Wasteland Border Inspector-Chapter 62 - 51: Blood Dragon Alliance, Director Miao Yang!
As the instigator of all this, Cheng Ye’s leading action of showing support naturally caught Miao Yang’s attention.
"Are you here to train too?"
"Yeah." Miao Yang replied gloomily, not because he was antisocial, but because he couldn’t find a common topic to discuss with Cheng Ye.
He was a retired veteran while Cheng Ye was a respected Inspector in the Buffer Zone.
Flattery seemed unnecessary, yet he couldn’t find a suitable pretext to build a connection.
Moreover, he couldn’t bring himself to flatter.
The two walked towards the main entrance, Cheng Ye seemingly unaware of any class difference, casually asking, "I heard you mention that after a Hydrophilic infection source parasitizes, it can amplify human emotions, especially fear, which grows over time. Is this an isolated case or a common phenomenon?"
"Huh?"
Miao Yang suddenly stopped, responding instinctively, "You heard that?"
"Of course, I did. Didn’t you explain it well?"
Cheng Ye was also momentarily stunned, then awkwardly said, "I was still pondering what you said, and you had already stepped down, so I didn’t get a chance to applaud you." 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
"Uh..."
Miao Yang instinctively thought Cheng Ye was joking until he confirmed his earnest expression.
He sighed secretly, "I thought no one wanted to hear those old relics. Amplifying emotions is neither an isolated incident nor pervasive. From the cases I’ve studied and encountered, most are concentrated on animal infection sources."
"Explain it in detail."
"Hydrophilic infection sources are primarily divided into three types: one is polluted aquatic plants, known for their bizarre nature, like the Death Language Tentacles, a mutated spring grass that can resurrect the dead."
"The second type is fused creatures that prefer environments with abundant rain, such as the Chiba Epidemic Grass, which requires water sources to sustain its growth."
"The third type is the animal infection sources I mentioned, like Nightmare Goldfish, Fearful Shrimp, and Berserk Fish. These sources influence human consciousness and amplify certain emotions, with the most prone emotions being fear, bloodlust, and greed."
When Miao Yang began his introduction, he initially only touched upon the main points.
After saying a couple of lines, he noticed that Cheng Ye was listening attentively, even occasionally nodding affirmatively.
Unconsciously, he became more detailed and even cited a personal encounter as an example.
"The Blood Dragon Corps I belonged to was mainly responsible for clearing the area around Happiness City."
"In the 17th year of the New Era, a severe flood broke out in the Lishui River Basin, with several dikes breached, leading to Tide Level infections, mostly Hydrophilic types. At that time, the Thunder Moon Squad I led received the task to eliminate them, but that operation nearly wiped out the entire team..."
Fearing that Cheng Ye might become impatient with a long story, Miao Yang spoke very quickly, focusing on the main points.
In the 17th year of the New Era, humanity’s understanding of infection sources was only just beginning to take shape.
Most Hydrophilic infection sources were encountered for the first time, and their bizarre abilities were unknown.
The Thunder Moon Squad encountered the Fearful Shrimp he mentioned earlier.
This kind of infection source, once parasitizing a human, would induce inner fear, causing one to gradually hallucinate and mistakenly identify teammates as infected.
The most troublesome part was that once fear became contagious, it became a breeding ground for the parasite.
Within half a day, three squad members were parasitized.
"Eight people, three got parasitized. Captain Miao, and you could still make it back alive?!"
Cheng Ye was taken aback.
According to the Inspector handbook, if two members of an eight-person squad were parasitized and infected, it would essentially result in total annihilation.
If more than two were infected, it was a death sentence with no chance of survival.
"Luck was indeed on our side, allowing me to discover this creature’s weakness."
Miao Yang felt pleased with Cheng Ye’s surprise, couldn’t help but smile, "Amplifying emotions has both pros and cons. If it can amplify inner fear, it could naturally amplify other emotions as well."
"I saw those three cowering and not daring to move forward, scared to death of even looking towards the river. I got so mad that I just scolded them hard, and it ended up with two of them crying, exposing the parasitic Fearful Shrimp."
"So... when dealing with Hydrophilic infection sources, if you perceive emotional issues in yourself or your team members, should you induce an extreme test like this?"
"You’re quite insightful, hitting the main point right away."
Miao Yang nodded, "However, there are exceptions. Some infected bodies can remain dormant during parasitism, only acting under special conditions, like the Berserk Fish, which only begins to affect emotions when a parasite’s daily steps exceed two thousand and enters a Second-Phase outbreak."
"Conversely, if a parasitized human remains completely still for over seven days, the parasitism will directly fail. Or, there’s a simpler method... hmm, just break the infection source’s two legs, and the parasitism fails."
"Oh, is that possible?"
Cheng Ye raised an eyebrow, thinking that the infection source knowledge in the Inspector handbook was really too superficial.
It focused solely on identifying infections, never detailing how to handle or heal a parasitized human.
"Also, don’t call me ’sir’, it sounds strange."
Receiving such vital information, Cheng Ye’s mood improved instantly, "My name is Cheng Ye. You can call me Inspector Cheng or just by my name."
Thrilled by good fortune, he felt today was extraordinarily lucky, everything going smoothly since waking up.
Far easier than feeling his way through darkness over the past two months.
"Inspector Cheng, this way, please."
Miao Yang dared not call him by name, stepping forward to open the polycarbonate door of the training area, gesturing for him to enter.
The two walked inside one after the other.
From the interior design, there wasn’t much difference between the front and back fields.
Both were large open spaces divided into four sections: Equipment Area, Training Area, Combat Area, Shooting Area.
"Director Miao, who is this...?"
A burly man standing at the entrance, upon seeing Miao Yang bringing someone in, curiously asked.
"This is Inspector Cheng. Remember him well and don’t call him the wrong name."
"Ah, Inspector... Inspector Cheng!" The burly man’s back shivered, hurriedly nodding and bowing in greeting.
Cheng Ye casually waved his hand, and as he approached the counter, couldn’t help but wonder, "Captain Miao, did he call you Director? Does this mean you’re in charge of the training area?"
"Not at all."
Miao Yang hastily shook his head, "This is property of the Blood Dragon Corps. I’m just a retiree making a living here. Don’t listen to him call me Director; I’m really just a coordinator. There are dozens of directors here like me."
"I see..."
Cheng Ye nodded slightly, understanding the internal structure of the training area now.
The Blood Dragon Corps established the training area both to scout talent and likely to accommodate some meritorious retired veterans.
"I wonder what brings Inspector Cheng here today?"
Among the staff wearing earpieces, the receptionist had already understood Cheng Ye’s identity when Miao Yang introduced him.
"Looking for a sparring partner. I always trained in the back area. Lately, I’ve had some breakthroughs, wanted to see if there’s any improvement in my combat ability."
"Sparring partner?"
Before the staff could respond.
Miao Yang, standing behind Cheng Ye, hesitated briefly and then, unsurely asked, "Inspector Cheng, do you think I would suffice?"
