Wasteland Border Inspector

Chapter 84 Promotion to the Alliance: A Rising Star Civilization Collector!

Based on the speed at which information was collected previously.

Cheng Ye estimated that the probationary period for prosecutors should be much faster than that for collectors.

Once Liu Bi finishes his duties at both the North and South stations and has settled in, he will be able to prepare for his first field mission.

As long as he passes the field mission, given the connections Cheng Long has made, no one should hinder his promotion.

However, an unexpected event occurred first.

An infection wave triggered by a substitute starfish inadvertently allowed him to meet the requirements for upgrading to a collector.

Switch to your personal panel and confirm that all skills have been uninstalled.

He murmured softly.

"Promotion!"

Wow.

A streak of azure light suddenly burst into view, spreading out like a living thing.

In the blink of an eye, it gently engulfed the entire room.

All that remained before my eyes was pure, unadulterated blue, like a shattered starry sky sinking into the deep sea.

A gentle breeze came from behind him, and Cheng Ye subconsciously turned around, only to witness a scene he would never forget.

Countless pages of paper surged from the void, like a constellation awakened by an invisible hand.

It wasn't chaotic; each sheet of paper had its edges stretched out, tracing elegant arcs in the air.

They flew to his front and slowly gathered together, forming part of a huge sheet of paper.

From top to bottom, lines of text began to appear.

[Civilization Collector, Cheng Ye]

[A total of 771541 pieces of valid information on civilized behavior were collected during the internship period.]

[High-Value Civilization Information: 12 Items]

Rating: Excellent

The database has been organized.

[Current Civilization: Solar System | Earth | Wasteland Human Civilization]

[Current civilization activation count for this collector: 44571]

[Number of successfully activated users: 1 (Only Collector Cheng Ye was activated; the remaining humans did not meet the trait requirements)]

[Please confirm if you have been promoted. After promotion, this civilization will be permanently bound to Collector Cheng Ye. If anything happens to the Collector, this civilization will be permanently locked!]

"More than 40,000 people tried to activate it before me?"

Cheng Ye was slightly taken aback.

So, did Jackie Chan also try to activate it, but failed?

Cheng Ye's gaze fell on the words "unsatisfactory traits." He couldn't quite understand what they meant, but overall, it seemed like good news.
Since he's the only one who meets the activation requirements, at least he doesn't have to worry about some "small fry" suddenly popping up from the wasteland, yelling and trying to steal his collector.

Promotion confirmed!

boom.

The suspended paper suddenly exploded, and countless fragments deconstructed and reassembled high in the air.

Sometimes it swirls gently like the fluttering of butterfly wings, sometimes it glides diagonally like the trailing tail of a shooting star, carrying a kind of rhythmic beauty.

This time, the reconstructed giant sheet of paper did not stand in the distance.

Instead, the paper slowly gathered in front of him, thousands of tiny pieces of paper fitting together like a precise jigsaw puzzle, gradually outlining the shape of a dark green paper.

The writing reappeared, but it was no longer the previous ink color; instead, it turned into a silvery-white color with a lustrous sheen.

[Cheng Ye, Trainee Civilization Collector, has been successfully promoted.]

Please select your next collection route, and the collector will automatically match new features for you!

[Please note that you can reselect your preferred match for each promotion.]

[1. Adventure: With courage as their blade, they cleave through the fog of the unknown. Great collectors of civilizations are either on an adventure or on their way to one. They dare to venture into perilous places to explore lost information hidden beneath civilizations, and they are happy to seek out those unknown secrets, measuring the value of information with their footprints.]

[2. Steadfastness: Navigating the river of civilization with steadfastness, seasoned collectors never take risks. They acquire all the information they want through the safest means, whether through trade or assistance, using the trust of the indigenous civilization as a conduit for information, completing the collection effortlessly.]

[3. Collaboration: Risk-taking is the spear, and prudence is the shield. The two are not contradictory. The down-to-earth collector prefers to keep the initiative in his own hands. He is decisive when it is time to strike and can also calm down when it is time to wait, so that every piece of high-value information has nowhere to hide.]

[4. Control: Overwhelming everything with brute force, powerful collectors will not waste time on indigenous civilizations. When facing inferior civilizations, their favorite thing to do is to crush everything with force and violently plunder valuable information about the civilization.]

【5. Lock】

【6. Lock】

【.】

So many routes?

Cheng Ye was stunned for a moment, then carefully read it from top to bottom, and was immediately dumbfounded.

He originally thought that the internship promotion was just a promotion in rank, but now it seems that depending on the chosen path, it can also affect the next function.

Adventure? Definitely not. It's obviously a trap, and besides, he doesn't have the ability to break out of it.

A steady approach? That's a good choice, and it fits the prosecutor's profession perfectly.

A joint venture? That seems like a middle-ground option, one that won't go wrong.

Is taking control something I, someone who can only be extraordinary for five minutes, should be thinking about?

Faced with three options, Cheng Ye hesitated for a moment before finally making his decision.
"Choose to unite!"

During his first promotion, he had no idea what these career paths actually represented.

If someone is selected who is useless in the short term, it could be a waste of this valuable promotion opportunity.

After all, even promotion from intern is so difficult, who knows when further promotion will take?

Let's just go with the neutralization; as long as we don't make any mistakes and can develop steadily, that's fine.

The moment his thoughts landed, the azure scene shattered, and Cheng Ye returned to his familiar room.

The panel still floats in the field of view, now with a small progress bar on it.

However, the numbers on the progress bar jumped extremely fast, and in the short time it took to catch my breath, it had already jumped to 5%.

"So fast?"

Cheng Ye got up and grabbed a bag of nutritional syrup to fill his stomach. By the time he finished drinking it, the upgrade was complete.

The familiar function panel reappeared, with a series of update prompts added to the center.

[Trainee Collector, Cheng Ye, has completed her promotion.]

Current Rank: Rookie Collector

Please collect more information on civilized behavior to advance your rank.

Due to the collector's choice of the 'United' route, all functions have changed in this update.

Basic functions have been updated:
1. Maximum capacity index for charging value increased; current index: 1→2
2. Skill search range increased; currently searchable: Lv3
3.技能搜索概率改变：Lv1:100%，Lv2：50%，Lv3:25%
4.技能搜索耗能改变：Lv1:20%，Lv2：25%，Lv3:60%
5.技能搜索需求配合度改变：Lv1:1%，Lv2:50%，Lv3:100%
6. Changes to intelligence search: Can reduce search quality and probability, and specify search direction.
7. Item search changes: Minimum energy consumption: 50%, more energy can be invested to improve success rate and quality.

[A new feature has been added to the 'Joint' route: Information Fusion]

Information Fusion:
Effect: Adds acquired 'skills' and performs a reconstruction and fusion. The fusion quality is affected by the skill's quality and level; the higher the quality, the better the fusion effect.

Consumption: Consumes a fixed 50% of the charge value each time.

Quantity limit: 2 per attempt

Note: Once fusion begins, it cannot be canceled, but you can continue to add energy to initiate random directional mutations.

Note: Fusion is limited to skills of the same level only; fusion of skills of different levels is not allowed.

"It's changed so much?"

Cheng Ye carefully observed each change.

Doubling the charging capacity means that the 200 kWh of electricity will increase to 400 kWh, but for him at this stage, this change is better than nothing.

After all, there was simply no suitable place to quickly replenish such a large amount of power.

Even with a fast charging station, it takes a full 7 hours to fully charge.

But looking further down, the expected upgrade arrived as promised, and you can now search for Lv3 skills!

At the same time, there was an unexpected bonus: the search probability of Lv1 skills directly became 100%, and the energy consumption also decreased.

Based on this ratio, 80 kWh is enough for one search, which is a significant reduction.

Of course, the headache of low cooperation levels has finally decreased.

Lv1 is negligible, because so far only Chu Yunfeng's son Chu Xuan has shown 0%, and the lowest for others is at least 5%.

As expected, the synergy changes between Lv2 and Lv3 were also adjusted proportionally. As for intelligence and item searching...
He hasn't tried intelligence gathering even once yet, and he can't say whether the changes are good or bad.

The item search function is quite surprising. If you encounter a superhuman and can only search for items by cooperating with them, then if you invest the most resources, you might get unexpected rewards.

"Huh, the new feature of the joint route... isn't this just skill synthesis?"

After reviewing the basic changes, Cheng Ye paused, his gaze falling on the new features.

Compared to more complex action functions, information fusion is completely easy for modern people to understand; they can grasp it instantly.

By combining skills, a new effect can be created.

"I only have three skill slots. I was worried about finding multiple talent skills but not being able to equip them. Now it's all mixed up."

Cheng Ye's eyes lit up, and he immediately realized that the biggest advantage of this function was that it didn't take up any space.

As for the effects of the fusion mutation, he didn't care much.

Skills do not need to be fused, because once equipped, skills can be gradually acquired and made your own through learning.

For example, the rare-grade 'mobile shooting' technique I found from Master Tian, ​​even after only a few days, still retains 30% of its effects after uninstallation. I imagine I'll be able to fully master it in a month or two.

However, talent skills are different; they lose their effect immediately after being uninstalled, and you can only equip a maximum of three, making it difficult to choose which ones to use.

If these elements were combined, it might actually bring some surprises.

"Wait, what would happen if we could combine all the Lv1 talents found on humans?"

A bold idea suddenly popped into Cheng Ye's mind.

Both Miao Yang and Chu Yunfeng possess different Lv1 talents.

He had never thought about this before, but now that he has the fusion function, he might as well slowly collect all these talents and try fusing them twice to see the effect.

Once the idea appeared, it quietly popped up on my personal page.

[Collector: Cheng Ye]

[Current Rank: Level 2 Rookie (0/100)]

Life Level: 0

[Skills: Moving Shot, Beast Instinct, Empty]

[Not yet unlocked.]

[Evaluation: Choosing the joint route signifies that the collectors have officially embarked on the path of tracing the development of civilizations. Gathering and integrating as much information as possible about indigenous civilizations will help elevate the level of life.]

"Information integration, leading to an elevation of life level?"

Cheng Ye paused slightly when his gaze fell on the evaluation section, then a surge of joy welled up inside him.

Yes, his idea might be right!

Is the way to improve one's life level simply to find a way to fuse more talents and equip them?

"This is truly a major discovery! If our life level can be raised, we might be able to unlock more skill slots. At the very least, we could also resist corruption!"

Having finally found a way to elevate his level of existence, Cheng Ye breathed a long sigh of relief.

If supernatural abilities are a sharp spear, enabling him to deal with frontal impacts and threats.

The elevation of one's life level then becomes a solid shield, enabling him to resist the contamination of those bizarre sources of infection.

Even if Happiness City collapses one day and we have to leave, we still have the ability to survive in the wilderness.

"Now, it's time to settle down and develop steadily."

"The starfish only gave me the ability to protect myself. If I really want to survive in the wasteland, I still need to rely on solid, hard-won resources. I can't lack any of them, including manpower, ability, and resources."

Close the panel.

Cheng Ye got up, dressed, and went to the water room next door to wash up.

Pushing open the security door, he was surprised to find that the large hole in the window that had been smashed in the corridor the night before had been repaired and replaced with clean new glass, with no trace of damage.

The bloodstains on the walls were cleaned up completely, and a new layer of white paint was applied, making the entire corridor look brand new.

Even the cement floor underfoot had clearly been mopped many times, so clean it seemed spotless.

"That saves me the trouble, it saves me the trouble of fixing it myself."

After taking two steps forward, he suddenly turned his head and noticed a wooden sign hanging on the wall next to the security door.

[Resting, please do not disturb]

Reach out and flip it over.

[The person is out of town. Contact 507-Huang Sheng if needed.]

"what"

Cheng Ye couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle.

Although they were just minor details, seeing them made me feel inexplicably lighter.

When we arrived at the water room, it was also kept very clean.

It's unclear whether Huang Sheng and his two companions did it, or whether the residents of the entire fifth floor spontaneously carried out a thorough cleaning.

Turn on the tap, and after a day, the tap water supply has been restored.

Cheng Ye simply filled a bucket with water and took a nice cold shower in the shower room.

Being able to take a good, refreshing bath in the wasteland is definitely a luxury.

Wu Zhihong introduced several sheltered cities yesterday. He was a bit dazed at the time and didn't listen carefully, but he remembered that many of the sheltered cities were still in a relatively primitive agricultural mode.

Forget about running water, there are hardly any vehicles; you have to walk everywhere.

After all, ever since S-1, viruses have repeatedly damaged the foundation of human civilization. By the time of the S-4 supernatural era, humanity had completely abandoned technology and rushed headlong into the pursuit of supernatural power.

After the new era began, the sanctuary cities started developing technology from scratch. Unfortunately, technology requires a solid foundation to advance step by step.

Infrastructure is one aspect.

Talent development is another aspect.

Various benefits, and even the strength of checkpoints, are factors that cannot be ignored.

The talent-drawing effect of industrial sanctuaries is too obvious. After the first round of development, very few people are willing to go to poor and backward places and start from scratch.

"Hopefully, this advantage of Happiness City will help retain more people."

After taking a shower, Cheng Ye sighed.

With his current status and abilities, he has no way of resolving the issue of residents fleeing.

The higher-ups at Happiness City don't seem to care; they'll let people leave or stay as they please.

The problem is that if everyone runs away, the buffer zone becomes a no-man's land, and the prosecutor's power will be greatly weakened.

Without talented individuals joining Happiness City, technological development stagnates—this is the spiral of death.

"Go find Sister Luo first; you should be able to get a lot of secret information from her."

Back in his room, Cheng Ye inhaled six packets of nutrient solution, changed into clean clothes, and went out.

A day later, there was no trace of blood on the ground, only a faint smell of blood still lingered in the air.

Stepping out of the community gate, the supplies collection and sales station was still closed, but the meat canteen was open for business.

The owner is busy braising new meat products, trying to make the meat as flavorful as possible.

But with Uncle Dong gone, only this one shop remains at the entrance of the community, and it does look quite deserted.

Moreover, as Cheng Ye walked along the street, he could clearly feel that the entire buffer zone had become much more desolate. Pedestrians on the roadside were hurrying along with their heads down, their faces expressionless.

It was still summer, still sweltering, but a gentle breeze carried a chilly, autumnal feel to it.

Especially on the main road, the flow of people is sparse, and the bustling scene of the past is gone.

"In this wasteland, population is the most important resource. Without population, there is really nothing."

The devastating wave of infections has passed, but the real Great Recession seems to have only just begun.

Cheng Ye sighed for a moment, then continued forward and soon saw a bus stop that was in operation.

It's a bit of a shame that the bus waiting for passengers isn't the one that's always been polished to a shine, and the smiling Mr. Tian isn't standing next to it either.

It was only a little past six in the morning, but the bus stop was packed with people. Three to five hundred people were carrying huge military backpacks, with pistols tucked into their waistbands without any attempt to hide it. Some were even carrying rifles. It was clear at a glance that they were a migrant group planning to leave Xingfu City.

Cheng Ye stopped in his tracks, suddenly feeling that everything was unfamiliar, and for a moment he even had the illusion of having just transmigrated here.

Three months later, he finally got to know Happiness City and the buffer zone.

But this place changed into an unfamiliar sight overnight.

Summer has already brought this scene to the table.

What about winter?
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(End of this chapter)