After Yu Hong left with the others, only Liu Kun and Ding Yishan were left sitting opposite each other in the conference room.

Silence washed over the mahogany table like a tide, until the sunlight outside the window moved a few inches, and the two of them finally stood up, walking heavily towards the exit.

At the door, Chuan had already prepared supplies for visiting the injured, four large bulging bags piled up at his feet.

Seeing the two come out with solemn faces, his heart sank, and he didn't dare breathe loudly, silently picking up the supplies and following along.

The black pickup truck drove away from the conference area, and after turning two corners, Liu Kun suddenly broke the silence: "Old Ding, what Yu Hong said makes sense, but it's merely reasonable, that's all. You've seen it too, today's era is different from before. Back then, people could argue fiercely over a system, convincing others with logic and facts, but now, if you say the wrong phrase and the adults aren't pleased, you'd be thrown out."

"Hm." Ding Yishan responded lightly, his eyes on the passing scenery of the Inner City outside the window, "I understand his meaning, but he may not grasp our hardships."

"Exactly!" Liu Kun suddenly slapped the steering wheel, causing the pickup to sway, "If you're not Extraordinary, you'll always remain an ant! Without solid power in your hands, everything you say is just empty talk, who the hell would really care?"

"Look at Cheng Wu, the best example, forced away by a few words from the Elders!"

He took a deep breath, his chest heaving violently, his tone filled with suppressed anger: "Hou Rui and his people now care less and less about us, yet we still have to obsequiously ask them for resources and support. This life is too suffocating!"

"Director Liu, times have changed," Ding Yishan's voice turned calmer, "Back then, they endured through the same suffocating hardships to get where they are. We have to endure."

"Endure? Endure my ass!"

Liu Kun cursed, but quickly suppressed his temper, a hint of fierceness flashing in his eyes, "But don't worry, this kind of life won't last long, recently, I found a new way to become stronger..."

He paused here, turning to look at Ding Yishan, a meaningful smile curling at the corner of his mouth:

"Cheng Ye is a promising talent, you need to cultivate him well, he might be a surprise."

"Cheng Ye?" Ding Yishan was taken aback, furrowing his brow, "What's up with him?"

"You didn't know? At the North Rapid Inspection Station, he discovered a unique infection source."

Liu Kun's voice lowered slightly, tinged with excitement, "The characteristics of that thing are unprecedented, it's just what I need, in a few days, I'll personally go to the ruins to see if there's a Fusion Body of this infection source, if I can find it..."

"Heh, everything will have its beginning and end eventually..."

Liu Kun didn't finish his words as the car turned a corner, sunlight swept across from the sky, casting a slanted light on his face, making the fierceness appear somewhat eerie.

Ding Yishan glanced sideways, his heart suddenly tightened, as if stung by something.

But his face remained calm, his body didn't move an inch.

After a short while.

The pickup truck stopped steadily in front of the Gate of Happiness, the heavy alloy gate slowly opening, revealing the bleak scenery of the Buffer Zone outside.

The two got off one after the other, Liu Kun stood inside the gate, Ding Yishan leading Chuan out with the supplies.

"Old Ding."

"Hm."

"Remember my words, times have changed, we... need to keep up with the times, we can't stay stagnant!"

Liu Kun spoke again, lowering his voice, filled with an unusual excitement.

"Okay!"

Ding Yishan nodded firmly, smiling as he stepped quickly onto the inspection station's pickup.

But even as the car drove far from the Gate of Happiness, he still frowned in thought.

"Sir, I feel like..."

"Shut up."

Ding Yishan barked, his gaze falling on the rearview mirror, the towering outline of the Gate of Happiness growing smaller, Liu Kun turned into a tiny black dot.

But for some reason, this city he'd watched over for most of his life, this gate symbolizing the boundary between inside and outside, and these people who once stood shoulder to shoulder...

All seemed to have unknowingly changed, becoming unrecognizably foreign, increasingly unfamiliar.

And now the issues before him were piling up.

The Idealist Faction's intention is to quickly determine the winner between the Eastern and Western factions within the station, but currently, the Eastern People's power is already weak, even the position of a duty station chief causes four Eastern Fifth-Phase Inspectors to fight tooth and nail, how can they possibly suppress Harlem?

Moreover, the young generation among the Westerners, though slightly better off than the Eastern People, they too are focused on aligning themselves for advancement, each one concentrating on the power struggle.

Original intentions, what original intentions?

Only Matthew Lee, who doesn't want to climb up, still remembers a bit of an inspector's duty.

"Now we're lacking a flag bearer among the young generation at the Inspection Station..."

"Otherwise, even if we wanted to pile resources, we wouldn't know whom to give them."

Ding Yishan leaned back in the chair, gazing at the mottled stains on the car ceiling, suddenly feeling somewhat dazed.

Back then, he gambled on Cheng Long succeeding, half of that gamble paid off, he poured all his station's resources into Cheng Long, and Cheng Long indeed propped up the Inspection Station, helping him climb step by step to the position of Station Chief.

But it was Cheng Long's success that also led to his failure.

Due to Liu Kun's influence, Cheng Long became excessively obsessed with becoming Extraordinary, to the point of being almost possessed, which ultimately led to such an outcome.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but recall Matthew Lee's suggestion.

Cheng Ye?

Another one from the Cheng Family?

He instinctively felt a bit resistant, this "waste" known to everyone in the Inner City, who had nothing noteworthy in his record from childhood, was even inferior to the ordinary scavengers from outside.

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