Conveyor Belt 7.
Garcia, the West Faction inspector, roared furiously, slapping the table so hard it crackled.
"You're a whole family of penniless beggars! You don't have this, you don't have that. Xingfu City isn't a shelter for beggars, you parasites who came for the benefits. You damn pests should've gone to hell ages ago!"
The man standing in the Isolation Cage looked embarrassed and indignant.
The woman behind him pulled the child, who looked about five or six, closer to her.
The Xingfu City they'd heard about on the radio didn't charge an "entry fee."
But Garcia had now made it blatantly clear, time and again, that every member of the family of three had to produce something valuable to get in. Otherwise, they'd be thrown out and never allowed to enter the Checkpoint again.
"Sir, please give me a little time."
After a few seconds of silence, the man licked the blood from his cracked lips. "We absolutely won't be parasites. I'm strong. I can lay bricks and unload cargo. We'll earn the entry fee and pay it as soon as we get into the city."
"Right away. Every time, it's 'right away.' How many times a day do you think I have to hear those two words?"
Garcia sneered. "Do I look that easy to fool? Either pay up now—one valuable item per person—or take your 'right away' and get out. Go feed the Infected in the ruins."
Had the West Faction's conduct really gotten this disgusting?
Xingfu City was thriving. How had it suddenly devolved into a dynasty's final days, with inspectors holding people up at the gates to collect a head tax?
Cheng Ye's heart skipped a beat as he listened intently. He came to the conclusion that his never-before-seen father, Cheng Long, must have been a core figure in the East Faction.
Otherwise, his death wouldn't have thrown the balance between the East and West Factions into such disarray.
"Should I take a gamble?"
Cheng Ye narrowed his eyes, sizing up the family in the cage.
Well, he could see why Garcia was insisting on holding them up.
The man was tall, at least 185 centimeters, with biceps bulging like rocks beneath his ragged, coarse shirt. The veins in his forearms stood out in knotted ridges, and old calluses covered his knuckles. He was clearly no weakling—nothing like those refugees who'd survived by luck alone.
The woman was somewhat slender, but her eyes shone brightly, as if a little flame flickered inside them. Her arm was tense as she held the child close. Though she must have been feeling conflicted, her body didn't tremble at all, showing that she was mentally tough.
As for the child, his ashen face didn't look healthy. But surviving in the Wasteland at such a young age was no small feat.
He'd take the gamble!
"You two, go wait outside the gate. I have a conflict to sort out, so don't worry."
Cheng Ye stood up and first sent the man and woman who'd just been transferred in back to the entrance to wait.
Then he hurried over to Conveyor Belt 7.
"Garcia, three Contribution Points. I'll take this family."
"You want them?"
Garcia had noticed Cheng Ye when he'd sent the others away.
Now that he'd heard what Cheng Ye said, the narrow eyes visible through his mask gleamed with a knowing look.
"Sounds like you think you can squeeze more than three Contribution Points out of this penniless family?"
Oh, so he wanted to raise the price on the spot?
Cheng Ye sneered and tapped the tabletop.
"Listen, don't try that with me. If you like making things difficult for Dongren, I can have Brother B keep you company after work."
"Trying to scare me with Brother B?"
Garcia scoffed and held out his right hand. "Five Contribution Points, and they're yours."
"Deal!"
Cheng Ye couldn't be bothered to haggle.
If he had Liu Bi's strength, he'd definitely drag the bastard off after work and give him a good beating. But using someone else's ability to throw his weight around was asking for trouble. Better to quit while he was ahead.
Besides, his field mission was coming up, and he didn't have much to spend on beyond essential equipment.
Once yesterday's Death Whisper Tentacle had been verified, he'd get around twenty points. Spending five was well within reason.
"Sure. I'll send them back. Let them go with you."
With the unexpected income, Garcia's attitude improved considerably. He didn't care how much oil Cheng Ye managed to squeeze out of the family.
Charging an entry fee wasn't exactly respectable. Since Cheng Ye had assumed he was picking on Dongren, Garcia had been handed a convenient excuse. Otherwise, if word reached the High Level in Hope City, someone might end up getting their head chopped off.
"After you go out, get on my Conveyor Belt 8. I'll check your identities."
Cheng Ye gave them his instructions, then returned to his Quarantine Station to wait.
The old conveyor belt squealed as it slowly turned. In less than a minute, it had brought the family over.
Maybe the nameless frustration in him hadn't faded yet. Or maybe he'd been waiting too long for a chance to grow stronger.
Cheng Ye's mouth was dry, and for some reason, he felt nervous.
"Listen up. Everyone in this world does everything for a reason. I didn't save you out of kindness. I have my own reasons."
"You don't need to pay an entry fee. All I need is for you to cooperate, answer my questions, and be honest. Understand?"
Cheng Ye spoke first, taking the initiative.
The man nodded heavily, his feelings complicated. His gaze flickered as he looked at Cheng Ye.
Though he'd only just arrived, he felt as if he'd been pulled into a whirlpool. But he had no choice. If he wanted to survive, he had to get into Xingfu City.
"Names! Think carefully! I need to hear your real names!"
"Chu Yunfeng, Yu Qinghui."
"And the child?"
"Chu Xuan."
No wonder Cheng Ye had picked him. He glanced at the panel. After giving his name, Chu Yunfeng's Cooperation Degree was a pitiful 9%. The other two were even lower—one at 5%, the other at 0%.
He wondered what the boy had been taught. He wasn't willing to cooperate with him, the inspector, at all.
Fortunately, Chu Yunfeng was his only target. It didn't matter how cooperative the other two were.
"Gender?"
"Huh?"
Chu Yunfeng paused. "Are there other genders in Xingfu City?"
"I ask, you answer. You need to obey. Don't try to ask me questions. Understand?"
Cheng Ye repeated those last three words, his tone growing more forceful.
"Male, female, male."
"Good. Ages?"
"Thirty-four, thirty-three, six."
"Where are you from?"
"Hongcao City."
"Where?"
Cheng Ye pulled out a map and searched for a while before finding it. "Don't try to fool me. Hongcao City is nearly twenty thousand kilometers from Xingfu City. What is this, a seafaring game of Monopoly in the Wasteland?"
"Sir, it's a long story."
Chu Yunfeng's expression turned rueful, as if he'd expected the inspector to ask. He answered honestly.
"My wife and I were sailors in Hongcao City's ocean-going fleet. We were originally headed to Hope City to trade, but while we were at sea, we encountered a Special Infected we'd never seen before. The crew suffered heavy casualties, and in the chaos, our fleet lost its way. We drifted at sea for nearly a year."
At the mention of that dark period, Chu Yunfeng's brows furrowed deeply.
"Just last month, we landed on the coast near Yang City. We heard Xingfu City would take in refugees, so we did everything we could to make our way here."
What a load of nonsense. Did he think Cheng Ye was an idiot?
Cheng Ye shook his head inwardly. Even with modern ocean-going ships and plentiful supplies, it wasn't easy to maintain a build like Chu Yunfeng's over a long voyage.
That kind of story might fool inspectors from small, backward places.
But when Cheng Ye saw that the Cooperation Degree on the panel was still rising, having reached 31%, he decided it was a minor issue.
As long as Chu Yunfeng was willing to cooperate, what did it matter if he told a few little lies?
"All right, stop the story. Now pick up the measuring instrument on the tabletop and read me the numbers. You know how to use these things, right?"
"I do!"
Chu Yunfeng nodded crisply, instantly realizing that Cheng Ye didn't care at all about what he'd just said.
That only added to the unease already churning in his head.
Measure, read out the numbers.
Cheng Ye lowered his head as if taking notes, but in reality, he was staring at the panel, watching the numbers change.
Only when Chu Yunfeng's Cooperation Degree finally reached 50.1% did he let out a long breath.
Sure enough, wearing the inspector's badge made it easy to reach 50% with outsiders seeking refuge.
"Sir?"
"Wait in the cage for a bit. I want to think over the story you just told me."
As he answered, Cheng Ye used his mind to press the "Search" button for the first time in his life.
[Search target: Chu Yunfeng] [Current Cooperation Degree: 51.8%] [Current searchable categories: Information, Items, Skills] [Search target selected: Skill (Lv.1)] [Searching.]
Lines of text flashed before his eyes.
About five seconds later, a dazzling panel appeared, making Cheng Ye's eyes widen.
[Chu Yunfeng] [Lv.1 Skills]: Proficient Swimming, Beast Intuition, Night Vision, Beginner Mechanical Repair, Quick Draw, Basic Strength, Basic Perception, Simple Medical, Basic Trap Making, Iron Feet, Basic Wilderness Survival, Basic Carpentry, Basic Camouflage [Lv.2 Skill]: Lock On [Lv.3 Skill]: Lock On [Lv.4 Skill]: Lock On
"H-How many?"
Cheng Ye almost thought he'd misread it. He counted again before he could believe Chu Yunfeng had thirteen Lv.1 skills.
And, even more incredibly, the man also had Lv.2, Lv.3, and even Lv.4 skills that Cheng Ye couldn't search yet.
Just the ones displayed made him ten times more impressive than Father Joel, who'd been practically invincible in The Last of Us.
Wait, man, did you come to Xingfu City to be the protagonist?
His luck had exploded. He'd landed a Golden Legend, and Cheng Ye could barely keep his grin under control.
Thirteen skills. What a delightful problem—how was he supposed to choose?
Swimming, Night Vision, Mechanical Repair, Medical, Trap Making, Iron Feet, Wilderness Survival, Carpentry, and Camouflage all looked like noncombat skills. He'd rule them out for now. They wouldn't bring much short-term benefit or help much on a field mission.
That left Beast Intuition, Basic Strength, Basic Perception, and Quick Draw. Cheng Ye hesitated, then firmly made his choice with a thought.
The panel flashed, followed by an exciting success notification.
[Search successful] [Civilization Collector has successfully recorded: Basic Strength (Lv.1)]
"It worked!"
His first try at a 50% success rate had worked. Cheng Ye couldn't hold back his excitement.
He had one more chance. He selected again with a thought.
The panel flashed.
Had he failed?
No!
[Search successful] [Civilization Collector has successfully recorded: Beast Intuition (Lv.1)]
"Two successes in a row. It was worth waiting all day—my luck's really on fire!"
Now that the Three Nos had two more skills, both of them useful, what would change?
Cheng Ye's heart raced. It took several deep breaths to suppress the urge to equip the skills right then and there.
Stay calm. He had to stay calm. Now wasn't the time to stand out!
"All right, you can go get your resident permits."
He pressed the button to open the Isolation Cage, and the door creaked open from the inside.
"Huh?"
Chu Yunfeng froze, completely unprepared for how easily he'd passed.
But he reacted quickly. Realizing Cheng Ye was serious, he immediately thanked him and led his wife and child away.
"Heh. We'll probably see each other again before long."
Cheng Ye watched Chu Yunfeng disappear from view, his smile growing broader.
Those five Contribution Points had been well spent.
At his current Search level, he couldn't do anything about Chu Yunfeng yet.
But sooner or later, he'd be able to search all of his skills. Then he could equip three Lv.4 skills and beat the hell out of Garcia!
Thanks to Cuvve for the 10,000-tip. Thank you, benefactor! Life is hard—this newbie sighs. Readers, please post in the book's discussion group and leave comments to help boost its popularity. I'll read every one of them~
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