Wasteland Border Inspector

Chapter 149 Water System Changes, Natural Disasters Cannot Be Stopped!
Reopen the encyclopedia feature.

The status of the three progress bars is clearly displayed. The toxin filtration rate has reached 167%, and the main body is gray with a large section of white light covering it.

The other two were completely filled with white light, shimmering faintly.

Cheng Ye was overjoyed and used his mind to tap the progress bar, immediately triggering a redemption prompt.

"Huh, the energy cost for exchanging intelligence, items, and skills is different?"

I don't know how the collector measures the price.

Information that used to require the least amount of energy now requires 50% of the energy.

The skill exchange cost is 25%, which is the same as the cost of searching for a LV2 skill once.

The item consumption has become the lowest, requiring only 10% to redeem once.

Of course, Cheng Ye tried it and found that a progress bar that could be dragged with his mind had appeared below.

The minimum is 10%, and the maximum can be 100% investment.

"It's probably due to the nature of the joint route that the basic threshold has been lowered while the exchange limit has been set."

Cheng Ye seemed to be deep in thought, not expecting the route to have such a significant impact, with almost every function being altered to some extent.

He temporarily suppressed the idea of ​​trying to exchange it and threw the last piece of purple tissue into the snakeskin bag.

The opening of the encyclopedia was like opening the door to a new world. Countless ideas churned in his mind, and he couldn't wait to find a quiet place to thoroughly study the upper limit and usage of this function.

However, the second round of assessments is still underway, and the task at Dabo Town is the top priority at present.

Of course, if you encounter mutated creatures or special items along the way...
As he was tidying up, Cheng Ye suddenly sniffed and smelled a faint, rotten odor mixed with the fresh scent of grass and trees, which was particularly pungent.

He beckoned, and Jiang Chuan immediately moved closer, alert.

"what happened?"

Can you smell it?

"Hmm?" Jiang Chuan held his breath slightly, then took a deep breath, his brows furrowed. "You wait here, I'll go take a look."

He turned around, pulled out a machete from the back of the truck, and followed the scent toward the grassy area beside the county road. His figure quickly disappeared into the dense grass.

A dozen seconds later, Jiang Chuan reappeared, his face grave. "They are two scavengers attacked by malaria mosquitoes. Sigh. I don't know how they ended up here."

He sighed and said, "I'll go dig a hole and bury them. You wait here."

"No need, let's go together."

Cheng Ye shook his head, stuffed the waterproof bag containing the meat pouch into the back compartment, grabbed an entrenching tool, and followed.

When hiking in the wilderness, you'll inevitably encounter this kind of thing again, and it might even become the norm.

Besides, he had seen and dealt with even the most terrifyingly shaped infected creatures, so naturally he wasn't afraid.

Walking along the overgrown path, you see messy footprints scattered on the ground, some deep and some shallow, clearly left by people who were chasing malaria mosquitoes and had no idea where to go.

A few spent cartridge cases could be seen in the grass. Cheng Ye picked one up and examined it; it was the most common handgun bullet.

Based on his test, if one could accurately hit the head or body of a malaria mosquito, it could indeed cause serious damage, but this is an idealized combat scenario.

The flight speed of malaria mosquitoes is at least equivalent to that of an adult running at full speed. If you are surrounded by dozens of them on the ground, it is impossible to deal with them with a pistol.

Only when I was sitting in the car was I able to use the speed of the car to maneuver and shoot at my own pace.

If we were to meet on the ground, even if it were him, we would have to use all our trump cards, and even take out our wings in case of an emergency.

After walking about twenty meters, the stench of decay grew stronger. Two curled-up figures lay in a low-lying area, their clothes soaked through with blood, their skin dry and gray, clearly drained of blood.

There was also a backpack lying next to it, from which a lot of common scavenging supplies were scattered.

They dug a large pit next to the two mummies, and without thinking, the two men used a shovel to push the bodies and backpacks into the pit together.

If you take something, you will be tainted by karma.

If there are any wishes of these two scavengers inside, it's a small matter to ask them to fulfill them; just let them know.

But if there's a hidden source of infection, and you accidentally get infected, it could be deadly.

“It’s a waste for Prosecutor Cheng to stay in the internship stage. At least a second term would be needed to match your current abilities.”

After filling the pit, Jiang Chuan patted the mud splattered on his trousers and gave Cheng Ye's composure high praise.

"I can't take that responsibility; I'm just good at saving my own life."

Cheng Ye waved his hand.

Jiang Chuan was already used to the cruelty of the wilderness, but he couldn't help but feel a little heavy-hearted after burying two complete strangers who were scavenging.

In addition, standing in the overgrown wilderness, I instinctively felt a little nervous.

It wasn't because of a lack of strength, nor because of a sense of monsters, but rather stemmed from a natural awe of the unknown.

Only after returning to the car and shaking off the fallen leaves and dirt did the oppressive feeling dissipate slightly.

The car continued forward, but its speed gradually decreased.

It's only 60 kilometers from Xingfu City to Dabo Town, but it took an hour and a half to drive halfway down the county road.

Suddenly, a pickup truck appeared parked on the side of the road ahead, with a group of people gathered around it, as if they had encountered trouble.

Jiang Chuan squinted and looked them over, then smiled and said, "They're from another group. We set off late, so they probably came out much earlier. Judging from the looks of it, their car probably broke down."

As the pickup truck slowly approached, we saw that both the front left tire and the rear left tire had blown out.

A burly figure leaned against the car door, smoking and cursing loudly.

Cheng Ye glanced at it and couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey, Cheng, why did you choose this side too?"

Upon seeing the approaching pickup truck, Lin Bao immediately stubbed out his cigarette and strode into the middle of the road to block it.

He glanced at Cheng Ye in the passenger seat, grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth: "Which nearby town did you choose?"

"Uncle Lin, I chose Dabo Town." Cheng Ye got out of the car with a smile on his face.

Lin Bao immediately stepped forward, stretched out his large palm, and patted his shoulder with a "bang bang".

His palm landed on the armor, making a dull thud.

"Not bad, first time out here?"

"Ah."

“Everyone goes through this.” Lin Bao waved his hand dismissively. “Don’t think wearing armor is shameful. Your Uncle Lin wore it until he was a second-level inspector before he dared to take it off in the wilderness to get some fresh air.”

He finished his last puff of cigarette, flicked the butt under his feet and crushed it out, his tone suddenly turning angry, "I don't know which bastard planted a nail in the middle of the road and punctured my tire. I won't be able to get a tire repaired in this crappy place for at least an hour."

"Is there a hidden nail?"

Cheng Ye looked in the direction Lin Bao was pointing and saw that there were indeed two clusters of nails under the water.

It's clear that it was fixed to the ground by someone; it was obviously done by human intervention.

If Lin Bao hadn't scouted ahead, Jiang Chuan would most likely have been in trouble too if he had driven there.

"Huh, Uncle Lin chose Wenlu County?" Cheng Ye feigned surprise.

"That's for sure." Lin Bao made no attempt to hide the ambition in his eyes. "Only Wenlu County around here is suitable for building a second large satellite city. It looks dilapidated now, but once construction starts, it'll be even more impressive than the buffer zone in less than six months!"

“Yes, I also think the surrounding area has great potential, which is why I chose Dabo Town,” Cheng Ye agreed.

"Dabo Town"

Lin Bao stroked his chin and pondered for a moment. "That place isn't suitable for a newcomer like you. How about we change your seat? I'll go and ask Lao Ding for one for you."

"I'm just going to check things out; the final decision hasn't been made yet." "True."

Lin Bao nodded, gesturing for him to get in the car. He then opened the back door and casually sat down. "I'll ride in your car. We can get off at the county town ahead where we can ask for directions."

After saying that, he waved to the people outside, "Once the car is fixed, drive it over quickly. I'll go ahead and scout the way first!"

"Yes!"

As a fifth-term prosecutor known for his fierce fighting skills, no one was worried about his safety.

"Xiao Jiang, let's drive." Lin Bao patted the back of the driver's seat.

Jiang Chuan nodded and restarted the car.

The pickup truck slowly drove away, leaving behind the car with a flat tire and three figures busy repairing it.

Having learned from past mistakes, Jiang Chuan drove exceptionally slowly, deliberately avoiding any puddles on the ground that might conceal hidden nails.

Taking advantage of this gap, Cheng Ye naturally wouldn't miss the opportunity to gather intelligence.

Lin Bao, a fifth-term prosecutor, certainly knows far more information than him, especially information not found in the documents.

He smiled and turned his head, following up the topic, "Uncle Lin, how's the situation in Wenlu County? I heard the pipelines and infrastructure there are completely ruined?"

“It’s more than just rotten.” Lin Bao leaned back in the back seat, speaking casually. “These old-fashioned small county towns, after twenty or thirty years without maintenance, have basically become ruins. The last time there was a settlement here was in the fourth year of the new era, with a population of about four or five thousand. But our Shi Province can’t farm, and there’s no stable food source, so we couldn’t keep people here. They scattered in no time.”

He paused, then continued, "After that, Wenlu County was completely abandoned. Only occasionally would scavengers come to sweep up some goods and look for old-fashioned items."

Sensing Cheng Ye's thirst for knowledge, Lin Bao didn't hold back and continued, "Pipelines are easy to handle. When building a base in the wilderness, who would rely on old-fashioned pipes? Wenlu County's advantage doesn't lie in this."

"Oh, Uncle Lin, what do you mean by that?" Cheng Ye immediately became interested.

"Wenlu County, Wenlu. Do you know why this place is named this?" Lin Bao kept everyone in suspense.

"Hmm," Cheng Ye pondered for a moment, a map of the surrounding area flashing through his mind, and suddenly made a bold guess, "Is it because all the surrounding roads converge here, forming a traffic junction?"

"That's right."

Lin Bao nodded approvingly. "When it was planned in the old days, Wenlu County was positioned as the logistics distribution center of Sichuan City. That makes it clear: all the goods transported from other places would first be sorted in Wenlu County. Only those belonging to Sichuan City would be transported there, and those not belonging to Sichuan City would be sent to the subordinate areas from there."

Wenlu County is actually a logistics hub in Sichuan City?
Cheng Ye was stunned; this was something that hadn't been mentioned at all in the documents.

But then it dawned on him: how could he have forgotten the logic of modern location planning after only a few months in the wasteland?

Wenlu County is only a few dozen kilometers away from Sichuan City and is adjacent to Linjiang, giving it a natural geographical advantage.

Even on a national scale, there are few cities with such a complete land port-type logistics hub.

The town of Dabo that he chose happens to have the potential to be developed into a port.

However, given the current state of Dabo Town's dilapidated state, it seems that the original transportation hub plan was ultimately never realized.

"Unfortunately, the S1 virus broke out not long after the planning for Wenlu County was completed, and construction was repeatedly postponed. It took more than ten years to barely build a land logistics center. As for the port and airport, they were all stillborn, with only a simple foundation laid."

“But this very foundation,” Lin Bao said, then smiled, “was a crucial factor in your grandfather’s decision to settle near the ruins of Chuan City. Wenlu County was an important part of it, reflecting the ambitions of his generation.”

Cheng Ye continued, "Are you thinking of rebuilding the ruins one day and then developing it by taking advantage of Wenlu County's strengths?"

"Young Cheng, you're quite clever."

Lin Bao nodded slightly. "The underground pipeline network of the logistics center is not yet completed. As long as construction begins, we can quickly restore this place to its former glory and rebuild the city ruins step by step. Moreover, the area around the logistics center is open and suitable for enclosure and construction, so safety can be guaranteed."

After saying that, she changed the subject and mentioned Dabo Town: "As for Dabo Town, the only advantage it has is the foundation laid when the port was built. The river was widened and divided into two rivers, Huangshui and Baishui. Dikes were built on both sides of the river, and even a wharf was built to divert water from Baishui River to Linjiang. It's just a pity that after so many years, it's probably in a terrible state."

Build a port?

Cheng Ye had never even considered this. When he occupied Dabo Town, his only thought was to fish and repair the hydroelectric power station, to solve the most basic survival and energy problems first.

As for traveling by boat along the Linjiang River to trade with other provinces, the difficulty was simply unimaginable.

The dangers on water far outweigh those on land, and trading points require the construction of ports before cargo ships can dock.

Given the current rampant spread of infection, the human and material resources required are simply beyond what we can afford at this stage.

However, the port infrastructure that Lin Bao mentioned really caught his attention.

Perhaps we don't need to develop it into a major port capable of handling ships of 10,000 tons. Clearing out a dock that can accommodate small fishing boats would still be useful.

"Besides, the information you have is all outdated."

Lin Bao smacked his lips, his tone becoming more serious. "The hydrology of Linjiang has changed drastically over the years. No, it should be said that after the rampage of the superhumans, the hydrological environment of the entire planet has been completely altered. Back then, they used their great power to forcibly change the water system, which initially did significantly reduce the probability of floods and even solved many problems with the water system."

"Such as making up for the uneven distribution of water resources, opening up shipping bottlenecks, eliminating shallows and reefs in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River to improve the passage capacity of 10,000-ton fleets, and smoothing the rapids and dangerous shoals of the major rivers in the southwest, even our Shijiazhuang province has gained access to the sea as a result, and the cost of foreign trade logistics has been reduced by more than half."

He paused, as if recalling that legendary era: "Back then, East China, North China, and Central China were even planning high-speed rail over waterways, which could reduce logistics costs, alleviate land transport pressure, and balance the north-south water systems. People at that time believed that extraordinary beings could transform the world into paradise."

"But after the extraordinary beings died, their power began to falter." Lin Bao's voice held a hint of melancholy. "Those waterways that were forcibly altered began to break free from human constraints, retreating according to the laws of nature, even becoming worse than before. Widened river channels are silting up, straightened rivers are turning back to their old courses, and what's worse, some tributaries that were forcibly blocked are breaching their banks, and the mountains that were erased for the sake of optimization can't be stopped."

Another major piece of news!
What was said without malice may have been taken seriously by the listener. To an outsider, it might have been just a funny anecdote from the old days.

But to Cheng Ye, it sounded like a thunderclap.

How could an extraordinary being use such power to completely transform the country's major water systems?
This is...this is too exaggerated!

He was suddenly startled, somewhat incredulous, but then the image of the two superhumans fighting and casually creating a volcano flashed through his mind, and he fell silent.

"So the current flooding in Linjiang is also related to this?"

“Directly related.” Lin Bao patted his pocket, as if looking for cigarettes, and gave up when he found nothing. “The river channel in Linjiang was widened back then, but now the power has failed, the dikes on both sides are loosening, and the riverbed is constantly silting up, making it prone to breaching during the rainy season.”

"But don't worry, if a satellite city is really to be built, the higher-ups will definitely allocate funds to repair the dikes."

As they were talking, the car slowly came to a stop.

We arrived at the intersection leading to Wenlu County.

Jiang Chuan made a move to push him inside, but Lin Bao opened the car door and jumped out directly, his movements swift and decisive.

"I'm here to survey the area, not to attend a banquet. I'll just walk in slowly."

He patted Cheng Ye's car window, "Go on, it's already ten o'clock. It gets dark early on rainy days, so come back early tonight."

As soon as he finished speaking, he strode briskly through the gravel into the depths of the ruins.

The raincoat fluttered in the wind, exuding a carefree and independent air.

As Cheng Ye gazed at that retreating figure, he suddenly felt a mix of emotions—a sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a feeling of deep emotion) and envy.

If I can be as composed as Lin Bao when I roam the wilderness in the future, then this journey will not have been in vain.

“Prosecutor Lin, he used to be your father’s direct competitor, and the two of them were evenly matched.”

As the car continued forward, Jiang Chuan, who had been silent the whole way, spoke up, "In addition, it's not just Prosecutor Lin; all five prosecutors in the station have chosen Wenlu County."

"Hmm." Cheng Ye nodded and looked away.

This surprised Jiang Chuan: "Doesn't Prosecutor Cheng find this strange?"

"What's so strange about that?" Cheng Ye forced a smile. "Wenlu County has such a big advantage, so the competition is naturally fierce."

"Let's go. No matter how good this place is, it's not as good as the town of Dabo that I chose."

A self-praise broke the tension in the car, and as the two chatted and laughed, the car quickly arrived at the intersection leading to Dabo Town.

According to the assessment requirements, he has to get off the bus here and start walking.

Cheng Ye pushed open the car door, looked down at his feet, and saw that the ground was covered in ankle-deep mud mixed with withered grass clippings. The seven-kilometer journey seemed exhausting just thinking about it.

But he still stepped on it, and the mud instantly filled his boot, the icy touch climbing up the waterproof layer.

But what's that saying again? Read ten thousand books and travel ten thousand miles.

Perhaps only by walking the length of this land can one truly understand its character and find the answers hidden beyond maps and data.

(End of this chapter)