Wasteland Border Inspector

Chapter 208 Great Horror: Thousands of Corpses Underwater!

Silence, like the mist in the night, slowly spread between the two.

Looking up at the riverbank, a thin mist had already enveloped the town of Dabo.

It was hard to tell whether it was the lingering smoke from burning vines during the day or the hazy, eerie mist that foreshadowed impending danger, but it all made one's heart sink.

Rococo didn't say another word. He had already made his stance clear, and saying anything more would be contrary to his usual logic of "stopping when it's done."

The reason they could even say these things was because the two of them were currently teaming up in the wilderness, temporarily escaping the power vortex of the buffer zone, and were startled by Cheng Ye, the trainee prosecutor. In a daze, they felt that the third-term prosecutor was nothing more than a shackle binding them.

Garcia wisely refrained from asking further questions.

Because he was well aware that the current situation was no longer something that could be resolved by him running over to Cheng Ye and "nodding an apology." The grudges between the two were minor, and as long as he was willing to back down, given Cheng Ye's style of doing things, he would most likely not hold a grudge about the past.

What truly trapped him was "power" itself, the attention and resources he received without contributing anything during this period.

Once you start something, it's like a wild horse that's broken free of its reins; you can't control it and you can't stop it.

Once you climb up to some spots, there's only a cliff below you, and if you try to jump down, you'll most likely be smashed to pieces.

He performed terribly in the first round of written assessments, failing to grasp the core issues.

Logically speaking, he shouldn't have been a part of the contracting process at all. Whether it was the first round or the current second round, he wasn't qualified to be on the table.

But it was precisely because of his grudge with the descendants of the Cheng family from the East that he became a vanguard of the younger generation of Westerners and was forcibly pushed to the forefront.

Otherwise, he would have been just one of those ordinary prosecutors among dozens of Western prosecutors, and not a very noticeable one at that.

An unspeakable silence lasted for more than ten minutes until the sound of patrol footsteps came from the granary passage. Garcia finally took a deep breath and asked in a very low voice, "Inspector Luo, is there any other way I can go now?"

“Other routes?” Rokuk paused, a hint of surprise in his voice. “Didn’t you officially contact them?”

“I was contacted, but I…didn’t agree.” Garcia slowly shook his head, a hint of struggle hidden in his eyes.

“That’s easy.” Rokuk’s tone softened. “After this assessment, apply for field missions and leave. For the next three years, except in winter, try not to return to the buffer zone. If you complete the field missions well, no one will mention what happened in the past.”

"Is this the only way?" Garcia pressed, seemingly still hoping for other possibilities.

Instead of answering directly, Rococo asked, "Do you remember what I told you yesterday?"

"Huh?" Garcia was stunned for a moment, not reacting immediately.

"If you beat him, your name will definitely be on the list of prosecutors for three terms."

Having said that, without waiting for Garcia's reaction, Rokuk turned around and walked towards the approaching patrol, clearly stating:

"Everyone, put in extra effort during the first half of the night. I will take turns with Prosecutor Garcia, switching shifts every hour, to familiarize you with the patrol routes and ensure your safety."

"understand!"

Having an inspector leading the team is obviously much safer than wandering aimlessly through the dark town of Dabo on your own.

Four patrol teams, totaling 32 people, marched out of the abandoned grain warehouse in a grand procession.

Compared to the patrol routes during the day, tonight we also have to cover the blue zone, which expands the area considerably, but the workload is actually lighter, since we don't have to worry about monsters suddenly appearing from the blue zone all the time.

As long as we safeguard the safety of the entire town of Dabo and hold out until the latter half of the night, the danger will be greatly reduced.

Of course, the possibility that infected individuals may come ashore in the middle of the night cannot be ruled out.

Rokuk's first stop on the patrol was on the riverbank.

This is the most dangerous place in the entire town of Big Wave, and also a place where infected creatures frequently appear. However, usually, infected creatures will leave obvious marks when they come ashore.

He had made preparations during the day, secretly sprinkling fluorescent tracking powder along the riverbank. Now, as long as a flashlight is shone on it, the powder can reflect fluorescent bands, making it easy to track traces.

"Where's the flashlight?"

"Sir, I'm here!" Someone quickly handed over a flashlight.

Rococ took the switch and pressed it. A long beam of light shot towards the ground, extending a yellow band of light hundreds of meters along the riverbank.

Fortunately, there were no abnormal traces on the section of light closest to the red zone.

"Keep moving forward! Everyone stay close to me, don't get separated!"

He shouted, turned his head and glanced at the team members in the back row whose eyes were already slightly dazed, and walked forward silently along the yellow light.

The thirty-odd people behind him immediately followed, each of them gripping the pistols at their waists tightly.

This was the first time they had approached the water at night. A few of them took a few steps, but eventually couldn't resist looking curiously at the river beside them.

So beautiful.

A thin mist shrouded the river, and scattered moonlight shone down, shimmering with silver light.

Occasionally, a few large fish would leap out of the water with a "splash," only to sink back into the water a second later with the waves.

The people in the back row stared in disbelief, unconsciously slowing their pace, and even began to have strange hallucinations flash through their minds.

It was as if a voice was gently enticing you: "The underwater scenery is beautiful, and the water is so warm. Come down and experience it!"

Is it really that beautiful?
The person at the back of the line suddenly stopped, his eyes becoming unfocused, and he subconsciously moved closer to the riverbank.

Just as he was about to take a step down, a gunshot suddenly rang out.

Wow.

A bullet grazed past his feet, sending up a trail of sparks on the ground.

The sudden noise startled the man, and all his daze and confusion vanished instantly.

He turned his head and saw Rokuk walking over with a gloomy expression.

"Don't look underwater, do you have a death wish?"

"Yes, yes, Prosecutor Luo!" The team member quickly realized what was happening and apologized, his face pale.

For a fleeting moment, he actually forgot that the White Water River was dangerous and instead mistook the river surface for a steaming hot spring.

I dare not imagine what would have happened if Rokuk hadn't reminded me in time, and I had taken another step forward.

"Listen up, everyone!" Rokuk raised his voice, shouting to the entire team, "The methods used by the waterborne infection sources are always the same, nothing more than luring you into the water to join them. Just remember one thing: don't touch the water, ignore those hallucinations, and absolutely no infection source will be able to infect you! Understand?"

"Understood!" the team members responded in unison.

Having specifically chosen a particular example, and seeing that everyone had perked up, Rokuk felt somewhat at ease and turned to continue his patrol along the band of light.

The quality of this group of people is actually not bad, they just lack experience in patrolling the wilderness at night.

Rocco didn't say anything more, turned around, grabbed his flashlight, and continued to look for traces of the tracking powder along the riverbank until he reached the dock.

There is a row of stone steps leading down to the water at the dock. The two team members who went missing during the day most likely went down into the river from here.

He shone his flashlight beam across the shoreline, which was blocked off with tracking powder.

The powder is uniform and shows no signs of being trampled or damaged.

"Thankfully, the river seems to be flowing faster again." Rokuk breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself, "As long as no infected creatures come ashore, we should be able to get through tonight without any problems."

He didn't linger and continued leading the team forward on their patrol.

It takes about half an hour to walk around the entire town of Dabo. The patrol team made two round trips before finally returning to the abandoned granary.

Garcia was dozing on the ground when he heard footsteps and immediately woke up.

“I’ve sprinkled tracking powder along the shore. After you take over, go check it out first,” Rokuk specifically instructed. “If you find anything unusual, don’t rush to investigate. Come back and tell me immediately, and then contact the Blue Zone.”

"Remember, don't be a hero."

"Don't worry, I know what's important." Garcia nodded, got up and woke up the 32 team members who were resting in the granary, preparing to take over the patrol.

By this time, it was already late at night, around 10 p.m.

The night fog was thicker than before, and distant objects were shrouded in a blurry white shadow, making even their outlines indistinct.

Following Rocco's instructions, Garcia led his men to the riverbank and shone a flashlight on the ground.

The fluorescent band formed by the tracking powder was still eye-catching, a long and complete strip glowing in the night, giving people a little peace of mind.

But after taking only a few steps forward, he suddenly frowned, and the beam of his flashlight instinctively turned towards the water's surface.

Very strange feeling.

Just a moment ago, he clearly felt something staring at him underwater, at most a few meters away.

The beam of light pierced through the mist and shone into the water, but all that could be seen was the surging river flowing forward, without a single shadow.

"These damn things," he cursed inwardly, not daring to take any more risks. He immediately signaled to everyone, "Don't go along the riverbank, retreat to the path here! Don't look for anything unusual with your eyes, just use your flashlights to check from a distance whether the fluorescent powder has been damaged."

The group stepped back and searched the riverbank for nearly a kilometer along the path.

The fluorescent powder was intact, with no signs of being touched.

"Alright, go check the rest of the town!"

After a quick observation, the uneasy feeling in my heart became more and more pronounced.

Garcia simply turned around and led his men away quickly from the side of the town away from the riverbank.

When he reached the vicinity of the Blue Zone supermarket, he deliberately slowed down and looked at the activity units in the parking lot.

The dim light shone through the gaps in the unit, accompanied by the sounds of snoring, creating a comforting atmosphere for sleep.

Compared to the residents of the red zone crammed into hot and oppressive basements, the blue zone is obviously much more comfortable.

After watching for a moment, he couldn't help but laugh at himself.

If I were a resident, I would probably prefer to come to the Blue Zone. Who would want to stay in a cramped underground space?

But after taking only a few steps forward, he suddenly stopped. Against the supermarket wall, Cheng Ye, dressed in armor, leaned against the wall like a silent scarecrow, motionless, guarding the surroundings.

Is he resting while standing?

Garcia stared wide-eyed in disbelief, almost doubting that he was seeing things.

Until Cheng Ye seemed to sense his gaze and looked up at him.

In the brief moment their eyes met, Garcia, like a startled rabbit, immediately looked away and hurriedly led his team around to the side.

Even after walking hundreds of steps forward, the astonishment in his heart had not subsided, leaving only a complex emotion that was hard to describe.

It's hard to imagine, but he couldn't help but recall when he was still a trainee prosecutor.

Back then, the checkpoints also had night shifts, from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. the next day.

Back then, I was filled with fear, let alone keeping watch alone at night, even when I was on night duty with the old prosecutor.

But now, this guy whom Rococo calls a "genius" is standing outside on duty by himself while everyone else is resting?

Even after the patrol ended and they returned to the granary to hand over the supplies, the dazed look on Garcia's face had not yet faded.

"What's wrong?" Rokuk asked, noticing his strange expression.

"N-nothing." Garcia forced a smile. "We just need to be on alert in the middle of the night. He hasn't gone to rest yet and is still on duty over at the supermarket."

"Oh, I thought something was wrong." Rococo breathed a sigh of relief, then pressed on to the main point, "Nothing unusual was found on the shore, was it?"

“The shore.” Garcia paused, his tone becoming serious. “When I walk along the water’s edge, I always feel like something is watching me from underwater. I don’t know what it is. When you’re on patrol later, don’t go near the shore. Just stay on the path and use your flashlight to look for fluorescent powder.”

"Ah."

Rocouk nodded slightly.

Encountering a strange sense of being spied on in the wilderness is commonplace, mostly because the source of infection is active nearby.

Normally, one should get away from such situations as soon as possible, but now is a critical period for land reclamation. Even if one knows there is danger in the river, one cannot abandon patrolling based on a mere "feeling".

After Garcia led his team to rest, Rocco led his squad on their way.

He didn't bother to verify whether Garcia's feeling was real or not; instead, he followed the instructions and led his men onto the path, sweeping his flashlight across the fluorescent powder on the riverbank.

The light band was exceptionally intact, without a single gap that required close inspection.

“That makes sense. Maybe those toxic crystals really did come from upstream.” Rokuk breathed a sigh of relief. “Dabo Town has been abandoned for so many years, there’s not a soul in sight. Where would so many sources of infection come from, keeping an eye on this place?”

He led his men to inspect the town, but found nothing unusual, so he quickly returned to the granary.

As he passed the Blue Zone parking lot, he remembered Garcia's words and couldn't help but stop and take a look. Sure enough, Cheng Ye was still leaning against the supermarket wall. It was already this late, and he still hadn't gone in to rest.

And he was indeed on duty meticulously, because as soon as he noticed his gaze, Cheng Ye immediately looked up, and their eyes met briefly.

Rokuk paused for a moment, then quickly waved his hand to indicate that he was just passing by and nothing had happened before hurrying away.

When they returned to the granary to hand over the grain, it was almost midnight.

The clouds overhead grew thicker, completely obscuring most of the moon, and the night grew even darker.

After confirming that neither of them had noticed anything unusual, the two successfully handed over their shifts.

Night patrols aren't tiring, but they're scary; the invisible pressure keeps you constantly on edge.

At two o'clock in the morning, the next shift would be taken over by the people from the Blue Zone. When Rokuk led his men back to the granary, Garcia was dozing on the ground. Hearing the noise, he immediately woke up and forced himself to get up and take over the shift despite his exhaustion.

"Are you okay?"

"It's nothing, I'm just a little tired after a busy day." Garcia shook his head. If he couldn't even do something as simple as night patrols well, he would truly be unworthy of the position of inspector of Happy City.

Following the previous route, the team set off, first going to the riverbank for investigation.

It was already late at night, and the river fog completely enveloped the entire Baishui River, making it hazy and indistinct, so that even the outline of the river surface could not be seen, let alone what was underwater.

Garcia became increasingly hesitant to approach the shore, instead staying close to the inside of the path with his men, scanning the fluorescent powder from a distance with flashlights.

"fine."

He breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that the light band was intact.

Actually, after midnight, the probability of encountering danger in the latter half of the night decreases, but the feeling of being "watched" beforehand was really terrible, and I still feel uneasy when I think about it.

The procession continued forward until they reached the dock, where the fluorescent powder remained intact.

Just as Garcia was about to order an investigation of other areas, he suddenly heard a series of exclamations from his teammates behind him:

"Sir! Look over there!"

Ok?
Garcia didn't turn around. His first instinct was to grab the pistol at his waist and dart to the side without thinking.

Once he had retreated to a safe area, he cautiously turned around.

The team members were pointing at the distant dock, their eyes full of curiosity, as if they had seen something emerge from the water.

However, when Garcia looked in the direction his teammate was pointing, he frowned and couldn't see anything.

Available in the next second.

He looked down abruptly, his heart clenching instantly.

Before I knew it, the ground around my feet was flooded, and the water had even reached above my ankles!
boom.

It felt like a thunderclap exploded in my mind.

All the confusion vanished instantly. He shook his head vigorously and realized that he had left the path and was now standing on the steps of the dock's drain.

The 32 team members who were originally with him were now all standing in the water, holding hands in a row, walking blankly into the depths of the river.

If it weren't for that instinctive alertness that made him take a step back, he would probably be in the water by now, just like his teammates!

Sensing that Garcia had stopped, the last member of the group suddenly turned around, a strange smile on his face, and waved at him: "Sir, it's so comfortable in the water, why don't you come over?"

Between life and death, there is great terror!
Almost the instant he finished speaking, Garcia's newly regained clarity vanished.

With a sudden blur, the puddles beneath their feet vanished into thin air, and the team members standing in the water disappeared as well. The scene abruptly shifted back to the pathside.

All the team members turned around, their eyes fixed on him, their voices filled with doubt: "Sir, why are you standing by the water?"

? !
Garcia's skin crawled with goosebumps, and he instinctively glanced back out of the corner of his eye. What he saw almost made his scalp tingle.

Behind him were the dock's steps leading into the water!
The team members were clearly standing on the safe path, but he somehow moved to the dangerous dock, one step further and the White Water River would be there.

Realizing this, my understanding became like a crumpled piece of paper, wildly blurred and chaotic.

However, under the watchful eyes of all his teammates, Garcia paused, then a ruthless, sinister smile suddenly flashed across his face:

"Fuck your hallucination!"

Instead of firing at his teammates, he pulled out a palm-sized alloy box from his waist and pressed the switch.

A pale green orb of light popped out with a "snap".

"Trying to pull this on me? I'll play along!"

He grinned maliciously, lifted the mask of his armor, grabbed the ball of light, and stuffed it into his mouth.

In an instant, countless green lines crawled up his throat and covered his skin, and the scene before him shattered like a broken mirror.

Looking again, where were the team members?
Surrounding him were all dead men with ashen faces, their bodies wrapped in purple patterns, and pairs of ferocious bluish-gray crab claws spread out from their backs.

These "people" had their heads slightly lowered, forming a circle, and were staring at him with empty eyes.

Looking again, where was the dock?
He had clearly stepped onto the last two steps, his waist already submerged in the water, and only his armor kept him from being invaded by the river.

"Sir, why aren't you coming over yet?"

"Sir, why aren't you going into the water yet?"

"My lord, why don't you just die?"

"grown ups."

The dense shouts rang out again, and Garcia felt dizzy and his face changed drastically.

Even though his body was already occupied by the source of infection and he had entered an explosive state, the hallucinations continued to erode him.

What kind of power is this?
What on earth is that purple pattern?

He grabbed the radio and roared, "Rococ! Danger on the river! Everyone's been parasitized!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he tucked the flashlight into his chest and, regardless of whether the message could get out, turned and jumped into the water.

With a "splash," the heavy armor carried him down to the bottom of the White Water River, and the rushing water instantly swept over his head, carrying him downstream.

Using the beam of light from the flashlight on his chest, Garcia stared ahead with wide eyes before his mask was filled with water.

That one glance froze him completely!

All that could be seen beneath the water's surface were piles of corpses!

Layer upon layer, piled up to a height of several meters, at first glance there were at least several hundred, nearly a thousand bodies.

The bodies were all clinging to the concrete of the riverbank, like stretched noodles, pulling each other up and down with the waves in the river.

Everyone's faces were covered in a layer of mud that couldn't be washed off, but you could still see the sinister smiles on their faces.

They turned their heads, their pale eyes filled with undisguised greed and a hint of resentment.

"This is."

A barrage of intelligence information, which he had seen somewhere, exploded in his mind, and Garcia instantly woke up.

Let's rewind to two months ago.

On June 14th, a flash flood occurred in the early morning of a tributary of the Linjiang River, causing the water level to rise by seven meters. The bodies of all the rafters were trapped under a broken bridge 30 kilometers away from Yunshi.
On June 6.17th, the broken bridge collapsed, and the bodies flowed down a tributary of the Linjiang River and into the main channel.
It's 3 a.m.

When the alarm clock on the defense communication device rang, Cheng Ye opened his eyes and felt that most of his fatigue had dissipated.

"Cool!"

I got up and moved around a bit, and my attention immediately became focused on it.

Although you have to "sleep" standing up, wearing armor and leaning against the wall is not much different from resting while lying down, and it might even be more comfortable.

Perhaps because he had exhausted too much energy yesterday, he slept exceptionally soundly and comfortably this time.

With the flames as a warning, there was no need to worry about any sources of infection or infected individuals approaching from inside or outside. He could even react immediately to Rokuk and Garcia's attempts to spy on him along the way.

After stretching his body a little, Cheng Ye shook his head and walked towards Unit 3.

Before they even reached the door, they saw it open, and Huang Liang, who had gotten up at some point, led the designated night patrol team out in single file.

Where is Li Jie?

"Sir, Li Jie hasn't woken up yet, so I took the liberty of covering his shift for a while." Huang Liang chuckled and scratched his head.

"You didn't stay awake, did you?" Cheng Ye looked you up and down, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes.

"No need! I recover my energy quickly, four hours of sleep a day is enough!" Huang Liang patted his chest.

"Oh?"

Cheng Ye nodded slightly, secretly noting this down. Could it be that Huang Liang also has the skill to restore energy?
However, now was not the time to ask questions in detail, so he gestured to Huang Liang to let everyone come out first.

Headcount and equipment check!
Although the Blue Zone has 62 able-bodied men, not many are needed for night patrols; 16 are enough.

He divided the team into two smaller teams so that he could keep an eye on things even if they encountered danger.

Moreover, during the daytime construction, manpower needs to be left to patrol. Now, if too many people are on night duty, it is easy to fall into a vicious cycle of "no one to do the work" during the day.

Soon, everyone's weapons and ammunition were checked.

Huang Liang took out the nutritional syrup that had been prepared in advance, two bags for each person, squatted on the ground, and drank water while drinking the nutritional syrup to replenish their strength.

Before Cheng Ye could even remove his mask, he saw Rokuk leading a few people rushing towards him in the distance, their steps clearly showing panic.

Closer.

Seeing Rokuk's pale face and the uncontrollable twitching of his lips, Cheng Ye's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly stood up.

Instead of approaching each other immediately, the two sides first used their flashlights to exchange signals: three flashes up, three flashes down, and two flashes to the left and two flashes to the right.

After confirming the code was correct, Cheng Ye breathed a sigh of relief and quickly went to meet him, asking, "What's wrong?"

"Garcia is missing!" Rococo rushed over, his voice trembling slightly. "His four patrol teams, a total of 32 men, are all gone!"

"What?" Cheng Ye's face instantly darkened.

“We agreed to switch shifts every hour. Two o’clock is my last shift, and he is responsible for patrolling from two to three o’clock. Logically, he should have been back by now, but I just led a team to search the whole area, and we haven’t seen a single person. They are exactly the same as those two people who suddenly disappeared during the day!”

Rocouk spoke very quickly, his tone filled with anxiety.

"You didn't communicate with each other via radio?" Cheng Ye paused, his gaze falling on the radio hanging on Rokuk's waist.

“That’s the most troublesome part! Look at your radio, the signal is completely blocked!” Rocook said urgently.

"Huh?" Cheng Ye was taken aback for a moment, then immediately turned around and took out the distress radio that had been sent out during the day from his backpack.

This is the most convenient way to observe signals.

When there is a signal connection, the middle SOS button will flash a green light once every 30 seconds.

When using it, a short press connects you to the radio in Wang Kang's hand, while a long press sends a long-distance request for assistance to Wu Rui.

But now.
"No problem?"

Looking up at the still regularly flashing green light, Cheng Ye met Rokuk's astonished gaze.

Almost simultaneously, the two of them took two steps back without making a sound, and the air instantly became more alert.

"You saw a red light?" Cheng Ye asked in a deep voice.

“Watch this.” Rococo picked up his radio, and after a few seconds, the distress button in the middle lit up with a green circle. “What color is it now?”

"green."

"But what I see is red."

"Press the middle button." Cheng Ye took two steps back, his hand unconsciously resting on the Bison fighting pistol at his waist.

Good guy.

Is it a change in perception? Or a hallucination? Or has the virus already infecting us?

“Okay!” Without hesitation, Rokuk immediately pressed the contact button.

The next second, a shrill voice blared from the radio: "Rococ! Danger at the river! Everyone's been parasitized!"

It's Garcia's voice!
Ok?
Cheng Ye trembled, but what made his heart race even more than the news itself was that the people around Rokuk did not react at all.

He turned his head, and Huang Liang and his group, who were already standing behind him, also seemed not to have heard anything, their faces full of blankness.

Am I the only one who can hear this?

Cheng Ye suddenly stopped, turned around and waved to Huang Liang: "Huang Liang, what color is the middle of my communicator?"

Huang Liang quickly came closer, looked down for a few seconds, and answered without hesitation, "Sir, it's red!"

boom!
An indescribable sense of fear surged from the bottom of his heart. Cheng Ye froze on the spot, feeling a chill run from the soles of his feet to his scalp.

The signal colors he and Rocco saw were different, and Huang Liang's were also different. Even the voices on the radio were only audible to him!
"Prosecutor Luo."

"Hmm?" Rokuk clearly realized something was wrong, his expression turned serious, but he dared not make a judgment easily.

"Shall we go take a look at the river?"

“Let’s go.” Rokuk nodded, and the group immediately headed toward the riverbank, not daring to get close to the water, and all stood on the path away from the riverbank.

He turned on his flashlight and shone it on the crab-men who stood in a row along the riverbank, stretching as far as the eye could see.

He whispered urgently, "Can you see it? I sprinkled a circle of fluorescent powder along the riverbank, and it's still intact!"

　P.S.: 7.4k views delivered. Double updates will resume tomorrow.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)