Golden Legend, Great Harvest!

Conveyor Belt 7.

West Faction prosecutor Garcia roared in anger, slamming his fist on the table, making it crackle.

"A family of paupers, nothing here, nothing there. Xingfu City isn't a place to house beggars. You parasites who came for welfare, damned vermin, should have gone to hell long ago!"

The man standing in the isolation cage showed a flicker of embarrassment and shame on his face.

The woman behind him pulled the child, who looked about five or six years old, closer into her embrace.

Xingfu City, as they heard it on the radio, didn't require any "entry fees."

But now, Garcia was explicitly and repeatedly making it clear: the family of three needed to offer something valuable for each person to enter, or they would be directly driven out, losing their chance to enter the checkpoint forever.

"Sir, please give me some time."

After a few seconds of silence, the man licked the bloodstains on his chapped lips. "We absolutely won't be parasites. I have strength, I can move bricks, I can unload cargo. We'll pay the entry fee as soon as we earn the money."

"As soon as possible, always 'as soon as possible.' How many times a day do you think I hear that phrase?"

Garcia sneered. "Do you think I'm that easy to fool? Either pay now, one valuable item per person, or take your 'as soon as possible' and go feed the infected in the ruins."

Is the West Faction really this disgusting?

Xingfu City is flourishing right now. How did it suddenly devolve into a late-dynasty version, with prosecutors extorting head fees at the gate?

Cheng Ye, who was listening intently, was startled. He concluded that his father, Cheng Long, whom he had never met, must have been a core figure of the East Faction.

Otherwise, the balance between the East and West Factions wouldn't have been so disrupted by his death.

"Wanna bet?"

Cheng Ye narrowed his eyes, his gaze sweeping across the people in the cage as he secretly assessed the family.

Hmm, it's not entirely unreasonable for Garcia to be so insistent.

The man was tall, at least 185cm, with bulging biceps like rocks under his torn coarse cloth shirt. Veins coiled like dragon-like patterns on his forearms, and his knuckles were covered in old calluses. He clearly had considerable combat strength, unlike the refugees who escaped by sheer luck.

The woman was a bit slender, but her eyes were astonishingly bright, like flickering flames. The arm around her child was tensed, and though her emotions must have been complex, her body showed no extraneous trembling, proving her mental fortitude was not weak.

As for the child, his dusty face wasn't exactly healthy, but surviving in the Wasteland at such a young age was already a feat.

I'll take the gamble!

"You two wait outside the main gate first. I need to handle something. Don't worry."

Cheng Ye stood up and first arranged for the man and woman who had just been transported in to return to the main gate to wait.

Then, he strode over to Conveyor Belt 7.

"Garcia, three contribution points, I'll take this family."

"You want them?"

Garcia had already noticed when Cheng Ye was arranging for people to leave.

Now hearing him say that, the narrow eyes revealed by the mask suddenly flashed with a meaningful look.

"Sounds like you can squeeze more out of this pauper than three contribution points?"

Oh, trying to haggle for a higher price?

Cheng Ye sneered and tapped the tabletop, "Listen, don't play these games with me. If you like making things difficult for people, I'll find Brother B to play with you after work?"

"You're trying to scare me with Brother B?"

Garcia scoffed and extended his right hand, "Five contribution points, they're yours."

"Deal!"

Cheng Ye couldn't be bothered to bicker here.

If he had Liu Bi's strength, he would definitely catch this brat after work and beat him up to vent his anger, but using someone else's power to act tough, it was best to know when to quit.

Plus, with fieldwork approaching, besides purchasing necessary equipment, he didn't have many places to spend money.

Once yesterday's Death Whisper Tentacle verification period passed, he'd get around 20 points, and spending 5 points was completely within his acceptable range.

"Alright, I'll return them. Let them go with you."

With the unexpected income, Garcia's attitude improved a lot, and he no longer cared how much oil Cheng Ye could squeeze out of this family.

The matter of collecting city entry fees was ultimately not a good look. Cheng Ye mistakenly thought he was making things difficult for people, which gave him an excuse. Otherwise, if this matter reached the ears of Hope City's higher-ups, someone might lose their head.

"After you go out, get on my Conveyor Belt 8, and I'll check your identities."

Cheng Ye instructed and returned to his quarantine station to wait.

The old conveyor belt made a piercing squeak, and the track slowly rotated. In less than a minute, it delivered the family.

Perhaps the nameless anger in his heart hadn't subsided, or perhaps he had waited too long to become stronger.

Cheng Ye felt a bit dry-mouthed and inexplicably nervous.

"Listen carefully, everyone in this world does everything with a purpose. I'm not saving you out of the goodness of my heart; I have my own purpose too."

"You don't need to pay city entry fees, you just need to cooperate with me honestly and answer my questions, understand?"

Cheng Ye spoke first, taking the initiative.

The man nodded heavily, his mood complex, his gaze towards Cheng Ye flickering.

Although he had just arrived, he felt like he was being drawn into a vortex. But there was no choice; to survive, he had to enter Xingfu City.

"Names! Think carefully! I need to hear your real names!"

"Chu Yunfeng, Yu Qinghui."

"The child?"

"Chu Xuan."

As expected of the people he had chosen, Cheng Ye sized them up. After giving their names, Chu Yunfeng's cooperation level was a pitiful 9%. The other two were even lower, one at 5%, the other at 0%.

This child must have been taught something, as he had no intention of cooperating with him, the inspector.

Fortunately, his target was only Chu Yunfeng. The cooperation levels of the other two didn't matter much.

"Gender?"

"Huh?"

Chu Yunfeng was stunned. "Does Xingfu City have other genders?"

"I ask, you answer. You need to obey. Don't try to question me, understand?"

Cheng Ye repeated the last three words, his tone intensifying slightly.

"Male, female, male."

"Very good. Age?"

"34, 33, 6."

"Where are you from?"

"Hongcao City."

"Where?"

Cheng Ye took out a map and searched for a while before finding it. "Don't try to play games with me. Hongcao City is nearly twenty thousand kilometers from Xingfu City. Were you playing Monopoly at sea in the Wasteland?"

"Sir, this is indeed a long story."

Chu Yunfeng's face contorted slightly, as if he had expected the inspector to ask this question. He answered honestly.

"My wife and I were both sailors in the Hongcao City ocean fleet. We originally planned to go to Hope City for trade, but while sailing at sea, we encountered a special infected creature we had never seen before. It caused heavy casualties among the crew, and the fleet lost its way in the chaos. We drifted at sea for nearly a year."

As Chu Yunfeng mentioned that dark period, his brows furrowed into the character '川'.

"It wasn't until last month that we landed on the coast near Yang City. We heard that Xingfu City could accept refugees, so we rushed here with all our might."

Good heavens, is he trying to fool a ghost?

Cheng Ye secretly shook his head. Even with the abundant supplies on modern ocean-going vessels, it was rare for anyone to maintain Chu Yunfeng's physique during a long voyage.

Such a story would only fool ignorant inspectors from small towns.

However, seeing the cooperation percentage on the panel continue to rise, reaching 31%.

Cheng Ye felt that these were minor issues.

As long as he was willing to cooperate with this inspector, what was a little white lie?

"Alright, stop your story. Now pick up the measuring device on the table and report the numbers to me. You should know how to use these things, right?"

"Yes!"

Chu Yunfeng nodded crisply, instantly realizing that Cheng Ye didn't care about what he had just said.

This added a few more layers of unease to his already doubtful mind.

Measure, report numbers.

Cheng Ye lowered his head, pretending to record, but in reality, he was staring intently at the changing numbers on the panel.

Only when Chu Yunfeng's cooperation finally reached 50.1% did he breathe a sigh of relief.

As expected, wearing the mantle of an inspector made it not difficult to reach 50% cooperation from an outsider survivor.

"Sir?"

"Wait in the cage for a moment. I need to carefully consider your story."

Cheng Ye replied while mentally pressing the 'Search' button for the first time in his life.

[Retriever: Chu Yunfeng]

[Current Cooperation: 51.8%]

[Current Searchable Scope: Information, Items, Skills]

[Search Target Confirmed: Skills (lv.1)]

[Searching...]

Lines of text flashed before his eyes.

It took about five seconds for Xu Xu to pop up a luxurious panel that made 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 was seeing things. Only after counting again could he confirm that Chu Yunfeng possessed thirteen level one skills.

Even more exaggerated was that this guy also had Lv.2, Lv.3, and even Lv.4 skills that couldn't be searched for yet.

The ones displayed alone were ten times more impressive than Father Joel, who was considered invincible in The Last of Us.

"Wait, dude, are you the protagonist of Xingfu City?"

Cheng Ye's luck had exploded, granting him a Golden Legend. He found himself in a bit of a dilemma, the corners of his mouth involuntarily curling up.

Thirteen skills, what a happy problem to have. Which one should he choose?

He first eliminated those that clearly weren't combat-oriented: Swimming, Night Vision, Mechanical Repair, Medical, Traps, Iron Feet, Wilderness Survival, Carpentry, and Camouflage. They wouldn't bring much immediate benefit and their help in fieldwork would be limited.

He hesitated over the remaining ones: Beast Intuition, Basic Strength, Basic Perception, and Quick Draw. Then, he controlled his thoughts and pressed down heavily.

The panel flickered, followed by an exciting success notification.

[Search Successful]

[Civilization Collector has successfully recorded: Basic Strength (Lv.1)]

"It worked!"

A 50% success rate on the first try made Cheng Ye unable to contain his excitement.

He still had one more chance. He controlled his thoughts and pressed again.

The panel flickered.

Failed?

No!

[Search Successful]

[Civilization Collector has successfully recorded: Beast Intuition (lv.1)]

"Hit twice in a row, today was definitely worth the wait. My luck is exploding!"

Two skills added to a blank slate, and both are useful. What kind of changes will this bring?

Cheng Ye's heart suddenly pounded faster. He took several deep breaths to suppress the urge to equip the skills immediately.

Calm down, I must stay calm. Now is not the time to reveal myself!

"Alright, you can go to the back and get your resident permits."

He pressed the button to open the Isolation Cage, and the door creaked open from the inside.

"Ah?"

Chu Yunfeng froze, completely surprised that he passed so easily.

But he reacted quickly. Realizing Cheng Ye wasn't joking, he immediately nodded in thanks and led his wife and children away.

"Heh, we'll definitely have a chance to meet again."

Watching Chu Yunfeng's figure disappear from view, Cheng Ye turned his head, his smile gradually deepening.

These 5 points were too worth it.

With his current search level, he couldn't do anything to Chu Yunfeng.

But sooner or later, he would be able to search for all his skills. By then, with three lv4 skills equipped, wouldn't he be able to hang Garcia up and beat him severely?

Thanks to Cuvve for the 10,000 reward, thanks to the great god. Life is not easy, a novice sighs. Readers, you can post in the book friends circle or chapter comments to increase the heat. I will read every single one~