"No wonder you're an old hand at the station, full of spirit!"

Cheng Ye bent down and patted the dog's head.

The black dog was well taken care of and wasn't afraid of people at all. Its fur felt as smooth as silk.

What's more amazing was that after just one word from She, the dog became unbelievably obedient.

Even though it was meeting him for the first time, it kept nudging his palm, full of spirit.

"Hei was brought back years ago by the Pioneer Corps from a neighboring province. It's said to be a crossbreed with a Mutant Beast. Although it didn't inherit the Mutant Beast's formidable combat power, its intelligence is very high. We specifically trained it to detect high-value items. As long as they're not hidden too ridiculously, it can sniff them out with a near-perfect accuracy."

Cheng Ye understood the implication that relying on Hei alone wasn't enough to stop all smugglers.

But that's normal; where there's a will, there's a way.

As long as there's enough profit, the caravans will rack their brains to come up with new hiding methods.

"Let's go on duty!"

Cheng Ye swiped open the gate door. Even though he was just an intern, his movements were swift and without any awkwardness.

Behind him, She's eyes flickered almost imperceptibly, a hint of surprise first flashed across, then a barely concealed joy.

"This Inspector Cheng doesn't seem like a newbie, full of spirit!"

He quietly praised Cheng Ye in his heart, quickly dragging Hei to catch up.

For the Inspector, the four quarantine zones aren't very different, it's just a matter of how much grease they can pocket and the level of risk.

But for these grassroots observers, the promotion conditions for each zone vary greatly.

For example, in Zone A, stability is key. As long as no major incidents occur throughout the year, one can receive a good evaluation.

In Zone C, however, it's a different set of rules completely. Performance indicators rule the day, the more contraband unearthed, the better the evaluation results.

Dong.

The checkpoint bell rang, officially opening the flow.

But before the four trucks could start driving in, a crowd suddenly surged from outside the yellow line.

"So many people?"

Yesterday was the checkpoint's reopening, allowing entry but no exits.

Today the restrictions were completely lifted, and residents could finally leave the Buffer Zone and step into the Wilderness.

Cheng Ye stood up and gazed into the distance, clicking his tongue. In less than half a minute, at least several hundred people surged out, with a dozen or so vehicles mixed in.

Even though it was raining, and judging by the rain, it probably wouldn't stop until the afternoon.

But in the face of the huge benefits of being the first to go out, some are still tempted to take risks.

Like this caravan, knowing full well the Wilderness is fraught with dangers, still ventured all the way here.

Beep.

As he gazed, the four trucks finally started up, honking shortly as they drove into the inspection lane.

The Zone C lane comes with a giant scale, showing the total vehicle weight on a screen:

The first truck, 17.7 tons.

"Wow, it's quite packed, heavy load!"

Cheng Ye glanced at the data.

On the Wasteland, there aren't any traffic rules, and no one cares about whether you're overweight, but a nine-point-six-meter truck can usually carry about 20 tons at most, beyond which significantly affects its ability to traverse difficult terrains.

Typically, anything over 16 tons is considered fully loaded.

"Sir, your..."

Watching Cheng Ye take out Thunder 1 from his backpack and skillfully start assembling it, She was taken aback.

"Just in case."

Cheng Ye grinned, not stopping his hands, assembling Thunder 1 and then the Ranger with ease, "The more they've carried, the more places they've likely been through, could be trouble lurking."

Better safe than sorry.

He didn't tuck the two guns under the table like in Zone A, but brazenly placed them on top.

If this convoy had an outbreak of Infected Bodies, he could grab the guns and counterattack in an instant, not a moment wasted.

Cheng Ye also had another purpose.

He looked too young, and if the caravan thought he was an inexperienced pushover, cooperation would likely suffer.

With the two guns now on the table, given his excellent eyesight, he vaguely saw the Big Beard in the co-pilot seat of the first truck slightly straighten from his slouched posture.

"The rest stop, one by one, come in only after inspection!"

She grabbed the loudspeaker at his waist and shouted.

The first truck had just entered the inspection area and hadn't come to a full stop when the Big Beard on the co-pilot's side pushed open the door and jumped down, revealing his identity.

He passed a red High Mountain Badge through a small window of the isolation net, clearly not his first time trading with Happiness City.

She didn't take it directly but retrieved a clip from his waist pouch, clipped the badge, and walked back to Cheng Ye's side.

"Sir, when you were assigned to duty in Zone C, your Defense Communication should have been authorized."

"Is that so?"

Cheng Ye murmured in confusion, taking out his Defense Communication device.

To his surprise, a new icon had indeed appeared on the desktop, a camera icon he was familiar with.

Underneath it, four words were inscribed: [Photography Identification].

Upon clicking into it, the back of the Defense Communication slightly vibrated, popping open a thin seam, revealing a hidden lens.

Damn, this brick even has a camera function?

Cheng Ye was instantly stunned; when he first got the Defense Communication, he thought it was an old-school mobile phone.

Later, he discovered it could verify badges and had a touch feature to check information, so he felt the technology was barely at the level of a basic smartphone.

But with each function unfolding along the way, it seemed it was catching up to modern smartphones pretty quickly.

Of course, the fluidness left much to be desired, similar to using a camera now, moving your hand slightly too quickly would leave a visible trail on the screen.

"Each Shelter City's badge has unique anti-counterfeiting designs. These designs are never disclosed to ordinary people, only circulated between Shelter Cities. To verify authenticity, you just need to photograph the badge to match it with the database."

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