Chapter 138: Sleet, Unexpected Deviation!

On the first day of the migrants' arrival, the weather was surprisingly cooperative.

Unlike the continuous rain of previous days, the sun appeared early in the morning, golden light filtering through thin clouds and falling on the buffer zone, making yesterday's puddles sparkle brightly but looking toward the horizon, one could still see continuous black clouds like ink-soaked cotton, heavily pressing against the sky's edge.

This hinted that the clear weather was merely a brief respite, and more continuous rain would soon follow.

"Based on past years' experience, after another ten days to half a month, this rain should finally end."

Master Zhang gripped the steering wheel, looking at the clouds outside and shaking his head, "But this year, the weather phenomena have been really strange. It hasn't been normal since spring. Yesterday I heard some long-distance truck drivers chatting, saying that in previous years Hai Province's summer maximum temperature was only around forty degrees, but this year it shot straight up to forty-eight degrees, killing quite a few people from the heat."

He paused, adding a note of wistfulness to his tone, "Now it's even more bizarre. It's clearly July weather, but nighttime temperatures are almost dropping below zero. Looking at how these rain patterns are lingering, they might continue straight through September, and it wouldn't be surprising if we get snow in between."

Cheng Ye didn't respond, but he was secretly calculating in his mind.

It was only mid-July now. If it really rained until September, that would be a full month and a half of continuous cloudy rain.

If it truly lasted that long, the concern wouldn't just be mold, disease, and construction delays brought by rainfall, but the hidden danger of the Linjiang River bursting its banks.

This era didn't have sufficient manpower and resources to control rivers. If it really came to that, it would be a catastrophe.

Did Transcendents have ways to control floods?

Cheng Ye wasn't certain. Faced with such magnificent natural forces, unless current Transcendents still possessed the world-destroying power he had witnessed from the eagle's perspective, it would be absolutely impossible to plug a breach nearly a hundred meters wide.

The bus stopped steadily in front of the South Station.

From far away, Cheng Ye could see Chu Yunfeng waiting by the platform.

What surprised him was that Yu Qinghui was actually beside him, along with Chu Xuan, who was about the same age as Liu Yi, wrapped in an oversized old coat and standing on tiptoe looking toward their vehicle.

The family of three huddled together in the cool breeze, occasionally sniffling, clearly quite cold but they gathered together speaking in low voices, occasionally bursting into light laughter. That vitality of clinging to each other through hardship somehow stirred an inexplicable emotion in Cheng Ye's heart.

Chu Yunfeng's adventure was over. Now it was time for the family to reap stability and happiness.

He just didn't know, faced with the arrival of large numbers of migrants, whether Chu Yunfeng's personality would lead him to settle in the buffer zone or risk going to the outer city to catch the first wave of development.

"Inspector Cheng!" Chu Yunfeng spotted him first, quickly pulling his wife and child along as he hurried over.

Cheng Ye pushed open the car door and got out, instinctively opening his panel for a glance.

Hey, finally back to normal.

Chu Yunfeng's cooperation level hadn't declined, still around 43% like yesterday.

Yu Qinghui's cooperation level had risen to 36%, and even Chu Xuan, who had been at 0% before, had jumped to 17%.

Hmm.

This kid's vigilance wasn't low.

Cheng Ye was about to close the panel when he suddenly paused. Chu Xuan actually had a searchable Lv1 skill?

Taking another careful look.

This kid was something. He looked unremarkable, but his eyes showed a kind of resilience.

Many adult scavengers didn't necessarily have skills, yet this child who appeared only seven or eight years old actually did.

Could it be inherited from Chu Yunfeng's excellent genes?

"Didn't I tell you to come at seven? Why are you waiting here so early?"

"Thinking that today's situation outside isn't ordinary, and you'd probably be busy, so we came early."

Chu Yunfeng rubbed Chu Xuan's face that had turned red from cold.

The little boy immediately understood, pulling out a smile that was obviously constrained, "Thank you Inspector Cheng, thank you Uncle Cheng."

Already calling him uncle?

Cheng Ye was struck with amused surprise, his gaze meeting Yu Qinghui's gentle face.

"Inspector Cheng, thank you for your help to our family. We sincerely thank you."

Yu Qinghui spoke while taking out something wrapped in two layers of plastic bags from her coat.

After opening it, Cheng Ye immediately recognized the cheapest notebook sold at the general store, which even so cost 25 coins.

"Yunfeng said you needed information about the Hundred Ghosts Gang. His handwriting is messy, so I wrote it out for him. We've checked it several times, but if there are still errors, please forgive us."

Her tone was sincere, with no hint of pretense in her eyes.

Sincerity truly was a sure-kill technique.

Cheng Ye sighed inwardly. This family of three's demeanor was extraordinary, their abilities even more so. They definitely had quite a few stories but at this moment, standing here, they had shed all pretenses before him, leaving only pure gratitude.

Cheng Ye nodded slightly, only then noticing that both Chu Yunfeng and Yu Qinghui had faint dark circles under their eyes, with bloodshot eyes.

Clearly, for this notebook, both had slept poorly last night, possibly not closing their eyes at all but thinking about it, that was normal. Perhaps it wasn't just for copying intelligence, but more likely excitement about finally being able to move out of the shantytown had caused some insomnia.

He took the notebook and flipped it open, surprised to find that in one day, they had densely written over twenty pages, nearly six hundred words per page.

The handwriting was elegant and neat, without a single connected stroke, and they had even used different colored pens to categorize various factions: red pen marked high-risk groups like Glutton Ghost, black pen wrote about those with legitimate businesses like Red Hair Ghost.

Flipping to the end, there was also a folded white paper that, when spread out, revealed a map of the area outside the city, simply marking various faction territories, covering a full two hundred kilometers around.

Compared to the detailed faction distribution map the checkpoint provided to inspectors, this one was still somewhat simplified but even so, it was enough to prove Chu Yunfeng's excellent intelligence gathering ability.

However, precisely because of this, Cheng Ye became somewhat curious and simply closed the notebook to ask directly, "When you originally came to Happiness City, didn't you inquire about the checkpoint situation?"

"Uh."

Chu Yunfeng's smile immediately froze, then turned into an embarrassed laugh, clearly understanding what Cheng Ye was referring to.

When the family of three had been locked in the isolation cage, facing Garcia's harassment, they had been completely unprepared.

This was too different from what he was displaying now.

"We did inquire," he scratched his head, his tone somewhat helpless, "but we had just arrived at the buffer zone then, knew very little about Happiness City's situation, and could only ask some old residents going out about checkpoint matters, so..."

Just like blind men feeling an elephant!

The checkpoint in old residents' mouths was a place of impartial justice, strict in rules, with no possibility of favoritism or corruption, never wronging normal people or letting infected through.

Regarding the dirty business of deliberately creating difficulties, old residents all went through the North and South Stations. How many knew what the current situation at the Central Station was?

Moreover, the inspectors they described were all like wound-up machines, only recognizing regulations, not human sentiment. Want to get through by pleading?

No way!

This involved the timeliness of intelligence and, more critically, everyone's cognitive bias.

As things stood now, Chu Yunfeng didn't think the intelligence he had gathered was wrong.

One could only say that among 150 inspectors, personalities and styles varied greatly. Meeting someone like Garcia was bad luck, encountering someone like Cheng Ye was fortune, all within the realm of possibility.

Just like in the buffer zone, they had also met many bad people and many good people.

"Let's go get the money."

Cheng Ye put the notebook in his backpack, picked up the armor case, and led the way toward the checkpoint.

He didn't need to worry about settlement matters. People from the procurement office had come last night to assess the equipment value.

He didn't know exactly how they calculated it, but the final total value was set at 2,670 happiness coins.

After the standard 40% commission, Chu Yunfeng could take home 1,602 coins, which was definitely a fortune in the buffer zone.

Although it was only enough for a family of three to drink nutritional paste for a hundred days, it was more than sufficient to exchange for decent housing.

After all, this was savings that could be held in hand, not daily survival money for filling stomachs.

Looking across the buffer zone, ninety-nine percent of ordinary people had their earnings completely consumed by nutritional paste and daily necessities. Being able to save 200 coins in a year was already remarkable.

At the same time, as the handling inspector, Cheng Ye could also get a 5% cut, which was 133 coins in commission.

It was just that happiness coins had little use for him when he first crossed over, and now had even less appeal.

Unless there was a sum of tens or hundreds of thousands of happiness coins, it wouldn't affect the overall situation.

"Thank you, thank you!"

Chu Yunfeng stood at the settlement window, repeatedly thanking the staff inside. Finally, he received 16 happiness coins of 100 denomination, which he carefully tucked into his inner pocket. The remaining two coins of 1 denomination he turned and handed to Chu Xuan.

The little boy immediately clutched them in his palm, delighted, turning them over and over in the sunlight like he was holding some rare treasure.

"My defense communicator number is 96061."

Just as Cheng Ye finished giving his contact information, he suddenly remembered that Chu Yunfeng hadn't been in Happiness City for 60 days yet and wasn't eligible for a terminal, so he changed his approach, "Like this, if you need anything in the future, go to Tianyuan Mall in B-7 district to find Big Dragon. Just mention my name and he'll know to call me."

"Alright, alright, thank you for the trouble." Chu Yunfeng nodded repeatedly. His face didn't show the wild joy typical of someone newly rich, but rather a kind of restrained calm in his eyes.

This made Cheng Ye regard them even more highly. This family was indeed not simple, but now wasn't the time to inquire about their background.

Later perhaps. Once they became more familiar, he would gradually learn about their story.

"By the way, did you listen to Little Sun this morning?" he asked casually.

"We did. Someone by the platform had their radio on, and we listened to the whole thing with them," Yu Qinghui quickly replied.

"Perfect." Cheng Ye looked at Chu Yunfeng, "The outer city plan is about to start. With this money, are you planning to get better housing in the buffer zone, or try to venture into the outer city?"

"The buffer zone."

Chu Yunfeng answered almost without hesitation, then seemed to realize he had answered too quickly, forcing a somewhat strained smile.

Cheng Ye instantly understood the complexity in that smile.

It seemed Chu Yunfeng wasn't naturally someone who liked taking risks, or rather, his past enterprising spirit had probably suffered setbacks, leading to being "once bitten by a snake, afraid of rope for ten years."

Including his original Dragon Force dropping to level one, it probably couldn't be separated from that past experience.

"Good!"

Cheng Ye nodded. Since Chu Yunfeng had made a firm choice, he wouldn't persuade further, only using his gaze to indicate they could leave.

"Then we won't disturb your duty."

Chu Yunfeng took Yu Qinghui's hand, Chu Xuan followed closely between the two, still clutching those two coins. The family of three bowed slightly to Cheng Ye before turning and slowly walking out of the checkpoint.

Only after walking far away, beyond Cheng Ye's sight, did their steps become noticeably lighter, as if they had shed a thousand-pound burden, even the air around them filled with barely contained joy.

"Remember this family's information. When their residential information changes, immediately report back to me through the defense communicator. It would be best to inquire about relevant details from whoever handles the handover," Cheng Ye turned his head, instructing the staff in the settlement window.

"Yes, Inspector Cheng." The staff inside immediately straightened and responded.

Whether in the modern world or the wasteland, whether the other party appeared sincere or false, whether they were dangerous or ordinary people, he would never easily open his heart to those whose backgrounds he couldn't fathom.

This was a principle for dealing with people he had established since childhood.

Once a person relaxed their vigilance, in the modern world it might just mean encountering betrayal or deception, with years of effort coming to nothing but in the wasteland, it could mean death, the cost of a life.

Before thoroughly understanding Chu Yunfeng's true background and ensuring there was a stable chain of mutual benefit between them, Cheng Ye wasn't in a hurry to draw closer.

For now, the Search Four Powers could still be obtained through Miao Yang, which was more reliable and less likely to go wrong.

Swiping his card, clocking in.

When Cheng Ye passed through the disinfection channel and walked to the inspection area, he couldn't help but click his tongue.

There were even more people.

After a full night of operation, the number of scavengers blocked in front of Quarantine Zone B seemed unchanged, with still several hundred people queuing outside the passage for inspection. Everyone's face showed the fatigue of staying up all night, yet their eyes remained vigilantly fixed ahead.

Even more exaggerated was Quarantine Zone A.

The winding convoy stretched at least two to three kilometers, extending into the depths of the fog, exactly like the massive traffic jams on highways during annual holidays.

Beside the convoy stood hundreds of thousands of people, sitting on the ground with their packs, occasionally looking up toward the checkpoint direction, waiting for the queue to slowly move forward.

As for Zone C, it wasn't as he had expected, assisting the Central Station in receiving refugees, but only helped Quarantine Zone B relieve some pressure by handling scavenger inspections.

Occasionally, confused refugees would approach, only to be politely directed away by patrolling guards who pointed them toward the Central Station.

The leadership wanted to concentrate everyone at the Central Station rather than distribute them quickly?

But wouldn't having everyone crowded at the Central Station cause major accidents?

Could it be...

Cheng Ye's steps halted as he stood in place watching for a moment, countless thoughts flashing through his mind, his expression subtly changing.

The arrangements for migrants seemed to be progressing in the direction he had envisioned, yet completely deviating at certain key points.

And those deviating parts were exactly what he had never experienced, and the cruelty on this land he was most unwilling to touch.

"I hope it's not what I'm thinking, otherwise..."

Cheng Ye took several deep breaths, but his chest still felt somewhat constricted.

To be fair, he was also the type who could pay certain prices for his goals but these prices, he had long been accustomed to extracting from himself, rather than treating others' fates as chips that could be sacrificed at will.

"Inspector Cheng, come take over quickly. I'm so sleepy I can't hold on anymore."

After sending off another batch of people awaiting inspection and seeing Cheng Ye just standing in the isolation area in a daze, Song Hai suddenly stood up from his chair, shouting with an exhausted face.

The intensity of overnight duty was almost three to five times that of daytime, especially when encountering infected entering outbreak state, each response consuming enormous mental energy.

"Let's go, Old Gu. Inspector Cheng is taking over. Hurry back to rest, we have to come back tonight."

Song Hai called out, and the two didn't exchange much small talk.

After all, several hundred people were still backed up outside, there was no time to waste.

After hastily completing the routine handover procedures, Song Hai additionally handed over a radio communicator, "This is for emergency contact, a new rule from last night. If you encounter situations you can't handle, call the guard team directly."

"Received." Cheng Ye took the communicator and clipped it to his waist. Just as he finished adjusting the frequency, a clear female voice came through, "Inspector Cheng, we are Guard Team Three responsible for maintaining order in Zone B. I'm Captain Feiyan. We will assist you in maintaining order outside the passage to ensure smooth inspection work."

"Thank you."

Cheng Ye nodded in response. When standing in the back, he could see a team of well-equipped guards outside the yellow line, methodically guiding scavengers to queue.

Looking further, there were also several military green pickup trucks carrying guards, shuttling back and forth to maintain order.

With these people maintaining order, no matter how many people there were, there was no need to worry about sudden chaos.

Furthermore, people from the Blood Dragon Corps and Cross Legion had probably already deployed around the area, clearing potential infection sources.

This way, although there were far more people to inspect than usual, the overall danger level might actually be somewhat lower.

Of course, danger was always relative.

As soon as the isolation door opened, under Cheng Ye's somewhat helpless gaze, two scavengers had barely been asked a few questions when their skin visibly turned blue-green and their muscles bulged with expansion.

This type of 'Green Giant' infection source active throughout the wilderness wasn't actually hard to prevent.

One just needed to avoid areas of rampant plant growth and try not to let skin contact unknown vegetation.

However, in special situations, many people would instinctively ignore this.

Like the Guide Fish and Cliff Ghost forgetting danger, they weren't far from death but this time, Cheng Ye didn't draw his gun, instead smoothly pulling out the Cyclone Spike from his waist, his form shooting out like a hunting leopard.

Generally speaking, Green Giants would immediately enter outbreak state when encountering danger or stress but these two people hadn't changed after entering, only changing after he asked them a few questions. This indicated they truly didn't consider this young inspector a deadly threat.

Well then, let's try it.

Facing the giant arm swinging toward him, Cheng Ye agilely sidestepped, his short blade striking like a viper from its den, precisely stabbing toward the opponent's neck, his wrist twisting smoothly.

The first infected fell with a muffled grunt, twitching twice before going silent.

The other Green Giant roared and charged without dodging. Cheng Ye sighed lightly and kicked precisely toward the opponent's knee.

With a crisp "crack," the tremendous brutal force actually broke the Green Giant's lower leg, immediately losing balance and kneeling. Before it could look up, the Cyclone Spike had steadily pierced its throat, the movement so clean there wasn't a trace of hesitation.

The entire encounter lasted only three to five seconds, and both infected were completely silent.

When Cheng Ye sheathed his blade, not even the corner of his clothes was stained with blood, as if he had merely dusted off his shoulders.

The scavengers queuing outside instantly fell silent, even people from neighboring Zones A and C stood on tiptoe to look over, their eyes showing various degrees of alarm.

So young, yet such ruthless methods...

Cheng Ye curled his lips in a meaningful smile, tossing the bloodied Cyclone Spike to the nearby military knife responsible for cleanup, calling out to the outside, "Next group!"

Once upon a time, he had indeed feared these mutated monsters and been wary of life-or-death close combat but as his strength grew, as he stepped onto the path of a Transcendent, unless he encountered super-strong infected like the Corrupt Vine, these ordinary threats encountered at checkpoints truly couldn't be considered real danger anymore.

To qualify for external contracting, having brains wasn't enough, one also needed matching strength and decisive methods.

The current duty was exactly the best occasion to demonstrate these abilities.

In a flash, three days later.

With duty almost reaching twelve o'clock, Wang Kang came early to take over.

The understanding between the two had gradually shown results through this cycle of cooperation.

It was just that Wang Kang's rotation cycle had also reached its end. Today was his last day at the South Station.

According to announcements issued by the checkpoint over the past two days, all duty positions going forward would be handled by at least second-term inspectors to deal with possible emergencies.

Normally, this would definitely be good news, meaning temporary escape from the dangerous vortex but at this moment, Cheng Ye stood up and stretched, just about to hand the duty manual to Wang Kang.

Beep.

The defense communicator suddenly vibrated. He picked it up for a glance, his expression changing almost imperceptibly.

"Brother Cheng, what's wrong?" Wang Kang curiously took out his own defense communicator but found no notifications.

"Nothing, an alarm I set."

Cheng Ye waved his hand with a smile, calmly turning off the screen, quickly completing the handover.

After finishing the handover, he sat in the corner recliner as usual, opening the defense communicator again. The screen image wasn't an alarm interface but was frozen on the weather forecast page, with several lines of reminder information particularly conspicuous:

[Happiness City Next Week Weather Forecast]

[New Era Year 35, July 21st, Cloudy turning to moderate to heavy rain]

[New Era Year 35, July 22nd, Moderate to heavy rain turning to sleet]

[...]

[New Era Year 35, July 26th, Light rain turning to light snow]

[New Era Year 35, July Week 4, Variable temperatures, please pay attention to keeping warm!]