Aint Translations

SUP Chapter 102: The Omnipotent Sentinel, That Snap! (Part One)

Ian remembered the way to the base and he didn't need Gwen's broken bicycle either.

As a millionaire from another world, Ian had bought the book "Things the Rich Should Know," so he knew very well that boys like himself should be wary of others.

"Today Gwen dares to lend me her bicycle, tomorrow she'll dare to ask me to be the new Spider-Man... How naive of her to think that." Ian wouldn't casually give others the chance to curry favor with him.

He had to guard against any situation where he might be held hostage by gratitude. Full of the teachings that Zhang Wuji's mother had imparted to transmigrators, Ian continuously used [Bounce Flight] to reach the familiar alley.

He lifted the manhole cover.

Ian dropped down like free fall.

Perhaps due to muscle memory, he subconsciously wanted to bounce in the low, wide sewer. Only after jumping did he realize his head nearly crashed straight through the concrete ceiling above.

"Stark Industries' product quality is really good, probably more blast-resistant than planes from Curry Country." Ian's hands were firmly stuck in the concrete ceiling above his head.

He saw a thick metal pipe with [Stark Industries] markings on it. He wanted to use his fingernails to scratch it off and write [Doomsday Joy] instead, but found he couldn't do it.

Therefore, his ancestral identity came online.

Golden light naturally arose in his frustration.

"Heat vision still works best~" When Ian landed back on the ground, the golden glow in his eyes slowly faded.

After carving a few letters on the metal pipe and drawing a stick figure with a perky butt, he confirmed that the metal material used here might indeed be quite special.

Definitely very suitable for intercepting missiles.

"Teacher Tony must know the formula." Ian ran through the damp sewers. The absence of rats made this place look completely clean.

Soon, the familiar steel door appeared.

The base's door recognized Ian's face, then beeped with a green light and slowly opened. Inside was empty, or more precisely, there wasn't a single living person.

The busy researchers had all disappeared.

It seemed they had gone with the other soldiers and printed people to study Galactus.

The entire base was very quiet.

Only the base's core remained in its massive mainframe, the holographic Tony Stark facing away from the entrance, seemingly lost in thought as he stared at a display screen.

The display screen showed not surveillance footage but a mass of meaningless static.

Just meaningless static in Ian's view, like the kind of snowy dots that everyone could see on their home TV after forgetting to pay the cable bill.

"Hey, Teacher Tony, have you eaten?" Ian waved his hand. The water stains from his boots left mud prints on the floor, which were quickly absorbed by the floor as if it had self-cleaning functionality.

Tony's projection didn't turn around.

"Do I look like I can still eat?" He seemed to have known Ian would come at this time, possibly having calculated the most precise timing.

He showed no surprise at all.

"It's okay, I brought you some computer viruses, maybe they taste good?" Ian knew what it meant to be polite. He pulled out a USB drive he had copied from his home computer.

There was nothing else on it.

Just lots of viruses.

When asking for favors, one should carry appropriate gifts.

"..."

Digital Tony caught the very real gift with his virtual body, directly throwing it into the trash can. He didn't seem to like Ian's customized present very much.

However, this digital god didn't correct Ian's way of addressing him either. This made Ian feel that Tony definitely still liked his gift, and would probably go through the trash after he left.

Teachers who liked to put on airs were all like this.

Ian had already felt the tacit understanding between teacher and student. Just like how Ian could taste that demons really weren't bad, he didn't believe any intelligent life could refuse delicious computer viruses.

"Teacher, what are you looking at?"

Ian brazenly moved closer.

He tried hard to use the static on the screen to piece together patterns, but whether it was an imagination problem or Digital Tony had hidden his electronic lady too deeply.

The hardworking boy's eyes went blurry, but he couldn't piece together anything.

"This is a recording."

Digital Tony spoke softly, "Radio wave recordings from before the universe collapsed, do you know? As the universe expands, electromagnetic radiation's wavelength gets stretched while its energy gradually decreases."

"They eventually form the radio waves everyone's familiar with. When these radio waves are captured by human instruments and displayed on screens, this is what appears."

Digital Tony spoke in a leisurely narrative voice.

"So, do these static dots hide some secrets about aliens?" It had to be said, Ian was heavily influenced by the book "World's Unsolved Mysteries."

Tony glanced at him.

"Do you think I'd be that bored?" His tone was helpless.

He felt Ian was treating him like some illiterate who hadn't read for a PhD.

"They're not static dots, they're the afterglow of the universe's birth... a brat like you can't understand their beauty." Tony's voice was extraordinarily gentle.

Even somewhat incomprehensible to others but Ian could understand.

Who told him he had super intelligence?

"I see."

Ian roughly understood Tony's meaning, but he wasn't interested in such romance. He only knew his guess was right, after becoming electronic, Tony had indeed changed in all aspects.

Even his orientation was affected.

It was more serious than the condition he had previously guessed, where electronic people would fall in love with electronic ladies.

Ladies?

No ladies at all! Tony seemed to have directly transformed from a playboy who only slept with the most beautiful women to someone who now seemed to only want to make love to the most beautiful radio waves!

Yes.

Such a lamentable transformation.

Being a digital person really shouldn't be attempted.

"I admit the radio waves you're fixated on are indeed beautiful, and perhaps they have personality that could successfully arouse your CEO interest, but actually the corpses of Sentry and the All-Man are not bad either?" Ian frantically and stiffly hinted at Tony, of course remembering what he had come to the base to do.

As Ian winked and gestured.

Tony chose not to pretend he didn't see.

He withdrew his gaze from the display screen, seriously and solemnly staring at the boy beside him. The holographic image's facial details suddenly became clear enough to show pores.

"I can let you touch their corpses, but you need to promise me one thing." Obviously, this was Digital Tony hoping to negotiate some exchange conditions with Ian.

"Equivalent exchange, very reasonable, but don't treat me like Dormammu." Ian nodded, not surprised, but still emphasized that Tony shouldn't go too far.

"For you, this is a very simple thing."

Tony nodded and spoke softly.

"You want me to help you snap your fingers?" This was something Ian had actually guessed long ago. He wasn't really someone who didn't like to use his brain, the previous information could all lead him to this conclusion.

"Yes, you need to help us reestablish the universe's order. This is the last chance and cannot tolerate any failure. Otherwise, we'll fall into true abyss and be shattered and lost."

"Eventually we'll become part of those toxins that poison other universes." Tony's words contained a lot of information. He obviously knew many secrets unknown to others.

"You trust me that much?" Ian's eyes flickered slightly.

He thought again about the information Death had given him. Parasitic invasion and fusion were two invasion methods, but these days' experiences made Ian suspect he was encountering a third situation. The people here seemed to only want to rebuild their homeland, with no intention of seeking new homes.

Could it be a disguise?

Hard to say but one thing could probably be confirmed, if this world's entities wanted to invade DC, they definitely wouldn't choose the Infinity Stones, as those things could only function within the Marvel universe.

"Who else can I trust?"

Facing Ian's inquiry, Tony only gave a counter-question, "I carry not just souls, but the universe's remaining laws, and they're decreasing bit by bit."

"Overly powerful individuals, my remaining resources can no longer support. You can't expect my remnant form to still have the right to unleash the Infinity Stones' power, can you?"

This looked like playing the victim, but also had an indescribable helplessness.

"Last chance... meaning you've tried not just once, but many times? How many times?" Ian was still pondering the information Tony had revealed earlier.

Hearing this, Digital Tony didn't give an exact answer.

"How many times? I'll give you a hint, you can guess." He just raised his hand, extended one finger, making a gesture that seemed somewhat out of character.

"Hmm? Am I Iron Man now?" Ian walked around to behind the virtual image, taking a look at Digital Tony's rear. He didn't have any Sorcerer Supreme cloak either.

"Only you can do this."

Digital Tony spoke seriously.

"No, I don't think I can do it. You should have monitored this already." Ian seized the opportunity and walked toward the weapon display cabinet nearby.

Tony cooperatively helped him open the cabinet.

"Zzt zzt zzt~"

Ian aimed at his own temple and fired dozens of shots in succession.

[You attempted to learn bullet-catching by hand. Although practical learning failed, you still gained some death-defying techniques. [Student] profession experience +1]

[You attempted to learn bullet-catching by hand. Although practical learning failed, you still gained some death-defying techniques. [Student] profession experience +1]

[You attempted to learn bullet-catching by hand. Although practical learning failed, you still gained some death-defying techniques. [Student] profession experience +1]

...

He still couldn't successfully catch laser bullets.

This was too difficult.

What made Ian more uncomfortable was that as his physical attributes increased, the experience gained from this reasonable grinding mechanism decreased, no longer giving him that surging improvement feeling.

Of course, there were still gains this time.

[Student lv8 (1/1280)]

Ian's [Student] profession leveled up.

He gained another general skill point. Honestly, Ian was recently torn between whether to put general skill points into [Learning] or improve his [Ian Kent Defense Technique].

Both skills had a conceptual flavor. The former had higher growth returns, while the latter was a noble percentage-based skill. Both were skills that could have stronger positive effects on Ian once upgraded.

Beginner, Basic, Excellent, Elite, these were the skill level divisions Ian already knew for ordinary skills. Beginner to Basic required 1 general skill point, Basic to Excellent required 2 general skill points, Excellent to Elite required 4, and Elite upward required a full 8 general skill points.

Due to the appearance and leveling of the [Writer] profession, combined with the [Student] profession leveling up again, Ian had accumulated a full 9 general skill points.

The general skill points needed to upgrade [Learning] were indeed enough, but precisely because of [Writer]'s appearance, Ian felt it might birth a specialized skill after leveling up a few more times.

This was just speculation and intuition.

Since he had no similar experience.

Ian couldn't make a definitive judgment either.

Anyway, he was slightly conflicted.

"Zzt zzt zzt~"

Of course, conflicted as he was, Ian didn't stop his leveling pace. After another fifty or sixty experience points, Ian, who had planned to make good use of resources, was stopped by Tony. Tony directly shut down all weapon systems, and Ian saw the gun in his hand turn into a toy-like model.

"Don't be so stingy..."

Ian was slightly regretful.

"Like I said, our resources are gradually decreasing." Tony sighed, "This also means the physical laws I preserve are being depleted."

"Haven't you noticed you can only move around in this city?" His words made Ian slightly stunned. This truth was quite subversive to Ian's original expectations.

"So, beyond Earth, there's no universe left?" Ian's eyes widened.

He realized even Earth might no longer be complete.

"It is a universe, but also chaotic void. Now, the existence here is my last remaining strength, but even so, we're already in the countdown to the end." Tony's projection flickered, "Being able to persist this long is thanks to help from that friend whose corpse you want to defile."

"Otherwise..." His words weren't finished, but the meaning was already clear: without Sentry's help, this world would probably have lost even its current spark long ago.

"Don't worry, I'll definitely say thank you to him, nine times." Ian didn't know how to respond, only making a solemn promise.

Three times meant importance.

Nine times meant triple importance, the floral meaning of being more grateful than grateful.

"..."

Tony was silent precisely because he could understand Ian's logic.

"Click~"

The base's door slowly opened. Gwen escorted a large box inside, looking dusty and dirty all over, obviously having just experienced an unpleasant gem recovery operation.

"Gwen! Want some peanuts?"

Ian's attention focused on Gwen's seemingly eternally unchanging leather pants.

Accompanied by the "rustle rustle" of plastic packaging, he pulled out a bag of peanuts printed with "Quinn Foods" from his pocket. The golden-brown kernels gleamed enticingly under the base's cold white light.

Gwen's nose twitched.

She smelled the fragrance of natural food.

Different from the synthetic snacks and food in the base. Her fingers reacted before her brain, and when she came to her senses, she had mechanically accepted three peanuts.

Gwen's shell-peeling movements were pitifully clumsy.

"Thank you."

The moment the peanuts cracked between her teeth, Gwen had a fleeting vision of corn fields under sunlight. She quickly snuffed out this weak association and thanked the boy who had shared precious natural food.

This was necessary.

The last encounter had made Gwen clear about what would happen if she didn't give thanks.

"It's nothing, eat more." Ian stuffed the entire bag of peanuts into Gwen's hands, making her somewhat unaccustomed to his enthusiastic attitude.

"Um, the last Infinity Stone is being received, Betty has made preparations." Gwen was confused for a while before reporting the outside situation to Digital Tony.

"There won't be problems, I've arranged everything."

Digital Tony nodded gently, looking again at the static screen, "Whether it's success or failure depends on whether our initial assumption was built on the right path."

His sigh was somewhat inexplicable.

Gwen walked toward the testing laboratory in the back.

"So, since everything sounds so urgent, why are there still only Betty and Gwen... I'm not looking down on them, but according to my theory, this kind of thing should need some truly weighty people to participate, right? Besides you, what about other heavyweight figures from this world?"

Ian felt that if it were him, even if he could only choose among ordinary people, he would definitely revive the ordinary version of Captain America. After all, Gwen and Betty could at most be considered plot-level NPCs, not even as prestigious as his independent NPC status, not really looking like they could carry such events.

"During multiversal fusion, most heroes' consciousnesses became hodgepodge, but these two girls... their pure souls are the clearest in my records."

Tony gave the answer that had puzzled Ian for so long.

Ian suddenly understood.

"Oh~ I get it! I was wondering why in some universe in my memory, you liked Peter Parker so much... Tsk tsk, so that's the reason."

"Looks like Peter Parker wasn't comfortable being your godson either, by the way, does Pepper know about your taste?" Ian looked like he truly understood thoroughly.

He didn't need to hide the fact that he wasn't a local and knew many Marvel "stories." This was normal, because hiding would be purely self-entertainment.

Tony was now omniscient Tony God, impossible not to see through Ian's peculiarities. After all, Ian was just an independent NPC, he believed what happened to [Arrogant Heaven-level NPCs] wouldn't happen to him.

Those who understand, understand.

Obviously facing big bosses described as incredibly powerful, with wisdom described as incomparable, ancient monsters, yet protagonists could still fool them with slightly cunning tricks.

Afterwards, there would be wise men from their own faction crazily praising these intelligence-reducing tactics, it could only be said, Ian had tried it too and was beaten badly by reality, so he chose the most suitable method for himself.

I don't keep secrets at all.

How can you spy on my secrets then?

Honestly speaking this trick, combined with the fact Ian had verified that his soul and memories couldn't be seen through by big bosses, he could really be a pest that wouldn't be judged as an extraterrestrial demon.

His self-positioning in this area.

Ian was extremely clear.

How could this not be considered a kind of wisdom?

"?????"

Tony was now feeling the power from Ian, he obviously had emotional fluctuations, emotions that didn't seem like simulated fake emotions at all.

"Just because they didn't merge thoroughly with other multiversal individuals, making me very easy to separate, you devil, what the hell is in your head!?"

Tony's projection rippled, frantically gesticulating at Ian. It was real gesticulating, if he could attack Ian, he probably would really rush up and scuffle with Ian.

"My head naturally contains abundant super intelligence."

Ian looked suspiciously at Tony. The other party couldn't even see such a simple thing, making him doubt that Tony wasn't as smart as others said.

"Shut up, stop insulting intelligence."

Digital Tony sighed toward the sky.

"Heh... Teacher Tony seems to have gained some emotion?" Ian didn't intend to convince Tony to believe him, keenly noticing some changes in Teacher Tony.

"The time is just approaching."

Tony returned to his silent appearance.

"The corpses you wanted are over there."

He seemed unwilling to continue communicating about this with Ian, raising his hand to point toward the room on the left side of the base hall. The tightly closed door there also slowly opened.

Cold mist drifted out like dry ice.

Ian walked in, as if entering a morgue. In the center of the room, two corpses lay on anti-gravity suspension beds, white frost covering their eyelashes, with no rising and falling in their chests.

It was Sentry and the All-Man.

Both corpses looked lifelike, as if they had just died, or rather, as if they weren't dead at all. Ian stepped forward and pinched both their noses, waiting several minutes.

"Looks like no April Fools' surprise."

Ian still remembered the Marvel time he had seen on the electronic calendar outside earlier.

He always liked to keep an eye out.

So he listened to both their heartbeats again, no movement whatsoever.

"Let me see how to proceed." Ian was about to look for tools to perform autopsy on the corpses, but found that considerate Teacher Tony had already opened small wounds on both their foreheads.

It’s really small, about the same as mosquito bite wounds but there was still very fine blood congealed on Sentry and the All-Man's forehead surfaces.

As if it had been extracted.

"Praise Omni-machine Tony God." Ian glanced at the surveillance ahead. This situation also proved again that Tony had really analyzed a lot of information about Ian.

He might have even calculated exactly how much blood Ian needed to trigger special mechanisms.

As Ian's hand touched them, system prompts rang again, but somewhat contrary to Ian's expectations. Sentry and the All-Man didn't bring new profession unlocks. In his currently unlockable professions, there was still only [Entropy Annihilation Lord], the two superhero corpses brought system function unlocks.

[Obtained intermediate correction data.]

[Obtained advanced correction data.]

[Updated [Savage Tyrant] basic information.]

[Profession characteristics being recorded...]

No severe pain.

No cold and shaking either.

Ian felt like he had normally unlocked a new profession or leveled up, experiencing sudden changes in himself, his physical attributes rapidly increasing.

[Strength: 26→44]

[Constitution: 44.3→60]

[Intelligence: 3.5→4.2]

[Spirit: 21→31]

[NEXT CHAPTER]

SUP Chapter 101: Devouring the Star! New Profession Unlocked!

In the void, Jonathan Kent knelt on the shattered starry river.

His breathing was heavy, sweat sliding down from his forehead, but evaporating into crimson mist the instant it fell into darkness. The whispers in his ears were like tens of thousands of ants crawling inside his skull.

Irresistible, like a bone-deep affliction.

Hearing it brought a dull pain, as if someone were using a rusty scalpel to cut open his skull.

"Get out!"

Under his roar, bright light seemed about to illuminate the surroundings, yet still could not penetrate those layers upon layers of darkness to bring him away from this sinister place back to reality.

A sense of helplessness washed over him.

"Someone help me..."

The suffering Jonathan wanted to call for help but received no response.

In the void, only the sound of his own heartbeat echoed.

"Why refuse such an opportunity? Is it because of the ignorance of being unable to awaken a superhuman brain?" That voice mocked, and Jonathan gritted his teeth, his nails digging deep into his palms.

"Clark Kent is very strong, isn't he? He's the omnipotent Superman you all speak of." The invisible voice suddenly became gentle, like a benevolent elder.

However when the tone trailed off, Jonathan could hear countless drowned souls screaming within the voice patterns, like wails sealed in coral reefs, transmitted across hundreds of millions of years of seawater.

"But even the most powerful life will eventually die."

The ensemble of chaos and madness seemed to explode beside Jonathan's ears at this moment.

Carrying indescribable noise.

Countless illusory yet incredibly realistic bubbles appeared.

They swayed before Jonathan's eyes, completely filling the space around his body. Jonathan wanted to dodge, but one bubble enveloped him, and he seemed to instantly appear in a new world.

What met his eyes was a scene that horrified Jonathan beyond measure.

He saw it.

He saw kryptonite chains piercing through collarbones, hanging his father Clark on the rusted satellite wreckage. Lex Luthor, wearing a presidential uniform, was methodically peeling off the "S" symbol from the blue suit with a scalpel.

"Look, citizens."

He aimed at the live broadcast camera, holding up the bloody cloth, his tone contemptuous.

"So-called gods are nothing more than bleeding chunks of meat."

Amid the thunderous cheers.

Jonathan, standing in the square below, wanted to rush forward, but was directly held down by soldiers along the way, forced to witness it all. The scene vanished with a thunderous crash amid his roars and howls.

"Did you see that?"

That voice rang out again.

"You're trying to bewitch my thoughts!"

Jonathan turned to flee, but crashed into another scene. On the scorched farmland, half a Kryptonian crystal was embedded, and Lois's rotting finger was still hooked on the alarm button.

A burly, imposing black alien slowly approached. His shadow gradually enveloped the brand-new baby carriage, and the brown-haired, blue-eyed baby's cries inside came to an abrupt halt.

"Ian!"

Jonathan rushed forward.

His hands only caught a handful of empty illusion.

He saw the baby carriage was completely charred inside, while the burly alien held Clark's suffering head in his hand. Jordan was also dead in a haystack not far from his mother Lois.

"Fake! It's all fake! You can't fool me! Stop!" Jonathan, unwilling to accept this scene, retreated frantically, falling directly into intricate, chaotically interwoven scenes.

"Why stop? This isn't intimidation, this is fate, countless possible fates." That voice chuckled lightly, colors surged, and more terrible images flooded toward Jonathan like a tide.

Superman pierced through the chest by a huge, ferocious monster, completely fallen, he was transformed into a war machine by a terrifying green monster, even Clark personally killing his wife Lois.

Each scene was more unacceptable to Jonathan than the last.

He fled everywhere but there was nowhere to escape.

Constantly forced to witness more scenes.

"No..."

Jonathan finally couldn't bear it, his willpower somewhat collapsing as he slumped to the ground. He saw Clark with red eyes approaching him, as if about to directly twist off his head the next moment.

"They are all futures that could happen."

That voice appeared again, drifting uncertainly, the chaotic symphony gradually disappearing. Jonathan saw the Superman before him dissipate like smoke, everything instantly enveloped by harmonious scenes.

The sunset dyed the Kent family barn golden.

In the distance, Sam Lane's Ferrari drove into the driveway, with exaggerated birthday balloons tied to the roof, "Happy 100th Birthday to Me" swaying in the wind.

Grandma Martha also sat there with a cheerful smile.

"Look at your dad, how much did he embezzle this time."

Clark sat in the porch rocking chair, his temples already showing gray, but his smile still warm. A photo album lay spread on his knees, Lois leaning against his shoulder, her finger gently pointing at a certain photo, both laughing out loud simultaneously. In the yard, the adult Jordan and Ian were repairing that talking Hellcat.

It was now painted red and blue, with a crooked "S" symbol printed on the hood.

"Can you please not use heat vision to weld screws?" Jordan was complaining.

"Last time you directly melted through the gas tank!" His tone was resentful.

"No, that was your nephew who did it, not me. If you don't believe it, I'll go back tonight and beat him up first, he'll definitely admit it." Ian was just as Jonathan remembered him.

Habitually shifting blame, even his own son wasn't spared. The Hellcat's radio suddenly started playing a country song automatically. The two young men were stunned for a second and both looked toward Jonathan, who was slumped on the ground.

"What are you standing there for? Come help us lift this car up."

Amid the beaming smiles, Jonathan once again felt a warm atmosphere.

And just as his thoughts were in chaos.

The voice suddenly drew close to his ear.

"This is the future you want, isn't it? Now, we can help you move toward such a future." The voice was full of temptation, Jonathan's pupils slightly contracting.

"This isn't just for you." Its whisper coiled around Jonathan's reason like a venomous snake, as if adding the most important weight, "It's also for your... family."

The collapse of psychological defenses might happen in just an instant.

After all, the Kent family were all family-oriented heroes. Jonathan lowered his head. Around him, those lights trying hard to penetrate the darkness began to extinguish, just like the gradually dimming pupils in Jonathan's eyes.

"What should I do?"

The seventeen-year-old boy asked in a low voice.

His voice hoarse.

That ray of light that seemed about to illuminate this world completely disappeared at this moment, but Jonathan, with his eyes closed, could still feel that things emerging in the darkness were constantly approaching him.

In the void, something laughed.

Darkness flowed over Jonathan's ankles like viscous oil.

"You only need to... accept us!"

At this moment, Jonathan seemed to see countless sinister shadows reflected in his eyes. He roared, but only sat up from his own bed, cold sweat soaking through his pajamas and seeping into his sheets.

His heart pounded wildly.

Almost as if it would burst from his chest.

"What did I dream about!"

Returning to reality, Jonathan could no longer remember what he had actually seen. He desperately tried to recall, but there were only fragmented pieces that couldn't even be put together into complete information.

"There must be something, there must be something very crucial." Jonathan's subconscious was frantically reminding him, but everything in the dream seemed to have been forcibly carved out of his memory by some power.

"This is..." Jonathan frowned and gasped heavily.

He stood up and found something had fallen from his blanket to the floor.

"Hmm?"

At the same time, Clark also suddenly woke up from the first-floor sofa.

At this moment, his super hearing caught some sound from the second floor that shouldn't exist. It wasn't the "criminal words and deeds" from Ian's room, nor was it Jordan, who liked to grab certain vital parts while sleeping, unconsciously using super speed in his dreams causing disturbing movements, but rather some viscous sound as if something was chewing.

"Knock knock knock~"

Clark instantly appeared at his eldest son's door.

He knocked on the door.

"Jonathan, are you alright?" Clark Kent asked in the way an ordinary father would, inquiring whether his son was safe, even though he could see what was happening inside the room if he wanted to.

"I'm fine, I just had a nightmare. I can't remember what nightmare it was, but it was probably really scary." Jonathan was changing sheets and clothes in his room.

He still couldn't recall what happened in the dream. Even the fragments he remembered when he woke up were gradually fading away. People often experience this when dreaming, so he didn't suspect anything about it.

"You didn't peek at me, did you?" Jonathan could imagine his father standing in the hallway, brows slightly furrowed, super hearing capturing the subtle changes in his heartbeat, breathing, and blood flow.

"Of course not, if it's not necessary. Do you need hot chocolate?"

Clark was still standing outside the door.

"No need, I still have to lose fat. Dad, you surely know that good physique is important for football players." Jonathan walked to his desk.

A book he had just picked up from the floor lay there.

Perhaps Clark really hadn't peeked.

Otherwise, Jonathan felt he would probably ask what the hell he was browsing at the desk, of course, it was also possible that only he could see this book?

"Alright, call me anytime if you need help." The old father's voice was incredibly gentle, footsteps gradually fading away, the wooden floor making slight creaking sounds.

Somewhat deliberate but Jonathan didn't think much about it. His attention was all on the mysteriously appearing book. He swore he had never bought such a thing. The strange patterns on it looked quite eerie.

Speaking of book, it was more like an old leather notebook, looking somewhat thin, with no text written inside. After turning on the light, Jonathan also clearly saw the name on the cover.

"Death Note?"

He softly read out the crooked handwriting, which looked like a child's graffiti, or like someone who had never learned to write attempting to depict characters in a crude manner.

"This handwriting is even uglier than Ian's chicken scratch."

Jonathan complained while letting go of the mysterious notebook. He found he had roughly misread it earlier. This blank notebook at least had a line of text on the first page.

[We can help you conquer death]

The dark red handwriting was still crooked.

The light suddenly flickered once.

The next moment.

[I can help you conquer death]

The line of text on the first page seemed to have changed somewhat. Jonathan didn't know if this change was his illusion, since his brain was still somewhat muddled after just waking from sleep.

"Who put this in my room? Jordan or Ian? April Fool's Day hasn't arrived yet..." The nighttime tranquility enveloped Jonathan's room, with only occasional wind sounds from outside breaking this peace.

Under the dim desk lamp, Jonathan sat at the desk, his fingers gently flipping through the eerie notebook, he had a feeling of being watched, but looking around, he could see nothing.

The room was empty, the closet tightly closed, the curtains motionless, even the shadows quietly prostrate on the floor without any abnormality, but that feeling of being watched persisted.

It was as if something was standing right in front of him, yet refusing to be captured by his senses. This made Jonathan feel somewhat creepy, so he quickly threw the notebook he had picked up to examine back onto the desk.

"Creepy..."

Jonathan planned to go out tomorrow and throw this notebook away. When lying back on the bed, he once again looked around to confirm there were no other figures in his room.

That feeling of being watched was gradually receding, which also allowed Jonathan to fall into deep sleep again, outside the window, moonlight was cut by cloud layers, casting dappled light on the wooden desk.

The black notebook lay there quietly.

Countless dark red tentacles began to slowly extend from within it. They seemed to be displaced from reality, existing only in an invisible world, unable to be observed or seen by normal vision.

Information was being perceived and read.

The air in the entire room began to tremble. Shadows on the walls writhed like living things, creases in the bedsheets deepened without reason, but Jonathan only turned over in his sleep.

He didn't notice this strange phenomenon.

Clark didn't appear either.

[Guten Abend, gute Nacht~ (Good evening, good night)]

[mit Rosen bedacht~ (adorned with roses)]

[mit Näglein besteckt~ (dotted with carnations)]

[schlupf' unter die Deck~ (slip under the covers)]

Outside the window, the Hellcat's radio suddenly began playing the very famous German "Lullaby."

It didn't disturb people's sweet dreams.

At this moment, the tentacles that had been tentatively extending from the black notebook seemed startled by this sudden sound, retracting back into the notebook like they had been frightened.

As if nothing had happened.

The room returned to quiet and peace.

Perhaps, they were afraid of being discovered and didn't want to be detected.

The erosion of one world by another needed to be silent. Therefore, this force that had not yet grown strong could only curl back into the notebook used to hide itself.

Such behavior was obviously very strange.

It was as if some evil that didn't want to be discovered was using seemingly harmless shells as cover, attempting to hide its darker, deeper, sinister nature.

...

Nightmare World.

Marvel Universe.

Ian slowly opened his eyes. He had once again completed the crossing between universes, coming from his beloved DC universe to the Marvel universe that might very much love him.

"Giving me an invincibility cheat and not blocking me from smuggling things, iron crush." He looked down at the magic book in his hands.

The name of this book had twisted and changed the moment it entered this world, from the original [Ian's Magic Book] to [Ian's Most Beloved Magic Book].

It had been following Ian for quite a short time but it seemed to have learned the essence.

For such blatant plagiarism, Ian naturally had to criticize it, then appropriately encourage it to keep up the good work.

He felt that the book's name change might be related to the bull-headed demon's first experience of smuggling, the kind of misunderstanding that demons easily had about having a universe growing inside one's body.

"Don't worry, I'm not a dimensional demon... don't be afraid, I generally don't eat books, but rather cherish books the most." After Ian's comforting words, two sparkling heart symbols immediately popped out from the book's surface. They bulged out from the eye socket positions of the yellow smiley face on the cover, and Ian used all his strength to press the hearts back in.

"Damn! Another iron crush!"

Ian had no time to tangle with the book in his hands, because when he looked up, he saw Galactus, that cosmic-level being who had once towered into the clouds had now completely fallen.

The sky had once again become the color of countless dark clouds gathering, like a curtain soaked with inferior dye, and Galactus, who had been falling at an abnormally slow speed before, was now lying flat on the earth.

The continuous rumbling of metal fracturing came from the distance.

"Someone's probably trying to feast on a god, but accidentally forgot to call me!" Ian quickly sprang into action, hopping like an agile rabbit, taking two steps then leaping dozens of meters high.

He comforted himself that he was just one level away from perfection while using [Ian's Victory Method] to pretend he was flying. This wasn't shameful, he remembered that in one version of the DC universe, Superman started flying this way too.

And indeed, it was much faster than simply running on snow or sliding on his butt. As long as his head was tough enough, when he crashed into things like road signs or iron railings on tall buildings, he could grab them with his hands in time to use them as leverage to throw himself forward another distance, Spider-Man's secret technique was nothing more than this.

Ian felt he had mastered it without a teacher at this moment.

The closer to downtown, the clearer Ian could see.

Galactus, that cosmic-level being who had once towered into the clouds, now presented the normal posture one should have after croaking, his massive body stretching across the horizon like a collapsed mountain range.

Moreover, it was being "dismembered."

Ian had always felt that few people knew that Galactus was actually flesh and blood, a kind of super-cosmic level humanoid creature, not naturally wearing that heavy armor.

Now, countless soldiers and researchers crawled over its body like ants.

That was tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people.

The number was really quite large. Ian had never seen so many living people in this world before. They were using laser cutters, quantum strippers, and some tools that were obviously black technology to dismantle Galactus's armor piece by piece, these black technology tools might be unnameable even to DC universe's top scientists.

"Plasma cutter, supernatural splitter..."

As for why Ian recognized some of the tools, it was naturally because the names he mentioned earlier, including the first few, were all products of Ian making up names based on their appearance.

Pure fabrication.

No academic content whatsoever.

Anyway, it was a group of "revived" scientists actually using technological creations to dismember the massive Galactus, which really exceeded Ian's understanding of technological creations.

"Worthy of being the Omni-machine Tony God!"

Ian sincerely exclaimed. He had already arrived near the area where Galactus had fallen. Obviously, when this guy fell, there was assistance from the [Assembled Corpse Alliance]. Otherwise, just Galactus's head alone occupying the entire city center would have meant this city and even the surrounding areas should have been smashed into ruins.

However, the area destroyed by Galactus's fall wasn't very large.

There was obviously external intervention.

"This is still when my Uncle Galactus was almost starved to death." Ian did a somersault in the sky, not 108,000 li, but definitely 180 meters.

He landed on a damaged high-rise building on the outskirts of downtown.

Looking ahead, that being who had once crowned himself with nebulae and stood upon star systems now lay like a whale with its innards scooped out across the broken city. Its silver-purple armor had been dismantled to pieces, revealing the pale skin beneath, yes, skin. At those torn armor joints, one could vaguely see light blue blood vessels still faintly pulsing.

A research team had even set up temporary tents, holding an academic symposium around an exposed nerve ending. Ian felt these guys were the real lunatics.

"Gwen, Gwen, come rate me! How much do I look like Spider-Man?" Ian saw an old acquaintance, so he threw himself into the air and landed directly toward Galactus's head.

At this time, Gwen, holding something in her hand, looked as if she might accidentally fall toward the ground.

"I caught you!"

Ian was overjoyed because he had accomplished something Peter Parker seemed never able to do.

"Has Peter Parker been cloned? I can teach him, guaranteed success." Ian directly grabbed Gwen by the scruff of her neck, lifting the stumbling Gwen back onto Galactus's head.

"Good God, how is it you, this... crazy boy showing up again." Gwen's neck was scrunched up into a ball, slightly startled, but at least her spine wasn't broken.

"Shouldn't it be magical boy? I saved you, and you don't say thank you or crown me the new Spider-Man, but instead you turn around and call me crazy?"

Ian widened his eyes, extremely aggrieved.

Gwen kept patting Ian's hand, but the boy didn't let go of her neck. She could feel that every time they met, his strength seemed to be growing explosively.

"Didn't you show me your mental illness certificate yourself?"

The speechless Gwen rolled her eyes.

"Oh, right."

Ian instantly stopped being aggrieved. Perhaps according to his theory of relativity, the grievance had largely transferred to Gwen, and this girl being held like a cat had a look of utter despair.

"Also, you didn't save me. Is there any possibility that I just wanted to jump down and fall to my death?" It was hard to imagine what kind of mental state Gwen was in to say such life-dismissing words.

Perhaps efficiency-focused?

She pointed to several huge square machines not far away, from which new bodies were continuously being "printed", flesh, bones, and uniforms all complete in five seconds.

"Oh, I see."

Ian seemed to understand. He looked at Gwen's hand, where she wore a special glove that allowed her to tightly grip a golden Infinity Stone symbolizing the power of the mind.

"Did you steal this from my Uncle Galactus?"

Ian looked around. Galactus's head was intact, and he couldn't find any place where gems could be pried out. Only the two caverns on the face they were standing on could be explored.

They were nostrils.

The mouth didn't even count because Galactus's mouth was tightly shut.

"This is called retrieval... quickly put me down, energy is limited, resources are limited, this glove of mine won't last much longer." Gwen's glove indeed showed signs of cracking.

"Oh oh, okay."

Ian wasn't one to like causing trouble.

He carried Gwen to the edge of Galactus's head and gently let go. Gwen fell down and crashed into a shape that couldn't be seen in most versions of Spider-Man stories.

After all, face-first landing.

Didn't conform to the visual design of dying beautifully.

"This thing shouldn't break from falling, right?"

Staff members nearby quickly came forward and collected the Mind Stone with a container.

A few seconds later, another machine dinged open, and a brand new Gwen walked out, patting non-existent dust off her uniform and even rubbing her no-longer-uncomfortable neck.

"Haven't you ever been a superhero? Some operations you just mess around with, acting on assumptions?" Gwen pointed to her neck, "Which superhero have you seen rescue people by grabbing here?!"

She was quite helpless and felt Ian needed guidance.

"Anyway, when my dad catches me, that's how he does it. He's the strongest superhero where we are... precisely because of this, I learned by example."

Ian's super brain could always come up with the most reasonable explanations.

"..."

Gwen opened her mouth, suddenly somewhat speechless. She had seen rich second-generation kids competing with their fathers over sports cars, prestigious schools, even superpowers, but she had never seen the daddy competition track extend into the superhero realm.

Superhero dad?

Super second-generation?

This touched upon Gwen's knowledge blind spot.

"I don't believe your dad would teach you to rescue people this way." Helplessly, Gwen could only judge based on her professional level that Ian's behavior definitely wasn't a proper rescue method.

"You don't have a bio-field, you don't understand." In response, Ian just shook his head, "Also, this isn't something my dad taught me, it's just that I was deeply influenced by it."

"Of course, you could also call it childhood trauma. After all, a childhood without childhood trauma isn't perfect, just like how elderly people without some reflection on child-rearing education are prone to dementia, see, win-win, I have a complete childhood, and my dad will have a perfect old age."

"I believe future reflections on child education will help him prevent dementia from time to time..." After wearing the Batman suit and being influenced by Batman, people become like this, having deep foresight that others cannot understand. Ian's words made Gwen's eyes grow wider and wider.

The logic sounded somewhat reasonable but the more she thought about it, the stranger it seemed.

"What are you rambling about..."

Unlike Madison, Gwen wasn't successfully convinced by Ian. She just felt her language organization skills were insufficient to refute him, but deep down she still knew there was a big problem with Ian's logic.

As for what problem, she'd have to go back and have Tony analyze it.

Only Tony could clearly tell her what breed of filial son this was, and only Tony's true wisdom could handle this incredibly weird boy.

No.

Sometimes Tony seemed to get silenced too, but that must be because Tony's massive computing power was being occupied. Now that he had freed up some computing power, he would definitely handle it with ease!

Gwen was filled with firm faith in the wise Tony God.

"The corpse you wanted, Tony has already prepared for you. Perhaps you can go find him now." Gwen didn't want to be disturbed by Ian, since she still had to guide in the last Infinity Stone later.

Today, the entire universe would welcome its most important moment.

If it weren't for what Tony had said before, Gwen actually wanted to capture Ian, or at least temporarily lead him elsewhere, since she really didn't want any variables to occur at such an important moment.

[Higher than me, higher than you, higher than this base, higher than... everything.] To this day, neither Gwen nor Betty had been able to understand what meaning lay behind Tony's words.

"Is it the Sentry? Or the All-Man?"

Ian had no hobby of dissecting gods. He was more concerned about the power he could obtain. As soon as Gwen mentioned corpses, his eyes immediately lit up like light bulbs.

"Both are available."

Gwen pulled a bicycle out of a nearby box. It was hard to imagine that with technology capable of dismembering Galactus, transportation still relied entirely on such primitive vehicles.

Who knows what the reason was.

Of course, Ian was completely uncurious about this question now.

"Good good good! Worthy of being my mentor, Tony the Omni-machine God!" Ian immediately got excited. His form of address made Gwen's eyes go blank for a moment, wondering if she had missed something.

She wanted to speak but stopped.

In the end, Gwen still didn't open her mouth to ask.

"Wait for me a moment."

Although the All-Man and Sentry had occupied Ian's brain, he hadn't forgotten why he came here. Under Gwen's gaze, he quickly drilled into Galactus's nostril.

"What did you go do?"

The bewildered Gwen saw Ian emerge looking very happy.

"High-end exploration often involves entering the most primitive caves. Don't ask, the answer is unsuitable for minors... young girls." Ian wiped his hands with tissue.

He had just gone to pay respects to Galactus's super brain.

His assessment was that it wasn't as good as his own.

[You have come into contact with unknown extraordinary matter. A new professional template has been unlocked. You can obtain a corrected extraordinary profession, Entropy Annihilation Lord by meeting the essential conditions for the profession.]

Of course, this was Ian's real purpose.

The harvest could even be said to exceed Ian's expectations. The [Sentry Rising] comic he mentioned about Galactus hadn't even been publicly released yet, but the professional template was still unlocked smoothly.

Somewhat strange?

Ian looked at his profession panel.

[Writer LV2 (3/20)]

Perhaps it wasn't very strange after all.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

📅 August 21 (UTC +8) - Chapter Releases

For Pledged Members:
Necromancer, What the Hell Is A Type 055 Summon? — Chapters 131 to 134 (CAUGHT UP WITH THE RAWS)
Wasteland Border Inspector — Chapters 113 to 120

For Free Members:
Necromancer, What the Hell Is A Type 055 Summon? — Chapters 79 & 80
Wasteland Border Inspector — Chapters 78 part 2 & 78 part 3

My Father Is Superman, But I'm Just An NPC? — Chapters 69 & 70
Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems — Chapters 69 & 70
American Hunting: Starting From Alone In The Wilderness — Chapters 69 & 70

We Agreed On Experiencing Life, So Why Did You Immortals Become Real? — Chapters 45 & 46
God's Imitator — Chapters 45 & 46

Daily Divination: From Market Rogue Cultivator To Immortal Venerable — Chapters 31 & 32
I Run A Prison In America — Chapters 31 & 32

INS Chapter 120: Xinghuo Connect, The Power of the Collector!

In a familiar damp, musty smell, Cheng Ye gently pushed open the security door.

Casually throwing his backpack on the dust-covered table, he collapsed onto the bed without even bothering to remove his shoes.

A bit tired but it wasn't physical soreness, nor mental exhaustion.

Rather, it was the fatigue that naturally overflowed after sorting out most of what needed to be done, with his heart full of substantial accomplishment.

Especially thinking about the continuous stream of migrants arriving next, with the inspection station at the storm's center certainly unable to escape, lying on the bed right now felt even more comfortable.

But strangely, as soon as he touched the bed board, his tense nerves suddenly relaxed, yet his mind became more active instead.

Streams of thoughts spilled out, mostly about those measures he'd mentioned in the phone call earlier, and a few judgments about the upcoming situation.

"Five hundred thousand people... It's not like I haven't seen this many people before. Even ten or twenty times more, I've seen that too. But asking me to figure out how to manage them, this is too absurd..."

Gazing at the mold stains spreading across the ceiling from dampness, Cheng Ye's mind wandered freely.

Before transmigrating, he'd lived in Yangcheng, with a resident population of nearly twenty million.

During morning and evening rush hours on Line 3 of the subway, with daily passenger flow of 1.2 million, the crowds packed like sardine cans were far more exaggerated than this number.

Even Xinghuo Sanctuary City's scale was still far from matching Yangcheng, let alone the current Happiness City.

Perhaps it was precisely because he'd witnessed that kind of ten-million-level population operation model that he had the confidence to speak boldly and discuss everything freely on the phone.

But then again, having seen something and being able to manage it were two different things.

He was just a small molecule in the vast sea of humanity, staying in the ivory tower of school without having time to venture out, never thinking about how many screws were hidden behind a city's operation.

Armchair strategizing was easy, but actually going to ground level and dealing with so many people face-to-face made his scalp tingle just thinking about it.

Take the most basic eating, drinking, and waste: each person drinks four bags of nutritional paste daily, five hundred thousand people would need two million bags. Just coordinating, transporting, and distributing would require how much manpower?

Thinking more specifically, assuming a minimum of 100 grams of excrement per person per day, five hundred thousand people would produce fifty tons daily. How would all this filth be handled?

Couldn't bear to think about it. The more he thought, the more terrifying it became. The more he thought, the less confident he felt.

"Although I plan to go out and build my own small city in the future, living freely and at ease," Cheng Ye kicked off his shoes, rolled over to bury his face in the pillow, sighing in a muffled voice, "but these troubles... sigh, thinking about these things now is still too early."

He chose temporary avoidance.

Pondering institutional frameworks was fine, after all, he had knowledge frameworks from his previous life as foundation, but filling in every detail was purely demanding the impossible.

He wasn't a supercomputer AI, just an ordinary trainee inspector.

Happiness City didn't have only him. Those who should really have headaches were the higher-ups.

These people held resources, power, and information in their hands, giving them the qualifications and ability to handle such large-scale population migration.

After brooding for a while, Cheng Ye rolled over and sat up again.

Opening his palm, with a thought, the pendant materialized in his palm, emanating a warm, gentle glow.

Observing it against the light, the horn starfish, flying wings, and four-piece set floating in the core were each more pleasing than the last.

"Let's try the inspector four-piece set first."

Cheng Ye made up his mind.

The flying wings were too large. If he couldn't put them back, even folded up they could be placed in the room, but anyone who came would see them immediately with nowhere to hide.

But the four-piece set was different. The badge, phone, and glasses could be casually thrown in a bag, and the detection device could easily fit under the bed.

[Confirm whether to retrieve items stored in the collector?]

[Since this is the collector's first time using the storage and retrieval function, please be aware of the following rules:

1. Items obtained through search will automatically be stored in the collector the first time, occupying certain collector space. If space is full, the collector's item search function will automatically shut down. Please organize space before trying again.

2. Items obtained through search can be retrieved at will by the collector through thought, requiring no energy consumption. However, if you wish to store the item back in the collector, a certain amount of energy is required, specifically:

Under 30 minutes: 1% energy

30 minutes-3 hours: 5% energy

3 hours-24 hours: 25% energy

24 hours: Storage will be impossible. For valuable personal items, please pay attention to time.

3. This space cannot store items not obtained through search

4. Please do not attempt to give items to others for search exploitation using this space. Such behavior will cause unpredictable effects, severely risking temporary closure of this function and destruction of all items in storage space

5. Advancing job level will increase storage space and reduce storage energy consumption

6...]

Unexpectedly, taking something out for the first time caused the panel to pop up such a long string of rules, listing nearly 20 items extensively.

Cheng Ye patiently scanned from top to bottom, finding that key information was mainly concentrated in the first 5 items.

"Indeed didn't disappoint me," he couldn't help but praise. "Being able to repeatedly store and retrieve found items, this is exactly the function civilization collectors need most!"

Collectors entering dangerous places couldn't carry all equipment on their bodies.

This storage space was excellent. Although it could only store and retrieve things searched by the collector, its strategic value was already immeasurable.

As for the 24-hour limitation, Cheng Ye guessed there was probably some temporary link between found items and the collector. Beyond this time, the link would break, naturally making re-storage impossible.

But 24 hours was already long enough. Unless encountering extremely special circumstances, it would definitely suffice.

The rule about "not being able to give things to others and search them back" completely blocked a small loophole he'd previously wanted to exploit but hadn't had time to implement.

"Looks like search collection isn't as simple as copying as I understood..."

After reading all prompts, he used his mind to click "acknowledged" below.

[Please select item to retrieve: Inspector Four-Piece Set (Xinghuo Sanctuary City Version)]

Another prompt popped up. Cheng Ye clicked confirm without hesitation.

The next second, a magical scene unfolded before his eyes.

The ground suddenly emanated a layer of light blue glow, like spilled blue ink spreading in the air, gradually condensing into an oval light circle about two square meters.

Even more wonderfully, as his gaze moved, that blue light seemed alive, following his movement step by step.

"Good heavens, this is letting me choose the appearance location?"

Cheng Ye's eyes lit up, immediately becoming excited.

He quickly scanned the room, fixing his gaze on the central open space, mentally chanting "put it here."

The glow suddenly contracted, then burst out in a gentle halo again.

Under his gaze, four objects appeared as if held by invisible hands, materializing in the center of the light circle, slowly descending:

Most conspicuous was an emerald green badge, actually twice as large as a resident's badge, palm-sized, more like a token than a badge.

Cheng Ye curiously picked it up, his fingertips brushing over the Mount Everest pattern carved on the front. The peak was covered with fine white patterns, as if truly covered with eternal snow.

But flipping to the back revealed lush green bamboo forest, with distinct bamboo joints and even leaf veins clearly visible.

"Eh, the color and pattern changed?"

Cheng Ye was stunned. This was completely different from what the resident had shown him before.

Could it be that Xinghuo Sanctuary City also distinguished between different levels of residents and institutional personnel on badges?

Beside it lay a phone, exactly the style Li Changfeng had shown him before, but the color was also vastly different.

Li Changfeng's was cream white, while Cheng Ye's was completely black, even the frame had a matte finish.

The headband glasses showed no change, almost identical to the pair he'd worn before.

Most surprising was the monitoring device, a square block with a smooth black panel surface and slightly rounded corners, looking remarkably like a modern bathroom scale.

It just lacked foot grooves and had several hidden ports instead.

Flipping it over revealed densely packed patch cables underneath, arranged neatly, though he didn't know how to use them.

"This is a bit troublesome. It seems completely different from Li Changfeng's things?"

Through searching, he again verified that it wasn't simply copying what the target should have, but followed some rule he couldn't yet understand.

Cheng Ye pondered, taking the phone and badge back to sit on the bed.

This device might be very unfamiliar to ordinary wasteland people, but for him, a modern person who spent at least eight hours daily on his phone before transmigrating, it was as familiar as part of his body.

Holding it now, his right thumb unconsciously found the phone's side edge.

Oh my, there really was a button.

Cheng Ye tried pressing and holding for three seconds. The pitch-black screen suddenly flashed a glimmer, then displayed a familiar pattern.

Exactly the blazing flame from behind resident badges!

The pattern lasted five seconds before slowly fading. A line of Chinese characters appeared on screen.

[Detected first use of Xinghuo Connect (Inspector). Please place identity badge on back for activation]

"Really is new!"

Cheng Ye's expression became somewhat complex.

He'd thought he could copy Li Changfeng's phone with personal data. Even if it needed cracking, at least he could see some historical information.

But now with a completely new Xinghuo Connect, this disrupted his plans. If data needed activation to download and he couldn't connect to the network now, wouldn't it be a beautiful "waste"?

Wait.

The phone was new. Could this badge also be new?

After pondering, Cheng Ye tried placing the badge on the phone's back.

Since he'd already left Xinghuo's signal coverage area, worst case activation would fail and lock the device. He could figure out cracking later.

But if there were other opportunities, maybe he could start using this without cracking.

He took a deep breath and placed the badge on the phone's back.

However, the moment the screen lit up, Cheng Ye's pupils suddenly contracted.

Lines of information flashed by like flowing water.

After clearly seeing the first line, he was so shocked he nearly jumped up from the bed.

[Name: Cheng Ye]

[Identity: Trainee Inspector]

[Affiliation: B4 District]

[Xinghuo Connect is activating. Please wait patiently for activation process completion...]

"Why is it my name?"

Whether it displayed Li Changfeng, any name he'd never heard, or even blank space.

Cheng Ye wouldn't be surprised and would even find it natural but displaying his own name was somewhat horrifying.

Had Xinghuo Sanctuary City stored his information in advance?

Certainly impossible!

Cheng Ye instinctively called up the collector panel, thoughtfully looking at it, but unfortunately no prompts appeared.

The civilization collector's power once again exceeded his understanding.

Skill search could copy someone's lifetime accumulation, even stripping away hidden talents alongside, already powerful enough.

Intelligence search could dig out a person's deepest secrets, even transcending time and space to recreate their words and actions, even more outrageous.

But now this item search could directly tamper with an item's core information?

Taking possession of it, fundamentally erasing possible troubles that searched items might bring to the collector.

"Job level is still too low. Need to advance quickly to probably learn more information..."

Switching to personal interface, Cheng Ye glanced at it.

Since the last upgrade, a series of searches had added considerable information degree, currently at:

[Collector: Cheng Ye]

[Current Job Level: lv.2 Rising Star (4.5/100)]

"Wonder if searching transcendents could add more information degree?"

Closing the panel, Cheng Ye collected his thoughts, quietly waiting for Xinghuo Connect to complete activation.

Previously, he'd been somewhat worried about using these things outside might bring trouble. After all, they were searched items. If monitored by Xinghuo Sanctuary City people or if they didn't match the database, it would inevitably attract unnecessary suspicion.

Now it was fine. The information had been completely altered by the collector.

As long as he didn't go to B4 District for on-site verification, even if a Xinghuo Sanctuary City inspector stood before him, he could brazenly pull out this badge for display. The other party might not spot any flaws.

"Does this count as an additional identity?"

Cheng Ye pondered. Before searching, he'd never thought about using these things to masquerade as a Xinghuo inspector for deception.

No need, in terms of sanctuary city scale and influence, Xinghuo was definitely one of the planet's top existences.

But regarding inspector reputation and actual status, Happiness City was not weak at all, even more useful in certain situations.

This was why he, a small trainee inspector, could face Li Changfeng, a fourth-level inspector, without any timidity.

However, before his thoughts could form a clear thread, Xinghuo Connect suddenly vibrated.

The screen lit up with a prompt, announcing activation completion.

[Detected first Xinghuo Connect activation, automatically entering beginner guide mode]

[Respected Inspector 'Cheng Ye', detected you are outside Xinghuo main network coverage. Unable to complete full function activation. Please proceed to network coverage area for active activation]

[Respected Inspector 'Cheng Ye', detected you are within Xinghuo Alliance network coverage. Connect to this network?

Please note:

1. Connecting to alliance network is only for sharing data downloads and basic function activation. During operation, Xinghuo Connect will run silently in background without affecting alliance network.

2. You may actively choose stealth networking (once enabled, cannot be detected by alliance network source address monitoring)

3. Due to sanctuary city network security restrictions, Xinghuo Connect cannot reconnect to Xinghuo main network through alliance network to transmit information. For special emergencies, please try contacting alliance network administrator for assistance]

[Proceed with alliance network activation?]

"Hiss, can actually use Happiness City's network to activate Xinghuo Connect?"

Cheng Ye was somewhat surprised.

But thinking again, it seemed reasonable. Xinghuo Sanctuary City and Happiness City certainly had secret communication networks between them, otherwise they couldn't achieve information flow during emergencies.

This network just wouldn't be open to ordinary people, only used for official communication between cities.

Without rushing to click confirm, he first briefly browsed the phone.

The system interface was quite crude. Smoothness was acceptable, but aesthetics completely couldn't compare to any smartphone he'd used before transmigrating.

Menu logic was similar to Happiness City's defense communicator, with many settings even having identical icons.

Returning to desktop, in the unactivated state, only a lone "Photo Authentication" function existed.

Cheng Ye clicked in to try, taking a photo of the backpack on the table. The screen immediately popped up a prompt:

[Please connect to network to download offline data!]

"Alright, looks like without activation, this thing can only be used as a brick."

Cheng Ye's finger paused on screen, finally opening the stealth networking function.

Since information wouldn't transmit back to Xinghuo Sanctuary City and could shield Happiness City's network monitoring, there really were no worries.

Just didn't know how these basic functions were and what permissions he as a "trainee" would have.

[Activating!]

The screen was instantly covered with scrolling green characters, with a progress bar popping up below.

Download speed was much faster than expected, jumping 1% about every ten seconds, but power consumption soared accordingly.

Starting with only 38% battery, it directly dropped below 20%.

Fortunately, Xinghuo Connect's charging port was compatible with Happiness City's defense communicator. Cheng Ye quickly found a charger to plug in, watching the battery slowly recover before sighing in relief.

After waiting over ten minutes, the activation progress bar finally filled completely, with screen showing "Basic Function Activation Complete" prompt.

The data download progress bar was still crawling at turtle speed. Glancing at the estimated time, it actually showed greater than 144 hours.

"Deliberately limiting speed to avoid monopolizing alliance network bandwidth?"

Cheng Ye smacked his lips but could understand.

Using alliance network was sensitive to begin with. Slow was better than being detected with anomalies.

He wound the charging cable toward the bedside, focusing back on the phone desktop.

The originally empty interface now had three new icons, from left to right:

[Job Level Tasks], [Information Query], [Information Link]

"Got it!"

Cheng Ye's eyes lit up. He first clicked Information Query, the function he cared most about.

In Happiness City, limited by permission levels, he couldn't know about many things.

To "overtake on curves," the Xinghuo Connect in his hands was undoubtedly the best choice.

Unfortunately, data hadn't finished downloading. The interface was completely blank with only a "Please wait for offline data synchronization" prompt. He could only exit disappointedly.

Clicking [Information Link] next.

The interface immediately displayed instructions: "Please bring information receiver close to phone back sensing area to activate linkage. Detector needs to snap into back groove to complete connection."

Below were instruction manuals for two items. Cheng Ye clicked to look. Every patch cable on the detector had introductions, even including repair guides.

Since data was still downloading, Cheng Ye wasn't urgent. After exiting, he clicked into [Job Level Tasks] to check.

In his thinking, this should be the most useless function.

After all, based on Happiness City's model, inspector job level advancement required auxiliary manual assessment to achieve.

Even if he completed many tasks on Xinghuo Connect, he couldn't return to Xinghuo Sanctuary City for promotion but the moment the list opened, Cheng Ye's relaxed brow suddenly furrowed.

[Trainee Inspector Job Level Task List:

1. Detect energy reactions >35 (Required)

2. Use 'Photo Authentication' function >5000 times (Required; must authenticate different objects)

3. Use 'Information Query' function to completely memorize required trainee materials (Required; can actively start assessment after memorization completion, score >95 points to pass)

Complete above three required tasks to finish trainee assessment and advance to Level 1 Inspector]

[NEXT CHAPTER]

INS Chapter 119: The Contract System, The Last Peace!

Theoretical systems on paper often become more valuable for reference the more they expand toward grand directions.

Because listeners need only take the essence and discard the dross, thinking about the special points of this system to extract measures with practical operational significance.

However, at the beginning, Cheng Ye deliberately restrained his output speed, trying to make every sentence clear and easy to understand.

But the further he spoke, his train of thought became like a cleared riverbed, increasingly smooth and clear.

One after another, bold ideas flowed out, those details about district division, power checks and balances, and reward and punishment gradients seemed to have been stored in his mind long ago, just waiting for this moment to pour forth.

Jiang Chuan lowered his head to stare at the paper, his right hand gripping the steel pen moving so fast it had almost become an afterimage.

Half-step transcendent, how terrifying!

The "rustling" sound of the pen tip scratching across paper almost formed a continuous stream, actually able to keep up with Cheng Ye's speaking speed, not missing even those temporarily supplemented details.

At some unknown moment, Ding Yishan had completely stood up from his reclining chair, silently walking to behind the office chair.

He didn't interrupt, just stared fixedly at the defense communicator with speakerphone on.

His gaze was sharp as if wanting to penetrate the radio waves and see the young man speaking eloquently on the other end.

"This is the contract system I've initially conceived," Cheng Ye's voice carried a hint of slight panting. Long periods of high-intensity thinking and output inevitably caused some fatigue. "There may still be many shortcomings that need to be continuously refined according to actual conditions, but this requires more specific data about migrants to improve."

After speaking, he squeezed the somewhat hot defense communicator and glanced at the time.

Good heavens, unknowingly nearly twenty-five minutes had passed.

He suddenly felt a bit guilty. Outputting opinions so wildly, wouldn't this arouse the inspection station's suspicion?

After all, his predecessor in the inner city was publicly recognized as useless, never having contact with any management knowledge.

Why did he suddenly become enlightened after leaving the inner city, able to speak eloquently about construction planning and system design?

However, thinking it over, Cheng Ye felt relieved again.

Compared to him knowing these things, wasn't the sudden improvement in martial prowess even stranger?

A person who was once powerless, in just three short months became a muscle-bound tough guy who could take down high-level fusion entities.

Anyone with intentions who investigated a little would discover how terrifying these changes were.

However, these changes hadn't aroused others' suspicion, so "understanding this knowledge" was all the easier to explain.

After all, what appeared to outsiders was that he was someone who loved reading and pondering.

All those books delivered to the hospital room were the best proof!

"Alright, Inspector Cheng, I've recorded everything you said and will immediately submit it to the station chief for review. If there's any further news, I'll synchronize it with you at the first opportunity. Thank you for your support of the inspection station's official duties and Happiness City's development."

The twenty-odd sheets of white paper spread across the desk were filled densely, the handwriting slightly wavering due to the rushed recording, yet every character was clear.

Jiang Chuan stopped writing and spoke the formulaic words without thinking.

These formulaic words flowed smoothly and naturally. After all, following Ding Yishan for these years, he'd seen many reception scenes and had long formed instincts.

"Alright then, remember to contact me if there's further news. Thank you for the trouble," Cheng Ye's voice came through the receiver, followed by the dial tone of a hung-up call.

The last polite "thank you for the trouble" made Jiang Chuan belatedly realize he'd just been facing Cheng Ye, not a fifth-term or fourth-term inspector from within the inspection station.

"Sir."

"Move aside, let me see."

Ding Yishan's brow furrowed into a knot as he sat heavily in the office chair, grabbing the record papers from the desk and starting to read from the first page.

He subconsciously wanted to pick up a pen to annotate on them, but when his hand came down he realized these were originals and quickly withdrew his hand.

"Go make copies of all these, fifty copies!" Ding Yishan's voice carried a hint of urgency. "Quickly, first copy one set and bring it up to me."

"Yes!"

Jiang Chuan's heart tightened. It had been a long time since he'd seen Ding Yishan show this expression.

He quickly left with the materials. Fortunately, there was a small photocopier on the first floor of the station chief building, very convenient to operate, and soon he'd copied one set.

Ding Yishan took the copies that still carried the scent of ink and immediately began rapidly marking and annotating with his pen.

Human thinking was like this.

Once opened, it would enter a wonderful "flow" state.

In this state, thinking speed might not be much faster than usual, but distracting thoughts would disappear completely, improving work efficiency several times over without exaggeration.

The pen tip swept across the paper, sometimes drawing long lines with prominent emphasis marks behind them, these were parts that were basically achievable and crucial.

Sometimes circling large circles with question marks beside them, these were content needing further discussion and improvement.

Sometimes directly crossing out text with X marks.

Cheng Ye's information was still too limited after all, far less comprehensive than what he, as station chief, possessed.

So about thirty percent of these plans weren't very practical and couldn't form effective systems.

But the remaining seventy percent made Ding Yishan secretly marvel.

If Cheng Long had allocated all his talent points to combat, personal charisma, and character.

Then this Cheng Ye had allocated all his talent points to intelligence and professional ability.

He wasn't like Cheng Long at all.

Instead, he was the same type as the inspection station's founding station chief, Cheng Long's father, Cheng Ye's grandfather.

Cheng Wu, they were the same type of person!

Could it really be true that talent was passed down through alternate generations?

"Contract, contract."

Half an hour passed.

Ding Yishan flipped through the twenty-odd record pages with rustling sounds, the paper edges becoming frayed from his handling.

The regional contract system proposed by Cheng Ye was like a seed that had taken root and sprouted in his mind, but something was still missing, making the entire plan like a house without a foundation, unable to be completely implemented.

Still lacking something, still lacking a key element!

He stood up irritably, pacing back and forth in the office.

His shoes made dull creaking sounds on the floor. This sound was like a thorn, making him increasingly agitated, so he simply bent down to remove his shoes and socks, casually throwing them in the corner, stepping barefoot on the cold floor.

The old-fashioned wall clock on the wall went "tick-tock," each sound striking his nerves.

Ding Yishan suddenly turned around, flying up to punch the wall clock. It was a rare item he'd managed to find at the flea market with great difficulty, but now the glass cover shattered, the hands twisted, completely silenced.

Even the shirt collar on his body felt like a tightening noose, making breathing difficult.

He grabbed the collar and yanked hard. The sound of tearing fabric was particularly harsh in the quiet office. The shirt was torn to shreds and thrown on the ground.

Even his pants were removed, leaving him in an almost naked state, with no external objects to disturb him.

Too painful.

This pain wasn't because the contract system was unfeasible, quite the opposite, it was because this system was far too easy to implement.

He even had a premonition that even if he, a station chief without much "voice," presented this proposal at tomorrow's meeting, the probability of it being passed on the spot could be as high as ninety percent.

But the problem lay right here.

After contracting out the outer city's construction, in the end, the inspection station would become a complete joke!

This system completely distributed power to the migrants, making the inspection station a mere tool in the entire process, having to coordinate resources and maintain order while gaining no benefits, instead shouldering all the unavoidable responsibilities and endless troubles.

Was this reasonable?

If purely as a high-level member of Happiness City, Ding Yishan felt it was very reasonable, sacrificing one inspection station to achieve the entire expansion of Happiness City was worthwhile.

But he was the station chief of the inspection station. Sitting in this position, he had to consider not only the interests of all of Happiness City, but also the survival of the inspection station and the future of 150 inspectors.

Wait.

The future of the inspectors?

In an instant, he suddenly turned his head, his gaze falling through the large floor-to-ceiling window on the distant inspection station.

Boom.

An indescribable inspiration exploded in his mind, like muffled thunder that had been suppressed for long finally tearing through the clouds, bringing torrential rain that washed away all other thoughts.

"I understand!"

"I understand!!!"

Ding Yishan instantly rushed back behind the desk, grabbed a sheet of white paper, seized his pen and began writing rapidly.

Those inspirations, those clever ideas, those thoughts, like floodwater released from a dam, all transformed into implementable plans under his pen.

Contract, why must migrants be the main body, letting them contract an area?

Why, why couldn't inspectors contract an area and select newcomers for construction?

Were Happiness City inspection station's inspectors weak?

Throughout the wasteland, they were renowned figures.

Everyone knew this inspection station was newly founded, everyone knew the inspectors here held honored positions and outstanding abilities.

This being the case, why not let the inspectors step out of the inspection station and buffer zone, this small world, and actively take responsibility in the outer city, take on obligations?

This way, wouldn't power be firmly held in the inspection station's hands?

This way, wouldn't the inspection station be able to legitimately profit during outer city construction?

"Sir, sir?"

Jiang Chuan, holding a stack of freshly copied documents, came to the office door and suddenly stopped in his tracks.

His gaze swept through the open door into the room, and he was completely stunned.

Chaos everywhere, broken glass and fabric scraps scattered about, as if infected entities had invaded.

Behind the office desk, Ding Yishan wore only underwear, his hair disheveled, ink stains on his face, writing while laughing maniacally like a demon, frightening to behold.

Jiang Chuan's heart tightened. He quickly placed the copied documents on a nearby cabinet and ran over.

"Sir, why don't you rest a bit? The earliest batch of migrants won't arrive until the day after tomorrow morning. We still have all of tomorrow to think about and discuss these issues," Jiang Chuan cautiously advised, his tone full of worry. "I think you might be too tired. That Walker's transcendent ability is evil, maybe it's even assimilated you."

"Walker, Walker is good, Walker is wonderful!"

Ding Yishan seemed not to hear Jiang Chuan's words, still acting like a madman, muttering under his breath.

He made a grand stroke, writing the final line on the paper, then suddenly lifted his head.

Whoosh.

Exhaling deeply, Ding Yishan leaned back, his entire body slumping in the office chair, his face showing satisfied expression.

Exhilarating!

If they could really execute according to this plan, the inspection station would gain unprecedented development opportunities. Whether they could return to the founding inspection station's status was hard to say, but they could definitely be ten times, a hundred times higher in status than now!

But these core ideas actually extended from a trainee inspector's suggestions?

Ding Yishan fell into confusion for a moment, his eyes somewhat vacant.

Seeing he was no longer laughing maniacally, Jiang Chuan breathed a slight sigh of relief, but his gaze unconsciously shifted slightly, landing on the paper filled with writing.

At the very top was written a line of large characters, ink still wet, penetrating through the paper.

[Opinion Paper on Inspectors Contracting Outer City Construction]

Inspectors, contracting?

Pushing open the door, light scraping sounds came from the balcony corner, all the flower pots had been moved there.

Wang Kang and Liu Yi were squatting there, one shoveling soil, the other carefully burying obtained seeds in the dirt. Light fell on their profiles, the room warm and cozy, quite a picture of peaceful times.

Luo Xiaoxue sat on the sofa, holding a book seemingly reading, but her gaze rarely fell on the pages.

Hearing the door open, she and Wang Kang turned their heads simultaneously, both showing slight smiles.

But those smiles appeared somewhat forced to Cheng Ye's eyes, forming a stark contrast with the innocent radiance on Liu Yi's face.

"Everything alright?" Luo Xiaoxue closed the book and spoke first. "Don't put too much pressure on yourself."

"Small matter, might even be an opportunity," Cheng Ye winked. "Come, time to eat. I'll teach you how to eat this good stuff."

The beef on the table had thawed. Cheng Ye acted as if nothing had happened, pulling over the induction cooker to start boiling water.

The seasonings Li Changfeng brought were rich. He selected some flavor enhancers to add to the water.

Soon, light fragrance began rising from the pot.

Using a knife to cut the beef into thin slices, arranging them along the grain on plates.

When everything was prepared, except for Liu Yi still enthusiastically shoveling dirt, Wang Kang also sat over, but neither had much appetite, their eyes clearly showing worry.

Because when Cheng Ye was talking in the room, his voice wasn't small, especially the frenzied output later, they had vaguely heard quite a bit.

However, many things become frightening when heard unclearly. These fragmentary pieces of information gradually outlined a vague storyline in their minds.

For example, several keywords: five hundred thousand, more than five hundred thousand, infected entities, infection sources, large groups of people, responsibility.

Connecting these, a terrible guess surfaced in their minds.

Could it be that before winter arrived, there was an infection tide of no less than five hundred thousand surging toward Happiness City?

Steam rose above the induction cooker, creating a haze over half the table.

Silence slowly heated up like water in the pot.

Luo Xiaoxue could still contain her curiosity, but Wang Kang finally couldn't hold back, leaning forward to ask, "Brother Cheng, is an infection tide coming?"

"Infection tide?" Cheng Ye was stunned, looking completely bewildered. "Where did you hear that?"

"Wasn't that what you just said in the room?" Wang Kang pointed toward the bedroom. "Something about five hundred thousand, infected entities, can't hold them back..."

"I just said that?" Cheng Ye was even more confused. After thinking carefully for a long time, he waved his hands with bitter laughter. "What infection tide, don't overthink it. It's people, five hundred thousand people migrating over."

"What?" This time it was Luo Xiaoxue who cried out. The chopsticks in her hand clattered against the bowl rim as she exclaimed in shock, "Five hundred thousand people?"

"Yeah, this matter has a long story. If I'm going to explain it to you, I have to start from last night."

It really was a long story.

Because nobody could have imagined that he'd gone to Xinghuo Sanctuary City last night, riding flying wings around in the middle of the night, and when visiting the inspection station happened to encounter someone affected by the Walker.

This morning upon returning, he coincidentally discovered the same model backpack at the inspection station entrance, following the trail to discover the Walker's traces, ultimately stirring up such a mess.

If this story got out, probably no one would believe it.

Even Cheng Ye himself thought it absurd, like a string of coincidences forcibly twisted together by fate.

But life was like this, you never knew whether accidents or tomorrow would come first, much less whether seemingly troublesome events might hide opportunities.

Right now, the Walker's appearance was not only not a disaster, but like an opportunity for Happiness City.

Even though many people felt somewhat uneasy, there was no way to escape, only to face reality.

After quickly recounting last night's exciting experiences and explaining the viewpoints he'd just output to Jiang Chuan.

Seeing the two completely stunned, unable to recover for a long time, Cheng Ye smiled and picked up several beef slices to put in the pot.

Steam scattered before his eyes, carrying the elegant fragrance of the meat of Yaksha Bull.

For some unknown reason, he had a vague premonition that these peaceful days probably wouldn't come again for a very long time.

"I just hope heaven will bless us that besides migrants, no other troubles will arise!"

[NEXT CHAPTER]

INS Chapter 118: The Walker's Might, Outer City Plan!

Central Station.

Station Chief's Office Building.

Before the off-road vehicle had even come to a complete stop, Ding Yishan had already pushed open the car door and jumped out, his entire body wrapped in a thick, suffocating smell of smoke.

Jiang Chuan followed closely behind carrying a document bag, and the two men hurried up the stairs with quick steps, rushing all the way to the third floor.

After unlocking the office door, Ding Yishan headed straight for the corner refrigerator, pulled open the door, and grabbed four bags of nutritional paste.

Unlike the ordinary varieties available on the market, all the nutritional paste in the refrigerator came in blue packages.

Their nutritional value was ten times that of ordinary nutritional paste, with many anti-fatigue components added. Normally, drinking just one bag could sustain half a day of high-intensity work.

Now, all four bags went down his throat with gurgling sounds.

After finishing them, he finally covered his lower abdomen and let out a long breath. His whole person seemed to have had his bones extracted, collapsing heavily into the wide office chair.

"Too chaotic."

Rubbing his throbbing temples, Ding Yishan's voice was full of exhaustion.

After the celestial anomaly, the troubles encountered this year were simply more than the past five years combined.

Especially in the recent month.

He Fei's death, the Stand-In Starfish invasion, the arrival of the Void Mist, and now a Wish-Guarding Transcendent had emerged.

With frequent impacts from various events, the inspection station didn't even have time to organize and file the previous incident before the next crisis was already smashing down before their eyes, without even a moment to catch their breath.

And what was even more ridiculous was that a trainee inspector could actually be the first to discover traces of a Wish-Guarding Transcendent?

Ding Yishan couldn't help but sigh.

Since the inspection station's establishment to this day, there had never been such a record, and there would very likely never be one in the future either.

The Cheng family had once again brought "surprises" to the inspection station.

Fortunately, as station chief, he had said at the meeting a few days ago that they should focus on cultivating new personnel, otherwise he really couldn't save face now.

And for the sake of this "Walker."

During the day, the inspection station had practically turned upside down. Senior inspectors held emergency meetings, arguing about everything from ability analysis to potential threats until people's heads ached.

The third-term and second-term inspectors who weren't on duty had run their legs off, leading teams to conduct carpet searches in the buffer zone, not daring to miss any corner.

In the afternoon, as intelligence was further transmitted and verified, Happiness City's upper echelons held another relay meeting.

From migration population estimates and material allocation plans to defense fortification expansion and migration support plans.

Item by item was voted on, taking nearly four hours in total, more than twice as long as the reconstruction meeting after the substitute starfish outbreak.

Moreover, this was just the preliminary meeting. There would need to be at least three to five more specialized meetings to finalize all the detailed rules.

As for whether to give up on taking in this wave of migration, not a single person mentioned it from beginning to end of the meeting.

This was simply a windfall from heaven!

How many sanctuary cities fought tooth and nail to compete for population and resources, yet Happiness City happened to encounter such an opportunity after the infection wave.

Never mind five hundred thousand, even if it were one million, they'd grit their teeth and swallow it down!

However, while the upper echelons could make decisions easily, the lower levels would have to run their legs off to execute them.

Jiang Chuan opened the bulging document bag and placed stacks of resolutions signed with names on the table, unable to help clicking his tongue, "Sir, we need to prepare for at least seven hundred thousand people at minimum. How can the buffer zone accommodate so many? We can't have them sleeping on the streets, can we?"

"Even if it can't accommodate them, it must. Even if our bellies burst, we must swallow them!"

Ding Yishan spoke, his voice hoarse, "Autumn is coming soon. If we take in these people, Happiness City's scale can double. If we miss this opportunity, where will we find another like it?"

"But..."

Jiang Chuan was stunned, "Even if the inspection station operates at full capacity, it can process at most ten thousand people per day for border entry, and this state can't be sustained for long. Personnel fatigue, simplified procedures, the probability of infected entities mixing in will become higher and higher. If several really slip through, the consequences..."

"That's why we can't let the inspection station operate at full capacity."

Ding Yishan interrupted, pondering for a moment before pulling out a document from the pile, "Don't look at those others for now, look at this first."

Every document on the table bore red stamps, recording plans that had passed through major meetings, been screened, voted on, and deemed worthy of further evaluation.

As for those impractical proposals, they had been directly rejected, not even qualifying to appear on paper.

Jiang Chuan took it, his gaze falling on the title.

[Outer City Expansion Plan (Draft)]

After quickly scanning several lines of content, he raised his eyebrows slightly. The draft plan was to designate a new area outside the buffer zone perimeter and gradually expand to build an outer city to accommodate the incoming migrants.

It would adopt a model of "first register information, then designate temporary residential points, then distribute in batches," gradually breaking down and stabilizing the personnel, finally processing them through the inspection station in batches to enter the buffer zone.

"This is... planning to create another buffer zone outside the buffer zone?"

"It's just a draft, just take a look."

The anti-fatigue components in the nutritional paste began to take effect, and Ding Yishan's voice became gentler, "We definitely can't let everyone rush in all at once. The supercomputer has simulated it, the current carrying capacity limit of the buffer zone is 647,000 people. One more person could cause major problems. And it's not the kind of small trouble where material supply is difficult to maintain, it's the kind of big problem that could explode the entire buffer zone!"

"But now we don't have time to build slowly. The migration teams are already on the road. The first batch of forty thousand people will arrive as early as the day after tomorrow, and starting from this batch, there will only be more and more."

"Many people have proposed to first use barbed wire to circle out areas outside, set up simple shacks to stabilize the people, while simultaneously transferring materials, pulling electrical lines, using work-for-relief programs, utilizing the migrants to build while collecting them. Once the outer city's framework is established, they can be distributed to the buffer zone in proportions."

Jiang Chuan's fingers gripping the document tightened, "But the outer city has no defensive fortifications. What if fog passages appear? And with so many people, there will definitely be plenty of infected entities too."

"The Blood Dragon Corps will shrink across all fronts. All retired soldiers and guard personnel will be conscripted to rush to the front lines. Plus the Cross Legion will also allocate half their people to build a defensive perimeter on the outside."

Ding Yishan said while thinking, "There are definitely risks, but it's better than having hundreds of thousands of people blocked outside. If real chaos breaks out, never mind the buffer zone, even the inner city would suffer along with it."

"Additionally, while this plan looks risky, it's really a solution born of necessity. What needs to be negotiated now is how to build, how to stabilize people, how to ensure risk reduction, these are the most crucial issues."

Ding Yishan fired off questions like a machine gun, his gaze falling on Jiang Chuan's face.

Jiang Chuan was completely stunned, his brain stopped working for a moment, and finally showed that familiar blank expression.

Like a defense communicator that suddenly crashed while being operated.

Ding Yishan sighed inwardly. Asking Jiang Chuan about such matters was still too demanding. Even if he were to think about it himself, he'd have that irritable feeling of his brain about to explode with no idea where to start.

"Go rest first. I need to continue organizing these proposals. There's another major meeting tomorrow morning."

"Yes, sir!"

Jiang Chuan suddenly snapped back to attention with a jolt, woodenly turning to walk out the door.

Despite being a half-step transcendent, his steps carried a hint of stumbling.

However, just as Ding Yishan lowered his head to begin reviewing the proposals, knocking sounds rang out again.

"Come in."

The door was pushed open, and Jiang Chuan walked back in.

"What is it?"

"Sir, regarding Inspector Cheng, should we notify him of this information?"

"Notify him?" Ding Yishan habitually frowned, "A trainee knowing..."

The words suddenly stopped at his lips.

Under Jiang Chuan's gaze, Ding Yishan's brow gradually relaxed, revealing a thoughtful expression.

Moreover, this thoughtful look started out faint, but became intense within seconds.

"Fine, notify him."

"Then I'll..."

"Come here, you sit in my seat and notify him for me." Ding Yishan stood up, yielding the wide office chair.

"Ah?"

"Nothing special, I'm suddenly curious whether our Inspector Cheng will have any constructive opinions after learning about these matters."

Ding Yishan deliberately emphasized the words "Inspector Cheng," a hint of unfathomable meaning flashing in his eyes.

"Come on, aren't you familiar with him? You won't even dare help me ask a question?"

"I..."

Jiang Chuan was still somewhat bewildered, "Sir, are you being serious, or..."

"Would I be joking?"

Ding Yishan made a gesture of invitation, turned around and pulled over a lounge chair from the side, settling in comfortably by the window, gazing out at the inspection station's lights, "I've already let you sit in the station chief's position, so consider yourself the station chief and ask away openly."

Heh, interesting!

After his thinking opened up, Ding Yishan shook his head with a smile.

Since this kid could discover a Wish-Guarding Transcendent, it showed he was someone bold and careful.

He had already said at the major meeting that they should cultivate young people, so testing him now was quite normal.

Of course, Ding Yishan wouldn't admit that deep down, he had developed some unfounded expectations about the Cheng family again.

He wanted to see what this Inspector Cheng, who could cause major disturbances even during his trainee period, could say when faced with this mess involving hundreds of thousands of migrants.

"That's right, it's five hundred thousand!"

As soon as Jiang Chuan finished speaking, he immediately added, "Five hundred thousand is just the predicted number. The specifics depend on the Walker's route."

"According to the latest intelligence analysis, the people affected by Xinghuo far exceed six hundred. The currently counted numbers have already exceeded ten thousand, and the Walker's ability goes far beyond simply inducing motivation. It's more like strengthening humans' expectations for 'change.'"

"Expectations for change?"

Cheng Ye repeated this, pondering, "Could it amplify the potential benefits that change might bring while weakening risk assessment?"

"Yes, you guessed correctly."

Jiang Chuan was somewhat surprised, instinctively turning to look at Ding Yishan.

The latter sat expressionlessly in the lounge chair, only lightly nodding to indicate he should continue.

"After being affected by this influence, combined with the survival pressure brought by the Void Mist, the migrants will believe that Happiness City is their only path to survival. This belief becomes infinitely strengthened, so even knowing there might be dangers ahead, they'll rush over regardless of everything. Therefore, the actual numbers could very well exceed five hundred thousand."

"More than five hundred thousand?"

Although Cheng Ye lowered his voice, a hint of obvious shock could still be heard.

He couldn't help but be shocked.

This was no longer a question of whether the inspection station was busy or not, but involved the systemic stability of all of Happiness City.

Because even if the inspection station operated at full capacity, it couldn't digest such a massive flow of people.

Moreover, don't forget that the Void Mist hadn't left, and unpredictable chaos could occur at any time.

With so many people staying outside the buffer zone, any little riot would require force to suppress?

As soon as gunshots rang out, Happiness City's reputation would be completely ruined, and they could never again expect new personnel or merchant convoys to come.

"Can't the Walker be eliminated?"

After speaking, Cheng Ye corrected himself, "Since we've already grasped his whereabouts, can we find a way to guide him toward other areas? Even just slowing the migration pace would help."

Population influx was actually a good thing.

But five hundred thousand, or even more, far exceeded Happiness City's carrying capacity.

However, if they could guide the Walker's route of advance, keeping the daily migration numbers controlled at five to six thousand, at most ten thousand people, it would give Happiness City buffer time.

"This..."

Jiang Chuan's voice hesitated, and he quickly looked toward Ding Yishan.

The latter showed a thoughtful expression, made a silent gesture, and immediately said, "Continue using this morning's excuse and tell him about the Wish-Guarding Transcendent's characteristics."

"Yes."

Jiang Chuan nodded lightly, quickly pulling out a folded note from his pocket with several lines written on it.

The phone went quiet for over ten seconds.

Just when Cheng Ye thought the Void Mist had covered the area again, interfering with the signal.

Jiang Chuan's voice came through again, like reciting from a textbook, his tone suddenly becoming fluent:

"Inspector Cheng, since there has never been a trainee inspector in the inspection station's history who could come into contact with such events, there are currently no corresponding handling procedures..."

"But considering that you are the first discoverer of the Wish-Guarding Transcendent and secured valuable response time for Happiness City, the inspection station has decided to temporarily elevate some of your clearance privileges to third-term inspector level. I will shortly send a batch of materials to your defense communicator. Please watch for them."

"Additionally, this batch of materials involves highly classified information. Please ensure that only you view them and absolutely cannot leak them to any unrelated personnel."

"Alright, thank you."

Cheng Ye let out a long breath, his anxious heart settling slightly.

This feeling of being wrapped up in the unknown was too terrible. Being able to obtain some inside information meant he wouldn't have to bump around like a headless fly.

"Regarding eliminating the Walker, we currently cannot do it, or rather, no sanctuary city in the wasteland can do it, because the characteristic of Wish-Guarding Transcendents is that they are born from wishes, and if the wish doesn't perish, the body won't disappear."

"Hmm?"

Cheng Ye couldn't help but widen his eyes. Didn't that mean... the Wish-Guarding Transcendent was immortal?

"Yes." Jiang Chuan seemed to guess his thoughts and continued, "In simple terms, it's an immortal body. Even if we could eliminate him, after some time he would reconstitute his form somewhere else. But after resurrection, he would target our Happiness City as a revenge target, bringing massive infection waves. In the past, two super sanctuary cities have already been destroyed because of this."

"As for guiding the Walker to other places, that's even more difficult."

Jiang Chuan's voice continued, "The behavioral logic of Wish-Guarding Transcendents follows no discernible pattern. Once they detect human interference, they immediately enter an indiscriminate berserk state. Then it wouldn't just be a migration wave problem, but far more trouble."

Good grief!

Can't kill it, can't touch it, can't manage it, buffs stacked to the max, untargetable, right?!

This ghostly thing might not pose much direct threat, but its difficulty level had already far exceeded that of mother sources!

It was truly the real version answer.

Cheng Ye even had a thought: if he encountered certain dead-end situations in the future, could he actively transform into a Wish-Guarding Transcendent?

"Now, to deal with the migration wave, Happiness City has already initiated a round of discussion meetings, coming up with quite a few constructive opinions and some drafts. Inspector Cheng, after your clearance elevation, you're entitled to know about these things. Do you need me to read them to you? The inspection station is also collecting opinions from inspectors to modify unreasonable aspects of the drafts so they can be promoted and implemented as soon as possible."

"There are already drafts?"

Cheng Ye's heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly raised his eyebrows, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

Quite impressive.

Happiness City's response speed was indeed fast. From morning to evening, just a few hours, and they had already progressed to this stage.

However, connecting this to Jiang Chuan's suddenly fluent speaking pace and the current tentative inquiry.

Cheng Ye understood in his heart and couldn't help but reveal a slight smile, nodding lightly, "Then please trouble you. I happen to be free right now."

"Alright, I'll read you several drafts that have execution possibilities first."

Not having to think, just mechanically reciting from a script was undoubtedly great enjoyment for Jiang Chuan.

His speaking pace became increasingly fluent, even carrying several tones of inflection.

"Work-for-relief to build an outer city?"

Cheng Ye thought quietly, his fingertips lightly tapping on the bedsheets, extracting key terms from the draft.

This line of thinking was quite good. It both solved the migrant settlement problem and could stabilize people's hearts through labor. But the key issue was...

"Can Happiness City provide the materials needed to build an outer city?"

After speaking, Cheng Ye added, "I'm not referring to temporary supplies like tents and nutritional paste, but construction base materials, cement, steel reinforcement, and various basic construction materials."

Hmm?

Jiang Chuan was stunned. He had thought Cheng Ye would first ask how to ensure migrant safety, or whether the distribution mechanism was reasonable. He hadn't expected his first question to directly target the most practical material bottleneck.

Ding Yishan, who had been reclining in the lounge chair with half-closed eyes, straightened up slightly upon hearing this, a glint of interest flashing in his eyes.

He nodded lightly, held up one finger, then clenched it into a fist.

Having followed Ding Yishan for so many years, Jiang Chuan immediately understood, cleared his throat and answered, "This is possible. All the construction materials Happiness City produced this summer haven't been traded externally and are all stockpiled in warehouses. They can completely meet the construction needs of the outer city's first phase. Subsequently, the industrial zone will shift to full production, and as long as sufficient time is given, the material gap can absolutely be filled."

Hiss.

This wasn't the small-scale affair of Tianyuan Community's few thousand people, but large-scale construction involving at least five hundred thousand people as a baseline!

Happiness City actually had such substantial resources?

Cheng Ye's eyelids twitched. Since it could meet construction needs, this draft had real practical significance.

For Happiness City's future development, it definitely couldn't be limited to the small buffer zone.

Like Xinghuo Sanctuary City, it would need to designate different-level areas for risk segmentation.

Happiness City's current scale couldn't yet support such complex layouts, but building an outer city first as a transition was completely feasible.

However, Cheng Ye's brow furrowed slightly again.

The difficulty of work-for-relief programs had never been the "work" and "relief" themselves, but how to ensure fairness.

With hundreds of thousands of people working simultaneously, how should each person's contribution be measured?

Some places build quickly, others slowly, and everyone wants to crowd into good locations, so what then?

Or to put it more practically, the terrain outside the buffer zone had high and low areas, with safe zones close to defense lines and naturally dangerous areas far from defense lines.

Everyone wanted to crowd into safe places, so who would go to dangerous areas for construction?

"Inspector Cheng, if you have any suggestions, please tell me freely. I'll record them and submit them to the station chief for review."

As Jiang Chuan spoke, he suddenly had an inspiration, "The station highly values cultivating the younger generation of inspectors. If you can make contributions to this matter, when you want to get promoted in the future, many conditions could definitely be waived appropriately."

Hmm?

Ding Yishan looked at Jiang Chuan with surprise, then shook his head with a smile.

Sitting in the office chair, he really considered himself the station chief, didn't he?

But this was fine too. Having him say these things to Cheng Ye was smoother than speaking himself.

"Let me think..."

Realizing this might again be a test for advancement, Cheng Ye cast aside distracting thoughts and his brain raced.

Like his conversation with Downs last time, without more information to support him, this was another armchair strategist session.

The most crucial aspect of armchair strategizing was demonstrating overall perspective.

As long as he grasped the big picture, details could be slowly deliberated and perfected through collective effort.

The phone suddenly fell silent.

After a full four to five minutes, Cheng Ye finally spoke thoughtfully, "Jiang Chuan..."

"Inspector Cheng, please speak. I have a pen in hand. Just tell me and I'll record."

"Good."

Cheng Ye began, "The outer city construction draft can be implemented, but two issues must be determined first: First, should we build an outer city structure similar to the buffer zone, or a distribution structure similar to Xinghuo? Second, regarding the material allocation system during construction, should it be distribution according to work, or distribution according to progress?"

Two consecutive questions again exceeded Jiang Chuan's knowledge range.

He instinctively turned to look at Ding Yishan, but saw that Ding Yishan was also deep in thought.

After more than ten seconds, he gestured for him to press the mute button, "Ask him about the pros and cons of both structures, ask him about the pros and cons of allocation systems."

"Understood."

Jiang Chuan quickly relayed the questions, and this time Cheng Ye's answers came quickly and clearly.

"An outer city structure similar to the buffer zone would create divisions between core areas and peripheral areas, which involves serious allocation conflicts. If the first batch of migrants gets assigned to safe and convenient core areas, while subsequent arrivals can only go to remote peripheral areas, fairness becomes impossible to discuss. It would easily immediately ignite opposition between areas, and when that happens, it couldn't be suppressed."

"A distribution structure similar to Xinghuo could avoid this point. Each area would be a relatively independent core area without clear hierarchical divisions. Issues with terrain differences and safety distance problems encountered during construction could also be balanced through material allocation. For example, reducing material quotas for areas close to defense lines while giving additional rewards to areas far from defense lines. This way, it could both guide personnel flow toward the periphery and promote balanced construction of the entire outer city, avoiding the situation where one side is saturated while the other is barren."

"As for allocation systems..."

Cheng Ye's speaking pace slowed, "The advantage of distribution according to work is that it's intuitive, making it clear at a glance who works more or less, maximally stimulating individual initiative. But the disadvantages are also obvious: outer city construction isn't a solo effort. Building a wall requires people mixing mortar, carrying bricks, and setting up scaffolding to cooperate with each other. If everyone just focuses on their own work, it easily becomes everyone doing their own thing like scattered sand, and overall efficiency would actually decline."

"Distribution according to progress is the opposite, more suitable for team collaboration. For example, assign an area to a construction group, stipulate completing a section of defensive wall within three days, and upon completion, distribute materials per person, with bonuses for exceeding targets. This forces everyone to band together, but problems can also arise. If there are slackers in the group and there aren't sufficient surveillance and punishment systems, it easily creates situations where one person slacks and the whole group suffers, slowing overall progress."

"And this point is particularly difficult to measure. If we devolve surveillance authority, they might only want physically strong people, kicking aside women, children, and the elderly, creating new inequities. If we retrieve surveillance authority, facing a scale of hundreds of thousands of people, the workload would be so large we simply couldn't handle it."

Jiang Chuan's pen tip moved across the paper with scratching sounds.

What Cheng Ye said was very straightforward and he could understand it, but thinking deeper was somewhat difficult.

It seemed like there was no perfect choice, whichever was chosen would have unsolvable troubles and problems.

"Is there any middle-ground approach?"

After finishing his notes, without waiting for Ding Yishan's signal, Jiang Chuan couldn't help but ask.

"Yes!"

This question was too simple for him, this promoter of new concepts. Saying it wouldn't feel out of place at all.

Cheng Ye changed direction and said decisively, "Establish an area responsibility contract system, clearly assigning area tasks to individuals, with all gains and losses borne by the contractor, while simultaneously establishing clear targets and graded rewards and punishments, making them directly responsible for results!"

[NEXT CHAPTER]

INS Chapter 117: Order Assimilation, Terrifying Migration Tide!

Wish-Guarding Transcendent?

Cheng Ye was stunned for half a second, then immediately realized that Jiang Chuan was talking about transcendent earthbound spirits.

For this type of "being," the authors of related books had given various names: obsession earth spirits, transcendent lingering souls, obsession earthbound souls, clinging hometown spirits... and so on. Ultimately, they were all descriptions of special forms of residual consciousness from deceased transcendents.

"This name is more appropriate."

The thought flashed through his mind as Cheng Ye nodded slightly.

Compared to the "transcendent earthbound spirits" he had seen in the survival library before, the "Wish-Guarding Transcendent" that Jiang Chuan mentioned now seemed more precise.

However, the name didn't matter. What was important was the actual impact it brought.

As a main player in the annual winter infection tides, the threat of Wish-Guarding Transcendents had long been written into countless bloody lessons.

Their most terrifying characteristic wasn't their own transcendent combat power, but their disaster-like calling ability.

Once a Wish-Guarding Transcendent left its activity range, wherever it passed would be like a giant magnet attracting iron filings, continuously drawing surrounding infected entities to join the team, quickly gathering into a massive infection tide that would attack all human sanctuary cities and settlements along the way.

Only when the distance reached its limit or the wish was fulfilled and it left would the infection tide disperse accordingly.

After leaving the infection tide, the threat level of Wish-Guarding Transcendents would significantly decrease, rarely causing substantial impact.

After all, transcendents who could form earthbound spirits after death often had extremely strong mental resilience in life.

This resilience would continue into their post-death consciousness, making them more inclined to achieve certain purposes rather than destroy everything and release desires.

"Did it come through the fog passage?"

"Basically confirmed. Based on the backpack photos we provided, Xinghuo conducted a basic comparison and indeed found it almost identical to what you saw last night, with only minor wear differences. Hmm, they just finished searching the entire B4 District and found nearly 600 backpacks of the same style."

Jiang Chuan deliberately slowed his tone, reducing the pace of information output to try to ease the tension in the call. "But you can rest assured, the Wish-Guarding Transcendent has already left our Happiness City area. This guy might have just been borrowing a path and had no intention of staying in our Happiness City."

"Gone?!"

Cheng Ye was stunned, nearly dropping his defense pass.

Good heavens, so carefree?

"Can you confirm?"

"I dare not say for certain, but there's at least a ninety-nine percent possibility. Director Liu personally led people to investigate and trace the source in a circle, found no traces, and the last breath residue was near North Station. If it's not a deliberate deception, it should have already left."

Jiang Chuan pondered for a moment. "Inspector Cheng, because you were the first to discover this matter, you're qualified to know information about the Wish-Guarding Transcendent. But regarding information about transcendents in Happiness City and some core emergency defense mechanisms, according to regulations, you'll only have the authority to understand them after you're promoted to third-term inspector. Sorry, I'm just a messenger, I really can't say more."

"Understood."

Cheng Ye didn't persist, breathing a long sigh of relief. As long as it was confirmed not to be a mother source infected entity, that was good.

Throughout this day, he had been on edge, constantly worried that another terrifying mother source would emerge and deliver another devastating blow to the already fragile buffer zone.

Now, whether it had left or was hiding, the threat of the Wish-Guarding Transcendent seemed to be within controllable range.

"As for the backpack style..."

Jiang Chuan continued explaining, "You only noticed the backpack, but its influence went far beyond that. For example, Zhang Daniu's shoes were almost identical to those of the person you saw last night. This is because Wish-Guarding Transcendents continuously influence surrounding humans, gradually making everyone's thoughts and behaviors converge toward themselves."

"Such as living habits, clothing styles, and naturally including patching techniques and backpack styles."

"Hmm, if you were already similar to the Wish-Guarding Transcendent, you'd be easily influenced. Like Zhang Daniu having a backpack of the same style, so he and his wife immediately became objects of assimilation. However, this influence has a range and is reversible. As long as you leave its radiation zone, you'll return to normal after some time."

Assimilating humans?

Cheng Ye was shocked. This information was completely absent from all the books he had read.

Wait.

Could this be the reason why Wish-Guarding Transcendents could gather infected entities?

Cheng Ye immediately noted this key information in his mind and hurriedly asked, "Has the Wish-Guarding Transcendent's ability been determined?"

"Not completely confirmed yet." On the other end of the phone, Jiang Chuan shook his head slightly, glancing at Ding Yishan, Harlin, six fifth-term inspectors, and a bunch of fourth-term inspectors sitting in the meeting room, lowering his voice.

"Based on available information analysis, the ability is most likely related to 'motivation.'"

"Motivation?"

Cheng Ye repeated these three words. This answer was too abstract and somewhat incomprehensible.

"Specifically, within his influence range, humans are compelled to complete things buried deep in their hearts for a long time but never had the courage or opportunity to do."

Jiang Chuan seemed unsure how to describe it. "This is the preliminary conclusion from Xinghuo. After our guided questioning of Zhang Daniu, we found his goal was to earn more money and quickly move to the central city area, leaving the shantytown, which led to the idea of going out to fog passages."

"Earn more money? Then why didn't he think of killing and robbing people, but chose the more dangerous fog passages?"

"Amplifying negativity is the mother source's ability. Wish-Guarding Transcendents won't do that."

Jiang Chuan's tone became more certain. "They only stimulate positive emotions within humans, such as yearning for a better life, adherence to promises, persistence toward goals, and will never induce negative emotions."

"Really?"

Cheng Ye frowned, his mind flashing back to the greed in the man's eyes last night.

That didn't seem like any positive emotion.

"Based on existing cases, yes, but exceptions can't be ruled out."

Jiang Chuan added, "If the influenced person already lacks positive emotions and has their heart filled with negativity, the Wish-Guarding Transcendent's energy might stimulate in reverse, amplifying hidden malice. It's like sunlight reflecting off a mirror creates brightness, but shining on ink only makes the darkness more obvious."

"Any more detailed information?"

"Not for now. He hasn't influenced enough people, the sample size is too small. We're conducting city-wide screening for other influenced individuals, and Xinghuo is also compiling statistics on 600 cases from B4 District. We'll need to wait for data from both sides to be consolidated before drawing conclusions."

"Alright, thank you."

Vague chaotic voices could be heard from the other end of the phone, seemingly from a meeting discussion.

Cheng Ye didn't ask further and hung up.

From mother source infected entity to Wish-Guarding Transcendent, and the other party had already left Happiness City, the situation was completely different from his expectations.

"Good thing. If another mother source had come, I would have suspected that my crossing over to Happiness City had made the world's will punish this area."

Cheng Ye muttered to himself and pushed open the restroom door to walk out.

Thinking that he didn't have to face another scenario where the entire buffer zone would be eroded and undergo another great purge.

However anxious he had been from morning until now, his heart felt that much more cheerful.

It was as if the dark clouds weighing on his heart had been blown away by the wind, revealing warm sunshine.

And standing in front of the restroom, the afternoon sun really did slant down through the thin mist, falling warmly on his shoulders, so comfortable it made him want to sigh.

Cheng Ye stood there for a while until his body was thoroughly warmed by the sun, then leisurely walked toward the inspection area.

Liu Kun was leading people to investigate traces left by the Wish-Guarding Transcendent today, so there seemed to be no chance for searching.

But that was fine. He had used 25% of the charge value for searching this morning, so it would be safer to wait until after work to replenish it fully.

"Hey, Brother Cheng."

Hearing the voice from behind, Wang Kang turned around and almost thought he was seeing things.

Before Cheng Ye went to the restroom, he still looked grave as if the sky were falling. When he returned, he had recovered that lazy appearance from when he was at the hospital, all the pressure between his brows had vanished, and even his steps carried a lightness.

"Why don't you go rest? Jundao is helping me watch here, so there won't be any trouble."

"I'll just sleep right there, it won't affect you."

Cheng Ye shook his head with a smile and walked to the reclining chair, comfortably curling up inside and casually pulling the duty jacket hanging nearby to cover himself.

Without exaggeration, Wang Kang was naturally suited to be an inspector.

Although his academic performance couldn't match his and his martial skills were a mess, these were results of lack of parental education, not poor talent.

Take now, for example. In terms of duty performance, Wang Kang's showing was good enough that no one could find fault.

Cheng Ye even compared himself mentally and felt he might not be able to match Wang Kang's level of dedication and seriousness.

Why?

Because Wang Kang's world was too "pure"!

He received little information and didn't have so many random thoughts in his head, unlike him, a time traveler carrying modern memories, always having his energy scattered by various curiosities.

Sometimes he would also be led by the Collector, thinking about adventures and gaining some benefits.

Wang Kang was like a carefully pruned sapling, inheriting the rigorous and meticulous qualities he had taught, but without being infected by the restless wild streak in his bones.

A proper top student, excellent enough to put minds at ease.

Seeing Cheng Ye really close his eyes to rest, Wang Kang pressed his lips together and said no more.

For these two days, he had been carrying a stone in his heart, afraid that Cheng Ye would ask what happened on his first day of duty.

But Cheng Ye acted as if he knew nothing. This kind of protective freedom made his heart breathe a sigh of relief.

However, he didn't know that Cheng Ye wasn't ignorant, he had simply been too busy to remember.

From yesterday morning's merchant convoy investigation until now, the amount of information received in a day and a half might be more than an ordinary person would encounter in several months.

Even now while resting, he was still thinking about problems.

"Placed in Xinghuo Sanctuary City, this motivation indeed wouldn't have much impact, because the internal environment is too stable. People living inside would only work harder in factories and participate more actively in construction."

"But coming to Happiness City..."

Cheng Ye's brow slightly furrowed, his fingertips unconsciously tapping lightly on his knee.

The explanation of "motivation" was really too general.

Jiang Chuan said it was driven by positive emotions, but where were the boundaries of positive?

For Zhang Daniu, going into fog passages to earn money and move was positive.

But for another desperate person with low moral constraints, would casually robbing some money also be categorized as something that must be completed?

If it further triggered some antisocial personalities, no wonder... explosives weren't sold.

Behind each absurd rule was an even more absurd true story.

So they were guarding against exactly this kind of situation!

Thinking about it, irrepressible drowsiness surged up, his eyelids becoming heavier and heavier as if weighted with lead.

Cheng Ye stopped struggling and let his consciousness gradually blur, curling up in the reclining chair to sleep deeply.

When he woke again, the sky had completely darkened.

Fine drizzle tapped against the canopy overhead, making rushing sounds.

Light mist drifted over from the wasteland direction, wrapping the entire inspection station like a thin veil. The distant city ruins had been completely shrouded, leaving only blurred outlines faintly visible in the night.

Cheng Ye sat up, rubbing his heavy temples. The duty jacket slipped from his shoulders, carrying the slight chill of the rainy night.

Today was one of the few days since he started duty that he hadn't heard gunfire.

Whether due to Void Mist or rain.

If this pace continued, autumn would arrive quickly, and everything would settle down.

"Brother Cheng... awake? Just heated the nutritional paste, it's in the thermal container."

Wang Kang's voice came from the metal table. Quarantine Zone B was empty, but according to regulations, the duty records still needed to be completed.

"What time is it..."

Cheng Ye stretched lazily, his joints making a series of light sounds, then took out his defense pass to glance at the screen.

"Seven-thirty, slept for over three hours. That's enough."

He got up and walked to the thermal container in the corner, lifted the lid and took out a bag of warm nutritional paste, tore open the opening and gulped it down.

The nutritional paste taste he had grown accustomed to seemed to have changed from yesterday to today.

There was a cheap, cloying sweetness, and after drinking it, he felt a bit of the nausea from when he first started drinking it.

After finishing one bag, Cheng Ye smacked his lips and closed the thermal container. "After duty ends, I'll take you for a good meal."

"What good meal?"

Wang Kang's pen paused, his eyes lighting up. When the two were in the inner city before, the money they had was basically all spent on food and drink.

Canned meat transported from outside, compressed biscuits, even occasionally encountered dehydrated vegetables, almost all the rare foods they could buy with money, they had tasted them all.

But after coming out, Cheng Ye hadn't mentioned this, so naturally he didn't dare to bring it up proactively.

"Better than what we ate in the inner city."

Cheng Ye chuckled, keeping it mysterious without mentioning that he had been to Xinghuo Sanctuary City last night.

"I'm going to shower in the back. When the time comes, you come find me."

"Good!"

After staying up all night, Cheng Ye's hair had long become greasy and stuck together, clinging to his forehead uncomfortably.

Fortunately, the inspection station had simple shower facilities. Though not as well-equipped as the medical station, they were sufficient for washing away fatigue.

Hot water poured over his body, taking away two days' worth of accumulated tension and drowsiness.

Cheng Ye wiped his face in front of the mirror and tugged at the corner of his mouth. Unknowingly, he had actually become qualified to participate in disasters affecting sanctuary cities.

Really, fate was unpredictable.

After washing, his original clothes were stuffed in his bag, and Cheng Ye changed into the inspection station's regulation uniform.

This was the first time he wore this uniform since finishing the assessment.

Both top and bottom were black, with a large character "Inspection" on the back.

A bit strange.

Like a jailer, his originally refreshing temperament instantly gained several degrees of serious rigidity.

However, after putting on the dark blue duty jacket to cover the "Inspection" character on his back, the effect was much better.

The well-fitted cut made his figure appear even more proportioned, the exposed half collar made his neckline look sharp, and compared to his usual casual short sleeves, it added several degrees of heroic spirit.

As for the thinness when he first crossed over, Cheng Ye had completely forgotten about it by now.

Dong.

Eight o'clock.

The bell rang above the inspection station.

Once, twice, three times... until the sixth bell chime fell and the lingering sound gradually dispersed.

One more chime than usual, representing South Station's safe day, taking the auspicious meaning of double six bringing fortune.

For the guards and staff whose nerves had been taut for most of the month, this bell sound was simply heavenly music.

No matter what would happen tomorrow, at least at this moment, everyone's spirits relaxed.

Leaving the inspection station with Wang Kang, Master Zhang's bus was already waiting by the roadside.

True official vehicle for private use!

When boarding, a rich smell of salted fish hit them in the face, obviously last night's cargo hadn't completely dissipated its odor.

"How's the small store?"

"Finished renovation this afternoon, dozens of people working, progress was very fast!"

"Let's go back first. I'll get some things, then we'll go to Chemical Factory Complex."

The bus slowly drove away from the inspection station.

This was Wang Kang's first time enjoying chartered vehicle treatment. His eyes were full of curiosity, sometimes running to the front to lean on the driver's seat back, watching how Master Zhang drove, turned the wheel, and stepped on the brakes.

Sometimes he'd run to the back row, pointing at the scenery outside the window, lively as a bird just released from its cage.

"How come? I thought you weren't interested in these things anymore."

Cheng Ye leaned on the middle seat, unable to help teasing at Wang Kang's excited appearance.

Acting like an adult for several days.

Finally couldn't maintain the act anymore, exposing his long-suppressed nature.

"Usually don't have the mind to look at these things!"

Wang Kang scratched his head, smiling somewhat embarrassedly.

"Haha, that's right."

Cheng Ye looked at the shantytown passing by outside the car window, about to smile, but his mouth corner suddenly froze.

The three words "motivation" involuntarily flashed through his mind.

Wang Kang was indeed behaving somewhat too actively.

Looking further toward the shantytown, Cheng Ye's heartbeat inexplicably quickened by half a beat.

The shantytown that was still deathly quiet yesterday seemed to have been suddenly renovated. Almost every household had lights on. Though it couldn't be called vibrant with life, it had completely shed its previous oppressive deathly atmosphere.

"Master Zhang, drive slower."

"Sure thing."

The vehicle slowed down, and Cheng Ye pushed open the car window. Cold wind mixed with moist earth air rushed in.

He stuck his head out to look deep into the shantytown, and his whole person was stunned.

The garbage and construction waste that usually piled around the shantytown's periphery had completely disappeared.

The originally potholed dirt road had been filled in by more than half, and he could even see people using stone fragments to build simple drainage ditches by the roadside.

Could this be a change that happened within one day?

The bus continued forward, passing the tent camp, and Cheng Ye couldn't help but gasp.

If the shantytown's changes could still be barely understood, then the tent camp's transformation was too exaggerated.

The originally scattered camp was now organized neatly by color.

Blue tents were clustered together, green tents formed a continuous area, and earth-colored old tents were relegated to the outermost edge, neat and orderly with even spacing barely different.

Crisscrossing simple drainage ditches had been dug in the ground, and murky rainwater flowed along the channels toward the distance.

All the garbage, rags, and waste piled beside the tents had also disappeared like in the shantytown, and even the sour smell in the air had lightened considerably.

"Is this the influence of the Wish-Guarding Transcendent?"

Cheng Ye was immediately astonished, trembling all over, feeling that the transcendent power of this world was too terrifying.

Mother sources brought destruction, using the most brutal methods to destroy everything and rebuild order from zero.

While Wish-Guarding Transcendents brought assimilation, equally brutal but hidden under a gentle facade.

This ability had completely exceeded fire-breathing, water control, flight, and other supernatural powers.

After all, no matter how strong those abilities were, they were just concrete manifestations of energy use, with boundaries and traces.

Compared to this power that could influence hearts and tamper with behavioral logic, they weren't even in the same dimension.

What was even more hair-raising was that the Wish-Guarding Transcendent might have already left, but just the remaining aftereffects brought such astonishing influence.

"If this went to the modern world, there would probably be crowds of people paying for Wish-Guarding Transcendents to transform themselves."

Cheng Ye was somewhat tongue-tied.

This ability was simply the nemesis of procrastination, except no one could say clearly whether changes catalyzed by external force were salvation or another kind of shackle.

Since they didn't need to make stops along the way, the bus quickly entered the city area.

Taking a vehicle back to the entrance of Electronics Factory Complex for the first time, Cheng Ye still wasn't quite used to it.

However, when his gaze crossed the street corner and he saw warm yellow lights in the small store window from far away, his vision blurred for a moment.

Through the rain curtain, for a trance moment, it seemed like he saw Uncle Dong bustling inside.

He unconsciously blinked, and the illusion dispersed.

Only a few workers finishing up were at the entrance, replacing the small store's tin door with a large security door.

The lighting wasn't Uncle Dong's usual energy-saving lamp either, but had been replaced with bright shadowless lamps.

"The small store is open!"

This was Wang Kang's first time seeing it lit up. "Brother Cheng, is this the shop you rented?"

Cheng Ye hummed in acknowledgment, and when the bus stopped, he was first to push open the car door and step down.

Looking through the security door inside, the layout basically hadn't changed.

The shelf against the left wall, the glass counter in the center, the narrow staircase leading to the sunken basement in the back room, even the plastic bag hooks hanging on the wall were in their original positions.

The shelves were still the three-tier old style, but had been replaced with moisture-proof stainless steel material. The bright metal reflections made the interior brighter.

The glass counter's wooden frame had been replaced with dark gray alloy, and even the cabinet doors underneath had magnetic locks installed.

As for the waterproofing that Cheng Ye was most concerned about, a section had been deliberately removed from the shop entrance, and three new steps had been built.

Near the steps, a half-foot-high water barrier had been built with granite, with a thin gap left on the inner side and a hidden channel buried underneath, leading directly to the drainage well at the street corner.

The steps themselves had also been modified. The front edge of each step was half a finger higher than the back edge, forming a tiny slope. Water falling on them would flow away along grooves on the sides of the steps.

Walking into the small store, the plastic handrail to the basement had also been replaced with stainless steel, the cold metal feel reassuring to grip.

Cheng Ye crouched down and pushed open the door. Instead of the usual musty smell, he was greeted by a light woody fragrance mixed with the salty freshness of salted fish.

Wang Kang followed behind, curiously poking his head in. When he saw the scene inside, he was so shocked he stepped back half a pace and nearly hit the door frame. "My heavens..."

The originally pitch-black, damp basement now had thick moisture-proof wooden boards laid on the cement floor, with bright bulbs hanging every two meters, illuminating every corner clearly.

Twenty bags of rice, flour, grain, and oil were stacked on wheeled metal racks. The salted fish was wrapped tightly in vacuum bags and neatly stacked in moisture-proof cabinets in the corner.

Metal racks against the walls were filled with canned goods, with red, yellow, blue, and green labels crowded together, looking reassuring just to see.

"Brother Cheng, this..." Wang Kang poked his head in again, unable to speak properly.

"Just a small warehouse. When you're craving something, just come in and take it."

Cheng Ye casually took a can of yellow peaches from the shelf, opened it and handed it over.

Wang Kang initially wanted to decline, but smelling that sweet fragrance, he immediately froze in place.

"Try it."

"Then I won't be polite."

Wang Kang took the can, first drank a sip of the sweet juice, immediately squinting his eyes comfortably.

Then he bit into a piece of peach, feeling so satisfied it was like flowers blooming in his heart.

"Tasty, right? There are still thirty cans here."

Cheng Ye took two boxes of various canned goods and put them in his backpack.

He didn't forget the chunk of Yaksha Bull meat either, putting it in Wang Kang's backpack for him to carry.

Besides that, he also took out over ten packages of labeled seeds.

These were prepared by Li Changfeng, filling an entire burlap sack. He probably guessed that Cheng Ye wanted to try planting in Shi Province.

"Let's go!"

Taking Wang Kang out of the small store, the bus turned direction toward Chemical Factory Complex.

Cheng Ye called ahead, but didn't expect Luo Xiaoxue to be waiting at the complex entrance with Yiyi.

As soon as the bus approached, Yiyi in her pink jacket shot over like a little cannonball.

Wang Kang instinctively lowered his head, thinking the little one was going to jump into his arms, but saw Liu Yi go straight around him, opening her arms to pounce toward Cheng Ye, being steadily caught and lifted up.

Ouch, so wounded!

"Brother Cheng Ye! Seeds! I want to see the seeds!" Yiyi hugged Cheng Ye's neck, her little face pressed against his shoulder, her voice crisp and full of anticipation.

"Hey, only thinking about seeds? Don't want to eat fragrant beef?"

Cheng Ye pinched her little cheek.

"I don't eat beef!"

Puff.

Liu Yi said it seriously, and Cheng Ye couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Master Zhang, want to come up and sit for a while?"

"No need, I'll just wait for you downstairs."

"Alright, thank you."

Cheng Ye threw his backpack to Wang Kang and carried Yiyi cheerfully down from the vehicle.

He had to say, he could now finally understand why those villain bosses occasionally felt inexplicable emotion when seeing the new generation.

This lively energy on Yiyi, like a small sprout growing wildly toward the sunlight, could indeed dispel the gloom accumulated in people's hearts.

"Hearing you were coming, this little girl's eyes lit up, insisting on dragging me down to meet you."

Luo Xiaoxue came over with a smile. "If her dad knew, he'd probably be jealous to death."

"Haha."

Going up to the fifth floor, Luo Xiaoxue pushed open her door, and a wave of heat hit them.

Water had already been boiled in advance. Looking at this setup, she was probably planning to treat them with boiled cabbage again.

However, after sitting down, Cheng Ye first took out several packages of labeled seeds from his backpack and handed them to Liu Yi, who was watching eagerly.

Then he directly took out the huge chunk of beef, still covered with a layer of unthawed white frost.

"This..."

Luo Xiaoxue paused. "Where did this come from?"

"Bought it from a merchant convoy."

Cheng Ye explained casually while continuing to take out canned goods. "There's also salted fish, but the smell is too strong, so I didn't bring it today."

Liu Yi, who was crouching on the ground using a small shovel to dig soil, immediately dropped her toy and ran back when she heard the sound of canned goods, grabbing the table edge and standing on tiptoes. "Wow, it's canned food!"

With Liu Bi's status, buying canned food wasn't difficult, but most were locally produced meat and vegetable cans. High-end fruit cans like these were extremely rare.

Li Changfeng had also considered this point, mainly packing fruit cans.

Cheng Ye casually opened strawberry cans, yellow peach cans, orange cans... These fruits that were commonplace in modern times had become rare treasures in Shi Province and Happiness City.

Even Luo Xiaoxue couldn't help swallowing, shaking her head. "This is too extravagant!"

"It's fine, not expensive."

Indeed not expensive, since they were obtained for free.

"Yay, delicious!"

Wang Kang used chopsticks to pick up a piece of orange and feed it to Yiyi.

The little one smacked her lips after eating, and her whole person seemed wound up like a spring, bouncing and jumping around the room, shouting "delicious, delicious."

Luo Xiaoxue also picked up a piece and put it in her mouth, chewing carefully, a trace of nostalgia rising in her eyes. "The last time I ate this was probably five or six years ago... Back then, people around here still grew these things. Later, I don't know if it was because no one bought them or the yield was too low, but gradually they became impossible to find."

"I have more there, all prepared for winter. When the time comes..."

Cheng Ye smiled, about to talk about his winter plans when his defense pass suddenly dinged.

He stopped talking and took out his defense pass to look. It was a call from Jiang Chuan.

"It's a call from Jiang Chuan."

"Good, you can go to the next room to take it."

Cheng Ye got up and went to the bedroom, gently closing the door and standing by the window.

"Hmm?"

"Inspector Cheng, it's been confirmed. The Wish-Guarding Transcendent that came through the fog passage, code name: [Walker], has currently left our Chuan City area and entered neighboring Yun City."

"Confirmed?" Cheng Ye raised an eyebrow, first breathing half a sigh of relief.

"Yes, we deployed massive manpower and resources and finally captured photos of him traveling in the wasteland. But due to confidentiality reasons, we can't send them to you for viewing temporarily."

"That's good, as long as it's gone."

Cheng Ye breathed out the remaining half sigh of relief.

The Wish-Guarding Transcendent was indeed independent, not continuing to entangle with Happiness City. The direct influence should dissipate quickly.

However, the next second, what came through the phone made him instantly freeze.

"The matter isn't over yet. Walker's photos can't be sent, but these can be sent for you to see."

"What?"

Cheng Ye moved his defense pass away from his ear and lit up the screen.

Sure enough, several video clips Jiang Chuan had sent were loading.

Opening the first one, he was completely stunned.

Under the pitch-black rainy night, the camera seemed to be filming from high altitude. In the distant wasteland, there were densely packed human figures moving, at least several thousand, maybe tens of thousands.

Everyone was wearing raincoats, carrying bulging military backpacks. The队伍 stretched endlessly, like migrating locusts passing through, pulling a wriggling line across the muddy ground.

An infection tide?

This was Cheng Ye's first reaction.

But the following video clips completely dispelled his notion. Although the people in the footage walked hurriedly, they maintained order. Some carried flashlights to organize the team, others carried the old, weak, sick, and disabled on their backs.

One segment was filmed from ground level, showing that the migration team, included many family combinations, with quite a few children around Liu Yi's age. It was clearly an organized migration.

After closing the videos, Cheng Ye pondered and asked, "What are these?"

"They are migrants."

Jiang Chuan's voice carried some helplessness. "Walker's target isn't us, and he didn't deliberately influence Happiness City much. What he really influenced were the surrounding settlements, even including Leaping Field Sanctuary City. Under his transcendent ability's influence, those who were previously hesitating about whether to come to Happiness City have had more and more people make up their minds. What you're seeing now is the first batch of people who set out at noon."

"How many people?"

"The first batch is thirty thousand people, already entered our Chuan City boundary. But based on Walker's route projection, the total won't be less than five hundred thousand people!"

"How many?"

Cheng Ye suddenly raised his voice, suspecting his ears were malfunctioning.

Five hundred thousand?

Not counting people in the industrial district, the buffer zone's peak permanent population was at most around four hundred thousand.

This number alone had already strained infrastructure, let alone providing sufficient job opportunities.

But now, he was told that five hundred thousand people wanted to migrate to Happiness City?!

Was this insane?

[NEXT CHAPTER]

INS Chapter 116: The Other Side of the Coin, Wish-Guarding Transcendent!

Taking advantage of the last few minutes before full charge, Cheng Ye quickly walked toward the restroom beside the rest hall.

He turned on the tap and cupped the cold water in his hands, splashing it onto his face with a "whoosh."

The tap water after the great temperature drop carried bone-chilling coldness, probably only a few degrees.

Like countless fine needles gently pricking his skin, it instantly dispersed the remaining drowsiness. Even the aching in his temples lessened considerably, and his whole person immediately became refreshed and energetic.

"After practicing martial arts, my energy recovery speed is getting faster and faster."

Cheng Ye looked up at the mirror covered with a thin layer of frost, his fingertips brushing past the corner of his eye. "I only slept less than four hours last night, yet it's more effective than sleeping seven or eight hours before crossing over."

The figure in the mirror still had slightly bloodshot eyes, but there was hardly any fatigue visible on his face. His jawline was taut and firm, and the sharpness in his brow remained.

This was the benefit of deep sleep.

Unlike modern society, where many people slept enough hours but still woke up groggy, their minds disturbed by fragmented dreams.

"It should also be the enhancement brought by the Wild Grass Physique."

Cheng Ye tugged at the corner of his mouth in the mirror, secretly delighted in his heart.

The enhancement brought by the Lv3 physique talent was simply beyond imagination. Not only did his strength increase and reactions become faster, with improved energy absorption efficiency, even his sleep efficiency had doubled, as if his body had been adjusted to high-efficiency operation mode.

He really didn't know if he would even save on sleep when he searched for Lv5 or even higher-level physique talents in the future.

Just like those special mutant beasts, who could restore physical strength and energy just by basking in the sun!

When he returned to the bus after washing his face, it was exactly seven o'clock.

After the charging pile stopped, he summoned the pendant, and the battery level in the upper right corner of the panel was restored to 100% again.

"I still need to wait for the factory on the pedestrian street to be built and use my own power lines to feel at ease. Otherwise, coming to charge every day makes me nervous, afraid of being caught red-handed with no explanation."

Cheng Ye returned the charging gun to its position, his fingertips sliding across the charging pile's operation screen, looking at the jumping degree records on it. He couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

Two charges in one night, with a total input of over seven hundred degrees. This was definitely the most satisfying charge since crossing over.

However, in terms of risk, it was much smaller than charging at home or stealing electricity elsewhere before.

Previously, if someone discovered him, he had no power to explain.

Now it was different. As long as he wasn't discovered on the spot during the investigation, even if someone questioned the charging degrees from last night afterward, he could push the blame onto the Void Mist.

As for strict investigation, it wasn't necessary. Seven hundred degrees of electricity wasn't much.

Construction vehicles routinely had large 500-degree batteries, and working around the clock all day, consuming over a thousand degrees was common.

As long as he didn't come to charge seven hundred degrees every day, even if the backend occasionally captured anomalies, it was impossible for them to summon him for strict examination.

Most likely, the investigation would fizzle out.

There was a small probability they would ask him briefly, and having an explanation that could muddle through would suffice.

Moreover, this was a matter of timing. Investigating the problems here would definitely take considerable time.

By the time the entire process was completed, his strength and position might have risen another level.

At that time, let alone seven hundred degrees of electricity, even more would be easier to explain.

"Sir, you're awake!"

Hearing the commotion, Big Dragon suddenly poked his head out. Seeing Cheng Ye standing by the charging pile, he immediately fumbled to pat several young men beside him.

Everyone sprang up like springs. In just over ten seconds, they stood straight with clear eyes, showing no trace of the confusion of just waking up.

Cheng Ye nodded approvingly.

Indeed, they were from the pioneering corps. Even after being discharged for so many years, their reaction speed and discipline hadn't deteriorated.

"I need to go on duty at South Station later, and I don't have time to handle these matters."

Cheng Ye took out Uncle Dong's shop key from his backpack.

He didn't have time to go back and move the salted fish and rice flour inside, but fortunately, Big Dragon could do it for him.

Big Dragon immediately took the key, "Your orders!"

"Find someone to waterproof the shop first." Cheng Ye pointed at the supplies piled beside the vehicle, explaining clearly and methodically, "Go directly to Engineer Liu. Tell him it's my instruction to bring the construction team there today. Focus on the basement and ensure it won't flood even in heavy rain. Don't skimp on materials, put everything on my account."

"Clear out the garbage inside and tear down all the broken cabinets."

He paused and added, "Have the workers record the interior first, then find new materials to build a new set of cabinets later. Try to preserve the shop's original layout, I have use for it."

"Also, these salted fish, rice, flour, and oil should be temporarily stored in the community. After the waterproofing is done, you can find someone to move them in."

Cheng Ye thought for a moment, "It should be finished by this afternoon. I'll come check tonight."

"Don't worry, sir!"

Big Dragon thumped his chest loudly, "I can't help you with other things, but please rest assured about these small matters. I guarantee I'll handle everything properly for you without any problems!"

Unexpectedly, Master Zhang nearby also came over after hearing this, "Inspector Cheng, I'm familiar with cabinets. I used to work in a carpentry team. After we clear the garbage, I'll draw a blueprint first. I guarantee it'll be identical to the original, and even sturdier!"

"That's good. With your help, I'm truly relieved."

Cheng Ye was satisfied in his heart.

A good man needs three helpers. Having reliable people under his command who could do solid work made things much smoother.

Now he only had trustworthy personnel in the buffer zone.

In the future, like Li Changfeng at B4 District, he would need to gradually cultivate his own confidants within the inspection station. Otherwise, having to personally run around for every big and small matter would leave no energy to ponder more important things.

"I'm leaving first."

Cheng Ye picked up his backpack, not letting Master Zhang and the others prepare to drive him to South Station.

First, the salted fish tied to the car roof would be too conspicuous parading through the streets in broad daylight.

Second, quickly transferring this pile of supplies to a safe place was the real priority. The Works Department parking lot had many people with keen eyes, and if busybodies started gossiping, it would be annoying.

Besides, the Works Department was right next to South Station. Turning left out the door, the bus stop was just a few steps away.

Standing at the platform waiting for just a few minutes, a dirty bus came swaying over.

The door opened with a "creak," and Cheng Ye stepped up and took out his defense pass to check the time.

Seven-fifteen.

Rushing over now would definitely make him late.

According to the inspection station's rules, being late would result in salary deduction, and without evaluation forms in hand, he might be singled out for this matter.

However, things were different now. All nine evaluation forms were already in hand, and small matters like being late or leaving early wouldn't affect anything, as long as it wasn't too outrageous.

Besides, last night's trip to Xinghuo had kept him busy all night, which could be considered justified. Lei Hu would probably understand even if he knew.

When the bus swayed to South Station, it was already seven-forty, with only twenty minutes left before opening.

Due to the presence of Void Mist, the number of people leaving the city today was noticeably fewer than yesterday, but there was still a long queue at the inspection station entrance.

Moreover, there was an obvious change. These scavengers preparing to leave the city almost all carried military backpacks, and many had over ten bags of nutritional paste hanging from the outside of their packs, clearly planning for a long "distant journey."

"Are they planning to go out and try their luck with fog passages?"

Cheng Ye understood in his heart.

In the unknown brought by Void Mist, there were always people who felt opportunities were hidden, but this speed still exceeded his expectations.

In his opinion, scavengers would need at least three to five days of preparation and sufficient psychological conditioning before daring to step out of the sanctuary city.

But these people had made their decision in just one night, showing courage far greater than he had imagined.

"I hope nothing special infected entities emerge from the fog passages."

Cheng Ye muttered under his breath. Just as he was about to swipe his defense pass to open the isolation door, he turned his head and his gaze suddenly fixed on a scavenger queuing to leave the city.

Was it an illusion?

He frowned, inconspicuously put down his backpack, and placed his right hand on the Wild Bull combat pistol at his waist.

The guards at the entrance noticed his vigilant appearance and immediately had two people quickly walk over.

"Inspector Cheng?"

"Go stop that person and make him turn around to face me."

Cheng Ye raised his hand to point at a scavenger in the crowd carrying a deep gray patched backpack, his expression grave.

Without seeing the person's face, that backpack gave him a strong sense of familiarity.

And his memory was remarkably good, almost immediately finding the source of this backpack.

Last night at Xinghuo, the man at the inspection station entrance who had shown him greedy looks was carrying this exact style of backpack, and even the position of the worn patches on the side seemed identical.

"Yes?" The guard dared not neglect, his face instantly becoming serious.

"I don't know, call for people."

Cheng Ye shook his head lightly, but in such matters, it was better to believe it existed than not. Absolutely couldn't be careless.

The guard immediately understood. One person turned and ran to call for help.

Moments later, four guards rushed over quickly. In the distance, four more people in the guardhouse raised their guns, black muzzles aimed at the queue direction, instantly making the atmosphere tense.

"You, stop! Yes, you, still walking forward!"

One guard shouted sternly. The queuing scavengers were so frightened they quickly scattered to both sides, leaving only the named man stunned in place, as if under a binding spell.

"Turn around! Were you just trying to sneak out using someone else's identity?"

The guard deliberately made up an excuse, using a stern tone to force the man to turn around.

Cheng Ye's hand was already gripping the gun handle. As long as he confirmed this was last night's man, he would pull the trigger without hesitation.

But it wasn't him!

The one who turned around was a dark-complexioned middle-aged man with eyes full of confusion, no greed or sinister look, only bewilderment at being suddenly targeted.

"Sir, sir..."

The man's voice trembled, his palms sweaty, unconsciously wiping them on his pants legs. The backpack straps slid down from his shoulders a bit.

The guard kept a cold face, not immediately asking Cheng Ye if he had mistaken the person, but first led the man out of the queue.

After bringing the person to a corner isolation room, one guard quickly walked back to Cheng Ye's side, "Inspector Cheng, what do you need us to do?"

"Hmm."

Cheng Ye pondered briefly, "Go bring his backpack over to me and see what's inside."

"Yes!"

Perhaps it wasn't the same person, but Cheng Ye chose to trust his intuition and his memory.

The guard quickly opened the backpack and dumped everything inside onto the metal table in the isolation room: over ten bags of nutritional paste, four bottles of water, a roll of wire rope, two boxes of bullets, and a folding entrenching tool, all standard scavenger equipment with no abnormalities.

Could there really be such coincidences in this world?

"Go ask him where this backpack came from, specific enough to have corroborating witnesses."

"Yes."

This kind of identity verification naturally didn't require Inspector Cheng Ye to handle personally.

Moments later, the squad leader came out to report, "Inspector Cheng, he says this backpack was picked up from Old Hu's secondhand stall at West Market eight months ago. The stall owner is called Old Hu and is still setting up there."

"Secondhand goods from eight months ago?"

Cheng Ye fell into contemplation, unconsciously opening his personal panel to glance at it.

Status normal, no infection.

Could it really be that last night's mention by Li Changfeng of the missing mother source infected entity from C35 District had made him paranoid?

Cheng Ye rubbed his temples and made a decision, "Tell him this backpack will be confiscated by the inspection station. In the future, we'll give him a brand new military backpack. Send him to a separate isolation chamber for 7 days of observation, paying double the normal daily wage as isolation compensation."

Actually, the most direct method would be to use the pendant's search function to scan the man's status.

However, based solely on a somewhat similar backpack, without other more substantial evidence, it wasn't urgent enough for that.

Moreover, Liu Kun might come in the morning, so it was best to keep the 100% charge value to deal with that.

Upon hearing about double wages and a new backpack, plus having a separate isolation room to stay in, the man's face instantly changed from tension to excitement, repeatedly expressing thanks.

"Pull up information on that stall owner called Old Hu from West Market and ask about the specific situation."

"Also, watch him closely and don't let him contact other people."

After Cheng Ye finished his instructions, he swiped open the isolation door and entered the work area, but didn't immediately go to Zone B for duty.

Instead, he sat down on a roadside bench and placed the backpack covered by an isolation bag on his lap, studying it carefully.

How strange. Looking at it this way, he suddenly discovered something wrong.

The main fabric of the backpack was indeed old and faded, with frayed edges, clearly having been used for a long time.

But these patches were unusually new, especially the stitching thread, which still had bright colors not yet stained by dust. At first glance, they had clearly been sewn on recently.

Cheng Ye's heart skipped a beat. He suddenly stood up and rushed out of the work area to find the guard from earlier, "Go ask him when these patches on the backpack were sewn."

The guard dared not delay and immediately ran to the isolation room. Moments later, he returned to report, "Inspector Cheng, he says they were sewn this morning before leaving home."

"This morning?"

Cheng Ye's scalp instantly went numb, goosebumps erupting all over his body, his hair standing on end.

Compared to this backpack being the same one from last night, an even worse result seemed to have emerged.

"The person hasn't been sent away yet?"

"No, no, still in the isolation room being questioned."

"I want to personally examine him, quickly!"

When Cheng Ye rushed into the isolation room, the man was sitting on a metal chair, saying something to the guard.

Seeing Cheng Ye suddenly burst in, the excitement on his face instantly faded, his eyes flickering as he unconsciously shrank back, showing obvious nervousness.

"What's your name?"

"Zhang, Zhang Daniu."

Almost the instant Zhang Daniu spoke, the compatibility rate immediately jumped out in the upper right corner of the panel.

Without even needing to ask questions, it directly soared to 78%.

In the searchable range below, besides intelligence and items, fortunately, Lv1 skills were available.

Cheng Ye didn't hesitate and directly pressed search.

There was absolutely no way such coincidences existed in the world.

Compared to this backpack being the same one from last night's man, the newly sewn patches being completely identical to the old patches seen last night was even more spine-chilling.

Examining infected entities required being meticulous as a needle, hearing thunder in silence.

Moreover, the manual clearly stated that details determined success or failure.

Cheng Ye was clear that if it were someone else, even if they had been taken to Xinghuo Inspection Station by Li Changfeng to see that suspicious man, they probably wouldn't remember the backpack's style.

Even if they remembered the style, they might not happen to encounter someone carrying the same style backpack at Happiness City's inspection station.

Such a coincidence delivered right before his eyes, if he still couldn't realize something was wrong, this inspector position would truly be wasted.

In an instant, Cheng Ye somewhat dared not imagine what the result would be for the buffer zone if the mother source infected entity that destroyed C35 had come through last night's fog passage, or if it wasn't C35's mother source but some other infection source that had come to Happiness City through the fog passage.

Being continuously impacted twice in a short period, what would happen to the buffer zone?

However, after the characters flashed and lines of information popped up, the unexpected result made Cheng Ye somewhat stunned.

Hmm, surprisingly no infection?

[Zhang Daniu]

[Lv1 Skills]: Camel Endurance, Basic Wilderness Survival, Basic Shooting, Basic Shelter Construction

Zhang Daniu having only four skills wasn't strange, he was just an ordinary scavenger.

Cheng Ye's gaze fixed on the area after the name. Based on previous experience, as long as there were no special prompts here, it meant the person wasn't infected.

Wait.

A thought suddenly flashed through his mind. After clicking to collect the only valuable Camel Endurance skill.

Cheng Ye asked in a deep voice, "Who sewed the patches on this backpack for you?"

"It was my wife."

Sure enough, he had scanned the wrong target!

Cheng Ye's heart sank, and his questioning pace quickened, "Where is your wife?"

"At, at home. She's at home waiting for me to return."

"Go! According to the address he gives, immediately bring his wife to the isolation chamber. Maintain distance throughout, no physical contact allowed!"

"Yes!"

The guard didn't ask why and immediately ran off.

Cheng Ye grabbed the backpack covered by the isolation bag and headed straight for the station chief's office building.

If Zhang Daniu's wife was infected while he himself wasn't infected.

This undoubtedly meant the infection source hadn't spread yet, and there was still a chance for source tracing and isolation to find the problem.

However, this matter had exceeded the handling authority of a trainee inspector and must be reported immediately.

"I need to see Station Chief Lei, urgent official business."

Arriving downstairs at the station chief's building.

After the guard reported, he went straight up the stairs to the fifth floor. Lei Hu was already waiting in his office.

He had thought Cheng Ye was coming to explain about being late, but seeing the isolation bag tightly clutched in his hand, Lei Hu paused, "What's wrong?"

"Station Chief Lei, it's like this..."

Cheng Ye didn't hide anything and recounted in detail the suspicious man he saw at Xinghuo last night, the backpack details, the coincidence of encountering Zhang Daniu this morning, and the abnormality of the patches.

"You're saying this backpack is identical to the one you saw at Xinghuo... exactly the same?"

Lei Hu took the isolation bag, put on gloves to examine it carefully, his expression gradually becoming grave, "I understand. You go back to your duty post first. I'll immediately contact Station Chief Ding to send the backpack's pictures and details for comparison, and verify the mother source information from C35 District."

"What about Zhang Daniu's wife..."

"Don't worry, the inspection station has complete response protocols for such matters."

Lei Hu deliberately kept his voice steady, "Don't be anxious. From its establishment to today, Happiness City has dealt with over a hundred mother source infected entities. We can handle this level of trouble."

"Moreover, the more times like this, the more we inspectors need to remain calm. If you panic, those under you will lose their nerve even more. I'll notify you immediately when there are results. Carry out your duty with peace of mind."

"Understood!"

Cheng Ye responded and left the office, feeling slightly relieved.

What he was most worried about was Lei Hu thinking he was making a mountain out of a molehill or being paranoid, since this matter sounded too bizarre.

Based solely on backpack patches, he had drawn connections to mother source infected entities.

But obviously, his worry was unnecessary. Lei Hu's reaction was more cautious and swift than he had expected.

During the last substitute starfish mother source invasion, until the mother source was completely eliminated, ordinary people in Happiness City remained completely unaware.

This kind of "silent defense" obviously had a complete mature response mechanism behind it.

This time, even if a mother source really had drilled in through fog passages, Happiness City presumably had sufficient means to locate, isolate, and eliminate it.

Clocking in, passing through the isolation passage filled with disinfectant spray, Cheng Ye sat behind the inspection desk in Quarantine Zone B.

Although his expression remained calm without any visible panic, his mind was like grass blown by wind, thoughts flying everywhere.

"A scale of tens of millions is too conspicuous. Happiness City, with a population of barely one million, attracts mother source infected entity invasions, let alone Xinghuo?"

"Xinghuo Sanctuary City is probably the real nest of poison!"

Cheng Ye's eyes darkened.

The mother source that destroyed C35 was probably just the tip of the iceberg. As Li Changfeng said, perhaps when the two were talking in the air, a mother source infected entity was standing somewhere watching them.

Just temporarily dormant, not yet time to erupt.

This fog passage was like a coin.

After connecting to Xinghuo Sanctuary City, the "front side" indeed brought tangible benefits to Happiness City.

Many supplies that would only arrive through merchant caravans in autumn were quickly transferred through fog passages, not only saving countless manpower and material resources but also indirectly reducing the price Happiness City needed to pay for these supplies.

It even gave him the opportunity to access source track technology, search for many good things, and accumulate enough food for winter in advance.

But the threats brought by the reverse side couldn't be ignored.

The fog passage spanning two cities directly connected Happiness City to the most dangerous places in the wasteland.

Many troubles that Xinghuo could handle might become disasters when they came to Happiness City.

But... if you wanted the benefits, you naturally had to bear the risks!

"I hope my discovery is just a false alarm, or just an easily resolved infected entity."

"If another infection source more powerful than the substitute starfish comes, who would dare to come to Happiness City?"

Cheng Ye took a deep breath and forced himself to put away his chaotic thoughts, entering duty mode.

However, throughout the entire morning, he had some difficulty concentrating.

When his gaze swept over queuing scavengers, he would unconsciously pay attention to their backpack styles.

Hearing words like Xinghuo, fog passages, or infection sources would make his nerves inexplicably tense.

Fortunately, today was no longer peak period. The scavengers entering and leaving were nearly half fewer than yesterday, so work pressure wasn't great.

The entire South Station was quiet and peaceful, with no gunfire, harmonious as if it had returned to normal daily conditions.

Just after twelve o'clock, Wang Kang came early to take over.

"Brother Cheng, are you not feeling well? You look really pale."

"Oh, I was busy all night last night and didn't sleep for several hours. I might be tired."

Cheng Ye forced a smile to cover it up and, like yesterday, gave his duty position to Wang Kang while he moved a stool to sit beside him.

Time passed minute by minute until three o'clock in the afternoon.

Ding.

The defense pass notification suddenly rang. Cheng Ye almost reflexively grabbed the device.

The screen lit up, but the sender wasn't Lei Hu, it was Jiang Chuan!

The message was very short, just a few words:

"Confirmed. Call back for contact."

With a whoosh, Cheng Ye stood up directly, frightening two scavengers who were being examined by Wang Kang into shuddering.

"It's nothing, I'm going to the restroom in back."

Opening the isolation door, Cheng Ye hurriedly entered the restroom and repeatedly splashed cold water on his face.

Only after the burning anxiety subsided slightly did he wipe his cheeks with his sleeve and quickly walk to the innermost stall, locking the door behind him.

He dialed the number, and the other side quickly answered.

"Is it C35?"

"No, don't scare yourself."

Jiang Chuan's voice came through the receiver, with no discernible emotional fluctuation.

"It's a deceased Wish-Guarding Transcendent!"

[NEXT CHAPTER]

INS Chapter 115: Bountiful Material Harvest, Li Changfeng's Friend Fee!

Two consecutive searches, all successful!

The 50% hidden success rate gained from 100% compatibility was indeed effective in item searches too!

During the second item search, the Collector transmitted specific probability explanations just like previous skill searches.

Under normal conditions, one item search consumed 50% energy with only a 25% base success rate.

After becoming a Joint Collector, success rates could be improved by adding charge values.

Every 1% of charge value increased success rate by an equivalent 1%.

In other words, investing the full 100% charge could forcibly push the probability up to 75%.

However, at this moment, Cheng Ye hadn't invested any extra charge. Relying solely on the full compatibility bonus, he had already reached the 75% success rate threshold.

This meant that in the future, to ensure search success, he only needed to invest an additional 25% charge value after reaching full compatibility to achieve 100% success!

"75% probability of two consecutive successes, tonight's luck is indeed quite good."

"Of course, it might also be influenced by the inspector scenario. This scenario hasn't failed even once so far!"

Cheng Ye exhaled a long breath that had been held in his chest, feeling every pore from head to toe breathing freely, with every inch of muscle and bone radiating comfortable satisfaction.

Exhilarating!

Truly exhilarating!

Life indeed held wonderful opportunities everywhere.

If he hadn't decided to steal electricity tonight, if he hadn't brought Second Dragon and Master Liu to eat that beef hotpot.

With his status in Happiness City, even if he had known about the fog passage connecting to Xinghuo in the rest hall, he absolutely wouldn't have qualified to pass through that fog passage and come to the wasteland's strongest human sanctuary city.

Although B4 was only one of Xinghuo Sanctuary City's secondary areas, the items he had searched were already sufficient to influence his future development trajectory.

Especially for field missions, having something that could fly directly maximized safety!

"Additionally, the searched items are indeed stored in the pendant just like the previous Horned Starfish!"

Cheng Ye took several more deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down, then reached for his neck, pretending to pull out the pendant from his collar for a glance.

When he had searched for the Horned Starfish previously, it had automatically been stored in the pendant space, but there was no indication of how much more could be stored inside.

Now he had the answer.

In the glass core's center, four neat fan-shaped areas were arranged. The Horned Starfish occupied one quarter, still wrapped in azure energy currents.

The Wing Assault Unit had shrunk to a tiny model, also occupying one quarter.

The black-silver mechanical wings still trembled, emitting circles of purple light below, identical to the form he had seen outside.

Opposite to it was the so-called "Inspector Four-Piece Set," also miniaturized.

Since the models were too small to see details clearly, Cheng Ye glanced briefly before immediately shifting his attention, planning to examine them carefully when he returned.

"It seems each search result occupies one quarter of the space, completely unrelated to size. I wonder if continuing to upgrade will increase this space capacity."

Cheng Ye stared at the fan-shaped divisions in the pendant, silently noting this rule.

This was good news.

"I just don't know if items stored inside are one-time storage or can be repeatedly stored and retrieved."

Cheng Ye calculated mentally, tucking the pendant back into his neck while using his thoughts to withdraw it.

If it allowed repeated storage and retrieval, it would be a divine artifact!

The Wing Assault Unit could be summoned anytime. When unable to fight or encountering danger, he could take to the air and escape, with no one able to discover him.

If taking it out meant it couldn't be put back, he'd need to be more cautious.

Using it in the wilderness posed no problem, but Happiness City had never seen anyone use such a device. With his current status, bringing it out would be impossible to explain its origin.

"What are you daydreaming about?" Li Changfeng's voice sounded beside his ear. In just a few minutes, he had already changed clothes and smoothed his hair with water, though several stubborn strands still stuck up at the back.

"Oh, I was thinking about the practical combat value of these items."

Cheng Ye snapped back to attention. This wasn't entirely fabricated.

After the charge value was drained, the chaotic thoughts in his mind had also completely disappeared.

He had indeed been pondering whether those inspection equipment could be used in Happiness City's inspection mode.

Inspector Li Changfeng hadn't even lasted through formal questioning earlier, his compatibility directly maxing out.

If this were used on other people, would it have similar effects?

Unfortunately, with Happiness City Inspection Station's current economic situation, they probably couldn't afford to purchase even one of these source-rail devices.

Just look, even the Central Station was in such a broken state yet still barely holding on.

And even if the inspection station had the capacity to purchase equipment, they would certainly prioritize source-rail devices for field missions rather than facilities to reduce inspectors' daily workload.

"The practical combat value is indeed good. As long as infected entities come here and go through the complete process, at least 95% of infected entities will be stimulated into outbreak phase. The remaining 0.5% stubborn cases can be filtered out by throwing them in isolation for observation."

Li Changfeng patted the chair back, then introduced with a dry laugh, "These devices are actually for sale, but no sanctuary city is willing to buy them, you understand."

"Is the price too high?"

"It's unnecessary." Li Changfeng was direct, not a single false word in his mouth. "The core mission of inspection stations is to reduce the probability of infected entity infiltration. Xinghuo's probability is about 0.0018%, honestly, that's not even as good as some small sanctuary cities."

"Some say our scale is too large, which dragged down the data, but if we really reduced the scale, could we do better?"

"Not necessarily!"

0.0018%.

Cheng Ye quickly calculated in his mind, equivalent to two infected entities slipping through for every 100,000 people inspected.

This probability wasn't particularly high, but certainly couldn't rank among the best.

Because Happiness City's infiltration probability was much lower than this figure, consistently stable around 0.0011%, meaning at most one would slip through for every 100,000 people entering and exiting.

Of course, this year was an exception. Due to celestial anomalies, it would probably surge and double.

But from when he had transmigrated until now, over three months, Happiness City had only let in that one mother source. The rest of the time had been peaceful, with not a single infected entity managing to infiltrate and cause chaos.

"Whether relying on people or machines, all roads lead to Rome."

Li Changfeng poured a cup of hot tea from the thermal container behind him and handed it over. "Small sanctuary cities have fewer people, most going out daily are familiar faces, and residents can't go too far to dangerous places. Sometimes you can tell at a glance whether someone is infected."

"If infected entities do infiltrate, they're either super-stealth infected entities or unknown-type infected entities. Even if they came to us, we might not necessarily detect them."

Cheng Ye accepted the hot tea and pondered for a moment.

Suddenly he understood somewhat. "So these devices are actually designed to accommodate your scale, rather than being able to detect all infected entities?"

"Exactly."

Li Changfeng snapped his fingers, his voice carrying a hint of understanding. "Every sanctuary city's inspection station development is adapted to local conditions, with their own set of methods. B4 district has at least 20,000 to 30,000 residents entering and exiting daily. Without machine and equipment assistance, we simply cannot complete such enormous detection work."

"Like your Happiness City's system, providing free defense communicators to all residents, distributing various living supplies, could we learn from that?"

"Definitely couldn't learn it! Just take me, this inspector. Besides some basic equipment distributed when first hired, everything else must be earned through points. The higher-ups don't care about your personal situation, only the final assessment results."

"Basic equipment?" Cheng Ye's eyes moved slightly. "What do they distribute?"

"Used to be stingy, just issued a custom badge, even the Xinghuo communicator had to be bought out of pocket."

Li Changfeng smiled with a hint of veteran's mockery. "Now the benefits seem better, should be catching up to your Happiness City. Besides the badge and Xinghuo communicator, they also freely distribute information-receiving glasses and a portable body detection device that can measure physical condition and energy fluctuations."

This was the four-piece set?

Cheng Ye was secretly delighted but maintained his calm expression, even deliberately furrowing his brow as if pondering seriously. "Those glasses are quite practical, but can they still be used outside Xinghuo's range?"

"Naturally." Li Changfeng nodded. "The glasses are just information-receiving tools. After connecting to the Xinghuo communicator, they can extract offline information stored inside. As long as the Xinghuo communicator has stored data, even in the deep wilderness, you can still access it."

"Oh, so the Xinghuo communicator is similar to our defense communicator?"

"Yes, functions are similar." Li Changfeng explained. "Both are identity markers that can store points, record permissions, and store important information offline. The higher your permissions, the more functions you can unlock."

"Understood."

Cheng Ye nodded without further questioning.

As long as the Xinghuo communicator and defense communicator were similar devices, they could definitely be used offline outside signal range.

But this permission thing was somewhat troublesome.

He didn't know if the searched badge was Li Changfeng's, or if it was just a blank badge without recorded information. To unlock permissions, he'd probably need to crack the Xinghuo communicator first.

As for the difficulty of cracking, it definitely wasn't something he could handle at his current stage.

However, Cheng Ye wasn't anxious. Having the items was good enough, he'd eventually find a way to crack them.

"Rest a bit or go look at the isolation chambers in back?" Li Changfeng tilted his head back and drained his tea.

"Let's go look."

Cheng Ye finished the hot tea in his cup in one gulp and followed Li Changfeng to tour the isolation area behind.

Nothing particularly special.

The isolation area was a four-story small building with a corridor design, each floor surrounded by glass curtain walls allowing clear views of the isolation chambers inside.

Not much different from Happiness City's style, except for mechanical arms shuttling through the corridors, delivering meals and disinfecting completely automatically.

"These isolation chambers are uniformly controlled by the central system. Inspectors only need to watch the data on screens."

Li Changfeng pointed to monitoring screens on the wall displaying real-time status of each isolation chamber: heart rate, body temperature, energy fluctuation values.

"What's your maximum daily capacity?"

"50,000." Li Changfeng answered promptly. "When the orange-red zone black disaster erupted last year, this building held 6,000 people and still operated normally."

50,000.

Cheng Ye sucked in a sharp breath.

Li Changfeng was right, Xinghuo Sanctuary City's system was indeed designed for scale.

Happiness City's north and south inspection stations combined, with each handling 3,000 people daily, already kept inspectors busy all day. If they really had to handle these numbers, they'd probably have to recruit everyone capable of moving as temporary workers.

And if they really did that, the infiltration probability could surge dozens or hundreds of times.

After all, human power always had oversights. Without machines screening first, they couldn't handle it.

During the latter part of the tour, under Li Changfeng's guidance, the two climbed the isolation area's spiral staircase to the rooftop terrace.

This directly faced the city core direction with surprisingly open views. Along the edge sat a row of faded metal chairs, presumably where many inspection station staff came to get fresh air and relax.

The two sat side by side.

Cheng Ye pulled out his defense communicator to check the time. Unconsciously, it was already 2 AM.

It seemed tonight would be a sleepless night.

But honestly, breathing Xinghuo Sanctuary City's night air while gazing at the distant streetscape woven with lights.

Cheng Ye could only use two words to describe his current mood.

Comfortable!

Although he wasn't a nostalgic person, after three months of struggling in Happiness City, he had grown to love the wasteland's excitement.

But being able to "return" once to stable modernity satisfied that longing in his heart tremendously.

"Here."

Li Changfeng pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his pocket, offering one. This time Cheng Ye didn't refuse, taking it and twirling it between his fingers.

Seeing his manner, Li Changfeng lit one for himself, the flame flickering in the night.

"My parents were both grassroots workers, one carrying corpses at the crematorium, the other working as a nursing aide at the community hospital, barely half a doctor."

He gazed at the lights on distant Xinghuo Mountain, his voice suddenly softening. "From the day I was born, they sold everything to nurture me, spending their lifetime savings of contribution points on inspector compatibility training. Only then could I barely pass the inspector exam and get assigned to the most remote E13 district."

Cheng Ye said nothing, quietly listening.

"From age 21 until now, I've climbed for a full ten years to transfer to B4 district. Every day I'm either staring at screens at the inspection station or patrolling routes. Forget other provinces, I've barely left the city a handful of times."

He laughed self-deprecatingly, flicking ash. "Sometimes I quite envy you all, able to run in the wilderness, see different sanctuary cities, with new stories every day."

"What about other times?"

"Quite grateful." Li Changfeng answered frankly. "Like when receiving news that Happiness City was invaded by a mother source, I felt that being able to stand on this rooftop smoking peacefully was already tremendous fortune."

Between the two, there were no conflicts of interest or opposing positions, no need whatsoever to speak falsely.

Cheng Ye chuckled. People in Happiness City envied Xinghuo's stability, while Xinghuo people envied Happiness City's freedom. But if they really switched places, they might not live better than now.

"What about your parents now?"

"Both dead." Li Changfeng pressed his lips together. "The day after I became an inspector, my dad collapsed from exhaustion. It was a terminal illness from overwork, he didn't last a month. In the end, I personally carried him into the cremation furnace, the very furnace he had guarded for half his life, burning especially brightly."

"My mom died even more miserably. She was just a community nursing aide who always loved meddling, running over to check whenever anyone in the neighborhood had headaches or fevers. She ended up getting scratched on the arm by an infected entity. When she came back, she was still smiling saying it was nothing. The next day she started running a fever. I watched helplessly as her eyes turned red and her emotions became agitated."

"There was no medicine to treat it then, and regulations didn't allow keeping survivors. In the end, I was the one who raised the gun and shot her in the head, sparing her the suffering of becoming a monster."

"My condolences."

After a pause, Cheng Ye could only squeeze out these two words from his lips.

"It's fine, all happened many years ago."

Li Changfeng waved his hand. "People live for a hope. My parents had no other expectations in life, they just wanted their son to wear this uniform and have a stable future at the inspection station, not suffering at the bottom like them."

"But I'm not particularly ambitious. I just hope that someday I can climb to an A-district inspection station, get field clearance there, then freely leave Xinghuo Sanctuary City to pursue the freedom I want."

"Freedom?" Cheng Ye raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, I want to see the sun that hasn't been enclosed."

Li Changfeng's eyes suddenly lit up, containing a star. "I heard that stars in the wilderness are ten times brighter than in sanctuary cities, and you can still see traces left by colossal beings when they approached Blue Star decades ago. Maybe they hide the way to completely solve the infection source!"

Saying this, he lifted his head and gestured with his chin. "Unlike us sitting here, we can only see a few sporadically twinkling stars, not even as bright as Xinghuo Mountain's orbital lights."

His words fell into silence.

The terrace fell quiet for a moment.

Until Li Changfeng finished an entire cigarette and pressed the butt into the garbage bin beside him. "Let's go. Before we head back, let me treat you to some of our Xinghuo City's cuisine. It's not like your Happiness City where you can only drink nutritional paste every day."

"Then I'll gladly accept."

Cheng Ye wasn't hungry, and having just eaten well, he didn't have any particular cravings.

But he was indeed curious about Xinghuo's food conditions.

Before returning to the inspection station, riding the Wing Assault Unit, they took to the sky.

Even in the core district, no shops operated at night, but Li Changfeng familiarly led him to B4 district's employee cafeteria.

It was somewhat like a university cafeteria, with four windows still open late at night.

"Auntie, give us four stir-fried dishes, two big bowls of rice, and a pitcher of iced fruit juice."

"Coming right up!"

The aproned auntie behind the window responded, followed by the sound of gas stoves igniting.

So extravagant?

Cheng Ye was stunned, but seeing Li Changfeng's pained expression, this meal probably wasn't cheap?

However, when he spoke, Cheng Ye realized he'd been played by this guy.

"Just this one meal cost me a day and a half's wages."

"Tsk tsk, don't be ungrateful."

"Haha, after all, our Xin Province has arable land, unlike your Shi Province where crops simply won't grow. Though it was cheaper in previous years, now that Xinghuo's scale keeps expanding, everything requires points. We usually just make do, only treating ourselves to good food when craving it."

"Do you charge for electricity?"

"Of course we charge, what were you thinking!" Li Changfeng laughed. "This isn't your Happiness City that provides free electricity to residents. Even my inspector's personal electricity usage gets charged at residential rates, and it's not cheap either. One kilowatt-hour can buy a bowl of rice."

"Oh, I didn't see you using electric vehicles. Is it due to energy shortage?"

"Not really, it's because factories need energy, so they get priority. Besides, Xin Province has plenty of oil fields. The extracted amount is sufficient for vehicles, no need for electric cars."

Just then, the first stir-fry was served.

Tomato scrambled eggs.

Red and white chunks sprinkled with emerald green scallions, hot steam carrying sweet and sour aromas wafting up.

Though Cheng Ye wasn't hungry, his Adam's apple involuntarily bobbed, making Li Changfeng laugh directly.

"Eat up, don't be polite. When I visit your Happiness City in the future, just provide meals."

"That's easy, nutritional paste guaranteed in abundance."

Cheng Ye picked up chopsticks and put a piece of scrambled egg in his mouth.

The tender fragrance of eggs mixed with tomatoes' mild sourness exploded on his tongue, making him squint with comfort.

Too long, so long he'd almost forgotten this pure taste bud satisfaction.

But tonight, whether the beef hotpot or the meal before him, both allowed him to rediscover the most primitive happiness.

"How is it?"

Cheng Ye didn't speak, just took another chopstick-full, swallowing rice mixed with the sauce.

Delicious!

"Eat slowly, three more dishes coming." Li Changfeng smiled, pouring him a glass of fruit juice. Amber liquid with ice cubes. "This is concentrated berry juice, tastes good."

Cheng Ye picked up the glass and took a big gulp. Cool sweetness slid down his throat, making him shiver.

Being able to sit in warm light with a new friend, eating hot food and chatting about trivial matters.

Cheng Ye suddenly felt that this Xinghuo trip's most precious element, something that would remain unforgettable for decades, might not be the searched Wing Unit and four-piece set.

But this moment.

This present instant.

Whether freedom or stability, in the end both settled into these ordinary daily warmths.

After the meal, Cheng Ye had swept clean all four plates, even mixing the last bit of sauce with rice and shoveling it into his mouth.

Li Changfeng barely touched his chopsticks, just sitting beside him laughing heartily, occasionally adding fruit juice, his eyes carrying a hint of "as expected" understanding.

After a long, satisfied burp, Cheng Ye leaned back in his chair rubbing his belly, too content to want to move.

After a while, he pondered.

"I want to buy some flour bags, rice bags, and plant seeds, but I only have Happiness coins, I don't know—"

"Ten bags of flour, ten bags of rice, all 100 kilograms each, plus two cases of various seeds. Enough?"

Li Changfeng smiled. "I'm giving them to you, consider it a friend fee. Just pay me back double in the future."

"Friend fee?"

Cheng Ye was stunned, then picked up the glass on the table. Half a glass of fruit juice remained inside. "Then I'll remember this. You must come to Happiness City in the future. Right now it might not satisfy your fantasies, but later, maybe it will."

Li Changfeng's eyes lit up, immediately raising his fruit juice glass. "It's a deal!"

"It's a deal!"

"Inspector Cheng, you're back."

Bai Wei still stood at the fog passage connection point. Seeing Cheng Ye descending from the sky riding the Wing Assault Unit, his face showed some smile.

"How was the experience?"

"Not bad."

Cheng Ye grinned. "Inspector Li and I bought some rice and flour, I don't know—"

"Just transport it over, that's your rightful privilege."

Bai Wei waved dismissively. "You still have duty tomorrow, you can go rest first. I'll help watch your things, guaranteeing not a bit will be missing."

He paused, adding, "Also, if you owe Inspector Li a favor, Happiness City can help you repay it."

"No need."

Cheng Ye shook his head. "I've gained enough tonight, enough to digest for many days."

Bai Wei didn't insist, instead giving a thumbs up.

His complex gaze held approval, affirmation, and some understanding.

Cheng Ye turned toward the corridor, and when nearly at the rest hall door, he turned back and waved toward the fog passage opening.

Though he knew Li Changfeng couldn't see, he still wanted to say goodbye.

Even though no new number appeared on his defense communicator this time, having a new friend thousands of kilometers away at Xinghuo made this trip incredibly worthwhile!

"Sir, you've returned."

Big Dragon still guarded the door. Seeing Cheng Ye approach, he quickly led two young men to greet him.

Master Zhang also stood nearby, leaning against the wall dozing.

"Hmm, why haven't you gone back to sleep?"

"How could we sleep without you coming out, sir?" Big Dragon scratched his head, pointing at the bus's rear compartment. "Besides, they won't let vehicles leave now. We have to guard the salted fish in the car, it would be bad if someone stole it."

"Thoughtful of you."

Cheng Ye smiled. "I'll need your help again shortly. I bought some rice and flour that needs transporting from inside."

"No problem, leave it to us!"

Big Dragon patted his chest in assurance, with the two young men nodding along.

After arranging for Big Dragon and the others to wait at the door, Cheng Ye returned to the bus and plugged the pendant back in to charge.

[Current charging efficiency: Normal (lv.3 energy)]

[Time remaining until full charge: 4h]

The numbers on the panel jumped from 0% to 100%. Even with 100kw efficiency, it would take a full four hours!

Cheng Ye rubbed his temples. Don't expect to go home and sleep tonight.

It was already 3 AM. Duty started at 7 AM. Only four hours in between, just enough to fully charge the pendant.

And counting travel time to South Station, he needed to find an excuse to delay a bit.

Otherwise, encountering Liu Kun without charge value would be problematic.

What was that saying?

Technology, I want.

Transcendence, I also want!

Suffer just these few days. Once he had strength, there'd be plenty of time to rest properly.

Opening the bus door, the compartment filled with the fishy smell of salted fish, forming an interesting contrast with the lingering meal fragrance in his mouth.

Cheng Ye walked to the middle of the compartment, pulled over an empty burlap sack and spread it out, lying down.

Though he felt no sleepiness, his mind full of churning thoughts.

But somehow, a strange sense of security suddenly washed over him, his mind completely free of distracting thoughts.

He slightly closed his eyes, consciousness floating down like dandelion seeds blown by wind into deep sleep.

Perhaps it was anticipation.

Or perhaps because he had clearer goals.

Besides making himself stronger, Cheng Ye's heart now held additional ambitions.

Those lights of Xinghuo Sanctuary City fell into his heart like seeds. So this wasteland truly held possibilities for rebuilding proper modern cities.

Those warmths he once cherished, belonging to the Old Era, the stability belonging to modernity, could be completely recreated on this land.

And with the Collector by his side, he might well do better than Xinghuo Sanctuary City!

...

Ding.

As if he'd just lain down, the alarm rang.

Cheng Ye sat up, grabbed his defense communicator and lit the screen. The time showed 6:50 AM.

The compartment was already quite bright, with a thin layer of white frost condensed on the glass windows. Wiping away a patch with his fingertip, he could see the clear morning light outside.

Last night's thick fog enveloping the Works Department had completely cleared, visibility restored to kilometer range.

Cheng Ye pushed open the door and stepped down. As soon as his feet touched ground, he saw Big Dragon, Master Zhang, and several young men all sleeping against flour sacks piled outside the compartment.

Twenty bags of rice and flour piled together like a small mountain. Each bag weighed 100 kilograms, totaling a full two tons.

Beside them stood ten barrels of cooking oil, 20 kilograms each, with "Xinghuo Special Supply" printed on the barrels.

Additionally, there were two large burlap sacks of various seasonings.

There were even five large cardboard boxes. Cheng Ye opened one to find neatly arranged sealed cans inside.

Beef, vegetables, fruits, arranged orderly.

Looking at this pile of goods, Cheng Ye couldn't help glancing again toward the rest hall. Li Changfeng had been quite thoughtful, not just sending rice and flour but providing a complete set.

This wasn't just sending some rice and flour, it was clearly preparing all the necessities for surviving winter in the field.

He stood there stunned for a moment, suddenly feeling a heavy sense of security in his heart.

Salted fish, rice and flour, grain and oil, seasonings...

When winter came and the inspection station completely closed, no longer requiring these inspectors to work duty.

Even if they really needed to take people out to hide for a while, they would never worry about food again.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

INS Chapter 114: Crazy Harvest, Inspector's Four-Piece Set!

Night wind carrying the fresh scent of grass and trees brushed across his face, cool yet comfortable.

After stepping into Xinghuo's territory again, strings of introductions about Xinghuo and Xin Province flashed through Cheng Ye's mind, unfolding like pages blown by the wind.

Xin Province, where Xinghuo Sanctuary City took root, was already the largest province in the Eastern continent during the Old Era.

At the beginning of the New Era, during the global historical blockade and territorial redistricting, due to Xinghuo's existence, its territory expanded continuously like a water-absorbing sponge, finally stabilizing at nearly two million square kilometers.

The reason for such an exaggerated change wasn't due to Xinghuo's active expansion, but because the two adjacent territories bordering Xin Province were both orange-red blockade zones!

They contained quite a number of transcendent earth-bound spirits, mysterious and unpredictable.

All the relatively safe areas of these two territories were incorporated into Xin Province, leading to the current changes.

"Little Xu, I'm taking Inspector Cheng to tour the inspection station, let me borrow your Wing Assault Unit."

Li Changfeng called out.

Little Xu immediately responded, turning to unlock the wing device parked by the roadside.

With a snap, the black wings spread open. From the sky it didn't seem like much, but now the wingspan actually reached nearly four meters.

"Inspector Li, this... I don't know how to use it?"

Although Cheng Ye was somewhat eager, he was still a bit nervous about riding this thing into the sky.

If he flew too high and fell, he'd have to activate the Horned Starfish in mid-air to save his life, which would be too much of a loss.

"Don't worry, this thing is also fool-proof, uh, meaning it's very easy to operate."

Li Changfeng patted the side wing of the flying unit, producing a dull metallic sound, "Meeting is fate, maybe I'll also go to Happiness City on business in the future. It's too formal for us to keep calling each other Inspector. How about you call me Changfeng, and I'll call you Cheng Ye?"

"Sure!"

Cheng Ye nodded cheerfully, but secretly rejoiced inside. As this relationship grew closer, Li Changfeng's compatibility on the panel indeed jumped, steadily stopping at 31%, just crossing the threshold for item search.

However, Cheng Ye wasn't in a hurry to search.

Experience told him that without the inspector scenario combination, success rates weren't high.

Moreover, searching for items wasn't like intelligence, which hit every time.

Currently, each search consumed 50% energy, so even when fully charged, he only had two chances.

It would be better to accumulate more compatibility, maybe it could improve the hidden success rate.

"Come, step on up!"

Cheng Ye followed Li Changfeng's instructions and stepped onto the Wing Assault Unit. It really was no different from a balance scooter, just with an added safety protection layer.

The moment he stepped on, a strong suction force immediately came from beneath his feet.

Even when Cheng Ye deliberately lifted his foot, that suction force still held him firmly, the strength was absurdly powerful.

"35 energy level reaction, not bad."

Li Changfeng glanced at the display screen on the front of the assault unit, "This automatically detects based on the user's strength. The stronger you are, the stronger the suction, ensuring you won't fall at high altitude."

"What's yours?" Cheng Ye asked curiously.

"About the same as you, 62."

Li Changfeng said it casually.

Good heavens.

Cheng Ye's mouth twitched. This was almost double, and he called it about the same?

Li Changfeng saw his confusion and waved his hand with a laugh, "I'm already 31 this year, how old are you? When I was your age, I probably couldn't even reach 15 energy level reaction."

"Uh..."

Cheng Ye smiled awkwardly, having forgotten about the age factor.

Right, since transmigrating, his competitors had always been middle-aged and old-timers, rarely anyone his age.

Someone like Wang Kang would probably be doing well to have an energy level reaction of 10.

"Alright, since it's your first time using it, better use the control stick to be safe."

Li Changfeng pressed the front of the unit, and a silver-gray control stick popped out with a "click," automatically extending to a height Cheng Ye could reach with his hands hanging down, "Direction control is easy, lean your body forward, backward, left or right, and it follows."

He then pulled Cheng Ye's hand to rest on the control stick, "Use this to adjust height, push forward to descend, pull back to climb. Don't worry, this thing has automatic obstacle avoidance. Even if you close your eyes and try to hit a wall, it'll dodge on its own."

"Want to try?"

It did sound simple, but when actually operating it, Cheng Ye still felt a bit tense.

He gripped the control stick and gently pulled back. The wing suddenly made a soft humming sound.

The energy ring at the bottom instantly lit up with pale purple light, and the entire unit "whoosh" lifted off the ground.

"Don't be afraid, you're only two meters off the ground, pull back harder." Li Changfeng's voice came from below, carrying amusement.

Cheng Ye looked down and indeed saw he wasn't far from the ground, hovering steadily without even the slightest shake.

He boldly pulled back harder, and the mechanical wings on both sides suddenly accelerated their flapping, stirring up a gust of wind. The entire unit "roared" and shot upward, reaching over twenty meters in the blink of an eye!

"Holy crap, this powerful?"

Cheng Ye was startled by this explosive force and cried out, the fierce wind making his cheeks numb.

He instinctively looked around, but the scene in his vision made him instantly forget his discomfort.

The street below had shrunk to a chessboard, the busy crowd in front of the fog passage had become moving black dots, and the buildings that required looking up just moments ago were now level with his sight.

Further away, the full view of Xinghuo Sanctuary City's B4 district spread out.

Low houses clustered around tall buildings like building blocks, starlike lights meandered along streets forming rivers.

Clean, orderly asphalt roads showed several streams of vehicle lights flowing slowly through the night even at this late hour.

This wasn't the dilapidated scene with millennium-era marks like Happiness City's buffer zone.

There were no peeling walls, no broken windows patched with sheet metal.

No tube buildings, much less precarious shantytowns.

The buildings here were new, the windows were clear, and several buildings even had flowing light advertisements projected on their walls, with people in the images smiling and talking, a scene of harmony.

Like... really traveling back in time.

Back to that modern city with human warmth, security, where you didn't have to be worried at night.

Cheng Ye was stunned for a moment, his eyes even getting a bit warm.

Of course, he wasn't moved by this scene.

It was purely because he'd climbed too fast, the wind stung his eyes, and he didn't dare close them, so he could only endure this suffering.

"Everyone's like this the first time flying, wind makes tears flow."

Li Changfeng also controlled his wing unit to catch up, laughing cheerfully, "How about it, nice view right? Want to fly higher and see more?"

Cheng Ye nodded, this time learning to squint when pulling the control stick.

The Wing Assault Unit continued climbing smoothly, wind whistling past his ears, the scenery below becoming smaller and smaller.

Thirty meters, fifty meters, eighty meters...

Until reaching nearly a hundred meters altitude, the control stick began transmitting waves of centering resistance, obviously reaching maximum height.

But amazingly, the entire platform remained rock steady, without even the slightest unnecessary shake, as if held aloft by an invisible force field.

Now it was Cheng Ye's turn to truly overlook the full picture.

It was somewhat like the inner city's model. The entire B4 district was square and orderly, prosperous and stable inside, with the outer perimeter tightly wrapped by a ring of twenty-meter-high alloy walls.

But that wasn't the point. The point was the tracks connecting the city to Xinhuo Rail Mountain.

Four silver-gray tracks extended from inside the walls like a giant dragon's tentacles, shooting straight into the rock walls of Xinhuo Rail Mountain, meshing seamlessly with the main tracks on the mountain.

Looking further out, there were actually three other city districts of similar scale to B4 distributed around Xinhuo Rail Mountain, also connected to the mountain by tracks, like petals surrounding a stamen.

In the outer periphery, there were more than ten smaller square city districts, orbiting the core like satellites. Each area was lit up, outlining clear city silhouettes in the night.

"This is our Xinghuo Sanctuary City's unique stellar track layout."

Li Changfeng's voice came through, "Xinhuo Rail Mountain is the A-level core zone, the outer platforms are all factories, the interior has been converted into residential areas. I can guarantee that the safest, most comfortable place on this planet is inside that mountain."

"The four outer cities are B-level zones, our B4, plus B7, B12, B15, connected to Xinhuo Rail Mountain by tracks."

"And the outer cities are C-level zones, mainly responsible for raw material rough processing."

Li Changfeng drew a circle in the air, "The process is simple. C zones do preliminary processing of raw materials, transport them to B-level zones for deep processing, then after processing they're sent by track to Xinhuo Rail Mountain for final manufacturing, uh, that is, source track technology enhancement."

For Xinghuo Sanctuary City, although this information might be secret to ordinary people, it obviously wouldn't be kept secret from inspectors from their ally Happiness City.

Cheng Ye looked at those tracks spanning the night sky, feeling his throat somewhat dry, momentarily at a loss for words.

He had to say, at this moment he did feel a strong impulse.

To stay here, to remain in this super sanctuary city that was obviously more promising and brighter than Happiness City.

But as his gaze shifted, it fell on a half-dark area to the northwest.

Sparse lights dotted the area like dusty stars, completely out of place with the surrounding brilliance.

Under the illumination of those lights, he could make out that there was indeed a large area of urban buildings there.

"What's that place?"

"Hmm..."

Li Changfeng followed his gaze, the smile on his face instantly fading, his expression visibly darkening, his voice dropping a few notes, "That's C35 district. About three months ago, a mother source infected entity snuck in, and in one night everything went to hell."

"Mother source infected entity?"

Cheng Ye instinctively swallowed.

If it were before, he only had a vague concept of these words, but Happiness City had just experienced a crisis caused by a mother source that almost turned the buffer zone into a no-man's land.

"Right, mother source infected entity."

Li Changfeng sighed, seeming helpless, seeming confused, "Yeah, C35 district was just destroyed like that. The mother source infected entity escaped in the chaos. We're still pursuing it, but who knows where it actually escaped to."

The casual word "destroyed" was like a bucket of ice water poured from overhead, making one's heart skip a beat.

"Did the mother source escape, or is it still lurking?"

"Not clear. At the mother source level, they already have complete transcendent abilities, can speak and move like normal people, only exposing themselves under specific stimulation."

He suddenly nodded toward below, his mouth curving in a self-mocking smile, "Maybe right now, it's standing on some rooftop staring at us. Scared?"

"Scared?"

Cheng Ye was silent for a moment, then nodded honestly, "In that case, you might be even more dangerous than us."

"Dividing areas into different A, B, C levels, besides improving efficiency, is also to isolate risks and reduce the cost of mother source intrusion."

Li Changfeng understood his implication, "When something really happens, we blow up the tracks, seal off the infected area. C35 district was handled this way, no one could get out, and no one dares go in."

"Let's go, enough of this depressing talk." Li Changfeng suddenly waved his hand dismissively, leaning forward slightly as his wing glided toward the inspection station, "The more prosperous a place is, the more scars are buried underneath. Let's talk about something else. I quite like listening to radio, your Happiness City's programs are very interesting."

His eyes actually flashed with deep longing, "Xinghuo rarely receives your signals directly, mostly recordings brought by outsiders. Last time I heard your celebration broadcast, singing, dancing, storytelling, and children's cultural performances... much more interesting than here. Besides technical lectures, we only have defense briefings, natural disaster warnings, various threats. Life is grim!"

"When I'm old and can't work anymore, I'll go to your Happiness City to retire, and experience that divine life of basking in the sun in the square, dozing off to songs."

"Hehe."

Cheng Ye chuckled twice, suddenly feeling that Happiness City's inner city model wasn't completely useless.

For these outsiders, it was quite attractive?

"If you want to go there, why not try to get into the interior of Xinhuo Rail Mountain?"

"That place?" Li Changfeng shook his head, "I don't have those qualifications. Those who can live inside are either source track technology breakthrough makers or military officers with distinguished service records. And living there isn't free, the contribution points consumed daily equal my monthly salary. Want to retire without continuous output? Unless you can invent some epoch-making source guidance technology, otherwise you'll be kicked out after a few days."

Speaking of this, he suddenly raised his hand to point toward the city wall, his tone becoming lighter, "There, that's the inspection station, the only one in all of B4 district. Special enough?"

Cheng Ye looked in the direction he pointed, his gaze pausing slightly.

In terms of scale alone, B4 district's inspection station was far less impressive than Happiness City's, just a four-story small building right below the city wall, gray and unremarkable.

But as the wing flew closer, he discovered the trick. The small building was not only inside the city wall, but also extended through an enclosed passage to outside the wall, like a dumbbell embedded in the wall.

The extended area outside was as large as two football fields, with clear markings, somewhat like a modern station.

"Our model is different from yours." Li Changfeng explained, "B4 district has few outsiders, mostly fixed residents, and their activity range is basically within the safe zone."

He pointed to the outermost area, "The very front is the quick inspection zone, relying entirely on machine scanning. The machine scans residents' biological characteristics and immediately knows if there are problems. No problems, direct clearance, very efficient."

"If the machine detects anomalies, it automatically transfers to the second area, manual review zone."

"Inspectors with equipment conduct secondary verification, basically filtering out ninety percent of problems."

Finally, he pointed to the four-story small building, "The third area is here, the isolation zone. Whether suspected infected or those returning from the edges of orange-red zones, they all have to live inside for 21 days, tested three times daily, can only come out if there are no problems."

"Want to look from back to front, or try the complete inspection process?"

"Need you ask."

Cheng Ye raised his eyebrows, and the two crossed the city wall with mutual understanding, landing steadily on the open ground in front of the inspection station.

Although it was late at night, there were still scattered residents entering and exiting the passage entrance, most hurried, carrying backpacks or dragging suitcases.

"We operate in 24-hour shifts, yours probably stops at night?"

"Yeah, gates close at 12, don't open until 8 AM."

Xinghuo had sufficient safe zones to support continuous operation, with layers of area divisions to share risks.

But around Happiness City was wilderness ruins, opening gates at night was like giving infected entities a green light.

The commotion of the two descending from the sky drew several glances.

Some envious, some curious, and also...

Cheng Ye's gaze suddenly stopped, landing on a middle-aged man who had just swiped his ID card, and he couldn't help frowning.

The man wore a work uniform washed to white, carried a common military backpack with patches sewn on the corners, looking exactly like the migrants who had poured out of Happiness City recently.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Cheng Ye shook his head, watching the man quickly walk deep into the passage. In that instant of eye contact just now, the flash of greed in the other's eyes was very uncomfortable.

And this kind of look wasn't unfamiliar to Cheng Ye, very much like those thugs in Happiness City's buffer zone who forced sales, viewing people as prey, mixed with calculation and undisguised desire.

But thinking about it, it seemed normal.

Xinghuo ultimately wasn't paradise, even the most prosperous places had their dark corners.

Entering the inspection hall, it looked exactly like modern station ticket gates, with eight parallel channels of varying widths.

Electronic screens above the entrances scrolled with "Please swipe ID card" prompts.

"Left three are resident channels, right four for materials, the innermost one is emergency channel, usually locked."

Following Li Changfeng's pointing finger, Cheng Ye scanned with his eyes and quickly formed a judgment.

Outer merchant convoy trading would only occur in lower-level areas. B4, this kind of core area, probably wouldn't involve outsider inspections, so the entire channel setup revealed an internal-focused simplicity.

Compared to Happiness City's inspection station, which had to check both outsiders and merchant convoy materials, this was indeed much simpler.

And power equaled responsibility. Just looking at the scale here, Cheng Ye could guess.

Li Changfeng's authority probably wasn't great, at least in terms of making money, definitely not as good as a single hair of a Happiness City inspector, most likely having to rely on fixed income to live.

Without real power, the inspector identity just became a respectable job, no essentially different from maintenance station technicians or Works Department staff.

"Come, let me unlock permissions for you, try it!"

Li Changfeng swiped his ID badge at the entrance, the isolation barrier ahead popped open to both sides, revealing the conveyor belt behind.

Cheng Ye stepped onto it, the conveyor belt immediately began rolling slowly, smoothly carrying him into the sealed isolation inspection chamber ahead.

The chamber had no excess decoration, with various exposed instruments embedded in the walls, cameras adjusting angles as the conveyor belt moved, giving off a coldly precise feeling.

Completely different from Happiness City's inspection station mode where residents had to report numbers themselves, this was fully automated.

The belt pushed him forward while instruments automatically started detection, beeping alerts mixed with mechanical voice readings.

Cheng Ye watched the overhead scanner with interest, suddenly feeling like cargo sent into an assembly line, undergoing final inspection before leaving the factory.

Reaching the chamber center, a cube-shaped instrument suddenly made a soft hum, a pale blue light beam shot from the side, scanning from his head to his feet.

Cheng Ye initially didn't understand what this was doing, until he turned and noticed a woman also undergoing inspection nearby seemed to have heated eyes, secretly swallowing several times.

Following her gaze, he discovered this instrument's function was actually x-ray vision.

On the wall to Cheng Ye's left, the screen was currently displaying a rotating naked human figure.

After multiple skill enhancements, his current physique was as precisely carved as a blade, muscle lines flowing and tight without any excess bulk, radiating strength and beauty.

Of course, looking downward was somewhat unseemly. This damn instrument had no privacy at all!

"Don't worry, this is shallow scanning, mainly to detect implanted bombs or abnormal wounds, much faster than manual strip searches."

Li Changfeng's voice came from outside the chamber, carrying teasing amusement.

This laugh made Cheng Ye feel even more embarrassed, fortunately the woman next to him was sent away first.

After scanning, the conveyor belt continued pushing forward.

A tray suddenly rose ahead, with a mechanical arm extending a needle thin as hair.

"Blood draw?"

Cheng Ye proactively extended his right hand. The needle lightly pricked his fingertip, almost painlessly completing the sampling.

Over ten seconds later, the tray retracted into the chamber wall with the blood sample.

The conveyor belt suddenly sped up, like a smooth silk ribbon, steadily carrying him toward the chamber's end.

The barrier at the end slowly rose, revealing the bright passage outside.

"How about it, is our process advanced enough?" Li Changfeng approached, expectation in his eyes.

"Indeed... very efficient."

Cheng Ye looked back, suddenly thinking it would be great if Happiness City could have such an inspection chamber.

"Source track technology?"

"Yes, basically all the detection equipment you can see uses source track technology."

"Impressive."

Cheng Ye nodded sincerely, quietly opening his panel for a glance. Li Changfeng's compatibility had climbed to 42%.

He stared at the item search on the panel, suddenly having a thought:

This inspection chamber shouldn't count as an item, it should count as a facility, right?

And looking at this scale, it obviously couldn't belong to Li Changfeng personally, at minimum it would belong to the inspection station chief.

"I wonder if choosing other paths during advancement would have given more search directions..."

Cheng Ye thought secretly. If he could have a facility search direction, maybe he could search for this isolation chamber in one go.

If he could bring a set of this back to Happiness City for reverse engineering, the inspection station's workload would decrease by at least 50%.

Continuing further, the questioning part wasn't much different from Happiness City's inspection station.

A semi-open questioning platform stood in the center, with inspectors sitting behind bulletproof glass, screens in front showing information about people to be questioned, all communication through microphones.

It was somewhat like the "One Stop to the End" stage Cheng Ye had seen before transmigrating, just missing lights and applause, with added seriousness.

Cheng Ye stepped onto the platform opposite the questioning desk with interest. Just as he stood firm, several bright spotlights "whoosh" lit up around him, light hitting from all directions, making it hard to keep eyes open.

He instinctively squinted, suddenly feeling this setup was indeed interesting. Under bright lights, people easily became unconsciously nervous and couldn't hide things.

"How about it, feel pressure?"

Cheng Ye nodded, then turned around to experience it, suddenly getting an idea.

Getting off the platform, he looked at Li Changfeng, "Changfeng, how about you stand up there as the one being inspected, and I'll try your inspection process?"

"Sure, I'll cooperate with you, try out the feeling."

Li Changfeng agreed immediately without much thought, pointing to the side, "There are staff on duty inside, you go through that passage, they'll adjust permissions for you."

Following the passage he indicated into the examination chamber, there were indeed four night shift workers inside, two men and two women, all wearing uniform blue outfits.

Seeing Cheng Ye enter, all four stood up in unison, respectfully calling out, "Inspector Cheng, hello!"

"Haha, everyone relax."

Cheng Ye quickly waved his hands, showing a friendly smile, "I'm just here to visit and learn, want to experience your inspection process, please cooperate."

"How would Inspector Cheng like us to cooperate?"

Noticing Li Changfeng had stepped up, deliberately looking around and exaggeratedly rubbing his hands, putting on a nervous act of being strictly examined.

Seeing this, all four staff members couldn't help lowering their heads to suppress laughter.

"Give me the highest standard inspection you have here, use whatever methods you've got."

"This..."

"Just do as Inspector Cheng says, inspect me thoroughly!" Li Changfeng's voice came through the microphone, carrying hearty laughter, "Deng Hao, shut off my permissions. Now Inspector Cheng is me, whatever he says, you do. If problems arise, I'll take responsibility."

"Yes, Inspector Li!"

Deng Hao immediately nodded, wasting no more words, rapidly typing on the keyboard, "Inspector Cheng, please!"

"Good, let me see your methods!"

Cheng Ye sat boldly in the inspector's chair. The moment his finger touched the microphone, his peripheral vision caught the panel.

Compatibility was jumping wildly.

Almost every second it jumped up two percentage points, quickly breaking through 60%.

How was this so effective? Could it be that inspection scenarios really were perfectly matched with the Collector?

Cheng Ye was both surprised and delighted, about to exclaim when he looked up and was stunned.

Holy crap, it wasn't that the scenario was effective, but Li Changfeng opposite was gripping the questioning platform railing and twitching, his whole body shaking like an electrified sieve, even with white foam at the corner of his mouth.

"What's he doing?"

Cheng Ye was so shocked his voice changed pitch.

"Intimidation method." Deng Hao explained emotionlessly, fingers still typing on the keyboard, "When encountering stubborn suspicious personnel, we first use electric shock stimulation, subsequent questioning goes much smoother."

"?"

This brutal?

Electric shock appetizer before inspection?

He quickly waved his hands, "Inspector Li isn't really an infected entity, how can you really shock him! Quick, turn the voltage to maximum for me, just let me see the effect."

"Yes!"

Deng Hao pressed a red button.

Crack.

A blinding electric flash exploded in front of Li Changfeng, the air instantly filled with a burning smell.

Li Changfeng's hair visibly exploded outward, his whole person deflating like someone had pulled out his bones, sliding down the railing to the ground.

The compatibility on the panel shot up accordingly, jumping directly to 78%!

Cheng Ye's eyes lit up, "Great, this is great! Our Happiness City inspection station lacks exactly this thing. Strong intimidation without actually killing anyone, perfect for dealing with those slippery scavengers!"

"What other methods do you have? Show them all to open my eyes!"

The voice transmitted through the microphone, Li Changfeng collapsed on the ground but forced out a smile through gritted teeth.

He could hear that Cheng Ye's excitement wasn't fake, he really found these methods practical.

It was undisguisable excitement.

It was almost overflowing enthusiasm!

"A kindred spirit..."

Li Changfeng smiled bitterly inside, struggling to climb up from the ground, gripping the railing to stand steady.

Even though his body was numb from electric shock, even though other methods were coming.

He couldn't let the Happiness City inspector think that Xinghuo inspectors couldn't handle such "small scenes."

"Next is, low-frequency shock waves!"

Deep humming instantly filled the entire examination chamber, making even Cheng Ye feel his temples throbbing through the glass.

Looking at Li Changfeng again, his face instantly turned pale, covering his ears and bending over, fine cold sweat beading on his forehead.

Compatibility continued changing, reaching 83%.

"Intense light burning simulation can create the illusion of skin being burned through special simulation, but actually causes no harm!"

Deng Hao explained while rapidly typing, demonstrating eye-opening methods one after another.

Xinghuo Sanctuary City seemed to have taken a completely different inspection route from Happiness City, focusing on technological power, using various special instruments to simulate scenarios that infected sources feared, thereby inducing outbreak periods.

But this was terrible for non-infected entities, each method making one's teeth ache.

However, none of this was enough to surprise Cheng Ye.

What truly amazed him was that Li Changfeng was really one tough guy, able to grit his teeth and squeeze out a smile no matter what methods were used.

Although that smile was somewhat like Wang Lei the human grenade, carrying a bit of devil-may-care roguishness, as if provoking him as an inspector.

But the panel's compatibility... couldn't be faked!

Before he even got to inspection questioning, it had directly reached 100%.

"Alright, stop, stop!"

As soon as he spoke, Deng Hao immediately shut off all equipment.

Li Changfeng gripped the railing, gasping heavily, hair exploded like a feather duster, red marks still on his arms from the intense light stimulation.

Through the bulletproof glass, he looked up, mouth stretching into a stiff smile, "How about it... eye-opening enough?"

"Awesome!"

Cheng Ye sincerely gave a thumbs up, simultaneously quickly clicking item search.

This 100% didn't show guaranteed success, but should provide a 50% additional bonus.

The panel flashed with text, then transformed into a heart-stopping notification:

[Search Successful!]

[Li Changfeng]

[Searchable Item Range Assessment:]

[Search successful, you have obtained item - Wing Assault Unit (Standard Duty Version)]

"Damn, got it on the first try!"

Cheng Ye was so excited he almost jumped from his chair, his heart pounding wildly in his chest as if about to explode.

Wing Assault Unit!

It's mine!

What golden cup, what battery vehicle, what I have now is high-end goods from Xinghuo Sanctuary City!

Just thinking about flying around Happiness City on this thing made Cheng Ye's mind fuzzy, almost fainting from excitement.

Fortunately, the 50% charge value in the upper right corner of the panel reminded him, and he quickly clicked the second search while compatibility hadn't dropped.

The panel flashed again.

[Search Successful!]

[...]

[Search successful, you have obtained item - Inspector's Four-Piece Set (Xinghuo Sanctuary City Version)]

[NEXT CHAPTER]

INS Chapter 113: Dual Source Technology, Transcendent Tech Tree!

Happiness came too suddenly.

Cheng Ye turned his head to look at the rest hall behind him, suddenly feeling that this day had been absurdly long.

Just a few days ago when he was lying in the hospital, he would read for a while and it would get dark, then tilt his head and sleep until dawn.

But today, from getting up at seven in the morning until now, he had inspected the merchant convoy, encountered the aerial fog, with surprises, frights, excitement, and exhilaration interspersed throughout. His emotions had been like riding a roller coaster, rising and falling without stopping.

Who could have imagined that at this moment, he would actually have to cross thousands of kilometers and step into Xinghuo Sanctuary City for a stroll?

He wouldn't have dared to think of it.

Yet it was so real he could reach out and touch it.

The aerial fog might bring devastating disaster, but it could also tear open a fog passage filled with opportunities, just like now.

Taking several deep breaths, his mood gradually calmed.

Cheng Ye gently fastened the headband around his forehead and stepped forward.

Buzz.

Only a faint humming sound reached his ears, nothing else unusual.

There was no spinning world as he had imagined, no so-called space-time distortion. It was like passing through a half-open door, walking from one room into another, completely in line with human intuition.

But the next second, a mixture of fresh grass and moist earth rushed toward him, carrying just the right amount of coolness that instantly dispelled the stuffiness and heat of the rest hall.

Cheng Ye instinctively looked around, his gaze sweeping over the low houses on both sides of the street, their white walls and red tiles radiating warmth in the night.

Sweeping over a tower not far away that stood two to three hundred meters tall, with signal lights flashing rhythmically at its top.

Sweeping over the tall buildings hidden in darkness around them...

Suddenly, his gaze fixed, landing on the skyline directly behind the fog passage.

Reflected in his pupils, a mountain stood like a tilted barrier across the sky, brutally cutting off all sight lines that tried to penetrate it.

Although it didn't match Mount Everest's majesty that pierced the heavens, it was still a massive thing with an altitude of over three thousand meters.

At this moment, the night was deep.

Yet this mountain had broken free from the desolation and death silence that the wasteland should have, even overturning all of Cheng Ye's understanding of mountain landscapes he had seen on Earth.

It looked very standard.

Just like something that had walked out of a painting, presenting a perfect triangular form.

From the mountain base to the peak, every inch of rock wall emanated warm light, as if countless stars had been embedded within.

With the extraordinary vision brought by his Wild Grass Physique, Cheng Ye quietly gazed at this mountain, from bottom to top.

Countless platforms of varying widths extended like giant hands from the rock walls, layered and cantilevered along the mountainside.

Countless buildings and factories were embedded on the platforms, interlocking and meshing as if the mountain body had naturally grown these steel skeletons.

Even more amazing was that rings of silver-gray tracks wound around the mountain body like ribbons, spiraling toward the peak, with various sized vehicles traveling smoothly on the tracks, connecting the platforms at different heights of the mountain.

The entire mountain seemed to be breathing, seemed to possess life, transformed into a three-dimensional living entity!

How magical!

How shocking!

What a sight that completely overturned understanding!

Modern architectural styles try to spread out as much as possible, expanding across flat surfaces.

But the wasteland was exactly the opposite. Xinghuo Sanctuary City went against this trend, utilizing vertical space to the extreme.

Cheng Ye was so mesmerized for a moment that he even lightened his breathing.

Li Changfeng stood to the side, apparently having long anticipated his reaction, and didn't step forward to disturb him.

Not just Cheng Ye, but every sanctuary city lord who came to Xinghuo for the first time.

Everyone who saw 'Xinhuo Rail Mountain' basically had this same shocked expression.

And mountains like this, Xinghuo Sanctuary City currently had thirteen of them, each one larger in scale than the last.

The one Cheng Ye was currently seeing could only rank seventh.

After a long while, Cheng Ye finally pulled his gaze away, turning his head somewhat dazedly to meet Li Changfeng's eyes.

"It's not just pure technology, is it?"

"Of course not." Li Changfeng shook his head gently, "How many years have passed from the New Era until now? The great war destroyed all industrial foundations, and we didn't dig up any alien treasures. The iteration speed of basic technology is actually quite slow."

"Then these?"

"It seems you still don't know about source guidance technology and source track technology."

Li Changfeng's tone carried barely perceptible pride, "Transcendent substances extracted from mother sources possess incredible energy. If we can guide them, we can achieve many effects we previously didn't dare to imagine. For example, this Xinhuo Rail Mountain was formed using transcendent mother sources."

"Source track technology is another path, reverse-engineering the special abilities of infection sources or mutant beasts at their root. For example, the Wing Assault Units we just used were obtained by reverse-analyzing the source tracks of Giant Rock Crows. Uh, Giant Rock Crows are a type of mutant bird that can hover in storms."

"Utilizing infection sources? Learning from infection sources?"

Cheng Ye finally found his voice, his throat somewhat dry.

So the Infection Source Research Institute in Happiness City stood above the other two institutes not only because humanity's enemies were various infection sources, but also because infection sources were actually the key to technological breakthroughs?

"Every sanctuary city is doing this, including your Happiness City. It's just that everyone's progress varies. Currently, only two sanctuary cities are applying source guidance technology, one is Xinghuo, the other is Natural Sanctuary City on the other side of the planet."

He paused, retracting some of his smile, "And source guidance technology, you being an inspector should understand, cannot be shared."

"Mm."

Cheng Ye was stunned for a moment, then nodded gently, but his heart was stirring with tremendous waves.

It wasn't because they couldn't share, the reason was very simple.

On one hand, transcendent mother sources themselves were disaster-level existences. Ordinary sanctuary cities, let alone research them, might face city destruction and death just from encountering them. They simply didn't have the qualifications to research.

On the other hand, if source guidance technology spread, what if some desperate, crazy sanctuary city used living people to cultivate infection sources to obtain mother sources? That would bring not technological progress, but civilization's end.

But on such a vast Blue Star, with thousands of sanctuary cities, only two sanctuary cities could apply this technology?

This gap was too exaggerated.

And as time passed, the gap between other sanctuary cities and these two would only grow larger.

"What about source track technology?"

"This can be shared, but everyone researches different directions. The same source can develop different tracks, and each track has different uses. It's hard to price each source track technology uniformly."

Li Changfeng spoke very diplomatically, but Cheng Ye understood the meaning.

High-level source track technology was very valuable and couldn't possibly be traded away. Low-level technology everyone could research, so trading value wasn't easy to unify.

After speaking, he pointed to the big brick hanging at Cheng Ye's waist, "Your Happiness City's defense communicator uses source track technology, doesn't it?"

"This?"

Cheng Ye was a bit confused.

He had to say, at this moment he truly experienced what it meant to be a country bumpkin entering the city.

But the embarrassment passed in an instant, instead stirring up stronger curiosity, "I mainly deal with construction and inspection. I really don't understand these things, I just use them without ever thinking about how they came about or what makes them work, much less heard these technical terms."

Not just him, probably few people at the entire inspection station would ponder these things.

This was the research direction, something for people in the industrial zone and inner city to study.

The inspection station was the practical direction. Inspectors spent their days outside dealing with infected entities, studying how to check for smuggling, how to interrogate and extract information, how to navigate the wasteland.

Asking a bunch of rough guys to gnaw through technical manuals and understand technical principles was really asking too much.

"Normal, I can also use them but don't know specifically how they're implemented."

Li Changfeng laughed heartily, "These communication tools from the Old Era all need something called 'chips' to process data, and manufacturing chips is a huge problem. Your Happiness City was the first to use source track technology to bypass this difficulty and achieve mass production."

"In those early years, not just other sanctuary cities, even we at Xinghuo had to purchase from you. It's just that in recent years everyone has gradually researched their own solutions and developed their own alternatives, so demand has slowed down."

Chips were actually made using source track technology?

And Happiness City had autonomous manufacturing capability?

Even Xinghuo had to import from Happiness City?

The continuous stream of high-value information made Cheng Ye's thinking completely active, sweeping away all fatigue.

This was the first time he had heard an outsider's technical evaluation of Happiness City, and he hadn't expected it to be so mind-blowing.

Suddenly, Cheng Ye felt he might have underestimated Happiness City before.

He had always thought that the processor chips inside defense communicators and various consumables were all purchased from other sanctuary cities.

He never would have imagined that his own city was once a technology exporter!

Happiness City's ancestors had actually been this wealthy!

"Inspector Cheng, I've already opened permissions for you. You just need to touch your ear to use it, very simple." Li Changfeng indicated.

Cheng Ye followed his instructions and lightly touched his ear. The headband immediately began to rotate gently, very smoothly, with the monocle precisely falling in front of his right eye.

The next second, the entire world suddenly brightened, as if instantly stepping from deep night into midday, making him instinctively squint.

When his gaze swept over the fog passage, rows of pale blue text automatically floated at the edge of his vision:

[Void Mist (Special Mobile-Type Transcendent Curse)]

[First Appearance: New Era Year 35, April 7, 16:23, Sha Province 'Towards Dream' Sanctuary City south 84 degrees, Great World coordinates 2315.31 vicinity. Appearance duration 1.15 hours, covering 23 square kilometers, no abnormal effects]

[First Outbreak: New Era Year 35, May 5, 08:15, Sha Province 'Tianxin' Super Sanctuary City north 19 degrees, coordinates 2877.112. Duration 2.3 hours, covering 300 square kilometers, generating over a hundred fog passages, triggering small-scale mutant beast tide, connecting multiple sanctuary cities and settlements]

[First Large-Scale Casualties: New Era Year 35, May 17, 16:00. Coverage area expanded to nearly three thousand square kilometers with rainy weather. Post-incident investigation: 3 medium-sized settlements of a thousand people disappeared (suspected destroyed by mother source infected entities traveling through fog passages), 12 small settlements of a hundred people disappeared (suspected attacked by Snow Province No. 39 infection tide)]

[Second outbreak occurred: New Era Year 35, May 21...]

[...]

The information that popped up didn't directly explain the nature of fog passages, but was like a chronicle, from first appearance to first outbreak, then to the first appearance of large-scale casualties.

Step by step outlining the full picture of aerial fog, allowing people to sense the threat from these events.

Cheng Ye read line by line, his brow sometimes furrowing tightly, sometimes relaxing.

As the strongest sanctuary city in the wasteland, Xinghuo's information collection was terrifyingly comprehensive.

Or rather, when all sanctuary cities encountered similar situations, they would immediately compile data and send it here, hoping to obtain support.

Since May 5th, the frequency and scale of aerial fog outbreaks had climbed steadily, reaching a peak in mid-June with the largest single coverage area reaching 40,000 square kilometers.

But then it suddenly disappeared at the end of June, just when everyone thought this disaster had ended.

On New Era Year 35, July 20, 13:15, it appeared in Shi Province, and the coverage area reached an unprecedented size, a full 220,000 square kilometers.

The number of associated fog passages hadn't been tallied yet, but it should be no less than the number counted during the previous outbreak.

At least over a thousand!

On average, every 100-150 square kilometers would produce one associated fog passage.

These fog passages might cluster in one place or be particularly scattered, large and small.

In previous records, the largest lasted nearly 8 hours, the smallest only about two minutes.

"Is there no information on how fog passages form?"

"No." Li Changfeng shook his head, "Transcendent curse is also our general term for this type of mysterious natural disaster. Actually, its formation process might be very complex, but who knows that much?"

"From the last era until now has only been thirty to forty years. We're like chicks trapped in eggshells, huddled defensively around our respective sanctuary cities. It's only been these past ten years that we've had the ability to stick our feet out and explore."

"Could it be transcendent beings..."

Cheng Ye's words were cut off before he could finish them.

"Shh!"

Li Changfeng's expression changed drastically, quickly making a silencing gesture, then lowering his voice, "Sorry, Inspector Cheng, we at Xinghuo strictly forbid discussing this, and even more so forbid anyone from pursuing such power. Anyone showing such tendencies can only be asked to leave and seek other employment."

"Understood."

Cheng Ye made an apologetic gesture, but felt somewhat strange inside.

Xinghuo was clearly researching source guidance technology, utilizing the power of transcendent mother sources, so why were they so secretive about transcendence?

However, Li Changfeng obviously didn't want to discuss this further and immediately changed the subject, "You can say detection intensity to see the fog passage situation."

"Alright, let me try."

Cheng Ye said quietly, and indeed rows of data flashed before his eyes.

[Fog Passage Link]

[Intensity: 320]

[Maximum Duration: 5 hours 06 minutes]

[Minimum Duration: 4 hours 29 minutes]

From stepping into the fog passage until now, 11 minutes had passed, and the data had changed accordingly.

Cheng Ye was somewhat curious about the detection principle, but thinking it over, that would be the pot calling the kettle black. Even if he asked, Li Changfeng probably couldn't answer.

To really know how this thing was made and what the principle was wouldn't fit with his inspector identity.

Just as he was pondering, engine roars suddenly came from behind.

Several military green jeeps roared up, their tires making whooshing sounds as they rolled over the road surface.

Unlike Happiness City, Xinghuo Sanctuary City seemed to use fuel-powered vehicles, making quite a racket at night.

Car doors opened and a group of people in various uniforms jumped out, including some who looked like leaders at first glance, technicians carrying equipment boxes, and many staff members running errands.

"Inspector Li, how's the situation?"

When everyone saw Li Changfeng, they all greeted him familiarly.

"Very stable. This is Inspector Cheng from Happiness City." Li Changfeng smiled and introduced, "Inspector Cheng, this is Deputy District Chief Zhang Yi of our B4 district, Zhang Yi, in charge of trade and emergency coordination."

The man called Deputy District Chief Zhang immediately stepped forward, gripped Cheng Ye's hand and shook it vigorously, his face full of enthusiastic smiles, "Inspector Cheng, I've long admired you! Your Happiness City inspection station is the standard for our wasteland. The tutorial your grandfather wrote sits right by my bedside, I've long wanted to learn from your experience!"

Cheng Ye quickly returned the grip, secretly clicking his tongue.

Zhang Yi's serious expression really made him experience the prestige of being an inspector in diplomatic settings before he'd even gone on field duty.

He had to say, this feeling was novel and subtle, truly like being a diplomat.

"Inspector Cheng, this fog passage opened at such perfect timing!"

Deputy District Chief Zhang's voice was booming as he pointed excitedly at the fog passage, "The various supplies Happiness City ordered at the beginning of the year, we were planning to gather a merchant convoy in autumn to deliver, but now we can go directly through the fog passage, saving so much trouble!"

"This..." Cheng Ye pondered briefly, thinking about how to respond.

Fortunately, at this moment, commotion suddenly came from the rest hall on the other side of the fog passage.

He saw white mist churning at the entrance guarded by Big Dragon, and twelve fully armed soldiers filed in one after another.

All wore dark gray tactical uniforms, full-protection masks and helmets, quick-draw holsters tightly fastened to their chests with short shotguns, rifles in their hands with muzzles pointing down but maintaining constant readiness, their entire bodies radiating the elite aura of battle-hardened veterans.

After the team entered the hall, they automatically spread into a fan-shaped alert formation. Only when they followed Big Dragon's guidance and saw the fog passage on the wall did the eyes beneath their helmets clearly flash with a trace of astonishment.

The squad leader quickly lowered his head to give two instructions. Four people left the hall while the remaining seven followed him in a quick run to the fog passage's edge, stopping half a meter away.

"Snap!"

Tactical boots clicked together heavily, making a crisp sound.

Eight people saluted simultaneously.

"Inspector Cheng! Happiness Legion 3rd Formation, Captain Shu Ke, reporting to you!"

"Sky Strike Squad, reporting to you!"

Their voices were incredibly uniform, as if they had practiced many times.

Cheng Ye was slightly stunned, then immediately returned to normal, saying in a deep voice, "Captain Shu, how's the situation outside?"

"Happiness Legion has completed three-layer encirclement of the Works Department, deploying 950 personnel in 80 squads."

Shu Ke spoke extremely quickly, his report concise and clear, "Temporary communications station established, can connect to inner city command headquarters at any time."

"Please immediately inform headquarters: fog passage connects to Xinghuo Sanctuary City B4 district, energy intensity stable, estimated to maintain for over 4 hours."

"Understood!"

Shu Ke nodded heavily, turning to signal to three people behind him.

The three immediately shouldered their rifles, forming a triangular formation and jogging away, shuttling through the aerial fog to the outside world.

The rest followed Shu Ke, standing in a tight defensive line at the fog passage's entrance.

In less than two minutes, the aerial fog in front of the rest hall entrance began churning wildly, and thirty to fifty soldiers poured in all at once.

Yet their formation wasn't scattered at all, moving in perfect unison, quickly forming a circle around the hall's perimeter, standing at attention and saluting toward the fog passage direction in perfect synchronization.

"Inspector Cheng, Sky Strike Battalion has assembled, requesting instructions!"

Shu Ke stepped forward, his voice ringing clear.

"Alert in place, without orders, do not cross the fog passage without authorization."

"Yes!"

If he hadn't led the Tianyuan Community in charging against infected entities, this scene might have made Cheng Ye feel somewhat nervous.

But now, his every movement showed no unfamiliarity.

He even secretly compared the Tianyuan Community with the Sky Strike Battalion in his mind.

On the Xinghuo side, a group of Xinghuo staff members busy with equipment quietly stopped their work.

Li Changfeng looked at that mass of black tactical uniforms across from them, then at Cheng Ye calmly giving orders, and unconsciously swallowed.

Saying he wasn't envious would be a lie.

Although Xinghuo Sanctuary City was much larger in scale than Happiness City, these inspectors were ultimately just members within the regional operational system.

The inspection station conducted major evaluations every three years, promoting the excellent and eliminating the worst.

At the same time, any accident would result in point deductions for inspectors, and once points fell below 60, they would be immediately dismissed.

His Level 4 inspector position might have higher authority than Cheng Ye's in normal times, but in this environment, the difference was significant.

But there was no helping it, who told Happiness City to be the birthplace of the inspection station system?

"Hmm?"

While waiting, Cheng Ye instinctively opened his panel for a glance and immediately felt surprised.

Among the dense crowd of names and question marks around him, only Li Changfeng's compatibility had reached double digits.

And the number wasn't low either, having shot up to 27%.

Although it was still far from the Lv2 skill search, it was already close to reaching the threshold for item search.

There was hope!

Cheng Ye's heart stirred.

As long as he stayed in Happiness City, he might encounter Liu Kun many more times, but the chance to come to Xinghuo Sanctuary City might only happen once in the next few years.

And after searching here, he could completely find an excuse to stay at the Works Department and leave only after fully charging.

"Good thing I charged up tonight, otherwise I'd be regretting it to death right now!"

Skills had plenty of targets to search.

Intelligence wouldn't improve the current situation in the short term.

But items, these source track devices that Xinghuo Sanctuary City was researching, no matter which one he searched, looked highly useful, especially those Wing Assault Units, just thinking about them made his blood boil!

This opportunity was once in a thousand years, he absolutely couldn't miss it!

After more than ten minutes, the mist in the hall surged again, and another group of people poured in.

As expected, Cheng Ye didn't recognize any of them, including the several middle-aged people surrounded by soldiers in the middle.

But they seemed very familiar with him, calling out across the fog passage, "Inspector Cheng, thank you for your hard work tonight!"

Hmm?

This voice sounded somewhat familiar?

Cheng Ye frowned slightly, immediately searching his memory for where he'd heard this voice.

Wasn't this the person who had contacted him from the inner city command center the night they took out Zhang Can!

Thinking about it, he made an apologetic gesture, turned around and passed through the fog passage back to the rest hall.

The two came to a corner of the hall, and the middle-aged man immediately lowered his voice, "Inspector Cheng, I'm Bai Wei, Emergency Director from the command center. You should be familiar with me."

"Director Bai, that night was you..."

"It was the Elder." Bai Wei smiled, the shrewdness hidden in the wrinkles around his eyes, "You should know everything, so let's speak plainly. What's the situation inside? Please quickly sync with me."

"Alright."

This Bai Wei could apparently hear the probing in his voice. Cheng Ye simply stopped beating around the bush and concisely explained everything that happened before and after the fog passage appeared, as well as everything that occurred after entering.

Bai Wei nodded frequently, "You've worked so hard, Inspector Cheng worked a full day shift and still have to handle these troubles tonight. I'll apply to the command center for overtime pay and authority rewards."

"Director Bai, you're being too polite, I'm not doing this for rewards..."

Cheng Ye quickly waved his hands, an embarrassed smile flickering across his face.

Good heavens.

Last time when he fleeced the Elder, did he leave these people with an image of someone who plucks feathers from every passing goose?

This wouldn't be good. If people knew about his personality, the opportunities to fleece wool would probably become fewer and fewer.

Who would have thought that Bai Wei saw through his thoughts with a single glance and laughed heartily, "Don't worry, we're not asking you to take it for free. If the Xinghuo side makes any conditions, we'll still need you as inspector to negotiate more. Although our Happiness City hasn't been wealthy these years, we won't shortchange any of the dignity we should have."

"In that case..."

Cheng Ye pondered for a moment, "Director Bai, after things stabilize, I'd like to follow Inspector Li to visit Xinghuo Sanctuary City's inspection station to learn. I wonder if..."

"No problem, go ahead, just make sure to return before the fog passage dissipates." Bai Wei agreed readily, his tone decisive, "Do you need us to coordinate anything for you? Like sending a Sky Strike squad for protection? Or allocating some study funds?"

"No need, no need."

Cheng Ye smiled and shook his head, "You handle your business, don't worry about me specifically. I know what I'm doing and will return on time."

"Good."

Bai Wei nodded, then turned and left to arrange material coordination without any unnecessary words or obvious or subtle reminders.

Cheng Ye stood in place for a moment, suddenly shaking his head gently, a wave of emotion rising in his heart.

Although this Happiness City was far inferior to Xinghuo Sanctuary City in scale and seemed to be falling behind in development.

But it was like those old nobles whose ancestors had been wealthy, even though their family fortune was far from what it used to be, they still preserved the most precious traditions.

Making people comfortable, giving people an inexplicable sense of belonging.

In just half an hour, material coordination had begun between both sides of the fog passage.

Seeing that he wasn't needed here for the moment, Cheng Ye once again passed through the fog passage and smiled at Li Changfeng, "Inspector Li, I'd like to visit your inspection station. I wonder if you could do me this favor?"

The Happiness City side was shrouded in aerial fog with dangerous conditions, making it unlikely for Xinghuo people to come over.

But the Xinghuo side had no such concerns. Li Changfeng was stunned for a moment, then nodded repeatedly, "No problem, I'll take you for a tour. Come to think of it, since our B4 district inspection station was established, we've never received an inspector from another sanctuary city. You'll be the first!"

[NEXT CHAPTER]

NEC Chapter 134: The Iron Wall of Cloud and Mist, Autumn Winds at Nightfall

War is the continuation of politics.

The flames of war between small nations are often merely the dying embers on the chessboard of great powers.

Just like sometimes, even when neither side in conflict necessarily wants to fight, they must fight, they cannot not fight.

Common people have their displacement and wandering, lords have their own helplessness.

September was the traditional harvest season on the continent. However, for the vast majority of kingdom farmers who struggled in the fields year-round, this September was definitely not a good time.

The tax officials from the towns, with bellies as large as women about to give birth, braved the still somewhat scorching sun and came to the farmlands where the harvest was in full swing. They bent down with difficulty and picked up a stalk of wheat.

The accompanying tax clerks immediately seized the moment, holding up magic crystals that flickered with faint light, using magical images to record this touching scene for the kingdom.

"All recorded?"

"All done, all done! Sir, look at your heroic bearing, like a celestial being. It truly makes us subordinates feel ashamed..."

The tax official scrutinized the images in the crystal with a critical eye. After a long while, he finally hummed a satisfied "hmm" from his nasal cavity.

Setting down the magical image device, when he turned around again, he had already put on an iron mask.

"Orders from the city lord, within three days, deliver the autumn grain tax in full. From each household, one out of every three able-bodied men must serve the city lord!"

"All of you, hurry up! If you delay the city lord's affairs, don't blame us if our swords show no mercy!"

Yes, when harvest season arrived and the kingdom's grain stores were abundant with idle manpower, the war that hadn't been finished before was about to continue.

Once a century of peace was broken and wounds were torn open, they wouldn't heal so easily. The curtain had been raised on a new round of continental annexation wars. The temporary ceasefire agreement reached under the mediation of two great powers was understood by all parties to be nothing but waste paper.

The moment any side was ready for war, the flames would immediately reignite.

The Greenspine Kingdom knew this as they sharpened their weapons, preparing to launch an attack. The Emerald Duchy also knew this as they stood ready in strict formation, preparing to receive the assault.

In the autumn of Sky Empire Year 1427, the armies of the two nations, facing each other across the New Amber River, erupted into a small-scale local conflict triggered by a magic fireball that flew in from who knows where.

Before the letters of inquiry could even be delivered to the lord's mansion in Cloudmist, the Greenspine side had already begun large-scale river-crossing operations.

It must be said that the loss of the Crystal River defense line was truly too painful for the Emerald side.

Having lost a major river defense line, they could only retreat to defend a tributary. The enemy could brazenly build ships on the Crystal River, practice forced crossings, then go upstream along the river intersections, directly turning the New Amber River into a smooth thoroughfare.

With the loss of the territorial natural barrier, troops from three territories of the Greenspine Kingdom continuously crossed the New Amber River in an unending stream, launching sieges on cities. Everything seemed to be a replay of the war that had just occurred.

Except yesterday it was South Pass Territory, and today it was Cloudmist Territory.

However, the military strength of Cloudmist Territory was completely different from South Pass Territory.

Earl Liuyun's territorial taxes were less than half the average level of the surrounding areas, and his conscription and corvée labor of the people also belonged to the relatively friendly category.

During the decades the Earl had governed the territory, large numbers of refugees from the surrounding areas had continuously flowed into this fertile plain, clearing wasteland for cultivation. So even though the exploitation of his subjects was limited, Cloudmist Territory's strength was significantly higher than its neighbors.

The combat effectiveness and morale of the troops were the same. Wherever Earl Liuyun's longsword pointed, the warriors of Cloudmist would roar and shout like beasts smelling prey, charging into battle formations!

As soon as the war began, Earl Liuyun, who had prepared for war in advance, immediately led his army south and engaged in three consecutive hard battles near the Twin Tower Fortress, completely crushing the invading Greenspine left flank army.

With the flank lost, Greenspine's central group had to halt their offensive and reorganize their defense line.

While Earl Liuyun put on a grand display of preparing to assault Greenspine's central army, after using griffin riders to blind the enemy's long-range battlefield reconnaissance, he forced marched for two days and nights straight, directly stabbing into the flank of the Greenspine right flank army that was besieging Purple Rose City.

With one of the three armies dead and another wounded, the Greenspine central group had to contract their lines and establish static defenses in place.

In just half a month, Earl Liuyun's reputation soared, and the name "Iron Wall of Cloud and Mist" echoed throughout the southern nations.

Compared to the jubilation throughout the Emerald Duchy, the lord of Cloudmist Territory, Earl Liuyun himself, was actually full of worry, staring at maps day after day, searching for every possible opportunity and vulnerability.

Vulnerabilities were the enemy's opportunities.

Earl Liuyun, who was skilled at exploiting enemy vulnerabilities, was most worried at all times about the enemy seizing an opportunity.

"Father, you're too tired. You should rest. If this continues, your body won't be able to take it!"

The speaker was Earl Liuyun's son, the camp's deputy commander, duchy baron, third son Liuchuan.

According to noble customs, except for male descendants of imperial and royal families who were called "Your Highness," children of all others, whether dukes or barons, could be called "young lord."

With Earl Liuyun personally leading the campaign this time, the first heir had to stay behind to guard Cloudmist City, in case something happened to the Earl while away.

The second heir had been arranged early by Earl Liuyun to go to the capital of the Emerald Duchy to seek aid. In some sense, this was also a backup arrangement.

If the territory truly collapsed completely, at least there would still be an "exiled lord of Cloudmist Territory" in the Emerald Duchy, waiting for a possible future lifeline.

So following the Earl into battle were the third son and the sixth and seventh sons and other children.

Taking the cup of tea his son handed him, he drank it in one gulp.

"Rest? I can't rest!"

"The enemy can make ten mistakes, a hundred mistakes. If they lose here, they can retreat across the New Amber River. If they lose again at the New Amber River, they can still retreat across the Crystal River."

"But we can't afford to lose even once. Lose one battle, and enemy fireballs will be hitting the walls of Cloudmist City."

"Your mother and brothers are all there!"

Liuchuan had followed his father in campaigns for years and naturally understood the situation. When the weak faced the strong, they often had this kind of helplessness.

Every time you placed a bet, you wagered your entire fortune and life, while if your opponent lost, they really just lost some money and could immediately push forward double the stakes, continuing to force you to gamble your fortune and life.

The biggest difference from gambling was that war had higher technical content.

"Father, I don't understand. Why does Resting Moon just watch as we get beaten, losing territory piece by piece, and refuse to send aid?"

"Are they really going to just watch as South Pass is lost, Cloudmist is lost, and the Emerald Duchy is lost?"

"Is the loyalty of these vassal states completely worthless in their eyes?"

Seeing his son's surging anger and righteous indignation, Earl Liuyun shook his head helplessly.

"The Resting Moon Dynasty has existed too long, just like the Sky Empire back then. It's old, rigid, with stiffened limbs."

"Think about it, how many years has it been since Resting Moon produced a pioneering knight who conquered actual territory? Fresh blood can't rise up! Children who want to build careers with sword and blade can't get ahead!"

"Above the dynasty are all old folks. They don't need to do anything, just inherit their dukedoms and marquisates by birthright. Who would want to fight wars?"

"So when war comes, they always want to negotiate first, to resolve things peacefully!"

"Anyway, losing one or two territories below, or even one or two duchies, what does it matter to the Resting Moon Dynasty?"

"But Father!" Baron Liuchuan's hand slammed heavily on the upper part of the map, making a crisp sound. "Why doesn't Mistmoon have this problem? They're still launching external wars!"

"No, Mistmoon has it too, and compared to Resting Moon, the problem is even worse. Those are old bastards wearing divine robes. What kind of wise decisions do you expect from them?"

Seeming somewhat tired, Earl Liuyun leaned back in his chair. The third son moved closer and gently massaged his father's arms.

"The reason Mistmoon is still actively provoking external wars has two causes. First is that their external pressure is smaller than Resting Moon's."

"Back then, the Moon Alliance resisted the Sky Empire's rule and drove Sky forces west of the Dragon's Spine. This territory was divided among over a dozen countries, large and small, led by Resting Moon and Mistmoon."

"As the two leading powers, there was a division of labor. The Resting Moon Dynasty held the western front, directly facing the Sky Empire's counterattacks, while Mistmoon Divine Court guarded the eastern frontier, resisting the beast tide invasions from the wilderness."

"Now you can see, Sky never stops thinking about returning to the continental center. But the beastmen, since Mistmoon abandoned the White Deer Plain, beastmen and Mistmoon haven't fought for over a hundred years."

"Now it's us small countries caught in the middle who bear the beastmen's raids, endure Mistmoon Divine Court's steady encroachment, and face constant harassment from Mistmoon's greedy vassals below."

"And Resting Moon? Half their main force is in the west guarding against Sky, half must guard against Mistmoon. That their support for countries like ours always comes late is not surprising at all."

Liuchuan finished massaging one side and switched to the other, continuing to ask, "Then... what's the other reason?"

"The other reason is that Mistmoon's upper echelons are completely in cahoots with the dwarves. The dwarves can already deeply influence Mistmoon's decisions."

Mentioning the dwarves seemed to trigger some unpleasant memories for Earl Liuyun, his voice becoming somewhat sharp. "Those guys who can't reach my crotch even on their tiptoes are too greedy!"

"They want to turn every region they can influence into their slaughterhouse for extracting marrow from bones."

"Do you believe it or not?" The Earl suddenly opened his eyes, staring intently at his son with burning gaze. "As long as I open gambling halls and usury operations to those dwarves in my territory, those guys across from us would immediately withdraw their troops and happily invite me to dinner!"

Liuchuan looked up several times, wanting to speak but hesitating. Finally, he couldn't help but ask, "Then... Father, the territory is already like this. Why... why can't we do that?"

"Don't think such nonsense, my child!" The Cloudmist lord stroked Liuchuan's hair. "Dwarves are all parasitic creatures who can possess others. Once you let them in, either you become one of them, or you watch them drain you and your territory completely dry."

"Everyone has things they're good at and not good at. If you don't understand politics, don't get involved in these matters."

"Let your elder brother and the others worry about these dirty political struggles."

The father and son chatted on for quite a while.

Candlelight flickered in the tent, illuminating the heavy weight that couldn't be dissolved in the Earl's brow and the jagged battle lines on the map.

Liuchuan silently and gently massaged from his father's tense arms to his stiff thighs and calves.

Only when Earl Liuyun's heavy snoring sounded in the tent did the young baron carefully tuck the thin blanket around his father and tiptoe out, his figure melting into the shadows of the camp.

Returning to his own tent, a voice eagerly greeted him. "Young lord, did the Earl agree?"

Liuchuan sat down without a word, remaining dazed for quite a while before shaking his head under his aide's expectant gaze.

"I don't know if Father sensed something. I hadn't said anything yet, but Father brought up Mistmoon and the dwarves."

"He said we absolutely cannot cooperate with the dwarves."

"Father also said that swaying with the wind without foundation will definitely result in being uprooted by others at will..."

Hearing this, the aide's face filled with undisguised disappointment, but soon a few traces of murderous light flashed in his eyes as he began his final persuasion.

"The Earl insists on dragging the entire territory to be buried alongside the decaying duchy. Surely you can see this clearly, young lord!"

"East Pass Territory is finished, South Pass Territory is finished too, and Cloudmist Territory will definitely be destroyed as well. This is the general trend, unchangeable."

"The Emerald Duchy can't hold on for more than a few days. By then, even if there's an exiled noble heir, would it be you?"

Liuchuan held his head in some pain. "No, I cannot betray Father!"

"No, how could this be betrayal? Mistmoon is willing to give you a promise. As long as you agree to a few small conditions, Cloudmist Territory will still be Cloudmist Territory, and your family will still be the rulers of Cloudmist Territory!"

"Most importantly, you will become the new Lord of Cloudmist."

"No, Father has trained me for so long. I cannot harm him!"

"A shattered territory becoming someone else's pasture, a destroyed family becoming enemies' slaves, that would be the real betrayal of your family."

"Your father's approach is what will destroy the family."

"You are saving it, aren't you? Saving the crumbling territory and the family facing life and death. Think about it, your ancestors are watching you, my lord!"

"Death, becoming a handful of unknown dust, your loved ones being humiliated and trampled by enemies! Or continuing the family's glory, becoming a great lord, a true master, even... a monarch?"

These words were like demonic whispers, circling in his ears repeatedly, constantly hammering at his soul, causing Liuchuan's entire body to tremble slightly. At a certain moment, the young general raised his head, his eyes already filled with bloodshot veins.

"If, if I accept, what about Father... what will happen to him? Can, can his life be preserved?"

The aide finally let out a long breath of relief.

Being able to ask this question meant the outcome was already decided. This young lord was merely finding himself a stepping stone for his final descent into corruption.

"Of course! My lord!"

The aide's voice instantly became fawning and fervent. He knelt on one knee, performing an exaggerated oath of loyalty.

"From now on, you are the supreme master of Cloudmist Territory! The life, death, glory, and shame of everyone on this land depends entirely on your single thought! Your father, Earl Liuyun, is naturally included."

Liuchuan stood up, staring blankly at his own palms.

The long autumn wind swept across the Cloudmist military camp outside Purple Rose City, causing the fires near and far to sway unsteadily, flickering bright and dim. Occasional calls of night owls carried far through the silent night sky, suddenly causing a bone-chilling coldness.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

NEC Chapter 133: Vast Sea Military Factory, Cold and Hot Dual Armament

Over the next few months, the lord devoted almost all his attention to the steel industry chain.

Initially, the lord's seemingly random planning left the territory's craftsmen and engineers bewildered and confused.

Today a machine gleaming with cold light would arrive here, tomorrow some equipment covered with gauges would be added there. The dwarf team had just racked their brains to learn metal surface treatment, while human engineers were frowning as they received training on nitrocellulose-related knowledge.

The awkward chemical symbols and rigorous operating procedures left everyone puzzled, yet they could only memorize by rote.

However, no matter how confused they were, no one would question this.

In Vast Sea Territory, when the lord spoke, you just listened and that was that.

Of course, the lord was modest and humble, and didn't support this behavior. He repeatedly pointed out at the territory's council meetings that everyone should be realistic and offer more opinions!

Then, Chen Mo received a bunch of opinions like these:

"Lord, you're so busy with countless affairs that you don't pay attention to your own health. You need to rest!"

"Yes, yes, Lord, you haven't been eating properly lately, always having cold rice with water. This is too harmful to your body. You should still ask the cafeteria to keep a small stove for you. After all, Vast Sea's rise and fall depends on the lord alone!"

"Lord, you don't even have a serving girl by your side. I have several girls of suitable age at home with gentle temperaments..."

Chen Mo, who couldn't bear to listen anymore, waved his hands repeatedly, "You're all talking nonsense. Get out, get out, all of you go work!"

In September, as a new batch of equipment was installed and completed preliminary installation under the guidance of engineering robots, some sharp-eyed members of the territory council finally understood the lord's overall layout.

Chief Administrator Herlan was amazed and repeatedly emphasized at the council meeting, "When we do things, we always go from one to two, from two to three. At most, we can make some foreseeable preparations for the next step while doing the previous one."

"The lord's planning is simply untraceable, like placing a five here and setting up a ten there. At first glance, there's no pattern, but when you look at the end, truly every position is just right, and the timing and steps match seamlessly!"

"A perfect whole, like divine inspiration!"

"I originally wanted to call on everyone to learn, but after thinking it over, this is beyond your capabilities. Everyone should just work steadily, fulfill their duties diligently, and not disappoint the lord's cultivation and support."

So, what kind of industrial system did Lord Chen Mo plan, or rather, what did East Xia's central planning department plan for Vast Sea Territory?

Simply put, this was a dual-track, high-low configuration steel industry.

The low-end route was called the ordinary short-process steelmaking production line, abbreviated as the ordinary steel line.

East Xia's planning department raised a key issue. Although Vast Sea Territory seemed to have strong soldiers and horses, compared to those traditional major powers, Vast Sea Territory had an obvious weakness: scarce weapons and severely insufficient armor coverage.

Full equipment with East Xia standard thermal weapons? Unrealistic and too dangerous.

In the short term, the most ideal combination for Vast Sea Territory was widespread cold weapons plus elite thermal weapons.

Vast Sea's population consisted mostly of slaves purchased from the bitter cold lands of the north, with quite healthy age structure, mainly young men and women, plus some youths and a small number of infants.

Slaves who weren't physically strong enough simply couldn't survive.

In some sense, all the slaves from the north had undergone round after round of brutal natural selection and elimination.

These people in Vast Sea, besides daily work, also participated in simple militia military training: morning exercises once a day, formation drills twice a week, through wind and rain, never stopping.

Once needed, according to the current territory scale, full mobilization including half-grown children could muster over four thousand militia.

Truly universal military service.

However, militia weapons were severely insufficient.

During training they could use wooden sticks, but what if real fighting occurred?

The ordinary steel production line was what East Xia prepared to temporarily arm these grassroots militia.

The pig iron with impurities from the First Steel Factory reduction workshop, that is, the [Molten Iron Nest], would enter this ordinary steel production line, undergo two simple processes, and transform into the territory's basic armament.

The first process was steel furnace melting. Under East Xia's technical guidance, maximally utilizing Starry Continent's local raw materials while minimally matching technological equipment, the melting temperature was around sixteen hundred degrees, just enough to melt hard pig iron into red-hot molten iron.

The soul of this production line was a core device specially made by East Xia, called the carbon powder precision delivery machine.

This thing would automatically sense the production process and complete carbon powder addition to the molten iron at the appropriate time. Patrol personnel only needed to maintain manual supervision, regularly check the machine, and replenish carbon powder...

The low-carbon steel after carbon powder addition could achieve tensile strength of 250-300 MPa. Although it still had some gap compared to local refined-grade equipment materials, it was more than sufficient for arming militia.

The second process was sand mold casting.

The blazing, carbon-adjusted molten iron was guided and poured into neatly arranged sand molds in the casting workshop.

Steam rose, iron smell permeated, and the molten iron rapidly cooled and solidified in the molds, formed in one piece!

The weapon design also followed East Xia's suggestions. The basic weapon for Vast Sea militia was chosen to be spears.

East Xia was one of the few modern armies on Blue Star that still used cold weapons in combat, but they hadn't studied large-scale cold weapon warfare for quite some time.

A group of military experts had to dig out old tactical manuals from years past and specially arranged multiple rounds of live troop simulation exercises before finally determining the recommended direction.

In the proposal, the expert group gave this assessment:

[Sword and blade weapons not only consume more materials but also have greater operational difficulty, longer learning time, and higher usage thresholds, making them more suitable for professional standing armies capable of long-term high-intensity training.]

[Spears, as typical long weapons, in situations where warriors' skill levels are similar, give holders significantly more sense of security than short weapon users, helping maintain basic morale of troop formations.]

[For militia, with proper basic formation training, spear formations' power and stability far exceed individual sword and blade fighting.]

Having selected spears as the main weapon, the casting workshop would also equip some shields, as well as chest armor for ordinary militia, half-body armor for militia captains, full-body armor for ranked warriors, and javelins as medium-range projectile weapons.

Only when actually organizing and training cold weapon troops did Chen Mo deeply understand why orcs chose javelins as ranged weapons.

Bow making was simply too complex.

Both bow backs and bowstrings required special materials, with complicated processing techniques and long production times. Moreover, training was also difficult.

Inaccurate arrows posed less threat than thrown stones.

Javelins were much simpler, like spears: a metal head plus a wooden shaft, some simple javelin throwing training, and the rest was just a matter of accuracy.

Actually, accuracy didn't matter much. Being able to scare people was already effective.

Moreover, according to the cold-hot combination principle, spear formations plus shield formations to protect thermal weapon firepower was obviously more suitable.

The second route the lord planned was called the high-purity steel production line.

Raw materials were still those pig iron pieces, plus recycled scrap steel eliminated from cold weapons and such.

This route concentrated almost all recent altar transport capacity, using plasma furnace primary melting plus vacuum self-consuming electrode remelting, supplemented with alloy additives, finally achieving production of high-quality steel billets and steel coils.

These materials flowed to the depths of the Industrial Concentration Zone, backed against the reduction workshop with specially set deep concave styling, in a strictly sealed military restricted zone.

The security here was so tight it was outrageous. The open space in front of the factory area was strung with barbed wire and dug with various horse traps. The territory's only two heavy machine guns were mounted on permanent fortifications at the factory entrance.

There were also open and hidden fire points, with sniper rifles and grenade launchers alternately blocking access. A squad selected from Torch Phase One, loyal backbone members from the Youth Corps, carried various types of cold and hot weapons, guarding this factory area around the clock.

This meant that to attack this area, one would either have to break through the steel factory reduction workshop presided over by a seventh-tier Void Breaking undead, or frontally assault through this death zone controlled by thermal weapons.

This was also the place Lord Chen Mo visited most frequently.

After completing today's cultivation tasks, Chen Mo once again led his personal guard and hurried to this factory.

Before the carriage stopped, a towering figure was already standing and waiting outside the first warning line: it was none other than the personal guard captain Simple Bull, who had just recovered from injuries and still had his left arm in a sling.

Liu Zaiyue heavily pounded his right fist to his chest, raised it up, and performed a standard military salute.

"Are your injuries almost healed? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere now?"

Old Liu scratched his head slightly, "No... it's just, it's just that thinking of that black guy behind makes my back feel a bit chilly."

"Haha, no problem. As long as you don't run to the reduction workshop, he can't see you!"

After chatting for a few sentences, they passed through three inner and outer guard posts and arrived at the factory entrance. As the main gate slowly opened, Copperbeard, the base's processing department head, ran over to greet them.

Although Copperbeard had no dwarf bloodline, he had learned smelting and processing from his father for many years, absorbing knowledge through exposure and becoming skilled in techniques. So he could stand out among the technical personnel and become the factory's technical backbone and production manager.

The entire factory was divided into five areas.

The first area Chen Mo inspected was called the cartridge case stamping workshop.

What was set up here was a multi-station high-speed cold heading machine. This thing didn't have particularly high technical content, but to control weight while ensuring equipment reliability in desert environments, plus guaranteeing durability of key components and convenient replacement and maintenance of wearing parts, East Xia's engineers had broken their hearts over it.

Six major heavy industry groups repeatedly tested before finally producing this big guy weighing less than four hundred kilograms with maximum processing speed up to 2000 rounds per minute.

When Chen Mo arrived, the cold heading machine was only operating one station, steadily and efficiently pressing steel strips that had been previously pickled and drawn into standard cup-shaped cartridge cases with "click, click" sounds.

Copperbeard, wearing gloves, carefully lifted several still-warm cartridge cases and held them before the lord.

"Sir, the machine's stability is very good. We have completed testing of processing pass rates for all stations, all have been debugged and qualified, and can begin mass production at any time."

"Awaiting the lord's command!"

Area Two was the primer assembly workshop.

The production line here was embedded with a row of automatic mechanical arms. Workers placed fixtures filled with cartridge cases on the production line and put materials to be filled in hoppers on the other side. The mechanical arm groups completed primer filling for an entire group of bullets instantly through powder placement and fixture shaking.

"Currently, the main problem is still raw material stability."

Copperbeard's voice was somewhat helpless, "If using the raw materials the great lord requested from the Mechanical Emperor, the East Xia deity, there's no problem at all!"

"But using local materials, with large quality differences, precise control is currently very difficult. We may still need... still need some time for research."

Chen Mo deeply understood this point.

Whether equipment or raw materials, East Xia excelled in standardization.

Whether mercury fulminate or primer powder, one batch was the same as the next.

However, locally produced nitrocellulose analogues and gunpowder particles ground by dwarf workshops, not to mention differences between batches, even within the same batch, quality was uneven, high and low.

Chen Mo now understood why dwarf masters had created primitive thermal weapons like dwarf firearms and heavy explosives like thunder jars many years ago, yet continental nations still used sword and magic warfare modes and showed little interest in thermal weapons.

Handicraft workshop output: one dwarf master, one standard. That was manageable.

Even the same master had differences between sunny and rainy days, having or not having alcohol, even arguing with his wife at home today and being in a bad mood would produce different results.

Each piece was a limited edition.

Chen Mo had heard from mercenary group shooters that one gun's ignition time might be three seconds, while another gun might be two seconds.

This was barely acceptable, but the fatal issue was that thunder jar explosion times also varied long and short, which was terrifying.

Not to mention occasional barrel explosions.

So "great weapons" like thunder jars had even lower adoption rates on the continent than dwarf firearms.

Chen Mo had commissioned Seven-Radiance Garland Trading Company to purchase some dwarf workshop-produced gunpowder. So far, they hadn't completely figured out the optimal usage method, and could only wait for analysis results from East Xia to see if there were better testing and adjustment equipment.

Area Three was called the bullet head casting workshop, Area Four was the final assembly and testing workshop. After the lord completed today's inspection, he finally saw baskets of finished bullets in the warehouse area.

"This is the latest final inspection results report."

"When using fully automatic production modules for processing, approximately ninety-five out of one hundred bullets produced are qualified."

"Bullets made by the factory's manual processing modules can select seventy-three to seventy-five qualified products out of one hundred."

"We're still urging workers in each work group to strengthen skill training, striving to further improve the pass rate!"

Actually, this was decent. It could compare to a certain eastern great nation on Blue Star.

Regardless of how difficult the process or how stumbling the construction, Vast Sea Territory finally had its own bullet processing capability.

According to the Vast Sea Industrial Development Plan Point Nine repeatedly revised version, after the Vast Sea Military Factory bullet workshop was completed, it could achieve monthly production of 500,000 to 600,000 bullets and over 3,000 artillery shells, with reserved space for further capacity expansion at any time, sufficient to provide continuous fire support for the territory.

Chen Mo slowly gripped the bullet in his hand tightly.

At this moment, in the distant north, a new storm was about to sweep across the continent, dragging the southern nations, which hadn't yet emerged from the shadow of the last war and were still licking their wounds, into a new abyss once again.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

NEC Chapter 132: Reduction Workshop and the Earthbound Undead's Steel Production Journal

Aurelio's father had once been the leader of a famous knightly family in the northern lands. With excellent family conditions, Aurelio received proper literary and martial education from childhood, growing up amid the ink fragrance of parchment scrolls and the clear ringing of swords cutting through wind.

His future had been as brilliant as the morning sun.

However, with the arrival of the beast tide, everything changed.

His grandfather died in battle, his eldest and second uncles died in battle, his father died in battle, his elder brother died in battle...

The Lee family's reputation for loyalty and courage was sung throughout the White Deer Kingdom.

Well, Aurelio's full name was Aurelio Zellin Lee.

For his own convenience, Chen Mo decided to call him Lee Zellin, anyway the earthbound undead didn't seem to care about this.

Lee Zellin went to war with his family when he was nine years old, fighting for a full twelve years.

With his exceptional talent, he grew in the blood, fire, and gunpowder smoke of battlefields to become a seventh-tier Void Breaking Sword Saint. At the same time, the family population sharply decreased from over three hundred to less than sixty.

The old were old, the young were young, the injured were injured, the disabled were disabled.

Although hope was dim, we were still resisting. This was the only driving force for the northern human warriors to persist.

Then, the White Deer crown fell to the ground. The king and his courtiers, those fat and greedy great nobles, abandoned their lands and people, fleeing without a trace.

The backbone of the resistance army was completely broken by this naked betrayal.

That year was called the Year of Blood Dusk.

Unable to escape in time and feeling the betrayal, large numbers of city lords and small and medium nobles gave up on themselves and became hysterical. They knelt at the feet of their former deadly enemies, the orcs, turned their blades around, and frantically slaughtered their former comrades and companions.

With the help of these guides who were familiar with the environment and resistance strategies, the entire White Deer Plains completely became a pasture for orcs to roam freely.

In just one year, the northern population lost half, with over three million wronged souls perishing on the White Deer Plains.

As organized resistance forces completely disappeared, these surrendering minor nobles discovered that they had lost value to the orcs. The orcs began to wantonly abuse these surrenderers, beating them when they wanted to beat, killing them when they wanted to kill.

It seemed the orcs better understood the principle of eliminating helpers after achieving goals.

What could be done? They had chosen their own path, so they had to bear the consequences.

In this bloody scene, only Aurelio, that is Lee Zellin, always persisted in holding the flag of resistance, relying on his powerful personal strength to conduct guerrilla warfare everywhere.

The northern orcs had a total of over three hundred tribes of all sizes, among which over two hundred and sixty tribes had bloody bounties on this guy.

However, trying to eliminate a clear-headed, resolute seventh-tier Void Breaking in places full of valleys, dense forests, and swamps was simply too difficult.

At this time, it was again time for the surrender faction among the human race to play their role.

They created a bloody decree called "Death to All Who See Lee."

Along the routes Lee Zellin passed, any person who saw this resistance leader but didn't immediately report to the orcs, or provided food supplies to the resistance army, would face the massacre of their entire family, entire village, or even entire city.

As a leader dedicated to resisting orcs, he couldn't draw his sword against ordinary civilians like the orcs he hated. Soon, Lee Zellin found himself cut off from water and food, with no way out.

Even so, this Sword Saint never thought of surrendering. He dismissed all his subordinates and, alone with one sword, ate wild beasts raw in the mountains and forests, drank mud in swamps, and killed every orc he could see one by one, whether warriors or civilians, shamans or laborers.

Until one day, while being pursued by high-level orc warriors, he accidentally encountered a human civilian who was gathering wild vegetables with a child.

Realizing that if he fled now, this human family would inevitably face slaughter, Lee Zellin fought desperately despite being severely wounded to take down his pursuing opponent.

But when he dragged his blood-soaked body around, he saw a scene that plunged him into the abyss.

That civilian man had not only gouged out his own eyes but had also dug out the child's eyeballs. Warm blood and murky fluid splashed on his fear-filled face.

The man held the child, who was rolling on the ground in pain, with one hand, kneeling on the ground and continuously kowtowing to the air, pleading mournfully:

"We saw nothing, saw nothing!"

At that moment, Lee Zellin felt all hope was lost.

The human "wise ones" had used the most despicable method to precisely strike Lee Zellin's weak point. When even civilians began to fear and be afraid of this leader, Lee Zellin seemed to lose the meaning of continuing resistance.

The last Void Breaking swordsman, the banner of northern resistance, dejectedly disappeared into the twilight of the White Deer Plains.

Only one thing remained in his remaining life: kill orcs, find every opportunity to kill orcs!

For this, he refused the recruitment offers of high-ranking officials and generous salaries from several countries, and also slapped away envoys sent by the former White Deer king.

When the founding Grand Duke of Emerald promised to build a fortress standing at the forefront of human-orc warfare, he resolutely accepted the city lord seal of this "Razor Fortress."

Fate mocked him once again. Razor Fortress, this fortress that carried his last faith, was once again sold out by the betrayal of the continental human upper echelons.

Defending the isolated city to the death, the entire army was annihilated.

After the orcs leveled the entire Razor Fortress, they hung the corpse of this resistance leader they hated to the bone at the gate of the city lord's mansion, and carved stone tablets beside him boasting of martial prowess and intimidating future challengers.

The destroyed magical guardian formation triggered chaotic spiritual energy turbulence that swept through the fortress. Aurelio Zellin Lee, with his overwhelming obsessions that could not dissipate, thus became an earthbound undead.

Even in death, turned to ashes, the orcs should never think of stepping into this towering fortress.

Therefore, the old bull who was seen would inevitably receive that sword strike.

Also therefore, with hundreds of orc corpses piled like mountains, when Chen Mo righteously declared, "I killed them!" the earthbound undead chose to trust this seemingly weak lord and accepted the soul contract chain.

Having obtained an extremely powerful contracted undead creature, Chen Mo almost felt he could walk sideways, but he soon understood that things weren't that simple.

As an earthbound undead, Lee Zellin could not leave this area that bound him, which was the relic core.

When the relic core was excavated and moved, the earthbound undead would fall into a dormant state within the range of the relic core until the relic core was repositioned and activated, then the earthbound undead would awaken and continue wandering in the area around the relic core.

The bad news was, commanding the earthbound undead to go out and fight was out of the question!

Even if you brought the relic core out to seek revenge, simultaneously satisfying the necessary conditions of finding an elemental concentration zone that could activate the core, having no interruption during core activation, enemies entering your relic core's radiation range, and so on, was simply too exaggerated.

The good news was that by activating the relic core in a suitable area within Vast Sea Territory's range, Chen Mo would essentially have a safe zone with extremely strong defensive capabilities. When encountering troubles, he could hide in the nest, and enemies would have to attack this troublesome iron-blood barrier like conquering a large relic.

So, this relic core's greatest use was still to create a nest. By absorbing spiritual energy from the elemental core zone to supplement the core, the core would spawn nest creatures, and killing nest creatures would yield mana crystals, forming a benevolent cycle of crystal production and supply chain.

On the Starry Continent where spiritual energy flourished vigorously, finding an elemental concentration zone wasn't difficult. During Chen Mo's absence, two experts sent by the Magic Academy had already marked several optional locations for Vast Sea Territory.

However, during communication with Lee Zellin, Chen Mo discovered a possible bug.

This relic core's characteristic was precisely the iron-blood manifestation of Blood Fortress.

During the manifestation process, when nest creatures spawned depending on the "iron" element, spiritual energy would strip away other elements unrelated to iron.

For example, when the camera in the nest was manifested back then, the non-metallic components inside the camera were corroded and squeezed out.

Chen Mo's mind immediately opened up with possibilities. If iron ore was put in for manifestation, could the impurities inside also be removed?

In East Xia's original planned development steps for the territory's steel industry, at least two months of major transport capacity would be needed to construct steel factory reduction equipment.

Most annoyingly, due to lack of stable coal supply, they had to use electricity instead of fire, and the Industrial Concentration Zone's power supply would be further strained.

Besides supplementing more solar power generation panels, they would need to add ultra-high power, high overload capacity special rectifier transformers for the reduction equipment's special requirements, core power modules and control units for dynamic reactive power compensation and harmonic treatment devices, various key circuit breaker contacts, insulation materials, large-capacity solid-state battery energy storage units, and so on and so forth.

This would consume another large chunk of transport capacity.

As for installation and maintenance, that was an even bigger headache for Lord Chen.

Now, if they could skip the reduction step, the remaining transport capacity could be directly allocated to the backend casting system, saving a large amount of precious territory development time.

Chen Mo decisively placed the relic core at an elemental concentration zone closest to the Industrial Concentration Zone.

The experimental results came out quickly.

The effect was indeed there. During the relic's manifestation process, it could indeed eliminate many impurities unrelated to metal.

However, this purification wasn't pure enough. What came out couldn't even be considered pig iron. Wanting to obtain refined iron or even steel in one step was wishful thinking.

But regardless, this still saved Vast Sea Territory a major step. Soon, under the lord's careful design, a brand new steel industry development and mana crystal acquisition process was freshly produced.

It would just be a bit hard on Comrade Lee Zellin.

Iron ore fragments that had been preliminarily crushed and magnetically separated from the processing plant would be loaded by workers into crude earthenware jars, with each jar weighing about three kilograms after deducting the container weight.

Workers from the processing plant arranged these ceramic jars neatly and pushed them into the newly constructed [Molten Iron Nest] with flatbed carts.

This was what the Magic Academy called it. Actually, the sign hanging at the entrance read: [Vast Sea Territory First Steel Factory Reduction Workshop].

Low-key and practical.

After entering the workshop, which was the nest, there was a huge pit directly ahead, clearly marked: First Reduction Pit.

Wooden ramp boards were set up beside the pit. The flatbed carts were pushed directly to the bottom of the large pit, and skilled porters quickly removed the earthenware jars and arranged them neatly along the pit bottom.

When the entire pit was filled, there were two hundred earthenware jars total, approximately six hundred kilograms of iron ore.

The porters and flatbed carts left, the ramp boards were withdrawn, and all personnel evacuated in sequence.

A few minutes later, receiving the signal, Lee Zellin activated the nest core. A thick black fog swept through the nest, and the iron ore at the pit bottom, after being immersed for about thirty minutes, completed elemental manifestation and grew into nest guardians.

The reason for piling three kilograms of iron ore per jar was because this amount could guarantee spawning mid-tier nest guardians.

The produced mana crystals were of higher quality.

These newly born nest guardians wandered around bewilderedly at the pit bottom.

The pit walls had been compressed and compacted, even fired with flames, and the height had been repeatedly tested. This group of mid-tier nest guardians couldn't climb out even by forming human pyramids.

Guard team members entering the scene directly threw torches, igniting the prepared kindling materials in the reduction pit. In just ten-plus minutes, basically all of this batch of mid-tier nest guardians were eliminated.

The ramp boards were lowered, the guard team went down to finish off stragglers, and specialized mage apprentice groups carefully collected the spell crystals remaining in the field.

After triple-confirming safety with no omissions, the transport group again descended into the reduction pit to begin recovering the ore.

During the elemental manifestation process, the original iron ore would, due to the black fog's tempering, retain the mainly iron-quality parts unchanged, while other impurities like silicon, aluminum, sulfur, phosphorus would be squeezed to the outer layer, forming an impurity shell.

Workers wearing work gloves and carrying thick wooden sticks knocked and broke the outer shells. What was obtained at this point was equivalent to pig iron still containing small amounts of slag.

These pig iron lumps were thrown into baskets beside the pit. When filled to capacity, workers above operated pulleys to hoist the baskets up.

They cleaned up the crushed earthenware jars at the pit bottom, tidied the scene, and waited for the next batch of earthenware jars to arrive.

Earthbound undead Lee Zellin, with vacant eyes, once again activated the nest core.

The spiritual energy consumed in large quantities during the process would be replenished through excitation-type spiritual energy formations, and the power source for the spiritual energy formations was precisely the energy crystals just harvested.

The entire process flowed like clouds and water. Besides being quite labor-intensive, the biggest consumption was those crudely made earthenware jars.

Of course, whether it was the elemental concentration of the elemental concentration zone or the spawning black fog of the nest core, both needed time to generate. Therefore, the [Vast Sea Territory First Steel Factory Reduction Workshop] strictly followed an eight-hour work system.

Working two hours every four hours, with a total cumulative working time of eight hours per day.

Because impurities had already been removed once during processing, the reduction workshop's refining efficiency was around fifty percent, producing approximately twelve hundred catties of pig iron per day and eight hundred mana crystals.

However, to drive this large-scale spiritual energy formation operating at full capacity, three hundred and twenty mana crystals still needed to be consumed.

Of course, this was the ideal maximum efficiency. When encountering situations like insufficient iron ore supply, insufficient earthenware jar supply, or the poor earthbound undead having mood problems and wanting vacation, considerable output would be lost.

No matter, this production line had been completed, and Vast Sea finally had its own real industrial output.

Of course, iron ore, as a core strategic element and basic resource for future territory construction, definitely could not be sold externally.

The setting sun stretched the workshop's tall silhouette very long, casting long shadows on the ground. This was no longer the blood fortress shrouded in black fog of the past, but an orderly production workshop.

To stabilize his contracted undead's emotions, Lord Chen Mo had to come in every so often to have heart-to-heart talks with Lee Zellin.

Talking about ideals, talking about the future, talking about the significance of steel development for the territory, and the importance for future counterattacks against orcs and recovery of the White Deer Plains.

Who knows if the undead believed it or not...

In any case, this former Void Breaking Sword Saint thus became the production manager of the reduction workshop.

Somewhat helpless yet somewhat expectant, he stood as a milestone in the development history of Vast Sea Territory's steel industry.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

NEC Chapter 131: Road Construction, Ore Processing, and Special Reduction Methods

While Little Kaga led his team in mining operations, Lynn, the city defense commander, personally led the laborers in road construction.

Lynn was a veteran soldier who had wandered between the southern nations in his early years, running errands and delivering messages, exploring and guarding, hunting monsters and seeking treasure, participating in factional wars, and even engaging in border smuggling and black market assassinations. He was the type who went wherever there was money to be made.

Until he became a prisoner of the Emerald Duchy at Iron Ridge Pass.

Based on past experience, he would probably be beaten up and then dragged to a prisoner-of-war camp to do labor.

Eventually, some mercenary company would take a liking to him, pay a sum of money to ransom him out, and then he would work hard for the mercenary company, slowly earning back the money for his own redemption.

This was a pure veteran opportunist.

This was also the main reason why the old clerk from Cloudmist Domain had picked him out from the prisoner-of-war camp back then.

Flexible, sensible, and familiar with the rules.

At first, Lynn didn't realize this journey was any different from the past. At most, he felt his lord had some background. However, as he experienced more and more events, Lynn quickly realized this was quite a thick thigh to hold onto.

However, Lynn's previous performance had been too slippery, causing him to lose too many impression points with the lord. Not only could he not compare to that simple-minded old bull, he couldn't even match up to the centaurs who joined later.

Nominally, he was an important military leader of the territory, but in reality, he was just a glorified patrol soldier. Later, he watched as even the little ones from the Youth Corps were about to climb above him.

Then, Lynn finally welcomed the turning point of his fate.

The lord wanted to send a gift to the young noble of Cloudmist Domain, and after picking and choosing, selected Lynn.

As for why it was him, Lynn knew it in his heart. First, he understood some of the open rules, hidden rules, and unspoken rules among nobles, especially in flattery and fawning. He was more willing to humble himself than others.

The lord didn't like it, but the lord felt that certain nobles ate this up.

The girl's classmates and teachers were all important figures, so Lynn, who could bow and scrape, was very suitable.

The other reason was quite cruel.

Lynn's position in the territory wasn't that important. With or without him, there wasn't much difference now.

This point was understood not only by Lynn but also by several subordinates who followed him.

Just after leaving the sentry reconnaissance range of Vast Sea City, a subordinate who was also a veteran opportunist made a suggestion.

"Captain, those gold coins in the cart are enough for us to live ten lifetimes!"

"Kill those caravan drivers, divide up the gold coins and run away. We brothers will have enough for this lifetime. Why work or risk our lives anymore?"

Before the words had finished, cold light flashed! Lynn didn't hesitate for even a second. His waist sword came out of its sheath and precisely sliced across that subordinate's neck.

He ordered the convoy to stop, sent someone to report back to the lord, and requested the lord to send additional personnel for escort and supervision.

It wasn't that Lynn didn't love money. Who wouldn't want those shiny gold coins? But Lynn understood too well that money wasn't always better in larger amounts. Most of the time, money that didn't come through proper channels often brought disaster upon oneself.

Those big shots who used to smuggle along the Gloomy Forest perimeter, none of them came to a good end in the end. Was it because they had no money?

Now you want me to steal money from a pioneering lord, abandon the identity of patrol captain that others would die for, get a sum of money, and from then on become an enemy of the human race, hiding here and there, not daring to show my face.

What use would that money be to me? Would I dare to spend it?

Of course, Lynn also had a vague feeling in his heart.

Although his lord sometimes seemed somewhat naive and kind, he always grasped the key points extremely well in major matters.

Facing any sudden situations, he always had contingency plans one, two, three, and four. Lynn felt that regarding the possibility of his group making mistakes, the lord shouldn't be without a contingency plan.

Lynn didn't dare to gamble, nor did he want to gamble.

Through this incident, Lynn cleared his impression of "unstable will" and "questionable loyalty" with the lord, earning the lord's evaluation, "Lynn is still a good comrade!"

What "comrade" meant, Lynn didn't understand at the time, but Lynn knew this title was only used by the lord for people he trusted very much. Even Herlan, the chief of civil officials, didn't qualify.

Then came the gift-giving incident at the Royal Central Spiritual Energy Academy.

The old mercenary was extremely skilled at reading faces and situations. When he saw Frost, just by glancing at the eyes and reactions of the people around, the old mercenary immediately knew that the young girl was probably receiving cold treatment or even ostracism.

Originally, following the lord's instructions, to avoid appearing too arrogant and showy, the gifts brought were to be quietly delivered to the academy after inspection, since there were plenty of royal relatives and nobles inside. Being too high-profile and flashy could easily cause resentment.

But after sensing the atmosphere at the scene, Lynn decisively changed his mind.

I don't care who you are. The young girl that the lord cares so much about can't be wronged here!

This move earned the lord's great appreciation afterward.

It could be said that in the entire Starry Continent, except for Chen Mo himself, no one knew Frost's weight in Chen Mo's heart. Even the boldest guesses would at most consider it as the admiration between young men and women.

In reality, the gift Chen Mo sent to Frost carried the gratitude of the entire nation of East Xia to the young girl. The respect of East Xia people for those who had served the nation was something others found very difficult to understand.

Facts proved that Chen Mo would also employ people based on his likes and dislikes. After returning to Vast Sea Territory, Lynn leaped back to the center of the territory's power.

Even Herlan, the Chief Administrator, who used to summon and dismiss him at will, now politely addressed him as "General Lynn" when they met.

The more this was the case, the more cautious Lynn became.

Having followed the lord for so long, Lynn had basically figured out this lord's temperament. The lord also liked to hear good words, but the prerequisite was that you could work and solve problems for the lord.

So, even though he had never done the "lowly" work of road construction in the first half of his life, even though Lynn now had strong soldiers and horses under his command with plenty of manpower and didn't need to do it himself, Lynn still took the lead with a shovel, sweating profusely as he fought on the front line of the construction site.

The gaps between people often open up this way.

Road construction in the desert was a major undertaking, not only because of the harsh weather and complex environment, but also because in the past thousands of years, everyone had used pack animals to come and go. No one had ever been crazy enough to build roads in the desert.

Simply put, no one knew how to build them.

At the territory's council meeting, the sand people elder had raised this question. The lord's answer was simple: I need to guarantee transport capacity.

Without roads, only pack animals could be used. With roads, wheeled vehicles pulled by pack animals could run on the roads.

Not only was there a huge difference in load capacity between the two, but the speed also differed by a large margin.

As for road construction technology, no problem. The lord was omniscient and omnipotent!

The surveyors and technicians sent to follow the team were all "personally" taught by the lord. They followed the operation manual issued by the lord step by step, executing the process methodically.

First, they had to select a route in the desert.

This route couldn't frequently rise and fall between sand dunes and had to maintain overall stability as much as possible.

They couldn't take shortcuts through valleys between two sand dunes, otherwise, one strong wind and the sand rolling down from the dunes could bury the road foundation.

They had to avoid wind gaps and choose areas where the sand layer was relatively stable.

They also had to be careful to avoid quicksand, sinkholes, riverbeds, and other unstable elements.

After determining the route, came the more complex road construction process.

Like the construction at the mining area, road construction required sand fixation first.

Workers would first push away the loose sand layers on both sides of the road. Lynn personally took the lead, and a group of high-level warriors used plowing rakes to penetrate the soil layer, plowing one-meter by one-meter groove grids on the sand surface, and filling the grids with tough shuttle grass or sand wormwood.

They took soil from both sides, setting the soil pits outside the sand-fixed grid areas, forming simple sand-blocking ditches to prevent loose sand from quickly burying the grass grid areas.

The extracted soil was spread in the central road area, using the dry pressing method. Ogres were responsible for casting spells, warriors for swinging hammers, and workers pushing giant stone rollers back and forth several times to ensure the road surface was compacted layer by layer.

Finally, according to the lord's requirements, stone markers had to be carved beside the road to let passing personnel know the direction, location, and distance to the Vast Sea Industrial Zone.

In the first phase, Lynn's city defense construction brigade only had time to lay a three-meter-wide road. If pack animal caravans came from both sides, they couldn't even pass each other.

In such situations, one pack animal convoy had to go up to the roadside and wait.

At the same time, this newly constructed road strictly prohibited sand beetles from using it.

Those things, in order to move quickly on sand, had biological hooks on their legs. If they walked on the road once, it would almost be equivalent to loosening the compacted ground once.

It had to be said that the lord's plan was arranged seamlessly. Right on the day when the mining area produced ore, Lynn's side also finished the last section of road. The creaking and groaning pack animal convoy traveled along the desert highway that stretched as far as the eye could see into the ore processing plant located in the Industrial Concentration Zone.

The ore processing plant began construction in late July. Because he did understand some knowledge related to ore smelting, Copperbeard was promoted to team leader of the technical group and transferred from the mine to the Industrial Concentration Zone.

Currently, Vast Sea Territory didn't have the conditions to use chemical agents and other chemical methods to process ore selection, so the first step in ore processing was pure brute force.

Smash first!

The brown iron ore brought in was directly dumped in the stockyard, and then subjected to violent hammering and beating, breaking the ore as finely as possible.

Then, the idle magnetic vehicles came in handy.

Right next to the processing plant were densely packed photovoltaic power generation panels. Electricity was temporarily not lacking. Through the connection and disconnection of powerful electromagnets, the separation of iron ore bodies and crushed soil could be quickly accomplished in general.

Next, according to the operation manual, came the second critically important step: removing impurities.

If using Starry Continent's local technology, this would require large furnaces, with coal raising the temperature very high, directly melting the ore into liquid iron water, thus achieving the effect of removing impurities and reducing slag.

This was the physical method.

If using Blue Star's technology, any reduction furnace would work, whether shaft furnace hydrogen-based reduction or fluidized bed hydrogen-based reduction, directly obtaining pure iron ore powder.

Previously, Chen Mo had been accumulating photovoltaic solar power generation panels to store electrical energy, while the seawater purification plant had also installed electrolytic tanks, preparing for seawater hydrogen production and then using hydrogen energy for iron ore reduction.

This was the chemical method.

But now, none of this was needed.

The lord had new methods: spiritual energy methods.

Why did the lord, after returning, start forcibly launching the steel industry without a stable coal supply and before being able to accumulate a complete set of East Xia reduction equipment?

Because the lord had an excellent worker.

The earthbound undead named Aurelio.

During the final negotiations at Blood Fortress, whether it was because the hundreds of orc corpses provided this warrior, who shared an irreconcilable hatred with orcs, with sufficient emotional value, or because the lord's sincerity plus force truly moved the undead heart, in any case, Aurelio finally accepted Chen Mo's soul contract chain.

After communication, Chen Mo also learned the story of this former Razor Fortress leader.

Aurelio's strength when alive was indeed at the level of a Void Breaking Sword Saint. In the three great nations, he might have become a city lord, and in a small country like the Emerald Duchy, he could have become a royal grand offering-level existence.

But Aurelio refused all recruitment and stubbornly remained nailed to the northern front.

Because he himself was a remnant of the northern lands.

At its peak, the northern White Deer Plains was home to a powerful White Deer Kingdom, ruling over more than seven million human race members. They farmed and cultivated, herded and raised livestock, reproduced and thrived, and of course, also trained in martial arts and conquered in all directions.

The turning point in history began with a cruel internal human struggle.

A White Deer noble faction that had failed in both political and military struggles and fled in defeat surrendered to the northern orcs.

They not only provided the orcs with topographical maps and defensive arrangements of the White Deer Kingdom but also taught the orcs how to build heavy catapults hand by hand.

This type of large engineering equipment that could destroy city walls directly brought the orcs' field combat capabilities into full play. From then on, the era when the human race relied on fortified cities and heavy fortifications to wantonly mock those "short-legged little greenskins" was gone forever!

Just two years later, the combined army of twenty-two orc tribes moved south, with more than three hundred heavy catapults leading the way. They broke through passes and cut down generals all the way, unstoppable, smashing the northern defense line of the human race into mush.

As frontier fortified towns were destroyed one by one, although the northern human race was still struggling desperately, the established defense system no longer existed.

The orc army could kill into the White Deer heartland at any time and place, plundering civilians, robbing wealth, swarming any small human units they encountered, and flanking and bypassing any regular human legions they met.

In just a few short years, millions of lives in the kingdom were lost!

Except for those who were slaughtered and those who fled inland, most others were captured by orcs and became slaves.

The powerful orc Bonebreaker tribe and Bloodhowl tribe, at one time, had every orc civilian in neighboring tribes owning at least one human slave, and some leaders even possessed tens of thousands of slaves.

The human race became "two-legged sheep" trampled upon at will by the orcs, just like livestock.

When the war first began, the inland nations continued to send mercenaries and support materials to the northern lands, and even personally dispatched troops to participate in combat.

But enthusiasm for resistance would eventually dissipate due to the gap with reality.

When they discovered that the northern lands had become a bottomless pit with only investment and no profit, the inland human nations all quietly withdrew their attention.

The monarch of the White Deer Kingdom, after repeated consideration, also chose to abandon the country, taking vast wealth and the last elite force south.

The monarch's carriage disappeared into the dust on the southern horizon, also completely crushing the last trace of hope for the human race on the White Deer Plains. The last breath of the entire northern plains human race was cut off!

[NEXT CHAPTER]

📅 August 20 (UTC +8) - Chapter Releases

For Pledged Members:
God's Imitator — Chapters 71 to 80
Daily Divination: From Market Rogue Cultivator To Immortal Venerable — Chapters 51 to 60
I Run A Prison In America — Chapters 41 to 50

For Free Members:
Necromancer, What the Hell Is A Type 055 Summon? — Chapters 77 & 78
Wasteland Border Inspector — Chapters 77 & 78 part 1

My Father Is Superman, But I'm Just An NPC? — Chapters 67 & 68
Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems — Chapters 67 & 68
American Hunting: Starting From Alone In The Wilderness — Chapters 67 & 68

We Agreed On Experiencing Life, So Why Did You Immortals Become Real? — Chapters 43 & 44
God's Imitator — Chapters 43 & 44

Daily Divination: From Market Rogue Cultivator To Immortal Venerable — Chapters 29 & 30
I Run A Prison In America — Chapters 27 to 30

PRI Chapter 50: Black Technology Drones and the Inspector

System notifications cascaded like a waterfall. Lind carefully examined them and found that among the 15 draws, 7 were weapons and ordinary items, including carbines and M67 hand grenades that had appeared before.

There were also 3 new guards, all D-level, not a single one C-level or above.

Since the prison didn't lack personnel at the moment, Lind chose not to hire them.

The remaining 5 more valuable items were:

Skill [Advanced Bajiquan]

Item [Sedative Spray Can x1]

Weapon [Black Hornet Nano Drone System x1]

Item [Basic Live Streaming Kit x1]

Item [Concealed Electronic Surveillance x2]

The sedative spray can needn't be mentioned. This thing had proven its value in various situations.

Human inhalation required only about 10 seconds to enter a comatose state ready for slaughter.

Whether used for attack or defense, it was a divine weapon.

The concealed electronic surveillance was the same. With it, guards could monitor prisoners' movements in the cell blocks 24 hours without blind spots.

As soon as the Advanced Bajiquan was drawn, Lind used it to replace Wing Chun and tried it outdoors.

Eight words summarized it: incredibly powerful, simple and practical.

Especially the Iron Mountain Lean. With one lean, the bark cracked and the entire tree shook.

If it hit a person, it could probably break several ribs.

Besides these, there were two items of even higher value.

First was the Basic Live Streaming Kit, which surprised Lind. This was actually a complete set of equipment for online streaming, including cameras, capture cards, microphones, and a computer.

Lind had researched the market during this period. Currently, America was still in the dial-up internet stage, and 56kbps couldn't meet the bandwidth needed for online streaming.

If one wanted to get involved, they would need commercial-grade ISDN or DSL connections.

And even if they set up a website and started streaming, the transmission bitrate would be very limited, and users' viewing experience would be intermittent with extremely high latency.

Just like the website Lind and Jimmy had logged into before, watching 30 seconds and waiting 2 minutes was common.

This was also why those online streams often disappeared after just a few months.

Everyone was just seeking novelty, and after being tortured by lag, they lost interest but after using the Basic Live Streaming Kit, Lind found that the problems were solved.

This equipment could greatly alleviate bitrate issues while maintaining viewers' picture quality at 480P.

No lag, no delay.

The viewing process was as smooth as Dove chocolate.

Although compared to later streaming websites there was a huge gap, in the current context, this was already black technology.

Even Mike Heywood, the little hacker who had previously built the streaming website for Lind, was amazed when he saw this streaming kit and was willing to help Lind set up the streaming process for free.

Just to crack the secrets within.

Lind had no objections. If little Mike could crack the computer, maybe they could register a tech company, get a patent, and make another beautiful profit.

As for the remaining Black Hornet nano drone system, it consisted of a base station and two Black Hornet drones.

To be honest, Lind was shocked the first time he saw the Black Hornet drones.

Because this thing was only the length of a palm!

16 centimeters long, 2.5 centimeters wide, weighing 18 grams.

It wasn't even as big as a shoe!

The drone's overall shape resembled a helicopter, except it was entirely black with a small propeller on the top and tail.

This drone was produced by Norwegian company PD and appeared on the Russia-Ukraine battlefield after being acquired by American company Flir.

After Lind secretly test-flew it, he found this little thing was indeed amazing enough.

Because its head was equipped with 3 cameras, plus an infrared camera specifically for thermal imaging, so even at night it could conduct surveillance.

Additionally, this drone had GPS reconnaissance routes and automatic cruise functions, and was equipped with a silent motor.

It could be said that for spying, it was invincible.

However, after using this thing, Lind decided not to hand it over to James and the others for now.

It wasn't that he didn't trust James, but he was worried that other members of the tactical squad might accidentally leak this thing.

After all, as special forces veterans, this group definitely knew the value of Black Hornet drones very well.

So while their loyalty hadn't reached maximum, Lind didn't want to take any risks.

But just leaving it unused would be such a waste. He thought about it and decided to find someone with maximum loyalty to train in drone flying skills.

Later he could buy a disguised vehicle, and before executing missions, first use the Black Hornet drone for reconnaissance, then draw the routes and personnel positions on a tactical board to hand over to the tactical squad.

This would naturally avoid the risk of drone leakage.

The plan was well-designed, but currently there was absolutely no one suitable to execute it.

He still needed to quickly cultivate the guards' loyalty.

Lind sighed and locked the Black Hornet nano drone in a cabinet.

Then he came to the electric shock interrogation room.

At this moment, sitting on the electric chair in the center of the interrogation room was a "lucky audience member."

This was a Grande Gang lackey named Cruz that James and the others had brought back from the Violet Club.

He was specifically responsible for drug transportation routes and was one of Gian's right-hand men.

The reason for bringing him back was naturally to conduct detailed interrogation on him, to figure out everything about Gian and the Grande Gang.

Additionally, they could test the electric shock live streaming effects and run through the process to optimize the workflow.

For this, Lind specifically found Jimmy and had him help send invitation letters to those bored rich second-generation kids, asking them to enter the website at exactly 10 PM tonight to watch.

Jimmy readily agreed and immediately sent text messages to his fair-weather friends but how many would come was unclear.

While waiting, Lind also checked Andy and Carter's wish missions.

[Andy's Wish: As a member of the prison, Andy has always been obsessed with observing prisoners, trying to obtain enough insider information from them to please the warden.]

[Mission: Help Andy fulfill his wish, let him get promoted with a raise and gain the warden's favor.]

[Reward: 1. Andy's loyalty increases to maximum, 2. Random skill upgrade]

[Carter's Wish: As a member of the prison, Carter very much admires becoming a tough guy like Director James. For this, he has been diligently practicing marksmanship, wanting to gain James's recognition.]

[Mission: Help Carter fulfill his wish, let him pass James's challenge and receive his personal praise.]

[Reward: 1. Carter's loyalty increases to maximum, 2. Random skill upgrade]

Andy's loyalty had always been quite high, but perhaps because Lind hadn't paid much attention to him during this period, his loyalty improvement speed had slowed considerably.

While Carter's loyalty progress wasn't as fast as Cohen's, compared to other guards it wasn't slow either.

However, both of their wish missions weren't difficult.

Especially Andy. This guy's goal was very simple: promotion and raise.

So when Lind called him to the office and informed him that starting today he would be independent, establishing a prison inspection team, his wish mission was immediately completed.

The panel was also updated.

[Andy Cock]

[Identity: Guard/Inspector]

[Rating: 32 (Level C)]

[Loyalty: 100]

[Skills: Intermediate Driving, Advanced Investigation, Basic Combat, Basic Marksmanship]

Intermediate Investigation had upgraded to Advanced Investigation.

His profession also gained an additional one: Inspector.

[Inspector: When conducting surveillance and monitoring work, concealment increases by 30%, with a small probability of discovering clues from criminals' behavior and speech]

Lind twitched his mouth, feeling this guy was hopelessly specialized.

But this was also good. As the prison developed and expanded with increasing prisoners, Lind would sooner or later lose detailed control over the cell block prisoners.

At this time, Andy, this inspection captain's role would become prominent.

Just like the ancient secret service organization Dongchang.

And his skills were also very suitable for using drones.

Perhaps he could let him be responsible for drone control first, adding bricks and mortar to Lind's house-raiding plans.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

PRI Chapter 49: One Million Dollars and New System Features

Alvaro drove the car, carrying Gian to the gang's safe house.

At this moment, a large signal transmitter was strapped to his skin under his clothes, just like in the movie "No Country for Old Men."

While he tried to slow down the car speed as much as possible, he kept glancing at the rearview mirror to look outside.

"Alvaro, what are you looking at?"

Suddenly Gian's voice sounded like a ghost from behind him, startling Alvaro.

He answered somewhat frantically, "Boss, nothing, I'm just a bit scared."

Gian snorted coldly, "Scared of what?"

"Does the government already know what we've been doing..." Alvaro explained, "Otherwise why would they send special forces?"

"Could it be that they've already surrounded the gang? Planning to close the net..."

"Bullshit!" Gian interrupted Alvaro, "Want to catch us all in one net? What a joke! Don't they want to make money anymore?"

"They?"

"Who else could it be, of course those son-of-a-bitch politicians." Gian sneered, "The DEA, the prosecutor's office, even within the state government there are people who support us."

"The big piles of money they spend on elections every year, do you think it's all clean?"

Alvaro nodded, reluctantly cooperating with Gian to show a smile, "I see."

"And so what if it's special forces? I've prepared plenty of 'good stuff' in the gang!" Gian's eyes showed ruthlessness, "If they push me too far, nobody will have a good time."

"Yes."

Alvaro agreed, thinking to himself why James and the others hadn't arrived yet. Could something unexpected have happened at the Violet Club?

Damn, he had already slowed the car down to almost a go-kart pace. If they didn't come soon, Gian's lackeys would catch up!

And Gian seemed to have noticed something wrong with the speed, secretly pointing his gun at Alvaro while casually asking, "Hmm? Why are you driving so slowly?"

"Uh, boss, my foot is injured, and it's a bit difficult when stepping on the gas." Alvaro made up an excuse, glanced at the rearview mirror, and immediately saw the dark gun muzzle.

Fuck!

He quickly accelerated, trying to make Gian lower his guard.

But after staring at him for a few seconds, Gian said, "Lift up your shirt, Alvaro."

"What lift up, boss?" Alvaro tried to play dumb.

"Lift up your shirt!" Gian repeated.

"Which shirt?"

"Lift up all your shirts!"

"Why lift up shirts?"

"I'm saying this for the last time! Lift up your shirt! Otherwise I'll shoot you dead!"

Gian, annoyed by the repeated questioning, roared and then pressed the gun against Alvaro's head.

"Okay, okay, I'll lift up my shirt right now!" Alvaro stretched out one hand to slowly pull his shirt out from his pants.

Then, his other hand suddenly jerked the steering wheel.

Accompanied by the sharp sound of brakes, Gian was instantly thrown to the other side by centrifugal force.

"Fuck!" He had just climbed up from under the back seat sofa when he heard the sound of the driver's door opening.

It was Alvaro leaving the car.

"Fuck you, Alvaro, you traitor!"

Gian angrily raised his gun to kill this lackey, but the next second gunfire rang out.

"Bang!" The shotgun shattered the glass into pieces, and even the car door was embedded with many bullet holes.

Gian quickly crouched down to dodge the bullets.

However, the attacker didn't continue shooting, but instead spoke, "Gian Fraser, Border Prison Warden Lind Edward sends his regards."

"What?" Gian in the car was stunned, thinking he had heard wrong.

Warden Young Edward?

He sent people to hunt him down?

Fuck!

What kind of April Fool's joke was this!

"You must be hired guns he paid for!" Gian shouted loudly, "As long as you spare me, I can give you double, no, triple the money! If you're willing to kill that Young Edward, I'm willing to give you $200,000!"

The attacker outside didn't continue talking.

Gian thought his money offensive was working and continued shouting, "If you think the price is low, I can add more money! How about $250,000?"

Silence.

If Gian hadn't smelled the gunpowder, he would have thought the attacker had already left.

But just as he was about to quietly raise his head, a clanging sound approached from far to near, as if something had rolled from the ground to under the vehicle.

Then the attacker spoke again, "Oh, by the way, the warden also had something else to say."

"Fraser, good night!"

"Boom!"

The M26 hand grenade emitted dazzling light at the vehicle's chassis, then violent flames engulfed everything, blowing the car to smithereens.

"Let's go." James patted Alvaro's shoulder.

Alvaro looked at the wreckage with complex emotions, then at the pistol at his waist, gradually gripping it tighter.

He looked at James, "What should I do next?"

James said, "Actually, the boss gave you two choices."

"Either return to the prison and become part of the prison, but you can't leave the prison casually in the future."

"Or go to the Grande Gang and continue undercover work."

"You choose."

Alvaro was stunned, thought for a moment, and finally said, "I don't want to keep hiding in prison. I want to try."

James looked at him appreciatively, "Be careful. If anything unexpected happens, you can always return to the prison to hide."

"Thank the boss for me."

...

"Didn't expect him to be quite brave." In the prison office, after hearing James's report, Lind couldn't help but applaud for Alvaro.

Although Gian Fraser was dead, this didn't mean the Grande Gang would collapse.

At most, there would be chaos for a while but under Osiel's orders, they would quickly recover.

By then they'd change leaders, change police contacts, and continue drug trafficking to make money.

Therefore, Alvaro's undercover operation was still very important, allowing Lind to receive gang information in real time.

Additionally, although this mission wasn't enough to severely damage the Grande Gang.

For Lind, his gains were quite substantial.

First were the weapons seized from the Grande Gang: 12 AK-47s, 16 Mac-10 submachine guns, and various bulletproof vests.

Second were the assets hidden in the Violet Club.

After James controlled Gian's mistress, he took over $500,000 in cash from the safe, plus 50 kilograms of gold and various jewelry!

However, gold prices were still at historic lows at this time, so 50 kilograms converted to only about $400,000.

But looking at this pile of golden stuff, Lind still felt great!

Calculating everything together, they had harvested over one million dollars this time, more bountiful than the last Iron Riders haul!

But Lind still felt regretful.

Because the Violet Club was just one of Gian Fraser's residences.

In fact, Gian had multiple properties in Laredo, all hiding large amounts of stolen money but he was particularly cautious and normally didn't let other lackeys know.

The only one who might have known was Luis, who followed closely by his side.

Too bad he died too quickly.

However, compared to what he had invested, Lind was still a big winner this time.

A double win.

Because a mission completion prompt appeared before his eyes.

[Sudden Challenge: Your conflict with the drug organization under the Gulf Cartel is about to erupt. This is both an opportunity and a crisis.]

[Use any method to resolve their threat until they become corpses. Reward: Unlock prison facility functions]

[Challenge Completed]

[Prison facility functions have been unlocked]

Perhaps because Gian Fraser was the one who had been targeting Border Prison all along, after his death, the system defaulted that the Grande Gang no longer posed a threat to the prison.

Lind opened the panel and indeed found the [Facilities] function below the deterrence value.

After clicking it, he saw a two-dimensional floor plan, which was the prison's blueprint.

It contained the names, effects, and production efficiency of all prison facilities.

Most importantly, Lind discovered he could assign a manager to each facility.

However, the manager's loyalty must reach maximum value.

After he tried assigning James as the manager of the cell block:

[Cell Block (James): Probability of arguments and fights -10%, Fear value increase rate +10%]

If he assigned the cell block to Cohen, the effect became:

[Cell Block (Cohen): Probability of arguments and fights +5%, Fear value increase rate +5%]

"This is great."

Lind was very happy. This was equivalent to providing different additional bonuses for various areas and facilities in the prison.

The higher the level, the stronger the effect.

Thinking of this, he looked at the deterrence value again and found that after accumulating during this period, the deterrence value was enough for 15 consecutive draws.

"Draw!"

Lind's hands itched for a moment. Unable to resist, he directly clicked extract.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

PRI Chapter 48: The End of Sheriff Smith's Criminal Career

In fact, Gian didn't completely trust Alvaro.

Although his secret investigation revealed that Border Prison indeed had prisoners escape and was indeed searching for escaped convicts but he still didn't trust Alvaro.

So Gian also asked people at the police station to help investigate.

However, facts proved that Alvaro hadn't been bought by the police. The police had not received any reports from the prison about the attack but he still had some distrust of Alvaro.

Especially since Luis often spoke ill of Alvaro to Gian.

Saying he was a coward who might have sold out his other companions to gain the chance of release.

This wasn't a joke.

Many people in the gang knew that Alvaro wasn't a ruthless guy. He was good at calculating, good at identifying goods, good at strategizing, but the only thing he wasn't good at was killing.

The reason he could enter the Mexican drug dealer circle was all thanks to his father.

And last time when he was thrown into Miguel's team, Gian also wanted him to practice with the prison.

After all, the guards there were all wastes recruited from society.

They wouldn't pose any obstacles.

However, he didn't expect that Miguel's entire group died.

Only Alvaro survived.

When Luis said that Alvaro sold out his companions' information to save his own life, Gian naturally thought it was very possible.

But now Alvaro was saying that Luis was the betrayer, who wanted to team up with Sheriff Smith against him?

Even April Fool's lies wouldn't be this ridiculous!

Gian pointed his gun at the panicked Alvaro, "Are you fucking looking to die?"

"Speak! Who instructed you to..."

Before he could finish speaking, everyone in the private room heard a violent gunshot from downstairs.

"Bang!"

It sounded like multiple bullets burst out in an instant.

"Shotgun!" Gian immediately reacted, kicked over the dining table, and cursed, "Fuck!"

The pot-bellied Sheriff Smith also became flustered, drew his service weapon, and ran to Gian's side.

"What happened!" he demanded loudly, his face full of anger.

"Don't worry, Sheriff. No matter who's outside, my people will handle it." Gian first comforted his partner, but his heart began to harbor suspicions.

Then he turned to look at Alvaro and found this guy was also scared, hiding under the vase table, clutching a ridiculous fork in his hand.

"Damn." His cowardly posture obviously couldn't be fake, and Gian felt much more at ease.

He casually threw another pistol to him, "We Mexicans don't have cowards!"

"Yes, yes, boss." Alvaro picked up the gun and silently looked toward Gian's back.

Soon, the door of the private room was pushed open.

A lackey rushed in and shouted as soon as he entered, "Boss, it's the police! It's special forces! Their firepower is fierce!"

"How is that possible!" Sheriff Smith looked shocked but Gian subconsciously remembered what Alvaro had just told him.

So without thinking, he directly turned his gun toward Sheriff Smith, "You son of a bitch, you dare betray Osiel!"

"Hey! What are you doing!" Sheriff Smith incredulously pointed his gun at him too, "Are you fucking threatening an American police officer!"

Although he didn't know why special forces would appear outside Gian's private room, Sheriff Smith's fear had diminished considerably.

What he feared most was some gang that didn't know their place planning to eliminate the Grande Gang tonight.

And dragging him down with them but since it was special forces, there was room for maneuvering.

As long as he insisted that he had asked Gian here to discuss community safety issues, he wouldn't be implicated too much.

After all, he had people above him too.

Drug trade was a multi-billion dollar business. How could just a small police sergeant like him be involved in it?

He was just one link in the chain.

So Sheriff Smith was fearless, just somewhat surprised facing Gian's gun.

"You think I called the police? Damn it, why would I report on myself!"

"Then who was it!" Gian questioned back.

"How the hell would I know!"

Gian thought about it and finally decided to temporarily trust Sheriff Smith.

After all, they had cooperated for so long, and he understood this sergeant's cowardly and timid nature.

If it were him, he couldn't have done something so reckless.

Then who could it be?

Gian was slightly stunned and shouted a name to his lackey, "Luis! Where is he?"

"We didn't see Luis, boss!"

Just as the lackey finished responding, everyone heard another series of gunshots approaching from far to near. Obviously, the invaders had already reached the second floor.

During the original design, to avoid thieves or other organizations' spying, the second floor of the Violet Club had no windows. Anyone wanting to attack the Grande Gang could only break through from the first floor.

And the gang lackeys occupied the only stairway. Logically, it should be easy to defend and hard to attack. The enemy shouldn't have killed their way up so quickly.

But now wasn't the time to think about these things.

So Gian instructed his lackey, "I'm leaving first. You stay here and keep an eye on this fat pig for me!"

"Yes, boss!" The lackey nodded decisively.

Then Gian got up and retreated to the wall root. After tearing off a hanging painting, he pushed open a secret door.

Alvaro and Sheriff Smith widened their eyes, not expecting that this private room actually had a secret passage.

No wonder Gian never ate in other private rooms. He had prepared an escape route long ago.

"Great!" Sheriff Smith got up and ran a few steps, planning to follow Gian.

But Gian once again pointed his gun at him, "Sorry, Sheriff! You can't leave."

"Why! Gian, we're friends!" Sheriff Smith frantically tried to curry favor.

Gian kicked him down and sneered, "I hope you can also gain their friendship when facing those soldiers."

Saying this, he looked at Alvaro, seeming somewhat hesitant.

Seeing this, Alvaro quickly said, "I'll stay behind to help boss cover the rear!"

"Forget it." Gian shook his head, "You come with me. I have other things to assign to you."

"Good!"

Alvaro followed Gian into the secret door without a word.

After they left, the lackey and Sheriff Smith confronted each other, neither willing to put down their guns first.

Half a minute later, the gunfire stopped.

The corridor was so quiet as if nothing had happened.

The lackey quickly pointed his gun at the doorway but the next second he suddenly saw white mist blowing in through the gaps around the door.

"What the fuck is this!"

The lackey and Sheriff Smith didn't dare make any rash moves, but before long, both of them felt weak all over and collapsed simultaneously.

Then they saw a group of burly men rush in from outside.

They wore gas masks, and their pitch-black bulletproof vests were like the feathers of black crows, as if they had walked out of hell.

James looked at these two unlucky guys on the ground and raised his eyebrows, "Looks like Gian escaped."

Pat, the assault team member beside him, said, "Alvaro isn't here either."

James nodded, took the pistol from the lackey's hand, and pressed the dark muzzle against Sheriff Smith's forehead.

"Let... let me go..." Sheriff Smith's strong desire to survive made him cry out for mercy but James didn't even blink and directly pulled the trigger.

"Bang!"

This fat-headed, big-bellied sergeant who helped drug dealers transport drugs ended his sinful life.

"I really like something the warden said."

James repeated, "What I fucking hate most in my life are drug dealers."

After saying this, he picked up Sheriff Smith's gun, crouched on the ground, and shot the drug dealer lackey across from him.

"Captain, everyone in the club has been dealt with."

Outside the door, Norman walked in, his expression behind the mask very relaxed, "The spray the warden gave us is too useful. Where did he buy it?"

They had originally prepared for personnel casualties, but unexpectedly, Lind had them bring sedative spray cans before leaving.

So they changed the nozzle to an extended spray head and quietly filled the corridor with white mist. Those drug dealers quickly became weak.

This was also why the stairway was so easily captured.

However, after this use, the spray cans were completely depleted.

Facing his teammate's question, James answered, "This isn't something we should know."

Then he got up from the ground and looked toward Riley, who was holding a receiver.

"Where's the location?"

"On the road by Lake Vega."

James looked at the map, "800 meters, follow them."

"Yes."

That's right, they had given Alvaro a tracking device from the beginning. As long as Alvaro stayed by Gian's side, they could find this Grande Gang boss and eliminate him!

[NEXT CHAPTER]

PRI Chapter 47: Alvaro Playing the Double Agent Again

"Alvaro, what are you doing?"

Inside the neon-lit street, garbage bins were piled together, and the dark, cramped alley was filled with vomit from homeless people and scurrying rats everywhere.

Alvaro had been staring at the narrow entrance when he suddenly heard someone calling his name.

His body shuddered, but fortunately the shadows shrouded by nightfall were pitch black, making this subtle movement very inconspicuous.

However, Alvaro was still very worried. He quickly took two puffs of his cigarette, exhaled the smoke, and looked toward the person approaching while pretending to act nonchalant.

"Luis, what do you think?"

"Smoking without calling your brother!" Luis sported an eye-catching mohawk.

He grinned cheekily and came over to snatch Alvaro's cigarette butt, "You didn't smoke before, right? Did you add some good stuff to it?"

"Hey." Alvaro angrily tried to reach out and grab it back, but Luis dodged.

"What, getting angry?" Luis chuckled and threw the cigarette butt back, "Catch."

Alvaro didn't catch it, letting the cigarette butt fall to the ground.

"Looks like you're really angry, buddy. I was just joking. Why are you so tense?"

Luis first showed an apologetic expression, then narrowed his eyes, "You're not hiding something from Boss Gian, are you?"

Alvaro's heart skipped a beat, subconsciously suspecting whether Luis had discovered something.

But after thinking it over, he said expressionlessly, "Did you come looking for me just to question me?"

"Of course not, I'm just a bit suspicious." Luis looked him up and down, "Why did that guy Miguel die, but you escaped back safely?"

"Did you give in? Sell your ass to the police? Or did you sell Gian to the prison guards?"

Alvaro gritted his teeth, "You're questioning my loyalty to Gian! I've been with the boss longer than you!"

"Haha, just joking. I'm just asking casually, don't overthink it, buddy."

How could Alvaro not overthink it? Although Luis was recruited by Gian last year, he was now one of the boss's most trusted guys!

It was said this guy used to be a ruthless character who killed without blinking, and his specialty was torturing enemies.

If he found out about his secret communication with the prison, he would definitely experience the most terrifying torture in the world and then die miserably.

Just thinking about such a future made his legs go weak but no matter how scared he was, he had never thought of betraying Lind.

Alvaro himself felt strange, why was he willing to risk his life working for Lind?

Was it because of fear?

Well, perhaps compared to Luis's torture, he was more afraid of the eagle-style interrogation.

So after deciding to go down this path to the end, Alvaro actually felt relieved.

He glanced at the figure vaguely moving past the alley entrance, then silently turned and walked toward the back door.

"What, planning to go back and confess to the boss?" Luis followed him closely, still making those unfunny jokes of his.

However, Luis didn't expect Alvaro to suddenly respond to him.

"That's right."

He stopped and said, "I betrayed him."

"What!" Luis was first stunned, then delightedly widened his eyes, showing a bloodthirsty expression, "You're not joking, are you?"

"Of course I'm not joking."

Alvaro looked at him coldly, "Go tell the boss quickly."

"Hehe!" Luis grabbed Alvaro's collar, "Come with me, traitor!"

"Unfortunately, you'll have to go alone first."

Suddenly, an unknown voice sounded behind Luis.

Before he could react, a bullet fired from a silenced pistol pierced through his neck.

Blood instantly flowed to the ground.

Alvaro broke free from the dying man's grasp and mocked, "Screw your jokes, not funny at all, just like your face, truly disgusting! Bah!"

After cursing, he kicked Luis away and looked toward James, who was wearing a hood.

"Where are Gian and Smith?" James asked.

"They're in a private room on the second floor, but there are no windows here, and his lackeys are everywhere. With just this few people, can you handle it?"

"Don't worry, although we don't have enough people, sufficient firepower is enough."

James called to his teammate beside him, and immediately someone came over carrying a gun.

Alvaro saw the shotguns in their hands, then looked at the M26 hand grenades hanging from James's waist, and couldn't help swallowing.

The destructive power of these things indoors was not to be underestimated.

But where did they get them from? Could it be that Warden Lind had another identity as an arms dealer?

No time to think further, Alvaro led the tactical squad through the back door, helping them find the way.

However, when they reached the corner of the first-floor staircase, they couldn't move forward at all because those drug dealer lackeys were standing meticulously at the stairway entrance.

"What do we do?" Alvaro, hiding in an empty private room, asked James for his opinion.

James looked at the number of people, then at the space in the corridor and made a decision, "In a moment, you go straight upstairs, find Gian, and tell him someone has invaded."

"Huh?" Alvaro was shocked. This was making him play the double agent again?

Why did he say "again"?

Well, he had already done it once.

But...

"Why do we need to do this?"

Alvaro didn't understand.

James explained, "We're going to attack directly in a moment, so whether you tell him or not won't affect anything. But if you do tell him, if the mission fails, you can gain Gian's trust."

"I understand." Alvaro didn't expect that James, this seemingly rough man, had actually thought this far ahead.

"Of course, to make the act more convincing..."

James leaned close to his ear and explained some things.

Five minutes later, Alvaro walked out of the private room, putting on an anxious expression as he rushed to the stairway.

"Hey! Alvaro, what are you doing? The boss is busy!" The black lackey at the stairway stopped him.

"I have urgent business to tell the boss!" Alvaro pushed past the black lackey, "He's in danger!"

"What?" The lackey who was planning to continue blocking him was stunned, letting Alvaro rush past.

Then Alvaro ran straight toward the innermost private room, and before the lackeys could catch up to him, he pushed open the door of the private room.

"Cheers!"

Inside the private room, Gian Fraser was toasting with Sheriff Smith. Hearing the commotion, he angrily frowned and looked toward the door.

"Alvaro, what the fuck are you doing!"

"Boss Gian!"

Alvaro ran to Gian's side with a panicked expression, but his eyes kept avoiding Sheriff Smith's figure.

"Something's wrong!" he said quietly but forcefully.

"What's wrong?" Seeing him like this, Gian wasn't sure either and decided to listen first.

Alvaro leaned close to his ear, carefully glancing at Sheriff Smith while saying, "Luis betrayed you! He's in cahoots with Sheriff Smith and plans to raid the club tonight to catch you!"

"Fuck!" Gian, hearing this, angrily smashed his wine glass.

Then he directly drew the pistol from his waist, but instead of aiming it at Sheriff Smith, he pointed it at Alvaro and said, "Are you fucking looking to die!"

[NEXT CHAPTER]

PRI Chapter 46: Scared You, Little Bitch

Alvaro had been undercover for some time now.

This wasn't the first time he had sent back information either.

In fact, he had already reminded Lind twice before, saying there were opportunities to take out Gian but Lind had refused both times, insisting on waiting.

Waiting for an opportunity he deemed more suitable.

Anyway, time was on his side right now, so there was no need to be so urgent.

Moreover, the tactical squad only had one chance, they had to hit the target in one strike!

Fortunately, this opportunity came quickly, it could even be said to be very fast.

After receiving Alvaro's message, Lind immediately called James over.

After entering the office, the burly man stood silently in front of the desk, obviously realizing what the warden had called him for.

"James." The corner of Lind's mouth lifted slightly, "Our opportunity has come."

"Gian Fraser will meet with Sheriff Smith tonight. Their meeting place is here, the Violet Club."

"According to Alvaro's investigation, the Violet Club was founded by Gian Fraser's mistress, specifically serving the local Mexican wealthy in Laredo."

"Women, drugs, it has everything."

"So I want you to go to Laredo today. While taking out Gian and this sheriff, dig up their evidence and expose it to the light."

"Understood!" James's eyes contained excitement.

Lind nodded, "When you leave, go to the villa and get the equipment and weapons."

When Sheriff Smith came to inspect the prison earlier and found nothing, it was naturally because Lind had been prepared when he let Alvaro go.

Those weapons had all been hidden in the basement of the Val Verde villa.

Since he had been staying at the prison every day, the villa hadn't been lived in for a long time.

Those drug dealers also knew his whereabouts, so they didn't send anyone to watch that villa.

Because of this, the weapons were very safe hidden there.

This wasn't the magical society of 20-plus years later, when illegal immigrants couldn't yet legally break into other people's houses and claim them as their own.

After receiving Lind's orders, James and his group immediately disguised themselves as construction workers and left the prison using the construction company's vehicle.

...

"Knock knock knock."

"Come in."

After hearing the voice, Angelina, wearing sharp slacks and a white lace shirt, pushed open the door and walked to Lind's side.

Lind smelled the light citrus fragrance on her body, knowing she had changed perfumes again.

Initially, the little bitch's perfume was ocean-scented, very intense.

After Lind deliberately showed a frowning expression, she quickly changed to a woody perfume.

It was just that woody perfumes smelled rather heavy. Although pleasant, they lacked seductive power, so the little bitch subsequently changed to floral and fruity scents.

Until this citrus scent, seeing Lind's enjoyable expression, the two had reached some kind of consensus.

"Boss, the information about David Zack has been thoroughly investigated. Please take a look."

Because she was too close, Lind's head bumped into Angelina's arm when he turned.

He moved back slightly, but then his eyes fell directly into the cleavage and couldn't climb out.

Damn!

The white shirt this little bitch was wearing today was so sheer!

And underneath was a black lace bra.

Push-up type!

God, which cadre could withstand such temptation!

Even if you brought over some old veteran, he'd have to tremble twice to show respect.

Oh wait, they seemed to prefer little girls more.

Lind subconsciously lifted his eyelids, only to see a mischievous smile on Angelina's face.

Knowing this little bitch was feeling smug, he felt vicious in his heart and directly slapped her butt.

"Smack!"

Under her long pants, a ripple of flesh disappeared in an instant.

Angelina couldn't help but cry out, "Ah."

Then she bit her lip tightly, her cheeks showing an abnormal flush.

That's what you get for teasing me!

Lind chuckled and turned to look at the documents on the desk.

Ten minutes later, he put down the materials.

According to Ottavio's recollections plus the investigation.

The reason David Zack obeyed Gabe Jensen's orders was because his stock investments had gone bankrupt.

He had lost a large sum of money and was also facing the situation of being unable to repay his mortgage and student loans.

However, initially, David Zack was just doing some dirty work for Gabe Jensen to earn some pocket money.

But later, the hole in his debts grew larger and larger. To maintain a decent persona, he could only borrow from Peter to pay Paul.

Until someone wanted to investigate the company's internal embezzlement case, David Zack was threatened by Gabe Jensen. Afraid of going to prison himself, he finally agreed to frame his good friend and senior classmate.

Since they now knew the problems David Zack faced, what came next was naturally clear.

"Help me find a skilled hacker, Angelina."

"Hacker?" Upon hearing this word, Angelina immediately put aside the earlier romantic atmosphere, because she herself was a professional hacker.

"Right, through David Zack's computer, find evidence that he was bought off by Gabe Jensen."

"Uh..."

"What, is it difficult?" Lind said, "Or maybe, Angelina, you could learn some hacking techniques and help me investigate."

Angelina shook her head speechlessly, "How could I possibly learn hacking techniques! I'm just a secretary!"

"I know, just kidding." Lind laughed heartily, thinking to himself, scared you, little bitch.

Seeing Lind's insistence, Angelina surrendered helplessly, "Alright, I'll contact someone to find a hacker as soon as possible, but don't get your hopes too high, boss."

"I trust you to handle things. Here, today's little gift." Lind took out another powder compact from his drawer and tossed it to Angelina, then waved his hand, indicating she could go about her business.

Angelina really wanted to refuse his gift, but found that he didn't give her the chance.

She could only turn around and walk out of the office, returning to her small office.

"Damn, does he suspect something?"

The woman took off her high heels, rubbed her delicate toes wrapped in black stockings, then lay back in her chair.

"He shouldn't."

After thinking carefully, Angelina was certain she hadn't shown any flaws.

"So should I help him?" she muttered to herself.

For some reason, she suddenly thought of what Lind had said to Ottavio in the interrogation room earlier.

She had been sitting behind the one-way mirror and could hear what they said.

She also understood the meaning conveyed in Lind's words but were those really his true thoughts?

Labor reform can't change criminals, it requires fear?

Angelina bit her lip and uttered two words, "Naive."

Then her expression relaxed, and she lay on the desk in resignation, muttering, "Forget it, I'll still help him get things done. After all, this is a great opportunity to gain trust and complete the mission, Angelina."

Thinking of this, she perked up and sat straight but suddenly remembered that she seemed to not have brought her computer over for concealment.

"Fck, I have to work overtime tonight! What a capitalist! Vampire!"

"Oh, God, please don't let me have dark circles tomorrow!"

...

Time flew by quickly, and soon it was seven in the evening.

Laredo.

Alvaro was now anxiously waiting in the back alley of the Violet Club.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

PRI Chapter 45: Labor Reform Cannot Change Criminals, Only Fear Can!

"Cooperation?" Ottavio was stunned.

"That's right, in fact we have a common enemy." Lind pointed to the documents.

"Jensen framed you too?" As soon as he said this, Ottavio regretted it.

Because obviously that was impossible. Lind, this warden, had no intersection with Gabe Jensen at all, so how could there be any framing.

Sure enough, Lind shook his head, "It's not framing, but he has contaminated my prison."

"Contaminated?" Ottavio didn't understand what this word meant.

Lind pointed his finger at him, "You are the source of contamination, Mr. Miller."

Ottavio opened his mouth but couldn't speak.

"A good person like you appearing in our prison is like adding a bit of cream to a cesspit."

Lind shrugged, "Although the metaphor of cesspit is a bit disgusting, this is indeed the best metaphor for prison. The people here are all lawless outlaws, scum from all walks of society, murderers hated by people."

"And you, Mr. Miller, you're too clean. You shouldn't be here."

"You know about my past?" After hearing the word "clean," Ottavio immediately realized that Lind had investigated him!

"That's right, from the moment you planned to sue the prison, I knew about you."

Lind smiled slightly, "So can you please stop the lawsuit first? After all, by the time your lawyer prepares the documents and submits them to court, you might already be out of prison."

Ottavio's eyes widened when he heard the words "out of prison," "What do you mean? Jensen's crimes have been exposed?"

"Don't dream." Lind spat out cold words, then said, "But I can help you make Jensen's crimes stick."

"How is that possible!" Ottavio didn't believe Lind had such great power.

Or rather, even if he could do it, why would he? What benefit was there? Wasn't it good to have one more criminal working in prison?

The next moment, Lind said a person's name to Ottavio.

"David Zack."

Ottavio immediately clenched his fists.

Because it was this David who gave false testimony to the police!

He was also the culprit who betrayed him!

"After investigating your case, I also had someone look into this intern, David Zack." Lind brought another document and placed it on the table.

"He's your junior from university. You two had a good relationship and stayed in touch. After David graduated, you brought him into the company."

Lind showed a contemptuous expression, "I didn't expect he would sell you out, right."

Ottavio nodded silently.

"So as long as we find David's weakness and use him the same way, we can make him testify against Gabe Jensen." Lind stated his plan.

Ottavio opened his mouth, his eyes showing incredible disbelief, "But you, why, why would you help me?"

Lind raised his eyebrows, "How should I put it? If I use a more literary explanation, it would be that I value the 'purity' of the prison very much. This should be a kingdom of evil people, but it shouldn't be a graveyard for good people."

"If I use a more realistic explanation, it's that I'd prefer your replacement to be someone who has committed many evil deeds, so when I exploit him, I can do it completely without psychological burden."

"And these people are often very wealthy, which would also allow me to make more money."

"To put it bluntly, Mr. Miller, you're too poor. So hurry back to your poor people's world. When you become richer... it's better if you don't come in anyway."

Lind spread his hands, "I'm done. Now it's your turn. Are you willing to cooperate with me in self-rescue, Mr. Miller?"

"I, of course I'm willing!"

Two hands clasped together.

Lind smiled, "Then let's wish for a pleasant cooperation."

When walking out of the interrogation room, Ottavio was still somewhat dazed.

He had originally thought that through his personal experience in prison during this period, as well as hearing descriptions of various evil behaviors of the prison from other prisoners.

He had clearly recognized the ugly capitalist face of this warden.

For this, he contacted a lawyer, wanting to sue in court, and even wanted to find media to publish the news, to let the prisoners vent their anger.

But when Lind said he would help him clear his name and didn't even ask for anything in return.

He felt like his understanding might be wrong.

So just now, in his confusion, he still asked Lind a question that was of no benefit to his own situation.

Why treat criminals that way?

As a result, Lind said resolutely, "Mr. Miller, are you sympathizing with criminals?"

"Where do you think this is?"

"This is a prison, a cesspit, a dye vat that will make people fall into darkness."

"Every one of them has committed crimes! What they carry are the irreparable lives of victims."

"So are you going to forgive them on behalf of the victims?"

"Are you qualified to do so?"

"As for torture?"

"I won't say that bullshit about reforming criminals through labor and making them useful to society."

"Because labor reform cannot change criminals! In America, 80% of released people will be arrested again for crimes within 5 years!"

"This isn't a joke, this is an iron-clad fact."

"So the best way to reform prisoners isn't labor, isn't imprisonment! It's fear."

"Fear can reform criminals."

"Making them fear the consequences of each crime can prevent innocent people from suffering disasters."

The warden's voice seemed to still echo faintly before Ottavio's eyes.

Only when he returned to the cell block did he realize what he had done wrong.

That's right.

How could prisoners possibly say good things about prison?

How could criminals possibly say police arrested them in time?

So how could someone like Gabe Jensen, such a greedy guy, possibly agree with his philosophy of improving worker benefits?

That would be cutting flesh from his body!

He would only obstruct, and if he couldn't obstruct, he would destroy him.

This was the real reason he was in prison.

He was still too naive.

He actually tried to change another person's lifelong beliefs.

Ottavio let out a long sigh.

If he had understood this earlier, he might have had better solutions but now, it wasn't too late either.

He sat in the cafeteria chair, carefully recalling information about David.

Since the warden planned to help, he couldn't just sit idle either. He had to find that guy's weakness as soon as possible.

Just as he was thinking, someone suddenly patted his shoulder.

"Hey, buddy, are you alright?"

What he saw was Evan's worried face.

Ottavio was startled and subconsciously said "sorry."

"What, why are you suddenly apologizing? What happened?" For some reason, Evan felt a surge of panic in his heart.

He hurriedly sat across from Ottavio, staring into his eyes.

Ottavio thought for a moment, then said quietly, "Sorry, Evan, I want to withdraw from your plan."

"What? You're not joking, are you? Were you beaten!" Evan was stunned, thinking Ottavio had developed fear of the prison after being abused.

Those guys who had entered the interrogation room before were the same way.

Really didn't know what the prison had done to these people!

Did they feed them powerful drugs!

"I'm serious, Evan, I wasn't beaten... I..." Ottavio hesitated for a moment, but ultimately didn't mention the warden's cooperation.

"I just suddenly don't want to break out of prison, that's all."

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly saw a flash of fierceness in Evan's eyes.

Just like being targeted by a wild wolf!

About to face the danger of being torn apart!

Ottavio immediately broke out in a cold sweat on his back.

Fortunately, Evan's expression returned to normal the next instant.

He patted Ottavio's shoulder, "Alright, buddy, I know this is too difficult for you... You shouldn't have..."

"Of course not, I didn't say anything!" Ottavio explained.

"Thanks, but if you change your mind, you can come back anytime."

With that, he turned and left.

Ottavio subconsciously swallowed, suddenly having a deeper understanding of Lind's words.

"I must leave here early."

Otherwise, when he adapted to the identity of a criminal, he might not be able to return to normal life.

One week later.

Alvaro, who had infiltrated the Grande Gang, suddenly sent news: the opportunity has come!

[NEXT CHAPTER]

PRI Chapter 44: Evan Adam's Prison Break Plan

Evan Adam had been planning a prison break for half a month.

Although life in prison was stable, and he was doing quite well with his welding skills but Evan yearned more for freedom.

He hated these brainless criminals, just like he despised the sheep penned up on farms.

So he had always been looking for ways to escape from prison.

After collecting clues during this time, he discovered three plans that could help him escape from prison.

The first plan was the kitchen behind the cafeteria.

Some prisoners often worked in the kitchen behind the cafeteria.

They said there was a door in the kitchen that led directly outside.

Vehicles purchasing food supplies transported goods through this door.

If he could get a chef's uniform, he could leave the building during transportation and hide in the delivery truck to escape.

It sounded simple, but was very difficult to implement.

Because there were only two chefs in total. Even if he wore a chef's uniform, he couldn't fool the guards' eyes.

Not to mention breaking out of prison in full view of everyone was too risky, so Evan quickly abandoned this plan.

The second plan was to jump out the window from the third floor.

The third floor was the serious offenders' block, which should theoretically be more strictly managed.

However, Evan was one of them himself.

Through careful daily observation, he discovered that patrols on the third floor weren't actually very frequent.

Much fewer times than the second floor.

Probably because there were fewer people.

At the end of the third floor, he could see several windows.

Evan carefully examined them during recreation time. If he could open those windows, he could climb down the water pipes and then escape from prison.

It was just that first and foremost, he had to get past the guards stationed in the third floor block every night.

And he had to strictly control his escape time to within half an hour.

Otherwise, once the patrolling guards arrived, he definitely couldn't fool them.

Finally, he had to avoid the sniper rifles in the guard towers.

Yes, sniper rifles.

Evan and his fellow prisoners weren't idiots. The gunshots that night were so clear. Although they didn't know who exactly had come to the prison to cause trouble in the middle of the night.

But when Evan and the others saw the guards were all unharmed the next day, they knew someone had definitely gotten into big trouble.

Plus with police appearing at the prison one after another with serious expressions, how could they not know what had happened.

If it weren't for the guards strictly forbidding police contact with prisoners, someone might have tried to inform the police.

Therefore, the option of escaping from ground level had to be abandoned from the start.

Otherwise, leaving prison would be equivalent to entering prison.

The prison of hell.

After thinking it over, Evan found that he actually couldn't find any loopholes in Border Prison. Having no choice, he could only first look for accomplices.

Jell Flake, his cellmate, was naturally the first choice.

When breaking out of prison, not bringing your cellmate along meant risking being reported by them.

Fortunately, Flake was quite easy to talk to. After Evan tested him a few times, he agreed.

The second choice was a new friend Evan had met in the factory.

Ottavio Miller.

Initially, he had noticed this guy simply because he discovered this person wasn't a real criminal.

Yes, although it sounded a bit mystical.

But prisoners had prisoners' temperament, and different types of criminals also had different temperaments.

Evan could tell at a glance that Ottavio wasn't a criminal, he was just a scapegoat.

It was just that there were many scapegoats in prison, and nobody would deliberately pay attention to one unlucky guy.

What really impressed Evan was his skills.

This German-American was very skilled at welding, with work efficiency ranking first every day.

Initially, Evan just wanted to make friends and learn from him but after deeper contact, he found this was a real talent.

Proficient in hydraulic engineering, familiar with various types of hydraulic facilities, and skilled at electric welding and assembly, with extremely strong hands-on ability.

Even Evan had to bow down before his skills.

To get him to join, Evan spent quite a lot of effort.

Initially, he couldn't convince him at all. Like a stubborn old man, he only believed that appeals could overturn his case.

Evan told him that when judges were all bought off, wanting to overturn the case was just dreaming.

Only by getting out himself and finding evidence would there be a chance.

However, Ottavio still didn't agree.

Until Evan discovered his weakness.

Every day, Evan constantly talked about his wife and children in Ottavio's ear, and his attitude gradually softened.

Later, after receiving a phone call from his daughter and hearing that she was bullied at school and covered with bruises, this stubborn man finally couldn't stand it.

He cried very sadly that day.

Evan stayed by his side the whole time.

From then on, Evan, Ottavio, and Flake stood on the same front.

Because of this, Evan finally found a way to escape from Border Prison!

He had to thank Ottavio for reminding him.

Before going to prison, their company had contracted the hydraulic engineering for the military base that was the predecessor of Border Prison.

Ottavio remembered very clearly that under this land, there was a large drainage tunnel hidden!

Evan was extremely excited about this and quickly set up a feasible plan.

Find an opportunity to first go from the third floor to the first floor, then find the grating leading to the tunnel in the kitchen behind the cafeteria.

This way they could escape from prison and gain freedom.

After setting up the plan, Evan couldn't wait to tell Ottavio and had been waiting in the factory early in the morning.

He and Ottavio sat directly across from each other on the assembly line, which was also why they had met.

Usually, if they wanted to chat with acquaintances, they could only do so during lunch, dinner, and recreation time.

But when the factory officially started work, a strange black man sat down across from Evan.

"Hey! Officer!" Evan frowned and called to guard Parker who was passing by, "Do you know where Ottavio went! I just lent him some money yesterday, don't tell me he's already been released."

Parker looked at the opposite position, "You mean that German guy?"

"German-American... well, yes, that's him. Where did he go?"

"He was called away by the captain." Parker shook his head, "Should be at the interrogation room."

"That's good." Evan nodded and showed a happy expression.

But after Parker left, he cursed in a low voice, "Shit! Ottavio shouldn't be going to the interrogation room!"

Everyone knew what the interrogation room was!

Even those serious criminals with countless evil deeds would become obedient little lambs after going in.

Obviously, they had suffered indescribable torture inside.

If it were Evan himself, he wouldn't dare say he could withstand the prison's punishment but what had Ottavio done wrong?

He had always worked hard, and his performance and behavior had always been the best. Why?

Could it be that his lawsuit against the prison had been exposed?

Evan could only think of this one possibility.

So Ottavio would definitely suffer all kinds of torture inside, and might even be forced into a desperate situation by these hounds.

Damn!

He shouldn't have convinced Ottavio to escape together!

What if he gave him away!

...

And just as Evan was regretting alone in the factory, Ottavio was sitting in the interrogation room, face to face with Lind.

"Actually, Mr. Miller, I asked you to come here because I want to show you some information."

With that, he handed over the investigation materials about Gabe Jensen that he had in his hand.

"What is this?" Ottavio had thought he would face torture when he entered the interrogation room.

He wasn't stupid, nor was he blind. He knew what the interrogation room was for.

He also knew what he would face when he came in but he was more determined than Evan thought.

He had been prepared for exposure even before filing the lawsuit.

He had even been prepared to be betrayed when conspiring with Evan.

Although he had only been betrayed once in his life, that betrayal had been heart-wrenching and deeply memorable.

He still hadn't recovered from it.

But unexpectedly, after coming in, the warden didn't swing a whip at him, but instead gave him information about his "enemy."

Seeing Ottavio's confusion, Lind smiled and said.

"I want to discuss a cooperation with you, Mr. Miller."

[NEXT CHAPTER]

PRI Chapter 43: Hidden Rules and the New Profession of Interrogator

"Honestly, I didn't expect your judo throwing techniques to be so impressive."

The next day, in the office.

After accepting Sheriff House's invitation and attending the police chief's family dinner, Lind had just returned from Val Verde County and looked at Angelina with amazement.

In reality, he was laughing secretly to himself. Had this little bitch finally stopped pretending?

Planning to show her true face?

Although he hadn't done it intentionally yesterday, he had left this woman hanging for a whole day.

From her behavior, she was probably quite displeased.

However, Angelina looked completely calm, "I just practiced some self-defense techniques. My mother taught me from a young age not to let men bully me."

Not to let men bully her, but she could make men rise and fall, right.

Lind glanced at her sensual teacher outfit and sexy black-framed glasses, along with the pink blush and light freckles on her cheeks, feeling his body temperature spike instantly.

Damn, this little bitch was getting better and better at catering to his preferences but he absolutely couldn't give in.

Lind was very clear that if he was the first to show a lustful side, he would be thoroughly manipulated by this woman.

Although Angelina was doing this only for her mission and wouldn't betray Lind's interests but what if she wanted to leave after completing the mission?

How could Lind let the A-grade character he had finally extracted escape!

So before her loyalty reached maximum, he absolutely couldn't surrender to Angelina's black stockings!

He was just that kind of tough man.

So to divert his attention, Lind took out his notebook and said, "I thought about it yesterday and plan to implement a set of hidden sentence reduction rules in the prison, based on that slogan I mentioned to you before."

In America, the power to reduce prisoners' sentences was concentrated in courts, parole boards, or related judicial institutions.

Whether public or private prisons, neither had the authority to directly reduce prisoners' sentences but this didn't mean prisons couldn't do anything.

Because according to federal law and some state laws, prisoners were allowed to shorten their sentences for good behavior, with federal and private prisons able to reduce sentences by up to 54 days per year.

So as long as prisoners behaved well, Lind could help them submit good behavior records to obtain sentence reductions.

Of course, this was only temporary.

Once Lind had contact with judicial agencies in the future, this rule would have much more flexibility.

"I've established 15 rules." Lind handed the notebook to Angelina.

Angelina read through the text while listening to him say, "It covers many aspects. After you finish reading today, you can help me supplement it."

"But note that the sentence reduction rules apply to everyone, it's just that minor offenders have a lower difficulty in obtaining them."

"Understood." Angelina nodded.

After roughly reading through it, she already understood Lind's meaning.

The purpose of these rules was to let minor offenders leave prison faster, so serious offenders weren't in a fair position from the start.

But this was also reasonable. After all, some were just petty thieves while others were murderous maniacs.

They couldn't both get sentence reductions for doing the same things.

According to the regulations, prisoners had a fixed performance score of 10 points each month.

If the following bad behaviors involving attitude, work, and life occurred during the month, performance points would be deducted.

Such as harming others, insulting guards, damaging prison property, skipping work, etc.

These performance scores were calculated monthly, and finally at the end of each quarter, the top three with the highest performance scores would receive sentence reductions.

Of course, this was for minor offenders.

If they were serious offenders, the initial monthly performance score was 8 points.

At the same time, the definition of various bad behaviors was also stricter.

After reading, Angelina seriously doubted whether those serious offenders could get sentence reduction opportunities.

This was simply an impossible mission.

Look at these rules: making outstanding contributions to prison production, creating additional benefits for the prison.

Where were these prisoners? They were clearly more like high-difficulty requirements given by leaders when subordinates asked for promotions.

Damn, Angelina couldn't help but think of her own leader, who seemed to have said similar things.

Fortunately, she didn't need to follow these prisoners' sentence reduction rules, so she put away the notebook without hesitation.

Then Lind asked, "Any news on Gabe Jensen?"

"Yes, boss."

Angelina had just received the news not long ago and replied, "Gabe Jensen is one of the executive vice presidents of BGE Civil Engineering Company, 48 years old this year."

"He's responsible for the company's land development projects and water system renovation projects, and is Ottavio Miller's direct supervisor."

"A year ago, when BGE was helping the local government with land renovation in California, someone discovered internal embezzlement of project funds and sued in court."

"After investigation, the court found that not only did BGE company internally embezzle project funds, but someone also used interns to create proposals and adopted inferior design drawings to fool clients in order to save expenses."

"Police subsequently arrested the intern who created the proposals, and learned from his testimony that all these things were done under Ottavio's instructions."

"So Ottavio was quickly sentenced by the court and sent to prison."

"But Ottavio has never accepted this, demanding appeals and often suing prisons for human rights violations."

"After being transferred through several prisons, the court finally sent him to us."

Lind suddenly understood. No wonder this guy's methods were so skilled and experienced.

He was an old complainer.

"Hmm, so actually all these things were orchestrated by Gabe Jensen, right."

Hearing Lind's seemingly questioning but actually affirmative words, Angelina was somewhat confused, "How do you know Ottavio is innocent?"

"Secret." Lind smiled and instructed, "Have the detective continue digging deeper. I want to know where that intern is, what he's doing, and what his weaknesses are."

"Alright." Angelina was already almost used to her boss's such capricious demands.

Honestly, only she could do this secretary job.

Anyone else would have resigned long ago!

After cursing a few times in her heart, the secretary lady turned and left.

Soon after, Cohen knocked and walked in.

"Sit."

Lind greeted him, then looked at his panel.

[Cohen Snow]

[Identity: Guard/Interrogator]

[Rating: 35 (Level C)]

[Loyalty: 100 (Never betray, always obey)]

[Skills: Intermediate Grappling, Intermediate Marksmanship, Intermediate Basketball, Advanced Interrogation]

When an employee's loyalty reached maximum, they would gain a new profession or new trait.

Cohen had unlocked a new profession this time: Interrogator.

[Interrogator: When conducting interrogation work, interrogation effectiveness +50%, prisoner fear value increase rate +30%]

In addition, his interrogation skill directly upgraded from basic to advanced.

This made Cohen suddenly become the fourth most important person in the prison.

The second and third were James and Angelina respectively.

The first was naturally Lind himself.

Looking at this young man who had proven himself, Lind said, "I'm glad you completed the promotion task. From now on, you'll become the head guard and manage the interrogation room. Do you have confidence to complete the prison's tasks well?"

"Yes!" Cohen answered briefly and powerfully.

"Very good."

Lind nodded with satisfaction, "Don't worry, your salary will rise accordingly."

"Thank you, Warden!"

"Alright, bring Ottavio Miller to the interrogation room later. I have some questions I want to ask him."

"Understood!"

[NEXT CHAPTER]

PRI Chapter 42: Angelina's Day

In the morning, Angelina woke up from her soft bed.

Squinting her eyes at the sunlight filtering through the curtains, she covered her scattered short hair over her eyes, trying to return her vision to darkness.

But the sunlight was like a repeatedly nagging alarm clock, always drilling into her eyes through her bangs inadvertently.

Angelina could only give up resisting and let the sunlight torment her.

Feeling a bit itchy at the root of her thighs, she casually reached into her white panties to scratch.

As a result, the itch wasn't stopped, but became more and more intense, making her unable to help but moan out loud.

Forget it, since she was going to be late anyway, why not reward herself once.

Thinking this way, she took out a box from the bedside table, and without having time to unwrap it, put it into the covers.

The atmosphere in the room immediately became ambiguous.

After fifteen minutes, Angelina finally got out of bed.

"Whoosh!"

Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, Angelina stripped off her clothes, revealing her superior body curves, and came under the shower head to start washing.

After washing, Angelina dried her hair with a blow dryer and sat in front of the vanity table.

In the mirror, her skin was tender and white, without any pits and bumps, looking particularly fresh and clean.

If she put on a school uniform, she could even be a cheerleader at high school.

And such good skin naturally required daily maintenance and spending money.

So Angelina was always short of money.

This was also the reason why she could never stay idle and completed tasks everywhere.

After all, there were bonuses for completing each task.

While completing tasks, she could also apply for various expenses.

As long as she falsely reported, she could earn considerable money from it.

It would be even better if she could cheat some money from the mission targets.

Anyway, the targets wouldn't sue the CIA over her.

While thinking about making money, Angelina picked up a makeup brush from the dazzling array of cosmetics.

Essence oil, foundation, concealer, eyebrows, blush, eyeshadow, highlighter, contouring.

After a complete quick makeup routine, Angelina had already transformed into someone's favorite appearance.

"Oh, add some freckles."

She drew light freckles under her eyes and put on the black-framed glasses from the vanity table.

"Not bad at all."

Angelina stared at herself in the mirror, cold yet full of sensuality, looking like someone people couldn't wait to take a bite of.

After posing in front of the mirror for a moment, she deliberately put on an indifferent attitude, supporting her glasses with one hand and said, "Disobedient students need to be punished. Take off your pants and voluntarily hand your weakness to the teacher."

At this point, Angelina felt her body suddenly getting a bit heated again.

"Damn." She hurriedly drank a sip of ice water, got up and put on black stockings with suspenders, changed into a white shirt, black pencil skirt, and red-soled high heels.

Finally, she put on a long straight wig.

Through her observation during this period, this outfit was deadly effective and could best handle that perverted warden.

She had already seen through Lind's sexual preferences.

After putting on a black trench coat to cover the clothes inside, Angelina came to the mirror by the door and slightly twisted her hips.

In her mind, she was thinking about how to naturally and unpretentiously take off her trench coat in front of Lind after arriving at the office, revealing her cleavage.

From past experience, she generally only needed a month to manipulate a stupid man through teasing.

While completing the mission, she could also make some money on the side but Angelina had been watching at Border Prison for several months and still hadn't figured out this warden's thoughts.

As a result, the mission had made no progress.

Sometimes Angelina clearly felt that Lind was already desperately lustful, but this warden could actually hold back, and could even tease her in return.

Making her unable to perform even when she wanted to.

This feeling was like meeting a worthy opponent, encountering an evenly matched agent.

Everyone knew the other was acting, it was just a matter of who acted better.

However, Angelina believed she acted better. She felt it was almost time, just needed to push a little harder and she could take down Lind.

Of course, letting him taste some sweetness was fine, but Angelina hadn't planned to throw herself into it.

She wasn't a prostitute from the red-light district. She was at least a graduate from a prestigious university and had a very clear plan for her future.

After playing around for a few more years, she would find an emerging internet tycoon and have a few children with him.

Then after being married for a few years, she would find a reason to sue the tycoon for divorce and split some assets to achieve financial freedom.

As for why she would find an internet tycoon?

Naturally, it was because traditional industry bosses' money was hard to cheat.

Those in the internet industry were all engineering guys who suffered every day before success, and once they became rich overnight, they wanted to find someone good-looking to match their status.

So their minds were very simple and easy to figure out.

Angelina had already figured this out clearly when she previously went to internet companies to steal data.

Damn, if it weren't for that pig of an executive who couldn't keep up the act and wanted to take advantage of her sexually, only for her to escape, how would such a tough mission fall to her!

Angelina patted the steering wheel with an annoyed expression.

Only when the car arrived at Border Prison did she restrain her expression and resume her disguise.

"Snap!" Angelina closed the car door and happened to see a group of police leaving the prison gate dejectedly.

"What did these police come for?" She looked with a puzzled expression toward the guard Carter who was patrolling nearby.

When Carter saw this beauty, he didn't dare look directly at her, staring at the departing vehicles and said, "They're police from Laredo. They said our prison has prohibited firearms."

"Firearms?" Angelina didn't need to think to know this must be true.

After all, Lind had already established private punishment in the prison, so buying a few prohibited weapons wasn't anything special.

But what made her frown was that she didn't know about this beforehand.

She hadn't discovered any clues.

This meant that some things in the prison were beyond her control.

This was not good.

Angelina didn't continue chatting, but walked quickly into the building in her high heels, wanting to see Lind as soon as possible to probe a bit.

But just as she knocked on the office door, she saw Lind and Sheriff House walking out together.

The two were talking and laughing happily, with Lind occasionally telling some black jokes that made the sheriff laugh heartily.

Then Lind escorted House to the door and watched him leave all the way.

"Boss." Angelina waited for a moment before speaking up.

But before she could continue, Lind suddenly asked, "Any news on Gabe Jensen?"

"Not yet, still need a little more time."

"Are you finished organizing this month's bonus list?"

"Almost finished."

"Good, then help me wash the clothes in the office. I need to go out later."

"Alright, where to?" Although Angelina didn't want to appear too interested, she couldn't help but ask this question.

Lind looked at her strangely, and she quickly remedied, "Do you need me to accompany you?"

"No need, just stay in the office."

Lind didn't say where he was going, but directly turned and walked toward James not far away, standing near the watchtower with him, pointing at the prison, seemingly arranging something.

Angelina looked at her secretary outfit inside her coat, then touched her delicate makeup that she had spent a whole morning applying, stamped her toes, and turned to walk into the building.

At noon, after finishing everything, Angelina looked at the empty office and felt like she was winking at a blind man.

"Fck."

Angelina cursed and got up to eat in the cafeteria.

As soon as she arrived at the cafeteria, her provocative outfit attracted everyone's attention, including the prisoners working in the cafeteria.

Among them was a guy with five ear piercings and green hair. When he saw Angelina, he couldn't help but whistle, then moved his waist suggestively and mouthed the word "fck."

After that, he stared at Angelina, seemingly wanting to defile this beauty with his gaze.

However, just when he thought Angelina wouldn't react to his behavior, or at most show disgust, Angelina suddenly approached him.

"You're very proud of yourself, aren't you?" The woman's cold voice rang out.

The green-haired prisoner was stunned and pretended to be ignorant, "What are you talking about?"

"You think I can't do anything to you?"

"Hey, babe, are you looking for trouble?"

The green-haired prisoner spread his hands, "Is this woman crazy? Isn't anyone going to control her?"

Andy, sitting nearby, saw this scene and immediately got up to walk over, planning to give the green-haired prisoner a harsh lesson and then put him in solitary confinement.

Just kidding, that was the warden's personal secretary!

How could it be a simple relationship?

However, the next second, Andy saw Angelina perform a skilled double-handed back throw, grabbing the green-haired prisoner's collar and giving him a heavy over-the-shoulder throw!

Then Angelina stepped on the green-haired prisoner's crotch with her high heel and pressed hard!

"Ah!"

The scream immediately echoed throughout the cafeteria.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

PRI Chapter 41: Someone's About to Be in Trouble

Alvaro became an undercover agent for Border Prison without anyone knowing.

This was Lind's intention.

After all, even if he revealed a lot of intelligence from his mouth, it would become outdated with time.

Especially when facing a high-risk drug dealer, their lives were full of variables at any moment. Even calling it "a cunning rabbit has three burrows" would be an underestimate.

Lind didn't plan to gamble on luck, so he directly asked Alvaro to return to the Grande Gang as an undercover agent.

As for how he would deceive his boss, Lind found him a particularly sufficient reason.

That was that the prison would announce to the public in the next two days that someone had attempted to escape through a vegetable delivery vehicle and was caught, and would cooperate with the police to conduct searches in the area.

As long as Gian Fraser wasn't an idiot, he would naturally realize that Alvaro had benefited from other prisoners' actions and luckily escaped.

Lind had no doubt about the intelligence of the Grande Gang boss, but as they say, the smarter one is, the more one thinks, and the more one thinks, the easier it is to deceive them.

As long as the act was performed thoroughly, the other party would definitely fall for it.

After all, who could imagine that a drug dealer would work for a prison and even serve as an undercover agent for the prison!

This was simply a fairy tale.

So the play that Lind arranged immediately became a powerful excuse for Alvaro to convince Gian Fraser a few days later.

...

"That's how it happened, boss." Alvaro, with a bruised and swollen face and blood marks all over his body, stood on the luxurious baroque-style carpet, telling his boss about his escape experience.

And facing him was Gian Fraser, with short hair, a square face, and wearing glasses. He didn't look like a bad guy, but rather like the kind of righteous character that often appeared in TV dramas.

They were not in the gang's gathering place at this time, nor in Gian Fraser's home, but in an underground club called Violet.

This was Laredo, located on the US-Mexico border, a 3-hour drive from Val Verde County.

This city was an important trade and logistics center in Texas, and also a distribution center for drug trafficking organizations.

The Grande Gang led by Gian Fraser had been operating here for five years.

During these five years, they transported thousands of tons of marijuana and hundreds of tons of cocaine into American territory annually, bringing unimaginable rich returns.

However, although the prices were high, the commission of each handler was also high, especially those officials on the drug trafficking routes.

Each one was so greedy they could rival devils.

The key was that after taking money, they often didn't do their work.

Don't ask, when asked, it was because the risk was too great and would affect their political careers.

Damn, they weren't afraid of the dollars burning their hands when they took the money!

So Gian Fraser had set his sights on Border Prison very early, wanting to get this private prison to use as a business for processing and transporting drugs.

After all, there were many talents in prison, with high compatibility and flexible minds.

The key was low cost, and they could be exploited at will.

And as a place certified by the American government, their transport vehicles wouldn't be checked by police every day.

It could be said to be the best drug manufacturing and trafficking factory in the world.

Unfortunately, Casas, whom he had sent over, died, and George, their American partner, also died.

Seeing that the plan to secretly seize the prison had failed, Gian could only resort to his old trade and make personal threats against the prison.

However, even so, Border Prison was not afraid!

Especially that warden, who stayed in the prison every day, giving him no chance to strike.

Only after investigation did Gian discover that this guy's entire family was already dead, no wonder he wasn't afraid of threats.

But the guards should be afraid, right?

He found several local guards and threatened them.

As a result, they indeed obeyed, resigning one after another, and one even helped pass the threatening words to a prisoner's ears.

However, that prisoner actually failed in his hijacking attempt!

His family was even rescued by unknown forces!

Even the little brothers he sent to Carlos died in the villa in Val Verde County.

Damn, why didn't those guys know how to be restrained? He had already promised them a large sum of money after completing the task.

Yes, although Gian confirmed that Border Prison had rescued that prisoner's family, he didn't think that Carlos's group was killed by people sent by the prison.

Please! That was just a private prison, not some government violence agency. How could the guards work so hard?

However, the rescue operation was handled so cleanly and efficiently that Gian suspected whether Young Edward had hired mercenaries to help.

Especially Miguel's failure.

That was a gang member who had experienced multiple battles in Mexico. Even if his military quality was not as good as retired special forces, he was not much inferior in actual combat.

How could his team return with only one person!

Moreover, Gian had people go near Border Prison to look several times, but found no traces at all, almost thinking that Miguel and his team had vanished into thin air.

However, now all doubts were cleared up with Alvaro's return.

It turned out they had built a watchtower and purchased large-caliber sniper rifles.

"Bang!"

Gian smashed his glass on the ground, shattering it all over the floor.

"Quinn, take Alvaro down to rest."

"Yes, boss." A burly black man beside him nodded in agreement and left the VIP room with Alvaro.

After the two left, Gian dialed the phone, "Sheriff, good evening, there's something I need you to help me with..."

...

Two days later, Border Prison suddenly welcomed a team of police.

"We received accusations that you're using illegal weapons in your prison." The visitor was Sheriff Smith from Laredo.

Accompanying him was Sheriff House from Val Verde County Police Department.

Hearing this, Lind, standing opposite them, shook his head in surprise, "How could that be? Why would our prison buy illegal weapons? We use firearms that are government-compliant and approved for use."

"Is that so? We'll see after we finish searching." Sheriff Smith had a serious expression. He had a big belly and his face was full of flesh, looking more like a butcher than a sheriff.

"No problem, but all police must conduct searches accompanied by our guards." Lind narrowed his eyes.

"Are you kidding me?" Sheriff Smith frowned, "We are police!"

Lind spread his hands, "Who isn't police? Just because we're a private prison, you police can search at will? What if someone among you secretly helps prisoners escape?"

"Fck, what are you saying!" Sheriff Smith was angry.

But Lind didn't indulge him. He turned and smiled at Sheriff House, "Sheriff House, you should be very clear that all procedures at our Border Prison are legal and compliant, and the prison is the legal private property of our Edward family, so my request should be no problem, right?"

"No problem, of course no problem!" Sheriff House had long been fed up with this Smith who was enforcing law across counties. He was the local sheriff, when was it an outsider's turn to point fingers at his territory!

Moreover, since Old Edward's time, they had always donated generously to the police station. Ten percent of the funds in their police station's fund bore Edward's name.

Naturally, Sheriff House believed he should protect the legal rights of legal citizens in his area.

"Thank you, Sheriff House." Lind continued, "In that case, please follow the arrangements of the guards, otherwise we will consider that you are interfering with the prison's normal operations and violating prisoners' human rights, and will sue you in state court."

"Don't worry, I'll instruct them."

Lind nodded and made way.

Sheriff Smith didn't want to see this young smiling face, and walked past him quickly with a cold expression.

After the police all entered the prison accompanied by James, Cohen came to Lind's side.

"Cohen, look at these clowns." Lind sneered twice, "The drug dealers give them some scraps from their hands, and these dogs rush over from Laredo busily, just like their master threw them a bone."

"They do look quite stupid indeed." Cohen nodded.

"So don't worry." Lind slowly restrained his smile, "With these guys, even if you gave them three more brains, they still couldn't fight against us."

"Tell Alvaro to keep a close eye on Gian. After Smith returns, maybe the opportunity we've been dreaming of will come."

"Yes!"

[NEXT CHAPTER]

DIV Chapter 60: The Sudden Ominous Divination

The night was deep, with the bright moon hanging high.

Li Chang'an temporarily interrupted his body cultivation and came to the courtyard.

Earlier, after the divination appeared, he had sensed fluctuations in the formation array.

"Someone intruded, but left alive."

Li Chang'an frowned slightly, somewhat puzzled.

Even an expert like Wei Sen, who had mastered escape techniques, couldn't escape the Cloud Mist Hidden Kill Formation.

Could it be that the Black Wind Mountain robber cultivator who came this time was even stronger than Wei Sen?

"Eh? This is..."

Li Chang'an's eyes focused as he looked at the corner of the courtyard wall.

"Could this be the legendary substitute death puppet?"

He walked forward and picked up a palm-sized torn cloth doll.

This cloth doll looked very ordinary on the outside, with no spiritual power fluctuations whatsoever.

However, inside it were carved extremely complex patterns, and there was a mass of dried flesh and blood at the heart position.

"It's said this kind of treasure is extremely precious, and the method of making it has long been lost. Occasionally one appears in secret realms."

Li Chang'an was secretly surprised.

He had heard that even Foundation Establishment great cultivators extremely desired this kind of treasure.

"Such strange patterns. I've only looked at them for a few moments, yet I'm already feeling dizzy."

Li Chang'an closed his eyes slightly and rubbed his brow.

He was already a first-tier superior-grade talisman master and puppet master, with quite deep research into various spiritual power patterns.

Even so, the patterns inside this torn cloth doll still made him feel they were complex and profound.

"With my current skills, I simply cannot replicate it."

Li Chang'an pondered briefly, then used a separate storage pouch to put away the torn cloth doll.

He planned to study it slowly in the future.

It would be best if he could reverse-engineer it, but if not, so be it.

Subsequently, Li Chang'an instructed Big Yellow to watch the surroundings and investigate suspicious personnel.

He returned indoors to continue body cultivation.

Time passed quickly.

Before he knew it, an entire night had gone by.

At dawn, his first body cultivation session ended.

"There are indeed effects."

Li Chang'an slowly clenched his fists, feeling his vital energy was more abundant than before.

Even his strength had increased considerably.

"Although many resources were consumed, it was all worth it." Li Chang'an nodded secretly.

Continuing this way, it wouldn't be long before he reached the first-tier initial stage.

...

That evening, Xu Fugui suddenly came to visit.

His face was full of joy as he came to share good news.

"Big Brother Li, I've been noticed by a senior who wants to take me as his disciple."

"Oh?"

Li Chang'an was surprised.

With Xu Fugui's qualifications, someone would actually take notice of him?

Could that person have ulterior motives?

Li Chang'an couldn't help but become suspicious.

"Fugui, what is that senior's name and identity?"

"The senior said his name is Wang Fu'an and he's the manager of the Yuelai Restaurant in Yellow Crane Immortal City, with second-tier spiritual cooking skills." Xu Fugui's tone was excited.

Upon hearing this, Li Chang'an was even more surprised.

"Second-tier skills?"

Cultivators who could master second-tier skills were mostly already at Foundation Establishment!

"Fugui, are you certain that person didn't deceive you?"

"Impossible!"

Xu Fugui shook his head repeatedly.

He excitedly said, "Senior Wang came to Qinghe Market to prepare a life-extending spiritual meal for the Zheng family ancestor. This morning he took me along to meet the Zheng family ancestor!"

Hearing this, Li Chang'an no longer doubted.

He looked at Xu Fugui with several traces of relief in his eyes.

"Fugui, you've finally encountered your great opportunity."

If he wasn't mistaken, that Senior Wang was very likely also a Foundation Establishment expert.

With Xu Fugui able to apprentice under a Foundation Establishment cultivator, his future cultivation path would be much easier.

"Fugui, you must grasp this opportunity well!"

"Big Brother, don't worry. I know."

Xu Fugui also understood what kind of opportunity he had encountered.

Speaking of this, he suddenly became somewhat melancholy.

"Big Brother, I might have to follow Senior Wang and leave Qinghe Market to go to Yellow Crane Immortal City."

"This is a good thing!" Li Chang'an said with a smile.

Yellow Crane Immortal City, after all, had a Golden Core True Person presiding over it, making it far safer than Qinghe Market.

Various resources and opportunities were also much more abundant.

"In a few more years, I should also go to Yellow Crane Immortal City."

"Really?"

Xu Fugui's face showed delighted surprise.

Li Chang'an nodded slightly and smiled, "Fugui, perhaps I'll need to rely on your help in the future."

"When that time comes, if Big Brother Li needs anything, just say so. As long as I can help, I definitely will!"

Xu Fugui patted his chest in assurance.

He made up his mind to establish a firm foothold in Yellow Crane Immortal City as soon as possible.

When Li Chang'an also arrived at the immortal city later, at least he wouldn't be without a place to stay.

"Fugui, Yellow Crane Immortal City is far more complex than Qinghe Market. Your foundation is too thin right now, and you'll easily suffer losses going there."

As he spoke, Li Chang'an took out a storage pouch.

He handed the storage pouch over and said, "These spirit stones are what I'm lending you, to facilitate your early development in Yellow Crane Immortal City."

"This..."

Xu Fugui hesitated somewhat.

When he saw clearly the number of spirit stones in the storage pouch, his eyes immediately widened.

A full eight hundred spirit stones!

Where in his lifetime had he ever seen so many spirit stones?

"Big Brother, I..."

He originally wanted to refuse.

But Li Chang'an's expression was serious as he solemnly said, "I'm only lending them to you. When you make money in the future, just return them to me!"

He brooked no refusal and directly stuffed the storage pouch into Xu Fugui's hands.

Xu Fugui hesitated for a while.

In the end, he still accepted these spirit stones.

He also understood that in a place like Yellow Crane Immortal City, one couldn't move an inch without spirit stones.

About half an hour later, Xu Fugui reluctantly said farewell.

...

A few days later, Xu Fugui followed his master and left Qinghe Market.

Not long after, Li Chang'an received a letter he had sent from Yellow Crane Immortal City.

The letter described his various experiences and observations in Yellow Crane Immortal City.

Yellow Crane Immortal City was indeed a good place. Even superior-grade talisman inheritances were publicly sold there, and various auxiliary medicines needed for Foundation Establishment Pills were also available.

After reading it, Li Chang'an wrote a reply.

"Fugui, I don't need superior-grade talisman inheritances. Please help me pay attention to various Foundation Establishment spiritual objects, as well as the three main medicines for Foundation Establishment Pills..."

In the days that followed, the two corresponded frequently.

...

On this day, Li Chang'an's face showed joy as he felt his physique.

"I've finally entered the initial stage of body cultivation."

With a thought, he controlled the first-tier initial stage spider puppet he had made earliest to attack himself.

The spider puppet's attacks hit his body but couldn't break through his defense at all, only leaving some shallow white marks.

"Not bad." Li Chang'an was very satisfied.

With initial body cultivation achieved, he had taken another step toward his Foundation Establishment goal.

"I still haven't gathered all the materials needed for the next stage. I'll need to put in some more effort."

That evening, Li Chang'an sought out Luo Kun.

From Luo Kun, he learned about several materials he needed.

"Fellow Daoist Li, I've inquired for you. Fellow Daoist Chu Mu has the 'Hundred Bitter Grass' and 'Thunder Heart Wood' that you need."

"Spirit plant cultivator Chu Mu?"

"Right, it's him. You met last time."

Luo Kun nodded, indicating he had already asked Chu Mu, who was also willing to trade as long as Li Chang'an could produce enough spirit stones.

"I understand. Thank you for your trouble, Senior Luo."

Li Chang'an expressed his thanks, planning to visit Chu Mu tomorrow.

...

That night, just after midnight, Li Chang'an was cultivating when divination content appeared before his eyes.

[Divination has been refreshed]

[Today's Divination: Ominous]

[NEXT CHAPTER]

DIV Chapter 59: I Know You Killed Him

Li Chang'an sensed this disgusted emotion.

He didn't make a fool of himself.

He just chatted casually for a few sentences.

"Alright, showing your face today is enough. I'll take you to meet other people."

Luo Kun understood the principle that too much was as bad as too little, and led Li Chang'an away.

With his introductions, Li Chang'an's network continuously expanded.

In less than half an hour, he had met dozens of cultivators with decent skills, such as the previously mentioned mid-grade spirit plant cultivator Chu Mu.

Before long, Li Chang'an saw an acquaintance.

"Senior Wang Hu."

"Chang'an!"

Wang Hu also saw Li Chang'an, and a warm smile immediately appeared on his face.

Originally, the two had formed a connection because of the Ground Fire Stone and Yellow Sand Hound.

Their contact had not been broken over these years.

After a round of conversation, Wang Hu introduced Li Chang'an to quite a few beast tamers.

Hearing that Li Chang'an wanted to purchase demon beast blood essence, most of these beast tamers expressed welcome.

After all, selling demon beast blood essence was one of their channels for earning spirit stones.

However, the Zheng family also needed demon beast blood essence for pill refining, so much blood essence had been pre-ordered.

One of the beast tamers said, "Fellow Daoist Li, my Red Fire Python's blood essence has been pre-ordered by the Zheng family for a whole year, but I'll try to save a portion for you."

Li Chang'an cupped his hands, "Many thanks, Fellow Daoist!"

Subsequently, other beast tamers also expressed that they would save some blood essence for Li Chang'an.

As repayment, Li Chang'an gave out some talismans, incidentally strengthening relationships.

Luo Kun at the side watched and nodded secretly.

"This young man understands social customs so quickly. It seems my guidance has been effective!"

After about another quarter hour, the banquet officially began.

The host of this banquet was not the young miss Zheng Qingqing, but the second young master Zheng Lingfeng.

"It seems the news is true. The person in charge of the market has indeed changed."

Luo Kun transmitted to Li Chang'an.

Li Chang'an nodded slightly without saying much.

At the banquet, Zheng Lingfeng disguised himself as very amiable, with nothing to criticize in his conduct.

After a round of conversation, many Zheng family guest elders acknowledged him.

For most guest elders, as long as the Zheng family's treatment toward them remained unchanged, they didn't care who was in charge.

Soon, he walked up to Li Chang'an with a smile.

"Fellow Daoist Li, we meet again."

At the same time, an icy voice entered Li Chang'an's ears.

"Li Chang'an, I know you killed Zheng Jinbao. Give me all of his possessions! I can let bygones be bygones regarding previous matters!"

Li Chang'an glanced at him indifferently without responding.

Let bygones be bygones?

Even the stupidest person wouldn't believe such words!

...

At dusk, the banquet ended.

At the end of the banquet, Zheng Lingfeng announced something.

"Everyone, the family head suspects there are still robber cultivator insiders in the market. In the coming days, there may be significant actions, but you need not worry as it won't affect you."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at each other.

The Zheng family was going to start investigating robber cultivator insiders.

This kind of thing should be conducted secretly in the shadows. Why announce it publicly?

Could it be to make any insiders among them panic?

With doubts, everyone departed one after another.

Li Chang'an also returned to his residence along with Luo Kun.

"The coming days might not be peaceful." Li Chang'an pondered.

Fortunately, he had daily divination to know fortune and misfortune in advance.

"Next, I can begin body cultivation."

...

At the center of the market, in the Hall of All Affairs, Zheng Lingfeng looked at a contract in his hands, his eyes cold.

"Zheng Qingqing actually gave Li Chang'an such a lenient contract, even allowing him to unilaterally tear it up!"

The Zheng family was a Foundation Establishment family!

Any rogue cultivator in the market had to bow their head before the Zheng family.

Even those guest elders couldn't unilaterally tear up contracts, let alone a rogue cultivator like Li Chang'an?

At the side, Zheng Ming's face was somewhat pale.

He said nervously, "This... this is because the young miss felt Li Chang'an's talent was decent, so she gave him this more lenient contract."

"Absolutely absurd!"

Zheng Lingfeng immediately scolded.

"Mere low-grade spiritual roots, no matter how high his talent, could he possibly achieve Foundation Establishment? No wonder the market is in such chaos. That Zheng Qingqing doesn't care about our Zheng family's interests at all, actually taking such care of an outsider!"

His expression was cold as he gripped the contract tightly, his tone particularly severe.

"Fortunately, the market is now managed by me. Otherwise, who knows what more excessive things she might do! I must report this matter to the ancestor and see how she explains it!"

Obviously, he intended to use this contract as an excuse to suppress Zheng Qingqing once again.

"However... the relationship between Li Chang'an and Zheng Qingqing seems deeper than I thought."

Zheng Lingfeng was thoughtful.

In his heart, a somewhat absurd idea suddenly arose.

"If it really is as I think, then Li Chang'an can temporarily be spared. As long as I use him well, I can make Zheng Qingqing permanently lose the ancestor's trust!"

...

At this moment, Li Chang'an was preparing for his first body cultivation session.

"The spiritual medicines and demon beast blood essence needed for early-stage body cultivation aren't too precious. I've gathered them all."

In front of him sat a large vat emitting hot vapor.

Following the description in the "Demon Blood Body Tempering Art," he crushed the spiritual medicines and dripped the resulting medicinal liquid into the large vat.

Subsequently, he also put in the required demon beast blood essence.

After completing this step, the medicinal liquid in the large vat had turned dark brown and emitted an unpleasant fishy stench.

"Huff..."

Li Chang'an took several deep breaths.

He slowly entered the large vat, letting the medicinal liquid submerge his entire body.

Instantly, intense stinging pain appeared.

It felt as if tens of thousands of long needles were constantly piercing the flesh all over his body.

"The path of body cultivation is indeed painful." Li Chang'an frowned slightly.

This level of pain was still bearable for him. He wouldn't give up halfway like Zheng Jinbao had.

Time slowly passed.

Before he knew it, it was already midnight.

A new divination appeared.

[Divination has been refreshed]

[Today's Divination: Neutral]

[Black Wind Mountain's robber cultivators attempt to kidnap you, but discover your courtyard is full of dangers, so they temporarily retreat]

"Black Wind Mountain?"

Li Chang'an was stunned.

How had these robber cultivators targeted him?

Could it be because of the incident when he saved Zheng Songhe and Zheng Ling'er?

"My identity should not have been exposed during that incident." Li Chang'an pondered.

He had specifically instructed Zheng Qingqing about this.

If it wasn't because of that incident, what else could it be?

"Could it be because of Zheng Jinbao? Did he hire Black Wind Mountain again before his death?"

Li Chang'an contemplated.

Zheng Jinbao had once hired the Third Chief of Black Wind Mountain to deal with him.

Although that attempt had failed, he might have tried again.

"During that period, Big Yellow was always watching Zheng Jinbao and didn't discover him meeting with Black Wind Mountain robber cultivators. However... Big Yellow couldn't get too close after all, only watching from a distance."

If the robber cultivators disguised themselves too well, it wasn't impossible for them to deceive Big Yellow.

...

At this moment, outside the residence, the Fifth Chief of Black Wind Mountain, Liang Ying, was hiding in the shadows, staring intently at Li Chang'an's residence.

"Damn it, Li Chang'an's residence actually has formation protection. The substitute death puppet I worked so hard to obtain was just used up like that!"

Liang Ying's face was full of lingering fear.

Without the substitute death puppet, he would be the one dead now!

"This formation is most likely a first-tier superior-grade formation. Using a Prohibition Breaking Talisman isn't reliable. I can only go buy a set of Minor Void Breaking Formation."

The Minor Void Breaking Formation was a special formation that "breaks formations with formations," claiming to be able to break all formations below second-tier.

Its price was extremely expensive.

Liang Ying secretly felt heartache but the chief had demanded that he must bring Li Chang'an back, so he really didn't dare disobey.

"Li Chang'an is only at the fourth layer of Qi Refining. As long as I break this formation, I can easily capture him."

Now, Liang Ying could only hope that Li Chang'an's storage pouch contained enough treasures to compensate for his loss in purchasing the Minor Void Breaking Formation.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

DIV Chapter 58: Zheng Qingqing Loses Power

The market chaos had killed too many people.

Even late-stage Qi Refining cultivators had perished.

Precisely because of this, Zheng Ling'er was worried.

Zheng Qingqing shook her head slightly and said to her, "Don't worry, that senior is fine."

"Is he still in the market then?"

Zheng Ling'er blinked and asked again.

"It's been so long, but I still haven't had a chance to thank him personally."

"There will be opportunities in the future."

Zheng Qingqing smiled but did not reveal Li Chang'an's identity.

It wasn't the right time yet.

At least in Zheng Qingqing's view, the current Li Chang'an was not yet strong enough to confront all of Black Wind Mountain.

Therefore, the fewer people who knew the truth of this matter, the better.

...

With Zheng Jinbao's funeral ending, this market chaos came to a close.

Qinghe Market gradually returned to its former tranquility.

Within a few days, news suddenly spread that surprised Li Chang'an somewhat.

"The young miss is no longer the person in charge of the market?"

"Yes, I just heard about it too."

Luo Kun came to Li Chang'an's courtyard to chat with him about this matter.

According to rumors, due to this market chaos, the Zheng family internally felt that Zheng Qingqing's management was inadequate, leading to a large number of robber cultivators infiltrating the market.

News came from the Hall of All Affairs.

Another prodigy of the Zheng family, the second young master Zheng Lingfeng, would replace her position.

"Inadequate management?"

Li Chang'an was even more surprised.

For the robber cultivator chaos, the Zheng family could actually blame Zheng Qingqing, which was rather absurd.

Logically speaking, this kind of thing was impossible to prevent.

After all, robber cultivators wouldn't write "robber cultivator" on their faces.

If they didn't take action, it would be difficult to distinguish them.

"The so-called inadequate management might just be an excuse."

"This old man thinks the same."

Luo Kun transmitted his voice secretly.

"It's said that Zheng Qingqing is a descendant of Ancestor Zheng Yuandao, while Zheng Lingfeng is a descendant of another Foundation Establishment ancestor of the Zheng family."

"I see."

Li Chang'an roughly understood. It was still the age-old topic of family internal strife.

However, he couldn't understand why the Zheng family would still engage in internal fighting at such a time.

"Ancestor Zheng Yuandao is injured and has limited lifespan remaining. The Zheng family should now unite against external threats and be more cohesive." Li Chang'an frowned slightly.

Due to the Zheng Jinbao incident, he had already made an enemy of Zheng Lingfeng.

"That Zheng Lingfeng's character is far inferior to Zheng Qingqing's. Having him control the market's great power is very disadvantageous to me."

Li Chang'an pondered for a long time, feeling somewhat heavy-hearted.

...

The next day, the Zheng family hosted a banquet, inviting cultivators in the market who possessed cultivation skills to attend.

This was done to appease these craftsmen.

As long as they remained in the market, trade and commerce in the market would not be interrupted.

Li Chang'an's true body had already returned to the market and attended this banquet upon invitation.

He originally didn't want to go but Luo Kun said to him, "This is a rare good opportunity. I'll take you to meet some beast tamers and spirit plant cultivators."

"Alright, I'll go take a look."

Li Chang'an was helpless.

The spiritual medicines and demon beast blood essence he needed for body cultivation were simply too numerous.

He had no choice but to expand his network and get to know more beast tamers and spirit plant cultivators.

"Fellow Daoist Li, while keeping a low profile in cultivation is good, you can't stay home all the time."

Luo Kun wore a smile and chattered on.

"The so-called 'techniques, companions, wealth, and land', the 'companions' doesn't just refer to romantic partners, but also like-minded people. The more fellow cultivators you know, the more channels you have for obtaining resources and information."

What he said indeed made some sense.

Li Chang'an didn't refute it.

Before long, the two arrived at the restaurant hosting the banquet.

Quite a few craftsmen had already gathered here, most of whom had some reputation.

Everyone conversed with each other, talking and laughing, creating a lively atmosphere.

Luo Kun's eyes darted around, quickly scanning the great hall, then transmitted to Li Chang'an, "Fellow Daoist Li, let me first introduce you to a senior in the talisman path. He's the number one person in talisman arts in all of Qinghe Market!"

"The number one in talisman arts?"

Li Chang'an was secretly surprised.

That was no small title.

"Could that senior draw second-tier talismans?"

"No, no, he draws first-tier superior-grade premium talismans."

"I see."

Just as Li Chang'an had previously understood, the entire market had no second-tier talisman masters.

The person Luo Kun wanted to introduce Li Chang'an to was named Chen Yuanshan.

He was also a guest elder of the Zheng family.

"Senior Chen's talisman skills are divine, and more importantly..."

As he spoke, Luo Kun revealed a strange smile.

He said to Li Chang'an, "Senior Chen has a daughter who is also a talisman master. Her talisman skills have reached first-tier mid-grade, she's quite beautiful, about your age, and doesn't have a Dao companion yet."

"Why are you telling me this?"

Li Chang'an glanced at him, feeling this old man seemed to have ulterior motives.

Luo Kun chuckled, "Many young talents in the market want to become Dao companions with Senior Chen's daughter to obtain the superior-grade talisman inheritance in Senior Chen's hands, but none have succeeded."

Hearing this, Li Chang'an understood.

"You want me to try?"

"Fellow Daoist Li, you're handsome and distinguished. You might succeed!"

Luo Kun smiled as he expressed this.

If only he weren't too old, he would want to try himself.

"Once successful, you could obtain the superior-grade talisman inheritance!"

"Forget it."

Li Chang'an had no interest in this.

He was already a superior-grade talisman master and had no need to waste time on such matters.

While talking, the two had arrived at one side of the great hall.

Here, a father and daughter pair were receiving much attention, surrounded by quite a few people.

This father and daughter were precisely the superior-grade talisman master Chen Yuanshan and his daughter Chen Qianya.

"Senior Chen!"

Luo Kun wore a broad smile as he grabbed Li Chang'an and squeezed into the crowd.

He employed his most skilled flattery and fawning.

After several rounds of conversation, he grabbed Li Chang'an to introduce him.

"Senior Chen, this is Li Chang'an. Don't let his youth fool you, he's already a mid-grade talisman master."

"Oh?"

Chen Yuanshan's expression remained calm as he looked Li Chang'an over several times.

Among mid-grade talisman masters, Li Chang'an was indeed considered young.

"Young friend, you haven't become a guest elder of the Zheng family? Why haven't I seen you before?"

"This junior is indeed not a guest elder of the Zheng family."

Li Chang'an's expression was respectful as he replied courteously.

Next, Chen Yuanshan casually asked a few more questions.

Luo Kun at the side watched with secret delight, feeling Li Chang'an had a chance.

"However, this young man is still a bit stiff. This old man will have to teach him more in the future!"

Luo Kun was confident he could teach Li Chang'an well, after all, he was an expert in this area.

Soon, with Luo Kun's intentional help, Li Chang'an integrated into the circle of talisman masters around Chen Yuanshan.

He also got the opportunity to exchange a few words with his daughter, Chen Qianya.

"Miss Chen."

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Li."

Chen Qianya wore an indigo blue long dress, with eyebrows like crescent moons and deep eyes. Her appearance was indeed quite good but her attitude was extremely cold.

She was like this not only toward Li Chang'an, but toward all the other young talents as well.

This was because she felt these people were all after the talisman inheritance, so she didn't give anyone a pleasant face, hiding a trace of faint disgust in her eyes.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

DIV Chapter 57: Black Wind Mountain's Rage

The Zheng family's ancestor had been defeated!

Would Qinghe Market still belong to the Zheng family in the future?

This question arose in many people's minds.

However, the development of the situation was beyond most people's expectations.

"Buzz—"

The entire market suddenly trembled.

Immediately after, streams of enormous spiritual power surged from various parts of the market, connecting together like an inverted translucent giant bowl that instantly enveloped the entire market.

"What happened?"

This sudden unexpected change caused quite a few people's expressions to change.

Especially the robber cultivators who had been frantically plundering earlier, they all felt a trace of uneasiness in their hearts.

The entire market seemed to be locked by a terrifying formation!

Zheng Yuandao entered the formation array, his aged eyes staring directly at Cao Zhenghong.

"Cao Zhenghong, do you dare enter the formation for battle?"

"Enter the formation?"

Cao Zhenghong stopped his movement.

He looked at that massive formation array, a trace of wariness flashing in his eyes.

"A second-tier mid-grade formation array, the Water Magnificence Sky Curtain Formation!"

There was a well-known saying in the cultivation world: Never enter any formation carelessly!

Even the simplest formation array should not be entered lightly.

Cao Zhenghong did not enter the formation, shouting loudly, "Old ghost Zheng, years ago you blocked outside the Cao family's ancestral land, forcing this old man to not dare leave the formation. Now it's this old man's turn to block you!"

Inside the formation array, Zheng Yuandao's expression was grave.

At this moment, it was exactly like that moment. Only the identities of the two had been swapped.

"Words are useless, do you dare enter the formation for battle?"

Positioned within the formation array, Zheng Yuandao shouted again.

Cao Zhenghong's figure remained motionless, only letting out a cold laugh.

"Old ghost Zheng, your lifespan is limited. How much longer can you hold on? After you die, with no one to control this formation array, this old man has plenty of ways to break it!"

"Hmph!"

Zheng Yuandao snorted coldly and waved his large hand.

Instantly, a terrifying spiritual power condensed and formed. Like a sharp sword, it immediately cut through the night sky, heading straight for Cao Zhenghong.

"Under this Water Magnificence Sky Curtain, there really is another formation hidden, formation within formation!"

Cao Zhenghong's figure flickered, dodging this attack.

He stared at the formation array, revealing even more wariness in his eyes.

Continuing to fight was meaningless.

Cao Zhenghong chose to leave. After all, he was younger and had no need to take risks.

Before leaving, he laughed loudly, "Old ghost Zheng, I heard you have a descendant named Zheng Qingqing. Let her marry my clan's Qilin son as a concubine. With our two clans united in marriage, after you die, this old man can help you maintain control of the market."

Upon hearing this, many Zheng family disciples showed angry expressions on their faces.

How could the Zheng family's eldest miss become someone else's concubine?

These words from Cao Zhenghong were pure humiliation to the Zheng family.

...

Below, in the courtyard, Luo Kun was explaining to Li Chang'an the grievances between the Cao family and Zheng family over the years.

"The young clan leader of this generation of the Cao family is named Cao Shaolin, called the 'Qilin son' by the Cao family. He has outstanding talent and is a Foundation Establishment seed of the Cao family. Despite his young age, he is already a late-stage Qi Refining expert."

In terms of status and position, he was equal to Zheng Qingqing.

"If the two families truly wanted to unite in marriage, the young miss could not possibly be a concubine, she would have to have the status of a legitimate wife. However, the possibility of marriage is too small."

Luo Kun spoke slowly, analyzing seriously.

Li Chang'an looked up at the formation array covering the entire market.

"Such a powerful second-tier grand formation."

If he could have a second-tier formation array, his cultivation would be much more secure.

Just as he was thinking, the formation array changed again.

Spiritual energy surged violently, and countless blades formed within the market, suddenly striking at those robber cultivators who had previously plundered.

"Ah—Ah—"

Screams rang out in various parts of the market.

Some begged for mercy in panic, others desperately resisted, but all results were futile.

In the blink of an eye, the entire market fell into silence.

All robber cultivators were mercilessly killed, and the bloody smell was so thick it wouldn't dissipate.

The slaughter of this night came to an end.

"It looks like there shouldn't be any more accidents."

Luo Kun cupped his hands in farewell and returned to repair his courtyard.

Li Chang'an's puppet body also returned to the house.

His real body was still outside the market, planning to hide for a few more days.

...

Time passed quickly.

Before he knew it, several days had gone by.

"The market has mostly recovered."

Li Chang'an's puppet body walked through the market, observing everywhere.

All corpses and bloodstains had been cleaned up, and even the damaged houses and shops had been repaired.

Everything seemed to have returned to its former appearance.

However, some people could never return.

On his way home, he unexpectedly encountered Zheng Qingqing.

"Greetings, young miss."

"Fellow Daoist Li."

Zheng Qingqing wore a smile, her tone as gentle as usual.

She seemed unaffected by this incident.

The two chatted casually for a moment.

Most of the conversation content was related to the changes of the past few days.

After chatting for a while, Zheng Qingqing suddenly asked, "Fellow Daoist Li, Zheng Jinbao has been nowhere to be seen these past few days. Have you seen him?"

Li Chang'an immediately shook his head, his tone unchanged.

"I have not seen him."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Qingqing's expression remained normal, and she didn't pursue the matter further.

Before long, the two ended their conversation.

Several more days passed.

Zheng Jinbao still had not returned to the market.

The Zheng family announced publicly that he had perished, killed by Black Wind Mountain robber cultivators.

When the news came out, many rogue cultivators in the market were secretly delighted.

"Excellent, that dog finally died!"

"Those robber cultivators from Black Wind Mountain actually did something good for once!"

At this moment, in the Hall of All Affairs at the center of the market, Zheng Ming temporarily took over some of the steward's responsibilities.

He found it strange and asked quietly, "Young miss, was Uncle Jinbao really killed by Black Wind Mountain robber cultivators?"

Zheng Qingqing's bright eyes were like water as she glanced in the direction of Li Chang'an's residence.

"Perhaps."

...

Soon, this news reached Li Chang'an's ears.

He immediately felt surprised.

"Black Wind Mountain?"

It should be known that Zheng Jinbao had always maintained connections with Black Wind Mountain.

The two sides had cooperated for years.

Now, Zheng Jinbao was announced to have died at the hands of Black Wind Mountain robber cultivators.

It was quite ironic.

"This is good, someone is taking the blame for me."

Li Chang'an felt relieved and continued cultivating.

...

However, the robber cultivators of Black Wind Mountain were unwilling to take this blame.

"Pure nonsense!"

A furious roar suddenly rang out from the robber cultivators' hiding place.

"That dog Zheng Jinbao could provide us with inside information about the Zheng family. I would protect him before it was too late, how could I possibly kill him?"

Hearing this voice full of rage, many robber cultivators looked at each other and all remained silent, none daring to respond.

This was because the angry person was none other than the chief of Black Wind Mountain.

"Fourth and Fifth, have you investigated clearly? Who has Zheng Jinbao made enemies with recently?"

"This..."

The Fourth and Fifth Chiefs of Black Wind Mountain looked at each other.

Finally, the Fifth Chief steeled himself and stepped forward.

"Big Brother, a few days ago, Zheng Jinbao hired us to kill someone."

"Kill whom?"

"A talisman master named Li Chang'an."

The Fifth Chief answered honestly.

"But at that time we had accepted tasks from the Cao family and Wu family, we really couldn't spare the manpower."

"Oh? Is that Li Chang'an still alive?"

The Chief frowned.

The Fifth Chief wasn't certain, because too many people had died in the market chaos, and hesitantly answered.

"He should still be alive."

"Go to the market and see. If he's still alive, bring him to me!"

"Yes."

...

Before long, a funeral for Zheng Jinbao was hastily held.

Li Chang'an was actually considered one of his close friends in life and received a funeral invitation.

"I'm considered a close friend too?"

He truly found it both funny and exasperating.

In the end, Li Chang'an did not attend, only entrusting Luo Kun to convey his condolences.

At the funeral, the atmosphere was somber.

Many Zheng family disciples were present.

Zheng Ling'er came to Zheng Qingqing's side and asked quietly, "Sister Qingqing, is that senior who saved me before alright? Why haven't I seen him all this time?"

Her pretty face was full of worry, concerned that the senior had met with misfortune during the market chaos.

[NEXT CHAPTER]