Chapter 1412: Chapter 585: The Left Behind Envelope_2

This means that Zizhu Base has the opportunity to produce more than twenty more Awakeners.

“Not bad…”

Wang Tao nodded.

Later, he could allocate some resources to these people, enable their Ascension into Awakeners, and significantly boost the overall strength of Zizhu Base.

Wang Tao had already accepted taking over Zizhu Base in his mind, but he had no intention of staying himself. It would suffice to resolve their food crisis and enhance their strength a bit. Wang Tao didn’t expect anything in return; with his current abilities, it was merely a gesture of goodwill. In the post-apocalypse, it was always good to help more Survivors.

The only thing that needed confirmation was the moral character of these people.

Not by the standards before the Apocalypse–that was unrealistic. As long as they met the current common standards and passed, that was sufficient.

So far, these people had made a good impression on Wang Tao. They were poor, but Wang Tao could tell that most of them had a positive approach to life, devoid of sleaziness, much like the people from Changhe Base.

“Is this… the room of the former Lord?”

Walking along, Wang Tao came to a room with a sign reading “Leader’s Residence, Authorized Personnel Only.”

He had the key and opened the door directly.

The interior was sparsely furnished, much like the outside, which was to be expected since it was an air-raid shelter where elaborate decor was not a possibility. As for space, it was quite large, approximately a hundred square meters, which was normal for a Leader. It was normal for the head of the house to have a larger space.

“Hmm? What’s this…”

Wang Tao suddenly discovered a storage room inside filled with many wooden crates, about the same size as suitcases, which emitted a familiar scent…

He immediately took one of the crates out and pried it open with ease. Inside, he saw something wrapped in old newspapers, and the familiar scent intensified.

Wang Tao tore the newspaper off, revealing the black powder inside.

“As I thought!”

Seeing this substance, Wang Tao’s expression grew stern.

The scent of this powder was unmistakably the same as the “Holy medicine” of the Dusk Church!

If this powder was mixed with water and boiled, it would undoubtedly result in a large pot of Holy medicine.

Wang Tao had previously said that the members of the Dusk Church hadn’t consumed this poisonous Holy medicine, but it seemed he had been careless–no, wait!

Wang Tao suddenly realized that those who drank this Holy medicine would exhibit signs of poisoning. But he had just observed those people, and none of them showed any signs of being poisoned!

“Could it be they haven’t drunk it? Or could it be that the Holy medicine has been upgraded and no longer causes poisoning? But that doesn’t seem right either, the concoction of these Potions would have a strong scent, yet I’ve detected no such aroma nor seen anyone concocting it…”

Wang Tao was puzzled, but still took all the crates out, totaling over sixty. These were likely enough to produce a lot of “Holy medicine.”

Thinking it over, Wang Tao took out the walkie-talkie given to him by Zhao Yaru.

“Zhao Yaru, can you hear me?”

“Crackling–Priest Lord, I’m here, what are your orders!”

Zhao Yaru was obviously holding on to the walkie-talkie and immediately replied.

“Come over, I’m at the ‘Leader’s Residence.'”

“Understood!”

Moments later, Zhao Yaru arrived. But she didn’t come alone; the Awakeners Wang Tao had saved earlier had come as well.

Their condition was visibly better than before. Though they were far from fully recovered, they were no longer in mortal danger, clearly having received the aid of Healing-Type Ability Users.

Zhao Yaru had taken a bath and changed her clothes, revealing her natural appearance. Apart from numerous scars on her exposed skin, she was quite a beauty.

“Priest Lord!”

Zhao Yaru immediately led a group in saluting Wang Tao with clasped hands.

“You’re all here, good, have a look at this.”

Without wasting words, Wang Tao let them into the room and directed their gaze to the black powder in the crate.

“What’s this?”

To Wang Tao’s surprise, they all seemed astounded, as if seeing it for the first time.

Wang Tao’s spiritual power was fully activated, and he could sense that these people were truly surprised without uttering a word.

That was odd. Had none of these high-ranking individuals ever seen this black powder?

So, Wang Tao described the process of concocting the Holy medicine. He didn’t say the potions were poisonous but claimed they were something members of the Dusk Church from other places regularly consumed to strengthen their bodies. Only members of the Dusk Church were qualified to partake.

Upon hearing Wang Tao’s words, everyone else was baffled.

“Ah? Are we from the Dusk Church supposed to regularly drink potions made from this stuff? But I’ve never had any.”

“Me neither…”

“I was among the first to come to Zizhu Base, and I’ve never seen it either…”

“Could it be… our former Leader hoarded this good stuff for himself and didn’t share with us?”

“…Although I don’t want to believe it, that seems the most likely possibility…”

“Our Leader is actually a pretty decent person… Could it all have been an act? That would be terrifying…”

Everyone started discussing among themselves in confusion.

It was clear that they were struggling to believe that their former Leader would hide such treasures. But facts were right before their eyes, and they had no choice but to believe, feeling as if their perception had been shattered.

Wang Tao furrowed his brows.

Could it be that their Leader really hid these poisonous potions and drank them alone?

But that didn’t make sense either. If one person drank so much Holy medicine, wouldn’t they have been poisoned to death long ago…

“We really didn’t know; we rarely came to this room. If there was anything, the Leader would discuss it with us in the meeting room,…”

Zhao Yaru, afraid that Wang Tao wouldn’t believe her, hurriedly explained.

But Wang Tao gestured for her to stop and then used his spiritual power to carefully explore the room again.

Moments later, Wang Tao arrived at a desk, opened a drawer, and found an iron box inside. Opening it, there were some pre-Apocalypse photos.

The main subjects of the photos were a pretty woman in her thirties and a boy in his teens, along with the occasional appearance of a robust man in his thirties.

Zhao Yaru immediately pointed to the robust man and said:

“That’s the Leader… The woman and the child should be his family, right? But the Leader never mentioned them…”

Clearly, the Leader’s wife and child were no longer alive.

Wang Tao handed the photos to Zhao Ruyi, and then noticed at the very bottom of the iron box a letter with “To be personally opened by the current Leader” written in bold.

A letter left for his successors?

Wang Tao didn’t hesitate, tearing open the envelope. Inside were several folded letters. He looked at the first one and after a moment, his expression became complex.

“I see…”

The letter said that the potion powders were given to the Leader by the Bishop, instructing the Leader to mix them with water and offer them to other Believers to drink, claiming it would enhance their constitution and increase survival chances in the Apocalypse.

The Leader outwardly agreed but, in reality, he did not comply, and instead hid all the potions.

Because the Leader had previous encounters with the Dusk Church–it was where his wife and child had gone.

His family got separated. Later, when he finally found his wife and child, they had already joined the Dusk Church and consumed the supposed Holy medicine; an overdose led to their death not long after.

The Dusk Church claimed it was unrelated to the Holy medicine, but as a former doctor, he believed it was precisely the problem.

However, the people of the Dusk Church were powerful, and he stood no chance against them, so he retreated.

Later, he encountered the Bishop of the Dusk Church, whose ability was greater than his own. Knowing he couldn’t win, he pretended to want to join the Dusk Church, planning to wait until he grew stronger to avenge his wife and child.

The Bishop soon left, and he secretly kept the potions, intending not to give them to anyone else.

The Leader wrote all this down, advising the next Leader to be wary of other members of the Dusk Church, especially that Bishop. They should develop a completely different Dusk Church and, if possible, replace that Bishop!

“This aligns quite well with my own thoughts…”

Wang Tao murmured to himself.