Value Investment, Got the Money!

Perhaps he hadn't crossed worlds, but instead traversed timelines. This was good news for Cheng Ye.

It meant his roots were still on this planet. Perhaps one day, he'd have the ability to return to the ruins of Yang City where he lived, find the rental apartment he used to stay in, dig out the change hidden in the mattress seams, and see the motivational slogans he'd written on the wall for his postgraduate entrance exams.

Of course, eighty years had passed. Extraordinary powers had changed, and no one knew what the ruins had become.

Perhaps everything had changed into a form unfamiliar to Cheng Ye, but wasn't living for the sake of a little hope?

"If things had developed along the normal timeline, even if I could have landed a stable job in my first year after graduation, I likely wouldn't have survived the S-1 virus seven years later."

"But the end of the world. Could the Mayans even predict the visit of extraterrestrial life forms to Earth?!"

Cheng Ye grumbled inwardly, preferring to believe this was a beautiful coincidence.

He placed the Origin of Infection back on the bookshelf and picked up the second book.

Diary of the Extraordinary

A first-person account by an extraordinary individual, it fully documented the entire mental journey from becoming an ordinary person to suddenly acquiring an extraordinary item and reaching the pinnacle of life.

Although the text lacked the impact of video, Cheng Ye could still see two words between the lines:

Cannibalism!

To become an extraordinary individual, one had to climb over the corpses of others.

One had to fight and snatch, or else they would never get ahead in life.

Precisely because of this, some extraordinary individuals with deep obsessions and special abilities, after being infected with the S-4 virus and losing their minds, became beings similar to earthbound spirits.

They were hard to track down. When they finally appeared, they were impossible to kill. Contact with them would lead to infection and transmission.

Humanity simply erased these areas from maps and history, cutting off human exploration at the source.

Opening the third book, Distribution of Primal Sources of Infection, it wasn't a map of Sanctuary City distribution provided by the checkpoint, but a world map familiar to Cheng Ye, though many sections were missing.

For example, Wō Island, and an entire Antarctic continent.

On the domestic map, Cheng Ye's gaze sharpened as he saw a black block and four orange-red blocks.

"Black means impassable, and orange-red means extremely dangerous?"

Like a cracked sponge suddenly dropped into water, Cheng Ye greedily absorbed this hard-to-find information about the Wasteland.

The pitter-patter of rain outside became the best white noise, perfectly isolating the chaos of the buffer zone.

He didn't know how long had passed.

The rain subsided slightly, and the heavy dark clouds gradually dispersed, revealing a sliver of weak sunlight.

The Defense Communicator on the table suddenly vibrated, transmitting a message. Cheng Ye snapped back to attention.

"It's already 6:30?"

He had only entered the library at 9 AM. In the blink of an eye, nearly nine hours had passed.

Three stacks of books, half his height, were piled on the wooden table.

Gwen had allowed this because Cheng Ye read incredibly fast and was very focused.

After randomly testing Cheng Ye with two questions to confirm he wasn't just skimming, Gwen readily agreed to let him take multiple books at once to save him the time of walking back and forth.

"Mr. Cheng, are you hungry? We sell Nutrient Paste here, at the same price as outside."

Gwen peeked out from behind the bookshelf and waved.

"Or if you have any other needs, please don't hesitate. The Survival Library will offer the utmost preferential treatment to wise and studious guests like yourself."

"Hmm."

Glancing at the Defense Communicator, Cheng Ye smiled and shook his head. "Sorry, it's my work calling. Thank you for the hospitality. I'll be back to read here tomorrow."

"Alright. The rain stopped at 4 PM. I've helped dry your raincoat that you hung by the window. It's packed in a bag by the door. Just give me the bag when you come back tomorrow."

"Also." Gwen walked over. Cheng Ye then noticed her left leg was somewhat disabled; she limped slightly, which explained why she had stayed on the small bed.

"You can go now. I'll help put these books back. I'll record the ones you haven't finished."

"Thank you so much!"

Cheng Ye nodded, understanding this was Gwen's way of investing in him, similar to Uncle Dong's gift of Nutrient Paste that morning.

The real Wasteland...

As long as you demonstrate value that the other party cares about, you'll receive the best treatment.

Perhaps at some point, these investments would be repaid tenfold, a hundredfold, changing the trajectory of his life.

Exiting the library, the sky had indeed shifted from leaden gray to clear.

Most of the heavy dark clouds had dispersed, leaving the remaining overcast clouds like crumpled cotton wadding, lazily scattered at the horizon.

A few rays of sunlight pierced through the gaps in the clouds, and one beam fell precisely on the bluestone slabs in front of the library door, mingling with the unique crisp scent of the post-rain air.

Cheng Ye took a deep breath, feeling the stuffiness in his chest vanish.

"So refreshing!"

Compared to his body, which had already endured multiple rounds of academic torment before his transmigration, his current body was terrifyingly strong.

The soreness in his neck, the slight stiffness in his back, and the numbness in his calves all returned to normal with a few simple movements.

But judging by the rolling storm clouds on the horizon, Cheng Ye knew the current downpour was only a temporary reprieve.

As long as no new cyclones formed to push the warm, moist air forward, the rain band would continue to linger around Chuan City.

Beep, beep, beep.

The Defense Communicator vibrated again. Since Cheng Ye had turned off the do-not-disturb mode, it jumped directly from the message to the call interface.

It was Luo Xiaoxue.

"Hey, Sister Luo, I was just at the library. Okay, okay, I'm on my way!"

Hanging up the phone, Cheng Ye didn't have to wait two minutes before easily squeezing onto the bus back to the Main Urban Area.

With the downpour receding, the curfew in the Main Urban Area had also ended. The carriage was filled with workers in their work clothes, chattering about the special plants they'd encountered during today's reclamation.

Cheng Ye subconsciously thought they were talking about the kind of extraordinary plants that could grant powers to humans. But after listening closely, he shook his head and chuckled, thinking he'd been reading too much.

After the S-4 virus outbreak, even the extraordinary plants hadn't been spared. Most had died, with only a small portion forming a symbiosis with the Infected.

These were what Gwen had previously called 'special Infected'.

These special Infected retained their plant characteristics. Although they could move, they didn't actively attack humans and were widely distributed across Blue Star.

Rumor had it that their plant components could still grant humans extraordinary powers without any risk of infection. Thus, there had always been a group of people in the Wasteland scouring the land for them.

It was a pity that after so many years of searching, no one had ever heard of anyone finding them and striking it rich.

And now, these workers discussing mutated plants were a bit like modern people discussing the lottery. Deep down, they knew these weren't those miraculous special Infected, yet they harbored a sliver of unnecessary hope for a windfall.

"This is extraordinary power, who wouldn't be tempted?"

To be fair, after understanding how powerful the extraordinary were, Cheng Ye himself felt a burning desire.

After all, in comparison, ordinary people in the Wasteland had only heard tales of how powerful the extraordinary were, while he had "personally witnessed" that kind of power.

Of course, that was in movies and anime.

Screeech--

The tires, worn down to baldness, let out a sharp friction sound on the wet road. The automated announcement system chimed in with a mechanical voice, "Xingfu Bank Station."

Cheng Ye stepped off the bus. This was his second time here.

The last time was the day after he'd transmigrated to the Wasteland, when he came to sign for the inheritance left by Cheng Long.

"Little Cheng?"

Cheng Ye squinted, appraising the bank building not far away. A gentle female voice suddenly came from his side.

He turned his head.

He saw Luo Xiaoxue walking over with a middle-aged man sporting a slicked-back hairstyle. She looked at him with surprise.

"Two months, and you've gotten so much stronger?"

"Huh? Really?"

Cheng Ye scratched his head and immediately passed the buck. "It's all Brother B's credit. He kept me training every day. Even if I slacked off, there should be some results."

"Is that so?"

Luo Xiaoxue eyed him up and down with some suspicion.

When Cheng Ye had left the High Wall before, she had gone with Liu Bi to pick him up.

The Cheng Ye she remembered was thin, pale-faced, and a quiet shut-in who always kept his head down.

Unexpectedly, after two months, the young man before her had shoulders so broad they almost filled his shirt collar. The muscles in his forearms were clearly defined, and he exuded a vigorous aura. When he smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkled, and a decisive energy radiated from his very bones.

"Sister Luo, if I were still the same as before, Brother B wouldn't have felt comfortable letting me guard the North South Gate alone, would he?"

Liu Bi was 35, and Luo Xiaoxue was 34.

Given the original body's current age of only 19, calling her 'Sister' might seem a bit abrupt. But Cheng Ye had been 26 before his transmigration, so the age difference wasn't that significant.

"That's true."

Luo Xiaoxue scrutinized him for a while longer before suppressing her surprise. She turned and introduced, "This is Uncle Song. He's one of the managers at the Public Works Department. He knows your father and Liu Bi very well. We'll get him to arrange some Contribution Points for you first. You don't have to rush to repay them; I'll have Brother B cover them for now."

"Thank you, Uncle Song!"

Cheng Ye immediately called out. The middle-aged man with the slicked-back hair gave him a kind smile.

"No need to be polite with me. Cheng Long and I were comrades-in-arms. Cheng Ye, if you need anything in the future, just come directly to the Public Works Department to find me."

"How could I trouble you, Uncle Song? Being able to borrow Contribution Points today is already a huge help!"

While exchanging pleasantries, the three entered the Xingfu Bank Buffer Branch.

The interior structure was similar to a modern rural credit union, with four service windows. There was no one there at this hour.

It wasn't surprising.

Unlike Happiness Coins, which circulated freely, Contribution Points were strictly controlled within the entire Xingfu City territory. Every point spent had to be recorded and clearly traceable. Ordinary people rarely came here.

For a Trainee Inspector like Cheng Ye, the borrowing limit every six months was only 100 Contribution Points.

This was also the main reason Liu Bi had asked for 100 Points.

"Inspector Cheng, please note: borrowing Contribution Points from others requires a reasonable and legitimate purpose, and is strictly for personal use. If subsequent checks reveal that the borrowed Points have circulated through other means, you will be fined two to ten times the amount, depending on the severity of the circumstances."

While Cheng Ye was signing, the staff member behind the counter reminded him.

Thanks for the much-loved monthly tickets, thanks for the reward from Xiao Le bb. A new day, please collect, please vote monthly, please read!