Two consecutive searches, all successful!

The 50% hidden success rate gained from 100% compatibility was indeed effective in item searches too!

During the second item search, the Collector transmitted specific probability explanations just like previous skill searches.

Under normal conditions, one item search consumed 50% energy with only a 25% base success rate.

After becoming a Joint Collector, success rates could be improved by adding charge values.

Every 1% of charge value increased success rate by an equivalent 1%.

In other words, investing the full 100% charge could forcibly push the probability up to 75%.

However, at this moment, Cheng Ye hadn't invested any extra charge. Relying solely on the full compatibility bonus, he had already reached the 75% success rate threshold.

This meant that in the future, to ensure search success, he only needed to invest an additional 25% charge value after reaching full compatibility to achieve 100% success!

"75% probability of two consecutive successes, tonight's luck is indeed quite good."

"Of course, it might also be influenced by the inspector scenario. This scenario hasn't failed even once so far!"

Cheng Ye exhaled a long breath that had been held in his chest, feeling every pore from head to toe breathing freely, with every inch of muscle and bone radiating comfortable satisfaction.

Exhilarating!

Truly exhilarating!

Life indeed held wonderful opportunities everywhere.

If he hadn't decided to steal electricity tonight, if he hadn't brought Second Dragon and Master Liu to eat that beef hotpot.

With his status in Happiness City, even if he had known about the fog passage connecting to Xinghuo in the rest hall, he absolutely wouldn't have qualified to pass through that fog passage and come to the wasteland's strongest human sanctuary city.

Although B4 was only one of Xinghuo Sanctuary City's secondary areas, the items he had searched were already sufficient to influence his future development trajectory.

Especially for field missions, having something that could fly directly maximized safety!

"Additionally, the searched items are indeed stored in the pendant just like the previous Horned Starfish!"

Cheng Ye took several more deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down, then reached for his neck, pretending to pull out the pendant from his collar for a glance.

When he had searched for the Horned Starfish previously, it had automatically been stored in the pendant space, but there was no indication of how much more could be stored inside.

Now he had the answer.

In the glass core's center, four neat fan-shaped areas were arranged. The Horned Starfish occupied one quarter, still wrapped in azure energy currents.

The Wing Assault Unit had shrunk to a tiny model, also occupying one quarter.

The black-silver mechanical wings still trembled, emitting circles of purple light below, identical to the form he had seen outside.

Opposite to it was the so-called "Inspector Four-Piece Set," also miniaturized.

Since the models were too small to see details clearly, Cheng Ye glanced briefly before immediately shifting his attention, planning to examine them carefully when he returned.

"It seems each search result occupies one quarter of the space, completely unrelated to size. I wonder if continuing to upgrade will increase this space capacity."

Cheng Ye stared at the fan-shaped divisions in the pendant, silently noting this rule.

This was good news.

"I just don't know if items stored inside are one-time storage or can be repeatedly stored and retrieved."

Cheng Ye calculated mentally, tucking the pendant back into his neck while using his thoughts to withdraw it.

If it allowed repeated storage and retrieval, it would be a divine artifact!

The Wing Assault Unit could be summoned anytime. When unable to fight or encountering danger, he could take to the air and escape, with no one able to discover him.

If taking it out meant it couldn't be put back, he'd need to be more cautious.

Using it in the wilderness posed no problem, but Happiness City had never seen anyone use such a device. With his current status, bringing it out would be impossible to explain its origin.

"What are you daydreaming about?" Li Changfeng's voice sounded beside his ear. In just a few minutes, he had already changed clothes and smoothed his hair with water, though several stubborn strands still stuck up at the back.

"Oh, I was thinking about the practical combat value of these items."

Cheng Ye snapped back to attention. This wasn't entirely fabricated.

After the charge value was drained, the chaotic thoughts in his mind had also completely disappeared.

He had indeed been pondering whether those inspection equipment could be used in Happiness City's inspection mode.

Inspector Li Changfeng hadn't even lasted through formal questioning earlier, his compatibility directly maxing out.

If this were used on other people, would it have similar effects?

Unfortunately, with Happiness City Inspection Station's current economic situation, they probably couldn't afford to purchase even one of these source-rail devices.

Just look, even the Central Station was in such a broken state yet still barely holding on.

And even if the inspection station had the capacity to purchase equipment, they would certainly prioritize source-rail devices for field missions rather than facilities to reduce inspectors' daily workload.

"The practical combat value is indeed good. As long as infected entities come here and go through the complete process, at least 95% of infected entities will be stimulated into outbreak phase. The remaining 0.5% stubborn cases can be filtered out by throwing them in isolation for observation."

Li Changfeng patted the chair back, then introduced with a dry laugh, "These devices are actually for sale, but no sanctuary city is willing to buy them, you understand."

"Is the price too high?"

"It's unnecessary." Li Changfeng was direct, not a single false word in his mouth. "The core mission of inspection stations is to reduce the probability of infected entity infiltration. Xinghuo's probability is about 0.0018%, honestly, that's not even as good as some small sanctuary cities."

"Some say our scale is too large, which dragged down the data, but if we really reduced the scale, could we do better?"

"Not necessarily!"

0.0018%.

Cheng Ye quickly calculated in his mind, equivalent to two infected entities slipping through for every 100,000 people inspected.

This probability wasn't particularly high, but certainly couldn't rank among the best.

Because Happiness City's infiltration probability was much lower than this figure, consistently stable around 0.0011%, meaning at most one would slip through for every 100,000 people entering and exiting.

Of course, this year was an exception. Due to celestial anomalies, it would probably surge and double.

But from when he had transmigrated until now, over three months, Happiness City had only let in that one mother source. The rest of the time had been peaceful, with not a single infected entity managing to infiltrate and cause chaos.

"Whether relying on people or machines, all roads lead to Rome."

Li Changfeng poured a cup of hot tea from the thermal container behind him and handed it over. "Small sanctuary cities have fewer people, most going out daily are familiar faces, and residents can't go too far to dangerous places. Sometimes you can tell at a glance whether someone is infected."

"If infected entities do infiltrate, they're either super-stealth infected entities or unknown-type infected entities. Even if they came to us, we might not necessarily detect them."

Cheng Ye accepted the hot tea and pondered for a moment.

Suddenly he understood somewhat. "So these devices are actually designed to accommodate your scale, rather than being able to detect all infected entities?"

"Exactly."

Li Changfeng snapped his fingers, his voice carrying a hint of understanding. "Every sanctuary city's inspection station development is adapted to local conditions, with their own set of methods. B4 district has at least 20,000 to 30,000 residents entering and exiting daily. Without machine and equipment assistance, we simply cannot complete such enormous detection work."

"Like your Happiness City's system, providing free defense communicators to all residents, distributing various living supplies, could we learn from that?"

"Definitely couldn't learn it! Just take me, this inspector. Besides some basic equipment distributed when first hired, everything else must be earned through points. The higher-ups don't care about your personal situation, only the final assessment results."

"Basic equipment?" Cheng Ye's eyes moved slightly. "What do they distribute?"

"Used to be stingy, just issued a custom badge, even the Xinghuo communicator had to be bought out of pocket."

Li Changfeng smiled with a hint of veteran's mockery. "Now the benefits seem better, should be catching up to your Happiness City. Besides the badge and Xinghuo communicator, they also freely distribute information-receiving glasses and a portable body detection device that can measure physical condition and energy fluctuations."

This was the four-piece set?

Cheng Ye was secretly delighted but maintained his calm expression, even deliberately furrowing his brow as if pondering seriously. "Those glasses are quite practical, but can they still be used outside Xinghuo's range?"

"Naturally." Li Changfeng nodded. "The glasses are just information-receiving tools. After connecting to the Xinghuo communicator, they can extract offline information stored inside. As long as the Xinghuo communicator has stored data, even in the deep wilderness, you can still access it."

"Oh, so the Xinghuo communicator is similar to our defense communicator?"

"Yes, functions are similar." Li Changfeng explained. "Both are identity markers that can store points, record permissions, and store important information offline. The higher your permissions, the more functions you can unlock."

"Understood."

Cheng Ye nodded without further questioning.

As long as the Xinghuo communicator and defense communicator were similar devices, they could definitely be used offline outside signal range.

But this permission thing was somewhat troublesome.

He didn't know if the searched badge was Li Changfeng's, or if it was just a blank badge without recorded information. To unlock permissions, he'd probably need to crack the Xinghuo communicator first.

As for the difficulty of cracking, it definitely wasn't something he could handle at his current stage.

However, Cheng Ye wasn't anxious. Having the items was good enough, he'd eventually find a way to crack them.

"Rest a bit or go look at the isolation chambers in back?" Li Changfeng tilted his head back and drained his tea.

"Let's go look."

Cheng Ye finished the hot tea in his cup in one gulp and followed Li Changfeng to tour the isolation area behind.

Nothing particularly special.

The isolation area was a four-story small building with a corridor design, each floor surrounded by glass curtain walls allowing clear views of the isolation chambers inside.

Not much different from Happiness City's style, except for mechanical arms shuttling through the corridors, delivering meals and disinfecting completely automatically.

"These isolation chambers are uniformly controlled by the central system. Inspectors only need to watch the data on screens."

Li Changfeng pointed to monitoring screens on the wall displaying real-time status of each isolation chamber: heart rate, body temperature, energy fluctuation values.

"What's your maximum daily capacity?"

"50,000." Li Changfeng answered promptly. "When the orange-red zone black disaster erupted last year, this building held 6,000 people and still operated normally."

50,000.

Cheng Ye sucked in a sharp breath.

Li Changfeng was right, Xinghuo Sanctuary City's system was indeed designed for scale.

Happiness City's north and south inspection stations combined, with each handling 3,000 people daily, already kept inspectors busy all day. If they really had to handle these numbers, they'd probably have to recruit everyone capable of moving as temporary workers.

And if they really did that, the infiltration probability could surge dozens or hundreds of times.

After all, human power always had oversights. Without machines screening first, they couldn't handle it.

During the latter part of the tour, under Li Changfeng's guidance, the two climbed the isolation area's spiral staircase to the rooftop terrace.

This directly faced the city core direction with surprisingly open views. Along the edge sat a row of faded metal chairs, presumably where many inspection station staff came to get fresh air and relax.

The two sat side by side.

Cheng Ye pulled out his defense communicator to check the time. Unconsciously, it was already 2 AM.

It seemed tonight would be a sleepless night.

But honestly, breathing Xinghuo Sanctuary City's night air while gazing at the distant streetscape woven with lights.

Cheng Ye could only use two words to describe his current mood.

Comfortable!

Although he wasn't a nostalgic person, after three months of struggling in Happiness City, he had grown to love the wasteland's excitement.

But being able to "return" once to stable modernity satisfied that longing in his heart tremendously.

"Here."

Li Changfeng pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his pocket, offering one. This time Cheng Ye didn't refuse, taking it and twirling it between his fingers.

Seeing his manner, Li Changfeng lit one for himself, the flame flickering in the night.

"My parents were both grassroots workers, one carrying corpses at the crematorium, the other working as a nursing aide at the community hospital, barely half a doctor."

He gazed at the lights on distant Xinghuo Mountain, his voice suddenly softening. "From the day I was born, they sold everything to nurture me, spending their lifetime savings of contribution points on inspector compatibility training. Only then could I barely pass the inspector exam and get assigned to the most remote E13 district."

Cheng Ye said nothing, quietly listening.

"From age 21 until now, I've climbed for a full ten years to transfer to B4 district. Every day I'm either staring at screens at the inspection station or patrolling routes. Forget other provinces, I've barely left the city a handful of times."

He laughed self-deprecatingly, flicking ash. "Sometimes I quite envy you all, able to run in the wilderness, see different sanctuary cities, with new stories every day."

"What about other times?"

"Quite grateful." Li Changfeng answered frankly. "Like when receiving news that Happiness City was invaded by a mother source, I felt that being able to stand on this rooftop smoking peacefully was already tremendous fortune."

Between the two, there were no conflicts of interest or opposing positions, no need whatsoever to speak falsely.

Cheng Ye chuckled. People in Happiness City envied Xinghuo's stability, while Xinghuo people envied Happiness City's freedom. But if they really switched places, they might not live better than now.

"What about your parents now?"

"Both dead." Li Changfeng pressed his lips together. "The day after I became an inspector, my dad collapsed from exhaustion. It was a terminal illness from overwork, he didn't last a month. In the end, I personally carried him into the cremation furnace, the very furnace he had guarded for half his life, burning especially brightly."

"My mom died even more miserably. She was just a community nursing aide who always loved meddling, running over to check whenever anyone in the neighborhood had headaches or fevers. She ended up getting scratched on the arm by an infected entity. When she came back, she was still smiling saying it was nothing. The next day she started running a fever. I watched helplessly as her eyes turned red and her emotions became agitated."

"There was no medicine to treat it then, and regulations didn't allow keeping survivors. In the end, I was the one who raised the gun and shot her in the head, sparing her the suffering of becoming a monster."

"My condolences."

After a pause, Cheng Ye could only squeeze out these two words from his lips.

"It's fine, all happened many years ago."

Li Changfeng waved his hand. "People live for a hope. My parents had no other expectations in life, they just wanted their son to wear this uniform and have a stable future at the inspection station, not suffering at the bottom like them."

"But I'm not particularly ambitious. I just hope that someday I can climb to an A-district inspection station, get field clearance there, then freely leave Xinghuo Sanctuary City to pursue the freedom I want."

"Freedom?" Cheng Ye raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, I want to see the sun that hasn't been enclosed."

Li Changfeng's eyes suddenly lit up, containing a star. "I heard that stars in the wilderness are ten times brighter than in sanctuary cities, and you can still see traces left by colossal beings when they approached Blue Star decades ago. Maybe they hide the way to completely solve the infection source!"

Saying this, he lifted his head and gestured with his chin. "Unlike us sitting here, we can only see a few sporadically twinkling stars, not even as bright as Xinghuo Mountain's orbital lights."

His words fell into silence.

The terrace fell quiet for a moment.

Until Li Changfeng finished an entire cigarette and pressed the butt into the garbage bin beside him. "Let's go. Before we head back, let me treat you to some of our Xinghuo City's cuisine. It's not like your Happiness City where you can only drink nutritional paste every day."

"Then I'll gladly accept."

Cheng Ye wasn't hungry, and having just eaten well, he didn't have any particular cravings.

But he was indeed curious about Xinghuo's food conditions.

Before returning to the inspection station, riding the Wing Assault Unit, they took to the sky.

Even in the core district, no shops operated at night, but Li Changfeng familiarly led him to B4 district's employee cafeteria.

It was somewhat like a university cafeteria, with four windows still open late at night.

"Auntie, give us four stir-fried dishes, two big bowls of rice, and a pitcher of iced fruit juice."

"Coming right up!"

The aproned auntie behind the window responded, followed by the sound of gas stoves igniting.

So extravagant?

Cheng Ye was stunned, but seeing Li Changfeng's pained expression, this meal probably wasn't cheap?

However, when he spoke, Cheng Ye realized he'd been played by this guy.

"Just this one meal cost me a day and a half's wages."

"Tsk tsk, don't be ungrateful."

"Haha, after all, our Xin Province has arable land, unlike your Shi Province where crops simply won't grow. Though it was cheaper in previous years, now that Xinghuo's scale keeps expanding, everything requires points. We usually just make do, only treating ourselves to good food when craving it."

"Do you charge for electricity?"

"Of course we charge, what were you thinking!" Li Changfeng laughed. "This isn't your Happiness City that provides free electricity to residents. Even my inspector's personal electricity usage gets charged at residential rates, and it's not cheap either. One kilowatt-hour can buy a bowl of rice."

"Oh, I didn't see you using electric vehicles. Is it due to energy shortage?"

"Not really, it's because factories need energy, so they get priority. Besides, Xin Province has plenty of oil fields. The extracted amount is sufficient for vehicles, no need for electric cars."

Just then, the first stir-fry was served.

Tomato scrambled eggs.

Red and white chunks sprinkled with emerald green scallions, hot steam carrying sweet and sour aromas wafting up.

Though Cheng Ye wasn't hungry, his Adam's apple involuntarily bobbed, making Li Changfeng laugh directly.

"Eat up, don't be polite. When I visit your Happiness City in the future, just provide meals."

"That's easy, nutritional paste guaranteed in abundance."

Cheng Ye picked up chopsticks and put a piece of scrambled egg in his mouth.

The tender fragrance of eggs mixed with tomatoes' mild sourness exploded on his tongue, making him squint with comfort.

Too long, so long he'd almost forgotten this pure taste bud satisfaction.

But tonight, whether the beef hotpot or the meal before him, both allowed him to rediscover the most primitive happiness.

"How is it?"

Cheng Ye didn't speak, just took another chopstick-full, swallowing rice mixed with the sauce.

Delicious!

"Eat slowly, three more dishes coming." Li Changfeng smiled, pouring him a glass of fruit juice. Amber liquid with ice cubes. "This is concentrated berry juice, tastes good."

Cheng Ye picked up the glass and took a big gulp. Cool sweetness slid down his throat, making him shiver.

Being able to sit in warm light with a new friend, eating hot food and chatting about trivial matters.

Cheng Ye suddenly felt that this Xinghuo trip's most precious element, something that would remain unforgettable for decades, might not be the searched Wing Unit and four-piece set.

But this moment.

This present instant.

Whether freedom or stability, in the end both settled into these ordinary daily warmths.

After the meal, Cheng Ye had swept clean all four plates, even mixing the last bit of sauce with rice and shoveling it into his mouth.

Li Changfeng barely touched his chopsticks, just sitting beside him laughing heartily, occasionally adding fruit juice, his eyes carrying a hint of "as expected" understanding.

After a long, satisfied burp, Cheng Ye leaned back in his chair rubbing his belly, too content to want to move.

After a while, he pondered.

"I want to buy some flour bags, rice bags, and plant seeds, but I only have Happiness coins, I don't know—"

"Ten bags of flour, ten bags of rice, all 100 kilograms each, plus two cases of various seeds. Enough?"

Li Changfeng smiled. "I'm giving them to you, consider it a friend fee. Just pay me back double in the future."

"Friend fee?"

Cheng Ye was stunned, then picked up the glass on the table. Half a glass of fruit juice remained inside. "Then I'll remember this. You must come to Happiness City in the future. Right now it might not satisfy your fantasies, but later, maybe it will."

Li Changfeng's eyes lit up, immediately raising his fruit juice glass. "It's a deal!"

"It's a deal!"

"Inspector Cheng, you're back."

Bai Wei still stood at the fog passage connection point. Seeing Cheng Ye descending from the sky riding the Wing Assault Unit, his face showed some smile.

"How was the experience?"

"Not bad."

Cheng Ye grinned. "Inspector Li and I bought some rice and flour, I don't know—"

"Just transport it over, that's your rightful privilege."

Bai Wei waved dismissively. "You still have duty tomorrow, you can go rest first. I'll help watch your things, guaranteeing not a bit will be missing."

He paused, adding, "Also, if you owe Inspector Li a favor, Happiness City can help you repay it."

"No need."

Cheng Ye shook his head. "I've gained enough tonight, enough to digest for many days."

Bai Wei didn't insist, instead giving a thumbs up.

His complex gaze held approval, affirmation, and some understanding.

Cheng Ye turned toward the corridor, and when nearly at the rest hall door, he turned back and waved toward the fog passage opening.

Though he knew Li Changfeng couldn't see, he still wanted to say goodbye.

Even though no new number appeared on his defense communicator this time, having a new friend thousands of kilometers away at Xinghuo made this trip incredibly worthwhile!

"Sir, you've returned."

Big Dragon still guarded the door. Seeing Cheng Ye approach, he quickly led two young men to greet him.

Master Zhang also stood nearby, leaning against the wall dozing.

"Hmm, why haven't you gone back to sleep?"

"How could we sleep without you coming out, sir?" Big Dragon scratched his head, pointing at the bus's rear compartment. "Besides, they won't let vehicles leave now. We have to guard the salted fish in the car, it would be bad if someone stole it."

"Thoughtful of you."

Cheng Ye smiled. "I'll need your help again shortly. I bought some rice and flour that needs transporting from inside."

"No problem, leave it to us!"

Big Dragon patted his chest in assurance, with the two young men nodding along.

After arranging for Big Dragon and the others to wait at the door, Cheng Ye returned to the bus and plugged the pendant back in to charge.

[Current charging efficiency: Normal (lv.3 energy)]

[Time remaining until full charge: 4h]

The numbers on the panel jumped from 0% to 100%. Even with 100kw efficiency, it would take a full four hours!

Cheng Ye rubbed his temples. Don't expect to go home and sleep tonight.

It was already 3 AM. Duty started at 7 AM. Only four hours in between, just enough to fully charge the pendant.

And counting travel time to South Station, he needed to find an excuse to delay a bit.

Otherwise, encountering Liu Kun without charge value would be problematic.

What was that saying?

Technology, I want.

Transcendence, I also want!

Suffer just these few days. Once he had strength, there'd be plenty of time to rest properly.

Opening the bus door, the compartment filled with the fishy smell of salted fish, forming an interesting contrast with the lingering meal fragrance in his mouth.

Cheng Ye walked to the middle of the compartment, pulled over an empty burlap sack and spread it out, lying down.

Though he felt no sleepiness, his mind full of churning thoughts.

But somehow, a strange sense of security suddenly washed over him, his mind completely free of distracting thoughts.

He slightly closed his eyes, consciousness floating down like dandelion seeds blown by wind into deep sleep.

Perhaps it was anticipation.

Or perhaps because he had clearer goals.

Besides making himself stronger, Cheng Ye's heart now held additional ambitions.

Those lights of Xinghuo Sanctuary City fell into his heart like seeds. So this wasteland truly held possibilities for rebuilding proper modern cities.

Those warmths he once cherished, belonging to the Old Era, the stability belonging to modernity, could be completely recreated on this land.

And with the Collector by his side, he might well do better than Xinghuo Sanctuary City!

...

Ding.

As if he'd just lain down, the alarm rang.

Cheng Ye sat up, grabbed his defense communicator and lit the screen. The time showed 6:50 AM.

The compartment was already quite bright, with a thin layer of white frost condensed on the glass windows. Wiping away a patch with his fingertip, he could see the clear morning light outside.

Last night's thick fog enveloping the Works Department had completely cleared, visibility restored to kilometer range.

Cheng Ye pushed open the door and stepped down. As soon as his feet touched ground, he saw Big Dragon, Master Zhang, and several young men all sleeping against flour sacks piled outside the compartment.

Twenty bags of rice and flour piled together like a small mountain. Each bag weighed 100 kilograms, totaling a full two tons.

Beside them stood ten barrels of cooking oil, 20 kilograms each, with "Xinghuo Special Supply" printed on the barrels.

Additionally, there were two large burlap sacks of various seasonings.

There were even five large cardboard boxes. Cheng Ye opened one to find neatly arranged sealed cans inside.

Beef, vegetables, fruits, arranged orderly.

Looking at this pile of goods, Cheng Ye couldn't help glancing again toward the rest hall. Li Changfeng had been quite thoughtful, not just sending rice and flour but providing a complete set.

This wasn't just sending some rice and flour, it was clearly preparing all the necessities for surviving winter in the field.

He stood there stunned for a moment, suddenly feeling a heavy sense of security in his heart.

Salted fish, rice and flour, grain and oil, seasonings...

When winter came and the inspection station completely closed, no longer requiring these inspectors to work duty.

Even if they really needed to take people out to hide for a while, they would never worry about food again.

[NEXT CHAPTER]