Wasteland Border Inspector

Chapter 280 The Happiness Alliance, Fully Launched!
Was Yu Yong modified by the elders? He can now absolutely control the power of the Ghost Spider?

Cheng Ye was surprised. This was somewhat similar to the blessing Tan Ming had given him, but the difference was that Tan Ming's blessing was more thorough. As long as he didn't use it actively, there would be no negative effects.

In the future, there will be no need to periodically rely on two types of light to suppress the fusion of infectious agents in the body.

However, one is a benign source of infection and the other is a malignant source of infection. The fact that the latter could be suppressed to this extent is enough to prove that the elder's methods were also extraordinary.

“You went to Big Wave Town without my permission, and I don’t want you to use this ability again.”

Cheng Ye paused, his tone becoming serious, "If you use it without authorization multiple times, I will directly apply to the elders to send you back to the communal chamber for reflection."

"Don't worry, I'm just demonstrating for you." Yu Yong raised his hand and pointed to his forehead. "Compared to my brain, this ability is nothing."

Oh?
Pretty confident?

Cheng Ye subconsciously opened the panel and glanced at Yu Yong's level of cooperation.

Unfortunately, despite his nice words, his cooperation level unconsciously dropped back to 4%.

Is it because he entered a state of absolute rationality after suppressing the mother source that he appeared distant?
Or is it that Yu Yong hasn't yet let down his guard when facing himself?
Fortunately, in either case, as long as Yu Yong is by my side, there will be plenty of opportunities to search.

Cheng Ye wasn't in a hurry. After leaving the research institute, the two didn't linger in the inner city but headed straight for the buffer zone.

Along the way, Yu Yong appeared exceptionally curious, constantly observing the buildings and pedestrians in the inner city. However, as soon as he stepped out of the Happiness Gate and into the buffer zone, his expression immediately turned indifferent.

"What, are you disappointed with this place?"

"It's alright, it's just the development level of the E-level area of ​​the Fire Spirit, I've seen it all before." Yu Yong hesitated, but ultimately did not reveal that he had tried to infect everyone in the buffer zone while in the fusion state.

However, the later groups of refugees piqued Ghost Spider's interest, leading him to change his target.

Unexpectedly, it was precisely because of the change of target that Happiness City noticed, and ultimately Yu Erlan began to hunt them down.

He squinted, his gaze sweeping over the dense crowds and antique buildings in the buffer zone, before changing the subject: "Your satellite city, it should be similar to this place, right?"

"Uh..." Cheng Ye paused for a moment, followed his gaze, and mumbled, "Should be about right?"

The number of people was indeed about the same; the three thousand people of Dabo Town were crammed into one area, which was quite lively.

"That's good." Yu Yong nodded with satisfaction. "If you can provide me with a suitable research environment, I might be able to help you leave behind a few technologies that can still generate some revenue. Your Happiness City is developing too slowly in the field of science and technology, especially in technology for people's livelihood, which is even more outdated than in the old days."

“I have applied to the research institute for a batch of equipment, which will be delivered to Dabo Town in batches. It should be enough for you.” Cheng Ye nodded quickly.

He didn't expect Yu Yong to come up with any groundbreaking technologies, but if he could bring one or two new technologies that could solve employment problems, that would be great.

After crossing the street and returning to Block B-7, Cheng Ye didn't show his face again. He directly called Lin Xu and asked him to bring the construction team out so they could meet on the street.

A total of seven engineers arrived, two of whom brought their families, while the rest were single.

It's understandable that more than half of Lin Xu's team didn't want to come out with him; not everyone is willing to give up the stability of the inner city to pursue the elusive opportunity of the satellite city.

For most people, the goal of a lifetime is to work hard outside and eventually be able to enjoy life in the inner city.

Now that you've finally achieved your goal, leaving voluntarily would be putting the cart before the horse.

"Uncle Lin, you guys go to the South Checkpoint and wait for me. I'm going to the Central Station to pick up someone else," Cheng Ye instructed.

“Okay!” Lin Xu nodded immediately, then, remembering something, added, “Our tools haven’t been sent out of the inner city yet.”

"Don't worry, we've already prepared commonly used tools in Dabo Town. If you're missing anything, just give me a list and I'll go to the industrial park to buy them for you," Cheng Ye promised.

With these words, Lin Xu and his men left with peace of mind.

Cheng Ye rushed to the central checkpoint and saw Rokuk waiting at the door from afar.

Upon seeing the gaunt Yu Yong behind him, Rokuk paused, then asked in confusion, "And who is this?"

“Yu Yong used to be a researcher at Xin Huo, and now he works for me,” Cheng Ye introduced truthfully.

You could sense that as soon as he finished speaking, Yu Yong's tense body suddenly relaxed slightly, and the faint fear that lingered around him also dissipated, as if he had quietly let down his guard.

Cheng Ye opened the panel and glanced at it again. Sure enough, the cooperation rate had doubled, reaching 8%.

Good grief, they really don't trust Prosecutor Cheng?

This is interesting. Yu Yong is both a Level 4 Researcher of the Torch and a Source Binder. He must have a lot of good skills hidden in him, and there is plenty of room for "strategy".

"Oh?" Rococo looked at Yu Yong with surprise, and couldn't help but say, "How long has it been since Researcher Yu has eaten properly? Why don't you take him out for a hot meal and a shower first?"

"We've just arrived at the checkpoint, which is convenient and free." Cheng Ye smiled and raised his chin.

Like the North and South stations, the Central Checkpoint is also equipped with shower rooms.

They arranged for Yu Yong to wash up and asked the staff to find him a new set of clothes.

Cheng Ye went to the logistics department again to inquire. The core inspector's authority was equivalent to that of a fourth-phase inspector, and the corresponding defense communication device also needed to be replaced. It was changed from the ordinary mass-market model to the high-end model. Apart from the outer shell being the same as the old model, all the internal components were imported.

"Inspector Cheng, your advanced defense communication device was completed yesterday. We were planning to send it to Dabo Town today." The logistics staff opened the safe and took out a heavy black device, handing it over.

"This defense communication device has a standby time of up to 14 days and comes with two backup modes: solar charging and hand-crank power generation," the staff member explained while demonstrating. "If you are within the signal coverage area of ​​the Spark Alliance, you can directly connect to the Happiness City core communication system via the network. Even if you are outside the signal range, you can still use it as a radio transceiver to communicate with surrounding teams without any problems."

Cheng Ye placed his identification badge on the sensor area of ​​the defense communication device, and the screen quickly lit up with the words "Activation successful".

Like Xin Huo Tong, the activation time is also as long as 168 hours, to the point that he suspected that this was just Xin Huo Tong with a different shell, but the functions inside were still the same.

"If I go to Dabo Town, will it be able to activate normally?"

"Of course, the signal has already been laid to Wenlu County, but the transmission speed will be a little slower."

"That's alright, I'll download it slowly over there," Cheng Ye said, handing over the old defense communication device.

Seeing him come out with the new defense device, Rokuk blinked but didn't curiously come over to take a look.

Cheng Ye was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized what he meant and asked, "You're not going to advance to the fourth stage, are you?"

"Come on, come on."

Rokuk smiled, his tone tinged with anticipation. "Speaking of which, I have to thank Zhou Changhai for defecting with his men. It just so happens that a fourth-phase position has become available. There are still many people in the station waiting for their quotas. If others hadn't completed the level-destroying mission, this position would most likely have been mine."

"Congratulations!" Cheng Ye said sincerely.

Rokuk has achieved a meteoric rise. He was originally destined to be stuck in the third stage for life, but now he has the opportunity to directly advance to the fourth stage. And from the fourth stage onwards, the difficulty of climbing further is even less than that of the third stage.

Moreover, although Phase III is already a senior prosecutor, Phase IV has more authority and better benefits, which is an important leap for anyone.

By the time Yu Yong finished showering and changed into new clothes, it was already past one o'clock in the afternoon.

Cheng Ye only breathed a sigh of relief after heading to the South Station to leave the buffer zone and arranging for everyone to board the bus.

Sitting in the back of the pickup truck, Yu Yong watched the South Checkpoint gradually disappear in the rearview mirror, then glanced at Cheng Ye's obviously relaxed expression, and said thoughtfully, "Xin Huo's satellite city model has long been proven to be a failure by time."

"Oh?" Rococo, who had been looking out the window, turned around in surprise upon hearing this. "What do you mean?"

"The core drawback of the satellite city model lies in its fragmentation and imbalance," Yu Yong explained. "When Xinhuo initially planned the project, it intended to use the core city to radiate to the surrounding satellite cities, diverting population and industries. However, it forgot that the siphon effect of resources is far more stubborn than anticipated. Satellite cities can only accommodate low-end manufacturing and residential functions, while important industries, technologies, and resources are all concentrated in the core city. Over time, satellite cities become resource depressions, while the core city becomes increasingly bloated. This model seems to distribute the pressure, but in reality, it creates new fragmentation."

“There is spatial fragmentation, fragmentation in resource allocation, and fragmentation in people’s hearts. More fatally, this imbalance has also spawned endless power struggles. Shining Flame thought it could replicate the successful experience of the old era, but it ignored the need for ‘collaboration’ in the present era. So before I left Shining Flame, they were actually already researching new models for the next era.”

“Collaboration.” Rococo grasped the key word, repeating it to himself, then gently shook his head. “Even without satellite cities, we haven’t achieved ‘collaboration’ yet.”

"Almost all industries are clustered in the industrial zone, while the buffer zone is like a satellite city that serves only the most basic low-end manufacturing and residential functions."

“That’s because your scale isn’t big enough,” Yu Yong said bluntly. “You don’t even have a million people, so how can you talk about collaboration? On the contrary, you need unified management to make production and manufacturing more efficient.”

I didn't expect this guy to be so sarcastic, or rather, to have low emotional intelligence.

Seeing Rocuk's embarrassed expression in the rearview mirror, Cheng Ye quickly tried to smooth things over: "The collaboration you mentioned, do you mean to move the industries on Xingui Mountain down to local satellite cities for development?"

"That's roughly the idea." Yu Yong nodded. "Resources are too concentrated in Xin Gui Shan and the leading satellite cities, leaving no room for development for the satellite cities behind. They're no different from being a burden, which is tantamount to directly stifling their potential."

"But if the industries are really transferred, what if an infection crisis breaks out? Wouldn't all the industries be destroyed?" Cheng Ye asked rhetorically.

Upon hearing this, Yu Yong immediately shut his mouth, stunned with a complicated expression.

As researchers, staying in an absolutely safe place year-round obviously overlooked this crucial issue. It is precisely because of the "safety barrier" of Xin Gui Mountain that the core industry can be guaranteed not to be threatened by the source of infection.

Just like the destruction of C35, which turned the entire city into infected by the Ghost Spiders, from the perspective of the entire City of Fire's Sanctuary, it's not even a serious blow. As long as the pollution is cleaned up, new residents can be moved in quickly to take over the low-end manufacturing industry.

“You have to eat one bite at a time, and walk one step at a time.” Cheng Ye slowly spoke, reminding him, “The satellite city model is the safest option at present. If we rashly promote a new model, we must adapt it to local conditions. This is not a research project, and we cannot try it on a whim. As decision-makers, every idea must be considered from the perspective of the sheltered city and also from the perspective of the people. Only in this way can we ensure that the idea is solid and not a castle in the air.”

The confusion in Rokuk's eyes gradually faded, while Yu Yong frowned and fell into deep thought.

"What about your Big Wave Town?"

“Happiness City did draw inspiration from the satellite city model, but it didn’t copy it exactly. Instead, it made modifications to suit local conditions,” Cheng Ye explained. “Now, all satellite cities are built and promoted by inspectors, and my Dabo Town is just one part of these modifications.”

Before the wave of satellite city construction arrived, the checkpoint had already dispatched all its forces.

Only by first securing dominance over the satellite cities can the checkpoint be qualified to contend with the Extraordinary.

Ding Yishan clearly understood this, so he didn't let him return to the buffer zone to interfere in internal affairs, but only let him focus on developing satellite cities like Dabo Town.

Once the satellite city gains momentum, the pressure from the Anti-Corruption Bureau will naturally crumble, and the checkpoints will be able to rise again, returning to the ranks of the three major factions of Happiness City after the Industrial Zone and the Legion.

“Changes.” Yu Yong was still pondering this word when he suddenly looked up and asked, “Don’t you want simple satellite cities? Do you want to create a sanctuary city alliance like the Torch Alliance?”

"Hehe." Cheng Ye chuckled noncommittally and didn't reply.

Actually, I figured out the key to this change during the review of the day after being pestered by Qin Zhaoye.

No sanctuary city is willing to remain dependent on an alliance established by others for long.

While the Flame Alliance is powerful, the Sanctuary Cities within it are subject to many restrictions and are unable to take the initiative to set rules.

If Happiness City wants to truly grow and thrive, it will ultimately have to follow the same path as Guanghong.

If there can be a Rainbow Alliance, why can't there be a Happiness Alliance?

The current vigorous promotion of satellite city construction is actually a test of the feasibility of this model.

This is precisely why Happiness City spares no expense in distributing construction materials to each satellite city.

If, as Yu Yong said, satellite cities only need to accommodate low-end industries and residential functions, then building a few more buffer zones would suffice; there's no need to go to great lengths to create independent satellite cities.

As the car drove towards Wenlu County, Yu Yong remained silent, lost in thought about the differences between the two modes.

It's clear that he has an extremely strong obsession with "finding a clear path forward".

Whether it was our previous conversations, when we talked to Mr. Zeng, or now.

In his view, a path that is traversable and whose end can be seen is far more important than trying to find a way through trial and error.

Cheng Ye couldn't judge whether such an extreme idea was right or wrong.

After all, being able to become a Level 4 Researcher in the City of Fire and Fire is an ability that would be more than enough to be the director of a research institute in a large city below.

Geniuses often have extreme ideas that are difficult for ordinary people to understand, and it is these ideas that support them in accomplishing things that ordinary people cannot do.

However, upon further reflection, Cheng Ye roughly guessed the origin of this extreme mentality.

On the twisted summit of Mount Everest, there is a green stairway to heaven and a mysterious starship.

Anyone who has witnessed these phenomena beyond comprehension in their youth, or reverse-engineered one or two unimaginable technologies, would begin to doubt their current methodical efforts.
Am I on the wrong path? Is it completely contrary to Starship's technology? If I could find a "smooth path," could my efforts produce ten or even a hundred times the results?

This psychological bias requires a long time to correct, so that he can understand that any down-to-earth effort is meaningful.

However, it is clear that Xin Huo did not notice this point about Yu Yong before, and therefore failed to provide timely guidance.

The car passed the intersection of Wenlu County Road and turned onto the rural road leading to Dabo Town.

Seeing that the road leading to the town was already quite well-maintained, Rokuk sat up straight, his face full of surprise: "The road is almost open? We've only been gone for a month!"

"A month is not a short time. Roads in other places have been repaired long ago!" Cheng Ye was quite pleased with this surprise.

But when the pickup truck drove into Dabo Town and saw the undisguised astonishment on Yu Yong's face, he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

The car lock popped open, and Yu Yong pushed open the door and got out, looking around blankly.

Before them stretched an endless plain and wilderness. In the town, there was only a bare government building, and there was no trace of a research institute.

Looking around, he saw several newly erected temporary houses that were clearly residential buildings, as well as a large number of colorful tents. The dilapidated state of Dabo Town was beyond his imagination.

Even the worst-developed area, F, which is a slum, seems to be more developed than this place.

He walked over blankly, scratched his head, and asked in a confused tone, "Um...where am I supposed to work?"

"Uh..." Cheng Ye was speechless for a moment, then said confidently, "Your task is to be in charge of building the research institute, right? How about that? That's a very important goal, isn't it?"

"Me, building, a research institute?"

Yu Yong repeated it, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He looked around, then turned back to Cheng Ye and said frankly, "I'm sorry, I don't know anything about architecture. My major is electronic engineering, and I've never been involved in the field of architecture. If you can provide me with some books on architecture, I can try to brush up on my knowledge, but it might not be feasible."

"That's easy!" Cheng Ye immediately waved, and Lin Xu, who was looking around not far away, came over upon hearing the voice.

"Engineer Lin, this is Yu Yong, the researcher we invited. His task is to build a research institute in Dabo Town, but he doesn't know anything about architecture. Could you mentor him and help him complete the overall planning of the research institute? Is that alright?"

“Sure!” Lin Xu readily agreed, glancing at the leveled foundation around him, and added, “The research institute’s location was already planned on the engineering drawings, but are we going to start construction now?”

“Prosecutor Cheng, I have a suggestion. It would be best to locate the research institute in the suburbs, which would make it easier to expand in the future. If it is planned to be located in the city from the beginning, we will either have to demolish the surrounding buildings to expand or dig deeper into the city. Compared with the proper planning from the beginning, it will not only take a lot of time and effort, but also require a huge amount of money.”

"How about we fix it there?"

Yu Yong suddenly interjected, pointing to the diversion island between the Baishui River and the Huangshui River, "It is isolated from the current town area and has enough space, so it will be easy to expand it in the future."

"Hmm," Cheng Ye looked in the direction the finger was pointing, his brows furrowing slightly as he hesitated for a few seconds.

While the diversion island is indeed geographically independent and has ample space, choosing to build a research institute here would likely present far greater challenges in terms of construction and subsequent water and power supply planning compared to building it on land.

But as the old saying goes, you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket.

If we concentrate all the core facilities in one place, we'll be in big trouble if we encounter another source of infection like the one from the explosion in Wenlu County.

Moreover, the location of the diversion island that Yu Yong pointed out is actually very suitable, and there are also karst caves underneath the island that can be utilized.

However, the prerequisite is to solve the problem of material transportation. Right now, if construction is to begin, the only option is to transport materials to the island by ship, one trip at a time.

Furthermore, during the summer flood season each year, most of the diversion islands are submerged, and the research institute may also suffer as a result.

Cheng Ye found these professional planning issues somewhat difficult to grasp, and turned to Lin Xu: "Engineer Lin, is it possible to build the research institute on the diversion island?"

“Yes, there is, but it will cost more money.” Lin Xu immediately replied, analyzing the situation clearly, “First, we need to modify the river channel to ensure that the floodwaters do not inundate the island during the flood season; second, we need to pay extra attention to the security of the diversion island, to guard against anything that might emerge from the water; and there are also geological issues on the island, we need to take on-site samples to analyze the soil bearing capacity and rock stability, and investigate whether changes in water level will cause a risk of collapse.”

He rattled off a string of technical terms, clearly having thoroughly researched the area around Dabo Town and even conducted a complete analysis of its geological conditions.

Even though Cheng Ye was a graduate student majoring in civil engineering, he still didn't understand it at all.

Unfortunately, he mainly studied architectural design and planning, as well as finalized project plans, while Lin Xu mastered the entire engineering framework. Whether it was his individual knowledge reserves or the overall completeness, he far surpassed Lin Xu.

"Looks like I need to brush up on my professional knowledge again. It's a pity that Xi Yan was snatched away by Zhou Changhai."

Cheng Ye cursed inwardly, then immediately approved Lin Xu's plan.

Lin Xu's words sounded convoluted, but they boiled down to one core issue.

money!
As long as there are enough contribution points, whether it's modifying river channels or reinforcing geology, it can all be solved by throwing money at it.

And this crucial issue is one that only he is qualified to handle.

After arranging for Lin Xu to take Yu Yong to do the preliminary preparations, only Rokuk was left by the car, looking at the scene in front of him with a sigh.

When he got closer, Rokuk came to his senses and asked in a low voice, "This Researcher Yu, his identity is not ordinary, is it?"

“He’s definitely not ordinary. He’s hiding some secrets. It’s a mission assigned to me from above, and I have to have him follow me.” Cheng Ye nodded in agreement.

Rococo exclaimed in admiration, "You're amazing, but this guy seems to have used an infectious agent."

"Hmm? You could sense that?" Cheng Ye laughed. "You wouldn't be prejudiced against special people like us, would you?"

"Prosecutor Cheng, please don't wrong me!" Rokuk quickly waved his hands, then rubbed them together. "You'd better introduce the new recruits to me quickly. If I even have prejudices against you, your men will skin me alive!"

Perhaps his expectations for Big Wave Town were too low, but seeing its completely transformed appearance, the last trace of frustration in Rokuk's heart dissipated.

Although his combat effectiveness plummeted after the amputation and transplant, and he lost his fighting spirit, he was no longer able to go out and carry out missions.

But staying in Dabo Town and participating in the construction of a new satellite city, or even a future sheltered city, is also another way of life.

"are you ready?"

“Of course!” Rokuk’s eyes were firm. “Inspector Rokuk, now and in the future, will protect every blade of grass and every tree here!”

(End of this chapter)