Wasteland Border Inspector

Chapter 172 Wasteland Wanderings: A Unique Hiring Platform!

Click into the entry.

Perhaps because Pinghai Tower is not related to the extraordinary, the information it displays is far richer than expected.

The densely packed entries clearly outline the contours of this "organization".

Pinghai Tower

[Organizational Nature]: Transit point; gathering place; employment center
[Organization Leader]: Ling Ping (deceased)

[Organization Affiliation]: Haihe Province
[Organizational Structure]: One of the transit zones for disorganized personnel activities, with a loose structure. It only serves as a place to accept tasks and submit tasks to receive rewards, without strong organizational constraints or fixed members.
[Founding Time]: Year 12 of the New Era

[Organizational Characteristics]:
1. Mission Execution Style: Results-oriented, with no restrictions on the execution process, and flexible methods (assassination, assault, theft, disguise, etc. are all acceptable), allowing executors to fully utilize their strengths, thus attracting a wide range of executors to accept missions.

2. Personnel Background Check: Those accepting high-paying tasks must, in addition to passing a basic information check (to exclude those with insufficient capabilities and ensure task progress), also be infected with a "malicious worm" to ensure that important information is not leaked.

3. Internal Organization Atmosphere: Violent and dangerous, with frequent conflicts arising from competition for missions and the division of spoils. It has an internal underground market for the trade of weapons, intelligence, and scarce resources, providing a supply chain for those carrying out missions.

4. Black Market Transit Point: A large-scale black market resource transit point, gathering various firearms, modified equipment, and high-value supplies, providing paid door-to-door delivery services.
5. Insufficient permissions
6. Insufficient permissions
[Related search term: malice]

[The culprit (the source of infection)]

[Origin]: A biological infection source developed by the organization 'Shan Hai Lou' in the 7th year of the New Era. It was initially used to control its mercenaries and assassins. Later, due to the leakage of the infection source, it was distributed to other organizations and was specifically used to bind important missions to prevent the executors from leaking mission details and information related to the organization.
[Incubation Period]: No obvious symptoms are present. The daily activities and thoughts of the infected person are completely consistent with the uninfected state. Activation only occurs under specific triggering conditions.

[Outbreak Phase]: The trigger condition is that the infected person is interrogated (including verbal interrogation, torture, and other behaviors that attempt to obtain mission information). After the outbreak, the infected person will immediately lose independent thinking and can only mechanically repeat the mission objective-related dialogue until they are exhausted and die.
[Fusion Phase]: Unable to progress to the fused form, the worm remains an independent source of infection parasitizing the infected person's brain, without fusing with the host's body tissues, and is unaffected by any existing drugs.
[Removal Method]:
1. Craniotomy, which directly removes the source of infection through physical means, has a mortality rate >99%.
2. Infected individuals will periodically (every 7-10 days) shed tiny fragments of the parasite corresponding to the source of infection. If these fragments are ingested through the mouth, the infected individual can neutralize and eliminate the parasitic worms.

"Transit point, mission posted, treacherous insect."

Cheng Ye swiped his thumb across the screen repeatedly, quickly capturing the key information.

The so-called Pinghai Tower was not a fully-fledged assassin organization or mercenary group.

Or is it a platform similar to a task posting platform?

Someone posted a high bounty on this platform targeting him, and Wang Qing and his three companions were the mercenaries who accepted the mission.
Based on the characteristics of the outbreak period of the treacherous insects, all four people have now been infected and are probably not far from death.

"A hefty reward is offered for my services as a trainee prosecutor..."

Cheng Ye's mind raced. Based on the details from before, he deduced that the mission objective was most likely to investigate the anomaly on him.

"But is there anything wrong with me?"

Cheng Ye couldn't help but shake his head. He hadn't shown any unusual behavior recently.

Since Mr. Zhang left, he has never ventured to the Public Works Department again, including for things like charging.

Moreover, even after the mission is issued, it would take at least two weeks for the assassin to arrive from the distant Hai Province. At that time, he was still on duty at the South Station, and had only been discharged from the hospital for two days.

wrong.

Suddenly, a thought popped into Cheng Ye's mind, and his expression changed slightly.

Although he hasn't shown any unusual behavior recently, he's completely different from his predecessor.

I remembered the information about Master Tian that Li Matai had found.

If there were a comparison, his current information would be highly abnormal, even a dog would shake its head at it.

The predecessor who loved lyrics, music, and poetry would have been terrified to death by the harsh realities of the wasteland.

How can this be related to his current status as a leading figure among the younger generation of prosecutors?
The so-called anomaly is probably what they are investigating to find the reason for his drastic change.

"This anomaly was inevitable; I can't just keep maintaining my predecessor's persona and wait to die."

Once Cheng Ye understood this, most of the frustration in his heart instantly dissipated.

He had worried about this before, but then he forgot about it because no one was investigating. Now that an organization has suddenly started investigating, it's not unacceptable.

Looking back now, the spying gazes I felt in the wilderness that night were probably from mercenaries who had accepted a mission from Pinghai Tower.

Whether it is one of the four arrested, the fifth who escaped, or another enforcer hiding in the wild and not yet showing up, it is still unclear at this time.

Perhaps there are still many people in the wilderness waiting for him to leave the buffer zone so they can find an opportunity to investigate.

Fortunately, it seems that Shan Hai Lou, who developed the treacherous insect back then, did not completely abandon his original plan.

This "repeated task objective upon triggering interrogation" setting, while seemingly locking the executor into a deadlock, actually shifts the hatred from the platform itself to the "employer who posted the task."

Just like now, Cheng Ye's attention is not on how to deal with Pinghailou at all. It's a loose transit platform. Even if you destroy it, a new one will emerge. It's meaningless.

What he was really looking for was the enemy hiding behind the scenes who issued the mission to investigate anomalies.

However, the only person he can truly call an enemy right now is Garcia.

It's him?

Cheng Ye immediately rejected the idea.

Garcia is only a second-stage inspector. Putting aside whether he has the financial resources to issue a high bounty at Pinghai Tower, even if he did have the money, he would kill him instead of investigating the anomaly.

Moreover, even with Garcia's limited access, he might not be able to browse his information files.

Excluding Garcia, there is only one possibility left.

The old grudges left behind by Cheng Long.

The most likely person to issue the mission at Pinghai Tower is Cheng Long's old enemy.

These people might still be within the Happiness City system, but due to certain rules, they can't openly attack him. So they've taken a roundabout approach, issuing missions through Pinghai Tower to send outside assassins and mercenaries to probe his background.

"Even if we hand these four people over to the checkpoint now, we probably won't get anything out of them."

"And even if we know the mission information, we can't follow the clues to find certain people in Happiness City. These old foxes are really clever."

Thinking of this, Cheng Ye did not feel aggrieved.

Although the enemy is in the dark while we are in the light, it seems like we are in a passive and defensive situation.

But no one would have guessed that he had a supernatural creature by his side that could sense vision and spy on him.

Although the flame's counter-reconnaissance capabilities were not as good as Liu Kun's giant eagle, it was more than enough to deal with a group of mercenaries who were only at the Embryo Realm.

Even if the person who comes is at the Unity of Heaven and Man realm, or a formidable character at the half-step transcendent level, as long as they haven't broken through to the "transcendent" level, they still can't escape the flame's perception.

As long as he cannot ignore the threat posed by guns, he is confident that he can bring them all to justice.

"Perfect timing. The mercenaries infected with the Heartworm all have 100% cooperation. They must think I've been leveling up too slowly lately, so they're giving me free skills, right?"

Cheng Ye took a deep breath, and what surged in his chest was no longer vigilance, but a calm and eager anticipation.

Da Long brought Wang Qing back, and after checking, he saw that Wang Qing still had 31% charge value.

"Intelligence search, focus: related to my mission."

The thought fell.

The once vibrant and dynamic world suddenly sank into darkness and silence, and everyone's movements were frozen in time.

Even the eerie smile on Wang Qing's face froze at the corner of his mouth, like a still oil painting.

Wow.

The scene in my field of vision shattered instantly, with thousands of pixels scattering like snowflakes, only to reassemble in some strange order the next second.

With the bonus of 100% cooperation, the quality of this intelligence gathering was extremely high.

It's not in a closed space, but rather a giant scene is constructed directly.

Cheng Ye paused the video and switched to a God's-eye view, looking into the distance.

What comes into view seems to be an island?
The camera angle can't be zoomed out too high; it can only be fixed at a height of about one meter above the character's head.

Even so, Cheng Ye still keenly spotted the edge of the land, where a vast expanse of dark blue stretched into the distance.

As the video played again, the dark blue color began to sway gently.

Sure enough, it was a vast, boundless sea!

"No wonder Pinghailou has survived from the 12th year of the new era until now; on an island, eradicating him is simply too difficult."

Cheng Ye pondered to himself.

Even if a powerful force could organize dozens of ships to surround the island and trap it like a turtle in a jar, the people on the island could simply escape by going into the water.

Moreover, given its island layout, Pinghai Tower's headquarters may not have been located in just one place; they could be three or five small islands connected together, or scattered across different sea areas.

Ultimately, such an organization without strict rules and with such a loose structure is extremely difficult to eradicate completely.

Cheng Ye couldn't help but suspect that the two pieces of information that Xin Huo Tong deliberately blocked from his view might be hiding a more complex connection.

Perhaps there is a super-protected city secretly supporting Pinghai Tower.

Suppressing his speculations about the surrounding information, Cheng Ye turned his attention back to the buildings on the island.

Everywhere you look, you see the style of a Southeast Asian resort island.

Everywhere you look, there are bungalows built of wooden planks, with walls painted in three colors: blue, red, and green, seemingly to divide different areas according to color.

The areas with red paint were clearly chaotic, and the houses were relatively dilapidated.

A large number of people gathered in front of a house, seemingly jeering at a gambling game, and the noise seemed to penetrate the screen.

Cheng Ye peered closer, but unfortunately couldn't see any specific details.

The intelligence gathering was recorded from the perspective of the main character; what Wang Qing didn't see, he naturally couldn't peek into either. The green area was much more orderly, with brand-new houses, dried salted fish hanging on the walls, and even the windows were spotless.

Some people sat on deck chairs in front of the house, with huge coconuts and several plates of snacks beside them, looking relaxed and comfortable, as if it were a comfortable living area.

The last blue area appears to be the public office space of Pinghai Building.

There are only five connected bungalows here, each with a different sign hanging under its eaves, which reads:

'Hai Province', 'Shi Province', 'Sha Province', 'Guang Province', 'Shan Province'

Wang Qing didn't stop and walked straight towards the bungalow with the "Shi Province" sign hanging on it.

It's clear that the Pinghai Tower organization is incredibly loosely organized; there isn't even a single guard at the entrance.

Wang Qing pushed open the door and entered, where he was greeted by a typical Western-style pub decor.

The heavy mahogany table exudes an antique charm, and the wooden stumps are used as chairs and are casually placed.

The bartender sat behind the bar, idly playing with the butterfly knife in his hand. The blade spun nimbly between his fingers, slicing through the air with a cold light.

Walking to the bar, Wang Qing deftly pulled a silver badge from his pocket and whispered:
"Sir, I need a menu."

The bartender took the badge and placed it on the table. After a beep, he pulled out a notebook from under the bar.

The three large characters "Silver Level" at the top of the notebook are particularly eye-catching.

"Also, could you please bring me another cup of Orange Sunshine?" Wang Qing added.

But what he pulled out this time truly astonished Cheng Ye—it was a Happiness Coin?
The 10-yuan happiness coin was handed to the bartender.

Before long, I received a small glass of orange-colored liquor from the bartender.

Compared to the purchasing power of Happiness City, the Happiness Coins here have obviously depreciated, but on second thought, this is a mercenary organization far away in Hai Province, so it is already amazing that they can be used.

"I didn't expect the currency of Happiness City to be as strong as the rumors suggested!"

Cheng Ye felt a surge of emotion.

As the camera followed Wang Qing back to the table, he reached out and opened the thick menu, beginning to browse through it carefully.

This should be all the tasks that someone at his level can take on.

The moment Wang Qing's gaze settled on the first page, Cheng Ye quickly pressed the pause button and began to carefully read through it from top to bottom, word by word.

[Silver 1: Obtain 'Happiness Alloy' from Happiness City; Long-term repetitive task; 150 silver points per kg]

[Silver 2: Obtain the second-generation 'Origin Processing Chip' of Happiness City; long-term repetitive task; 100 silver points for every 10 chips]

[Silver 3: Obtain the third-generation 'Star Box Drawer Battery' in Happiness City; a long-term repetitive task; 55 silver points per 100 units]

[Silver 4: Obtain Happiness City's 'Healing Reagent'; Long-term repetitive task; 55 silver points per 50ml]

[Silver 5: Obtain the 'Ink Shield Encryption Module' from Happiness City; a long-term repetitive task; 55 silver points per set]

【.】

?

Is this some kind of attempt to fleece Happiness City?
Cheng Ye was dumbfounded.

I don't know which one posted the task, but looking at the first page, there were 20 tasks in total, and they were all long-term repetitive tasks, all targeting various technological products from Happiness City.

Among them were familiar items like the Happiness Alloy and the third-generation drawer battery, as well as the Origin Processing Chip, which he had never seen before.

Further on, there were things like healing agents, ink shield encryption modules, and optical fiber bundles.
A whole bunch of things that Cheng Ye had never even heard of.

"Instead of trying to acquire the technology, they're just collecting ready-made solutions. Are they planning to reverse engineer it?"

"If they really had the ability to reverse engineer these technologies, why would they need to acquire them through a loose platform like Pinghailou? Wouldn't it be more efficient and reliable to just buy them directly from Xingfu City's official website?"

Cheng Ye stared blankly at the task list in front of him. The contents of the first page were more like a "wasteland recycling platform" than a task board for assassins and mercenaries.

There was none of the excitement I had imagined, like having a reward offered for a big shot on the homepage.

But then I remembered the fourth characteristic mentioned in the "Pinghailou" organization: black market transit.

Cheng Ye nodded slightly, somewhat understanding where these supplies would ultimately end up.

Based on his previous duty experience and the information he gathered from Sun Weicheng after establishing the caravan, this was considered.

Like ordinary caravans entering Happiness City, there are no restrictions on the sale of goods. However, if they want to buy things from Happiness City, they need to follow a caravan points system.

The higher you climb within this system, the more extensive the list of guns, medicines, and industrial goods you can buy.

However, there is one exception: all high-value materials in Happiness City that possess unique 'core technologies' are not for sale.

Ordinary caravans will not be allowed to carry important supplies from Happiness City around to sell and profit from the price difference.

The "direct connection" channel will only be open to other sanctuary cities, and the sanctuary city officials will have to send people to make the purchase.

In the wasteland era, scarce resources are obviously more valuable than an individual, which explains why the first few pages are all about acquisition missions.

Of course, it could also be a bounty for "silver-level" bounties, which are not as valuable as these supplies.

Perhaps at a higher level, the focus of the task will shift from "things" to "people".

Wang Qing pressed play again, and as expected, he didn't linger on the first page. His fingers flew across the menu, and when his eyes swept over the resource acquisition tasks, he didn't even pause for half a second.

Cheng Ye paused the screen from time to time to check, flipping through 20 pages in one go. The task list had reached 240, and they were all task lists for acquiring items.

Among them, 178 acquisition tasks were marked "Xingfu City", followed by the surrounding "Yueye Shelter City", "Daxing Shelter City", "Baishi Shelter City" and "Hongshan Shelter City".
They are all forces of varying sizes within Shi Province, each accounting for anywhere from a dozen to twenty or more, depending on their size.

Unfortunately, there was no way to control Wang Qing to go and take a look at the neighboring province of Guanghong. Cheng Ye was still quite curious about the technology of Guanghong Shelter City, what price it would fetch at Pinghai Tower, and how it would compare to the resources of Xingfu City.

Finally, the menu was turned to page 27, after skipping over a full 540 tasks related to the acquisition of various materials.

Wang Qing's fingers finally stopped, and he began to read line by line.

Cheng Ye breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, this page no longer contained supplies, but instead featured "personal names".

[Bronze 1: Assassinate Zhang Zhong, Deputy Director of the Industrial Research Department of White Stone Sanctuary City; 100 bronze points]

[Bronze 2: Assassinate Stoneheart Settlement, Lord Wan Huai'an, 95 bronze points]

[Bronze 3: Assassinate Three Rock Bay Settlement, Vice Lord Damian Olsen, 95 Bronze Points]

[Bronze 4: Kidnapping of Sophie, daughter of the director of the Foreign Trade Department in Red Mountain Shelter City, 93 bronze points]

[Bronze 5: Investigate Happiness City Checkpoint, Trainee Prosecutor Cheng Ye, 90 Bronze Points]

[Bronze 6: Investigation of Hongshi Machinery Factory in Xingfu City, R&D Team Leader, Zhao Rui, 85 Bronze Points]

[Copper 7:.]

Cheng Ye was quite surprised to see that he was in a relatively high position, fifth place.

But upon closer inspection of the label at the top of the list, it became clear that this menu was not exclusive to Silver-level executors, but rather a compilation of lower-level tasks available to them.

"Does this mean that Silver-level missions only target supplies?"

Cheng Ye didn't pause; his gaze followed Wang Qing as he continued turning the page.

Instead of selecting a task directly, Wang Qing took out a small notebook and wrote down the tasks that interested him one by one.

Scrolling further down, after the bronze-level missions, there are even lower-tier iron-level missions.

Wang Qing didn't pay much attention to the Iron-level mission, but Cheng Ye still paused the screen and glanced at it.

Iron-level missions are all group missions in the form of "tabletop role-playing games".

For example, a sabotage mission requires 30 people, with the objective of destroying a supply warehouse in a certain settlement.

For example, an interception mission requires 50 people, with the objective of stopping a caravan about to cross Shi Province.

The menu contains a wide variety of task types, but the categorization is clear when viewed in this way:

Silver objects, bronze figures, and iron lumps.

"Next, there should be Gold-level missions, right? I wonder what they'll be like. Could they be for those with advanced technology, important figures, or even extraordinary individuals?"

Cheng Ye couldn't help but wonder, but the screen suddenly started shaking violently.

The moment Wang Qing closed the menu, the entire intelligence space shattered, and countless pixels scattered in all directions.

There was no footage of Wang Qing accepting the mission, nor was there any footage of him checking the mission details.

But getting back to the main point, the objective of this intelligence search was not off track.

"Is this the first time Wang Qing has seen my name on a menu?"

Cheng Ye stared quietly ahead.

All the shattered pixels came together again, and Wang Qing still maintained that eerie smile, unaware that the man in front of him had seen through him the Pinghailou Island thousands of miles away.

[Target of Intelligence: Wang Qing]

[Designated direction: Related to 'my' task]

[Intelligence Quality: Level 1.2 (Information quality decreases by 0.3 after a target is specified; a fixed increase of 0.5 is achieved at 100% cooperation)]

[Current number of replays: 4]

(End of this chapter)