The atomic Humvee gallops along the roads left behind by the old world. The tires run over and kick up dust. Several mutant rats are biting at the corpse of a giant mutant ant, which looks a little strange, as if it used to be the other way around.

After many days, the Hoover Dam is not far away..... Suddenly I saw a large group of people gathered on the side of the road, which was rare, and it woke up the drowsy Andy at once.

There were three groups of people, the first group was obviously NcR soldiers, the second group looked at the third group of people who were fighting with them defiantly, it seemed that the NcR soldiers happened to encounter the fire of the two groups of people while patrolling, so they intervened in time, and the two sides of the confrontation looked like honest businessmen, and the other group dressed like marauders and chaotic.

But how could the NcR soldiers sympathize with the marauders .... Andy looked at it more closely, and found that it was actually a caravan, and it was estimated that it was a subordinate team of the three brothers caravan company, so those standing on the opposite side were the teams of the red caravan.

"Don't think about fighting, now that we see it, it's impossible to sit idly by." The non-commissioned officer, the leader of the soldiers, stood between the two groups of caravan members with his waist crossed, shouting loudly.

The three brothers in metal armor seemed so angry that they didn't take their guns off their guns, and the captain of one of them was standing beside the non-commissioned officer and angrily denouncing his injustice.

"What do you mean by thinking about fighting? We've all been cautious to this extent, if the Brotherhood of Steel can find us, you bastards are the only ones who have ever met us, and you must have told us! A bunch of spies! The merchants of the Crimson Caravan tugged at their leather jackets, some smiling and silent, some spitting on the ground.

The NCR non-commissioned officer looked displeased.

"This is a very serious accusation, do you have any evidence? If you have, then go back to the Hoover Dam right away and hand over the evidence to the military and city government, if you don't, you are now suspected of defamation! This is a serious violation of the laws of the NcR! Instead of that, you want to violently attack innocent people? I knew you weren't a good thing! If you don't obey, I'll order you to be arrested!" The people of the three brothers' caravan were so threatened that they couldn't help but feel frightened and angry, so they had to turn away.

When the men of the Crimson Caravan saw them retreat, they immediately taunted.

"Ouch, why aren't you crazy? Doesn't it mean that if we don't give an explanation, we will be killed? Hahaha. ”

"Why aren't we attacked by the Brotherhood of Steel? Because of course those guys have ceased to act, the Hoover Dam hasn't been attacked head-on in over a year, and who else has recently encountered the Brotherhood of Steel other than you? The answer is no! You liars, you just want to attract sympathy with these lies, you are just as criminals as your boss! The non-commissioned officer of the NcR listened, and instead of stopping it, a smile curled into the corner of his mouth.

Andy watched the scene from the sidelines, NcR's partiality towards the Crimson Caravan was obvious to all, this caravan company was originally just one of several ordinary enterprises in the Hub, and with the Hub City joining the NcR to become the Nexus State, those companies that were once also became national companies in one fell swoop, especially the Crimson Caravan, where the NcR's army appeared and their pack cattle followed wherever they came.

In comparison, the Three Brothers Caravan created by the three brothers who ran out of New California and had a bad track record dwarfed by the fact that everything they did would be evaluated as incorrect and unprofessional, and once they clashed with their rivals, they didn't even think about NcR coming to help, after all, from the Dodge Mayor, Major Fleming to the NcR non-commissioned officers below, all had a clear preconceived position.

The crowd dispersed, and Andy drove towards the location of the Hoover Bridge. This time, due to the presentation of the documents signed by the mayor of Dodge, the investigation became very simple, he easily drove the atomic Hummer onto the Hoover Bridge, on the way, he saw a two-headed cow led by several businessmen slipping and falling from the big hole in the bridge, which can make those people look desperate, the two-headed cow with all the bottle caps and goods, how to explain after returning?

Andy silently thought in his heart, this bridge really can't be used anymore, obviously the Hoover Dam itself is a stable passage connecting the east and west banks of the river, why can they only go far?

Just in case Caesar's legion might one day fight again, it has been closing the eastern entrance and exit of the Hoover Dam since more than a year ago, and it feels completely unnecessary.

Driving in from the main entrance, several Hoover Dam police officers were patrolling the top of the dam on a daily basis, wearing cowboy hats, black police trench coats, jeans, and a dark button-down shirt under the coat; Although each person is dressed slightly, the style of all police officers is generally the same, and this group is responsible for policing inside Hoover Dam City, led by Sheriff Ralph.

They have a characteristic, whether they are walking in an atmosphere of joy or despair, there is only one expression on their faces, that is, there is no expression, and in the long run, as soon as they appear, people naturally feel awe.

Andy took the elevator down to the central area, and then went to Otto's machine room, where many mechanics were now gathered, making the cramped interior even more cramped.

Pierre and Otto are directing the project, apparently reworking the Hoover Dam's water purifiers to increase their power to cope with the pollutants from Lake Mead and to ensure the safety of the Hoover Dam's water.

Otto saw Andy return to Hoover Dam and immediately greeted him happily.

"Oops, you're finally back, I thought you'd be earlier, delayed on the way?" Andy scratched his head, the journey could be described as colorful, in addition to the usual marauders, he also encountered dangerous remnants of enclaves, saw many wasteland monsters, and two caravans that almost made a move.

"It's true that something has happened...."Otto snorted and beckoned Andy to come over and look at the water purifier that was being modified.

"The design ideas contained in the drawings found in Jericho Town are really amazing, obviously we also have those materials, but we don't know how to build the machine to achieve the best effect, and the purification capacity of this old water purifier will have a qualitative leap after the transformation is completed, and we will no longer be afraid of any sewage, and the water shortage problem of the Hoover Dam is about to be fundamentally solved!" Pierre, who was standing in front with his hands behind his back, turned his head when he heard this, but his face was not so happy.

"Otto, don't be too happy, the transformation of this machine is just the beginning, we still need to continue to race against time..."Andy felt a little strange when he heard it, although he also knew the urgency of the Hoover Dam water problem, but Jericho also delivered a batch of low-cost water purification, even if this water purifier could not work during the renovation, but the citizens who relied on those water Hoover Dam would not worry about running out of water to drink, why did Pierre still say that the transformation of the water purifier was a race against time?

Otto smiled when he heard this, and told Andy something he hadn't expected.

"The batch of water sent by Jericho arrived, but the quantity was not enough at all, about a third less, and the red caravan obstructed it a lot, saying that the water might contain toxic and harmful substances, and then saying that the water was not filtered at all, and that it was all dirty water from the puddle outside, in short.... They are unhappy with the impact of these low-priced water on their products. Andy's brow furrowed, he ignored McClofdy.

"So Mayor Dodge didn't intervene?" Pierre sneered.

"Why didn't you intervene? As a result of the intervention, first, the water was to be sent to the Followers of the Apocalypse for full testing before entering the market, and the testing team was to be joined by scientists hired by the Crimson Caravan; Second, the water produced by Jericho must not be sold at the original ultra-low price, and must reach the minimum price required by the Crimson Caravan before it can be sold on the market; Third, Mayor Dodge is putting more pressure on us to restore the Hoover Dam's own water as soon as possible, but lately there has been a lot of trouble. With an angry look on his face, he turned to explain to Andy.

"First someone stuffed one into Diane's table." Ham', to be precise, a charred human leg that they didn't know where to find, triggered her ptSd, nearly smashed the machine, injured a few people, and now she's being sent to the Followers of the Apocalypse for treatment, and then there are rumors that Otto is secretly stuffing nuclear waste into the machine while he is modifying the water purifier, so that all the people at Hoover Dam will become ghouls or die of radiation poisoning in the future, and finally against me. Pierre pointed to himself.

"Someone somewhere learned that I was once a member of the Brotherhood of Steel, and now there is a negative opinion about me circulating in the rabble at Hoover Dam, and if it weren't for the fact that the members of the City Council were still afraid of the Brotherhood of Steel terrorist attack until recently, and all of them did not dare to go to the chamber of the City Council, I would have sent a proposal to recall, censor, and even imprison me!" Andy listened to his blood pressure rise.

"This is all a good thing done by the Crimson Caravan?" Pierre sat down heavily in a chair.

"Huh... Everyone knew that it was them, but no one had any evidence, even the mayor of Dodge, who would not dare to touch the Crimson Caravan. After all, they supply NcR's materials and contribute a considerable proportion of tax revenues, and many people serve the Crimson Caravan, and one carelessness will cause a great public opinion effect, so for now, they are lawless! The three men were silent for a moment, and Otto broke the gloomy atmosphere.

"Hey, it's not all bad, is it? Andy, you've done a pretty good job this time, Pierre, Major Fleming and the Candace branch president have written you an introduction to the Dodge Mayor, he admires you all the time, now you can go to the Dodge Mayor and talk about what you wanted to tell him before, you've done so much, whether it's getting you to go into the arsenal to pick up weapons or get a job in the city government. Pierre interrupted Otto.

"You know he's not here for those who went to see Mayor Dodge.... Speaking of which, I also remembered that I had made a promise to you before. He hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke.

"Don't you want to know where the Brotherhood of Steel lair is? ... I can tell you, but I want you to make a promise to me that you won't try to go there and kill anyone because of anyone's incitement. Andy understood Pierre's thoughts, after all, he had feelings for the Brotherhood of Steel, so he immediately made a guarantee.

"Well, listen, I'll tell you again, I haven't told anyone exactly where this place is, and the Candace branch president and the Dodge mayor have never pressed me out of respect for me, and that Fleming bastard thinks like this, but he doesn't dare to really do anything to me without the permission of the Dodge mayor.... You are the first to know about the Hoover Dam. ”

"Actually... The Brotherhood of Steel is closer to the Hoover Dam than most people think, and when the NcR takes control of the Hoover Dam, the Elders are actively discussing sending an expedition to the east to build a forward base to provide a basis for subsequent force projections and other military strategies, and after reviewing the information in the literature database, they have found a suitable target. ”

"It was a pre-war military bunker, in a valley three or four hours east of Hoover Dam, and I had seen that it belonged to a pre-war SA senator named Todd Peterson. I don't know what he did, in short, Poseidon Energy and Vault Technology and the military, under the coordination of the SA government, seem to have contributed manpower and material resources to help him secretly build this military-level bunker for his private in the official name, the project probably began in 2067, but the bunker did not come in handy in 2077. ”

"Councilor Todd's family was in a tragic car accident on the way to the bunker, and Councilor Todd and most of his family died instantly, except for a sergeant named Ben Schilling, who later joined the Brotherhood of Steel, which was led by the original Supreme Elder Roger Maxson.... It was also thanks to him that the information about this bunker was recorded by the Brotherhood. Andy listened to these past events with relish, and asked a question between his dry mouth and bowed his head to drink water.

"What's the name of that bunker?" Pierre put down the water glass, and now the price of clean water in the market at Hoover Dam City is not cheap, so he drinks it with restraint.

"The bunker has no name, only a code name, and the code name doesn't matter, it's just a string of numbers. In 2231, Jeremy Maxson, the current Supreme Elder of the Brotherhood of Steel, had insight into the NcR's intentions, and after consulting with the other Elders, he made the decision to send an expedition to the east, and the stronghold chose what we now call the secret bunker. The man who was appointed to captain the expedition was a paladin named Andrea Bricosley, who lasted several years and made it all the way from New California to the east of the Hoover Dam, enduring countless dangers. ”

"For the next ten years, the expedition took root in this bunker, and it became the easternmost branch of the Iron Brotherhood, with the unanimous consent of the Council of Elders and the support of the High Elders, and the Arizonsan branch of the Iron Brotherhood, which was in constant contact with the headquarters and obeyed orders. When everything was discovered, more reinforcements were sent from headquarters to join the expedition, but the bunker where the branch was stationed never had an official name, and I was one of the members who later came from New California. ”

"It wasn't until around 2243, when the Holy War with the NcR began to kick in, that the secret branch was officially recognized by the Brotherhood of Steel headquarters, and Elder Brikosley decided to give the branch an official name, and in honor of the great Brotherhood of Steel founder Roger Maxson, she decided to name the bunker Fort Maxson." Andy nodded his head as he listened, but he suddenly noticed a detail.

"Are you right about Elder Bricosley? How exactly are classes divided within the Brotherhood of Steel? I feel like it's messy. Pierre sat down in a chair and crossed his legs in a casual pose and began to explain to Andy.

"The Iron Brotherhood was first founded by a group of SA soldiers, who witnessed what the SA government did, and those horrific human experiments were so anti-human and filthy, so the great First Supreme Elder Roger Maxson was determined to lead all the soldiers who were willing to follow him to devote themselves to making everything not continue to happen in this world, whether it was biological weapons, human experiments, or those world-destroying nuclear bombs, these pre-war technologies that would cause disasters once they got out of control, and someone in the world had to take care of them."

"Referring to the ancient books, Elder Roger Maxson established the Brotherhood of Steel, where members skilled in combat would be appointed knights, armed with advanced energy weapons and power armor to defend the Brotherhood by force, and ensure that those precious pre-war technologies were not touched by those with ulterior motives; Those who are not good at combat, but have a nimble mind, will have the opportunity to become scribes, whose duty is to record, collect, and properly preserve all the scientific and important information that we come into contact with, as well as to provide logistical support for the knights. ”

"Those who excel among the knights will be promoted to leader, and their position will become that of a paladin, and each paladin will be able to lead a part of the knights in various tasks, and enjoy better equipment and treatment; In the same way, the best of the scribes will be promoted to become the chief scribe.... I used to be a scribe. ”

"It seems that these two groups should be equal, but the division of labor is different..."Pierre said, a little unhappiness appeared on his face, Andy knew that he was about to say one next

But", and that's exactly what happened.

"But that's not the case." Andy had an idea.

"Hmm... Pierre, does this situation have anything to do with your departure from the Brotherhood of Steel? ”