With the experience of mastering skills, this time with the switch to level 2 talent, Cheng Ye dared not be careless in the slightest.

Before even entering the main city, he gave Uncle Dong a call in advance to ask if there was any more nutrient paste available.

Perhaps because the morning's rush to hoard goods nearly sparked a major riot, the Public Works Bureau surprisingly had more supplies delivered in the afternoon, and strictly ordered all shops to sell at the fixed price of 2 coins. If high prices were discovered, the penalty would be a fine ten times the amount or revocation of the sales permit.

"I got six boxes here, don't worry, it's enough."

"Good."

Uncle Dong's voice on the phone seemed unusual, but Cheng Ye didn't have time to think about it.

For just as he reached the main city entrance from the suburbs, he saw the road was again tightly blocked by sandbags, leaving only a narrow gap.

Looking up, the dark clouds in the sky were slowly dissipating, and it didn't seem like it was about to pour with rain...

Something's wrong.

Cheng Ye quickly approached, feeling a bit uneasy.

Previously, road closures were merely to limit flow, and the guards at the entrances were just a deterrent.

But now, there were six armed guards openly standing ready, with more people positioned behind them, guns hidden within the sandbags' gaps, exuding a lifeless warning "Do Not Come Close".

"Halt."

Seeing Cheng Ye jogging over, the guards exchanged looks and swiftly stepped forward.

"Main city curfew, no one is allowed to enter or exit."

"No one?" Cheng Ye said with a blank expression, pulling out his identification badge from his pocket, "Do I count as 'no one'?"

The guard paused, hurriedly taking the badge to swipe it through his defense communication device.

Seeing the information displayed, their tense expressions suddenly relaxed, "Inspector, please proceed, of course, you may come and go as you please."

"What happened?"

"Not sure... it's an order from above." The guard stammered, pointing towards the Inner City, "And it's an emergency order from over half an hour ago."

"Emergency?"

No wonder when I was taking the car to the chemical factory district earlier, the road wasn't blocked by these sandbags.

Could something major have happened?

As he passed through the barricade, Cheng Ye quickened his pace, realizing something was seriously wrong.

By the time he returned to the front of his community, the Grand Meat Hall's lights were unusually turned off early. Not only were the ingredients for the next day not prepared, but the two windows were reinforced with iron sheets, as if preparing for a coastal typhoon.

Uncle Dong's shop was still lit, but the rolling shutter door was half-closed, leaving just enough of a gap for half a person to squeeze through.

"Uncle Dong." Cheng Ye knocked on the shutter door.

"Don't just stand there, get inside."

The voice was marked by evident tension.

Cheng Ye ducked in, reflexively pulling down the shutter behind him.

The water-damaged countertops had been restored, and the flooded merchandise had been cleared away, leaving the surface bare.

Uncle Dong sat behind the counter, with three guns laid out on the table.

One long, two short.

The long one was an assault rifle, the short ones were a shotgun and a pistol.

The rifle was already disassembled, and next to it was an open bottle of gun oil, emitting a pungent odor.

"What's going on..."

Cheng Ye was stunned; this was the first time he'd seen Uncle Dong like this in the past three months.

The usual kindness had completely vanished, replaced by an aura of murderous intent.

"Did Station Chief He at Central Station make the ultimate sacrifice?"

"You know about that?"

Cheng Ye wasn't surprised; the loss of an inspection station chief in the Buffer Zone was no trivial matter—even if the news could temporarily be blocked, with so many eyes on the situation, it could only be hidden for one or two days at most.

For someone like Uncle Dong, a retired veteran, learning about it in advance through other channels wasn't surprising.

"It happened around noon, attacked by an unknown infected body."

"Did they catch the infected body that attacked Station Chief He?"

"Hmm?"

Now it was Cheng Ye's turn to be stunned, "Such matters need to be thoroughly investigated before being announced, so they must have caught it, right?"

"If you're unsure, then they haven't."

Uncle Dong's gaze was deep as an ancient well, his voice trembling slightly, "The last time a station chief was lost was thirteen years ago, after which the Buffer Zone was chaotic for two consecutive months, allowing over a hundred infected bodies to slip through."

"And they were all... unknown infected bodies."

"Don't scare yourself."

Cheng Ye's heart skipped a beat, but he consoled, "I was on duty at North Station today; I'd know if any infected had slipped in, wouldn't I?"

"It's different; you're concerned with external threats, but internally..."

Uncle Dong said, opening his defense communication and switching to the message interface.

Cheng Ye glanced over and froze.

[Winter-4]

[There's a ghost knocking at the door, be calmed, see you at the venue]

[June 28th, 21:07]

?

6.28 is today.

21:07?

Could it be?

A scene flashed immediately in Cheng Ye's mind, after seeing off Dai Zun, he'd casually glanced at his defense communication.

The time seemed to be 21:02?

"From an old comrade."

Uncle Dong wasn't surprised by Cheng Ye's reaction, he just let out a long sigh, "Just over an hour ago, the Gate of Happiness was attacked by infected bodies."

"What?"

Cheng Ye was shaken to the core, his first instinct was disbelief.

But in the next second, his hair stood on end, cold sweat running down his back as a shiver surged through his body.

Memories rushed back swiftly.

When sending Dai Zun to the Gate of Happiness, there were indeed many eyes watching from the shadows. At the time, he had even stared some of them down. Could it be that those gazes didn't belong to ordinary vagrants, but...

"They didn't manage to breach, but undoubtedly many infected bodies have already mixed in."

Uncle Dong murmured, his hands assembling the rifle barrel without slowing down, "You should know the logic of 'darkness under the lamp.' Others might not be as thorough in external inspections, but when it comes to the subtle signs in the Buffer Zone, us old warhorses are more attuned than anyone, and we know exactly what the consequences could be."

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