end the entire Wasteland Era! To usher in a new era without us!"
"You think you’re making a choice? No, you have no choice at all, or rather, none of us have a choice! We have only one way out, which is to wipe them out, carve their meat and mince it, throw their bones into the pot for soup!"
"Only after they perish will countless Survivor Settlements re-emerge from the Wasteland! Everything will return to the way it was, and we will become the most feared presence in the entire Wasteland!"
"For our future, they must perish!!!"
Getting more and more agitated, Claw let out a hoarse roar, shocking One-Eyed and other Cannibal Tribe leaders standing in the tent.
Everyone, including One-Eyed, realized that this deal meant much more than just a deal.
This is their only chance to survive—
If they let the order led by the Alliance continue to expand, sooner or later they would lose all living space!
"Fight against the Alliance’s bastard dogs!"
"Chop them up!"
"Howl!!!"
The people in the tent responded with high morale.
They blew whistles, saliva flying, their pupils flashing fiercely.
Seeing the crowd’s boiling fighting spirit, Claw’s lips curled into a satisfied smile.
This was exactly the effect he wanted.
That guy named Chu Guang must die!
His hatred for him isn’t just a day or two old, though that guy may not even recognize him.
Now as the Alliance’s enemies come knocking, he finally sees a glimmer of hope for his dream to come true.
He will use these sharp claws in his hands to personally dig out that guy’s heart!
...
While the group of evil spirits and wraiths howled, two "Viper" transport planes trailing plasma plumes landed one after the other on the landing pad outside No. 10 Settlement Point.
As the transport plane landed, Chu Guang glanced over the settlement, taking in the scenery of No. 10 Settlement Point.
Compared to No. 1 Settlement with a population of over a hundred thousand, this settlement with less than two thousand people was like an insignificant little fishing village.
A two-person high wall encircled the entire settlement, with houses of varying heights distributed along several straight main roads. From the diverse styles, it seems likely they were built by local residents, rather than by professional designers.
On the streets near the sea, many houses had racks for drying fish hanging at their doors.
It is evident that fishing is the main source of income here, followed by scavenging and farming.
Regarding local business activities, they are mainly concentrated in a marketplace near the northern road.
There are many local shops there, as well as trucks selling goods and purchasing products... most of which come from No. 1 Settlement.
According to the data provided by Xiao Qi, half of the survivors living here are soldiers from the Southern Construction Corps, while the remaining half are mostly survivors who migrated from Yue Ma Province.
Except for the players who are everywhere, there are almost no survivors from the City of Dawn or Dawn City living here.
This is actually quite normal.
The siphoning effect of the population from developed regions to less developed regions applies everywhere.
Especially in the Wasteland, development not only means prosperity but also security.
Even the survivors who migrated from the east would rather take a few more steps to the No. 1 Settlement with more jobs and a larger population, rather than stay in this relatively underdeveloped place.
There’s nothing to say about the survivors of the South Sea Union, either; compared to Death Coast, Potato Harbor by the Baiyue Strait is their "spiritual home."
However, it’s gratifying that even though this is probably the least developed area of the Alliance, infrastructure such as roads, power lines, and signal towers have been laid here.
Two concrete piers stood along the rocky coastline.
Although no container ships docked here, there were many fishing and salvage boats parked next to the piers that local residents purchased with loans from the Alliance’s bank.
At this time, most of the adults had gone out to work, while the children were attending classes at the settlement’s only school.
Even though the development here does not seem ideal to Chu Guang, judging from the positive work outlook of the locals and the bustling situation at the pier, the residents themselves seem quite content with their lives here.
After all, on the Wasteland, just living is considered a luxury, let alone living peacefully.
The Looter would often cause trouble for them, and even paying protection money could not save them from being extorted.
Even if there happened to be a survivor settlement like Giant Stone City nearby, there was no hope that their bank would lend money to improve their lives.
List, who ran the bank selling nutritional cream in Giant Stone City, Sid who managed the settlement, and even the Blood Hand Clan and Brown Farm were all unspokenly in a consortium of interests.
Including the seemingly bullied "Old Leech" of Bet Street and Li Jinrong, the itinerant merchant before he chose to go his own way.
Before the Alliance emerged, they were all part of the same oil extraction machine, merely occupying different "ecological niches."
And now, the Alliance, which has succeeded in breaking the impasse, is radiating new order across the Wasteland.
This strategy of cutting off the source is proving to be quite effective.
Most of the waste land wanderers have come to realize the benefits of order and no longer yearn to return to the Wasteland.
Even if someday they return to their hometowns, they will bring back the ideals and visions of the new era.
After the plane landed, Chu Guang met with a group of top local officials on the tarmac.
Including the captain of the militia of No. 1 Settlement, the squad leader of the Construction Corps, the director of the Guard Bureau, the mayor of the City Hall, and the only five locally elected representatives and regular members of the organizing committee.
Since he was already there, Chu Guang shook hands with each person, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then continued in a critical tone.
"...You don’t have to go through these formalities with me. I’m most afraid of this kind of thing from you. Leaving aside Li Jinrong, the Southern Construction Corps is no longer needed in Weifu City; he’s got nothing to do now, but clearly, you have a lot of work to do, so what are you coming to report to me for?"
"Get on with whatever you need to do. If necessary, I will come to find you."
Being given the cold shoulder, the mayor felt an indescribable sense of grievance and explained with a wry smile.
"We were worried about not doing our work well enough and letting you down."
Chu Guang: "In that case, you should not come to me, but should go and walk around the pier, and ask the citizens of the Alliance and future citizens what inconveniences they still face in life, or if they have any good ideas for the future of No. 10 Settlement Point. Their expectations are my expectations. If you want my opinion, you better spend time on them."
The mayor immediately said.
"I’ll go to the pier right away."
Chu Guang: "..."
Watching the group leave reluctantly, Chu Guang sighed in his heart.
The people coming out of the Southern Construction Corps are a bit too obedient. Even after stepping down from their original positions and taking up new roles, they still cling to the old superior-subordinate dynamics.
It’s hard to say whether this is a good or bad thing. There are both short-term pros and cons, but in the long run, the drawbacks definitely outweigh the benefits.
However, it’s gratifying that despite such circumstances, there are still some young people with ideas emerging from these settlements, even if their ideas aren’t entirely aligned with my own.
Thinking of this, Chu Guang suddenly wanted to have a chat with that recently prominent representative, Gu Ning.
Of course, this has to wait until he’s dealt with the trouble at hand.
After meeting with a group of "NPCs," Chu Guang then met the Spring Water Brother in disguise not far from the hangar.
Meeting with players was much more relaxed.
Although on the surface, he would still display the authority of a faction BOSS to satisfy the players’ immersion, he was internally in a relaxed state.
And there was no need to weigh the tone of his words, he could speak directly without holding back.
Taking Spring Water aside, Chu Guang looked at him and said,
"According to intelligence traders from the Free State sold to us, the equipment that their arms dealers sold to the mysterious buyer has recently entered Haiye Province. It can basically be concluded that the buyer’s identity is the Southern Legion General Staff."
"Two people have entered our sight. One is a Chilarch named Wyatt, who is affiliated with the Southern Legion General Staff. The other is Condra, a Ten Thousand Leader from the Eastern Legion’s 14th Ten thousand troops. He used to work for the Eastern Legion’s Eastward Expansion Faction, and now he seems to have defected to the Southern Legion. Previous intel proves that the Chewing Bone Tribe’s weapons were provided by this guy."
Upon hearing the name Condra, Spring Water Commander was momentarily stunned and subconsciously blurted out, "Holy shit."
This name is somewhat old; it even dates back to the alpha version, and he almost forgot about it.
Seeing the Manager pause without continuing, Spring Water lightly cleared his throat and said,
"Sorry, I was just a bit surprised, please continue."
"No problem," Chu Guang nodded and continued, "Anyway, that’s the basic situation. According to our intelligence personnel’s assessment, the Southern Legion plans to orchestrate an assault targeting me personally, with participating personnel mainly composed of Looters operating nearby."
"Holy shit, attack you?! How dare they?!" Spring Water was shocked once again, saying incredulously.
It’s not that the possibility isn’t there; it’s just that the success rate of carrying out such a deed on Alliance territory is a bit low.
Chu Guang briefly explained,
"...This is what they consider the most effective decision based on the current situation. According to our intelligence personnel’s estimates, the number of attackers may be around two to three thousand, and the possibility that they will use Weapons of Mass Destruction cannot be ruled out. Therefore, I plan to set the battlefield outside of the settlement."
Upon hearing Weapons of Mass Destruction, Spring Water’s expression gradually grew serious.
"...Do you have any specific plans?"
Chu Guang smiled faintly and said,
"The plan is simple. Since they’re coming for me, I might as well intentionally give them a vulnerability to exploit."
Seeing the shock on Spring Water’s face, Chu Guang paused for a moment before continuing,
"I’m planning to take this opportunity to flush out the accumulated poison in this area at once. Although relying on one or two battles to eliminate the Looters in the northeastern part of Haiye Province is unrealistic, using crushing might to intimidate them is also a good method."
After all, those who are coming will come anyway, so why not use the Southern Legion’s plot against them?
"Having the cake and eating it too," is something that Chu Guang, as a master strategist, is quite adept at.
However, after hearing Chu Guang’s plan, Spring Water Commander’s face showed a troubled expression.
After a moment of hesitation, he spoke cautiously,
"Uh, although you may have already considered some unexpected situations, a certain planner might not play by the rules... Ahem, my point is there might be unforeseen variables in this. In short, I don’t really advise you to personally be the bait; the risks are too high."
No way around it.
After all, this guy is the ’real Spring Water’.
The Dog plan emphasized more than once that if the Manager dies, the server resets directly.
If this guy wasn’t also a permissions hound, Spring Water really wanted to put a bad suggestion on the forum to lock this guy in a shelter’s culture tank.
This way, not only would there be no safety issues, but it might even have life-extending effects.
Tsk.
Thinking about it this way, I’m really too damn filial.
Looking at the loyal-looking Spring Water Brother, Chu Guang’s gaze was a bit strange, and after a long while, he uttered a sentence.
"...When did I say I was going to be the bait myself."
Without waiting for Spring Water to speak, he continued,
"At that time, I’ll lend you that set of Azure Power Armor. If they really pull out a Tactical Nuclear Bomb, you’ll go up and hold it off for me."
Spring Water Commander: "...#@"
MMP!
This was careless!