Wasteland Border Inspector

Chapter 173 Since we're here, here's a bountiful harvest of search material!

"Da Long, what happened to the items we found on him and in his residence?"

Cheng Ye withdrew his gaze from Wang Qing and turned to look at Da Long beside him.

"They're all stored away. I'll go get them right now!" Da Long didn't dare to delay. He turned around and quickly went to the storage room. He returned in less than half a minute carrying a transparent plastic bag.

The bag had Wang Qing's name and the time the items were found written on it in black marker.

Cheng Ye opened the plastic bag; the contents were quite simple.

A guard pistol that everyone in the buffer zone has, scattered Happiness Coins totaling 246 coins, and a Happiness City resident badge used to disguise one's identity.

He took out his defense device and verified the resident badge. The screen immediately displayed the identity information, and the face in the photo was seven-tenths similar to Wang Qing's.

It's likely that if the inspector on duty hadn't been thorough, he would have gotten away with it.

However, the silver Pinghai Tower badge that was seen in the intelligence space was nowhere to be found.

Was it hidden in the wilderness and they didn't dare bring it in?
still is
"That's all they found in his place? Nothing else?"

"There are some old clothes, a canvas backpack, and other common supplies. I've checked them all and found nothing unusual." Da Long nodded, then, seeing Cheng Ye's slightly furrowed brow, added, "How about I bring the backpack over for you to take another look?"

"bring here."

Soon, a worn-out canvas backpack was handed to Cheng Ye.

He unzipped the zipper, and the contents were neatly arranged:

Two patched jackets and trousers, several pairs of socks, a small bundle of rope, a makeshift water filter, a box of bullets, and six packets of expired nutrient solution.

Cheng Ye poured the items onto the table one by one and checked them over and over again.

There was nothing hidden in the seams of the clothes, the water filter was just a regular filter cartridge when disassembled, and the rope was nothing special either.

His gaze finally settled on the six packets of nutrient solution.

After the nutrient solution expires, the liquid inside will gradually become thick, like paste, and the inside will also harden.

However, when observing through the overhead light, Cheng Ye keenly noticed that the liquid in one of the bags was slightly thicker than the other five bags.

Take out the high-powered flashlight from your backpack and let the beam of light shine through the nutrient solution packaging bag.

A smile immediately appeared on Cheng Ye's lips. In the thick, pale yellow liquid, the shadow of a small object could be vaguely seen, firmly wrapped inside.

"Go tear open the packaging, be careful not to get the liquid inside on you, then wash it clean and bring it over." Cheng Ye handed the nutrient solution to Da Long, giving him a special instruction.

"Yes!"

Da Long took the nutrient solution and, imitating Cheng Ye, looked inside it against the light, only to be completely bewildered.

Old He and his men interrogated Wang Qing for three days, even resorting to torture, but they couldn't get a single word out of him.

Prosecutor Cheng, you've already made a breakthrough so soon after you started?

He didn't dare delay and immediately led his men to the toilet to take the item out. Sure enough, there was a badge hidden inside.

Despite being covered in a sticky nutrient paste, the delicate patterns are still clearly visible on the surface.

He rinsed the badge with clean water and dried it with a paper towel. Da Long put on gloves and carried it back.

Cheng Ye also took out a pair of rubber gloves for inspection from his backpack, put them on, pinched the edge of the badge with his fingertips, and brought them close to his eyes to examine them carefully.

The badge is only the size of a bottle cap, cool to the touch, yet surprisingly light, feeling like you're pinching a leaf.

Unexpectedly, Pinghailou, this violent platform, has a touch of "artistic flair".

The front is engraved with two lines of poetry in very small intaglio characters: "What I love is separated by mountains and seas, but mountains and seas can be leveled."

The reverse side features a relief of ocean waves, with a small sun in the upper right corner and a crescent moon in the upper left. At the very bottom center, there is a line of numbers resembling a verification code.
【02W76】

Cheng Ye walked up to Wang Qing with the badge in his hand, shook it gently, and then suddenly spoke, mimicking the tone of Wang Qing and the bartender in the intelligence report: "Please give me a glass of Orange Sunshine, please."

Wang Qing just sat there blankly, a silly smile on his lips, his eyes empty, showing no reaction whatsoever.

It seems that after the "malicious worm" fully erupted, he was truly left with only mechanical, repetitive instincts, and all his independent consciousness was destroyed.

"Unless a matching source of infection can be found, but that would be no less difficult than eradicating the Shan Hai Lou."

Cheng Ye shook his head slightly, having already made up his mind.

Once they can't get any more information from him and have searched for valuable skills and information, they certainly can't keep detaining the person in the community indefinitely; they'll eventually have to hand them over to the checkpoint.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, these four people will definitely be taken to the checkpoint for craniotomy.

With a 99% mortality rate, it's uncertain whether even one lucky individual will survive.

"What about the other people's belongings? Let me see them too."

Da Long then retrieved the item bags from the other three people, as well as miscellaneous items; the contents of the item bags were identical:
Each person receives a gun, a small amount of Happiness Coins, and a resident badge.

But while searching through the remaining miscellaneous items, Cheng Ye quickly found three more Pinghai Tower badges.

One was worn down to resemble a clothing button and sewn onto the waistband of work pants; another was hidden in the lining of a shoe sole; and yet another was tucked into the insulation layer of a water bottle—they were completely undetectable without being opened.

"My lord, this..." Da Long was completely dumbfounded when he saw the three bronze badges in Cheng Ye's hand.

"It's okay, you're not professionals, it's normal that you can't find it."

Cheng Ye chuckled. With these four badges, the identities of the four men as Pinghai Tower mercenaries could be further confirmed.

Unlike Wang Qing's badge, the badges of the other three were all bronze, with wave, sun and moon patterns, and a verification code engraved on the reverse side.

Bronze-level Executor?
Cheng Ye guessed to himself, "Besides proving their identity, these badges must have some other use, otherwise they wouldn't have hidden them so well."

After observing for a while, I still couldn't figure it out.

But it wasn't a big problem. I took out my phone, opened the verification function, took a picture, and got the answer immediately.

Pinghai Tower Badge (Silver Grade)

[Function]: Verifies the identity of the Pinghai Tower executor; stores task points (equivalent to currency).

【How to use】:
1. Accepting a Quest: The badge number is the executor's code. A unique password is required to verify your identity before you can accept quests of the corresponding level.

2. Points Storage: Upon completion of a task, reward points are directly stored in the badge and cannot be withdrawn; they are only valid for internal use.

3. Black Market Consumption: By sensing the badge through the Pinghai Tower's special communicator and entering the password, you can use points to purchase weapons, intelligence, supplies, etc.

[Note]: The badge is only bound to the code, not to the individual. It cannot be replaced if lost, and the score will be permanently frozen.

[Note]: This badge is recycled at the Supply Department. Recycling price: Silver grade / 80 / Torch Points

"Oh, so it's Pinghai Tower's exclusive bank card!"

Cheng Ye suddenly realized why the four of them would rather hide the badges in nutrient solution or the soles of their shoes than not carry them with them.

Other things can be replaced if lost, but if this badge is lost, all the hard-earned mission points are gone, and Pinghai Tower won't replace it.

As for being picked up by someone else, it can't be used without a separate password, so it's a double insurance.

However, upon seeing the last "recycling message," another thought crossed his mind: Could the City of Fire's Sanctuary have its password cracked? Or could the points inside be forcibly extracted after recycling?
"It's simple for me. I can just grab them and search them one by one to get all the passwords."

"Hey, Pinghai Tower is really a charity, giving away skills and mission points."

Cheng Ye put away the torch and couldn't help but laugh.

Although it's unclear whether the Pinghai Tower's special communicator is usable around Xingfu City, once you've collected enough badges, you'll eventually find a place where it can be used.

Since it's a black market platform, you might be able to buy things that you can't buy in Happy City, such as good items from other super sanctuary cities, or some important special intelligence.

Thinking about it this way, Cheng Ye suddenly felt that the mastermind behind the bounty on him had actually become a "good guy who brings benefits".

With the presence of flames providing a means of observation, and the cooperation of the community militia, capturing these mercenaries would be a piece of cake.

"These foolish kids who took on the mission probably won't know until they die that the 'trainee prosecutor' they were investigating was actually a superhuman, right?"

Cheng Ye couldn't help but laugh out loud, and even had an even bolder idea.

If the bounty is removed in the future, can he go to Pinghai Tower and put up a bounty himself to continue entrapment and law enforcement? As long as the person who comes is not an extraordinary person, it would be easy to catch them.
Indeed, the wild world outside is full of opportunities!
"Dalong, take them back and give each of them two packets of nutritional syrup, so they don't starve to death."

After putting all four badges into the waterproof bag, Cheng Ye glanced at the upper right corner of the panel, where there was only 6% charge left. He wasn't in a hurry, since the person couldn't run away anyway.

"Yes!" Da Long quickly replied, his eyes full of curiosity, but he didn't dare to ask any more questions.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing." Cheng Ye called out to Da Long, who was about to turn around. "I need to pick up six cars tonight and park them in the community from now on. Have someone clear a space for them in the closed alley behind the mall. First, clean up the clutter inside, and then send two people to watch over them 24 hours a day to prevent anyone from touching them."

"Okay! I'll go arrange it right away!" Da Long was about to leave when Cheng Ye called him back.

"Wait."

Cheng Ye looked at him, slowly nodded, and said with a hint of a smile, "Aren't you curious about what I'm going to do with these six cars?"

Da Long scratched his head, revealing a simple and honest expression that Cheng Ye knew all too well. He said in a sincere tone, "If you want me to know, sir, you will tell me. If you don't want me to tell you, Da Long will never say a word."

This submissive demeanor is completely different from the ruthless and fearsome "Poison Hand Dragon" that outsiders describe.

"That's good."

Cheng Ye waved his hand, speaking casually, "I'll tell you when it's your turn, but telling you things in advance isn't good for you, or for anyone else in the community."

Da Long's heart skipped a beat, and he instantly understood Cheng Ye's unspoken meaning.

As he hurriedly walked out of the interrogation room, he reached up and touched his back, only to find that he had unknowingly been covered in a layer of dense, white sweat.

But after taking only two steps, the lingering fear gradually turned into a deep joy.

The assassins that Old He couldn't get information out of, Prosecutor Cheng had no secrets about.

Isn't this a demonstration of ability?

Then she thought about how she had been training, arresting and interrogating people with Cheng Ye these past few days, and how the community was changing day by day. The foundation of the pedestrian street was rising from the ground, the shopping mall was being slowly repaired and improved, and even the women in the community were now able to have places to work and earn money.

Da Long then hurriedly found Er Long, "The brothers guarding the detention room and those making arrests, go find them one by one and make arrangements for them. Make sure they keep everything they see and hear to themselves."

"I don't want to hear any of my brothers talking about you, sir. Even if the city lord asks, you can't say anything, understand?"

"Okay, I'll take care of it right away." Erlong hurriedly took off, and judging from the expression on his face, he was even more anxious than Dalong.

It's 8:30 p.m.

The iron gate of the Machinery Bureau's headquarters slowly opened, and six military green vehicles drove out in succession. Cheng Ye drove his SUV at the front, and in the rearview mirror, three transport vehicles and two armed pickup trucks followed closely behind, their headlights casting long streaks of light in the night.

This feeling of having a convoy in his hands was both strange and wonderful, reminding him of the embarrassing situation a month ago when he couldn't even afford a Bison fighting pistol, as if it were a different world.

The convoy drove smoothly into the city and eventually turned into a closed alley behind Tianyuan Shopping Mall.

Da Long and his men have cleaned the entire alley thoroughly, and the ground has been mopped all over.

There was even a simple iron frame set up at the entrance, with two militiamen standing guard at the door, and two more people stationed inside the alley to guard it around the clock.

The mechanics apprentice in charge of driving jumped out of the car, deftly pulled the handbrake, and said with a fawning smile, "Inspector Cheng, the car is parked. If you need any assembly or repair work in the future, just call us anytime, and we'll be there in a heartbeat!"

"Okay." Cheng Ye nodded in agreement, but found it somewhat amusing.

No wonder the Machinery Bureau can't retain its staff; these apprentices haven't even graduated yet, and they're already looking for a way out for themselves.

However, it's also good. In the future, when the caravan needs maintenance or even a repair shop needs to be built, these people can be directly recruited, saving us the trouble of searching for familiar apprentices everywhere.

After the apprentices left, Cheng Ye turned the car around and drove towards the Public Works Department headquarters.

He now holds six charging cards: three registered to the checkpoint's public account and three private cards held by individual users.

As long as the charging power is distributed across each card, and each charge is not excessive and the frequency is slowed down, it will not attract attention.

The security guard at the Public Works Department parking lot already recognized Cheng Ye. When he saw him drive up in his new car, he paused for a moment, then smiled and opened the gate: "Prosecutor Cheng, what brings you here today?"

"Come here to charge," Cheng Ye replied simply.

"Alright! There are still plenty of charging spots available today!" The guard quickly stepped aside to make way.

It felt really good to be able to charge my phone openly and legitimately for the first time without having to make excuses.

The Public Works Department's bus charging bays are exceptionally spacious. Cheng Ye was a little unfamiliar with turning the steering wheel and reversing until the SUV came to a steady stop in front of the charging station.

Then, pick up a white card and stick it on the back of the defense device to complete the binding.

Individual cardholders must recharge at least 1000 kWh per transaction. After confirmation, a prompt will immediately appear on the screen:

[After deducting 150 contribution points, the charging credit has been credited to your account]

"Luckily, I didn't squander the contribution points I saved up before; now they're being used wisely!"

Cheng Ye glanced at his Defense Pass balance; he had 2017 points left, enough to charge over 10,000 kilowatt-hours.

That's enough!

He didn't rush to plug in the charging gun; instead, he manually adjusted the charging limit to 37.5% on the panel.

In this way, the maximum charging capacity displayed by the charging station is 150 kWh, which corresponds exactly to the battery level of the off-road vehicle, and there is nothing wrong with it.

"Better safe than sorry. It's just a matter of running a couple more times, it's not a big problem."

Cheng Ye muttered to himself.

Someone has already asked the executors of Pinghai Tower to investigate him. Any abnormality could become a breakthrough, so he must be extremely cautious.

Once the charging limit was reached, he drove his off-road vehicle back and then switched to a transport truck to charge it.

This time, the limit was set to 50%, and after two charges, the charging value was restored to 90.5%.

I checked the time on the defense device, and it only took 3 hours to charge it twice.

"This efficiency is indeed much faster than household electricity."

Cheng Ye couldn't help but sigh.

If I were to charge this much using household electricity, it would take at least six days. Now that I can use the Public Works Department's fast charging service, I will no longer have to worry about charging fees.

After years of preparation and accumulation, it's finally time to reap the rewards.

Without pausing, he immediately drove back to the community and interrogated Wang Qing again without stopping.

With enough energy, it's time to gather more information.

"Intelligence search, direction: details of the Pinghai Tower mission that are related to me."

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, the surrounding environment instantly darkened, and Wang Qing's blank expression froze on his face.

The next second, the vision shattered and then reformed, and this time the scene was clearer and more immersive than before.

It is no longer the resort-style island full of colorful bungalows, but a completely deserted wild island.

A light drizzle was falling from the sky, and the sea breeze, carrying a salty smell, blew against the exposed rocks.

There were no decent buildings on the island, only a few makeshift shacks made of canvas and planks. The shacks were surrounded by barbed wire with "Do Not Approach" signs hanging on them, but they were rusty and obviously had not been maintained for a long time.

Cheng Ye surveyed his surroundings from a god-like perspective. The island was not large, with a flat open space in the center. On the open space was a rusty iron frame, on which hung an old-fashioned communicator, its antenna crookedly pointing to the sky.

In the video, Wang Qing, wearing a black raincoat, stumbles towards the metal frame, takes out a silver badge from his pocket, and sticks it to the sensor area of ​​the communicator.

"Beep, please enter your verification password!"

The communicator had a numeric keypad. Wang Qing glanced around cautiously and reached out to type in the password.

"Hey, you've already seen the password?"

Cheng Ye was somewhat surprised, as he had thought he would have to waste another opportunity to search for the password.

I didn't expect it to be so convenient.

Wang Qing quickly typed in a disordered password of twelve digits. Cheng Ye wasn't in a hurry to memorize it either, since the information could be reviewed later and he could look at it slowly when needed.

'Beep, verification successful. Code name 02W76, Silver-level Executor.'

A synthesized electronic voice, accompanied by static, came from the communicator: "Please enter the mission docking password."

Wang Qing paused for a moment, then pressed a string of numbers on the communicator.

"Password correct, 'Bronze 5' quest accepted."

The electronic voice continued, "Employer's requirements: Focus on investigating the reasons for the anomalies in the target's information before and after, search for the connection with the missing prosecutor 'Cheng Long' from Happiness City, submit a progress report once a week, the task has a time limit of 90 days, do you accept? Press 1 to accept, press 0 to listen again."

Without hesitation, Wang Qing pressed the number key 1.

The communicator paused for a moment, and then a square box suddenly popped out from below, containing a milky white caterpillar.

Wang Qing's expression changed slightly, but he still took the insect and swallowed it.

The next second, the intelligence space shattered once again.

The fact that the entire mission was accepted without any human contact proves the cunning nature of the Mountain and Sea Pavilion.

The quest is on one island, but you pick it up on another island, so you probably won't even be able to complete it in the same place.

Even if some powerful forces want to eradicate these pests, they should consider whether the investment and return are commensurate.

"Cheng Long, the missing prosecutor for five terms?"

Cheng Ye sat in his seat, his brows slightly furrowed.

Unexpectedly, the search yielded another unexpected result. Could it be that Jackie Chan is still alive?
Thinking back to Liu Bi's hesitant manner earlier, Cheng Ye pondered, realizing that the situation was not as simple as he had imagined.

Jackie Chan's rise from humble beginnings was not due to external forces like the collector.

Such a person suddenly went to intercept and kill the city lord of Happiness City, who had not shown his face for many years.

The elders are all extraordinary, and the city lord must also be extraordinary to be able to control them.

There must be some hidden story behind an ordinary person intercepting a superhuman.

"Do these people think my unusual behavior is related to the disappearance of Jackie Chan?"

It has to be said that this is a perfect excuse to shift the blame.

Cheng Ye thought for a moment, staring at the remaining 66% of the charge, and did not conduct any further intelligence gathering.

By now, we know enough, and the next step is to gradually understand the internal situation of Shanhai Tower.

However, he did not intend to rely on the collector to slowly search for these things. He thought that asking Master Tian might lead to a breakthrough, since the Heart-Eating Worm was developed by his old organization.

Moreover, Shanhai Tower and Pinghai Tower must be connected in some way.

"Da Long, bring me a basin of cold water to sober this guy up."

"Yes!" Da Long's eyes lit up, and he quickly ran to fetch a bucket of water to pour on it.

Wow.

Wang Qingben's somewhat scattered mind suddenly snapped back to reality.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Cheng Ye striding over, his right hand gripping his like an eagle's claw.

A pinch sent a sharp pain through me.

Wang Qing couldn't help but let out a miserable howl, finally stopping repeating that annoying phrase, "I'm just here to take a look."

"Since you're already here, leave me with all your skills, points, and intelligence."

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Cheng Ye had a sudden thought.

A huge "Lv3" flashed in the center of the panel, and then all the characters began to shake and recombine rapidly, before a complete skill panel appeared without much ripple.

Wang Qing

[Lv1 Skill]: Lock-on
[Lv2 Skill]: Lock-on
[Lv3 Skill]:
Talent: Water Wave Physique (Rare, moderately increases physical endurance)

Talent: Adaptability (Rare, the body can quickly adapt to unfamiliar environments)

Talent: White Streak in the Waves (Rare, moderately increases swimming ability)
Talent: Cool-toned fair skin (Excellent, slightly increases the rate of skin cell turnover)

Skills: Twelve common joints (heel, knee, hip, and lumbar spine)

Skills: Intermediate Swimming, Intermediate Perception, Advanced Traps, Intermediate Camouflage, Naval Legion Standard Combat Techniques (Mastery), Naval Legion Standard Shooting Techniques (Mastery)
Skill: Advanced Ship Repair ☆

[Lv4 Skill]: Lock-on
　P.S.: Two chapters totaling 1.1 words delivered! Thank you for your votes, dear readers!
　　P.S. 2: Thank you Ning Caichen for the donation!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)