"Gang 215?" Sheriff O'Connor's expression was blank, he had never heard of the name before.

"What's that? .... A small new gang? Andy waved his hand again and again, trying to make it clear the current level of danger, and in order to persuade him, he had to mix it with a little alarmism.

"It's not a small gang, they're dangerous, they have guns, cars, people, just a small detachment has about the same firepower as Jericho, they said they would attack in two days, this is no joke." Sheriff O'Connor's eyes rolled twice, and he suddenly asked rhetorically.

"How did you know this, Andy?" He didn't take it all right away, and even though the man had been helpful in the past, Sheriff O'Connor wouldn't let go of any details that might have been important.

"They sent people to the camp of the Post-Saints, trying to use the hatred to incite them, so that they could get more help, they really wanted to take down the town of Jericho in one fell swoop, judging by the style of the marauders I saw, this is definitely not a bunch of good men and women, if they win, they will definitely do whatever they want in the town, you must...."Andy said, suddenly feeling inappropriate, because Sheriff O'Connor's expression was actually soothing.

"Oh well, I see, don't worry. We've seen this happen a lot in the past, and the marauders were just a bunch of wine bags and rice bags, and they roamed around in groups of three or five, and I alone had killed more marauders than I could count. He calmly transferred the 215 gang he had never met directly

In the category of "sake bag rice bag".

"Why do you think that?" Andy asked, and suddenly at the same moment he thought of the answer.

In order for Sheriff O'Connor to believe that a great external threat is looming, and that Jericho is unable to protect itself, and therefore willing to compromise with the Latter-Saints, then the existence of Gang 215 must be credible enough and terrifying enough; And a sufficiently terrible gang of marauders who clearly does not follow any rules of etiquette and does not believe in any morality, and this creates problems.

In the case of sufficient strength, it is impossible for them to give the fat in their hands to others, let alone ask others for help, which means weakness, such a leader does not need to be dealt with by outsiders, and will soon be killed and replaced by his own people.

But just now, he didn't check for a while, and only blurted out the truth, and Sheriff O'Connor obviously noticed the mistake in an instant.

The 215 Gang is strong enough and the 215 Gang is looking for assistance The two things are fundamentally conflicting conclusions, if a person insists that both conclusions exist, he is undoubtedly lying, in other words, Andy himself is difficult to say whether he is lying or not, language is an art, sometimes if you want to persuade others, you have to add fuel and vinegar, he wants the two sides to reconcile, but this is indeed Jericho Town wants to give up more benefits in the short term.

The point in the hearts of the people of Jericho Town stems from the guilt of the New Canaanites seven years ago has been mercilessly polished by the years, and has been diluted by the recent caravan raids, and at this time, Sheriff O'Connor accepts the concession, and thinks about it and knows that it is not true.

Andy secretly regretted that if he had been intimidated with exaggerated lies, perhaps Sheriff O'Connor would have considered the matter from a different perspective out of trust in him, and might have finally led to peace.

But he thought about it again, and felt a little relieved, at this time regret was meaningless, a lie must be made up with more lies with the development of time, and in the end it became a bottomless pit that could not be filled.

If the marauders had been bluffing, a new conflict would have erupted between the New Canaanites and the Jerichos who had been forced to come together, supporting the meat and skin trade, the drug trade, and the de facto practice of almost slavery

The status quo of "forced long-term labor reform" in Jericho Township, and Sheriff O'Connor's absolute authority here, neither of them is something that the Post-Saints and Jeremiah Rigdon can accept.

Instead of blowing up the thunder in the back, it is better to tell the truth from the beginning. It's a long time, but it was only a matter of thought in Andy's mind, and he got rid of those undeserved emotions and prepared to convince the bad sheriff in front of him.

"If they were really that good, how could they go back and ask for help from the refugees who had fled New Canaan? This only shows that they do not have the confidence to break through our defenses at all, and they do not have the confidence to win the battle by relying only on their own people. Because of this, they will do this kind of thing, directly exposing their inner timidity, if I guess correctly, their so-called small team is their entire manpower. Sergeant O'Connor said what was in his mind, and his face sank again.

"But those Post-Saints really want to cooperate with them.... It can be very troublesome, and I certainly don't want to raise a gun at them, but what will they do to us? They had already shown hostility before, burning the caravansera's caravans, more than once, and now they wanted to threaten us with the possibility of complicity with the marauders? He turned his head and hardened.

"How can I be sure that these conditions are true? I've never heard or seen any of the so-called '215', and you say you saw those people, not that I doubt you, Andy, could those people be the Post-Saints trying to pretend to be people? "Sheriff O'Connor was now suspicious, and in that state most of the reasons for persuasion would turn into conspiracy in his eyes.

Sure enough, his derivation became more and more terrifying.

"On the best side, they may just want to come back and share resources with us in a dignified way, but they don't want to follow Jericho's rules, so they make up a non-existent enemy to threaten me; If you think about it in a bad direction, these people are probably not satisfied with just burning the caravan's goods, they want to burn us, burn Jericho, and make this place the same as the ruins around it.... When we let our guard down on them out of fear of the so-called '215', are these people really worthy of our trust? ”

"I thank you very much for your help, Andy, but I, as the sheriff of this town, am responsible for everyone's future, and I can't make a decision lightly, if these speculations come true, even if there is only a slight possibility..."Andy frowned, what should he say that this is the case?

Is it necessary to convince Sheriff O'Connor of the charisma of Jeremiah Rigdon? But he still didn't want to give up, this impending tragedy, Andy didn't want to just watch it happen, it could have been prevented, just like another tragedy that happened in this land back then.

"Listen to me, Sheriff O'Connor... Please give me a moment. Sheriff O'Connor thought about it, and when he looked back and saw that Alexandra had taken over from Ryan, who had taken over the mischief, and began to seriously and professionally treat the unconscious spy, his heart calmed down a little, so he nodded in agreement.

Andy sorted out the language in his head.

"Let's not talk about the 215 gang, Sergeant O'Connor, let's talk about something practical." Seeing the other party nodding, Andy slowly stated.

"If Jericho continues to develop like this, there will definitely be problems, have you ever thought so?" Sheriff O'Connor stopped talking.

Andy knew he must have thought about it, so he simply brushed up all the problems he had seen since he came to Jericho.

"Those 'workers', their treatment is the treatment of slaves, please don't pick my word again, we all know in our hearts what is going on, even if many of them are criminals, but many of them are only guilty of minor crimes. Are they forced to die doing heavy physical work in horrible conditions, such as pumping water or filling boilers with shovels of coal? They are tired, many are sick, and even if they are given enough food and drink, will they be content with the status quo? ”

"Someone like Ivan, looking for an opportunity to escape, won't be the last, even if you do catch him and hang him on the gallows in the center of town, it won't be long before there will be another, another, another.... Now everyone in Jericho Town is in danger and dare not commit crimes easily, and good law and order also means that criminals are extinct, right? What did you do? Conniving at the drug dealer who didn't know anything to 'treat' the workers with those recreational drugs, and secretly buying slaves from the slave traders and sending them to the waterworks? ”

"How many men are there in the whole town of Jericho who are willing to defend their homes with guns, regardless of men, women, and children, at a critical time? More than a dozen? More than twenty? The water business will only get better and better, and the news will spread farther and farther, and even the most stupid marauders will follow the merchants to find this place, and then start thinking, how are you going to keep this place safe? You won't be able to find that many additional combatants in a short period of time, and if you recruit outsiders into the Jericho police, you know the dangers, they don't necessarily want to obey the law as law enforcers, and they have guns in their hands. Sheriff O'Connor's face was already dripping, he let out a sulk breath from his nose, lit a cigarette and put it in his mouth.

"You're right, and I understand it, but what can I do? If I hadn't done what you said, Jericho wouldn't have been today, so how could it be tomorrow? Do you mean that we can solve all these problems by accepting the latter-day believers? Tell me, is that possible? ”

"They are indeed just and kind, but in other respects they are very indistinguishable from outsiders, and those who do not want to convert to their religion will not be regarded as their own people, even if they can be helped. Also, will they obey the laws here? What if they don't want to comply? Will they agree with me sending the wrongdoers of them to work in the waterworks? If none of these they can agree with, I believe it's a stupid idea. Andy looked Sheriff O'Connor in the eye and gave his answer with all seriousness.

"For Jericho to prosper in the future, the first thing to do is to abandon what shouldn't exist in the first place and try to embrace something new. It's not your attachment to power that restricts you from making that choice, is it? I can see that, Sheriff O'Connor, a lot of people in the wasteland are going against the grain to ensure their supremacy, and it's wrong and not long-lasting, but you're not that kind of person. ”

"The post-Saints have changed their minds, and they have embraced a new leader named Jeremiah Rigdon, who is an enlightened man who is willing to even accept ghouls and super mutants and some refugees from the NcR to join them; They are now willing to trade with the outside world, and they have begun to focus on combat training, and they already have a good team, and their addition can replenish Jericho's population, and help Jericho defend himself against foreign enemies in the future. ”

"I'm sure the Rigdon prophet was like that, they could have killed everyone to cover up their presence when they destroyed those caravans, but they didn't, the New Canaanites did change something, but some of the things they believed in didn't change."

"Actually, there's only one reason that restricts you from choosing everything to be better, and that's your fear that Jericho will lose its productivity, lose the cash cow that it lives on in the wasteland, and if Jericho no longer needs so many people to artificially produce clean water, but the production is even higher, will you be willing to change the rules, abolish the forced labor system, ban the drug and meat business, and accept reconciliation with the Latter-Saints?" Sheriff O'Connor fell into a long silence.

These words had a huge impact on him, and he had hoped that Andy would have helped Jericho eliminate those post-Saints, even if it was cruel, but it was all for Jericho's development; But now that I think about it, things didn't necessarily get better later, and the guilt he felt when he saw the destruction of New Canaan might have swelled to the point where he couldn't sleep at night.

"I ..... Maybe it's really the same as you say, but can you do it? It's already hard to maintain the current capacity of the water plant, and I'm looking for any way to expand the number of workers, but you're saying that you want to reduce the number and increase the capacity of the water plant at the same time, how do you do that? If you can do that, I'd be better off thinking about your suggestion. Andy mentioned the two engineers.

"Remember that ghoul friend of mine who helped you fix the machines? And the one who some of you despise and even mock the Buraku lad who comes from the net, called the battery. It was very easy for them to make a generator out of scrap parts brought by the caravans, and as for what would drive the generator, I knew that among the Post-Saints there was an agriculturist named Pablo, who not only knew how to grow the raw materials for biodiesel, but also studied other crops. ”

"With this kind of high-efficiency generator, you don't need to work hard to fill the boiler with coal, and only need some algae grown in salt water to make biodiesel, which can greatly save manpower and reduce the production cost of clean water, as long as it is properly maintained, in the long run, the production capacity will only increase instead of decreasing." Sheriff O'Connor only felt that the door to a new world had been opened, he was not a very literate person, and he had thought of replacing manual work with high-efficiency radioactive energy to drive a desalination machine like in NcR China, but the objective conditions here did not allow it at all, where did he go to find a reactor or a large nuclear power generator that could transmit electricity remotely?

Even if they do, who will be responsible for maintaining and operating them? Those dangerous things can become dangerous if they are not done well.

Thus the coal boiler became the only option, but this primitive thing had to rely on manpower, and the hot, humid, billowing smoke of the workers would not be willing to approach unless they were forced.

But he never knew that there were alternatives to nuclear power and coal, and Andy's biodiesel was a new term he had never heard of, and its prospects were almost incredible, requiring no high technical attainments, no input costs, and no large amount of manual labor to endure the harsh working conditions, and only need to plant something to drive the machine...... When he thought about it, he could understand how cost-effective it would be, and of course he was tempted.

"Maybe.... Ah, if the one you're talking about... That generator really does what you say, I'll think about it. "Andy's fists are tight, can he do it in two days?

Unlikely... Pablo said that there is simply not enough algae, making biodiesel and collecting parts to assemble generators and equipment installation and commissioning, even if you can go to the Great Salt Lake to collect enough algae and complete everything in a hurry, what about after that?

Just like that, watching the 215 gang attack with loaded guns? Jericho was almost unprepared.

"It's too late, it's really too late, those people are about to fight, even if you guessed it right, they don't have a big army, but as far as the part of people I see, you can't handle it." Sheriff O'Connor regained his composure at this point, even winking mischievously at Andy.

"Isn't that still you? Just as we worked together to defeat the Marauders, we will defeat any intrusive enemies and protect Jericho. Don't worry, Andy, when we settle this matter, I will give you the greatest deal I can give you, Hoover Dam will drink cheap and delicious clean water, and you, as long as I am here for a day, you will always be the most honored guest in Jericho Town! Andy sighed, feeling that the other party was not in the oil and salt.

"I can't save everyone alone, and if they destroy the water plant first, won't everything be over? And what if they're not bluffing? What if their strength is really as terrible as they say it is? Without waiting for Sergeant O'Connor to answer, the spies, who had been unconscious, finally regained consciousness under Alexandra's healing.

The crowd immediately gathered around him, and Sergeant O'Connor reached out his hand to firmly grasp the man's scarred hand on the bed.

"What do you have to say to me?" The spies, whose eyes were too hard to open because they had been beaten, heard Sheriff O'Connor's voice and opened his mouth with difficulty.

"Marauders...."