Wasteland Border Inspector

Chapter 257 Multiple storylines unfold, the buffer zone undergoes dramatic changes!
Cheng Ye didn't have a complete idea of ​​how fast the construction of the wasteland could go.

He tried comparing them to modern modular assembly construction teams, but the conclusion was that these teams were no match for the wastelanders.

This is because the relatively high labor costs are almost negligible in this land.

Happiness City has a complete material circulation system. As long as the wages paid to workers circulate within the system, the actual cost paid is only one-tenth of the total wages.

More importantly, there are no environmental restrictions, no concerns about disturbing residents, and no fixed rest or construction periods.

The high-intensity work mode of three shifts and non-stop day and night pushed construction efficiency to the extreme.

The only thing that can limit the progress is the availability of building materials and the construction period required for some of the materials themselves.

"Brother Cheng." Wang Kang followed Cheng Ye out of the alley, and the moment he saw the scene in front of him, he was completely stunned.

The messy construction site that was once surrounded by green protective netting has disappeared without a trace, replaced by a well-planned and sizable pedestrian street.

The floor is paved with terrazzo tiles, each over one meter in length and width. The light gray base is interwoven with silver-gray metallic lines, which reflect a clean and crisp luster under the sunlight, exuding a simple yet high-end feel.

Near the street corner is a designated area for street vendors, with neatly outlined stalls marked on the ground in yellow paint. Each stall is equipped with a foldable metal shelf and a transparent awning.

Behind the stalls were uniform gray-green trash cans and handwashing stations, with gray steel frames paired with white waterproof canvas, balancing practicality and cleanliness.

In the center of the area, a shared tool room was even set up, with electronic scales, baling machines and other equipment neatly arranged inside the glass door. An information bulletin board was also installed on the wall to update material recycling prices and demand information in real time.

The middle section of the pedestrian street is a community shop area, which uses a sturdy structure of reinforced concrete frame combined with solid brick walls, which is sufficient to cope with the complex environment of the wasteland.

The exterior walls are covered with white matte ceramic panels, with the seams finished with extremely thin silver metal strips, unexpectedly replicating a minimalist and sophisticated aesthetic similar to a modern "Apple Store".

In the center of the shop area, Tianyuan Medical Clinic, which Cheng Ye had been thinking about, was indeed particularly eye-catching.

This four-story building might not stand out in other areas, but its central location on the pedestrian street makes it a visual focal point of the neighborhood.

It adopts a reinforced concrete core tube structure and has a unique island-style layered design. From the first to the fourth floor, each floor extends outward with a 1.2-meter eave, forming a stepped three-dimensional shape. Even when the light strip under the eaves is not lit, it exudes a strong sense of modernity.

The exterior walls are almost entirely covered by a large ultra-white tempered glass curtain wall, extending from the ground to the top floor, creating a sense of transparency. The four sans-serif metal characters "Tianyuan Medical" on the top of the building have an unobstructed design, making them clearly visible from any direction.

As for the factory area at the end of the pedestrian street, construction has not yet started.

The area was enclosed by a double-layered green belt, and a rumbling sound came from inside. Hundreds of workers, as well as excavators and cranes working inside, could be vaguely seen.

"This"

Cheng Ye could hardly believe his eyes. The shock of the scene before him, the waves of emotions it brought, were almost as intense as the joy he felt when he first gained extraordinary power.

This is the Tianyuan Pedestrian Street that he personally planned and had been looking forward to for a long time.
Do not!
This is my pedestrian street!

Two figures dressed in blue overalls darted out of the block. When they saw Cheng Ye and Wang Kang standing at the street corner, they almost left afterimages as they swung their legs, unleashing the full speed of their Pseudo-Tiger Realm.

Da Long and Er Long sprinted over like they were doing a 100-meter dash, their faces beaming with smiles that were almost bursting with joy.

Erlong suddenly turned back halfway, clearly to go to the mall to call the three district elders to report the news.

Da Long rushed straight to Cheng Ye and shouted from a distance, "My lord! My lord, you're finally back!"

Why are you all so excited to see me?

Cheng Ye was stunned for a moment. His memories, which had been disrupted by the containment of the magical artifact and hospitalization, quickly reassembled, and a sense of reassurance and warmth welled up in his heart.

I'm finally back. All the familiar people and things are still here.

Da Long rushed over and looked Cheng Ye up and down for a while. Only after confirming that he was not injured did he breathe a sigh of relief. His tone was still filled with lingering fear: "Sir, you've been gone for a month! The broadcast said that Da Bo Town was under lockdown. We had no idea where you went!"

"When did the broadcast say that Dabo Town was sealed off?" Cheng Ye was surprised. He hadn't heard any news about Dabo Town on the broadcasts in the past few days.

"It was sealed off on the third day after you left. They said there was a danger and they were dealing with it, and no one was allowed to get close. We were all terrified."

As Da Long spoke, he turned to Wang Kang, a genuine smile on his face, "Prosecutor Wang, it's so good that you're back safe and sound!"

No wonder the community reacted so strongly. With Dabo Town under lockdown and communication cut off, and him acting as a hands-off manager for a month, these people must have been extremely anxious.

"Don't worry, it won't happen again. Things have been completely settled in Dabo Town."

Cheng Ye nodded slightly, his gaze returning to the bustling street, his tone full of admiration, "The framework was built so quickly, I can hardly believe it."

"Yes, the main building was completed a long time ago; now only the interior decoration hasn't started yet, mainly because..."

"The budget isn't enough?" Cheng Ye raised an eyebrow and took over the conversation.

"No, no! The higher-ups allocated a lot of money to us, more than enough to build a pedestrian street! It's just that you left in a hurry and didn't say how the interior should be decorated, so we didn't dare to make any changes. We can only leave it empty for now and wait for you to come back and make a decision," Da Long quickly explained.

"Huh?" Cheng Ye suddenly realized that he hadn't discussed the details of the interior decoration with Engineer Liu. He had only finalized the construction plan for the building itself and the overall location planning, and had forgotten about this crucial aspect.

However, this does not affect the overall plan; the pedestrian street will not be fully operational until winter anyway.

The best time to fully expand will be when the flow of people from the industrial zone returns to the buffer zone. Currently, there are still nearly three months to prepare.

"Funding? Where did the funding come from?" Wang Kang, who was listening from the side, couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.

"It's a special fund for the renovation of the underground pipeline network! The higher authorities have allocated renovation funds to each community, and our Tianyuan Community received the largest amount, a full 14,000 contribution points! With this money, all the old pipelines underground in Zone B7 can be dug up and replaced with brand new ones!"

Da Long explained with great enthusiasm, but before he could finish speaking, three district elders, supported by Er Long and several community members, staggered out of the mall, their faces filled with undisguised surprise and relief.

"Let's go inside the mall and talk. Let's not leave the district elders out in the wind," Cheng Ye suggested, waving his hand.

It was afternoon, the sky was getting dark, and a chilly autumn wind was blowing, with the temperature dropping at a visible rate.

He quickly went to greet them, and sure enough, the three district elders looked him over for a long time as if he were a rare treasure. Only after confirming that he was not injured did they breathe a sigh of relief and follow the others back to the reception area to sit down again.

"Prosecutor Cheng, you must have encountered quite a bit of danger on this trip, right?" Old Song had a gentle smile on his face, and his spirits were much better than when they last met, but he looked increasingly old.

It's clear that he must have put in a lot of effort during this time to build the pedestrian street and to manage the complex affairs of the surrounding three blocks.

"We did encounter danger, running into a devastatingly infected source, but we've successfully contained and resolved the situation," Cheng Ye nodded in response. Information about the celestial artifact cannot be released publicly yet; it will only be officially disclosed after the people of the Torchbearer complete the transaction. However, there's no gag order regarding the Demon Eye Sponge, so it can be mentioned truthfully.

"Destroyed level?" Upon hearing this, the three district elders exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with shock and lingering fear.

In the past, when the pioneering corps was expanding their territory, whenever they encountered a destructive source of infection, it would cause at least a thousand deaths and injuries each time.

When Dabo Town was locked down, the three of them boldly guessed that there might be a catastrophic source of infection inside.

Unexpectedly, the disaster level still underestimated the danger near the water, and it actually reached the destruction level!

"That thing has been hiding in the river for over a decade. Fortunately, we've completed the containment operation, and it'll be safe there from now on."

Cheng Ye briefly summarized the containment process. When they heard that the destructive source of infection was actually a sponge, the three district elders looked at each other in disbelief.

After a long while, Old Song slowly came to his senses and murmured, "Thank God, it really is God's blessing!"

Da Long added with a smile, "Sir, ever since Da Bo Town was sealed off, Elder Qu has been leading the people of our community to burn incense and pray for you every day!"

"Hey, Mr. Song, you're getting on in years. Taking a good rest is the biggest help you can give me. Please don't bother with these prayers anymore."

Cheng Ye couldn't help but shake his head helplessly, then changed the subject and got to the point, "By the way, I heard from Huang Yong that the surrounding B6, B8, and B9 districts have now been incorporated into the jurisdiction of our B7 district?"

"Yes, yes, it has been transferred over." The shrewd Old Zhou nodded quickly in response, his tone tinged with seriousness. "The population of the buffer zone has now exceeded 400,000. With so many people, the management difficulty increases dramatically. So, the higher-ups have issued a notice that each stable community can expand to the surrounding areas. Our Tianyuan community has now officially recruited nearly 8,000 people, and there are about 10,000 more in the probationary period."

"So many people?" Cheng Ye frowned slightly, quickly calculating in his mind.

The population limit of the buffer zone is already about this size, plus the people who migrate back from the industrial area in winter. Does this mean that Happiness City is not planning to let the workers go back to the inner city for the winter this year?
Or will the community begin a large-scale relocation to surrounding satellite cities after the community has completed its personnel integration?
Realizing the possible scheme behind this, Cheng Ye asked again in a deep voice, "Elder Zhou, can we handle such a large influx of people? What about the satellite city?"

"The population of satellite cities is also rising steadily!"

Old Zhou nodded repeatedly, "The largest satellite cities now have a permanent population of over 150,000. According to the radio, the total number of people who have migrated to the area around Happiness City during this period has exceeded one million. Including our original residents, the total population has exceeded 1.45 million!" Wow.

Cheng Ye was secretly shocked. Six months ago, the total population of Xingfu City, including the floating population in the industrial zone, was only 700,000.

Unexpectedly, after the use of a stand-in starfish, hundreds of thousands of people were killed, and this number more than doubled.

This expansion speed is too exaggerated. No wonder the higher-ups are spreading out such a large scale and renovating the entire buffer zone's infrastructure.

As he analyzed the logic behind the population changes, Cheng Ye tapped the table lightly with his finger and said in a deep voice, "Following this trend, are there already communities in the existing area that are going to relocate to satellite cities?"

"Yes! The community system has now been fully implemented, and an elimination system will be implemented in the future!"

Old Zhou nodded emphatically and explained in detail, "Currently, a total of sixty-eight communities have been established in the entire buffer zone, and each community has a mandatory recruitment quota. After that, there will be a comprehensive score every month, which takes into account multiple dimensions such as construction progress, community order, and contribution value output. If any community ranks last in the score three times in a row, it will be relocated as a whole to a subordinate satellite city."

It has started!

Cheng Ye's heart skipped a beat. He had only considered the possibility of Happiness City implementing a satellite city tiered system based on the system of the Fire of the Torch, but he hadn't expected Happiness City to implement it so quickly and thoroughly, even before all the satellite cities had been completed.

Under this tiered system, the population in the buffer zone must be screened and eliminated as soon as possible in order to establish a "main city priority" pattern and build a more rigorous hierarchical order.

Once the selection process is complete, the city will be divided into inner city, buffer zone, first-level satellite city, and second-level satellite city.
The hierarchy will be divided very clearly.

The further out you go, the lower the level and the lower the safety factor; the further in you go, the higher the level and the more complete and safer the infrastructure and supporting facilities you can enjoy.

No wonder everyone is so worried about his safety. Although Tianyuan Community is not going to be eliminated right now, it also has to bear the pressure of "rushing forward".

Tianyuan has always done a solid job in maintaining community order, but what about contribution value output and other economic indicators?
difficult!
After all, this is a competition between communities, not just about doing your best, but about doing better than other communities.

Cheng Ye pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Did the broadcast say that planting is now allowed around Happiness City?"

Ok?
As soon as he finished speaking, the three district elders were stunned, their faces full of confusion as if they hadn't heard him clearly.

Da Long and Er Long were also clearly stunned, even though they heard Cheng Ye's words clearly, they couldn't believe their ears.

"What did you just say?" Old He was the first to react, his tone filled with disbelief and astonishment.

"I said, the land around Happiness City is ready for planting, the underground curse has disappeared, do you know that?" Cheng Ye emphasized, speaking clearly again.

"what!"

Old Song swayed violently, his face filled with shock and disbelief, and he almost jumped off the chair.

"Some changes have occurred outside, and the curse on the land has been completely lifted. From now on, any plants planted will no longer lose their characteristics; on the contrary, they will thrive. In other words, the land within a 200-kilometer radius of our Happiness City is now no different from the arable land in the neighboring province!"

Cheng Ye finished speaking in one breath, and quietly waited for everyone to digest this bombshell news that was enough to overturn their understanding.

At different altitudes, you see different things.

Based on just a few words from Old Zhou, as well as the changes in the buffer zone and the overall situation, he was already able to discern many problems.

The industries in Happiness City are too fragmented. The industrial zone will be shut down for the entire winter. So many people can't just stay idle forever.

The infrastructure construction is not yet completed, and we can still absorb some of the labor force through work-for-relief programs. But once the infrastructure is completed, will more than a million people have to stay at home or occasionally take on odd jobs to make ends meet?
Therefore, Yueye's death is probably inevitably related to industry demand.

The reconstruction of the pioneering corps and the redevelopment of land for planting can provide at least 300,000 to 500,000 people with a job to make a living. In addition, as major satellite cities enter a period of steady construction, the establishment of factories can also alleviate some of the employment pressure.

Only by ensuring that residents have jobs and stable incomes can we stabilize the current large population size. Otherwise, once this winter is over, next spring there may be tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of people migrating to other shelter cities.

"Tan Ming's efforts have solved a major problem for Happiness City."

Cheng Ye leaned back in his chair, deep in thought.

After a long while, the three district elders gradually came to their senses, their eyes filled with a complex mix of excitement and bewilderment.

Every time Cheng Ye returns from a trip, he seems to bring with him significant information that could propel the community into the "next big phase."

This time, however, is different from the last time the town of Dabo was built. The last plan was still within everyone's understanding, but the sudden restoration of life to this land in Shi Province, which had been barren for decades, was beyond everyone's comprehension.

"Prosecutor Cheng, what should we do now?" Old Song's white eyebrows trembled slightly, but he didn't know what to say.

“My idea is to divert some of the population from the community to my town of Dabo, so that they can go out and seize the surrounding land for reclamation in advance. In this way, we can get a lot of extra income by the middle of next year, and also gain more competitive advantages for the community.”

Cheng Ye paused, then solemnly shook his head. "But I must make it clear that there will definitely be casualties in this process, and I can't guarantee how many. Going out to reclaim land ahead of schedule comes at a price, and that price may be more severe than anticipated!"

Having survived the life-or-death ordeal of being contained by a celestial being, Cheng Ye's mindset had subtly shifted when he spoke of "dead people" again, without even realizing it.

In the past, there might have been more concern about casualties, but now the risks can be calmly brought to the forefront.

Because in this world, whether it's an ordinary person struggling to survive or a prosecutor wielding power, everyone may face death at some point. Death is not a topic that needs to be deliberately avoided, but a reality that must be faced.

Time is of the essence. Happiness City is in such a state of urgency. The elimination of communities and the classification system for satellite cities are being implemented at a rapid pace. The reconstruction of the pioneering army is on the agenda. Land planting and infrastructure projects are being promoted simultaneously. All matters, big and small, are like a rope twisted into one, spiraling forward frantically.

As a member of this sanctuary city, to keep up with this pace, one must have a keener sense of smell and a more adventurous mindset.

If Tianyuan Community is content with stability, and such expansion still cannot bear the risks of venturing out to explore new frontiers, then he will have to consider supporting a few more communities.

He needs at least a group of people under his command who are willing to fight and take risks, or who are willing to charge into battle for him and take on responsibilities and run trade routes for him, even if it means opening up waterways in the future.

"In addition, there is something else." Cheng Ye changed the subject and dropped another bombshell: "The pioneering corps that was previously disbanded has been intended to be rebuilt. The location of the reconstruction is currently kept secret, but it will be rebuilt no later than next spring. I estimate that the initial scale will probably not be less than 300,000 people."

Upon hearing this, the three district elders, who were still reeling from the news of the "land lifting ban," were completely stunned. They sat there with blank stares, almost losing their basic ability to think.

Da Long and Er Long exchanged a glance, pondering, and discerned a great deal of deeper meaning from Cheng Ye's words.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Da Long tentatively asked, "My lord, do you mean that the next great era of expansion is coming?"

"It's hard to say, but you should know that the markers of the Great Development Era are always summarized by later generations. Perhaps many years later, when people look back on this history, the moment a large number of people began to migrate to our Happiness City will be designated as the beginning of the second Great Development Era."

Cheng Ye's voice wasn't loud, but it echoed repeatedly in everyone's ears like muffled thunder.

Making money and building influence are two completely different things.

With the resources he currently possesses, supporting Tianyuan Community in the long term is not a problem. However, Tianyuan needs to expand, and it cannot rely on his continuous investment of money indefinitely. Just as Xingfu City needs to maintain a population of one million, it must solve the employment problem for its members and enable the community to operate autonomously and generate value. This is the only way to ensure long-term sustainability.

The core of a "power" is never simply providing for others; it requires repeated screening and elimination to ultimately leave behind a group of like-minded people.

These people don't need him to always back them up; instead, they can develop and become stronger on their own under his protection, and even create value for him in return.

He desperately needed the stability of Tianyuan Community. It was the foundation for him to oversee the rear and ensure the implementation of all future production plans, and he could not afford to make any mistakes.

But he also urgently needs a team that can charge into battle to help him expand his territory in Dabo Town and extend his influence to the surrounding areas.

Without the community elimination system implemented by Happiness City, we would currently have to gather displaced people from outside to form teams, slowly train and integrate them. But now that Happiness City has begun its integration process, it can find a community that is willing to leave the buffer zone and dares to take risks, which will undoubtedly save us a lot of trouble.

half an hour.

Old Song took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead, then said softly, "Prosecutor Cheng, the three of us old men are already old. Even if the pioneering corps is rebuilt, we won't have the strength to go back to the corps to help you. Moreover, the residents that Tianyuan has been selecting to join recently are all people who want stability. It would be difficult to motivate them to go pioneering. It would be better to recruit people who are willing to work hard from the refugee camp."

Upon hearing what Old Song said, Wang Kang, who was sitting to the side, felt a sudden unease.

He might not have understood the nuances of these words before, but after spending more time with Cheng Ye, he gradually figured them out.

To his surprise, Cheng Ye simply nodded slightly, his face showing no surprise or disappointment. Instead, he nodded to signal Old Song to continue.

Sure enough, Old Song, being such a shrewd person, could not possibly fail to understand the underlying needs in his words. Since he had mentioned the difficulties first, there must be a turning point hidden behind them.

He then changed the subject, saying, "Yongxing Community in District B9 has had a lot of friction with Tianyuan recently. Most of the people in their community are descendants of the former pioneering troops. They are just wild and adventurous, so they shouldn't be opposed to leaving the buffer zone for the satellite city, and they are not afraid of the risks of pioneering."

"Dalong, go and invite Hou Genbao, the district manager of Yongxing, over. Tell him that Tianyuan is willing to have another proper talk with Yongxing Community!"

(End of this chapter)