"A third mistake is coming my way, but I hope I can avoid it this time." Mayor Dodge gradually shakes off those outdated emotions and looks serious again.

"I've really gotten a lot of exercise over the years and I feel like I've grown... It sounds strange, but that's what I was saying, what I used to avoid is now more important than my life. After the first attempt, I continued to attend regular meetings of the city council, even though the councillors came less and less out of fear, and even though I was the only one left, I continued to go until Major Fleming forbade me to go out of the house for safety reasons after the second attempt. ”

"The Brotherhood of Steel attacks on us have all but ceased in the last year, and they seem to have stopped except for the untrue attacks reported by the Caravan of the Three Brothers, and a small number of patrols reporting encounters and firefights with the Brotherhood of Steel. I think.... It's time to put an end to this long period of negativity, the Hoover Dam is in danger from the inside out after a long period of martial law, and if we continue like this, we will kill ourselves if we don't wait for the local community to reconnect with us, so we can't wait, we have to do something. ”

"After we re-established contact with Dogtown, I was surprised that some people objected to sending a train to contact Dogtown because there was no force of ours to defend it along the way, making this long road very risky; But I was so touched by the people of Dogtown that they were able to turn their hearts to NcR after all the soldiers had broken up and left, which really made me cry, so I finally managed to restore contact with them. ”

"We've also talked to the scientists who are stuck in the dome, and they're saying they'll find an opportunity to get out of there and come to the Hoover Dam when they've got some things figured out."

"I also learned from them about your previous actions, and when I then read the joint report from Minister Pierre, Major Fleming, and the Candace Branch President about your contribution to helping the Hoover Dam avoid a flood shortage, I knew that after this long period of despair, we would finally have our own moment of hope, and I would let everyone know about your heroic deeds."

"There's a little honor to this, let me give it to you." Mayor Dodge handed over a small medallion in a box.

The beep boy vibrated a few times. [New Item: NcR Pioneer Commendation Medal] [Description: A gold-plated round medal of honor with a sentence engraved in small letters on the back

"To our fearless colleague Joseph Dodge, it is your efforts to make NcR have a more brilliant tomorrow!" [Your reputation at Hoover Dam has been raised] [Your reputation at Hoover Dam has been raised to: Friendly] Andy took it in his hand and looked at it, this thing looked like it was the Medal of Honor that the NcR government had awarded to Mayor Dodge at the beginning, and it was a bit foolish to give it to him as a proof of honor at this time, but at least it was a piece of thought.

Perhaps noticing Andy looking through the small print on the back of the medallion, Mayor Dodge coughed in embarrassment.

"Ahem.... Don't worry, I'll give them orders at once, and you'll be our guest of honor, and I'll have Major Fleming send you a special radio station to call for reinforcements where there are my soldiers, and there will be reinforcements as soon as the situation allows. Seeing Andy accept the medal, Mayor Dodge thought for a moment and began to get down to business.

"So, how are we in relationship now?" Andy knows what Mayor Dodge is trying to say.

"Don't worry, I've never supported Alice McClavdie, and if I was a little wavered about it before, now that I've heard your true feelings, my choice has been decided." Mayor Dodge smiled with relief.

"I'm glad you can say that.... Alas, the third mistake I'm making now is to sit back and watch the Crimson Caravan's ambitions swell, but I have no reason to do it. When we ran out of ammunition, it was the Crimson Caravan that brought back a large amount of ammunition, and without McLafdie's support at the time, our soldiers would have had to stand guard with burning sticks, and it was because of their contribution that I could only acquiesce to them to transgress some of the rules. I actually knew that they were secretly suppressing the three brothers' caravan, and I also knew that the three brothers were actually doing a good job in the caravan, when I allowed them to come to the east to start a business, I just hoped that there would be a group of people to balance the Crimson caravan, but they actually performed much better than I expected. Hearing this, Andy sensed that the topic was about to be diverted against, and hurriedly opened his mouth to pull it back.

"Wait a minute, Mayor Dodge, I actually came to see you this time for an important matter." Mayor Dodge immediately asked Andy to ask for it, and he would not refuse within the scope of what he could.

Andy immediately began to tell about the new plague and the Fruit of Hope, hoping that Mayor Dodge would allow farms in the Central District to start growing the Fruit of Hope in large quantities, and then mix the Fruit of Hope into the reservoir to completely immunize the people of Hoover Dam and all the settlements associated with the Hoover Dam against the new plague.

Mayor Dodge didn't immediately blindly agree, he asked Andy to go through the details and think about it for a while before speaking.

"I hope you can understand that before this is actually implemented, the ingredients of the fruit you mentioned must be jointly tested by the Followers of the Apocalypse and Pierre to confirm that it is effective and free of poison and side effects before I can agree to this plan." This shows that Mayor Dodge is responsible.

After describing the horrors of the new plague and the limitations of the Great Dome tonic balm to Mayor Dodge, Mayor Dodge said that he would continue to track the progress and once all the tests were passed, he would make the Hope Fruit available at the Hoover Dam as soon as possible, not just by mixing it into drinking water, but also by other means to ensure that the entire permanent population and most of the floating population inside the Hoover Dam are covered.

Giving some fruit to the Dodge mayor, Andy felt a stone in his heart fall to the ground, and when the Hoover Dam also popularized the fruit of hope, the new plague epidemic in the entire Great Southwest Federation basically subsided, and the last fugitive that Odysseus asked to capture was in the southeast, but he didn't hear of any large settlements there, and the infected person was not expected to have much impact.

Maybe he should go to capture the last target now, and then he can officially complete the fugitive capture mission issued by Odysseus, and get his so-called ultimate reward from him, but for some reason, Andy always felt a little uneasy in his heart.

It seems that someone told him a long time ago not to be in such a hurry to finish this. It didn't seem to make much sense, Odysseus had delivered on the rewards it had promised in time every time, and it had learned that Andy and Diana had developed an antidote to a new plague, and that it was only going to hunt down the fugitives just to meet the procedural requirements of its system.

But just like the epidemic index in Pip-Boy, which has been stagnant for a long time and has begun to gradually decline, the likelihood of the worst-case scenario has become less and less likely with the passage of time.

Seemingly.... There's really no need to rush too much. Mayor Dodge saw Andy suddenly fall into deep thought, and after hesitating for a moment, he finally couldn't help but make a suggestion.

"If you're not in a hurry to do something else, I have one more thing to ask you here." Andy woke up from his thoughts and asked the Dodge mayor to speak.

He took off his hat and put it on the table, rubbing his fingers together until he finally stopped, and seemed to have made up his mind.

"I'm really... I really can't ignore the actions of the Crimson Caravan anymore, McClofty has been on the verge of madness lately, she first threatened the lives of all Hoover Dam citizens when the Hoover Dam was facing a water threat, trying to force me to allow her to become the Speaker of the Hoover Dam City Council; She then obstructed the arrival of the vital Jericho life-saving water, and even spread rumors about me that I had not been seen for so long because I was dead. ”

"I will never allow someone like that to control my Hoover Dam City, I have watched it grow to the point where it is today, and I will never allow it to become a prop for such a thug to realize his despicable desires." Andy, of course, agrees with Mayor Dodge's attitude, the Crimson Caravan is indeed a cancer in Hoover Dam City, and they have been a dominant family for a long time, and they have maintained a thriving situation while the entire Hoover Dam City is declining, which is definitely not due to honest management.

"So... How do you want to do that? I remember that the city of Hoover Dam was still very dependent on them, right? Mayor Dodge nodded in silence.

"Since we lost contact with the homeland, all the material aid from the homeland has ceased to exist, we have lost the coal from Burnham Springs, the Hoover Dam has been almost non-productive, the water purifier has been in trouble, and the electricity has been ignored. I realized at that time that the Hoover Dam was more dependent on caravans than ever, and without caravans for trade, let alone weapons, even food and water, the Hoover Dam was not self-sufficient. ”

"But now it's a different story, and in terms of food, Farmer Dave's farm has been expanded after you cleared the baseline area, and the miraculous wheat developed by Pierre is growing amazingly, and it won't be long before the Hoover Dam will no longer need to source food from outside, and we will be able to supply ourselves; When it comes to clean water, now you've helped us solve the water problem, and Pierre told me that the revamped water purifier will not only easily purify the pollutants from Lake Mead, but also produce more water than before, which will not only solve the water demand inside the Hoover Dam, but we can even consider starting a clean water trade. ”

"These changes are really a boost for me, because when I first cut off ties with us back home, I went crazy looking for something that we could sell at the Hoover Dam, and in the end I only found the building materials business, which provided us with a vital income to get through the most financially strained moments, but it wasn't sustainable." Mayor Dodge walked over to the window and reached open the curtains, pointing to the easternmost part of the Hoover Dam crest, which was heavily guarded by soldiers.

"If we keep doing it, it's the end of here." Andy followed his finger and thought for a moment before being surprised to think of a possibility.

"You mean to say.... From the Hoover Dam itself? The Dodge Mayor had a look of necessity on his face.

"We really couldn't think of a way to deal with the chaos caused by the sudden loss of contact with the Hoover Dam City, so I had to ask the soldiers to go to the area that had been destroyed by Caesar's legions, that is, to the east of the Hoover Dam, and to destroy the dam and get steel, concrete, wood, special steel and stone from the Hoover Dam, which were needed by all settlements, and there was never a shortage of buyers." Andy listened and suddenly figured out one thing, that is, why it had been so long since Caesar's Legion's attack, and the eastern part of Hoover Dam was still under strict military control and blockade.

"I see, you asked the soldiers to prevent anyone from approaching the eastern exit of the dam, and even to this day, in order to prevent people with ulterior motives from taking advantage of that vulnerable place." Mayor Dodge looked at the East with his hands behind his back, his eyes full of worry.

"Not only that, but if the citizens found out about it, out of fear, they wouldn't have allowed me to do it, so I had to find an excuse to keep it secret and block the east-west passage of the Hoover Dam."

"Of course, the construction sites where the building materials were collected have long reported the negative impact of our sabotage on parts of the Hoover Dam, which has become extremely fragile and unstable, and if someone had planted enough bombs there, the Hoover Dam would have been blown open a breach, after which the water that had been held up upstream for years would burst and collapse the entire dam, destroying everything in a short period of time."

"That's what I've always feared the most, and a lot of times I have nightmares about it."

"Fortunately.... It looks like everything is well controlled. Mayor Dodge closed the curtain and returned to his chair.

"We have recently made another breakthrough and completed the decoupling from the Crimson Caravan in the most important military areas, and Pierre reported to me that he learned that the main pollutants in the water body are potassium nitrate and sulfur, in addition to nitric acid, based on the analysis of the dirt residue extracted from the water purifier.... These ingredients happen to be used as raw materials for black powder and gunpowder. ”

"We bypassed the Crimson caravan and made direct contact with the remote settlement, who could produce their own coal, but happened to lack these raw materials, and we could get what we needed each other after we reached a stable trade relationship, and exchanged raw materials for ammunition. So I can now say that we no longer need to rely on the ammunition supplied by the Crimson Caravan. He looked up solemnly.

"With all that said, it's time to start a move on the Crimson Caravan, but we need a good enough reason before we do it, the Three Brothers Caravan told us that they suspect that the Crimson Caravan has been secretly dealing with the Brotherhood of Steel, and the evidence is that their company's caravans have been repeatedly attacked, and the Crimson Caravan's team, although larger and more numerous, does not seem to be attacked by the Brotherhood of Steel at all."

"While this is just a speculation, there is clearly something out of the ordinary."

"I hope you'll find some genuine evidence to help me bring down Alice McClofdy once and for all, and I'll send soldiers to take her down at once." Pip-Boy vibrates a few times, revealing a new quest.

"Okay, I'll do my best, Mayor Dodge, I'll ...."Andy hadn't finished speaking, when suddenly a terrible explosion came from the gates of Hoover Dam City, followed by the sound of a large number of bullets and energy being fired.

"Buzz——————" The sirens inside the city of Hoover Dam were immediately sounded, and the terrible sirens resounded throughout the Hoover Dam, scaring the people who were hanging out on the top of the dam to flee, the citizens squeezed the elevators to the central area, and the soldiers were full of anxiety to find their military rifles on their shoulders and nervously rushed towards the gate.

There are officers shouting with loudspeakers.

"Attention, everyone, just now, the Brotherhood of Steel launched another raid on us, we are fighting, we are fighting, until I declare the special state lifted, you are going to stay at home or any area with cover..."Mayor Dodge turned back to the window and looked at the southern gate of Hoover Dam, where billowing smoke was rising, and every now and then gunshots rang out, sometimes red lasers briefly illuminated everything around.

Standing behind the high window of the military headquarters, Andy sees the so-called Brotherhood of Steel, dressed in a thick metal armor that at first glance looks like robots, but is not.

That's exactly what power armor is.