Panel Update, Disaster Classification!

After leaving the shop, all my Contribution Points were cleared, and I even owed 7 more.

Allowing the scattered sunlight filtering through the clouds to dance on his shoulders, Cheng Ye touched the Pickup Ticket he had just put in his pocket, his excitement still lingering.

In the dangerous Wasteland, a suitable and handy weapon was the foundation of one's existence.

Its significance was no less than a modern person buying a car or a house.

"I only used two months to buy my own Transcendent Weapon?"

It felt a bit like a dream.

Even if this weapon was acquired by first borrowing 100 points from Song Yongfeng and then owing the shop 7 points.

But when compared to the loans that modern people took out for thirty years or more, Cheng Ye could only sigh inwardly, thinking he had truly come to a "good" era!

If he had transmigrated to a Wasteland with a radiation background, or a Wasteland where people couldn't even get enough to eat and had to fight zombies for food.

Let alone a weapon, with the original owner's physical condition, it was questionable whether he could have survived until today.

"Thank you, Xingfu City. At least at this moment, I am truly happy."

Cheng Ye was a very content person.

With his Contribution Points cleared, he immediately gave up the idea of looking at firearms again.

The standard pistol issued to Inspectors was still usable. Without going on external missions, there was no urgent need for a Buffalo Combat Pistol.

Besides, going to the North South Stations offered opportunities to collect Infected sources. If he was lucky, he could earn new Contribution Points by working for two or three days and save up enough money to buy a firearm.

Of course, it would be best if he wasn't that "lucky."

The more he understood about Infected with special abilities, the more he realized the difficulty of human survival in the Wasteland.

Especially in the case mentioned by Luo Xiaoxue last night, a special Infected had successfully infiltrated and accumulated enough Contribution Points without being discovered, passing through the Happiness Gate to the Inner City.

Fortunately, the Inner City's monitoring mechanisms were very thorough. Before this Infected could accumulate enough power to cause a secondary infection, it fell into a testing trap and was forced to reveal itself.

If it hadn't been discovered, Xingfu City's scale would probably have been reduced by more than half by now.

Taking the Bus to the Library, Cheng Ye found a seat in the back and summoned his Collector.

The blue panel of Shui Yingying was simple, but its functions were quite complete.

In the upper right corner of the panel, like a phone's battery indicator, it showed the current charging progress.

[lv1.32%]

"I charged it for 26 degrees at home the night before last, 23 degrees at the Library yesterday, and a bit less at Brother B's place last night, only 18 degrees."

Cheng Ye pondered in his heart, unable to hide his joy.

Once he accumulated 50%, he could perform a search. Even though he hadn't utilized every minute yesterday, the charging speed was much faster than he had initially estimated.

At this efficiency, he might be able to save up a search opportunity by tomorrow morning.

He flipped to the Collector's personal page.

To Cheng Ye's surprise, the page data remained unchanged even after he stayed up all night starving the day before yesterday.

But after a normal night's rest last night, the page data updated with his sleep.

"I need to sleep to update data?"

He committed this rule to memory and looked up.

[Collector: Cheng Ye]

[Current Rank: Lv.1 Trainee (0.7/100, continue collecting more 'Information Degree' to level up)]

[Life Level: 0]

[Skills: Basic Strength, Beast Intuition, Empty]

[Not yet unlocked.]

[Evaluation: You have escaped the bottom of the food chain, no longer being hunted casually by civilized natives, but you are still far from the minimum level of a civilized Collector. Focusing on searchable information that can be passed down will allow you to gain progress quickly and improve your rank.]

"Alright, at least I'm not a stray dog getting kicked around by natives anymore."

Aside from the evaluation, Cheng Ye noticed the specific upgrade requirement displayed next to the first item, his rank.

The 0.7 at the beginning should be the Information Degree from finding two skills, and the rest is the requirement to leave the trainee period.

"If one search yields 0.3, then 100 points would require over 300 searches."

"That would consume nearly 16,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity. That's too difficult. Even if we don't consider the hydroelectric station stopping supply or raising prices during the dry season, if I charge 50 kilowatt-hours a day, it would take over half a year."

Cheng Ye calculated it carefully and felt the road ahead was long. Upgrading was much harder than a Trainee Inspector becoming a full inspector.

However, he vaguely felt that the Collector should have other ways to charge, not solely relying on electricity.

It was a pity that in his current environment, the only energy he could absorb was electricity.

Only when he could establish a foothold in the Buffer Zone in the future could he find other energy sources the Collector could absorb.

"To speed up the upgrade, I need to focus on searchable information that can be passed down, as the evaluation stated."

"But what information can be called 'passed down'?"

Cheng Ye pondered secretly.

By the time the Station Announcer chimed 'Library Station' arrived, he already had some vague ideas forming in his mind. However, these thoughts would require further searching to verify if they held water.

"Mr. Cheng, you're here!"

As Cheng Ye pushed open the door, Gwen, who was nestled on a small bed, looked up and greeted him.

"The books you didn't finish yesterday, I've already helped organize them this morning. The second desk is yours."

"Thank you, Miss Gwen."

Cheng Ye nodded, pulling a 10-unit Happiness Coin from his pocket and handing it over.

He had paid 20 units yesterday and hadn't taken the remaining 10 units when he left. This 10 units now served as a deposit.

Unexpectedly, Gwen shook her head. "No need. The deposit is just to screen customers. Your care for books and reverence for knowledge don't need further proof with a deposit."

"Oh?"

Cheng Ye chuckled but didn't retract the coin. "Then please help me exchange this 10 units for Nutrient Paste. It'll save me time going out to buy it at noon and interrupting my reading."

"Certainly. I'll help you heat it up and bring it over during the lunch hour."

Though he had only been here for a day, Cheng Ye felt more familiar with this library than his own home.

Passing through the bookshelves and seeing the reading area, he was surprised.

No wonder Gwen had placed his unfinished books on the second desk; the first desk was already occupied.

The person looked like a woman, but her attire was somewhat strange.

She wore a large black headscarf, her face completely covered by a mask, and her lower half was clad in the Scavenger outfit rarely seen in the Buffer Zone lately – worn beast hide paired with flat travel shoes.

Cheng Ye glanced over and noticed the books the woman was flipping through, as well as the few placed by her table, were the very volumes Gwen had introduced yesterday, detailing special Infected.

"Another bounty hunter looking to strike it rich?"

Cheng Ye was slightly surprised before shifting his gaze. He discreetly inserted his pendant into the slot and sat down at the second table, beginning to flip through pages rapidly.

Soon, the sound of rustling pages filled the air.

The woman frowned and looked over. Confirming that Cheng Ye wasn't deliberately making noise to attract her attention, but was instead engrossed in his reading, she could only shake her head helplessly.

One Hundred Ways to Deal with Infected

Killing Infected: Do These Eight Things Right!

<The Source Decomposition of Earth Element, Air Element, Water Element, Fire Element, Migration Element, and Reproduction Element Infected>

<Must-Read for True Men: Learn How to Save Ten Years of Detours in the Wasteland>

.

A thousand readers, a thousand Hamlets.

Different personalities naturally have vastly different ways of dealing with Infected.

Some are skilled at waiting for the rabbit, while others prefer to take the initiative.

Some believe in "never fighting up close if you can solve it remotely," while others insist that "close combat is more efficient, lest you lose your adaptability by relying on ranged attacks."

Everyone had their own opinions, and these ideas were perfectly reflected in the survival books being written.

Cheng Ye adopted an open-minded attitude, madly absorbing the core information conveyed in each book.

Speaking of diversity of opinions, how could the Wasteland compare to modern times?

What had modern people experienced?

Open short videos, and you'd be pushed a hundred different novel "cleaning" methods in minutes, with creators going to extreme lengths to avoid censorship.

Discussing hot-blooded anime, even the reputation of Boruto could flip back and forth, from being utterly worthless to the audience having "lost the Will of Fire."

Therefore, some of the black-and-white statements in the books seemed almost endearingly stubborn to Cheng Ye.

Why should ranged and close combat be so opposed? Waiting for the rabbit and taking the initiative didn't conflict.

Different scenarios had their own logic for breaking through, and what he needed to do was to sift out the optimal solution from all possible answers.

Unknowingly, the sky began to darken.

By the time Cheng Ye finished the last book on the first bookshelf, the wall clock had just struck eight.

Outside the window, a fine rain began to fall again.

The woman at table one had left at some point, and Gwen had wiped the table until it gleamed with a clean, cold light.

"It's raining again."

Cheng Ye stood up, his gaze distant, and returned all the books he had read to the bookshelf in order.

Hiding in this leisurely little Library for two days had calmed his restless heart.

But this was, after all, the Wasteland.

According to some records, the scale of Infected Tides was divided into six levels from small to large: Swarm, Tide, Plague, Disaster, Ruin, and Annihilation.

Since the start of the New Era, an Annihilation Level Infected Tide had yet to appear; it was merely a theoretical definition.

The Destruction Level Infected Tide, however, appeared four times, each time carrying millions of Infected, and even Old Era Earthbound Spirit Transcendants mixed within.

A Sanctuary City, once several times larger than Xingfu City, was directly in the path of a Destruction Level Infected Tide and intended to resist it head-on.

The outcome was, as expected, the Sanctuary City used all its means but still couldn't stop the Infected Tide's advance.

In less than half a day, the city was destroyed and its inhabitants perished, with millions being corrupted into new Infected, nearly triggering an Annihilation Level disaster.

Fortunately, just as it was about to reach the brink of Annihilation Level, the Transcendants within suddenly reached their limit distance and began to retreat.

Humanity then seized a moment of respite, gradually breaking down the large-scale Infected Tide into several Small Tide Surges, diverting them in different directions, barely controlling the momentum of the disaster's spread.

"With Xingfu City's current strength, let alone blocking an Annihilation Level tide, even facing a Destruction Level one would be like a mantis trying to stop a chariot."

"Before the real disaster arrives, I must accumulate enough strength."

"At the very least, I need to be able to escape!"

ps: Things are looking up, the data is finally increasing. Thank you all for your support. Please vote, add to Collection, and Follow-up Reading. Your support is truly important to me!!!