Chapter 47: A World-Class Organization on the Wasteland

Sir Henry grinned and immediately displayed the item exchange list.

Li Ye looked closely and found that the Level 2 working claws and Level 1 items had already been completely exchanged. Only 352 units of Level 1 alloy remained, along with a single vein crystal.

Resources such as iron ore, timber, coal, and fuel were all depleted to zero. Not even ordinary items were left.

"These guys are ruthless!" he muttered, the corner of his mouth twitching involuntarily.

These exchanged items were far from enough to be distributed among an entire city.

The only thing that brought Li Ye some comfort was that the Storm Infantry Fighting Vehicle was exclusively available to him; otherwise, it would have been gone too.

Last night, members of Fleet No. 1 brought back a piece of news.

Two mobile cities had harbored malicious intentions and wanted to kill Sir Henry.

Such a situation was normal after all. Sir Henry was, in a way, a field boss. Killing him would not only yield all his exchange items but also the routine loot dropped by a field boss.

However, according to convention, neutral monster caravans and neutral monster towns possessed formidable strength, not to mention neutral field bosses.

Fleet No. 1 had witnessed Sir Henry's combat prowess with their own eyes.

Sir Henry boasted ultra-high defense, unimaginable speed, and wielded a wrench as his weapon.

"Oh, I knew you little bastards were up to no good!" it screamed while waving its wrench, charging forward. "I'll let you taste my power right now!"

With lightning speed, it zipped around the chassis of one of the mobile cities, stripping off every single tire and track. Immediately afterward, Sir Henry spun around the deck a few times, completely dismantling the city's armor, watchtowers, artillery, and heavy machine guns.

By the time Sir Henry landed on the ground and dusted off its hands, the entire mobile city had been reduced to a pile of scattered parts.

The other mobile city could not escape the same fate either.

"......"

Li Ye was utterly dumbfounded.

He finally understood why even the Tarot Alliance dared not kill this neutral boss; it was indeed a ruthless entity one simply could not afford to provoke.

Given its combat capability, killing Sir Henry was theoretically possible, but doing so would inevitably result in several mobile cities being dismantled into spare parts in the process.

Li Ye immediately had twenty-three art pieces brought over and placed before Sir Henry.

As Sir Henry perked up, its ears twitching excitedly as it appraised the artworks, Li Ye frowned at one particular piece.

"Can this even be considered art?"

That particular piece of art turned out to be a banana taped to a wall with duct tape.

The banana was real, but due to the passage of time, it had rotted beyond recognition.

Among these artworks, the cheapest was a replica of a modern coin, valued at 30 goblin coins.

The most expensive art piece was a medieval impressionistic oil painting, valued at 3,500 goblin coins.

All in all, the twenty-three art pieces sold for a total of 12,535 goblin coins.

"Still two thousand short," Li Ye frowned.

The competition had entered its final sprint.

What caused him anxiety was that the surrounding area within dozens of miles had been thoroughly scavenged. Venturing further out would only reduce the efficiency of the search.

Just then, Fleet No. 2, which he had dispatched earlier, returned.

After digging through the museum ruins for the entire night, they had recovered a mummy entombed in a coffin.

Sir Henry instantly rushed forward, overjoyed, and offered the highest price of 5,000 goblin coins.

Li Ye let out a long sigh of relief.

At this point, his contribution points had accumulated to 31,163.

He quickly exchanged for the Level 2 vehicle, and with his remaining contribution points, he acquired 1 lava crystal and 100 units of Level 1 alloy.

"This time, I've really struck gold!" A wave of euphoria washed over him.

As Li Ye admiringly examined the Storm Infantry Fighting Vehicle, Can Opener and two other community leaders appeared behind him.

"We have fulfilled our obligation, and now it is time for you to pay your reward."

Can Opener said slowly.

Seeing that Li Ye came empty-handed, the expressions of the three furrowed even deeper.

Li Ye, however, met their gazes with unblinking composure.

"The reward I am giving you is a piece of intelligence."

"What is it?"

"In about sixty to seventy days, the entire wasteland region will be completely destroyed," Li Ye stated slowly. "You need to gather people as soon as possible, form a convoy, and leave this area."

Amidst their shocked and skeptical stares, he continued.

"The northern part of the wasteland features a freshwater lake, covering 20% of the area. Crossing the freshwater lake will lead you to the Level 2 region—the Ever-Night Zone."

"To the east lies a moving maze occupying 17% of the territory."

"To the west are mountains covering 21% of the land. Crossing the western route will bring you to the Level 1 basin region, a journey of about a month."

"To the south lie the Rotten Lands, the Thunder Canyon, and so forth. Traversing the south will take you to the Level 1 desert region."

As Li Ye laid out the intelligence point by point, Can Opener and the other two pondered for a moment before nodding slightly.

Considering the cost of the entire community working for a day, trading for such intelligence was by no means a loss. Moreover, Li Ye would also process Level 1 items for them for free and gift them Level 1 crop seeds.

Li Ye originally expected all three of them to be suspicious, but to his surprise, they believed him so readily, leaving him somewhat astonished.

As if guessing his thoughts, Can Opener spoke up.

"In fact, rumors about the impending destruction of the wasteland region have already been circulating. It's just that no one knew the exact number of days until the end, nor the regional distribution of the wasteland."

"What?" Li Ye immediately pressed on. "Who spread this news?"

The Apocalypse Cult.

Li Ye learned the name of this sect from the three of them.

According to Can Opener, this sect possessed immense influence with followers everywhere, functioning as a world-spanning organization.

And what they worshipped was... the Wasteland Deities.

A grave expression settled on Li Ye's face.

This was the first time he had ever heard of such a behemoth's existence.

As for the Wasteland Deities... just hearing the name made it clear that these entities were by no means benevolent.

At the same time, a massive doubt arose in his mind.

How did the Apocalypse Cult obtain this information?

In the time that followed, the three communities formed long queues, handing over the metals and iron ore they had hoarded to the Tomorrow-class one by one, having them processed into the Level 1 weapons and off-road vehicles they needed.

The three leaders began busy preparations for the convoy, taking inventory of community supplies and getting ready to depart in two or three days.

Their communities usually owned vehicles, but those were ordinary transports like buses, vans, and trucks. Now, with the Level 1 off-road vehicles and weapons processed by the Tomorrow-class, they had at least some security during the evacuation.

During this period, the three communities also brought bags of flour, having the Tomorrow-class help process them into instant cup noodles and whole-wheat biscuits for long-term storage and to prepare for emergencies on the journey.

After a busy major part of the day, everything finally came to an end.

"Until we meet again."

Li Ye shook hands with the three leaders one by one.

Just as he was about to leave, Can Opener hesitated for a moment and then spoke.

"It seems your mobile city is rather short-handed, doesn't it?"