Cheng Ye was well aware of his own needlework skills.

In the early days, when there was no PDD to buy cheap goods, he would often mend his torn jeans, but later, when a pair of jeans only cost 20 Happiness Coins, there was no need to mend them.

When the jeans were worn out, he would toss them to the pick-up station for recycling in exchange for 4 Happiness Coins, then use a coupon to buy a new pair, managing to do it all for just ten Happiness Coins at most.

Over time, he had forgotten most of the skill, only retaining a basic level of proficiency.

"It seems the search for action points should be targeting my highest level."

Cheng Ye pondered for a moment and then silently sighed at why he was worrying about this.

In fact, there's no need to be tangled up over what the standard for the action search actually is; complex operations in the future will definitely require complementary skills to execute, and the requirements for simple tasks surely won't be too high.

Even if he really couldn't execute it, learning it on the spot wouldn't take too much time.

The Wasteland is ultimately not an apocalyptic end, and Happiness City is also not a city of zombies roaming everywhere.

This place still carries on human civilization. With his position as an Inspector, obtaining high-tech information might be difficult, but getting hold of those widely known common knowledge is relatively easy.

Additionally.

Cheng Ye reached out to open the drawer, and stuffed the backpack inside.

Although the Collector could conceal biological perception during action, the finished product couldn't continue to be concealed.

He would need to be mindful of this in the future, making sure to conduct operations when no one was around.

...

Being stuck in the quarantine zone, there was nowhere to go, and the entire morning of over four hours passed in a flash.

As the saying goes, a sudden rain doesn't last long, while a drizzle drenches persistently.

Last night's rainstorm arrived too suddenly and by morning, it had already turned into a drizzle, and now it was directly clear.

The temperature soared rapidly, and the sun made people dizzy and lightheaded.

At first, Cheng Ye was a bit worried about being unprepared for Infected Bodies, so he was focused throughout, scrutinizing the outside of the passage and occasionally getting up to keep his body warmed up.

But all morning, the quarantine Zone B beside him had let at least over a hundred people pass through, yet in Zone A on his side, there wasn't even a trace.

"Could it be that last night's rainstorm really caused the road outside to collapse?"

"But it shouldn't be like this, wouldn't people who can drive see the rain coming?"

Cheng Ye was quite surprised.

If the first day could pass so smoothly, it would be a good thing for him.

However, Murphy's Law is just so magical.

As luck would have it, just as this thought emerged, the shadow of moving vehicles finally appeared in the distance.

Here they come!

Cheng Ye's spirit lifted, and he instinctively first opened the Collector panel to glance at the upper right corner.

In nearly five hours, the charging value had restored from 0% to 18%, which was quite efficient.

At this rate, by the end of the workday, the charging would be enough for another search by tomorrow morning.

Moreover, he was worried about the search failing before, but now it's okay, even if it failed there are action points as compensation, so he wouldn't lose anything.

The vehicle gradually approached, unsurprisingly, it was the most common Big Golden Cup in the Buffer Zone.

Cheng Ye noticed that when this vehicle drove up the hard road and passed through the first passage, the two front tires were pressed unusually flat, obviously carrying a lot of goods inside.

"Halt, await instructions!"

Cheng Ye stood up with a 'whoosh', took out a loudspeaker from the desk frame, and shouted toward the arriving Big Golden Cup.

Although it was his first time on duty at a rapid inspection station, he had observed the process in Zone B beside him for a whole morning and had picked up quite a bit.

Basically, it was a routine:

First, divert, then inspect, exchange information, and verify results.

The Western Inspector in Zone B seemed especially averse to using instruments, often labeling scavengers with unsatisfactory answers as "Infected Bodies," and stuffing them into isolation cabins, starting with no less than seven days.

Whether this approach was right or wrong aside, it was certainly very inefficient.

As a standard Academy Faction, Cheng Ye had already figured out his own methodology over the past two months, and coupled with the tips taught by Luo Xiaoxue, he was confident he wouldn't be inferior to the fool next door.

The Big Golden Cup passed through the passage and slowly came to a stop in front of the isolation iron gate.

Noticing that there was an Eastern Prosecutor inside, the Western driver froze for a moment.

"Get out of the car, report your numbers, don't you understand?"

Cheng Ye shouted, and only then did the people in the car come to their senses, quickly opening the doors and getting down.

Four people in total.

Two in the front seats and two in the trunk, all Westerners.

"Do you have the documents for exiting the city? Send them over through the window for me to check."

"Yes, we do!"

The Western driver nodded quickly, turned around, and retrieved an envelope from the storage compartment beside the seat.

"Please check, sir."

There was a palm-sized window on the outer isolation iron gate, specifically for the checked individuals to send documents.

Cheng Ye took it, returned to the alloy table, and opened it for examination.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he opened it, six coins fell out, with the Happiness City's grand wall design on one side and the numerical value '100' on the other.

600?

Not anymore?

You are trying to destroy the economic system of Happiness City, aren't you?

Cheng Ye was momentarily stunned. Although inspectors have many ways to make money, earning a thousand Happiness Coins a month isn't difficult.

But the official monthly salary is not much. As an Intern Inspector, his salary is 500 coins, and Liu Bi, a seasoned Fourth-stage Inspector, only gets 950.

Now, anyone can come and offer 600 Happiness Coins as a bribe? Isn't this nonsense?

Sweeping the coins aside, Cheng Ye raised his head slightly, observing the four people standing outside the quarantine gate.

With one glance, he immediately noticed something.

The driver and co-driver were fine, but the two people who got out of the Big Golden Cup's rear trunk seemed to be injured.

The person on the left had an injury on their arm, slightly bent unconsciously, while the person on the right had a leg injury and needed to hold onto the rear door to stand steadily.

"No wonder they're offering such a valuable gift."

"If these injuries occurred in the neighboring Zone B, they'd probably end up thrown into a quarantine chamber for ten days to half a month without even asking. Once the quarantine period ends, the person with the arm injury might endure it, but the one with the leg injury likely wouldn't make it."

Cheng Ye suddenly understood.

According to Raven's previous information, these four-seater Big Golden Cups usually don't offer much in bribes, mostly local specialties from nearby gathering places or Shelter City, curious maybe, but typically valued around 50 Happiness Coins.

After all, before leaving the city, they already paid part of the "passage fee" at the inspection station.

Only large transport convoys offer a hundred or two hundred coins during city entry inspections to ensure smooth passage.

"Six hundred coins, to buy a life. That's quite an expenditure..."

Cheng Ye opened the exit slip, flipping through it.

Nothing particularly noteworthy was recorded, just normal trade approval; the goods were nothing but wrenches, screwdrivers, hammers, and other tools, as well as radios, tapes, and wires, all within the export scope permitted by Happiness City.

No, these people's car was filled to the brim.

Suddenly recalling how the tires of the Big Golden Cup appeared flat when entering the station, Cheng Ye immediately realized the problem was with the cargo.

"Who's in charge here?"

"Sir, it's me!" The driver raised his hand.

"Name?"

"Cole Waters."

"I'll open the quarantine gate. You drive the car in alone. I need to inspect the cargo. The others wait outside, understood?"

Cheng Ye's tone was straightforward.

Cole felt a chill in his heart, surprised that this Eastern inspector guessed the issue was with the cargo without asking anything.

At the same time, he realized that Cheng Ye didn't outright refuse, which meant there was room for negotiation.

The quarantine gate slowly lifted upwards.

The quarantine gate of Inspection Zone A was much more spacious than Zone B and could easily accommodate the Big Golden Cup passing through.

With the support at the rear removed, the person with the leg injury staggered and showed an abnormality, falling heavily to the ground before the teammates could catch them.

Cole saw this scene in the rearview mirror, his expression changed slightly, but he had to drive the car into the inspection area, obediently turning off the engine and getting off.

Under Cheng Ye's watchful eye, he said nothing and directly removed his shirt and pants, standing in the inspection area wearing only underwear.

This was the standard procedure for a rapid inspection, intended to show there were no visible signs of infection or concealed weapons on the body.

"Report your vitals first."

Cheng Ye glanced over, though Cole had several scabbed abrasions all over his body, and his calf appeared swollen, none of these were infection-related injuries.

Only those wounds larger than 10*10cm from scratches, bites, stabs, are indicative of attacks by Infected Bodies.

"37.1 (temperature)/66 (heart rate)/18 (breathing frequency)."

"You seem quite relaxed?"

Cheng Ye pulled out a slight smile, frightening Cole into a shiver, hurriedly replying:

"Sir, I've always had a strong heart since childhood. Even in fights against Infected Bodies, my heart rate never exceeded 130."

"Do you think that's what I'm referring to?"

Cheng Ye tapped the table, making the six coins on the alloy tabletop tremble.

"You get three sentences to say something I want to hear."

"Yes... Yes, sir!"

Cole's throat rolled nervously. Despite facing someone over ten years younger, he felt immense pressure.

This was not only due to the power in Cheng Ye's hands but also due to the undeniable confidence and authority in his gaze.

"On our return from delivering goods to Green Stone Gathering Place, we encountered a wandering scavenger who wanted to trade a piece of information for two weeks' worth of food. I agreed."

"The information was about the location of an undeveloped mineral deposit."

"We found the deposit, but to our surprise, the scavenger had already set traps. Luckily, we won the battle and managed to bring back quite a few samples."

Cole spoke rapidly, afraid he wouldn't be concise enough to avoid Cheng Ye's interruption.

"Mineral deposit?"

Cheng Ye raised an eyebrow slightly, "Is it Extraordinary Ore?"

"Sir, you're joking. There's no way we could dig up such rare stuff; it's a small lithium vein in the form of pegmatite."

"What, lithium?!"

...

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