"Don't worry, I won't drag you down, and I've prepared protective gear and weapons."

"Where are they?"

Cheng Ye reached out and set the person down, suddenly realizing his strength had surpassed that of ordinary people.

It wasn't just strength and skill; even his courage and temperament had transformed.

Even he hadn't noticed that when facing danger, he had become so calm.

"I'll go get it!"

Huang Sheng's room was just four single rooms away from him.

Rushing in took just a moment, and he brought out a set of acrylic protective gear.

As for the helmet, it wasn't like his kind of protective helmet but a football helmet, enough to prevent contact with the infected.

"What about you guys?"

Cheng Ye nodded slightly and looked at the other two.

The two middle-aged men instantly realized, turned to their room gleefully, and quickly brought out their own simple equipment.

"13 years ago that time, I was tricked into selling two months of bad medicine, and I still regret it. Had I dared to act out then, I'd have been in management by now!"

The other person quickly agreed, "We only have handguns. If you don't mind, the three of us can help guard, and you can decide on the contribution points afterward."

This.

Cheng Ye fell silent for a moment.

The people from Happiness City seemed to have problematic mental states.

However, he suddenly thought of Elder Song's words that leaders only emerge with followers, forming combative strength.

If he weren't here, these three would likely struggle to muster the courage to step outside their apartments, let alone fight the infected.

But with him leading, the three gained boldness and dared to rush out.

Seeing him silent.

Huang Sheng and the others became somewhat nervous, their high spirits diminishing.

Yet they didn't interrupt Cheng Ye's thoughts, standing quietly in place, waiting.

"How did you get through 13 years ago?"

"Me?" Huang Sheng gave a bitter smile, "I was part of the Pioneer Corps, transporting goods to aid the construction of Red Leaf Bay's port, barely avoiding the Nightmare Leech."

"Zhu Xiang."

The other person spoke up, "I was selling medicine, uh, that Sleep Spirit. At the time, the health office tricked me, saying I was contributing to the Buffer Zone. I sold for free for two months and ended up being treated like a drug dealer, isolated for a month and a half, getting beaten daily."

This misfortune made Cheng Ye click his tongue.

"Wu Zhihong." The last one spoke, "I was part of the Rehabilitation faction, fighting those secretly spreading Nightmare Leeches. Unfortunately, those people escaped too fast, didn't kill a single one. Regretted it for years."

"You don't have family?"

Cheng Ye asked again, the three simultaneously shook their heads, faces showing complex expressions, each hiding stories.

"Alright, to follow me out, you must fully obey orders."

"No problem, as long as you don't send us to die, we'll do whatever you say."

Not sure why they trusted Cheng Ye so much, perhaps it was this young man's arrival that brought new energy to the stagnant electronic factory community?

Anyway, previously, there wasn't anyone in this building capable of blowing off heads, throwing people out the window.

Huang Sheng seemed excited.

"You should form a squad; with squad monitoring, we won't break any rules."

"Okay."

Cheng Ye took out a badge from his pocket, swiped on the Defense Communication device; the squad module was somewhat like WeChat's face-to-face group function.

After choosing to create, the interface displayed a string of identification codes, others could enter to join.

"Identification code...175107."

The three immediately took out their Defense Communication devices.

This was their first time doing this, Wu Zhihong and Zhu Xiang pressing the screen several times, couldn't find the joining entry. Huang Sheng, noticing quickly entered the code, and hurried to guide the others:

"Hey, right here, click here..."

"Okay, entered, the one showing Inspector in the title, that's... that's..."

He was guiding verbally, when Huang Sheng suddenly paused.

Wu Zhihong and Zhu Xiang didn't react at first, but after entering the identification code, the Inspected title brightly displayed, they froze too.

The three stiffened in place.

They glanced at their Defense Communication devices, then at Cheng Ye, faces showing confusion and surprise.

"Are you... an Inspector?"

"Doesn't seem like it?"

Cheng Ye couldn't help but shake his head, "Nothing happening, go back and rest."

"Sixteen minutes left."

The security door clanged shut, the enveloping smell of blood made the three shudder.

Only after several seconds did the three pairs of eyes meet, incredulous joy instantly washed over their faces:

"Inspector, this... Cheng Ye, Inspector Cheng?"

"Unbelievable, an Inspector living here, he's so young..."

"What's wrong with being young? Being young is good!"

Huang Sheng excitedly slapped his thigh, lowered his voice, "Young people want to make great achievements, in our Pioneer Corps, those up the ranks recently, none over thirty-five."

"But... isn't the Pioneer Corps recruitment standard below thirty-five?"

"Get lost!"

Unable to calm.

This run-down electronic factory building did have Inspectors living here a dozen years ago, but hadn't heard of anyone coming here 'to suffer' since.

As the highest authority in the Buffer Zone, an Inspector's power is unimaginable.

Such as...

A drone flew up, its camera scanning over the three.

Defense Communication broadcast:

"Inspector Cheng Ye has established a squad; Huang Sheng, Zhu Xiang, Wu Zhihong were included in the squad."

"Detected Inspector Cheng Ye initiated contribution determination mechanism, personal actions will be fully recorded by the drone, submitted to supercomputer, rewards distributed according to contribution value!"

This was one benefit of joining the Inspector's squad.

No need to scramble for kills, the drone uploads records, automatically judges contribution value.

Shooting, cleaning up the battlefield, rear support... every action will be assigned significance!

"This Inspector's identity, seems like it offers a lot of untapped help?"

Looking at the video showing their joyful faces, Cheng Ye realized this mechanism's advantage.

Due to the special rewards and linked mechanism effects, this efficiency in uniting people is impressive.

Without any coercive measures, strangers can be united to form fighting force.

Plus because of no infection, naturally they are on the same side, no conflict of interest.

With drones to harvest and rule judgment, when infection tides come, if Inspector desires, he can form a team of hundreds or thousands at any moment.

"What's the purpose, why give Inspectors so much authority?"

Cheng Ye furrowed his brows thinking, could only associate it with Idealist Faction system experiments.

No matter the cause, this authority for his current situation is undoubtedly a stroke of luck.

Ding.

The alarm rang again, screen showed 11:40, just one minute until outbreak.

He looked up at the wall hygrometer; pointer pointed at 99%, glass surface condensed with fine droplets.

"Is it coming?"

The sound of gunfire had completely engulfed the Buffer Zone.

To Wastelanders, this was a death knell, a call of doom.

But to Cheng Ye, it evoked a sense of homecoming during New Year, the cacophony of firecrackers on New Year's Eve.

Suddenly, numbers on screen jumped again.

Cheng Ye thought only intermittent thundering explosions were the loudest sounds.

But he was wrong; at 11.41, a piercing screech split the air, ascending to the sky, overshadowing all noise.

Silence.

Cheng Ye felt dizzy, eardrums pressured like his head was punched, throat surged with metallic taste.

Amidst tinnitus, he vaguely heard low explosion sounds from outside, twenty-odd fire meteors trailing tails from Inner City direction.

What was that?

Boom!

Fire meteors hit a vacant area in the South Suburb, erupted into dazzling light orbs, yet no shockwaves produced.

Almost simultaneously, the screech stopped abruptly, like a throat being squeezed.

[Emergency broadcast, code name 'Stand-In Starfish' fusion period mother source completely annihilated!]

[Humidity reached, mother source suppression failure, infected about to enter outbreak period, all residents prepare!]

...

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