Wasteland Border Inspector

Chapter 48 An extraordinary opportunity is right beside you!
Li Ma was unusually unlike a slacker; when he uttered his last sentence, he seemed to be glowing.

This perfectly illustrates that true loyalty only exists when interests are shared and highly aligned.

"As you said."

Cheng Ye frowned in thought, "But the field mission board at the Central Station only lists delivery, reconnaissance, patrol, and supporting operations in the inner city, right?"

"Otherwise, why would you want to take sides?"

Li Matai scoffed, "You Easterners' fieldwork tasks are arranged by Station Chief Ding, while our Westerners' fieldwork tasks are arranged by Station Chief Harlin. If you plan to be like me and not take sides, you'll have to slowly complete these arduous fieldwork tasks to accumulate contribution points."

"But if you take sides, you'll never finish all those lucrative jobs, and there are plenty of ways to make contributions."

So this is the benefit of taking sides?

Cheng Ye suddenly realized that he understood the whole logic behind the checkpoint.

“Your grandfather, Cheng Wu, was one of the founders of Happiness City.”

"Back then, he was a true high-ranking official in Happiness City. It's just a pity that he could never awaken his extraordinary abilities. In the end, he and a group of elders took the initiative to come to the outer city, which is our current buffer zone."

It's Cheng Wu again?

In the inherited memories, Cheng Ye could not find this name, and even his memories of Cheng Long were very few.

Because after the original owner turned ten, he and Cheng Long would only meet once every two or three years.

Moreover, the meeting place was not in the inner city. The two exchanged a few words in the Happiness Gate passage, and then Cheng Long made an excuse to leave.

"This checkpoint was built by that group of people. Strictly speaking, if it weren't for that generation of prosecutors risking their lives back then, how could Happiness City be what it is today?"

"It was because the inner city was perfectly protected that it was able to develop rapidly in the early chaotic period of the new era, attracting a large population and promoting industrial progress. One step ahead led to another, and it directly became the hegemon of Shi Province and even the surrounding provinces."

"Many shelter cities and even settlements are now trying to set up checkpoints like we have, but they still can't figure out the differences between them."

"Because their prosecutors are just watchdogs kept in the inner city, appendages of power, not partners in development. They've never produced any tough guys willing to fight for power, nor have they had any prosecutors with strong methods. So the system is prone to collapse at any time due to various problems!"

Subservient, cooperative.

The difference between the two words is like heaven and earth.

Cheng Ye gave Li Matai a strange look, "So what's the current situation?"

"The prosecutors are certainly not as good as the previous generation, but as long as the old guys in the station are still alive, we can't really call them vassals yet, but we're getting further and further away from cooperation. Don't you see how many people here are fighting for power and profit?"

"Yes, the inner city's higher-ups are getting worse with each generation. They're really fiercely competing now, with one faction advocating for a renewed embrace of the supernatural, cultivating cutting-edge combat power, and using violence to eliminate the infected."

"The other faction, however, advocates developing science and technology industries, gradually expanding the borders, establishing a safe joint survival circle, and preventing infected individuals from entering."

As Li Matai spoke, he suddenly chuckled, "Of course, there are also neutrals like me, idealists who only want to bring happiness and safety to the residents. Things like reducing water and electricity fees and controlling prices are all things that the neutrals are doing. They are also the people who support our checkpoint the most."

"Well"

This time, Cheng Ye didn't complain.

The idealists in Happy City really helped him a lot; otherwise, it would have taken him a year and a half to activate the collector, let alone quickly charge and search.

Li Ma said that even if you're just muddling along, it's still better than those who blindly choose sides and climb the ranks, specifically referring to Garcia.

"How many of those old guys you're talking about are still around?"

"About a third of them have gone out on fieldwork and will gradually return in the fall."

So that's 50 people?
Cheng Ye nodded slightly. There are three checkpoints, with eight people at each checkpoint. Only 24 inspectors need to be rotated in one cycle.

If senior prosecutors occupy their positions for too long, newcomers will have no chance to get started.

Moreover, the number of infected individuals is lower in summer and autumn, which provides a good break for studying.

This is also why he can immediately start his duties when he reports to the North Station; the veteran prosecutors will tacitly make way for the newcomer.

"What kind of person was my father?"

"Your father"

Li Matai swallowed hard, quickly shook his head, and resumed his old-fashioned, non-sticky mode. "I can't comment on this. He's an extremely capable person. If it weren't for some special circumstances, the future station chief would definitely be your father. There's no other possibility."

"Well, if you want to know, you'll have to ask Liu Bi. He's from the fourth class, and I'm from the third. There are some things he can say freely, but I can't comment on them."

"Ok."

It seems that Jackie Chan is hiding a big secret, especially the civilization collector he left behind.

"By the way, can I bring my family members into the inner city?"

Cheng Ye suddenly raised a new question.

“Of course not.” Li Matai said decisively, “The Happiness City leadership allows prosecutors to seek asylum because of their personal contributions. Your family members haven’t risked their lives for the city, so why should they be allowed to come and go?”

"Even the fourth and fifth phases won't work?"

"Let alone the fifth phase, even Station Chief Ding can't bring his family. This is a hard rule set by the first prosecutors back then, and it's a matter of principle."

"What about your family if you stick to such rigid rules?"

“Of course it’s in the inner city.” Li Matai looked surprised. “The rules say you can’t bring family members in, but they don’t say family members can’t be from the inner city. My wife and kids are waiting inside. Didn’t you grow up in the inner city? Why would you ask such a question?”

So that's why the predecessor was able to grow up in the inner city?

Cheng Ye suddenly realized.

He thought that Cheng Long had found a way to send his predecessor into the inner city, never imagining that Cheng Long had entered the inner city and started a family.

“I don’t know any of this; nobody has told me.”

Cheng Ye shook his head.

The original owner's mother died in childbirth, leaving only a few blurry photos in his memory. In addition, his father, Cheng Long, abandoned his only son in the inner city and ignored him.

This is why, on his very first day outside the inner city, he was terrified to death by the "real" world outside.

"Oh," Li Matai slapped his forehead and pretended to slap his mouth twice as an apology: "I'm sorry, I misspoke."

"What special privileges do the fourth phase students receive?"

“Fourth term.” Li Matai hesitated for a moment, then finally squeezed out the four words through gritted teeth, seemingly filled with resentment.

"An extraordinary opportunity!"

thump.

Boom!
The sudden ringing of the school bell in the hall immediately silenced the noise.

The attendees at the study session were not only inspectors on their days off, but also dozens of observers wearing blue armbands and staff members in important positions sitting in the back row.

The projector's stand made a screeching sound as it dragged across the concrete floor.

Cheng Ye, however, had never heard of this before and was still immersed in the bombshell news released by Li Matai.

Compared to the extraordinary opportunity and the prosecutor's field mission, Phase Three's ability to enter the inner city was indeed insignificant. "Happiness City is actually keeping special infected beings in captivity?"

Cheng Ye was horrified.

According to Li Matai, this is not about infecting humans with the S-series virus and using the virus's abilities to cultivate and guide extraordinary beings, but rather about Happiness City secretly cultivating and raising special infected individuals.

The extraordinary plants that cling to special infected organisms grow extremely slowly, taking 5-8 years to harvest.

After harvesting, the quantity is allocated based on the yield.

For example, in the previous round of the fourth round of prosecutors, each person was allocated nearly 5g.

Although this dose sounds very small, there is still a chance to activate the extraordinary genes hidden in the human body.

And it seems that everyone activates different extraordinary genes.

The last time someone successfully activated a supernatural ability at the checkpoint was 11 years ago, when Liu Kun, the checkpoint chief at the time, awakened his ability and directly entered the inner city's 'City Defense Bureau' as its chief.

It was precisely because he rose to the upper echelons of Happiness City that the checkpoint's status was significantly elevated.

The Public Security Bureau, which originally had the power to checkpoints, was stripped of its power multiple times and was finally dissolved 8 years ago, leaving the checkpoints to dominate!
Further back is the station chief who was in office 13 years ago before Ding Yishan took office, which is the time when a station chief on duty was killed in action.

Reagan Carr!

No one knows exactly how he activated his supernatural abilities.

But since then, he has quickly resigned as station chief and become the executive director of the industrial zone.

Now wielding immense power, he is one of the core representatives of the inner-city tech faction.

The two men's meteoric rise to power, wielding extraordinary strength and holding important positions, inevitably fueled the prosecutors' desire to climb the ranks.

"So what the two factions are fighting over now is actually...the extraordinary and the power that comes with it?"

With enough information, Cheng Ye immediately understood the root cause of the conflict between East and West.

Phase 4, Phase 5, Station Chief, Deputy Station Chief, Station Chief.

Each level you climb higher doesn't bring any qualitative change in power, but you gain access to more extraordinary plants to activate your supernatural abilities.

The last extraordinary opportunity was 5 years ago, and Ding Yishan has been in office for nearly 10 years.

Logically speaking, he had already obtained an extraordinary opportunity, but he failed to seize it.

Now that the Easterners are weak, Harlem will certainly not let this opportunity pass him by to climb the ranks.

"Besides, the extraordinary one was right beside me all along?"

Realizing that as long as one diligently improves their rank, they will eventually achieve extraordinary status.

Cheng Ye was burning with excitement, but he wasn't thinking about climbing the ranks to become the stationmaster and waiting for the inner city's favor.

Instead, they use their search capabilities to directly seize the already formed extraordinary abilities!
He didn't know who the extraordinary one was before, but now, through Li Matai, he finally knows about two important targets.

"Liu Kun!"

"Reagan Carl!"

"One in the east, one in the west, you two better not run into my hands one day."

Repeating these two names over and over, Cheng Ye memorized them firmly. He then forcibly suppressed all distracting thoughts and the surging restlessness in his heart.

Even if the supernatural ability is weak, it is still far superior to the genetic talent of Iron Body, at least at the level of LV3 or LV4 or above, which is impossible to search with the current collector.

The most urgent task is still to focus on promotion and get through the probationary period as quickly as possible.

"Cheng Ye, Cheng Ye!"

Seeing that Cheng Ye was still deep in thought, Li Matai lowered his voice and gently nudged him twice under the table with his knee.

"The supervisor is here. Don't slack off. If you become an example, you'll be in trouble."

"Overseer?"

Cheng Ye looked up and followed the direction Li Matai indicated, only to see two people walking in from the exit of the venue.

On the left is Qiao Yuan, the fifth-term prosecutor from the East, and on the right is Dario Havin, the fifth-term prosecutor from the West.

Noticing Cheng Ye's gaze, Qiao Yuan nodded slightly and responded with a somewhat friendly look, but his face still carried the "aloof" expression that leaders usually have as he scanned the room.

Dario Haven's reaction surprised Cheng Ye. He realized that when he looked over, the Western fifth-term prosecutor gave him a smile, his eyes kind, as if he were looking at his outstanding junior.

what?
Hallucinating?
Cheng Ye quickly looked away. He had a feeling that if they continued to stare at each other, this guy would definitely come over and start a conversation with him.

"Don't look around, listen carefully, even if it's not interesting, pretend to be serious."

Li Matai's "mixed learning" has reached a state of perfection; his lips are barely visible, yet a clear sound comes out.

"Yesterday I heard that someone was caught sleeping and was made an example of, forced to answer questions on stage in front of everyone. If it were just his own people, it would be one thing, but with so many observers and staff watching, it was incredibly embarrassing."

Just then, a round of applause suddenly broke out in the area where the Eastern Prosecutors were gathered in the front row.

Cheng Ye's gaze sharpened, and he quickly joined in clapping.

Unexpectedly, the first speaker to take the stage today was Luo Xiaoxue.

Although Liu Bi was an oddball and a reckless man in the Eastern Faction, when it came to the face of their own camp, the people of the Eastern Faction still gave him plenty of respect, and even the observers and staff of the Eastern Faction applauded.

However, the Western faction seemed somewhat indifferent to Luo Xiaoxue's appearance.

Some people even curled their lip, seemingly disdainful.

"Don't be surprised, this is just the beginning. There's still more than a year until the next extraordinary opportunity. After winter, when spring comes next year, that's when the real battles will begin."

Li Matai never gets involved in factional disputes, but at this moment he joined Cheng Ye in clapping, which drew angry glares from many members of the Western faction.

But he seemed to enjoy it, as if he had found a sense of purpose.

Each lecturer only had five minutes. Luo Xiaoxue selected only one hydrophilic infected species that she had previously encountered and briefly explained how to deal with it.

After Luo Xiaoxue stepped down from the stage, the curtain at the back entrance was lifted, and the next lecturer came up.

He appeared to be a veteran, but both the Eastern and Western factions treated him with extreme indifference.

No one applauded or welcomed him, and no one gave any feedback until he finished speaking.

Although, from Cheng Ye's perspective, the coping methods described by the veteran were not without merit.

"What a realistic class system!"

Cheng Ye sighed inwardly, his gaze suddenly focusing on the entrance behind the curtain, where he saw a group of lecturers preparing to go on stage.

Hey, did I read that right? Didn't Uncle Dong say last night that he was going to fulfill his wish?
How did I end up here?
　P.S.: Here's the 4K version. Actually, this background should have been explained later, but many readers were curious, so I sped up the pace and released it now. Also, I can take advantage of the free period to write more background information so that I won't be criticized for being padded after the book is officially released.

　　PS2: There will be another chapter this afternoon, 4.5k words. I can't add more chapters, so I'll just write a little more for each chapter!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)