"What is the Post-Saint Church?" Andy was confused and asked the two guys in front of him who were talking to each other, although he was not an elder, he had been in the wasteland for many years, and he had never heard the word appear anywhere.

Sergeant O'Connor gave a brief explanation.

"A religion from the Old World, which was spread in this land many, many years ago, before the world was destroyed by nuclear bombs. The majority of the people of Utah are post-Saints, which is an extremely important part of their social life..... Thus, their descendants inherited these. Otto obviously knew more than Sheriff O'Connor, but he thought about it and didn't say anything more here, just asked about something else.

"Since the outbreak of the Great War, the entire Old World religion of the SA has been completely forgotten for a short time, and new religions or similar organizations have sprung up one after another..... I am also well aware of the unique position of the Post-Saint Church in Utah, but why they still carry on their faith to this day. Sheriff O'Connor tossed the cigarette butt in his mouth into the ashtray and gave a plausible and unexpected answer.

"Because they're in a shelter." Andy came to his senses as soon as he heard the word "Vault", he hadn't heard anything about it since the Mother Tribe had come into contact with the first pre-war Vault at that time, and he didn't expect to hear it again in Jericho Town.

"Shelter? One of the large, pre-war underground shelters built by Vault technology? Is it right here? Sergeant O'Connor nodded.

"Yes, just like the ones in New California, they were all shelters built by Vault technology before the war, and it was because of this shelter that they escaped destruction, so the Post-Saints have been continued by the descendants of these survivors, but I don't know where the Vault is, only those Post-Saints believers know....." Andy secretly hoped in his heart that if he had the opportunity in the future, he would definitely go to find the Vault, Candace had said before that she had been recording important information about the wasteland, Especially the records related to pre-war facilities, the most attractive of which is the Vault, and perhaps some reward from her.

"Okay, I see. Actually, I still want to talk to you about how New Canaan was destroyed. Sergeant O'Connor's face was grim and worried.

"It's a story that makes me uncomfortable to tell... But, alas, since you asked, it doesn't hurt to tell you. As I said before, thanks to the incompetence of the NcR government, we lost our homes because of the war in the west, and we had to flee all the way to the east, suffering countless hardships along the way. So after arriving in New Canaan and receiving unprecedented help, more and more refugees gathered in New Canaan, where people received free gifts from post-Saint believers and set up camp outside New Canaan. ”

"At first, they really gave it their all, but after a while, the number of refugees was more than they could handle, and the number of refugees who came here from the west was almost the same as theirs; There were so many people that they couldn't afford it, and what was worse was the lack of discipline on the part of the refugees, who were doing a lot of things in New Canaan, which were very immoral. ”

"So after that, the New Canaanites made a decision that they closed New Canaan, no longer allowed non-Post-Saint believers to enter New Canaan, and drastically reduced the amount of food and water that was distributed for free, but they still agreed that the refugees would build camps outside of New Canaan." Otto sighed.

"Well, Boss, even if I just hear this, I can guess what's going on." Andy also knew that the next thing was probably a conflict between the two sides, but he patiently listened to Sheriff O'Connor's statement.

With the light of another cigarette, the bloody and dark past was revealed in his mouth.

"The needs of the refugees began to become insatiable, and they gathered outside New Canaan all day long to do nothing, and the emotions caused by hunger and thirst were growing stronger, and finally people began to besiege the people who had come out to deliver food and water in New Canaan, demanding that they open the doors and restore the previous supplies; Of course, this was not agreed, and some people began to try to vent their emotions with violent slamming of doors and verbal abuse, and some of the New Canaanites could not stand it, and a number of clashes broke out. ”

After that, the two sides were completely cut off, New Canaan no longer sent any food and water, and the refugees did not want to continue to wander around, and they still fantasized about staying here to eat and drink. It was a rumor that was born in the dark minds of the people at that time, and it became more and more true, and in that rumor that New Canaan actually had endless food and water, and that they lived a good life like emperors in the city, but they were not willing to give us a starve, just because they wanted to see us starve and die of thirst outside. Andy's heart sank as he listened to the story, and it all made sense and was so desperate that he couldn't stop it.

"So.... You then attacked New Canaan? Sheriff O'Connor was silent for a few moments until he was burned by the cigarette butt in his hand.

"Seven years ago, it was a dark night without stars, and after many days of planning, several leaders of the refugees decided to lead all the refugees into New Canaan by any means to get what the people inside did not want to share with us. After using some explosives brought from the west, we forced the gates of New Canaan open, and refugees swarmed in, and the New Canaanite militia was overwhelmed in an instant. ”

"After that..... Oh, and then hell came as the refugees raised their butcher's knives at the New Canaanites, looting and raping in the city, venting their accumulated emotions at will. At that time, I was also one of the leaders, and I led my people from my hometown to attack New Canaan with them, but I saw that there was not much food and water left in the New Canaanian homes, and they had clearly shared everything that could be shared, and all the rumors that were widely circulated were all vicious lies. Sheriff O'Connor's fingers trembled slightly, and a look of shame was evident on his face.

"I only felt that there were five thunderbolts, but there was already a mess around me, and it was impossible for anyone to stop me, and when more and more people finally understood that there was no more food and water in New Canaan, they didn't know what kind of psychology they actually started to set fires, and the whole New Canaan soon began to turn into a sea of fire."

"I ran with all those who were willing to obey me towards a corner of the city of New Canaan, where there was a factory, which, as you might have guessed, was the precursor of the town beneath our feet. I ordered everyone to guard this corner, and to house some of the fleeing New Canaanites inside, and whenever there were crazy rioters trying to enter, we were turned away.... We used the remaining water from the factory's tank to keep the flames out, and we survived the dark night. ”

"At dawn the next day, New Canaan was a charred ruin." Andy didn't know what to say for a moment after hearing this story, the kindness of the New Canaanites was not rewarded, but caused them to be destroyed, and the establishment of Jericho Town was not as dark as Andy had imagined, it turned out to be due to the original chaos when Sheriff O'Connor and his group made amends because of the discovery of conscience.

"So, you founded Jericho after that, didn't you?" Sergeant O'Connor nodded.

"My people and I really feel guilty about New Canaan, we were all involved in that incident in the first place, and we chose to stand by while the massacre happened.... In addition, some of the people who live in Jericho now are even the same people who committed the murder in the first place. But I can't do anything about it, the destruction of New Canaan is a given, and the first thing I have to do now is to keep the town afloat. He looked at Andy, and the emotion in his eyes faded.

"We've been on the run for too long and we have to do whatever it takes to find a place to stay, and the town's desalination plant is our hope, where we can't produce anything, but at least we can use it to produce clean water. The Great Salt Lake is not far from here, and we can pump water from the well, and then use a machine to sift the salt from it, leaving drinking water.... Water in the wasteland is precious, and selling it is our only breadwinner. ”

"You asked me why the town needed those 'workers', and I can answer you now. When we occupied the plant, we found that someone had already broken into it and wreaked havoc, and even though we tried to repair the equipment, we only managed to restore the plant to about a quarter of its former capacity. ”

"Moreover, all the automation equipment is broken, we don't know how to restore everything to its original state, pumping and transporting water must be done by manpower, and we have to manually send coal into the boiler to supply the machine.... It all takes people, and there aren't many people in Jericho Town, and no one wants to work in the waterworks, or else they are asking for a bottle cap. Andy listened to everything and fell into deep thought, while Otto continued to talk to Sheriff O'Connor.

"So, are all the Latter-Saints dead or running away?"

"No, it was true that a lot of people had run out into the wasteland at that time, but then they gradually gathered again, and now most of the Post-Saints who survived that night were concentrated in a small camp to the southeast, but they were no longer willing to contact us, or even say a word to us..."

"Well... There's one more thing I want to ask you. ”

"What?"

"In order to keep the plant running, you need a lot of cheap labor, and I've heard that you send all the criminals who commit even minor crimes to work in the plant, but even to that extent, I believe there will still be not enough manpower. The criminals in the town are either too scared by you to do anything out of the ordinary, run away, or simply die in the waterworks, and it won't be long before you're short of manpower again. ”

"What do you want to say?"

"Nothing, just wanted to ask you if you bought slaves from slave traders out there."

"......" Andy looked up, and Sheriff O'Connor was asked for a moment at a loss for how to answer.

"Well, I'll admit it. I did buy some slaves from some despicable slave traders to work as laborers, but that was only temporary.... When the profits we make accumulate to a certain extent, I promise to overhaul the waterworks, improve the working conditions, abolish the forced labor system, and free all slaves. Until then, if I do this now, the town of Jericho will be gone, and everyone here will be displaced again. Andy and Otto looked at each other, their eyes at different points.

"Boss, it sounds like he has a point."

"There may be some truth to it, but ....." he looked at Sheriff O'Connor.

"Why didn't you go to NcR before? They may be able to help. Sheriff O'Connor chuckled.

"Hey, as I said before, we refugees saw what NcR was when we fled New California, and the NcR at Hoover Dam didn't make any difference. In fact, I used to have fantasies about them, but they just felt that our clean water was competing with theirs, and asked us to give up the clean water in Jericho Town and move to Hoover Dam. Haha, if we were really that stupid, we might have accepted this so-called 'help' at that time. Sheriff O'Connor said this, and it was hard to hide his smugness.

"Luckily we're not that stupid, look at what NcR has become to the east now, if we had chosen to go to the Hoover Dam, we would probably be stuck there and struggling like them. But what about now? We're living well here, there's no crime in Jericho Town, it's orderly, a lot of merchants come from all over the world every day, commerce is booming, and the Hoover Dam..."

Andy nodded at him slightly, then said something that shocked Sheriff O'Connor.

"I'm the representative from Hoover Dam City, and now I understand why the water we have there drives people crazy to drink."

"Really?!" Andy slowly took out a document with many official seals on it. Sergeant O'Connor looked at the papers for a moment, then looked up at Andy with embarrassed eyes.

"Well, it does seem to be true."