Having Raul lead the way had been a spur-of-the-moment idea of Cheng Ye's, but to his surprise, it had brought quite a few unexpected benefits.
For example, Raven was now explaining the Quarantine Zone with practically no reservations.
He had laid out the inspectors' official powers in clear detail, and even gone through the unspoken rules behind the scenes—the ways they skimmed profits and pocketed kickbacks—explaining every trick without holding anything back.
Apart from the usual methods Cheng Ye already knew about, one thing particularly caught his attention.
The "contraband" stored in Supply Room No. 3.
What counted as contraband?
The three packs of PCB Boards and some electronic components confiscated from drivers earlier didn't qualify.
Those things could fetch several times their value only if smuggled out and sold to other Sanctuary Cities, settlements, or individual Scavengers. They weren't worth much in Xingfu City, so there was little point in confiscating them.
The truly valuable things—the ones worthy of being called "contraband"—
were Mutated Beast Crystal Cores, contained Infection Sources, all kinds of Extraordinary Ore and Special Plants, as well as other valuable things that hadn't existed in the Old Era!
"Can you just confiscate them?"
"Of course not." Raven hurriedly shook his head. "Those things can all be exchanged for a lot of Contribution Points. If an inspector just confiscated them, their owners would probably be driven to fight for their lives."
"Then?"
"Sir, it's like this."
Owl, who had been standing quietly nearby, cut in. "According to the rules, people aren't allowed to bring those things into the Buffer Zone, because there's a risk they might be contaminated by an Infection Source. Even if someone actually found a way to sneak them in, then took them to the supply exchange to sell, they'd only get 70% of the normal price."
"But if an inspector confiscates them and takes them out of the Buffer Zone to the supply exchange, he can get 100% of the normal price. That 30% difference is the compensation inspectors receive for bearing the 'risk of supply contamination.'"
What a risk of supply contamination!
Cheng Ye couldn't help clicking his tongue. It seemed Garcia had been far too restrained in collecting an entry tax at the Central Checkpoint.
By comparison, the "contraband tax" devised through collusion between officials and merchants at the Quick Checkpoint was outright robbery.
"And they're willing to go along with it?"
Cheng Ye asked the question, then realized how foolish and naive it sounded.
What choice did they have if they weren't willing?
Were they supposed to take on the entire Checkpoint—and Xingfu City—by themselves?
"Inspector, you jest. Of course they're more than willing."
Owl didn't seem to catch Cheng Ye's implication and continued explaining with a smile. "Sir, you can help them bring their prohibited goods into the Buffer Zone and even get them the same price they'd receive by selling the goods themselves. Why wouldn't they be willing?"
"Is that so?"
Cheng Ye furrowed his brow in thought, then suddenly understood.
The limitations of her era had kept Luo Xiaoxue from seeing how the Checkpoint operated internally.
But those same limitations had also kept him from immediately understanding the logic underpinning this system, one built on the Wasteland's Bottom Layer.
Thinking it through, without this informal 30% tax, adventurers might earn more in the short term, but in the long run it would only fuel more conflict.
After all, how could inspectors see those goods coming through the Checkpoint and not be tempted?
And when the goods were sold, how could the purchasing office not force the prices down?
It might even give rise to new parasites, such as underground black markets and scalpers, who would drive up Xingfu City's purchase prices.
By setting that 30% fee, they not only protected adventurers' steady returns, but also neatly curbed the greed of everyone involved, from entering the city to selling their goods.
That was why, as Owl had said, "Why wouldn't they be willing?"
On the surface, they were losing 30%. In reality, the rules gave them a more reliable profit.
"What about charging vehicles here?"
Cheng Ye pretended not to care as he walked into the garage, his eyes flicking over the nameplate on a Fast Charging Pile.
Just as he'd expected, it used three-phase AC input, with a maximum voltage of 380V and a maximum current of 160A.
If it could run at those specifications and reach an ideal purely resistive load, its charging efficiency would be around 100 kW.
In reality, however, the charging pile had heat protection and couldn't supply power at full capacity for long. The current would soon drop to around 110A, bringing the power output down to roughly 65 kW—enough to charge 65 kWh per hour.
"You mean this, sir? Zone A mainly handles vehicle and convoy inspections. Sometimes people get quarantined, and their vehicles have to be kept here temporarily. Charging them is another kind of value-added service, and it brings the Checkpoint a decent operating income."
"Isn't it free?"
"How could it be? Xingfu City waives electricity fees for ordinary people to support their livelihoods. But these people drive out to make money. If we waived the fees for everyone, wouldn't that be unfair?"
Seeing how interested Cheng Ye seemed in the charging, Raven volunteered a little more information.
"Don't be fooled by how slowly we charge here. The fee is three times what it is in the Buffer Zone, but people still crowd in to charge their vehicles."
"Why is that? Because charging in the city costs money, and you also have to get a permit from the Public Works Department. Not every convoy is allowed to charge. If you want to drive out of the city, you have to 'feed' those big shots at the Public Works Department first."
"You need a permit to charge?"
Cheng Ye paused. The image of Master Tian, the bus driver, suddenly flashed through his mind. He'd also said he needed to get charging paperwork from the Public Works Department before he could leave the city. Cheng Ye hadn't thought much of it at the time, assuming it was just vehicle-use authorization.
"Of course. Batteries are among the most strictly controlled supplies in Xingfu City. The vehicles in the Buffer Zone, along with the buses that run back and forth, are essentially assets of the Public Works Department—and of Xingfu City."
"And batteries have a limited lifespan. The more often they're fast-charged and the more frequently they go through charge cycles, the sooner they wear out. How could they possibly let people use up a strategic resource like that without restrictions?"
So it wasn't charging that was restricted. It was the batteries!
Cheng Ye suddenly understood.
Since arriving in this world, he'd rarely seen private cars or trucks on the road, apart from buses.
Now he knew why.
If people could charge their vehicles freely, and the Buffer Zone offered free electricity, cars should have been everywhere.
But batteries were a strategic resource, tightly controlled by the Public Works Department at every stage, from production to wear and tear. Naturally, they couldn't let people use fast charging freely.
"If they charge a fee, there'll inevitably be a record. That could be a problem."
Cheng Ye frowned and asked how much charging cost.
Raven's answer was jaw-dropping.
Good grief, it really wasn't cheap. And they weren't charging Happiness Coins. They were charging Contribution Points!
Every 100 kWh cost five Contribution Points in the Buffer Zone, and the Quarantine Zone charged three times as much—15 Contribution Points. It was a way of passing the cost of battery wear and tear on to the people charging.
"What about those Slow Charging Piles?"
Cheng Ye walked to the other side of the warehouse, where his gaze fell on three ordinary Slow Charging Piles—the kind he'd often seen in the underground garages of apartment buildings before he'd crossed over.
Eighty years had passed, with several apocalyptic disasters in between. There was no way such basic equipment, with so little technology in it, had undergone any major changes.
They still used the standard 220V voltage and 30A current, giving them an output of around 6–7 kW.
"These are private charging piles belonging to the Checkpoint, reserved for vehicles inside the station."
Raven gave him a knowing, cryptic smile and respectfully explained, "Using these Slow Charging Piles doesn't cost any Contribution Points or Happiness Coins, but you need permission from our Checkpoint."
"The permission for the first one belongs to the Station Chief."
"The Deputy Station Chief approves use of the second one."
"The third one, in the corner, is reserved for whichever Duty Inspector is currently on shift. Since you're on duty in Zone A, sir, you're entitled to use it. When shifts change, that privilege goes to the incoming inspector."
?
What the hell was this?
Cheng Ye paused. Then his brow twitched, and he realized just how low his level of play really was.
No wonder they said power was the best cosmetic treatment for a man.
Damn, whoever had come up with this system was a genius. It was devious as hell.
First, they'd set up fast charging at triple the price as a "compliant target," leaving the Public Works Department with nothing to complain about.
Then they'd added Slow Charging Piles, using them behind the scenes to curry favor and collect benefits.
The Station Chief got one, the Deputy Station Chief got one, and the Duty Inspector got one. Everyone was satisfied.
And so were the people who needed to charge. Everyone used to have to curry favor with the inspectors. Now they could be the inspectors' "dogs" and get free electricity. What did they have to complain about?
"My eyes have been opened. I thought people in the Wasteland only knew how to fight, but there are real masterminds at the Checkpoint. They've come up with quite a trick!"
Cheng Ye quickly did the math in his head.
There were four zones—A, B, C, and D—and only Zone A had a charging pile. At first glance, that seemed unfair to the other three zones.
But Duty Inspectors rotated through the zones. Cheng Ye was in Zone A this week, Zone B the next, then Zone C, then Zone D. He'd have to complete the whole rotation before returning to Zone A.
That meant every inspector would eventually get a turn in Zone A. Everyone could share in this hidden windfall.
Assuming each person was on duty for eight hours a day, a Slow Charging Pile could charge around 50 kWh per day. At the official Buffer Zone rate, that was worth about three Contribution Points.
Was it little? Not really.
Was it a lot? Well, it was just a little something extra—about 20 more points a month. Three months on duty would earn enough to buy one gram of Extraordinary Ore.
"Although I can't use this Fast Charging Pile to top up for now, a Slow Charging Pile will do. I can get an extra 50 kWh each day—enough to accumulate one Charge Value every two days."
Cheng Ye considered it to himself.
He'd already decided not to use paid charging in the Buffer Zone at first. He had no connections there yet, so he couldn't risk it.
If whoever kept track of electricity consumption noticed anything unusual and came looking for him, he wouldn't even get the chance to explain.
Free electricity was different.
First, even if the records were detailed, they'd be meaningless. As long as unused resources didn't cause trouble, nobody cared where they went.
Second, the charging piles in this warehouse were already part of a shady account. If the records were too precise, they'd only leave someone vulnerable.
"Charge it up. I don't dare touch the Fast Charging Pile yet, in case someone records it. I'll wait until I've figured out the situation."
"Fifteen Contribution Points is nothing. There are plenty of ways to make money; what matters is having a way in."
"But since this is one of the Quick Checkpoint's hidden perks, what the hell is there to be afraid of? Everyone else is taking advantage of the system. Why shouldn't I?"
P.S. Thanks to readers 20220726, Zhuozhuo, s-driver, and Kanhua Kaizhe for the monthly tickets. Thanks for your support!
P.P.S. I read every chapter note and every comment. If I haven't answered a question, it's because doing so would involve spoilers. Rest assured, I can guarantee that this book's setting is completely unique—including its Transcendent powers and its development model. A brand-new version and a brand-new experience!
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