Wasteland Border Inspector

Chapter 108 Deceiving the Heavens and Obtaining Huge Profits!
"No wonder he's a long-time employee at the station, he's very energetic!"

Cheng Ye bent down and patted the dog's head.

The black dog was well cared for, not afraid of people at all, and its fur felt as smooth as silk.

What's even more amazing is that after being scolded by Ah She, the dog became incredibly obedient.

Even though it was only the first time they met, she kept rubbing against his palm, showing great intelligence.

"Little Blackie was brought back from another province by the pioneering corps. It is said to be a hybrid of a mutated beast and a mutated beast. Although its combat power is not as strong as that of the mutated beast, its intelligence is very high. We have specially trained it to be sensitive to high-value items. As long as it is not hidden too ridiculously, it can be found with just a sniff."

Cheng Ye understood the implication: Xiao Heizi alone couldn't stop all the smugglers.

But that's normal; the devil is always one step ahead of the saint.

As long as the profits are substantial enough, caravans will always rack their brains to devise new ways to hide their goods.

"Let's go, on duty!"

Cheng Ye swiped open the isolation door. Despite being just an intern, his movements were swift and showed no signs of unfamiliarity.

Ah She's eyes flickered almost imperceptibly behind him, a hint of surprise flashing across them before a barely concealed joy spread across them.

"This Prosecutor Cheng doesn't look like a newcomer; he's quite energetic!"

He secretly praised him and quickly grabbed Xiao Heizi to follow.

For inspectors, the four quarantine zones are not much different; the only difference is the amount of profit and the level of risk.

But for these grassroots observers, the promotion criteria vary drastically from district to district.

For example, in Zone A, the key indicator is stability. As long as there are no serious accidents throughout the year, a good rating can be obtained.

In Zone C, the rules are completely different. Performance indicators determine everything, and the more smuggled goods uncovered, the better the evaluation results.

thump.

The checkpoint bell rang, and entry and exit officially began.

However, before the four trucks could even start and drive in, a large crowd suddenly surged out from outside the yellow line.

"so many people?"

Yesterday, the checkpoint reopened, allowing entry but not exit.

Today, the restrictions were finally lifted completely, and residents were finally able to leave the buffer zone and venture into the wilderness.

Cheng Ye stood up and looked out, and couldn't help but click his tongue. In less than half a minute, at least several hundred people had rushed out, and there were also more than a dozen vehicles mixed in.

Even though it's still raining right now, and judging by the intensity of the rain, it probably won't stop until the afternoon.

But faced with the enormous profits of the first wave of investors, some are still tempted and willing to take the risk.

Like this caravan, even knowing that the wilderness is fraught with danger, they still travel thousands of miles to come.

drop.

As we were looking out, four trucks finally started up, honking their horns briefly as they drove into the inspection lane.

The passageway in Zone C is equipped with a large weighbridge, and the total weight of the vehicles will be displayed on the screen in real time.

The first vehicle weighs 17.7 tons.

"Wow, that's quite a lot! It's heavy!"

Cheng Ye glanced at the data.

There are no traffic rules in the wasteland, and nobody cares about weight limits. But a 9.6-meter truck can only carry a maximum of about 20 tons. Any more than that would seriously affect its efficiency in navigating special terrain.

Generally speaking, a load of 16 tons or more is considered fully loaded.

"Sir, what are you doing?"

As Ah She watched Cheng Ye pull out the Thunderbolt 1 from his backpack and begin assembling it with practiced ease, he was stunned.

"In case."

Cheng Ye grinned, his hands still busy, assembling the Thunderbolt 1 and then quickly assembling the Ranger. "The more of this thing you haul, the more varied the places it's been to, and there's always a chance of trouble."

Caution is the boat.

Unlike in Area A, he didn't hide the two guns under the table; instead, he casually placed them on the table.

If this convoy were to experience an outbreak of infected individuals, they could simply grab a gun and fight back without hesitation.

In addition, Cheng Ye had another purpose.

He looks too young. If the caravan thinks he's an inexperienced pushover, their cooperation might be greatly reduced.

At that moment, he placed the two guns on the table and, with his exceptional eyesight, he could vaguely see the bearded man in the passenger seat of the first car, who was leaning back in his seat and had straightened up slightly.

"Stop right there, one vehicle at a time. Come in only after you've finished inspecting them!"

Ah She grabbed the megaphone at her waist and shouted.

As soon as the first truck entered the inspection area and before it even came to a complete stop, the bearded man in the passenger seat pushed open the door and jumped out to identify himself.

A red mountain badge was passed through a small window in the isolation netting; it was clear this wasn't their first time trading in Happiness City.

Instead of taking it directly with his hands, Ah She took out a clip from his tool bag at his waist, clipped the badge to it, and walked back to Cheng Ye's side.

"Sir, when you completed the duty assignment for Zone C, the Defense Communication device should have already been activated."

"Have it?"

Cheng Ye asked in confusion, then took out his defense communication device.

Surprisingly, a new icon appeared on the desktop—the familiar camera icon.

Below are four words: 【Photo Recognition】.

The moment I clicked on it, the back cover of the Defense Phone vibrated slightly and popped open a small gap, revealing the hidden camera.

Holy crap, this brick even has a camera?

Cheng Ye was stunned. When he first got his hands on the Defense Communication device, he thought it was just an old-fashioned mobile phone.

Later, when I discovered that it could verify badges and also check information by touch, I realized that the technology level had barely reached the era of candybar phones.

But as we've used it all this time, more and more features have emerged, and now it's almost on par with modern smartphones.

Of course, the smoothness is still far from perfect. Just like when you take a picture with a camera now, if you move your hand even slightly fast, a visible afterimage will appear on the screen.

“Each Sanctuary City’s badge has a special anti-counterfeiting design. These designs are not disclosed to the general public and are only circulated among Sanctuary Cities. To verify authenticity, you only need to take a picture of the badge to match it with the database.”

"it is good!"

Cheng Ye secretly praised him and tried his best to keep the camera steady while taking pictures of the front and back of the badge.

The screen flickered for more than ten seconds before a message popped up.

[Identity verified, Hongshan Shelter City, Hainan Province]

[Identity Category: Free Caravan]

[Status Level: Level 3]

Not only were their authenticity verified, but the ownership and class of the caravan were also clearly identified.

The fact that it's labeled as a "free caravan" indicates that this caravan is only affiliated with Red Mountain Sanctuary and is not directly under the government's control.

As for the level
The evaluation criteria vary from city to city, and this information is not included in the internship assessment.

But level three sounds like a mid-level caravan, not top-tier, but certainly not a low-level caravan.

"no problem."

"Okay, I'll have them submit the order form right away."

Ah She returned to the door with the badge in her hand, whispered a few words to the bearded man, and soon came back with an envelope.

Cheng Ye put on rubber gloves and opened the envelope, which contained more than ten receipts.

The handwriting on the first few pages was fairly neat, and the lines were barely legible.

But as you flip through the pages, the handwriting becomes so illegible it looks like chicken claws scratched it. Not only are the quantities written in a blurry way, but even the product names are so difficult to decipher that you have to guess the first few characters.

"Sir, this gang of smugglers are seasoned veterans; they're very difficult to deal with."

Ah She glanced at the document and made a conclusion without looking at it closely. "The three caravans that came yesterday all followed the same pattern. If they were really hiding contraband, they would have written it ambiguously on the document. But if you just look at it like this, you can't find anything fishy at all."

"Compared to the caravan that arrived yesterday, which is larger?"

"Yesterday the checkpoint reopened, so the caravans were larger. However, caravans from out-of-province shelter cities that can usually reach our Happiness City are usually around 3 to 7 trucks. And don't be fooled by the fact that they only drove trucks; the armed escort vehicles were parked in the wilderness and didn't come any closer."

"Did the prosecutor find out yesterday?"

"Yesterday, Inspector Joe was on duty. He registered approximately 2100 high-value items that passed through customs, and also discovered five other items, worth about 1400 points each."

As Ah She spoke, he suddenly stammered and didn't dare to continue.

"Was it a toll payment for the inspector that the caravan deliberately didn't hide?"

"Yes!"

Ah She nodded. It wasn't anything shameful, but he couldn't say it out loud, otherwise it would be suspected that he was making fun of the prosecutor's incompetence.

Value 1400
Based on a 15% calculation, that's 210 points.

Cheng Ye's mind was racing. Yesterday, he worked hard all day at the quarantine checkpoint A, but only earned 150 yuan.

The toll offered by the caravan in Zone C was a whopping 210?!
Moreover, these people are offering such high tolls; how much are the things they've hidden away worth?
"In previous cases of this scale, how much could have been hidden if a full investigation had been conducted?"

"Investigate the entire area."

Ah She pondered for a moment, "There's no fixed number. It depends on the size of the protected city, the routes the caravans take, and the season. Generally speaking, autumn has the most, averaging at least five or six thousand contribution points worth of goods, while spring has the least, maybe only two or three thousand. However, this year the weather is unusual, winter came early, so the autumn smuggling boom might have started earlier."

hiss.

How many?

Five or six thousand?
Cheng Ye was secretly alarmed. If this could be found out, wouldn't he be able to get several hundred points based on the commission?

"Given this scale, the value of goods a caravan normally carries should be around ten to twenty thousand points?"

"Correct."

Ah She nodded, "Generally speaking, 25% to 35% of the value of the goods is gross profit. After deducting losses on the way, the commission paid to our own shelter city, and various unexpected expenses, the final amount that can be taken into our hands is about 20%."

Based on a value of 20,000 points, the net profit would be 4,000 points.

Compared to the risks of traversing the wilderness, the rewards are really not much.

But the caravan's profits come from reselling. For example, they can exchange the 4,000 points for firearms in Happiness City and then sell them to settlements or small sanctuaries that are unable to produce their own weapons, thus multiplying their profits several times over.

After completing a round trip and returning to their own safe haven for the winter, the total income from trading this year is estimated to be around 10,000 to 20,000 points.

In addition, by exchanging their earnings for winter supplies along the way, even without considering the contribution points they received, the supplies alone would be enough for everyone in a caravan of a hundred people to have a comfortable and prosperous winter.

Of course, in order to continue to develop and expand the caravan, these alone are far from enough; "extra income" is also necessary.

Cheng Ye immediately understood that these smuggling profits were the key to the expansion of the caravan.

They traded these items between various sanctuary cities to make a profit.

20% is definitely not profitable, since high-value items are hard currency wherever they go.

A 30% loss would be a small loss; not only would the profits be gone, but some losses would likely occur as well, though it would still be within the tolerance range of these caravans.

But if the smuggling is successful, with a 20% profit margin, five thousand would be an extra thousand points of income, equivalent to an extra truckload of goods.

"Understood. Have them drive in and begin the inspection."

Since there was no point in looking at the order form, Cheng Ye simply tossed it aside.

This is the first time the caravan has been inspected.

He felt a restless urge, especially after experiencing the convenience of intelligence gathering; he couldn't resist trying it again.

It's so convenient; you can see a person's inner secrets.

But at the same time, he was also curious whether searching for items would allow him to find copies of the high-value items these people had hidden.
"I was so focused on searching for skills before, but now I realize that the intelligence and item search functions are a perfect match for the job of an inspector. They are definitely god-level functions."

Cheng Ye pondered to himself.

Unfortunately, after searching for Thunder Tiger, the charging value was only 27%, and it was time to carefully calculate and choose one of the two options again.

Fortunately, given today's situation, Liu Kun shouldn't be coming back.

Otherwise, Lei Hu would have immediately ordered him to switch places with Song Hai next door to prevent any accidents.

Thinking this way, Cheng Ye felt a little relieved.

An 8-hour slow charging session at a charging station can only replenish about 15% of the battery, which is insufficient.

It seems I'll have to go to the Public Works Department and Lau Kwong Industrial Co., Ltd. again after get off work to discuss the construction of the pedestrian street!
It just so happens that Mr. Zhang is on this route, so it's perfectly reasonable to give him a ride to charge the bus.

As I pondered, the isolation door slid open with a "click," and the truck slowly drove into the inspection area.

Having someone assist with the inspection is so convenient. Before Cheng Ye could even get up, A She had already strode forward and gestured for the truck to stop in the designated parking space.

The truck driver opened the driver's side door, jumped out deftly, and without saying a word, stood in the inspection position with his hands raised, his posture unusually practiced.

"You know the rules of our Happiness City, right?" Cheng Ye sat behind the table, his gaze sweeping over the other person.

"I understand, sir."

The driver nodded in agreement, his tone fairly respectful.

"Well."

Cheng Ye gestured to Ah She with his chin, indicating that he should come forward to check.

Little Blackie had already moved closer to the truck, sniffing left and right, looking for scents.

"Sir, all the data are normal and within the acceptable range."

"Okay, take off your clothes and check the wound."

As soon as Cheng Ye finished speaking, the driver began to take off his shirt, revealing a large belly covered with thick chest hair.

What startled him was that the driver's body was covered in old scars, with layers upon layers of claw marks and bite marks of varying depths, clearly indicating that he had been through a lot in the wilderness.

Fortunately, the scars have completely healed, with smooth, dark edges, and do not look like they pose a risk of infection.

Ah She circled around once, and even pulled down the man's underwear to take a few peeks.

"No new injuries."

“Very good.” Cheng Ye nodded and gestured for the driver to move to a corner of the inspection area.

It's unlikely that a caravan of this size would allow an infected person to enter on the lead vehicle.

Otherwise, if even one person is found to be at risk of infection, it will immediately cause problems with the caravan's transactions.

"Inspect the goods!"

The truck's rear cargo door is open.

Cheng Ye walked over and was so shocked that he was speechless.

Large, green bricks, resembling ice cubes, filled the entire carriage, emitting a faint fragrance.

He was very familiar with the aroma; it was the smell of the nutrient syrup!

"Are they all nutrient solution ingredients?"

Little Blackie nimbly jumped onto the truck, sniffing among the piles of raw materials, trying to find any other scents besides the raw materials themselves. Snake also called over a team of eight workers, who began unloading the raw materials one by one for careful inspection.

This is indeed hard work.

A single brick weighs at least 200 kilograms and requires four people to move it.

As the carriage gradually emptied, everyone was drenched in sweat, and afterwards they would have to move all the raw materials back onto the train.

But there's no way around it; this is the complete inspection process.

Ah She led four people to inspect the interior of the carriage, carefully checking for any traces of contamination from sources of infection.

The remaining four people were busy working on the unloaded raw materials. Since they couldn't use instruments to test them, they could only judge by touch, sight, and weight.

Is it possible that the substance is hidden inside these raw materials?

Cheng Ye also bent down and examined a piece. The raw material felt hard to the touch, like a stone. If there was something hidden inside, he couldn't very well break the raw material apart to check.

"My lord, you see this mark indicates it's a product of the Green Field Shelter City."

A staff member pointed to the upper right corner of the raw material, where a small green grass mark was indeed engraved.

“Generally speaking, small settlements might cooperate with caravans to do such smuggling, but even the smallest protected city will not allow caravans to ruin their reputation.”

Biye Shelter City and Red Mountain both belong to the Sea Province, and Biye Shelter City is one of the shelter cities closest to Happiness City.

It's unknown how many bags of nutrient syrup each piece of raw material can make, but one piece is worth approximately 50 contribution points.

After careful calculation, the value of this truckload of goods fluctuates around 3500 contribution points.

If they could take a 30% cut like Area A, they'd be rolling in money.

However, this is considered an essential commodity for people's livelihood, and bringing it to Happiness City will even earn you an extra reward.

The prosecutor's handbook doesn't specify what the reward is.

"Looks like I need to go back and study the manual again."

Cheng Ye thought to himself, "I was so focused on memorizing things to pass the test that I didn't really understand the intricacies of the process. Otherwise, I would have been able to make a more accurate judgment in this situation."

The manual contained numerous case studies, but he only aimed to pass the assessment and hastily memorized them.

However, it's not too late to realize this now; we can always catch up on this lesson eventually.

Moreover, this time it's not just about rote memorization; there are ready-made examples to compare and study, which will definitely make the understanding more thorough.

It took half an hour just to inspect the first car.

"Sir, no problem." Ah She jumped out of the carriage, dusted off his hands, and said, "No signs of contamination from the source of infection were found inside the carriage."

Meanwhile, the staff had also finished weighing all the raw materials and reported: "The weight error of each piece of nutrient syrup raw material is within 1 kilogram, so the possibility of hiding things can be basically ruled out."

"Then drive it out for disinfection."

Cheng Ye gave the order in a deep voice.

The staff in Zone C were unable to find the problem, and Xiao Heizi did not report any abnormalities.

As an inspector on duty in Zone C for the first time, it was naturally impossible for him to find any flaws out of thin air.

"Thank you for your wise judgment, sir!"

As the driver hunched over the inspection platform, he deliberately bowed and offered a compliment before starting the truck and driving towards the disinfection area in front of the garage, as instructed by the staff.

The entire vehicle will be thoroughly cleaned there, with particular attention to removing any potential sources of infection from the tires and chassis to prevent the truck from entering the buffer zone and spreading contamination.

"The second one!"

The bearded man raised his hand and gestured, and the second truck slowly drove onto the weighbridge. The screen displayed: 15.5 tons.

Is it this heavy again?
Cheng Ye raised an eyebrow, suddenly realizing exactly where the difficulty of inspecting Zone C lay.

Checking for infected individuals may not be the main focus; uncovering hidden contraband in the cargo is the primary task.

Otherwise, spending a day on duty here would be a waste of time. Who expects to make a living from the meager "happiness coins" issued at the checkpoint?

What's more, an announcement was just made a couple of days ago that all prosecutors' monthly salaries will be halved until next summer. As an intern, he only gets 250 coins a month.

The second truck came to a stop.

The driver got out of the car and underwent the inspection as per procedure. All the data were normal, and then he stood in a corner to wait.

With a whoosh, the box door was pulled open, but instead of nutrient solution, it contained stacks of long, rectangular objects wrapped tightly in waterproof tarpaulin, which looked more orderly than the nutrient solution raw materials.

Before Ah She could even lift the tarpaulin, a strong smell of the sea rose up from below, its salty and astringent aroma assaulting his nostrils.

"Seafood?"

Cheng Ye was stunned for a moment, and then he saw the oilcloth being completely torn open, revealing neatly arranged long strips of dried salted fish inside!

Oops.

More than ten tons of salted dried fish?
In an instant, everyone present licked their lips.

Although drinking too much bland nutritional syrup can numb your sense of taste, it doesn't mean you've lost your appreciation for food.

Even Cheng Ye couldn't help but swallow hard, inexplicably wanting to taste what this salted fish tasted like.

Only Xiao Heizi remained calm, sniffing around the pile of goods with its ears drooping, dutifully searching for any unusual smells.

"Sir, these old smugglers must know what Little Blackie is capable of."

Ah She put down the tarpaulin, his face looking rather grim, his tone tinged with annoyance, "That's why the goods in these two carriages smell so strongly, deliberately masking other odors so that even Xiao Heizi can't tell the difference."

When he met the young Prosecutor Cheng, he also wanted to demonstrate his abilities and gain his favor.

But no one expected to run into a group of veterans, which was a direct slap in the face.

"Don't be impatient. First, check for infection risks and do your job well."

Cheng Ye softened his tone and reassured her.

Seeing that he was not anxious at all, everyone gradually calmed down and continued to work diligently.

Since the salted fish should not be exposed to water, the staff had to quickly set up a huge rain shelter from the back. A thick waterproof cloth was then laid on the bottom of the shelter before the dried fish were taken out in batches for inspection.

This perfectly aligns with Cheng Ye's understanding of the inspection work in Area C during his duty in Area A last week.

All the work I did was dirty and tiring!
But the search still couldn't find anything. The dried salted fish were all tightly packed together, piled up and tied together so tightly that it was impossible to tell whether anything was hidden by just searching.

Cheng Ye glanced sideways and caught a glimpse of a subtle smile playing on the bearded man's lips. It was so quick it seemed like an illusion, yet it exuded an indescribable arrogance.

So crazy?
You don't really think I, the prosecutor, can't deal with you?
Cheng Ye suppressed his surging thoughts and bent down to check the dried fish with the staff.

Everyone was focused and determined, even suppressing their craving for dried fish, and their hands moved more carefully.

"Sir, the interior of the carriage has been inspected and there are no problems."

After inspecting the area, Ah She jumped down and joined the inspection team.

Suddenly someone groaned. Cheng Ye looked in the direction of the sound and saw that a staff member's palm had been torn open by the sharp barbs on the fish's mouth, and blood was flowing down between his fingers.

"Sir, these are all dried swordfish, a specialty of our Red Mountain Shelter City. Be careful when handling them!"

The bearded man stood outside and shouted.

Cheng Ye turned his head and their eyes met. The bearded man's face was expressionless, and he shrugged calmly, as if to say that this had nothing to do with them and that they had brought it on themselves.

"interesting."

A sense of interest arose in Cheng Ye's heart.

Having lived in Happiness City for so long, I've grown accustomed to everyone's utmost respect for the prosecutor. This is the first time I've encountered someone who shows an expression beyond mere respect.

That hint of probing, arrogance, and swagger made him feel that this oppressive world suddenly had a bit more vitality.

He stood up, took off his rubber gloves, which were stained with fish, threw them into the isolation box next to him, and turned around to sit back down at the table.

The driver crouching in the corner and the bearded man outside the safety net tensed up at the same time. Seeing that Cheng Ye didn't touch his gun but instead started looking through the delivery slip, they both breathed a sigh of relief.

To be honest, even they themselves had a headache after writing this order, so there was no need to worry that Cheng Ye could figure anything out from it.

"What's your name?"

"Me?" Cheng Ye suddenly looked up and stared at him, and the bearded man called out, "Sir, my name is Jin Dafei."

As soon as he finished speaking, the values ​​on the panel changed slightly, and a line of text flashed.

[Jin Dafei, 11%, Searchable range: Intelligence]

"Such a low level of cooperation?"

Cheng Ye shook his head inwardly, silently chanting 'smuggling high-value items', and clicked on the intelligence search.

If it were just Jin Dafei's arrogant attitude, it wouldn't have provoked him to search.

But those words just now stirred something within him.

Jin Dafei said that the dried swordfish was a specialty of Hongshan Shelter City. Since it could be transported all the way to Xingfu City, it meant that this caravan was not a middleman dealing in ordinary goods, and there was probably other "specialties" hidden on the cart.

A truckload of dried salted fish, if of good quality, can easily earn at least 3,000 points.

The value of those hidden local specialties is definitely not low!
Even if I only get a 15% cut, it might be equivalent to the income I would make working in Zone A for several days.

The characters on the panel flashed by rapidly, and this time Cheng Ye deliberately focused his gaze on Ah She and the others.

Sure enough, as the surrounding environment suddenly darkened, everyone's movements froze instantly, as if a pause button had been pressed.

The next second, the image shattered and then reconstructed in the blink of an eye, revealing a huge garage.

Four cargo trucks were lined up neatly, and in front of them were six pickup trucks with weapons mounted on their back beds, as well as two SUVs. This should be the escort force for the caravan.

Jin Dafei stood at the front, and a short man stepped forward and handed him a folder. The two talked in hushed tones.

With a thought, Cheng Ye suddenly zoomed in and immediately heard their conversation.

"Is everything arranged?"

"Don't worry, everything is done according to plan."

"I'll see."

As Jin Dafei spoke, he strode to the back of the truck loaded with dried fish and casually pointed to a few dried swordfish.

Immediately, a subordinate stepped forward, grabbed the back half of the fish's head, and pressed it down sharply to pry open the fish's mouth. Without hesitation, he reached into the sharp mouthparts and pulled out a small bag of shimmering powder from deep inside the fish's belly.

Differential crystallization?

Sure enough, they had it!

Cheng Ye quickly zoomed in for a closer look and saw that the swordfish's mouthparts were indeed sharp; the staff member who had just been injured by this thing was the one who had cut him.

However, once you pinch the back of the fish's head, you can bend the fish's mouth to a fixed angle, and your fingers can just avoid the sharp bones and go inside.

The powder was hidden inside the fish's cavity, and those who didn't know the trick would definitely give up on the inspection as soon as they saw the menacing mouth.

"Something."

The first hiding place was found, but the intelligence feed continued uninterrupted.

Jin Dafei turned and walked toward the fourth truck. Inside the truck bed were clumps of seaweed ropes twisted into balls. Cheng Ye was familiar with this stuff; it was highlighted in the manual and was a signature product of Hongshan Shelter City.

Made from the fibers of deep-sea kelp through repeated pounding and weaving, it is as tough as steel wire but weighs only one-eighth of steel wire. Whether used as a buffer rope for industrial connections or sold as a tool at retail, it has extremely high value.

Jin Dafei squatted down and picked up a sea rope ball from the top shelf.

The rope had a translucent amber color on its surface and was tightly wrapped. He pinched the top of the rope ball with his fingers and suddenly found a slightly thicker end of the rope. He gently pulled along the grain of the rope.

The originally airtight rope ball suddenly blossomed like a flower, revealing a cluster of fine silver threads wrapped around its center.

The thin thread is a hollow seaweed tube; when one end is cut open, a pale blue powder immediately pours out.

“The demand for steel crystal powder, which can increase the service life of machinery, is huge in Happiness City. If we can bring it in, we’ll make at least more money on this trip.” The short man leaned closer and held up a finger.

One hundred, or one thousand?
Cheng Ye was shocked. If it was the latter, with a 20% tax rate, wouldn't this thing be worth 5,000 points?
Holy crap, this feels kind of addictive.

If he can catch him, wouldn't he make a whopping 750 points?
"Won't the slipknot be noticeable?"

"Absolutely not. It looks just like a regular rope ball. You can only take it apart by finding the lead rope."

The short man patted his chest and assured them, "I've had many people try it, and not one of them could find any flaws. In addition, I've also mixed some crystalline powder into the bottom of the carriage, so their attention will definitely be drawn to that stuff."

"Well done."

Jin Dafei nodded slightly.

The moment the words left his mouth, the intelligence space shattered.

Cheng Ye snapped back to reality and found himself still in the inspection area, where time, which had been still, began to flow again.

The staff were still inspecting the dried fish, and Ah She was bandaging the wounds of the injured person.

"The rope?"

He frowned as he looked at the panel.

[Intelligence Target: Jin Dafei]

[Designated Focus: Related to the smuggling of high-value goods]

[Intelligence Quality: Level 0.9 (Information quality decreases by 0.1 after a target is specified)]

[Current number of replays: 4]

"We were lucky this time; the price only dropped by 0.1."

Cheng Ye thought for a moment and then clicked on the replay, re-entering the intelligence space.

This time, he focused on observing how Jin Dafei discovered the guide rope after getting into the car.

After replaying the video twice, a clue was finally discovered.

The sea bream rope contains extremely fine seashell powder, which reflects a faint luster at certain angles. Unfortunately, this luster is so weak that it can only be barely seen in the dim light of night.

Even on a rainy day, it would be difficult for anyone to spot this hidden mark; one would have to close the hatch and use a flashlight to find it.

"Wow, people are really something! They'll come up with all sorts of clever tricks to make money!"

Cheng Ye could only marvel.

The exact quantity of the mutated crystals inside the fish's belly is unknown, but their value is at least over a thousand points.

If they can hide it, it's equivalent to gaining 200 points, plus the 1000 from the steel crystal powder. No wonder the caravan went to such lengths to hide it; the profit is already more than a whole cartload of goods.

But now, these "extra benefits" are going to the checkpoints.

Moreover, based on a 15% commission, the Red Mountain Caravan will bring him a huge income of nearly a thousand points, enough to buy the basic technology to open a factory, and with a few more points, he could even buy a 10kWh battery.

It's true what they say: a man can't get rich without unexpected wealth, and a horse can't get fat without night grazing.

I doubt that this "small amount of money" would be exchanged for contribution points at the checkpoint.
Cheng Ye closed the panel, a slight smile involuntarily tugging at the corner of his mouth.

To be honest, after just one inspection, he started to like the quarantine zone C model.

This place places even greater emphasis on the prosecutor's personal professional competence than Area A. If the competence is average, it's a complete waste of time; if the competence is strong, the benefits can be doubled or even several times over.

"Thank you for your support in community development. The residents of Tianyuan will always remember you!"

He stood up, his gaze meeting the bearded man's, and finally settling on the dried salted fish on the ground.

This thing seems to have the potential for long-term storage.

If we can manage to save some food, even if we go to ruins and wilderness in winter, we won't have to worry about not having enough to eat!
　P.S.: 8.5k views! Thank you for your monthly tickets, dear readers. Once my toothache is better, I'll start updating like crazy!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)