Now that he'd been assigned to the North South Rapid Post to "die," Cheng Ye decided to skip work altogether. He couldn't even be bothered to call the Checkpoint and ask for leave.
The North South Stations were managed separately by the East Faction and the West Faction.
The Central Checkpoint, meanwhile, was managed by the two factions in rotation. Today, it was the East Faction's turn, and He Fei was the Duty Station Chief.
"Station Chief He, something's come up on my end, so I might not be able to report to the Checkpoint for a while—" Before Cheng Ye could finish, He Fei's hearty laughter came through the receiver, mingling with the constant beeping of communicators in the office.
"Cheng Ye, Director Ding just told me about your situation. Don't worry. The Rapid Post carries a heavy responsibility, and it won't be easy for a newcomer to shoulder it. I'll approve your leave through the day after tomorrow. Take the time to prepare, and don't let Director Ding or the rest of us down!"
He put special emphasis on the word "down."
The meaning was clear: he could take leave to prepare, but he shouldn't think he could use it as an excuse to get out of the Rapid Post.
"Of course. Thank you for understanding, Station Chief He. I'll be there on time."
After a few pleasantries, he hung up. Cheng Ye hadn't expected to get an extra day off. His once-tight preparation schedule suddenly felt much more manageable.
He drew some water and washed his face. The cool stream washed away the exhaustion of a sleepless night.
He stared at himself in the mirror for a long time, then suddenly managed a faint smile.
After abruptly arriving in this unfamiliar Wasteland, everything familiar had vanished in an instant: his friends, family, and social ties. The change in his appearance, above all, had left him feeling profoundly adrift, as if he were outside the world, and unable to believe any of it was real.
A voice had kept shouting inside him: What's the point of struggling? Give up. Maybe you'll return to the familiar Earth right away. You won't have to stay trapped in this man-eating Wasteland, struggling in vain as you suffocate.
That thought had only grown stronger with time.
For the past two months, Cheng Ye had often jolted awake from nightmares, stood by the window, or gone up to the roof. More than once, he'd considered trying to "start over."
But now, he suddenly realized that those thoughts had vanished from his mind.
It seemed to have happened just last night, as if they'd disappeared completely along with the growth in his strength.
Even stranger, as he gazed at his reflection, countless new thoughts surfaced:
He suddenly realized—suddenly discovered—that he might...
Have started to like this world?
Might not want to leave?
It wasn't only because, just like on Earth, there were people here who genuinely cared about him and treated him well.
It was also because this world, rife with danger and undercurrents, was...
So damn thrilling!
The games people played against one another, the struggles between two factions, the schemes that could turn deadly at any moment.
Compared with the same routine day after day on Earth, where landing a secure job meant seeing your whole life stretch out before you...
This life was just too damn exhilarating.
"Damn it, am I some kind of masochist?"
Liking excitement and getting bored with repetition were two completely different personalities.
After thinking it over, Cheng Ye decided he leaned more toward the latter. It was just that society had suppressed that part of his personality, keeping it from showing.
For example, if he were given another chance to choose between the two worlds right now...
Cheng Ye couldn't guarantee that he'd firmly choose to return to Earth, to a life like an NPC's.
"With my background, there's no way I can fit in with the West Faction."
It wasn't just because he had an East Asian face. Cheng Long's influence and Liu Bi's identity were obstacles too. As long as Cheng Ye couldn't completely sever those ties, the West Faction would never accept him.
"So if I want to survive from here on, there's only one stupid way: get back in the game and do my best to prove my worth."
That wouldn't be too difficult for Cheng Ye.
His strength had already undergone a drastic change, and Director Ding's impression of him was now far out of date.
"I'll get through the initial period at the Rapid Epidemic Investigation Post without anyone's help."
"Then, when the right opportunity comes, I'll show off my combat power and overall ability. I refuse to believe that if my score's higher than Garcia's, Ding Yishan would still be willing to go to war with the West Faction!"
After wiping the water from his face, Cheng Ye returned to his room and packed the remaining seven bags of Nutrient Paste into his backpack.
Earlier, in order to get up to speed with his work as an inspector, he'd focused almost all his energy on learning the inspection procedures. He'd memorized the theoretical material by rote, passed every test, and even set a small record at the Checkpoint.
But that way of dividing up his time had also left him knowing too little about the Infected and the Wasteland as a whole. Or rather, he'd had no desire to learn about any of it when all he'd cared about was staying alive.
Now that he was being transferred to the Rapid Epidemic Investigation Post, those were things he had to learn about as soon as possible.
"Two days should be enough to get familiar with how to deal with the common types of Infected."
Cheng Ye put on his raincoat, picked up his backpack, and headed out.
A few delayed phone calls had pushed the time past eight, and the Main Urban Area was bustling again.
As he walked along, he found that several low-lying areas had indeed flooded. The residents there could only bail the water out, bucket by bucket, looking thoroughly miserable.
Perhaps because too many newcomers had moved in, disaster-relief shelters had been set up outside several large shopping centers.
Anyone who had recently settled in Xingfu City could show their residence card and collect free Nutrient Paste there: three bags per person per day, for three days.
The Public Works Department had also set up several recruitment booths offering "Work Relief."
Cheng Ye squeezed into the crowd and scanned the hastily scrawled writing on the posters. The jobs were mainly in three areas:
1. Repairing the Underground Old Drainage Facilities and Various Pipes.
Workers were paid by the head. Each person could earn 16 coins a day, equivalent to eight packs of Nutrient Paste. Compared with drainage work aboveground, it was a particularly lucrative job.
The difficulty was considerable, though. The Underground Environment was incredibly complex and filthy, and the risk of injury was high.
2. Helping the official crews further expand the Buffer Zone horizontally.
The current Buffer Zone had been built by expanding into Chuan City's Old Era Industrial Zone. The surrounding area was mostly empty wasteland and abandoned factories.
Clearing more space to live would allow more displaced people to settle there and give everyone enough room to survive.
This job also paid by the head: 12 coins per person per day.
3. Leaving the Buffer Zone to scavenge in the City Ruins, or traveling to designated locations to gather resources.
Going by past years, the torrential summer rains would be followed by a stretch of cool autumn days without rain or wind.
Simple Canvas Tents couldn't withstand the bitter winter cold, so construction materials had to be prepared in advance.
Only by starting construction in autumn could they build more homes to shelter people from the wind and rain before winter arrived.
The risks were extremely high, so the pay for this job was uncertain. The final amount depended on the type and weight of the materials recovered.
"Winter."
The first two jobs reflected the Buffer Zone's current development priorities, which were mainly repairing the old district and expanding outward.
That wasn't surprising. The skyscrapers left behind from the Old Era had weathered wind and rain for so long that most had become unsafe. Repairing them was far harder than tearing them down and building new ones.
On top of that, there were the elusive Mutated Beasts and the highly dangerous Infected. The City Ruins had always been a Life Forbidden Zone. Only some Scavengers dared venture into them.
The last job, however, revealed a hidden problem in the Buffer Zone.
Displaced people were pouring in like a tide, and the Buffer Zone was already buckling under the strain. It had reached its limit.
"Once winter comes, everything will freeze. The dam doesn't have enough power. It's already a struggle to supply the Inner City, so the Buffer Zone is sure to suffer a massive blackout. Forget about heating. If they don't expand like crazy this autumn, everyone living in tents will end up frozen stiff."
After squeezing out of the crowd, Cheng Ye wiped the raindrops from his face, quietly reminding himself to stay alert.
With the thin walls of the Apartment Blocks, once the temperature outside fell below minus twenty degrees, it would be almost like living in an Ice Cellar inside. It wouldn't take long for people to fall ill from the cold.
But worrying about how to get through winter wasn't his priority yet. He first had to find a way to survive the Rapid Epidemic Check before he could think about dealing with the Natural Disasters to come.
Once he got on the bus, its mud-caked wheels rolled through the puddles, and the vehicle rocked violently along the muddy road.
Cheng Ye gripped the handrail and watched the dilapidated buildings flash past outside the window, blurred by the curtain of rain.
He'd always traveled from the Main Urban Area to the south-facing Training Ground. This was his first time heading north.
Unlike the south, which was full of open ground and factories, the north was once an Industrial Residential Area. Houses crowded together along the roadside, their walls covered in moss and cracks.
Some windows had lost their glass and been haphazardly boarded up with broken planks. Others were left wide open, revealing a few pairs of lifeless eyes peering out.
The bus rolled on until the Station Announcer croaked, "Library Station." Under the collective gaze of the other passengers, Cheng Ye stepped down from the bus all alone.
The damp, hot wind carried raindrops that splattered against his rain boots.
He looked up at the three-story building nearby. Once the Community Service Center, it had been turned into what they called a library. Warm yellow light spilled through the windows.
On this rain-soaked, overcast day, the whole world had been swallowed up by a murky, cold palette.
Yet the orange glow in the rain stirred a rare sense of familiar "happiness" in Cheng Ye's heart.
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