Wasteland Border Inspector

Chapter 183 Facing the Future: A Competition of Ideas!
Although Li Matai was not authorized to reveal the complete details of the assessment, he subtly pointed out many key aspects that night, such as the content of the assessment and the key factors for winning.

In this round, the assessment no longer focuses on written plans; each topic is a real-world application.

The test is a real-world competition with a very short time limit, designed to instantly reveal the true abilities of the prosecutors.

Ten days have passed since the initial assessment.

During this period, waves of migrants from outside were drawn away by the first batch of satellite cities, becoming the main force in construction.

Based on the initial scale of 20,000 people in each satellite city, 240,000 people have already left the formation.

Meanwhile, 5,000 people continue to flood into the buffer zone every day, bringing the total to nearly 80,000.

The resettlement of 320,000 people did not result in large-scale chaos, but small-scale conflicts never ceased.

Even with the lowest probability, among the millions of displaced people, there are still hundreds or thousands of ambitious thugs.

Incited by the "walker," these people did not seek to improve their lives; instead, they became even worse, utterly wicked.

Therefore, selecting personnel for satellite city construction became the most basic yet most challenging aspect of the assessment.

They wanted to attract displaced people with their development concepts, but they didn't have time to explain those concepts in detail, so the quality of the selected personnel was naturally uneven.

The key to the assessment lies precisely in these selected refugees.

After the test questions are drawn, the migrants actually carry them out, and their scores become the inspectors' scores.

The reason why Gu Xinjing and Garcia failed was because their ideologies did not align.

Gu Xinjing wanted to select more obedient refugees to perfectly carry out the various tasks he assigned.

Garcia, however, insisted on selecting those displaced people who were capable and self-motivated enough to complete the task.

As a result, the teams they chose were put together and started fighting during the assessment, ultimately being eliminated by Li Matai and Song Hai's team.

why?
Because Li Ma was already prepared to be eliminated, he didn't care about the assessment at all. He just nodded and agreed with whatever Song Hai said, like an outsider watching a show.

The personnel selected by Song Hai were not top-notch in terms of quality and their assessment results were mediocre, but they had the advantage of unified ideas and no conflicts in their work, which was much better than the internal friction of Gu Xinjing and his group.

That's why the second round of assessments allowed for voting on partners, effectively patching up this loophole.

To avoid conflicts between partners during the selection process, which could lead to a complete loss in subsequent stages.

"We will be at a slight disadvantage in this aspect."

On the way to the community, Cheng Ye said slowly, "We look young, so those young adults might not pay attention to us. But on the other hand, it's less likely that those 'bad guys' are watching us. In their eyes, we don't look like we can pass the test, so there's no need for them to bother us."

"Brother Cheng, surely the checkpoint won't reveal our trainee status to the refugees?"

"probably not."

Cheng Ye shook his head slightly. "There's no reason to tell the refugees about this obvious hierarchical advantage, otherwise lower-level inspectors simply can't compete with higher-level ones. But I guess those higher-level inspectors will definitely boast to the refugees about their status, abilities, and experience, whether openly or secretly. These are their advantages, and the checkpoints can't stop them. What we can do is prevent this from becoming our disadvantage."

"I understand." Wang Kang nodded, seemingly lost in thought.

"So, who is our primary target group?"

“Family,” Cheng Ye said crisply, “and the kind that includes a whole family.”

These days, he has not gone to the wilderness to observe the situation, nor has he been on duty at the checkpoint to inquire about anything.

However, the evening news every day exposes the basic situation of the satellite city to everyone.

From the development concept of satellite cities to their population structure and architectural style choices.

A number of satellite cities still need to attract a continuous influx of people, so they naturally won't skimp on promotion.

In terms of population structure, the 12 satellite cities all have basically the same population composition.

The population is mainly composed of single young adults, who make up almost 40% of the total population.

The remaining 60%, consisting of couples (45%), also constitutes labor force.

Only the remaining 15% are the families he mentioned, families with children and elderly members.

The reason for having this group of people is still due to the hard indicators in the assessment.

Each satellite city must select 15% of such families; otherwise, in the end, apart from the buffer zone, there will be no place to accept these "burdens."

"If we were given the choice, we would only select families and try to avoid single young adults."

Cheng Ye spoke with certainty, showing no change in his initial thoughts; on the contrary, he had become even more resolute in recent days.

The saying "Having an elder in the family is like having a treasure" is not just a random saying.

There may be some unreasonable old people in modern times, but the old people in the wasteland who have survived from the old era to the present day almost all have a lot of skills.

Even if they can't participate in construction like the able-bodied men, they can't fight in defending against the source of infection.

It could even taint what should be a vibrant satellite city with a stagnant, "old-fashioned" feel, forcing all decisions to become conservative and hindering early-stage development.

But is it a big problem?
What Cheng Ye values ​​more is building a cohesive underlying structure and a social system supported by shared beliefs.

Expanding outward step by step, each step is firmly planted.

This way, even if a large number of young men are recruited in the future, there will be no conflict.

Because families can be used to build a more hierarchical social structure.

Wang Kang pondered for a moment, but did not question the choice. Instead, he wondered, "What if we draw a question that requires heavy labor? Will we be at a disadvantage?"

He paused, then added, "I wonder if the rules allow me to join in?"

"There's no need for manual labor; the exam questions will definitely not explicitly differentiate between groups of people."

Cheng Ye couldn't help but laugh. "As for whether we suffer a loss or not, it ultimately depends on how well we direct things, whether the families are supportive, and whether they are willing to take a gamble with their own hands."

As they spoke, the two had already arrived at the entrance of the mall.

On this special day, Erlong finally shed his usual rough and rugged look in his sleeveless t-shirt and changed into a smart long gown.

To be honest, at first glance it actually looks rather scholarly.

Seeing the two approaching, he quickly went to greet them: "Sir, the district elders are all up, and the manpower is ready."

"Yes, Not Bad!"

Cheng Ye nodded and walked into the mall with Wang Kang.

The district elders were sitting on the open ground in the center of the first floor, while three hundred militiamen stood in neat rows below, each wearing a clean black long gown, with a short knife at their left waist and a pistol at their right.

If the short swords were replaced with axes, this formation would be very similar to the Axe Gang in the movies.

"Prosecutor Cheng." The two walked to the front of the stage along the edge of the line, and the three district elders stood up at the same time and nodded slightly.

"Today, we will definitely need the help of the three elders of the district."

"Don't worry, your matter is our matter, it's the community's matter," Old Song was the first to express his support.

He was wearing a black Zhongshan suit today. Although he was thin, he exuded a unique spirit.

Mr. He and Mr. Zhou changed into brand-new dark green pioneer uniforms, revealing the calm and composed temperament of veterans.

Although it was to support Cheng Ye, it also marked their return to the forefront after more than a decade.

"Time flies," Old Song sighed. "The last time I was about to leave the city was nine years ago. I never thought that one day I could leave the city in such a grand manner. Even if I died tomorrow, this old man would have no regrets."

“That’s right.” Old He laughed, raising his hand to touch the pioneer badge on his military uniform. “Neither of us ever imagined that we’d be able to wear these clothes and show them off outside.” He had four badges pinned to his chest, while Old Zhou only had two.

Seeing Cheng Ye looking over, Old He specially picked up a badge to show off: "This badge is from the year of the great flood. The pontoon bridge we built was about to collapse. I took the lead and rushed up to stabilize the foundation of the pontoon bridge. In the end, I led the people to save the pontoon bridge. The governor specially gave me this badge!"

The badge is small, about the same size as the badges worn by residents of Happy City.

The entire piece is bluish-green, with the three large characters "Second-Class Merit" engraved on the front, and two lines of smaller characters on the back:

[Saving lives to protect the bridge during flood relief efforts]

"Don't get cocky," Old Zhou teased sarcastically. "You're showing off to everyone you meet, but it's questionable whether those refugees outside even recognize you!"

One sentence made Mr. He laugh heartily, and the atmosphere became relaxed.

After exchanging a few jokes, Cheng Ye turned to the three hundred militiamen and asked loudly, "Is everyone ready?"

"Ready!" came the unanimous shout from below. Although it wasn't as synchronized as expected, it was still a very good result after a week of training.

Cheng Ye didn't expect to be able to train an elite army on his own.

Ultimately, the training of troops will need to be handled by a capable person; there's no need to rush it now.

"Great, everyone is in high spirits. I hope they can keep it up all day."

Cheng Ye's gaze swept over each face, his eyes filled with satisfaction.

What is the philosophy?
Ideas can also be expressed verbally.

What is expressed through actions is also called a concept.

This isn't like a university club recruitment event where you set up a table, yell about benefits, and make empty promises, and students immediately flock to you for a few credits.

In the wasteland, there is only one truly effective philosophy.

How to get people to live with you!

What he had to do was lead these three hundred militiamen and three district elders to demonstrate his ideas.

As for whether anyone will say he fouled?
If you have anything to say, go and talk to the elders.

He has always followed the idealist path of uniting communities; if even this is not allowed, how can we talk about promoting his ideas?

Moreover, other prosecutors are not necessarily as honest as the first group of prosecutors; the selection and evaluation of people are completely random.

It's possible that someone has already secretly tampered with things, gathered enough intelligence, and knows which option to choose.

These are the people who are more likely to break the rules, but if you want to take it seriously, isn't that also part of the prosecutor's ability?
After inspecting the manpower, Cheng Ye went to the alley behind the community that had been converted into a parking lot.

All the vehicles were washed clean, and even the tires were scrubbed until they shone.

Da Long was standing on the roof of the car tidying up some odds and ends, while Master Tian was helping him. When he saw Da Long coming over, the two of them quickly jumped off the car.

"Master Tian, ​​we'd like to trouble you to lead the team and drive today, to help us make a good impression."

“Prosecutor Cheng, you’re too kind,” Master Tian said, scratching the back of his head with a simple smile. “I happen to be on vacation today, so going out will broaden my horizons.”

Da Long followed up, "Sir, the supplies and slogans are all ready. Shall we put them up now?"

"No rush, we can put it up somewhere else after we leave the city."

"it is good!"

Besides manpower, vehicles are also crucial.

Most other inspectors felt that spending money on vehicles was a waste, while the fourth-phase inspectors who had caravans were far away and unable to return.

This is the perfect opportunity for him to showcase this advantage.

These vehicles are rarely seen by residents in what appears to be a buffer zone, and are even more of a rarity for migrants from outside.

Once the car drives off and the slogan is posted, it's guaranteed to be the center of attention.

Besides, these vehicles are the foundation of the future Big Wave Town, so it's not an intentional show-off.

"The manpower and vehicles are meant to show people the benefits of following us."

Cheng Ye changed the subject, "But more importantly, we need to showcase the advantages of Dabo Town; that's the main event."

He led the somewhat dazed Wang Kang back to the convenience store, pulled open the roller shutter, rummaged under the counter by the door for a while, and pulled out dozens of rolled-up posters.

To prevent leaks, he hand-drew all of these by hand over the past few days, without the involvement of any outsiders.

Although his drawing skills were only at a middle school level and he had forgotten most of them, with the help of action points, he still accurately presented the effect he wanted.

He gestured to Wang Kang to lend a hand and put the posters up one by one on the empty wall of the convenience store.

It's brightly colored and very eye-catching.

"Brother Cheng, what is this?" Wang Kang stared wide-eyed.

"Engineering drawings." Cheng Ye said succinctly, a relieved smile finally appearing on his face, which had remained impassive since the start of the inspection.

Designing the development plan for Big Wave Town requires more than just a single architectural plan based on data.

This is not modern times; there is no need for layers of approvals, strict adherence to blueprints during construction, or final inspection before it can be put into use.

In the wasteland, flexibility and adaptability are key. There are no rules; as long as a building functions and doesn't collapse, it's a good building.

Moreover, there's a shortage of materials today, the requirements change tomorrow, and unexpected events may occur the day after tomorrow; there's simply no unchanging solution.

Therefore, the architectural plan for Dabo Town was only used to pass the assessment and had little significance for actual construction. This is why the three rounds of assessment no longer focused on the paper.

What truly moves the displaced people is a future they can see at a glance, a future that excites them.

Would other prosecutors think of this?

Seeing Wang Kang's utterly shocked expression, Cheng Ye already knew the answer in his heart.

The upper half of each poster features his hand-drawn sketch of the current state of Big Wave Town:

The muddy country roads, the ruined town, the clearly defined Baishui River and Huangshui River, and the surrounding desolate wilderness looked no different from any other dilapidated village or town.

The lower half shows the appearance after the engineering renovation:
The rural road was widened into a cement road that can accommodate three vehicles. Large open spaces were cleared on both sides, and simple safety nets were installed. There were even some emergency rest areas.

The town ruins were demolished and rebuilt, and buildings rose from the ground one after another, with floor plans, aerial views, and front views.
None of the posters contained any data, only images.

River channel renovation, opening up of fishing, and even hydropower stations were included in the plan.

Of course, the most impressive one is the magnificent building placed in the center of all the posters, occupying four pages.

Large number of checkpoints!

This is a large checkpoint, no less than the central checkpoint, with sharp edges and corners, exuding a reassuring sense of solidity.

Standing before the already established town of Dabo, it resembles a formidable fortress, giving one a sense of security that can block out all infected beings.

"They might talk about their ideas, resources, experience, and past achievements."

"We don't have any of these."

Cheng Ye pointed to the poster, his voice still steady, "But what I want to tell them is the future."

"A future that can be seen with the eyes and touched with the hands!"

　P.S.: In this race against time, two chapters have been delivered!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)