It turns out that this is how the reservation was born, a group of survivors of a military base...

It's just that, for now, the population of the reservation seems to be a bit strange, the total number of ghouls is more than a hundred, you must know that ghouls do not grow old or sick, and can hardly die of natural causes, how can a large military base only have such a small number of people? What's more, there are people like Hank who joined later, the so-called "newcomers".

"Dr. Clark, how many people survived that time?"

Andy asked the question in his mind.

"On the day the bomb fell, although the entire base had already undergone many rehearsal trainings, there were about 1,500 people who were able to enter the place in time before the bunker gate closed. The total number of nuclear bombs falling around this area exceeded the intended threshold for the design protection of the bunker, resulting in unstoppable downward leakage of radiation contamination, and eventually.... There were no deaths from radiation poisoning and serious complications or organ failure, only 40 people, and they were all a different form of life from human beings, just like me. ”

Dr. Clark's voice became a little muffled.

"We hid underground for ten years, the first year was the most dead, and for the next nine years people kept dying, and I spent a lot of time trying to understand what had happened to us survivors, wondering if we had been given a suspended death sentence or were the lucky ones, and I was able to confirm that it was definitely not a random mutation due to the effects of radiation or a simple physical injury caused by radiation contamination, but a... Miraculously, in the past, the medical field has always believed that neutrons produced by radiation will only completely destroy biological genes and cause cancer and death, but at that time, people did not have the opportunity to do human experiments on such a scale. ”

"I think that in the human population, about 2% of the human population is different, these people have a set of strange codes hidden in their genes, and after just the right amount of continuous absorption of a certain dose of radiation, the hidden code will come into play, and the genes will quickly recombine into another structure after a short collapse, and this new structure will allow them to adapt to the new external environment and survive, a new external environment full of radiation."

As he spoke, Dr. Clark became emotional again.

"The most suitable thing to bring about this change is exposure to a specific type of ionizing radiation with a wavelength of no more than 10 picometers, and before the Great War there was a term for this ionizing radiation of such a short wavelength, known as gamma radiation. In the past, it was common knowledge that even a moderate dose of gamma radiation exposure for a short period of time could easily cause death, but as with the case of those who survived a famous radiation accident unharmed or persevered for longer than others, not everyone dies, on the contrary, some people can benefit from this exposure, a complex transformation of the body that disrupts the normal decay process of spinal cord neurotransmitters. ”

"In other words, we have eternal life."

Andy stood there looking at the display on the wall, thinking to himself that this description was not wrong, that the ghouls had indeed gained immortality, and that Dr. Clark, as a scientist, had heard of the principles behind the changes caused by this radiation for the first time, giving him a deeper understanding of ghouls.

If it was before the war of material abundance, people would definitely go crazy to get immortality, but now, immortality is not something that everyone can't ask for, compared to the pursuit of power and wealth, the wastelanders' pursuit of immortality is far surpassed by the first two, except for ghouls, super mutants have a lifespan far beyond humans, but wastelanders don't want to become either of the two.

Even the word lifespan is rarely used in the wasteland, because most of the wastelanders will die in their youth or prime of life for various reasons, and few can survive to old age, and those who are lucky enough to survive to old age are repeatedly despised and despised, unable to enjoy their old age in peace, and can only drag their bodies full of injuries and illnesses to survive in some small settlements that are still harmonious and peaceful.

Dr. Clark's subsequent remarks also confirm that Andy's idea is not wrong.

"People today do not desire eternal life, and those who receive it will discard it at will, and before we finally end our fear of the outside world and return to the earth ten years after the outbreak of the Great War, many people have committed suicide because of the pain caused by the physical changes, they cannot bear the complete shedding of connective tissue, the decay of the skin, the stench of those who are unrecognizable due to the outflow of tissue fluid and the growth of bacteria and microorganisms..."

As he spoke, the hoarse voice gritted his teeth more and more.

"But I reject this self-destructive tendency to depravity, we are by no means 'degraded post-humans' as the slippery skin claims, no, they are wrong, what is happening in us is an evolution, and that is absolutely right! We... It is a creature that is truly adapted to the environment of this world, and the radiation that fills the whole world has only a positive effect on us: radiation can even promote the recovery of our body, and it is radiation that drives the functioning of our body, our digestive system is strengthened, and our senses are weakened, which makes it difficult for humans to eat food that we can eat, we never get sick, and we can go a long time without eating or excreting..."

"We are not posthuman... We are new humans, we are indeed no longer the original humans, but humans beyond humans, and we have evolved into a completely new species! ”

Listening to Dr. Clark's words, Andy naturally thought of those super mutants, who also seem to have similar characteristics as ghouls, can also not be harmed by radiation, also have an extraordinary lifespan, can also eat a lot of food that humans can't eat, and can quickly recover from injuries... But they are so different, super mutants eat a huge amount of food, and the amount of excretion is also extremely large, which is evident in Beatrice, super mutants have strong muscles and mostly green and brown skin, and ghoul skin colors are varied, what red, yellow, blue, purple and black are everything, and the body is mostly hemp rod shape, skin and bones.

If the essential difference between the two is that the change of ghouls stems from the physical phenomenon that is already widespread in nature and outer space, while the changes of super mutants are caused by the infection of an artificial virus, the forced evolution virus, that is, FEV.

"But..."

Dr. Clark's mouth gradually calmed down.

"But we need to acknowledge the status quo, which is that we are a very small minority, that we do not have enough voice and power... I deeply experienced the attitude of the slippery skin outside towards us, and at that time I naively thought that everyone outside... All those who are still alive have already undergone the same transformation as us, however I have overlooked a key point, the bA does not have so many nuclear bombs to cover every inch of the SA, their nuclear strikes will only concentrate the nuclear bombs on important targets, and elsewhere, the radiation is far less intense than Los Alamos. ”

"Twelve of us left the underground and walked out of Los Alamos to the outside, wishful thinking to help the other survivors and understand what the world had become, but we found that the world had become extremely dangerous, ugly, and full of unwarranted hostility to us among the survivors."

"Instead of being grateful, the people we helped us attack after we were attacked by bandits, just because these slippery skins thought we weren't human, but damn monsters... They joked about us and abused us like animals, and then they shot us one by one. ”

"I cried in despair, watching my companions being shot one by one, and I tried my best to explain to them that we are not monsters, that we are still sensible and have a friendly heart, that even though we are very different on the outside, we are still human on the inside... They denied it until the gun ran out of bullets when it was my turn, and I was lucky not to be killed on the spot. ”

"When I finally returned from outside a year later with fifty of my kind, I understood that we needed a refuge from all the dangers of the wasteland, especially the persecution of the slippery skins, and in order to unite and uplift everyone, I formed the Children of the Wasteland and told them about Los Alamos... The reserve is the promised refuge of the children of the wasteland, and I tell them that we are not monsters, that we are the chosen ones, and that we must not lose hope of life because of the hostility from the outside world. ”

"Now, you can see the fruits of more than 100 years of perseverance and development."

Andy stood still and was moved by Dr. Clark's unreserved narration, is this the story of the birth and development of the reservation? As inspirational as it sounds, a group of people who have been turned beyond recognition by radiation in the apocalypse have regained their spirits after being subjected to external pressures, rebuilt their lives and spiritual worlds, and finally succeeded.

"You are indeed worthy of the title of Messiah. So, what do you need me to do now? ”

Clark smiled and slowly said one of his own proposals that surprised Andy a little.

"You, Andy, would you mind being the 'good' ambassador of the reservation?"

He used the monitor to see the look of surprise on Andy's face and immediately added an explanation.

"Nowadays, the reserve has sufficient self-protection forces, a complete product production line and a stable internal order, and here in our reservation, any theft, robbery, or damage to other people's property will be sentenced to death, and this troubled era has forced me to adopt extremely strict laws to regulate people's behavior, and I have seen with my own eyes how chaotic and cruel the lawless land is outside, so I do not want the reservation to fall to that point."

"But this is not the end, we have done it, but with our development we cannot not contact the outside world, we need to do business with more and bigger settlements, sell the weapons, armor, and ammunition we produce to them in exchange for caps and supplies... What's more..."

Dr. Clark paused for a moment and uttered something very high.

"The contradictions, hatred, and hostility between Slippery and us have been going on for a long time, and I hope that this kind of racial hatred will disappear one day, and if we simply retaliate with the same attitudes and behaviors as those racists, this hatred will continue forever, so I think... We need to change the way we perceive us little by little through our interactions with the outside world, where poverty and aggression can exacerbate stereotypes and stability, but wealth and friendliness can invisibly dismantle the nasty things. ”

"We need an emissary to convey our friendship to the leaders of the other settlements on our behalf, we are willing to enter into stable cooperative relations and trade with them, we welcome them to understand us, contact us, and return kindness with kindness, but considering that the outside world is still similar to a hundred years ago, the candidate for this emissary needs to be a capable, knowledgeable slipper, and a slippery who is willing to be friendly with us and help each other."

Hearing this, Andy also understood that this candidate for Dr. Clark was chosen by himself, Wagner's report allowed him to determine his ability and style of acting, and the measles inquiry made him confirm that he had extensive insight into various large settlements in the Great Midwest Federation, the agreement with the Sandman tribe, the destruction of the trade blackmail of the Caesar Legion, the recovery of the thieves who stole the property of the reservation and punished them, these small cases and small tasks made him determine that he was willing to do things for the ghouls, so to the current interview session, Everything has long been self-explanatory.

Andy looked at Dr. Clark's mouth, this solicitation must be very profitable, he just needs to be a middleman between the reservation and the outside settlement, it sounds quite attractive, but he still has his attitude and ideas.

"Dr. Clark, if one day people break down their prejudices against you, can the reservation be better internally? I mean... At the very least, please give up slavery, stop sending innocent slaves to factories as consumables, and track down those who oppose the reservation. ”

Dr. Clark was silent for several minutes before finally giving an answer.

"It's... It may be possible, but it will take a little time. Slaves are essential to our current production, and I don't think there's a problem with using them, these slaves weren't captured by us, and we weren't even responsible for transporting them here, and even if we didn't buy them, they would have to endure the fate of being enslaved and sold to places where the environment might not be as good as reservations, you have to admit it, right? ”

"Our largest supplier is an organization called Caesar's Legion, a group of warlords who use brutal force to sustain a slave nation in the eastern part of the Hurricane Belt where periodic hurricanes ravage the hurricanes. These men have nothing to do with us, they are all slippery, but they are not as united as we are, but are eager to invade, to conquer their own kind, to turn them into their own livestock and commodities, and then to send them all the way from the east to us in exchange for equipment. It's all consensual, even more proactive on their side... Are we also responsible for the actions of your own sloppy kind? ”

Andy was speechless, the members of Caesar's legion were indeed not ghouls, which made him, a fellow human individual, unable to stand on the commanding heights to judge the behavior of the ghouls in enslavement, but unfortunately the eastward movement has been stagnant for many years or even on the verge of collapse due to internal and external troubles, otherwise can it be possible to change the scene here?

As far as he could see and feel along the way, even if the NcR could gain a foothold in the east, the areas it could control would only be dotted around transportation hubs and large settlements, and the Buraku people who occupied large areas of the frontier would still not easily agree to integrate into "civilization", and the erosion that occurred in the NcR itself would appear here to an even more terrible degree. Large tribes such as Blackfoot and Ouroboros are unlikely to remain hostile to the NcR, rejecting the infiltration of the NcR order and becoming a long-term source of erosion.

Seeing Andy fall silent, Dr. Clark bypassed the stubble for the time being.

"You should have seen that we were looking for opponents among us, which is a necessary act, our group is small, and it is not easy to develop to this day. But once the hard times are over, people's minds begin to diverge, whether before or after the Great War, and this is the unchanging human nature. ”

"They want to shake the order here, they want to overthrow my rule, it's not acceptable at all, it doesn't do any individual or the whole group of us, it's just that some individuals can't figure it out, and their reason is distorted by the selfishness in their hearts and turned into an incorrigible virus. This kind of person must be dealt with in a timely manner... But out of mercy, there is no death penalty for the members of the reserve, and I can assure you that none of the opponents were killed, they were simply banished. ”

Andy looked up again, and said in his heart that if he hadn't seen the Endless Walker and inquired about the details of the cruel criminal law of the Endless Banishment, Dr. Clark's bright and straightforward one-sided expression was really impeccable, and it seemed that he was righteous and benevolent... The naysayers weren't killed, but were put into an endless exile that was worse than death, and Andy believed that if they were to wake up their sanity, which had been roasted by the scorching heat of the new mS, and give them another chance to choose, they would have chosen a bullet to end everything.

But at the end of the day, it's the ghouls' own business, and if anyone has a better relationship with them, it's only Hank.

"Dr. Clark, some of you have never spoken out against you, so why are they always under endless suspicion and investigation?"

Faced with this question, Dr. Clark seemed confident, as if he had already thought about it.

"I'm guessing you're talking about the 'silent naysayers,' and you see, these people can be more harmful than the ostensibly bombastic ones, especially the 'newcomers'. They have only been one of our kind for a short time, and they do not have a deep affection for the reservation, this is a very unreliable group of people, although they seem to have no problem on the surface, but in their hearts they may still be a slippery skin, and keep a different heart, this must be guarded against. If he is still in an important position, this is even more terrifying, like a bomb that may explode at a critical place at any time, and of course it is a last resort to take strict precautions against them. ”

As soon as Andy heard it, the whole reservation was basically Hank, and it seemed that Clark was not only clear about the measles investigation of Hank, but also supported, and speculated from a darker angle, maybe this targeted investigation was what Clark instructed Measles to carry out, and he was a slippery skin in their mouths or should not participate in it anymore.

Let the human be the human and the ghoul the ghoul.

Andy closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then said his answer.

"Well, then, Dr. Clark, I'm willing to be a friendly ambassador for the reservation... There is only one condition, and that is about my car, which is now in an awkward situation. ”