Wasteland Border Inspector

Chapter 266 Blessing of Life, Prism Established!
The panel slowly unfolded, and lines of text appeared clearly:

Matthew Lee

[Lv1 Skill]: Lock-on
[Lv2 Skill]: Lock-on
[Lv3 Skill]: Lock-on
[Lv4 Skill]:
Blessing of Life: A Tribute to the Resilience of the Jade Cedar (Rare; Instantly restores health to full when it drops below 20%; Cooldown: 15 days)
Talent: Cedar Adaptation (Perfect; can automatically adapt to various harsh terrain effects in a short time, reducing negative effects)
Talent: Fir Tree Roots (Perfect; Increases maximum health within a fixed activity range, current increase rate: 5%/3 days, maximum increase: 300%)

Talent: Cedar Bark (Rare; can block one fatal attack; Cooldown: 180 days)
Talent: Fir Tree Spirit (Rare; When the user's vitality is at full, it can continuously increase the upper limit of physical attributes. Current increase rate: 5% (week) / Maximum increase value: 100% (upper limit))

Skill: Breath Concentration (Excellent; breathing and fetal breathing are initially synchronized, no conscious control is required, and one can enter combat mode at any time)
Skill: Thirty-Six Styles of Pioneer Blade Technique (Excellent; Standard Blade Technique of the Pioneer Corps)
Skill: Wilderness Walking ☆ (Excellent; includes knowledge of various wilderness survival systems)
Skill: Pioneer Marksmanship (Excellent: Pioneer Corps Standard Marksmanship)
Compared to Lv2 and Lv3, the skill descriptions for Lv4 are much clearer and more organized.

Skills at this level already possess real value for collection, and with the added information from rank advancement, the collector's judgment becomes increasingly accurate.

The addition of this one item still surprised Cheng Ye.

A blessing for life?

It's not an unfamiliar term. When I first obtained the Starfish Tear, the interface indicated that using it would grant me a guardian blessing.

But Li Matai actually possesses extraordinary blessings? Could it be that he has also used extraordinary items?

Thoughts raced through Cheng Ye's mind as he scanned the skill bars, unable to contain his excitement.

Who would have thought that Old Li, who seems to have mediocre strength, would actually follow the same path as him—the tanky warrior! They really do share the same ideals!

Especially the "Ode to the Resilience of the Jade Fir Tree," it's so ridiculously overpowered, it's like having an extra life!

If you find yourself in dire straits in actual combat, even if you are on the verge of death, you can be fully revived and continue fighting in the next second. This kind of margin for error is an unbeatable advantage in the wasteland.

More importantly, this powerful blessing has a cooldown period of only 15 days.
An extra life every two weeks is outrageous!
Cheng Ye immediately thought of the life reduction cost caused by the shared attributes when using the Shrinking Giant Lice.

If we could acquire this praise, even without other treasures, wouldn't we be able to withstand the loss?
Moreover, the two perfect-level talents and the two rare-level talents below are equally enviable.

Pinghai Tower assassin Wang Qing's Lv3 rare talent "Adaptability" can only allow the body to quickly integrate into unfamiliar environments, but Li Matai's "Cephalotaxus Adaptation" can not only do this, but also further reduce the negative effects of harsh environments, making it a super-enhanced version.

The "Fir Tree Rooting" technique is even more absurd; it's practically tailor-made for Li Matai, who was already unwilling to leave the city for field duty and preferred to stay in Happiness City to perform his duties.

As long as you don't leave the area of ​​Happiness City, your vitality can gradually increase to a maximum of 300%, making it a veritable mobile fortress.

Of course, if one could collect and equip this skill, it would mean...
"The cost of using the Shrinking Giant Lice is 350% of my health. If I equip the Cedar Roots and stack it to 300% of my maximum health, wouldn't I be able to use the Shrinking Giant Lice at will without having to worry about the so-called cost?"

After some calculations, Cheng Ye suddenly had a breakthrough in his thinking.

Previously, he had been thinking of continuing to accumulate his own vitality until he met the requirements of the Shrinking Giant Louse. Now it seems that he can easily meet its one-time consumption needs by using talents such as "Fir Tree Rooting".

However, according to the panel, this talent requires staying in the same location for more than half a year to stack up to 300%. There is also a key question: how big is its range of effect?
If it's limited to such a small area as the buffer zone, the limitations are too great. But if it can cover the entire Happiness City and all its satellite cities, and even extend to the Leap Wild Shelter City, it would be an absolute godsend.

As for "cedar bark", it is equally useful.

Although the 180-day cooldown period is terrifyingly long, it can be used as a one-time life-saving item in certain high-risk scenarios, potentially saving a life in critical moments.

"Fir Tree Spirit" is a purely buff-type talent, which is also extremely valuable.

However, the improvement speed is much slower than the previous three items. It can only increase the physical fitness limit by 5% per week, and it takes five months to reach 100%. Moreover, it occupies a fixed skill slot, which is a drawback.

Next are the standard marksmanship and swordsmanship of the pioneering troops. These skills are not unique and are not worth searching for.

However, "Wilderness Walk" is different. As a level 4 information skill, it covers a variety of wilderness survival knowledge and is of considerable value.

"Luckily, I did a quick search. Old Li's work looks ordinary, but it actually has hidden wonders inside!"

Cheng Ye sighed inwardly and immediately made up his mind that he would never give up any opportunity to search for Lv4 levels in the future.

Looking at the search results this time, each Lv4 skill is extremely practical. Those who can hold skills at this level have long since transcended the realm of ordinary people and entered the ranks of the strong. Every search will surely yield some results.

Without the slightest hesitation, Cheng Ye directly selected the newly added type of life blessing.

"Search for the resilience of the black jade fir!"

We'll be staying overnight in Dongping Town tonight, which means we can conduct two more searches.

In addition to this core blessing, Li Matai also gained two perfect-level talents, making this trip to Dongping Town truly fruitful.

Search successful

[Civilization Collector has successfully recorded: A Tribute to the Resilience of the Jade Fir Tree (Lv4; Blessing of Life; Rare)]

Please note that the number of times you can uninstall the Blessing of Life is limited; the current maximum number of uninstalls is 10.

If the limit is exceeded, the blessing will lose its effect.

In a fully open state, there is no chance of failure when searching for Lv4 skills.

However, the prompt that popped up by the collector made Cheng Ye more cautious, and he silently kept it in mind.

It seems that Blessing of Life is different from ordinary skills, and is more like a special kind of rule-based ability?
However, it doesn't matter if I find the Jade Fir Tree Blessing from Li Matai. Even if I accidentally use up my uninstall attempts, I can just spend another 480 kilowatt-hours of electricity to search for and obtain it again.

However, if you find blessings from other people in the future, especially if you get them unexpectedly after leaving the wilderness, you should be extra careful to avoid frequently equipping or uninstalling them, which could cause the blessings to disappear permanently.

"I wonder what the effect will be after this blessing is integrated with the information?"

Cheng Ye left with a lingering thought and closed the panel.

Seeing that he had come to his senses, Li Matai also pulled himself out of the background music playing on the radio and casually asked, "What are you thinking about, so lost in thought?"

"Hmm," Cheng Ye hesitated for a moment, not saying it directly, but instead hinting, "When I went to see Brother B's daughter, Liu Yi, a couple of days ago, she unexpectedly awakened a supernatural ability."

"Special ability?" Li Matai was taken aback and quickly asked, "Is it overt or covert?"

"Dominant!"

"That's a huge problem!" Li Matai's brows furrowed instantly, his tone grave. "His daughter is only five or six years old, how could she awaken a manifest ability at such a young age? Manifest abilities consume lifespan. The Master Tian you found was already in his mid-twenties when he awakened his ability, and he's still alive today. A child this young who awakens such an ability probably won't even make it past thirty-five."

Cheng Ye changed the subject abruptly: "Do you have superpowers?"

"Of course," Li Matai replied instinctively, but then chuckled awkwardly halfway through his sentence and mumbled, "There should be, right?"

"Is it inherited, or did you awaken to it yourself?"

Li Matai hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice, his tone tinged with complexity: "My grandfather was a superhuman, but not many people know that. Because he was a madman, an antisocial madman, so..."

Cheng Ye's face showed a look of sudden realization. No wonder Li Matai knew so much about superpowers; it turned out he had such a family background.

Moreover, being antisocial means it is probably of the same type as the Four Sacrifices Cult.

Having such extraordinary ancestors is not only not beneficial to talk about, but will also bring a lot of trouble.

"I understand." Cheng Ye nodded and followed up with, "Is the superpower your grandfather passed down to you latent?"

“Yes.” Li Matai nodded, his tone tinged with uncertainty. “My special ability isn’t anything special. It’s just that my vitality is stronger than that of ordinary people. When pioneering, I can endure several days in a row. Also, my recovery speed after injury is much faster than others.”

He himself didn't seem to have fully grasped all the bonuses brought by "Ode to the Jade Cedar".

After all, latent superpowers cannot be tested directly; one can only explore them slowly on their own.

After listening, Cheng Ye did not ask any further questions, and he had a general understanding of the meaning of the new category of "Life Blessing".

The bloodline inheritance of extraordinary beings!
If an ancestor has produced an extraordinary individual, it is possible that their bloodline will be passed down, forming superpowers, and the source of these superpowers is the blessing of life.

However, some people have a shallower bloodline and cannot fully awaken, thus failing to receive the corresponding blessing.

"So, after Yi Yi's special ability is fully awakened, she will also have a life blessing?"

Cheng Ye thought to himself.

In this way, even if the trip to Guangdong Province yields no results, they can still follow this clue to trace the extraordinary origins of the Luo family's ancestors.

"What exactly is her special ability?" Li Matai asked curiously.

“I can’t tell you that.” Cheng Ye shook his head, a mysterious smile on his face. “If it were my daughter, I wouldn’t mind telling you, but this is Brother B’s child. If you want to know, you’ll have to pass his test first.”

"Liu Bi?" Li Ma gave an awkward laugh and quickly waved his hand. "Then forget it. He's just like your dad. He looks down on a scoundrel like me from the bottom of his heart."

"You mean you want to keep being a slacker from now on?" Cheng Ye raised an eyebrow and asked.

“Hmm,” Li Matai paused for a moment, then chuckled and shook his head. “Let’s wait until I’ve achieved something before we talk about it. He’s a fourth-term prosecutor, and I’m a third-term prosecutor. The rules are very strict.”

After saying that, the two of them couldn't help but laugh.

That night, Dongping Town was calm and peaceful, and nothing unexpected happened.

After all, this is already considered a remote suburb of a satellite city, and the occasional caravans only travel during the day; no madman would set off overnight.

If someone knocks on your door without prior notification via wilderness communication, they are almost certainly infected, and the sentries on the watchtower will deal with them first.

The two chatted in the small room, but unfortunately, Li Matai's knowledge was mostly limited to the area of ​​Happiness City.

While we can't say we know nothing about the wilderness outside, the information we have is from several or even ten years ago and is outdated.

They chatted until late into the night. Taking advantage of the completed recharging, Cheng Ye conducted another search and successfully acquired "Cephalotaxus Roots". After the search, although both of them could stay up all night, Dongping Town was about to start land reclamation, and Li Matai had a lot of things to do. Moreover, he also had important matters to attend to when he returned to the buffer zone the next day.

They decided to stop talking and each wrapped themselves in their blankets to go to sleep.

The autumn nights are still a bit chilly, and the air is filled with the fresh scent of earth and vegetation.

Outside the window was the stillness of the wilderness, with only the occasional evening breeze that rustled the window frame.

After an unknown amount of time, the faint sounds of residents arguing outside suddenly woke people from their sleep.

Cheng Ye rubbed his sleepy eyes and got up. Sure enough, it was already bright daylight, and a vibrant morning scene came into view.

The rising sun is slowly climbing over the distant horizon, first casting a faint orange-red hue, which gradually permeates half the sky, turning the clouds into a tapestry of gold and red.

Countless golden threads pierced through the thin mist, sprinkling across the vast wilderness. The originally dark grassland was bathed in a warm light, and the dewdrops on the grass blades refracted sparkling points of light. The distant hills and sparse trees gradually became clear in the morning light, exuding vitality.

"What time is it?" Li Matai was awakened by the noise, got up and yawned.

"It's seven o'clock!"

"It's still early." He muttered, pressed the button next to him, and yelled into the loudspeaker, "It's the weekend today, everyone go home and sleep! Don't you dare wander around before nine o'clock!"

The sound carried throughout the town through the loudspeakers above the rooms, and the temporary housing area, which had just been noisy, returned to silence within a minute or two.

"Holy crap, what are you doing?" Cheng Ye was stunned.

"You have to train people to obey orders through good things like this first. I'll sleep a little longer, I'll sleep a little longer." Li Matai muttered as he turned over and fell asleep again.

Cheng Ye shook his head helplessly, speechless.

After getting up, I was no longer sleepy, so I got up and went outside to stretch my muscles.

Unexpectedly, Wu Rui was leading his team in morning exercises in an open space. When he saw Wu Rui looking over, he immediately smiled brightly.

Cheng Ye walked over and noticed that the accompanying team had set up tents in the charging area and were sleeping on the ground.

"Captain Wu, I'm sorry you had to sleep in tents last night."

"Prosecutor Cheng, what are you saying!" Wu Rui waved his hand dismissively. "It's no different from sleeping in a bed; we're used to it. Besides, it's so safe in town, how can we talk about feeling wronged?"

After saying that, he paused and asked, "The car is fully charged. Are we going to visit other satellite cities today?"

Cheng Ye glanced at the charging level; it would take another forty minutes to charge to 60%. He decided to search again.

Although this trip to Dongping Town didn't fully restore my power, I did gain a Life Blessing and two Lv4 Perfect Talents, which was truly satisfying.

"I'll leave in a bit, go ask Lu County for more information, and then return to the buffer zone to report on my work."

"Okay!" Wu Rui nodded in agreement, turned around and went back to the car to fiddle with the communication equipment, contacting Wenlu County and the checkpoint in advance to make preparations.

Cheng Ye pondered for a moment and walked to the side, stopping next to Dai Zun, who was doing push-ups.

“Prosecutor Cheng?” Dai Zun immediately looked up at him.

"It's okay, you practice, I'm just taking a look." Cheng Ye squatted down with a smile.

After helping Dai Zun count a few push-ups and accompanying him through two sets of exhaustion training, I said, "Dai Zun, your ability to not feel pain is a double-edged sword."

"Yes, I used to get injured without even realizing it, but I've been paying more attention to it in recent years." Dai Zun nodded, casually lifting his shirt to reveal his well-built muscles, which were covered with various scars of different depths.

Cheng Ye nodded approvingly and casually asked, "Are there other people like you in our Happiness City?"

“There’s one, also from the Legion.” Dai Zun smiled. “But he’s from the Blood Dragon Legion, and he’s a bit different from me. I can shield myself from contact pain, but he can shield himself from the sensations in his internal organs. Everyone calls him ‘the one who can’t die from running,’ but once he almost ran his lungs out.”

"Oh?" Cheng Ye raised an eyebrow. "What's his name?"

“Mishu James, I used to talk to him often. We superhumans would occasionally get together and share our experiences.”

"Same type?" Cheng Ye's heart skipped a beat, but his face remained calm. "Are there many ability users like you?"

"Well, compared to other types of superhumans, there should be more, but everyone's abilities don't overlap. At most, they exchange information on how to protect themselves and avoid getting hurt because they don't feel pain."

"Are there any people with your abilities in Guangdong Province?"

“Yes!” Dai Zun nodded repeatedly. “There seem to be seven people over there. Two of them are even more amazing than me. Not only can they not feel pain, but they can also switch back to their normal state to live their lives. However, it seems that they have to pay a price every time they switch.”

"Could you compile a list for me later?" Cheng Ye stroked his chin. "I want to study this situation."

"Sure, I'll get it ready for you when I get back." Dai Zun agreed with a smile without asking any further questions. "Some people have studied us before, trying to create a special, non-toxic, harmless anesthetic that could control the possession of infectious agents. But no one has succeeded yet. I donate nearly three liters of blood every year. If Prosecutor Cheng needs it, I haven't donated my share for this year yet, so that's fine."

"No need." Cheng Ye immediately interrupted him, his tone serious. "Don't have your blood drawn so frequently in the future. Your body isn't very strong to begin with, so you need to take good care of yourself."

After speaking, she softened her tone, "Don't give up hope. Even if you lose your leg, there might be a way to get it back in the future. But if you collapse, there will be no chance at all."

"Dai Zun will definitely remember what Prosecutor Cheng said."

As soon as he finished speaking, Dai Zun's face still showed the same strong and cheerful look as when he was seen three months ago, always exuding an open-mindedness.

What a good boy!
Cheng Ye sighed inwardly, realizing that besides Dai Zun's legs, Rokuk also had no legs.

If I have the opportunity in the future, I must do my best to develop related technologies to provide a guarantee and an unexpected surprise for those who are willing to follow me and make sincere contributions.

After eight o'clock, Cheng Ye went back and acquired the perfect talent of "Fir Tree Rooting".

Before heading out on field missions, the two of them need to meet at least a few more times, and there's no rush to acquire the other two talents.

Moreover, with so many similar skills, using them individually would be a waste of skill slots; it would be best to merge them into one.

By nine o'clock, the charge had been restored to 15%. Cheng Ye calculated that he had charged more than 1500 kilowatt-hours of electricity at Li Matai's place that night alone.

He didn't try to hide the zeroing meter. He had nothing to be afraid of in the buffer zone, so he naturally didn't need to hold back at all once he arrived in Dongping Town.

The residents got up and moved around again, having slept for two extra hours, and everyone looked energetic.

Li Matai escorted the convoy to the door, just as the two were about to part ways.

Unexpectedly, the equipment delivery trucks from the industrial zone arrived again, carrying two brand-new pieces of equipment.

Li Matai glanced at the convoy, stepped forward, and pointed in the direction of Dabo Town: "I don't need them here, send them all to Dabo Town."

The truck driver hesitated for a moment, then looked down at the itinerary in his hand, his face showing difficulty.

"Never mind, I'll go report to Prosecutor Lei."

Li Matai shook his head, turned around and went back to his room to contact the industrial park directly.

The circuitry was in place, and the signal was also connected, so the defense communication was quickly established.

"Li Matai?" Lei Hu's rough voice came through the receiver.

"Station Chief Lei, I'd like to move this batch of equipment and production line."

Before he could finish speaking, Lei Hu's voice boomed out, filled with anger: "What are you up to now?"

"Never mind, I'll explain." Cheng Ye glanced at Li Matai's hunched back, smiled, and took the defense communication device. "Station Chief Lei?"

"Hmm?" Lei Hu paused, then asked uncertainly, "Cheng Ye?"

"Yes, it's me."

Cheng Ye responded and then explained the problems with the production line and the fact that Dabo Town wanted to exchange equipment with Dongping Town.

To Li Matai's surprise, Lei Hu's voice softened instantly, and he agreed to the matter without the slightest hesitation.

"Alright, I'll have some workers come and help you move it. But your Dabo Town doesn't have a factory yet, does it?"

"I've already cleared out the space. Just put it there and cover it with a waterproof tarpaulin."

"Alright, let's get started today." Before hanging up, Lei Hu cursed again, "Let Li Matai answer the phone."

Li Matai quickly went over and cautiously called out, "Station Chief Lei?"

"I don't want to clean up your ass for even a day longer!" Lei Hu's roar made the receiver buzz. "Remember, you owe me ten favors! Otherwise, I'll expose you and have the prosecutors down there chop you up!"

After saying that, the call was hung up directly.

Li Matai touched his nose, chuckled, and then looked over with a cryptic expression:
"You're going to inherit my brand?"

"Does it have a name?" Cheng Ye asked back.

"Not yet. I originally planned to call it Triangle Brand."

“Triangle Brand sounds awful,” Cheng Ye waved his hand. “From now on, let’s call it Prism.”

(End of this chapter)