The Salvation Society, a mysterious organization that has risen in the wasteland in the past decade or so, has an unknown origin and founder. Although it has been established for a short time, it has expanded really fast.
This is due to the Salvation Society’s strict control over its members, making it impossible for outsiders to enter, and because of the nature of the organization. Its purpose, as its name suggests, seems to be to save the world.
It is said that the people of the Salvation Society not only save survivors’ bases and villages from the Miasma monsters but also generously share many resources. In return, they apparently only ask for some knowledge. .
Knowledge is worthless in the wasteland, while resources are the most valuable treasure. Only the Salvation Society would exchange resources for knowledge.
The explanation of the Salvation Society is that their purpose in collecting knowledge is to gather the wisdom of all beings one day to find a way to combat the Tainted Miasma.
Although the survivors on the wasteland do not believe this, exchanging cheap knowledge for resources is a deal that everyone likes. Hence, many other organizations and survivors welcome the Salvation Society very much.
Just like now.
“Hey! Hey! Over here! This way!” The scavenging thugs shouted at the people of the Salvation Society, many of them waving their arms.
The Salvation Society’s attention was successfully attracted, and the ten-vehicle convoy immediately stopped. A team member at the front, using a device similar to a telescope for information processing, scanned the other party and immediately reported back:
“Captain, the identity has been confirmed. They belong to the ‘Sanguine Hammer’ scavengers, but ‘Sanguine Hammer’ is not seen. No other biological signals detected within five kilometers, suspected to be survivors of a monster attack. Please instruct the next step.”
The middle-aged man in the middle of the ten-vehicle convoy, after scrutinizing the disheveled appearance of these thugs, nodded and led the way:
“Stay alert and approach.”
“Received!”
The convoy immediately changed direction and drove towards the thugs, who sighed in relief upon seeing this. They had brought nothing with them in their escape and were now close to starving and dying of thirst.
“Everyone, don’t move, raise your hands, throw your weapons on the ground, and repeat, once any aggressive actions are detected, we will counterattack immediately. So, to avoid unnecessary conflicts, please cooperate.”
The Salvation Society usually operates in groups of ten, and each member is highly skilled in combat. Three people are responsible for holding guns and shouting, two people are on guard, and four people quickly step forward to disarm the thugs’ weapons.
The thugs didn’t resist and obediently did as told. The entire process took less than a minute. After confirming that the thugs were not a threat, the people of the Salvation Society lowered half of their guns, easing the tense atmosphere.
This is understandable, after all, in the post-apocalyptic wasteland, vigilance is always paramount.
“Enough, don’t waste effort. We have no fighting power now and no strength to do anything else. Instead of this, better hurry up and give us a week’s worth of food and water! I’m starving to death!”
Some of the thugs had already started clamoring, and upon hearing this, the captain frowned and shook his head: “That’s impossible, we are the Salvation Society, not a charity.”
“Hmph, I know, so we will exchange information for it. Isn’t this what you like the most?”
Intelligence is also a kind of knowledge. Hearing the thug say this, the captain’s face remained unchanged, but he actually became more alert in his heart. He quickly asked:
“Okay, but the specific amount of resources we offer will be based on the value of your information and decided after assessment.”
“Don’t worry, this information, even for a week’s supply of food for you, is a loss for us. Listen up, if you go in this direction, about thirty or forty kilometers away, you will see a settlement village.”
As one of the thugs spoke, she pointed in the direction of Kano Village, where Renji had been.
“In that village, there is someone with a powerful weapon that can change its shape at will, stolen from a machine servant. We have never seen such a weapon before. I believe you will be very interested in it. It’s a Miasma weapon comparable to a Danger Rank… no, no, even a Disaster Rank!”
Hearing this, the faces of the Salvation Society members changed, especially at the mention of a “Disaster Rank” Miasma weapon, many showed excitement.
Still, the captain was more composed and immediately retorted, “How can we believe you?”
“What the hell do you believe or not, can’t you see I’m like this? If it wasn’t for that stinking… pretty boy running into good luck with that weapon, how could our boss have died at his hands!”
“Your boss is dead?” The captain showed a surprised expression.
“Nonsense! Otherwise, why would we be asking for your help now!”
The thugs spoke so irritably for a reason. First, they were naturally wild, and second, the Salvation Society has always been seen as the good guys, so they were unreserved and impolite.
The captain didn’t mind the tone of the thugs but quickly left temporarily to discuss with other team members.
“Captain, we’ve struck gold! If we report this intelligence to headquarters, we can at least get a reward of this magnitude from Manager William!”
One team member excitedly extended his hand, while another added, “We can also apply for administrative leave from the company. We won’t have to come back to ‘Dream Zero’ for at least a week!”
“Or… we don’t report it first. After we go to Kano Village and snatch that machine servant weapon…”
Another team member suggested greedily, as if they reported it now, other teams would be assigned to come, and if they found the weapon later, their credit would be greatly reduced.
After collecting the opinions of his team members, the captain ultimately made a decision, choosing a middle ground.
“The situation is still uncertain now, so we won’t report to the company for the time being. Later, we’ll let those scavengers lead the way. Once we really get to Kano Village, we’ll adapt accordingly and assess the strength. If the other party is rated C or above, we will take a gentle approach. If below…”
The captain didn’t finish, but the team members understood.
If it’s really like what the scavenging thugs said, an unprecedented machine servant weapon that can change shape, if they get such a weapon and analyze its structural data to upload to Kael Technology, everyone’s employee level could rise several levels, and they might even jump to the management level, no longer having to be blood-licking explorers on the edge of a knife like now.
After the decision was made, the Salvation Society, now better described as Kael Technology’s exploration team, immediately took action. They took some of the thugs as guides, restarted the convoy, and sped towards Kano Village.
It took about four hours for the exploration team to finally see the shadow of Kano Village. The reason it was so slow was because they encountered many Miasma monsters along the way.
These Miasma monsters are strange, appearing in small groups far more frequently and densely than what is normal for the wasteland.
Fortunately, Kael Technology has mastered the ‘Brand’ technology of the old world, allowing their weapons to be upgraded and replaced with new ‘Brand’ weapons. This enables them to smoothly avoid and kill the Miasma monsters blocking their path without any dangers.
The sudden increase in the number of monsters in the wilderness and their apparent movement towards a single direction is theoretically an abnormal phenomenon that should be reported.
However, every member of the exploration team is fixated on the new weapon in Kano Village, and even the usually steady captain ignores this point, continuing to move forward.
After all, they are the gold diggers sent by the company to the ‘Old World.’ In front of the glittering gold, no one can resist such temptation.
Driving through the broken gates of Kano Village, the captain could roughly guess what had happened from the big hole blown in the gate.
It’s likely that these thugs attacked Kano Village but ended up being driven away by the young man inside.
Unlike the thugs, the captain didn’t try to hide anything and let the exploration team’s convoy openly enter the village.
Because under Kael Technology’s strategy, the image of the ‘Salvation Society’ created by the company holds good credibility and reputation in ‘Dream Zero’ and most villages and settlements at least don’t harbor hostility towards them.
But as they drove deeper into the village, the captain’s brows furrowed more and more.
Because
‘Where are the people?’
‘Where did all the villagers go?’
Their convoy had entered the village’s largest square, but throughout the entire process, they hadn’t seen even a shadow of a villager. Even after deploying the exploration equipment, they found no biological signals within five kilometers.
‘Could it be… the villagers ran away in fear of the thugs’ retaliation?’
The captain first thought of this possibility, initially feeling disheartened, but soon he perked up again.
Although they hit a dead end, it also indirectly indicated another point: the young man with the special weapon probably wasn’t as powerful as the thugs had claimed, likely exaggerated to inflate the value of the information.
After all, if the other party really had the power, how could they abandon the village?
Building a village in the wasteland is extremely costly.
Unless absolutely necessary, driven into a corner, they would never abandon the village and flee.
The target being weak was good news for them, at least it’s safe. If necessary, they could spend more time later searching for clues in the village and continue to track the young man based on those leads.
The captain had just finished planning when suddenly, an excited trembling voice came from the other side.
The captain had just finished planning when suddenly, an excited trembling voice came from the other side.
“Captain! Quick! Come here!!!”
An exploration team member ran out of a cellar, almost jumping with excitement and waving his hands, clearly having discovered something valuable.
The rest of the exploration team immediately rushed over and followed him down into the cellar, where they found the three stories and corresponding murals previously described by the village chief’s grandson to Renji.
“Captain… The origin of the world! These murals actually contain information about the origin of Dream Zero!”
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