Wasteland Border Inspector-Chapter 242 - 114: Frenzied Gains, Inspector’s Four-Piece Set!
In his eyes, a deep yearning flashed, "Firewood rarely receives your signals directly; they’re mostly brought by outsiders as recorded broadcasts. I listened to your celebration broadcast last time, with singing, dancing, storytelling, and even children’s performances... much more interesting than here. Besides technical lectures, we only have defense reports, disaster warnings, and various threats. Life is so bleak!"
"When I’m old and can’t work anymore, I’ll go to Happiness City to retire, and enjoy the kind of immortal days where I can bask in the sun in the square and nap to the sound of songs."
"Hehe."
Cheng Ye chuckled twice, suddenly feeling that the Inner City model of Happiness City wasn’t entirely pointless.
To these outsiders, it’s quite attractive, isn’t it?
"If you’re thinking of coming to our place, why not try to live inside Firewood Track Mountain?"
"That place?" Li Changfeng shook his head, "I don’t have that qualification. To live there, you have to either be a breakthrough source rail technician or an officer with exemplary combat merits. And living there isn’t free; the contribution points needed per day are equivalent to my month’s salary. Without continuous output, wanting to retire there is a dream. Unless I invent some groundbreaking source attraction technology, otherwise, I’d be kicked out after a few days."
Speaking of which, he suddenly pointed towards the direction of the city wall, his tone becoming more lively, "There, that’s the checkpoint. The only one in the entire Zone B4, isn’t it special enough?"
Cheng Ye looked in the direction he pointed, his gaze pausing slightly.
In terms of scale, Zone B4’s checkpoint is not as grand as those in Happiness City. It’s just a four-story building right below the city wall, grey and a bit inconspicuous.
But as the Flying Wing flew closer, he discovered the intricacies. The building is not only on the inner side of the city wall but also extends to the outside through an enclosed passage, like a dumbbell embedded in the city wall.
The extended area outside is as large as two football fields, marked with clear lines, reminiscent of a modern train station.
"Our model is different from yours," Li Changfeng explained, "Zone B4 has fewer outsiders, mostly fixed residents with activities largely within the Safe Zone."
He pointed to the outside area, "The outermost area is the fast check zone, reliant on machine scanning. The machines scan residents’ biological features to check for any issues, and if none, they’re allowed to pass directly with high efficiency."
"If the machine detects an anomaly, it automatically transfers to the second area, the manual review zone."
"An Inspector with equipment does a second verification, which can eliminate ninety percent of the problems."
Lastly, he pointed to the four-story building: "The third area is here, the isolation zone. Anyone suspected of infection, or those returning from the edge of the Orange Red District, has to stay inside for 21 days, undergoing tests three times a day, only allowed out if everything’s clear."
"Want to see from back to front, or try going through the whole inspection process?"
"Isn’t it obvious?"
Cheng Ye raised an eyebrow, and the two of them tacitly crossed the city wall, landing steadily on the open ground in front of the checkpoint.
Even though it was midnight, there were still sporadic residents entering and exiting the passage entrance, most appearing hurried, carrying backpacks or dragging luggage.
"We operate 24/7; on your side, it stops at night, right?"
"Yeah, the gates close at midnight and open at 8 in the morning."
Firewood has a sufficient Safe Zone to support round-the-clock operations, with multiple layers of risk-segmented areas outside.
Whereas around Happiness City is a wild wasteland, opening the gates at night is like giving infected bodies free passage.
Their descent attracted a few glances.
Some were envious, some curious, and some...
Cheng Ye’s gaze suddenly stopped, falling on the face of a middle-aged man who had just finished swiping his Identity Card, frowning involuntarily.
The man wore a faded work outfit, carrying a common military backpack, patched at the corners, looking a lot like the migrants that recently emerged from Happiness City’s Buffer Zone.
"What’s wrong?"
"Nothing."
Cheng Ye shook his head, watching as the man hurried deeper into the passage, recalling the moment their eyes met, when a glimmer of greed in the man’s eyes left a very uncomfortable feeling.
Moreover, this kind of look wasn’t unfamiliar to Cheng Ye, much like those hustling in Happiness City’s Buffer Zone, seeing others as prey, mixed with calculation and undisguised desire.
But a second thought made it seem normal.
After all, Firewood is not a pure land. No matter how prosperous the place, it still has its dirty corners.
Entering the inspection hall, it was very much like a modern station ticket gate, with eight parallel channels, some wide, some narrow.
Above the entrance, an electronic screen scrolled with "Please Swipe Identity Card" prompts.
"The left three are resident channels, the right four for materials, the innermost one is the emergency channel, usually locked."
Following the direction of Li Changfeng’s finger, Cheng Ye’s gaze swept over, quickly making a judgment.
Trade with caravans would only happen in lower-level areas, Zone B4 as a core area shouldn’t involve outsider inspections, so the whole setup indicated a focus on internal efficiency.
Compared to the complexity of Happiness City’s checkpoints, which inspect both outsiders and caravan materials, this was indeed much simpler.
And authority equates to responsibility; just by looking at the scale here, Cheng Ye could deduce.
Li Changfeng’s authority should not be significant, at least not comparable to a Happiness City Inspector when it comes to making money, probably relying on a fixed income.
Without real power, being an Inspector becomes merely a decent job, no different in essence from a technician at a repair station or a Public Works Bureau staff.
"Come, let me swipe open the access for you to try it!"
Li Changfeng used his identity badge to swipe at the entrance, the front isolation barriers popped open to the sides, revealing the conveyor belt behind.
