The ash gradually drifted away with the wind. Cheng Ye watched it go, standing dazed for a long time before coming back to his senses.

The more infection sources he encountered, the more he discovered that many things were quietly deviating from those dry descriptions in the inspector manual, breaking the rigid perceptions constructed by words.

Like fusion bodies, like wishgrass.

It was hard to describe the feeling, but Cheng Ye felt a heaviness in his heart.

He really couldn't imagine how long that short man had psychologically prepared himself before daring to personally soak the wishgrass in hot water and actively welcome that destined parasitic death.

All just to bring back the transcendent ore and the large van, fulfilling the wish of everyone in the team.

Perhaps he could have persisted and made it back.

But he didn't gamble, instead choosing the safest method that wouldn't go wrong.

It was just a bit regrettable.

Only after the man turned to ash and disappeared did Cheng Ye suddenly realize he had forgotten to ask his name.

"Mellie Boots team..."

He silently repeated this name in his heart several times, memorizing it.

At the same time, he decided that in the future when on duty, he would bring a notebook to record every infected body he encountered.

Although these moments that touched the soul couldn't be described in words, it would at least allow him to flip through years later and suddenly remember that on such a day, there was a short man who used his hunched body to hold up a piece of sky.

Pressing the button on the desk, the staff members already called by Raven filed in.

The man was gone, but the large van and transcendent ore he left behind needed processing.

Especially the transcendent ore, this was a contamination source left by transcendent beings. Rash human contact could very likely cause infection.

Combined with its high value, the inspection station's containment team couldn't handle it, requiring Qin Feng to personally take action.

"Inspector Cheng, your luck is too good. You even encountered transcendent ore!"

Qin Feng hurried over with three team members and immediately spotted the transcendent ore on the ground.

Then, not seeing anyone else in the inspection area, he paused and immediately understood what had happened.

"Don't worry about it. After being on duty long enough, you'll encounter all kinds of situations."

"Is this type very common?"

"It wasn't common before, but since the buffer zone reorganization, it's gradually become more frequent."

"Reorganization?"

Qin Feng paused and explained, "That's when they tightened vehicle usage restrictions. When your grandfather was still around, residents who had lived in the buffer zone for 3 years could apply to borrow vehicles for wilderness expeditions. That period was almost the fastest development phase for our Happiness City, with large amounts of resources being brought back daily."

"But later your grandfather left, and the inspection station changed hands to new people. After a series of sweeping reforms, um..."

At this point, Qin Feng hesitated.

"I know. After the idealists took over, the old-timers in the buffer zone disappeared batch by batch."

"You know?"

Qin Feng was stunned. He had only come to report this morning and wasn't clear about what happened during the week the inspection station was closed, as this belonged to internal station affairs that wouldn't become common knowledge.

"After the old-timers were gone, the vehicle usage system changed?"

"Yes."

Qin Feng nodded, "At first, they directly relaxed usage restrictions to make it available to everyone, allowing monthly applications to borrow vehicles for leaving the city. But as you can guess, new residents who borrowed vehicles had no loyalty to Happiness City to begin with. Many directly drove off and never returned."

"The higher-ups had no choice but to extend the vehicle restriction to half a year, thinking it would improve. Guess what happened? The situation not only didn't improve but got worse. Some people realized that if they didn't leave with vehicles now, once restrictions tightened further, it would be even harder to rent them."

"Wave after wave, in less than three months, most of the vehicles that had been built were gone. Many were driven out and directly sold to surrounding shelter cities or settlements, with people lying about encountering dangers and losing them. Others simply brought vehicles to join other shelter cities, using them as stepping stones for advancement."

"The higher-ups had no solution but to continue tightening restrictions, from half a year to one year, then to three years..."

Qin Feng sighed, "Now, ordinary people have no qualification to use them at all. Only those with certified qualifications can rent vehicles."

Indeed, this was the case.

Qin Feng's words verified Cheng Ye's inner speculation.

Since it was idealists managing the buffer zone, logically there shouldn't be such thresholds in civilian matters.

Reality was also like this, the idealists did indeed relax the restrictions left by Cheng Wu.

However, as more and more people with ulterior motives took vehicles out to sell or never returned, the resources Happiness City had worked so hard to discover, the technology they researched, and the finished products they manufactured ended up becoming wedding dresses for others.

Everyone broke the rules, everyone thought about taking shortcuts for profit.

The path for later generations was thus blocked bit by bit by their predecessors.

Until today, only a small portion of recognized people could still obtain usage rights like before.

But if even this portion of people started breaking rules, then the standards for "recognition" would only become increasingly strict, until finally completely closing this door.

No wonder when the man died earlier, all those people queuing behind got out of their cars to salute in unison.

In a certain sense, the man used his life to guard the bottom line of this "recognition."

"Are certification qualifications difficult?"

"I'm not too sure about that, you'd have to ask the Works Department."

Qin Feng shook his head, "But this matter is essentially about trust, which is actually easy to solve. Either set experience limits or establish assessment standards. Pass the standards and get the corresponding qualification. Isn't your inspection station also implementing this system?"

"Hm?"

Cheng Ye was stunned. The inspection station also had this system?

Seeing his confused expression, Qin Feng was also stunned, then slapped his forehead, "Ah, I forgot again that you're a probationary inspector. You can only learn about this system after becoming official."

"However..."

He glanced at the transcendent ore on the ground, "Wait for me to finish processing this thing first. When I'm done, I'll see if I can help you apply for access."

"Good!"

Cheng Ye stood to the side, watching with great interest. This was his first time personally witnessing the processing procedure for transcendent ore.

Qin Feng put on a mask, signaled his team members to step back, then carefully walked to the ore himself, taking out several bottles of different colors.

Pressing the spray nozzle, a few drops of reagent fell on the ore's surface, immediately producing a light "sizzling" sound, like water splashing on a scalding iron pan.

Then, strands of grease-like viscous substance seeped out from the ore's surface.

"Good quality, meets standard grade!"

Qin Feng praised, then took out another bottle of new reagent to spray on it.

Sizzle.

A cloud of white vapor suddenly steamed up.

Miraculously, within the white mist, the outer stone skin of the ore actually flaked off like cracked dried mud, revealing an interior as translucent as jade in emerald green.

That green was lustrous and transparent, with faintly visible tiny fluorescent dots flickering inside. In terms of refinement alone, it far surpassed the fire-iron he had seen at the transcendent materials store!

"It's actually Jade Birth Stone?"

Qin Feng used special tongs to pick up the ore for careful examination, his tone carrying some surprise as he confirmed the conclusion.

After speaking, one of Qin Feng's team members immediately brought out a scale, carefully placing the Jade Birth Stone on it.

The numbers below the scale surface jumped several times before finally settling on "532."

"Inspector Cheng, this piece of Jade Birth Stone weighs 532 grams. According to regulations, please come verify it. Try to appear serious, as this will save a lot of trouble during subsequent verification procedures."

"Alright."

Cheng Ye agreed, silently marveling at how cumbersome the procedures for high-value items were.

Another team member had already brought out a handheld camera, steadily pointing the lens at the Jade Birth Stone on the scale.

Cheng Ye bent down, pretending to examine it closely, then used special tongs to gently lift the ore, suspended it for a moment, then slowly placed it back on the scale, repeating this several times to appear thorough.

"Weight confirmed as accurate, 532g."

He straightened up, speaking in a deep voice that clearly transmitted into the camera's recording device.

"Weight verification complete."

Qin Feng nodded, the camera was put away, and the procedure was finished.

"Is this very precious?"

"Yes!" Leaving three team members to continue spraying reagents to process the Jade Birth Stone, Qin Feng lifted his mask, "This is a quite special ore material, not suitable for forging weapons and equipment, but when ground up and added to device cores, it can greatly improve equipment durability. It's a very rare industrial production material."

"That amazing?"

"Of course, many important industrial equipment in our Happiness City contains this stuff. Even at purchase price, 1g now costs 35 contribution points. This piece would be 18,620 points."

When Qin Feng announced the figure, Cheng Ye couldn't help but gasp.

The support funding the idealists allocated to Tianyuan Community was only 20,000 points, enough to rebuild an entire pedestrian street. Yet this small piece of stone was worth nearly 20,000, showing just how exaggerated its value was.

"What about the external selling price?"

"Priceless."

Priceless?

Cheng Ye frowned, then immediately understood.

If transcendent ore could only forge weapons, it would actually be dispensable for Happiness City.

But Jade Birth Stone was different, able to maintain long-term stability of industrial production efficiency for Happiness City's industrial system.

With this special significance, naturally it couldn't be sold externally.

"What about fire-iron's purchase price?"

"8 points per gram."

Hm?

That exploitative?

Cheng Ye cursed silently, no wonder the people at the transcendent materials store could let him cut 50 contribution points at once. Turns out the purchase price for this stuff was so low.

For one weapon, they made a pure profit of 126 points from him.

"Don't overthink it."

Qin Feng seemed to see through his thoughts and immediately explained, "If you went to buy transcendent ore, it would cost at least five to ten times more. Happiness City also needs funding to operate. Many civilian supplies can't be taxed, but for high-value items like this, eighty percent of profits go to taxes. It's not as profitable as you think."

"Is that so..."

So taxes were also included in the selling price. This made it somewhat more reasonable.

Cheng Ye nodded, then got excited again, "What about the 30% of this piece?"

"What are you thinking?" Qin Feng shook his head with a laugh, "30% of this piece would be 5,500 points, comparable to the earnings of a fourth or fifth-stage inspector's field mission. How could that be given to you?"

"Wait for me. About helping you apply for permissions earlier, if this ore's price was only under 10,000 points, it would be difficult. Now with such high value, let me ask..."

After speaking, he walked to the side and took out his defense communicator to make a call.

"Station Chief Downs, it's like this. Inspector Cheng just discovered a piece of transcendent ore during duty..."

The call wasn't on speaker, so Cheng Ye could only gather from Qin Feng's fragmentary words that there was a special system within the inspection station that could convert contribution points that should be allocated to inspectors in such situations into internal system credits.

As for what these credits were used for...

Cheng Ye had some guesses, but he'd need to get the permissions to know specifically.

"Alright, Station Chief Downs agreed to open some permissions for you early. After you finish duty, go to the duty station chief's office. Mm, today is your last day at North Station anyway, you should have reported this cycle's work situation to him. Perfect timing!"

"Wait, about the person who brought back the ore..." Cheng Ye briefly recounted the man's dying wish.

Visibly, a flash of admiration crossed Qin Feng's face as he nodded emphatically, "Don't worry, no one would dare embezzle half a contribution point in such matters. What should go to the people on the list will reach them, not a penny less."

"That's good!"

Cheng Ye breathed a sigh of relief.

Using the 20,000 point allocation didn't give much of a real feeling, but now with a piece of transcendent ore of equal value in front of him, it was a completely different sensation.

Before the staff finished sterilizing that van, the three team members had already finished processing the Jade Birth Stone, properly storing it in a special containment box.

Before leaving, Qin Feng suddenly stopped, hesitated, then lowered his voice, "Generally speaking, areas where plant-type transcendent beings appear have a considerable probability of nurturing this type of ore. But we can't determine yet whether it came from an infection mother source or a special infected body. If it's the latter, there's no threat. Special infected bodies are always moving, can't be caught and won't cause big waves. They might have already left our Shi Province."

"But if it's the former..." Qin Feng's voice cut off abruptly, the implication clear.

The buffer zone had just experienced an infection tide caused by a mother source. If another mother source appeared, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Additionally, having a mother source nearby was also a threat. Qin Feng was reminding him to be extremely careful.

"Thanks!"

"Don't thank me. If you want to thank someone, thank your heaven-defying luck."

Qin Feng waved his hand and quickly left with his people.

Before long.

The staff on the large van's side also completed basic sterilization. Deeper infection source sterilization would require driving it to the internal isolation area, taking at least half a day.

"My luck really is quite good. First an infection tide, now transcendent ore."

With all personnel gone, Cheng Ye couldn't help shaking his head.

But fundamentally, the source of all this was natural disaster anomalies. It was precisely because of environmental upheaval that infected body activity became abnormal, catalyzing these series of changes.

As for whether the Jade Birth Stone could possibly be generated by a special infected body lingering in the vicinity?

This thought just emerged before being suppressed by Cheng Ye.

Special infected bodies parasitizing transcendent plants were indeed tempting and could catalyze transcendent power, but he currently had no ability to lead teams deep into the wilderness to search.

Even with Happiness City's scale, finding a mobile special infected body in the vast wilderness had a probability almost equal to zero.

Perhaps it really was as Qin Feng said, already long gone from Shi Province's boundaries.

"Next!"

Cheng Ye steadied himself, resumed his inspection posture, and called loudly.

Another large van slowly drove to the isolation net. The door opened and three people got out, all wearing somewhat embarrassed smiles.

With just one glance, Cheng Ye's brow couldn't help but furrow.

All three had fresh wounds exposed on their arms, thighs, and waists, as if they didn't have time to treat them, or perhaps simply couldn't conceal them, just exposed them directly.

"I'm opening the door, come in one by one."

The isolation door rose, and the three entered to report numbers in sequence.

Two of them had temperatures exceeding 37.8 degrees, and pulse rates also exceeded standard ranges.

If this had been before, when Ding Yishan hadn't raised the inspection intensity at North and South stations to level three, Cheng Ye might have conducted more detailed testing to avoid mistakenly confining normal people.

But now, having deeply experienced the weight of rules, he naturally wouldn't touch that red line.

"Two data points abnormal. According to regulations, you need to enter isolation pods. Any objections?"

"No objections! No objections!"

The leader of the three immediately nodded, his tone carrying careful pleading, "Sir, we're clearly aware we haven't been infected, just got some injuries fighting mutant beasts on the road, which might have affected the data. Could you be flexible and put us in the same isolation pod, don't let newcomers in..."

"Don't worry, as long as the isolation pods aren't full, no newcomers will be arranged to enter."

Cheng Ye nodded. This small matter was completely within his authority.

As long as he set the tone, the inspector who would rotate with him wouldn't confine people there either if it wasn't full.

"Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!"

The three thanked him repeatedly, following the guard's guidance toward the isolation area in sequence, behaving exceptionally compliant.

Just leaving behind another large van that required staff to come sterilize.

This would take at least ten-plus minutes, dragging inspection efficiency to a snail's pace.

"Not bad, truly worthy of the Cheng family. Inspector Cheng, your performance already surpasses many first-stage inspectors!"

A somewhat unfamiliar voice came from behind, carrying a tone of scrutiny.

Cheng Ye instinctively turned around, his eyes immediately darkening.

Within the inspection station, the person he least wanted to see.

Harlin had arrived!

[NEXT CHAPTER]