Wasteland Border Inspector

Chapter 147 Leaving the City! The Wilderness! Heading Towards the Stars and the Sea!

The sky is bright.

As soon as Cheng Ye got out of bed, Huo Miao woke up and started crying loudly by the pillow, wanting to eat.

He took out his lighter and lit it with a "click," but the flame still shook its head, and a clear longing flickered in his dark eyes.

"So you finally realize you're hungry?"

Cheng Ye was overjoyed, and his sleepiness vanished instantly.

This is the first time the little guy has asked to eat the firewood in the brazier since he was fed dry firewood last time.

He took out the pendant from his chest and retrieved the Flaming Eagle Brazier.

Without him even lifting a finger, flames, already covered in fine, floating hairs, tilted their heads and leaped directly from the bed into the brazier.

This time, instead of eating from dry firewood, they ate from the dark blue peat fire next to them, emphasizing a balanced diet and ensuring everyone gets their share.

A wisp of pale blue flame was drawn into the fire, and the fur on its body gradually glowed with a faint light, reddish-blue, like being wrapped in a flowing nebula, making it look quite strange.

"Haochi!"

A vague syllable suddenly exploded in Cheng Ye's mind, faint yet clear.

Cheng Ye was stunned for a moment, thinking it was his imagination, but soon the second sound rang out again.

"So bold!"

"Huh?" Cheng Ye stared at the little guy in the brazier, his eyes lighting up. "You can talk to me now?"

The fire was happily eating, its round body rolling around in the fire pit, its fluffy fur shaking and making soft "chirping" sounds, as if responding or simply expressing its satisfaction.

Cheng Ye moved closer and examined him carefully.

It's been five days since Flame was born. It's grown a bit bigger than when we first met, and its fur is thicker.

However, its wings were still soft and tender, and could not yet support flight.

"Was it you who was calling just now?" Cheng Ye asked tentatively.

The flames didn't react; it just rubbed its head against the edge of the brazier, making a "purring" sound in its throat, just like a cat begging for food.

"Okay, eat up. When you're a little older, I'll take you out to see the world."

Cheng Ye poked its head and stopped forcing it. He hadn't forgotten to go to the Survival Library to look for books on raising extraordinary creatures.

Unsurprisingly, there wasn't a single one.

This clearly involves the true secrets of superhumans, which cannot be revealed to ordinary people.

I can only wait for another opportunity to try my luck at the inner city library.

After Huomiao finished eating, Cheng Ye put away the brazier and opened the door to go outside to fetch water for washing up.

I hadn't walked more than a few steps when I saw Jiang Chuan standing in front of the window at the entrance of the building, a wooden stick between his teeth, his fingers tapping on the security device, intently playing the built-in Tetris game.

"Hey, so focused?" Cheng Ye moved closer.

Jiang Chuan didn't look up until he was called out, then he looked up and smiled, "Prosecutor Cheng, it's only a little past six o'clock, you're up pretty early."

"I went to bed early last night, so I woke up early too." Cheng Ye waved the basin of water in his hand. "And you? When did you arrive?"

“I’ve only been here a few minutes, and Station Chief Ding asked me to go with you to complete the second round of assessments.”

Jiang Chuan put away his defense communication device and spat out the wooden stick in his mouth. "The car is parked downstairs. Shall we leave after breakfast?"

"second round?"

Cheng Ye was taken aback. "How do we complete the second round?"

"Let's go to Big Wave Town!"

hum.

After washing up, Cheng Ye made an excuse to go back to his room to prepare his things, but his head was still buzzing.

Are we leaving the city?
Are we heading to the wilderness?

It has to be said that he had been looking forward to this day for a long time.

But when the moment finally arrived, all expectations turned into a blank stare, mixed with an indescribable excitement surging in my chest.

Countless thoughts exploded in my mind, and countless pieces of information were automatically pieced together.

Starting from the checkpoint, we took the provincial highway, passed through the county road, and walked along the township road, finally arriving at Dabo Town.

He had gone through all the routes in his mind countless times last night, even dreaming about leaving Happiness City, stepping off the yellow line, entering the dangerous wilderness, and stepping into Big Wave Town.

It sounds unbelievable, but in his dream, he quickly became the town's mayor.

The hydroelectric power station roared, the fishing grounds hauled in net after net of huge fish, the steam from the cannery drifted over the town's entrance, and products from various handicraft factories were continuously transported out. In his dream, Dabo Town was developing rapidly.

So much so that a few minutes before his alarm went off in the morning, he was still dreaming about holding meetings and discussing with his subordinates the next step in the town's transformation, how to get rid of the limitations of the basic infrastructure, and how to develop more distinctive and competitive advantages.

He felt a little regretful when he woke up; if the dream had lasted longer, his subconscious might have helped him sort out more details.

"Think about it every day and dream about it at night."

"Although I was suddenly going to leave the city, I actually realized it yesterday when I was answering the questions."

Cheng Ye pulled out the armor box from under the bed, and while thinking, he sprayed liquid onto the armor plates.

Don't be fooled by the fact that so many ordinary people can survive in the wilderness and migrate back and forth so casually.

A grain of sand in the era becomes a mountain on everyone's shoulders.

The source of infection in the wilderness is not a wide-ranging attack, but rather a process of continuously selecting lucky individuals from among humans.

If you're unlucky enough to be the one chosen, you'll need to be incredibly strong to survive.

Once donned, the armor covered from neck to ankle, the seams resembling burning flames, exuding a truly imposing aura.

Even the flames seemed to burst out of sight, yelling "Wow!" as if cheering.

Cheng Ye didn't stop, and pulled out a custom-made raincoat from the closet.

This was made after he got the armor; it was specifically designed to cover the outside of the armor.

I haven't had a chance to wear my armor these past few days, but it's come in handy now. I put on the pure black raincoat, which perfectly covers the gold and red armor plates.

Of course, it couldn't hide his suddenly enormous size.

Without his armor, his physique was merely robust, not nearly as muscular as Liu Bi's.

Now, however, he looks like he's been inflated, with broad shoulders and a thick waist, his whole body has grown a size larger, and when he stands there, he exudes a sense of power that makes people's hearts tremble.

Immediately afterwards, Cheng Ye pulled out two waterproof backpacks from under the bed.

He was always a cautious person, and if it weren't a bit strange to bring a suitcase, he would have liked to stuff all his belongings into it.

Finally, two long guns, along with a sufficient number of bullets, must be carried with you.

"almost."

Cheng Ye had a bulging backpack slung over each shoulder and a long gun in each hand.

Standing in front of the mirror, my whole body almost fills the entire mirror surface.

But this is what gives you a sense of security, and this is the attitude you should have when stepping out of the sheltered city into the wilderness.

Pushing open the door, Jiang Chuan, who was standing not far away, raised an eyebrow and glanced at him. Sure enough, he didn't find his cautiousness strange.

"Prosecutor Cheng's attire was very popular during the Great Pioneer era, but it's not commonly seen these days."

"Was it dangerous outside before?" Cheng Ye coughed lightly and asked in a muffled voice.

“The dangers of the past are different from those of now.” As the two walked downstairs, Jiang Chuan explained, “In the past, it was more about the scheming between people. You had to be careful not to be the prey when you went out. Now it’s different. It’s mainly a battle between people and infected sources and mutated beasts.”

At the beginning of the new era, there were not many sources of infection, and the number of infected individuals possessing the body was only one ten-thousandth of that today.

At that time, it was more about cleaning up the mess left behind after the battle of superhumans.

For example, the shattered terrain, city ruins, and some lingering supernatural curses.

After more than a decade of rest and recuperation, the population gradually increased before entering the so-called Great Age of Development.

The opportunities of this era lie in gold mining, in scavenging, and in disorderly development.

“Scooping up things from the old era in the ruins, seizing a piece of land with a water source, and even daring to become a king of the mountains with just a few guns, everyone wants to rise up in the chaos. Large and small forces fight each other non-stop, and groups can be wiped out at any time. It’s more frightening than the current source of infection.”

Jiang Chuan shook his head speechlessly as he spoke, "The chaos and disorder naturally gave the source of infection an opportunity. The dead and the abandoned wounded were easily targeted, and the number of infected people increased accordingly. The source of infection itself also mutated rapidly in this chaos, gradually transforming from a sporadic occurrence into a major enemy threatening human survival." "Now, before the next great era of exploration begins, everyone has learned to maintain a facade of peace."

As the two walked out of the building, it was still drizzling outside. The fine raindrops pattered against their raincoats, making a soft rustling sound.

Jiang Chuan raised his hand and pulled down the hood of his raincoat to cover his head.

“Even if you encounter strangers in the wilderness, you generally won’t make a move unless they’re a fat sheep you’ve been eyeing for a long time.” He said as he walked. “After all, nobody wants to have their hideout wiped out by infected creatures that come smelling blood right after a fight, and nobody wants to offend an unknown force because of it.”

Cheng Ye nodded and made a mental note of this information.

As the two walked out of the residential area, they saw a military green pickup truck parked in front of the convenience store, with a checkpoint sign on it.

To Cheng Ye's utter surprise, the pickup truck bed was filled with quite a few "professional gadgets"!
The two neatly wrapped fishing nets had meshes about three fingers wide and wires about one millimeter in diameter. The brand-new nets gleamed with a fine sheen, and the ropes along the edges were strong and sturdy, clearly indicating that they had not yet been submerged in water.

Two flywheel fishing rods, which looked to be made of carbon steel, leaned against the baffle. The rods were about 2.5 meters long. Cheng Ye's gaze paused for a moment and lingered on the hooks. They were actually large Ise-ni size 12 hooks.

To the side, three blue plastic buckets were placed side by side, and even on a rainy day, a faint fishy smell could be detected.

In addition to these, there was a dark green folding tent, on top of which were camping equipment such as an entrenching tool, a camping light, and a multi-functional saw.

In the corner was a deflated inflatable raft, completely wrapped in a waterproof tarpaulin.

"This is."

Cheng Ye touched the fishing rod. Although he had never actually fished, he had seen quite a few in short videos.

The Ise-ni size 12 hook is designed for fish weighing at least 10 pounds.

Is Jiang Chuan going to take him fishing in Dabo Town to test the feasibility of a fishing economy?
"This is related to your answer yesterday; now it's the second round of questions on the contracting proposal."

Jiang Chuan unlocked the car door, his voice tinged with mystery, "Get in. Your ranking from yesterday and today's questions are in the car. I need to drive over first to change some off-road tires. We'll be back before 10 p.m. tonight!"

"The second round has already started?"

Cheng Ye felt a chill run down his spine. He quickly shook the water droplets off his raincoat, grabbed a rag from beside the car to wipe the wet patches on his back, and then opened the car door to get into the passenger seat.

The interior of the pickup truck was more spacious than I had imagined, and sure enough, there was a familiar brown paper bag in the back seat.

Cheng Ye reached out and took it, unscrewing the cotton thread seal. The documents inside carried the fresh scent of ink.

The top one is a printed ranking list; looking down, his name is prominently listed as number 37.

"so tall?"

Cheng Ye was stunned for a moment, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

He thought that making it into the top 50 this time would be a pleasant surprise, since the fishing economy is a relatively modern and idealistic solution. He didn't expect to break through 40th place and squeeze into the top 30.

"There are two other prosecutors who also chose Dabo Town along with you." Jiang Chuan gripped the steering wheel, glancing at his expression out of the corner of his eye, and said with a grin, "One is in line 39, and the other is in line 41."

Cheng Ye's eyes immediately fell on the form, where he found two other names below, one in the east and one in the west, both of whom were prosecutors in their third term.

The two prosecutors who were on third-phase investigations did not even score higher than him?

Cheng Ye tapped the paper lightly with his fingertips, lost in thought.

Turning to the second page, the various data points of the supercomputer are clearly displayed, each one distinct and intuitive:

【Satellite City - Dabo Town】

[Initiator: Cheng Ye]

Overall score for the proposal: 53 points

[Construction Feasibility: 21 (The construction process faces significant obstacles, including high technical thresholds, stringent environmental restrictions, and the need to overcome numerous barriers at each stage, making implementation extremely difficult)]

[Development Potential: 42 (Possesses certain growth potential, with room for improvement in areas such as industrial expansion and population attraction, but its explosive growth potential is still insufficient)]

[Feasibility of the plan: 69 (The current conditions are relatively mature, it matches existing resources well, and it is highly feasible)]

[Overall Performance: 63 (The connections between the various stages and modules of the solution are relatively reasonable, forming a relatively complete system, but local coordination still needs to be strengthened)]

[Resource Input Level: 65 (The demand for human, material, and financial resources is at a moderate level, and the pressure on resource allocation is moderate and within a controllable range)]

Is it really that difficult to build?

Cheng Ye's gaze was fixed on the first score, and he was surprised to find that Dabo Town's score was only 21.

This is glaringly obvious compared to the 60-plus points he scored later.

He flipped to the back of the rating sheet and, sure enough, saw the ranking references for each data point:
Sample size: 36

[Rank: 29, 21, 13, 13, 9]

Overall ranking: 17

Ranking data is generated only for one round of answers and is not used in subsequent evaluations.

"The construction is very difficult and the potential is average, but my proposed plan, the significance of Dabo Town to Xingfu City, and the resource investment all score highly."

Cheng Ye muttered to himself, gradually getting to the point.

He still had some doubts about the construction difficulty, but when it was reflected in the overall ranking, it met his initial expectations for Dabo Town.

This is a location that's neither particularly popular nor unpopular, falling in the middle of all the available spots, making it a less competitive choice.

Turn the page again to find the second round of questions.

The top section still focuses on the essay questions related to his proposal from yesterday, precisely highlighting the details and asking follow-up questions:
For example, how should the overall planning of the fish farm be laid out? How should the spatial distance between the fish farm and residential areas be controlled? What technical means and management measures should be adopted to ensure that the fish farm's water source is not infiltrated and polluted by potential sources of infection in the surrounding area?
Fortunately, there weren't many problems, only 12.

However, after the essay questions, there were three additional practical questions, highlighted in bold:

1. To fish in the Baishui River in Dabo Town, you need to catch 5 different types of fish and submit samples.

2. Visit key locations mentioned in the plan and take samples to verify the feasibility of the plan.

3. Hike through designated rural roads (supervised by supervisors throughout, cheating is prohibited).

这题
Cheng Ye was first taken aback, then felt relieved. It seemed that choosing Dabo Town yesterday was the right decision.

As expected, the supercomputer will set specific questions based on the first round of site selection. If it were to choose those popular locations, it would be a real problem if it were sent to drill into underground pipe networks for investigation.

"It seems that the core of the second round is to verify whether the plan can be implemented."

Cheng Ye traced the words "fishing" with his fingertips, then suddenly turned to Jiang Chuan and said, "Thanks."

Jiang Chuan raised an eyebrow and smiled. "These are the equipment for Inspector Cheng's test. I'm the supervisor, so don't even think about bribing me. I will record your entire performance and report it to the checkpoint truthfully."

That's what they say, but it's too much of a coincidence that the supervisor happens to be Jiang Chuan.

Everyone knows that Jiang Chuan is the stationmaster's personal bodyguard.

Since Ding Yishan was willing to send Jiang Chuan to supervise, it shows that he values ​​the matter, and on the other hand...
"Could it be that Ding Yishan is interested in my proposal?"

Cheng Ye leaned back in his chair, lost in thought, while Jiang Chuan drove the car to the government office.

Several staff members quickly surrounded the pickup truck and soon replaced it with deep-treaded, non-slip off-road tires, and then fully charged the battery at the government office's location.

We boarded the bus at 6:30 a.m. and didn't arrive at the South Checkpoint until 8:05 a.m.

Due to the migration wave, there are very few scavengers out at this time, and there are not many people queuing in front of the passage.

Although regulations stipulate that the checkpoint's exit lanes should not open until 9:00 AM, inspectors are clearly not subject to this restriction when carrying out their duties.

The isolation door slowly opened, and several inspection procedures were quickly completed.

By the time Cheng Ye came to his senses, the yellow line, symbolizing the boundary between civilization and disorder, was already prominently displayed in front of the car.

The mud in the wilderness was visible to the naked eye, and continuous rain had washed out tiny waterways on the ground, winding their way into the distance.

The fog shrouded the wilderness like a thin veil, reducing visibility to only about six or seven hundred meters, making the distant tree shadows and ruins appear blurry.

"What? Are you nervous?"

"No." Cheng Ye took a deep breath, put down the documents in his hand, and sat up slightly.

"Let's go, there always has to be a first time."

The moment the wheels rolled over the yellow line, he clearly felt the car lurch violently, as if passing through an invisible barrier.

After overcoming that mental hurdle, instead of the expected trepidation and anxiety, I felt a strong sense of anticipation and joy, as if long-suppressed emotions had finally found an outlet.

He is no longer the gatekeeper overseeing this boundary line.

Rather, he is a pioneer about to step into a completely new world and seek out those infinite possibilities.

I rolled down the car window, and a damp breeze rushed in, making the air seem to smell different.

Gone is the dullness and oppression of the established order; in its place comes the earthy smell of soil, the astringent taste of wild grass, and a faint, untamed scent of the wilderness!
　P.S.: Two chapters delivered! Please give me your guaranteed monthly votes. Thank you all for your support!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)