Chapter 190: A Bountiful Harvest of Supplies, Elders Warning!
Chapter 190: A Bountiful Harvest of Supplies, Elders Warning!
Before selecting supplies, thanks to Old Sun's tip-off, Cheng Ye already had a rough idea in mind.
The only question now was how much basic funding would be allocated for this assessment.
After arranging for Wang Kang to attend the lecture with the refugees, he took his tablet and returned directly to the off-road vehicle. He reclined the seat halfway back and let out a long, comfortable sigh.
Blissful!
Opening the tablet, he found a simply designed shopping mall interface.
It looked like the Materials Purchase and Sales Office system with a new skin, with "Satellite City Infrastructure Mall" labeled in the upper left corner.
The upper right corner displayed the name "Cheng Ye," followed by the points accumulated after the recruited population passed the review:
[Current Available Infrastructure Points: 102]
"Hiss, just barely over a hundred! That's really not much!" Cheng Ye clicked his tongue repeatedly.
Seventy-five households with children were selected, calculated at 2.5 points per person, totaling 750 points.
For able-bodied adults, due to situations like Bao Dashan that arose during selection, 62 slots were ultimately issued, totaling 62 points.
Sixty-nine childless households were selected, calculated at 1.5 points per person, totaling 207 points.
Total: 1019 points.
"Rounding up, I guess I got a slight advantage, being counted as 1020 points?" Cheng Ye calculated mentally.
Although not selecting families with both children and elderly meant the points didn't gain much advantage, according to Gu Xinjing's statement that 1 point equaled 100 contribution points in purchasing power, 102 points meant 10,200 contribution points.
This amount wasn't actually small!
After all, this was just an assessment. It was impossible to give each group thirty to fifty thousand points to squander freely.
Moreover, purchasing building materials, facilities, and similar supplies with contribution points was actually quite cost-effective.
These resources couldn't be taken away, and since it was on-site construction, Happiness City would even provide subsidies.
Just like the twenty thousand points for the pedestrian street back then, if he hadn't insisted on building a landmark structure and having the pipeline network and building materials meet century-long project standards, twenty thousand points would have definitely been enough.
Only when purchasing transportable resources like vehicles would the points seem insufficient, easily requiring tens of thousands.
The mall had four major categories corresponding to the assessment:
[Infrastructure], [Facilities], [Materials], [Population]
"Population?"
Cheng Ye curiously clicked in. Could he bring community militia?
After the page loaded, the displayed items made him raise an eyebrow:
[Elite Refugee Formation Random Able-bodied Adults: 5 points/10 people]
[Elite Refugee Formation Random Families: 3 points/per household]
[Ordinary Refugee Formation Random Able-bodied Adults: 3 points/10 people]
[...]
"As expected, can only randomly select from refugees, can't bring Buffer Zone residents."
He scrolled through the screen for a closer look.
The population category was divided into three grades: elite, ordinary, and random.
The description stated that elites came with a livelihood production skill, ordinary ones possessed basic wasteland survival abilities, and random ones were purely luck-based.
The data source was the Residential Department's refugee census from recent days, also noting "products not matching description can be returned with evidence."
"If I'd selected too many seven-person families before, the extra points could compensate for the labor shortage through this." Cheng Ye's thoughts turned, then he shook his head. "But random means I can't choose myself. The variables are too great."
The people he recruited could at least unite as one before encountering a crisis.
But randomly assigned families or able-bodied adults hadn't heard his speech about Dapo Town's planning. If some people were unruly or slacked off during tasks, there would be no recourse.
As for returns, just collecting evidence would be troublesome enough. The assessment only lasted three days, who could afford such delays?
Exiting the population page, he clicked into the [Materials] category.
This was the most direct way to research the purchasing power of infrastructure points. Comparing it with Buffer Zone prices would reveal the truth.
Surprisingly, the tablet didn't lag like the Materials Purchase and Sales Office. Lines of text and images quickly loaded.
There were quite a lot of purchasable materials. Cheng Ye glanced at the page count at the bottom.
With 20 items per page and a total of 627 pages, that meant there were 12,540 types of purchasable materials.
A search box appeared in the upper right corner, with a prompt below: "Items can be displayed based on fuzzy descriptions."
"A budget version of Xinghuo Pass, huh?"
Cheng Ye shook his head mentally.
Happiness City had been the first sanctuary city to use source-rail technology to make chips, but after all these years, they hadn't maintained their hardware advantage, and their software had fallen even further behind.
This tablet mall was even less convenient than the small Xinghuo Pass for queries.
People regarded food as heaven, so he first searched for "nutrient paste" and directly exchangeable "Happiness Coins."
[Ordinary Nutrient Paste: 1 point/500 bags]
[Happiness Coins: 1 point/500 coins]
"The direct exchange rate for Happiness Coins is actually this low. Calculated in contribution points, it's only 1 to 71. Those who spent money to recruit are in trouble."
Cheng Ye calculated, "At one contribution point equals 7 coins, and nutrient paste at 2 coins per bag, when buying nutrient paste, 1 infrastructure point equals 142 contribution points, about 1000 Happiness Coins, which is much more cost-effective than direct exchange."
With this most intuitive basic data as reference, he searched for essential daily supplies for residents. Lines of entries quickly appeared.
[Towels (30cm×60cm): 1 point/250 pieces]
[Wash Basins (30cm diameter): 1 point/120 pieces]
[Water Buckets (17 liters): 1 point/80 pieces]
[Toothbrush Sets (5 toothbrushes + 2 tubes toothpaste): 1 point/180 sets]
[Synthetic Mattresses (190cm*90cm): 1 point/35 pieces]
[Bedding Sets (pillow + four-piece set + blanket): 1 point/35 sets]
[Long-sleeved Autumn Clothing (shirt + pants + shoes; any size): 1 point/8 sets]
[Radio (rechargeable): 1 point/8 pieces]
[Anti-infection Filter Water Bottle (six-layer filtration): 1 point/6 pieces]
[Demolition Tool Set (pry bar + claw hammer + wire cutters + steel chisel + trowel + cut-resistant gloves): 1 point/20 sets]
[Repair Tool Set (screwdriver + wrench + pliers + tape measure + sandpaper set): 1 point/20 sets]
[Construction Tool Set (shovel + claw hammer + hand saw + hemp rope): 1 point/20 sets]
[Patrol Flashlight (12-hour battery life): 1 point/15 pieces]
[Hand-crank Charger: 1 point/4 pieces]
[...]
The daily supplies were numerous and miscellaneous, with inconsistent point ratios.
Cheng Ye quickly calculated that the ratio between infrastructure points and contribution points wasn't fixed at 1:100. Most livelihood materials could maintain around 1:120, clothing and radios could even reach 1:150, while demolition and construction tools were exaggerated at 1:200.
Even so, Cheng Ye roughly calculated that to fully equip five hundred people with all daily supplies, just 500 sets of mattresses and bedding would require 30 points. Add other necessities, and it would start at 75 points or more.
"If I bought all this, infrastructure would have to drink northwest wind!"
After getting a clear picture, Cheng Ye's finger slid across the screen as he began placing orders according to plan.
Mattresses, bedding, clothes, and such.
Whether now or in the future, if residents wanted these supplies, they would have to pay for them themselves.
As the contracted manager of Dapo Town, he would only do his utmost to provide well-compensated work positions, letting everyone earn more money to improve their lives as quickly as possible.
If he distributed everything for free, it would be the same principle as Zhao Jia paying high prices to able-bodied workers, eventually breeding a group of people waiting for welfare. It would be difficult to establish rewards and punishments, and would disappoint the hardworking people.
Moreover, the refugees weren't destitute. Happiness City had already distributed some basic supplies, and with what they brought during migration, they could manage for a while.
What needed to be bought now were essential tools, rations, and things that could boost morale.
Nutrient paste was a necessity. Five bags per person per day were needed to guarantee physical strength.
Twenty-five hundred bags, exactly 5 points.
A hundred sets each of the three types of tool sets, totaling 300 sets for 15 points. Land reclamation, construction, and maintenance all required proper equipment.
Five hundred towels for 2 points; 320 water buckets (2-3 per household, 1 per able-bodied adult) for 4 points; the same number of wash basins for 3 points.
These were basic household items and couldn't be skimped on.
Night patrols needed light. Thirty flashlights with 4 hand-crank chargers, 3 points.
At this point, he'd already spent 32 points. Cheng Ye stared at the remaining 70 points, his finger pausing on the anti-infection filter water bottles. Although Dapo Town was near a water source with convenient water access, the underwater conditions were unknown. With the rainy season continuing, who could guarantee infection sources wouldn't drift downstream?
Nutrient paste ultimately couldn't replace drinking water. This item could filter infection sources and significantly reduce infection risk.
He gritted his teeth and added 30, spending another 5 points!
"Money really doesn't go far. Only 65 points left, should save them for infrastructure."
Cheng Ye opened the shopping cart. Looking at the displayed numbers, he suddenly felt the sentiment "those who don't manage a household don't know how expensive firewood and rice are."
These civilian supplies didn't seem expensive individually, and the burden on individuals wasn't great. But once multiplied by the base number of 500, the gap immediately became shocking.
Only places like Happiness City with complete department systems and supply control systems involving hundreds or thousands of people could maintain unified and stable prices.
Thinking deeper, behind this was an entire massive industrial zone, the labor of tens of thousands of workers, supporting the current situation where he could leisurely select supplies.
It even required inspection officials constantly negotiating and liaising externally, and merchant caravans continuously purchasing and transporting supplies between sanctuary cities to ensure uninterrupted raw material supply.
These problems that seemed easily solved in the old era required the efforts of at least tens of thousands of people in the wasteland to barely construct a simple framework.
"Wanting to build a settlement independent of sanctuary cities, thinking about it this way is really quite difficult. Without an independent material procurement system, going round and round, ultimately one must still survive depending on sanctuary cities!"
Thinking this, he slid his finger and opened the next major focus of the assessment.
The page loaded, and infrastructure-related categories were similarly shockingly numerous, even more than materials, reaching a full 1,670 pages, a total of 33,400 entries.
Of course, many of the construction materials were the same category subdivided into different specifications.
"This assessment tests an inspection official's personal ability, or whether they have connections who can help with planning and layout!"
Cheng Ye's fingertips flew across the screen, quickly searching and ordering in the mall.
For him, selecting these construction materials was purely in his professional wheelhouse. He already had mature solutions in his mind. Implementing them in the shopping cart now was merely weighing prices and cost-effectiveness.
If a certain material was out of stock due to early satellite city clustering, or if the discount wasn't sufficient, he would skip it without hesitation, finding alternatives or downgrading without regret.
Living trees die when moved, but people thrive. In poverty, one must think of change. He still had this flexibility.
Materials jumped into the shopping cart with each tap of his fingertips, and the remaining points visibly decreased.
When he reached the "Residential Unit" category, Cheng Ye originally hadn't planned to purchase these during the assessment phase. It would waste funds and occupy labor.
But when he opened the details page, the price and the discount marked in the upper right corner made him sit bolt upright.
[Standard Residential Unit: 1 point/8 units]
[This product is on promotional sale, current price is only: 49% off, promotional policy: Buy 3 get 1 free]
Holy crap, was he seeing things?
49% off!
Buy 3 get 1 free!
This promotional intensity was comparable to modern roadside "factory clearance, last day" fire sales, so exaggerated it was hard to believe.
"Is it because no one's buying, so the residential units produced early are heavily stockpiled, leading to such a big discount?"
Cheng Ye was greatly surprised.
The evening broadcasts and Little Sun Radio these past days always mentioned satellite city construction progress at the end.
Of the first batch of 12 satellite cities, not a single one adopted residential units, so the broadcasts had to frequently promote the benefits of these things, just to reduce refugees' prejudice.
But even so, it shouldn't drive the price down to this extent, right?
Producing these at this price was practically a pure loss.
"Loss?"
Cheng Ye suddenly froze, then had an epiphany, instantly understanding why residential units could be sold so cheaply.
The so-called loss presupposed that production materials relied on external imports, with hard costs as limitations.
Or that obtaining raw materials required transportation and processing fees, layer upon layer adding up before there was "loss" to speak of.
But the main prefabricated panels of residential units used crushed bricks and waste stones from demolition ruins as aggregate, mixed with a bit of cement and pressed together. The thickness was only 15 to 20 centimeters, with just a layer of wire mesh inside to enhance overall integrity.
These panels didn't require complex equipment at all. Raw materials could be scavenged randomly from Chuan City ruins, and could even be cast on-site. The single-unit cost was only a quarter of ordinary reinforced concrete panels.
Although the strength dropped to C20 or even C15, for supporting daily residential loads, it was sufficient.
As for non-load-bearing partition walls, they were simply made by pressing waste gypsum board or cardboard, truly wasteland-characteristic building materials.
What cost was there to speak of?
The only slightly valuable parts were the connectors, but for Happiness City, which based itself on industry, such components stockpiled in warehouses could probably pile into mountains. Even if they took a loss using them to support satellite city construction, it was perfectly reasonable.
"Since it's this price, I need to change my approach!"
Cheng Ye glanced at the remaining 17 points in the upper right corner. After a slight hesitation, he decisively returned to the shopping cart and deleted some materials meant for repairing the supermarket and government building.
He had originally planned to repair these ruins first and temporarily use them as settlement sites. But now that residential units were cheap to this extent, purchasing a batch with assessment infrastructure points was practically a steal!
As for others' concerns about winter heating and service life,
Were these even problems?
If residential units were left isolated on open ground, they would indeed be problematic.
But satellite city construction didn't rely on just one type of building. Other structures could completely complement them.
He didn't even need to think carefully, countless solution approaches existed in his mind.
For example, creating gradient building layouts. Leveraging Happiness City's characteristic of frequent northwest winds in winter, he could plan taller public buildings on the northwest side to form a natural windbreak wall, reducing heat loss in residential areas.
Or he could use corridors to connect residential units and public buildings, enclosing semi-closed courtyards. This would both prevent cold wind penetration and use the heat island effect of building clusters to raise temperatures.
If that wasn't enough, he could gather some common wild vines and plant them as multi-layer windbreak green belts.
Complementary design was a core skill for civil engineering graduate students. As an outstanding student, Cheng Ye was thoroughly familiar with this.
But for a group of "rough" inspection officials, this was too demanding.
Even if people like Engineer Liu offered guidance, saying there were methods to compensate for residential units' disadvantages, which inspection official would dare take the risk?
As long as Happiness City had no precedent, no complete solution package, no one dared be the first to eat crab.
And he, this trainee inspection official, happened to be the first person among all satellite cities to eat crab.
Naturally, he could exclusively and comfortably enjoy this exaggerated large discount.
After some deletions and adjustments, the remaining points in the shopping cart returned to 19.
Each residential unit had a fixed panel ratio and could be connected according to the user's ideas.
The basic single unit dimensions were: length 2.4 meters (assembled from 2-3 panels for the side face, allowing single-person dragging and two-person lifting during transport), width 1.8 meters (reducing single panel area and weight while reserving overlap space during assembly), height 2.2 meters (satisfying head space for two-tier bunk beds).
The internal space was: net length 2.2 meters, net width 1.6 meters, area approximately 3.5 square meters.
According to dormitory design, only 2 units needed to be horizontally connected, with external total width 3.6 meters, internal net width 3.1 meters, divided into 2 rows of bunk beds + 0.9-meter main corridor in the middle.
Longitudinally, 13 units connected end-to-end, total external length 31.2 meters, internal net length 28.6 meters, 13 beds per row, 52 bunks, with 2 redundant as buffer.
According to the initial scale of 500 people, building all dormitories would only require 263 units.
But this was merely calculation on paper. Actual construction required sufficient buffer.
Cheng Ye decisively spent 15 points. According to the promotional policy, the shopping cart immediately contained 325 units.
This quantity was enough to keep the transport team busy all night.
With the remaining 4 points, he used them all to buy matching doors, windows, and installation hardware.
A total of 92 points, spent thoroughly.
Cheng Ye meticulously checked again. After confirming there were no errors, he submitted the order. It was just past 8:30.
After refreshing the delivery page twice, the estimated arrival time immediately appeared.
Even though the supplies he ordered were miscellaneous and the residential units especially space-consuming, by tomorrow morning at 7:40 at the latest, everything could be delivered to Dapo Town.
"Looks like confirming early was the right choice."
Cheng Ye felt pleased.
Last time he'd learned his lesson from delaying the vehicle rack purchase. This time he didn't wait until the last moment to order, and the result indeed didn't disappoint.
Having supplies arrive before residents was ideal.
He checked the weather forecast. Tomorrow would be rain-free all day, with only light rain starting the night after.
One day, with five hundred people, would be enough to set up some residential units.
Then he wouldn't have to wonder whether repaired ruin buildings would leak. Just thinking about it felt refreshing.
Raising his seat, Cheng Ye pushed open the car door and got out.
The night breeze carried the coolness of early autumn. The previously lively lecture had long ended.
Tents of various sizes were set up on the open ground, with refugees wrapped in crude blankets sleeping soundly.
For the upcoming three-day assessment, everyone needed to sleep early to rest adequately and respond to the series of dangers that might be encountered during land reclamation.
The temporarily erected residential units had been dismantled and loaded onto trucks. Along with posters and display boards, they were collected by Second Dragon's team and driven back to the Buffer Zone by Master Tian leading the machinery factory apprentices.
While he'd focused on selecting supplies, the outside world had quietly operated according to his plan. Everything was orderly.
"Brother Cheng, finished?" Wang Kang was leaning against the car, holding his Defense Pass playing Tetris. Seeing him get out, he immediately came forward.
"Done. Supplies arrive first thing tomorrow morning."
Cheng Ye handed the tablet to Link, greeting everyone to return to the Buffer Zone through the still-open Gate D of North Station.
Apart from supply allocation, the Legion was responsible for arranging the refugees' journey to Dapo Town. He only needed to arrive before noon tomorrow.
Starting at noon, until the same time three days later, the 72-hour assessment would officially begin.
"Sir, if you're not busy, the elders have something to say to you and Inspector Wang." After passing the checkpoint, Big Dragon spoke hesitantly.
"Oh?"
Cheng Ye was slightly surprised but didn't refuse. "Have the elders returned to the community?"
"Yes, they're waiting for you at the community."
"Alright, let's go then." Cheng Ye drove the off-road vehicle, carrying Wang Kang and Big Dragon back to the community parking lot first.
Entering the mall's reception area, the three elders had obviously been tired all day. Their spirits weren't as good as in the morning, but their complexions were ruddier than usual.
Clearly, they'd found a long-lost sense of value in otherwise bland days.
"Inspector Cheng, Inspector Wang, please sit!" Elder Zhou rose to greet them, while Second Dragon brought over a kettle.
With the Void Mist dispersed, the outside temperature couldn't return to summer's 30 degrees. Daytime temperatures had already reached around 20 degrees, with nights around only 15 degrees.
The steaming heat quickly dispelled the chill of approaching early autumn.
"Elder Song, we really troubled you all today!" Cheng Ye accepted the water cup.
"No trouble. We three old bones got to experience some glory before dying." Elder Song laughed heartily. Elder He and Elder Zhou nodded repeatedly.
But after the laughter faded, Elder Song's expression immediately became serious. "Inspector Cheng, the batch of people you selected are indeed honest folk who can work themselves to death. This meets land reclamation standards. Even when the Legion recruited people back in the day, such people could pass selection smoothly. But speaking of wasteland survival and land reclamation risks, their foundation is still far lacking."
"Mm." Cheng Ye wasn't surprised and nodded slightly.
In the eyes of these land reclamation veterans like Elder Song, refugees from mining families and small settlements indeed hadn't experienced real storms.
This was normal. Even during the Great Development Era, not everyone dared directly face the wasteland.
Some people hid and concealed themselves, never experiencing life-or-death crises. This was perfectly ordinary.
"To be honest, Wang Kang and I don't have much wasteland experience either."
Cheng Ye spoke candidly, "I've only left Happiness City once in my life, and that was a few days ago surveying Dapo Town's terrain. Wang Kang has never left the city even once. In terms of combat experience, we might not even match those refugees."
"Yes, this is exactly our greatest concern."
Seeing Cheng Ye speak openly, Elder Song was straightforward. "Inspector Wang hasn't left the city, so he might still maintain vigilance toward the outside. But you went once and didn't encounter danger, right?"
"Danger?"
Did mutant malaria mosquitoes count? Ordinary people encountering them would definitely be sucked dry without weapons.
Did Guardian Spiders count? Such large wild infection sources would cause infection upon contact with their webs.
But before his increasingly strengthened abilities, these long ago ceased being threats, at most counting as accidents.
Cheng Ye shook his head. "No."
"Right, precisely because you didn't encounter danger, you might feel the outside isn't dangerous, at most requiring more vigilance at night."
Elder Song seemed to misunderstand, thinking he hadn't encountered anything. Cheng Ye didn't correct him and listened quietly.
"A lone person in the wasteland actually doesn't encounter much danger. Only special infected entities will launch sneak attacks at night. But in rarely-visited places like Dapo Town, you might not encounter a special infected entity once in a year or half."
"But once the numbers increase, risk immediately surges, especially with five hundred people."
Elder Song's expression grew increasingly grave.
"The Pioneer Corps has an internal saying: Mountains don't shelter, waters don't stay, where people gather, don't linger long!"
"This 'mountain' doesn't refer to vast mountain ranges, but places with complex terrain rarely visited by people. Infection sources left from the previous era, to this day we've only discovered ten or twenty percent. More are hidden in these places, waiting for humanity to explore with their lives. Places that easily hide crises must not be inhabited long, or sooner or later you'll be targeted and ambushed by unknown infection sources."
"'Water' refers to terrain like Dapo Town, where currents are turbulent, concealing danger, with hazards often arriving with the water. After tributary streams converge, they inevitably bring some infection sources. Some sink at the bottom, some float on the surface, some even follow the scent of living people to shore, parasitizing and infecting humans."
Speaking to this point, Elder Song sighed deeply. "Danger and opportunity have always been relative. Back when we reclaimed land to build the dock, just to build a dock connecting to Hai Province, out of forty thousand people, a full thirteen thousand died. That was the Great Development Era when infection sources weren't numerous. If it were today, probably all forty thousand would be buried at that dock."
These heartfelt warnings hit Cheng Ye one after another, and his heart sank slightly.
He wasn't without awareness of these dangers. It's just that people inevitably subconsciously ignore risks and focus more on opportunities.
Now that Elder Song mentioned it, he instantly realized that under the protection of sanctuary cities, he'd been somewhat too relaxed in his vigilance.
The satellite city construction plan was important, but before that, he had to be able to defend against those elusive infection sources.
"What about 'where people gather, don't linger long'?" Wang Kang spoke up from the side.
Since "mountains don't shelter" and "waters don't stay" had additional meanings, this phrase surely wasn't just literal either.
"Mm, this phrase speaks of how danger level changes with population scale."
Elder He took up the conversation. "Below thirty people can be considered individual action and won't attract lurking infection sources. But from thirty people upward, the aura humans emit naturally draws infection sources and infected entities."
"Thirty to one hundred people, the Corps defines as 'Alert Level.' Complete vigilance must be arranged, as infected entity ambushes are possible."
"One hundred to three hundred people is 'Danger Level.' Camping in the wasteland will definitely attract infection sources to approach."
He paused, emphasizing his tone. "No exceptions. Definitely. As long as there are infection sources within three kilometers nearby, they will definitely be attracted!"
"Three hundred to one thousand people is defined as 'High Danger Level.' At this point, not only will scattered infected entities be drawn, but scale clustering will form. If camping exceeds a certain time, infection sources will be strongly attracted. Teams must be sent to continuously clear the surroundings to maintain safety."
Elder He didn't mention higher levels, probably afraid of frightening them.
Elder Zhou added from the side, "If there were no river, with the first batch of satellite cities sharing the heat and Legion personnel patrolling around the clock, it wouldn't be as dangerous as we're describing. But the Baishui River passes by Dapo Town. Happiness City has no way to set up upstream barriers. You must be extra careful."
"I understand."
Cheng Ye nodded heavily, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing the edge of the water cup.
This was precisely his earlier concern. With no one choosing Changshui Town, Dapo Town became the first infection source trigger point along the riverside tributary.
If infection sources truly drifted downstream, Dapo Town would bear the brunt.
But this was the price of choosing advantageous terrain. In the wasteland, there was no place that was both safe and full of opportunities.
Even if there were, they'd long been occupied by super sanctuary cities or settlements of all sizes. It wouldn't be their turn for development now.
"As for how to respond to infection source invasions and arrange defenses, we won't show off our meager skills before an expert."
Elder Song made the final wrap-up. "You're an inspection official. You definitely understand these things better than us."
The dangerous topic ended there.
The three turned to discussing the quality of the refugees selected today, which families were solid and hardworking and could serve as pillars, which able-bodied adults had unruly temperaments and needed slight restraint to avoid delaying proper work.
Having lived to this age, the three elders' eyes were sharp as torches. During the lecture, they'd already meticulously screened the crowd for Cheng Ye.
Overall, the people's hearts were usable.
Including those able-bodied adults, their foundation wasn't inferior to community militia, just that their temperaments hadn't been tempered yet.
It wasn't until past ten o'clock that Cheng Ye and Wang Kang rose to take their leave.
But leaving the door, Cheng Ye's heart still felt somewhat heavy, while Wang Kang quickly adjusted.
"Brother Cheng, don't worry! Since we became inspection officials, this is an unavoidable hurdle. Being afraid is useless. Better to maintain full vigilance and meet soldiers with generals, meet water with earth."
"Mm, you're right." Cheng Ye pondered, then nodded in agreement.
As an inspection official, external duties and traversing the wasteland would be routine going forward. Sooner or later, he'd have to directly face these threats.
He wasn't afraid of those foolish infected entities coming to his door, or whatever infection sources drifted downstream.
After all, the benefits brought by life level advancement were obvious, sufficient to block most ordinary infection source parasitism.
Not to mention the life-saving abilities granted by Fire Sprout and Horned Starfish. If it really came to a critical moment, he could activate Horned Starfish's Guardian State, board and directly escape. What kind of infection source could stop him?
But if he left, what about Wang Kang?
Wang Kang was genuinely a trainee inspection official who still hadn't forged his martial body.
Following him to contract a satellite city was fundamentally to fill the partner position.
Cheng Ye examined his conscience. Setting aside the previous body's old friendship with Wang Kang, just considering their recent time together, he absolutely couldn't abandon this obedient and motivated younger brother.
Such compatible people were too rare. Missing Wang Kang, even if he sat in the station chief position in the future, whether he could find a second one was uncertain.
Furthermore, even if he could escape with Wang Kang, what about the five hundred refugees willing to follow him in building Dapo Town?
Abandoning them meant abandoning contracting qualification.
This was his true concern. He had to produce a set of measures to prevent and treat infection sources to ensure construction wasn't obstructed.
And this was precisely his weakness, an obvious shortcoming compared to Rocook.
But fortunately, Yunshui Town from the first batch hadn't experienced large-scale infection incidents so far.
Even if they really encountered infection sources with large-scale parasitism,
As long as they weren't virulent or malignant, corresponding removal methods could always be found. There would always be the possibility of survival.
"You go back to sleep first. I'm going to charge the car some more!"
Cheng Ye drove the off-road vehicle, dropping Wang Kang off at the community entrance while he turned the car around and drove toward the Industrial Department.
Having the car these three days, he controlled charging to eight hundred degrees daily, exactly twice the full charge value.
Not flamboyant, not low-key either, precisely at a level that wouldn't immediately arouse suspicion given his current status.
As for whether people would investigate later, at his current growth rate, who would dare jump out to question Inspector Cheng? Mayor Cheng?
He was cautious, yes, but when it was time to advance, he never blindly "stayed low."
The total 600% charge value had already extracted all the skills he should search for this contracting assignment, as well as the characteristic skills in the catalog!
Now, only the final step remained.
Let Fire Sprout fuse with growth factors, and merge the characteristic skills extracted from the catalog with the searched ordinary skills into one.
Glancing at the 52% charge value remaining, Cheng Ye jumped to the skills section and counted.
A rough estimate required at least 6 fusions. Adding fully recharging, he'd need to supplement at least another 350% charge value, meaning 1400 degrees.
"Tomorrow I have to go contract. It's time to be flamboyant!"
Skillfully swinging the vehicle into a spot, Cheng Ye simply pushed the off-road vehicle into the 240kw ultra-fast charging area.
With the off-road vehicle's structure, it couldn't run at full power. It would just maintain 100kw speed like the neighboring 120kw charger.
But the pendant wasn't affected. As soon as the charging gun plugged in, it directly maxed out the power.
Two hundred forty degrees per hour. Even 1400 degrees would only take just over 5 hours to complete!
"The current speed is just an appetizer."
Cheng Ye leaned back in his seat, looking at the green charging icon displayed on the panel. All those worries in his heart transformed into an indescribable wild energy.
"Later, once I've built up Dapo Town, I'll definitely get gigawatt charging going."
"Then, whichever infection source dares come harass me, I'll stomp it to death directly!"