By the end of the day, the standing water on the main roads of the Main Urban Area had finally been drained—for now.
The Dajinbei drove along without obstruction. When it reached Happiness Gate, two squads of guards, sixteen in all, came hurrying over from a distance.
"Thank you, Inspector Cheng. Thank you for supporting the Crusader Legion. Just hand the injured over to us, and we'll take care of everything from here."
The squad leader stepped forward and gave Cheng Ye a crisp modern military salute. Then he thumped his right fist against his chest, expressing his heartfelt gratitude.
Seeing this, Dai Zun tried to imitate him from the stretcher, but Cheng Ye held down his right hand. "Don't push yourself. Remember what Captain Wu said—you owe me your life."
"Of course. One call, and I'll be there."
A faint smile appeared on Dai Zun's pale face. Before he could say anything more, the guards lifted his stretcher and quickly carried him out of sight behind the massive city gate.
In the night, countless gazes turned their way from the shadows, burning with greed and fervor.
A few settled on Cheng Ye, making him uncomfortable, as if he were being watched. He glared back, and the gazes abruptly shrank away.
Even the Dajinbei's driver couldn't help swallowing as he stared dazedly at the Fast Track beneath the alloy gate, slowly closing.
That was the Inner City!
So many people struggled in the Buffer Zone all their lives, only to rot away in an Infected Tide without ever touching the frame of this Happiness Gate.
Yet for some, this destination was merely a starting point they could reach whenever they pleased.
"Let's go. If it's not too much trouble, could you drop me off at the Chemical Plant Staff Dormitory?"
"No trouble at all!"
The driver nodded emphatically, reluctantly tearing his gaze away.
The Dajinbei turned around in front of Happiness Gate and gradually drove away from "happiness."
Ten at night.
The tires rolled over the waterlogged road before the vehicle slowly stopped beside the vine-covered iron gate of the Chemical Plant Staff Dormitory.
Cheng Ye had just hooked his fingers around the door handle when, from the corner of his eye, he spotted two figures moving beneath a streetlamp a hundred meters away.
He narrowed his eyes and looked closely. The one on the left was Luo Xiaoxue. The one on the right was...
Zhou Changhai?
Cheng Ye froze, almost convinced he'd seen wrong.
Why would a Fifth Stage Inspector from the Dongren Faction at the Checkpoint come to the Chemical Plant Residential Area in the middle of the night to see Luo Xiaoxue?
But as the two approached, the dim streetlight gradually outlined the man's face.
That unmistakable horse-like face, the ferocious scar along his jaw—it really was Zhou Changhai!
What was he doing here?
The metal car door slammed against the side of the vehicle. Cheng Ye stepped out, stopping about five paces in front of them.
"Sister Luo. Inspector Zhou."
"Hey, Inspector Cheng, you're off work?" Before Luo Xiaoxue could speak, Zhou Changhai's eyes lit up and he came forward, as if he'd expected this. "Speak of the devil— I was just talking about you with Instructor Luo, and here you are."
Instructor Luo?
Cheng Ye's mouth twitched. He suppressed his curiosity. "Inspector Zhou, what brings you here so late?"
"Oh, nothing major. There was just an accident at the station today. You know Station Chief He sacrificed himself."
A hint of sorrow crossed Zhou Changhai's voice. "As a Fifth Stage Inspector, I had to represent the station and pay a visit to the family, explain the situation, and put everyone's minds at ease."
"I see. You've gone to a lot of trouble, Inspector Zhou."
Cheng Ye nodded lightly. "Brother B is out on a field mission, so I was planning to come talk to Sister Luo about what happened at the station and tell her not to worry. But you got here first."
"Come on, no need to be so formal with me." Zhou Changhai laughed heartily. Then he stepped closer and patted Cheng Ye on the shoulder, his scar twisting with his smile. "Back in the day, your dad and I were in the exploration team together. We had each other's backs. If you don't mind, just call me Uncle Zhou."
Uncle Zhou?
Cheng Ye didn't know what had happened at the Checkpoint before, but from the corner of his eye he saw Luo Xiaoxue discreetly purse her lips.
Clearly, there was a lot more to the supposed "life-and-death friendship" between Zhou Changhai and Cheng Long than there'd been rain in Xingfu City over the past two days.
What a shameless old bastard.
No, why was this guy trying so hard to get close to me?
He meant trouble!
"You're right, Uncle Zhou." Cheng Ye put on just the right smile. "I was thinking I should use people's titles at work, and it slipped my mind that I'm off duty now. It's my time to rest. Unlike you, Uncle Zhou, keeping the family in mind even this late at night. You're a model member of the station."
It sounded like a compliment, but he'd subtly drawn a line between their "work relationship" and their "personal relationship."
After that honey-coated barb, Zhou Changhai's smile froze for half a second.
But he was a Fifth Stage Inspector, after all, and a seasoned old hand.
Keeping his smile as if nothing had happened, Zhou Changhai turned to Luo Xiaoxue. "Instructor Luo, now that Cheng Ye's back, I won't keep you. Don't worry, either. The Hydroelectric Station is nothing like the station—it's perfectly safe."
"Thank you for your concern, Inspector Zhou."
Luo Xiaoxue nodded politely. The two of them walked Zhou Changhai to the end of the street and watched him climb into the Dajinbei waiting in the shadows. Its headlights sliced through the night as it headed toward the city center.
"What was he here for?"
Cheng Ye paused. "He Fei just died, and Zhou Changhai's already trying to put someone in the vacant position?"
Within the Checkpoint system,
moving from Intern to First Stage was the first hurdle.
Three stations, nine evaluation forms, and a Field Mission with a grade of B or higher. No major incidents could occur along the way. Most ordinary inspectors needed about two years to get through this step.
The next hurdle was moving from First Stage to Fourth Stage.
They had to serve at three stations, rotating through duty three hundred times at each one—a minimum of nine hundred days in total. No major incidents could occur during that time, or they'd have to start counting all over again.
On top of that, they needed to accumulate enough contributions and wait for a position to open up.
For example, if a Fourth Stage Inspector position opened at the station and five people qualified at the same time, the person with the most contributions would be promoted first.
Moving up from there, from Fourth Stage to Fifth Stage, was beyond the reach of ordinary inspectors.
According to the rules, two generations of their family had to have worked at the Checkpoint. That was what they called "backing."
Without that background, even an astronomical contribution score was useless. Liu Bi was stuck at Fourth Stage because he didn't meet the requirement. He wasn't even eligible to compete for Fifth Stage.
And becoming a Fifth Stage Inspector was also a prerequisite for serving as a Duty Station Chief.
"Hey, you guessed?"
Luo Xiaoxue shook her head helplessly. "It wasn't just him. All four Fifth Stage Inspectors from the Dongren Faction at the Checkpoint came today. They seemed to have planned it out, too—they all came at different times."
"All four of them?"
Cheng Ye was a little surprised. He hadn't expected them to start fighting over the position on the very day He Fei was killed.
"Did they all give you more or less the same story?"
"Mm. When it comes down to it, they all want Liu Bi to vote for them."
"Did they make you any offers?"
"Hm? You know quite a bit, don't you?" Luo Xiaoxue gave him a strange once-over. "You made quite a splash at the North Checkpoint today. Every one of those Fifth Stage Inspectors who came here had to bring you up."
"Of course. Who at the station doesn't know I'm close with Brother B?"
Cheng Ye's smile stiffened.
Damn, just like Li Maitai said, there really was no such thing as a secret at the Checkpoint.
And Raul had done a terrible job keeping things quiet. Hadn't they agreed no one would find out?
But before he'd even made it home after work, word had already reached Luo Xiaoxue.
"They didn't tell you the details, did they?"
"Not really. They just said you went into the West Checkpoint and taught those second-generation kids a lesson, then went straight into the Isolation Pod. A few words later, you'd identified an Unknown Infected and taken it down with ease, proving your ability and bringing glory to the Dongren."
A hint of amusement crossed Luo Xiaoxue's face. "Well, look at you. You're quite the troublemaker. I guess Sister Luo underestimated you."
"Uh..."
Cheng Ye hesitated and forced out a couple of awkward laughs. He didn't dare mention that he'd also saved a Crusader soldier just before the end of his shift.
He really had had quite a day.
"If Station Chief He hadn't been ambushed by the Unknown Infected, none of that would have been much of a big deal."
"It was just an infected person locked in a cage. You don't know, Sister Luo—when I got there, the guy had a pointy head. He was burly, sure, but he looked like he'd eaten too much animal growth hormone. How could you call that normal?"
"As for those second-generation kids, I only tried to scare them a little. I didn't expect them to chicken out."
Cheng Ye bluffed his way through it as the two of them chatted downstairs for a while.
Perhaps He Fei's death had suddenly made Luo Xiaoxue realize that there was nowhere in the Buffer Zone that was absolutely safe.
Whether you went to North Station or South Station,
surviving ultimately came down to your own strength and methods, plus a little luck from the heavens.
So she'd come to terms with Cheng Ye's stubborn decision to choose North Station.
People were strange that way. In the face of life and death, certain fixations could suddenly become clear.
Cheng Ye didn't know how to describe that change in mindset. He could only say that from the moment anyone arrived in the Wasteland, they should always be prepared to die.
The only difference was whether they died in a blaze of glory or hid in a corner and waited to die.
"Sister Luo, I was on duty all day today, so it looks like I have to take a day off tomorrow and go to that Study Session. I'll head back tonight, okay?"
"Go ahead. You think Zhou Changhai called me 'Instructor Luo' for nothing?" Luo Xiaoxue smoothed her hair, a helpless smile lifting the corners of her mouth. "I have to go to the Study Session tomorrow too, and give a lecture as an instructor."
"That's great, then. I'll be there cheering you on."
They didn't talk about the Checkpoint's situation or the dangers at the station.
They just chatted and laughed for a while.
Cheng Ye stood where he was, watching Luo Xiaoxue enter the Staff Residential Area. He waited until she disappeared into her building before turning and stepping into the deep night.
The distance from the Chemical Plant Residential Area to the Electronics Factory Residential Area was more than ten kilometers.
Yet as Cheng Ye jogged back, he felt a burning heat spreading through his body. The flame that had been suppressed in his heart for so long finally leaped up in a roaring blaze.
Finding skills could, at most, narrow the gap between him and the Old Guard. That still left him a hundred thousand miles from being a genius.
Talent was different. It could directly bridge the gap in fundamentals and let him break free of mediocrity for good.
"Iron Physique!"
The words kept rolling over his tongue, and he could almost taste their searing heat.
Was he excited?
Of course he was!
But no one understood better than he did that this was only the beginning.
PS: It turns out that when you settle down and tell a story, people will read it. Thank you for all the kind reviews. Every single one has lifted San Jin's spirits!
PS2: It's Tuesday, and I'm putting out the bowl! Please vote and follow the story!
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