Wasteland Border Inspector

Chapter 82 Investing in the Community: Ideals Never Die!
The first rays of the rising sun shone down, their warmth seeping through the armor and into the flesh.

The panel notification sounded softly in my ear, and a warmth rose in my heart.

Cheng Ye propped himself up on his knees, raised his hand, and saw the sun slowly rising above the horizon through the light filtering through his fingers.

It seems that nothing has ever been so dazzling, so full of anticipation.

A sudden wave of disorientation washed over me, as if I had survived a disaster.

He knew he might never be able to return to that familiar homeland again, and even the memories of the civilized era were rapidly fading away in battle after battle.

But when you turn your head to look at the bustling pedestrian street, you see the residents of Tianyuan Shopping Mall smiling as they carry infected bodies out of the alley.

When anyone looked him in the eye, their eyes were filled with undisguised respect and admiration.

Cheng Ye let out a long sigh and sat back down in the corner.

"Indeed, I don't want to go back."

He took out the blue medicine prepared by Master Tian and took another deep breath.

However, the refreshing minty sensation has diminished by about 80% compared to the first use.

It's like medicated oil now; it can only barely dispel some drowsiness.

It wasn't that the battle one night had exhausted him, but rather that the constant mental pressure throughout the entire starfish incident kept him on edge.

At this moment, when you completely relax, both physical and mental fatigue washes over you like a tidal wave.

It's hard to resist, and I don't want to resist it.

Now, he just wants to wait for the infection surge warning to be lifted in the buffer zone so he can go home and get a good night's sleep.

Once the security door is closed, no one can disturb him.

Ideally, I should sleep for three days and three nights to drive away all the unease I felt after being transported to the wasteland.

not far away.

Huang Sheng walked over carrying dozens of packets of heated nutritional syrup and stood at the entrance of the pedestrian street to distribute them.

"Captain, dinner's ready."

"Give me five packs."

Cheng Ye took the slightly warm nutrient solution, tore open the packaging with his teeth, and slowly began to suck it.

Old Song came over and sat down next to him without him noticing.

"Prosecutor Cheng, tonight's haul has been truly bountiful."

The old man rubbed his hands together, a smile spreading across his face. "Please allow me to retract my previous proposal. The community can take only 10% of all contribution points."

According to current counts, Zone B-7 has contained a total of 3274 sources of infection tonight.

In accordance with the principle of collective participation, since Tianyuan Community is the main force, the "Happiness Third-Class Merit" award, which is usually given for more than 1000 participants, will also be automatically distributed to the community.

Its honor value goes without saying, and it also comes with an additional contribution point allocation of up to 3000 points, which will be used as community public funds expenditure.

In other words, almost everyone in Tianyuan Mall will receive one contribution point tonight.

In the buffer zone's standard resource system, 1 contribution point has approximately the purchasing power of 12 happiness coins.

This means that the mall earned nearly 50,000 Happiness Coins in one night, and the cost of repairing the mall is finally covered.

"Old Song, I don't have the final say on the point allocation. The drones above are recording everything."

Cheng Ye couldn't help but shake his head, pointing to the surveillance drone hovering in the air, "Those who contribute more in the battle should naturally receive more, and those who contribute less will receive less."

He paused, then added, "Besides, the community has its rewards, and I have mine; they're two different things."

Old Song looked troubled and managed to say something that made Cheng Ye laugh: "That won't work either, there's too much money involved. We just want to improve the community environment and fix up the facilities that we haven't been able to repair in the past few years."

"We have way too much money, way beyond our budget, we really don't know what to do with it!"

These days, is it really possible to have too much money and not know how to spend it?

The thought that the inner city had allocated a huge sum of 20,000 contribution points made Cheng Ye quite happy.

“Isn’t the pedestrian street right next to the shopping mall? This time, there are almost no people inside, so the community can just bring the pedestrian street under its management.”

"pedestrian mall"

Old Song stroked his beard and pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "This area used to be under the management of the shopping mall. Later, because there were too many migrant workers and it was difficult to manage, the community simply gave it up. Now that we've taken it back, no one will gossip. But the problem is that we don't know how to use the land. We can't just turn the entire pedestrian street into residential buildings, can we?"

"If everyone lives in bunk beds crammed into the mall, that's fair. But if some people go out and live in spacious rooms, it will cause a lot of dissatisfaction."

"What's so hard about this?"

After finishing one bag of nutrient solution, Cheng Ye tore open another bag and said, "Autumn is approaching, which is the perfect time to carry out construction in the buffer zone. We should demolish all the illegal buildings and dilapidated houses on the pedestrian street and rebuild a new pedestrian street."

"There are over 4,000 people in the mall. They can't all go out to do odd jobs like migratory birds. There are so many women and children. If we want to develop the community, we have to increase revenue and reduce expenditure. We need to ensure that everyone has work so that the community can stay stable. Otherwise, we will run out of money for repairs in two years and end up going down the same old path again."

"Everyone has work to do?"

Old Song was dumbfounded, thinking he had misheard.

But Cheng Ye had already stood up and was looking towards the direction of the giant wall. "Hmm, the area around the giant wall station should be completely destroyed. It won't be allowed to be rebuilt anytime soon."

“This is our opportunity. As long as we quickly build a safe trading area so that scavengers can settle down on the pedestrian street, all problems will be easy to solve. Even if we just open a shop that only sells nutrient solution, the daily income will be enough to maintain the normal operation of the community.”

"In addition, we can repair weapons and armor, take on small commodity processing orders, and do contract manufacturing for others. We could even set up a small factory inside the pedestrian street. Applying for the qualifications is not difficult. I can get it done by making a trip to the Public Works Department. Even if we only produce small industrial products at first and sell them to the surrounding areas, we can still earn a considerable income."

"With money coming in and everyone having work to do, the internal and external circulation can be activated, the collective strength can be gathered, and the advantages of Tianyuan Community can be truly brought into play!"

He spoke with great enthusiasm, his eyes seemingly already seeing a bright future for the community.

Old Song was completely stunned. Looking at Cheng Ye's back, he seemed to see another Zhang Can in a daze.

Six years ago, Zhang Can, who had just joined the community, was the same. He had passionately talked to him about similar ideals, vowing to build a factory in the community so that everyone would no longer have to rely on odd jobs to make a living.

However, there is ultimately a huge gap between ideals and reality.

The inexperienced youngster had no idea how difficult it was to make a living in a wasteland.

They naively believed that by simply talking and spouting grand pronouncements, they could dig development funds out of barren and arid land.

The result is what it is now.

Before he could lead the community forward, he was already overwhelmed by immense pressure.

"Prosecutor Chengcheng."

Old Song stood up and pursed his chapped lips.

Six years ago, he didn't interrupt Zhang Can's dream because he had once had a similar dream.

At that time, he also had high hopes for the future of the community, so he could understand that passion.

But now, it's time to wake up from the dream. People still need to move forward steadily and quickly by being down-to-earth.

But he forgot that he had learned last night that the prosecutor Cheng Ye had come to the mall.

As if possessed, he took another gamble, and this time he bet a huge sum of money.

Fortunately, the gamble paid off.

“The community doesn’t have that much funding, and no one can afford to waste time this fall on a vague prospect.”

Old Song's words were harsh, almost spoken through gritted teeth, already prepared for Cheng Ye's displeasure.

But then he quickly added, "The celestial phenomena this year are very strange, and this winter will definitely be difficult to endure. Therefore, autumn is the best time to stock up on supplies for the winter. Please understand."

"I can understand."

Cheng Ye nodded slightly. Indeed, pragmatic people are more likable.

His boastful words, coupled with his high-ranking position as a prosecutor, would have made most people arrogant. "It's good that you understand, sir."

Old Song smiled wryly, and his form of address changed to the slightly more distant "Sir".

However, the next second, he froze, an incredulous expression on his face.

"Old Song, last night you lent me three hundred people, which helped to clear out the infection wave in Zone B-7."

Cheng Ye stretched out his hand, his finger gesturing across the busy crowd on the pedestrian street.

Da Long was directing everyone to move the infected body when he caught a glimpse of his gesture, and immediately scratched his head and grinned sheepishly.

Erlong was squatting by the wall, seemingly still haunted by Zhang Can's shadow, but when he saw Zhang Can nod at him, he quickly stood up and nodded in response with a smile.

Every militiaman who had risked his life alongside him the previous night trembled when he called on them.

Finally, his finger landed on the front of the mall.

There, a row of figures covered with white sheets lay quietly.

They were the ones who sacrificed their lives last night.

There were twenty-six people in total.

Sixteen of them were attacked by the spitting fusion entity, and their vital organs were burned, and they could not be saved.

Ten people were accidentally injured and killed on the spot by stones thrown by Zhang Can and stray bullets while he was restraining them.

Fortunately, all of these victims were single and had not yet started families.

However, despite the celebration, a faint shadow still lingered in everyone's hearts.

"I brought back 274 people."

Cheng Ye took a deep breath, his gaze resolute: "I want all the residents of Tianyuan Community to know, I want everyone in the entire B-7 area, and even all the communities in the buffer zone to understand that the 26 people who sacrificed themselves last night with me, Cheng Ye, did not sacrifice in vain. Their efforts brought Tianyuan not only a considerable amount of repair funds, nor a good opportunity to curry favor with the prosecutor, but also the future!"

"future?"

Old Song pondered these two words repeatedly.

When he looked up at Cheng Ye again, he saw not Zhang Can, but something that Zhang Can didn't have.

It was a confidence that words could not describe.

It's not empty talk, nor is it self-pity, and it's certainly not an escape from pressure.

It truly is a case of "Man can conquer nature, and everything depends on human effort!"
"I may invest some money in Tianyuan Community tomorrow or the day after, about 20,000 contribution points, to help the community rebuild the pedestrian street."

When the main event was mentioned, Cheng Ye sat down instead, and a lazy expression crept onto his brows.

“I will oversee the use of these funds and keep an eye on the overall direction. Mr. Song, you shouldn’t mind if I also invest in Tianyuan Community, right?”

After a while.

Old Song was carried away on a stretcher.

Cheng Ye never expected that the veteran who had emerged from the wave of infections would have such a strong reaction, and he almost had a heart attack from excitement.

Fortunately, Zhu Xiang knew a lot about first aid and acted in time, thus preventing a tragic accident from happening.

"Captain, what did you use to provoke him?"

"That's what he wants."

"Huh? What does that mean?"

Zhu Xiang was a little confused.

What could a veteran in his sixties, who has long been accustomed to life and death and the cruelty of the wasteland, possibly want?
Don't you have any ideals?

"Yes." Zhu Xiang was puzzled for a moment, then his face lit up with joy. "Thank you, Captain. After this is over, I should be able to get a small management position at the Medical Department. I won't have to run around with those people anymore, doing meaningless and useless work."

"If you become a manager, what do you want to do?"

"Well"

Zhu Xiang paused for a moment, then smiled frankly and said, "Let's promote the privatization of healthcare. We can't control the medical departments in the inner city, but the medical departments in the outer city have no competition and have gradually become stagnant. In the past, there were often new drugs to suppress the source of infection that were launched for trial, but there haven't been any in recent years."

"Control the source of infection? Isn't that what the Institute of Infection Research does?"

"No, this starfish antidote powder was also developed by the Medical Department. The research institute was just nominally involved and provided some data on the substitute starfish."

He sighed, "If we could continue to research this, the anti-epidemic powder wouldn't have such severe side effects, and we might have saved even more lives."

"come on!"

Cheng Ye stood up and patted Zhu Xiang on the shoulder heavily.

very nice.

Regardless of the idealists' true intentions or how much they contributed to the buffer zone.

Are these contributions more positive or more negative?

One thing is undeniable.

From veterans in their sixties to middle-aged people in the system who are frustrated and unfulfilled.

Everyone harbors an ideal in their hearts, still cherishing the lofty goal of changing the world, and has not been defeated by the bleak reality of the wasteland.

As the saying goes, one person gathering firewood won't make a strong fire, but many people gathering firewood will make a big fire!

As the ranks of idealists continue to grow, one day, figures will emerge from among them who will be able to change the world.

But before that, there may be a brutal selection process and many sacrifices.

Ding.

At 7:41 a.m., exactly eight hours after the Stand Starfish exploded.

In an instant, a chorus of defense notification sounds filled the entire buffer zone.

As if a new chapter had been turned, all the survivors suddenly picked up their defense devices and clicked on the notification.

[Happiness City Broadcasting Station: Survival Alert Lifted]

[Dear residents, by the time this message reaches your terminal, Happy City has successfully survived the terrifying wave of infection and is about to usher in the dawn of rebirth from the ruins.]

In the past eight hours, you may have been fighting a bloody battle on the front lines, or you may have been curled up and trembling under your bed.

Regardless of how we overcome this crisis, we extend our sincerest gratitude to you. It is the perseverance of each and every one of you that has enabled Happiness City to overcome yet another life-or-death challenge, bringing us one step closer to our vision of "ultimate happiness."

[The current street defenses have not yet been dismantled. Please be patient: We will gradually clear the obstacles and restore normal order to the buffer zone within 72 hours.]

Please do not go out unnecessarily. From the date of this announcement, all checkpoints will be closed for 7 days. In addition to maintaining the internal environment and strengthening the isolation defenses, this will also allow inspectors some time to summarize this wave of infections and prevent a similar crisis from happening again.

The medical station is currently operating at overcapacity. Injured personnel are advised not to go there on their own. Please report your injuries through the defense communication system. We will allocate medical resources according to the priority of your injuries to ensure you receive proper treatment.

The locations of infected individuals in each sector have been publicly displayed via the terminal. Please click for details. Unauthorized handling and concealment of infected individuals are strictly prohibited. The Public Works Department will organize personnel to clean up the infected individuals to prevent secondary infections.

[As decided by the joint command of the buffer zone: For the next 15 days, the supply of daily necessities will be centrally allocated by the coordination center. Each person can receive 5 bags of nutritional syrup per day, and there will be no charge during this period. Please collect as needed and get through the supply allocation period together.]

The damaged infrastructure is being repaired by designated personnel. Residents are advised not to panic due to power and water outages.

【.】

[Quick Overview of the Infection Surge Report:]

沦陷板块：17（A1、A2、A3C11全区域）
Death toll: 132500 (estimated)

Follow-up actions: We will collect all contribution points and Happiness Coins from the accounts of the deceased and use the entire amount for the buffer zone repair project. Thank you to every one of the deceased for their silent contributions; Happiness City will remember you.

[Finally, a friendly reminder: Today is Monday, please remember to return to work on time, thank you!]

　P.S.: Second update delivered! Thank you all for your support!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)