In a familiar damp, musty smell, Cheng Ye gently pushed open the security door.

Casually throwing his backpack on the dust-covered table, he collapsed onto the bed without even bothering to remove his shoes.

A bit tired but it wasn't physical soreness, nor mental exhaustion.

Rather, it was the fatigue that naturally overflowed after sorting out most of what needed to be done, with his heart full of substantial accomplishment.

Especially thinking about the continuous stream of migrants arriving next, with the inspection station at the storm's center certainly unable to escape, lying on the bed right now felt even more comfortable.

But strangely, as soon as he touched the bed board, his tense nerves suddenly relaxed, yet his mind became more active instead.

Streams of thoughts spilled out, mostly about those measures he'd mentioned in the phone call earlier, and a few judgments about the upcoming situation.

"Five hundred thousand people... It's not like I haven't seen this many people before. Even ten or twenty times more, I've seen that too. But asking me to figure out how to manage them, this is too absurd..."

Gazing at the mold stains spreading across the ceiling from dampness, Cheng Ye's mind wandered freely.

Before transmigrating, he'd lived in Yangcheng, with a resident population of nearly twenty million.

During morning and evening rush hours on Line 3 of the subway, with daily passenger flow of 1.2 million, the crowds packed like sardine cans were far more exaggerated than this number.

Even Xinghuo Sanctuary City's scale was still far from matching Yangcheng, let alone the current Happiness City.

Perhaps it was precisely because he'd witnessed that kind of ten-million-level population operation model that he had the confidence to speak boldly and discuss everything freely on the phone.

But then again, having seen something and being able to manage it were two different things.

He was just a small molecule in the vast sea of humanity, staying in the ivory tower of school without having time to venture out, never thinking about how many screws were hidden behind a city's operation.

Armchair strategizing was easy, but actually going to ground level and dealing with so many people face-to-face made his scalp tingle just thinking about it.

Take the most basic eating, drinking, and waste: each person drinks four bags of nutritional paste daily, five hundred thousand people would need two million bags. Just coordinating, transporting, and distributing would require how much manpower?

Thinking more specifically, assuming a minimum of 100 grams of excrement per person per day, five hundred thousand people would produce fifty tons daily. How would all this filth be handled?

Couldn't bear to think about it. The more he thought, the more terrifying it became. The more he thought, the less confident he felt.

"Although I plan to go out and build my own small city in the future, living freely and at ease," Cheng Ye kicked off his shoes, rolled over to bury his face in the pillow, sighing in a muffled voice, "but these troubles... sigh, thinking about these things now is still too early."

He chose temporary avoidance.

Pondering institutional frameworks was fine, after all, he had knowledge frameworks from his previous life as foundation, but filling in every detail was purely demanding the impossible.

He wasn't a supercomputer AI, just an ordinary trainee inspector.

Happiness City didn't have only him. Those who should really have headaches were the higher-ups.

These people held resources, power, and information in their hands, giving them the qualifications and ability to handle such large-scale population migration.

After brooding for a while, Cheng Ye rolled over and sat up again.

Opening his palm, with a thought, the pendant materialized in his palm, emanating a warm, gentle glow.

Observing it against the light, the horn starfish, flying wings, and four-piece set floating in the core were each more pleasing than the last.

"Let's try the inspector four-piece set first."

Cheng Ye made up his mind.

The flying wings were too large. If he couldn't put them back, even folded up they could be placed in the room, but anyone who came would see them immediately with nowhere to hide.

But the four-piece set was different. The badge, phone, and glasses could be casually thrown in a bag, and the detection device could easily fit under the bed.

[Confirm whether to retrieve items stored in the collector?]

[Since this is the collector's first time using the storage and retrieval function, please be aware of the following rules:

1. Items obtained through search will automatically be stored in the collector the first time, occupying certain collector space. If space is full, the collector's item search function will automatically shut down. Please organize space before trying again.

2. Items obtained through search can be retrieved at will by the collector through thought, requiring no energy consumption. However, if you wish to store the item back in the collector, a certain amount of energy is required, specifically:

Under 30 minutes: 1% energy

30 minutes-3 hours: 5% energy

3 hours-24 hours: 25% energy

24 hours: Storage will be impossible. For valuable personal items, please pay attention to time.

3. This space cannot store items not obtained through search

4. Please do not attempt to give items to others for search exploitation using this space. Such behavior will cause unpredictable effects, severely risking temporary closure of this function and destruction of all items in storage space

5. Advancing job level will increase storage space and reduce storage energy consumption

6...]

Unexpectedly, taking something out for the first time caused the panel to pop up such a long string of rules, listing nearly 20 items extensively.

Cheng Ye patiently scanned from top to bottom, finding that key information was mainly concentrated in the first 5 items.

"Indeed didn't disappoint me," he couldn't help but praise. "Being able to repeatedly store and retrieve found items, this is exactly the function civilization collectors need most!"

Collectors entering dangerous places couldn't carry all equipment on their bodies.

This storage space was excellent. Although it could only store and retrieve things searched by the collector, its strategic value was already immeasurable.

As for the 24-hour limitation, Cheng Ye guessed there was probably some temporary link between found items and the collector. Beyond this time, the link would break, naturally making re-storage impossible.

But 24 hours was already long enough. Unless encountering extremely special circumstances, it would definitely suffice.

The rule about "not being able to give things to others and search them back" completely blocked a small loophole he'd previously wanted to exploit but hadn't had time to implement.

"Looks like search collection isn't as simple as copying as I understood..."

After reading all prompts, he used his mind to click "acknowledged" below.

[Please select item to retrieve: Inspector Four-Piece Set (Xinghuo Sanctuary City Version)]

Another prompt popped up. Cheng Ye clicked confirm without hesitation.

The next second, a magical scene unfolded before his eyes.

The ground suddenly emanated a layer of light blue glow, like spilled blue ink spreading in the air, gradually condensing into an oval light circle about two square meters.

Even more wonderfully, as his gaze moved, that blue light seemed alive, following his movement step by step.

"Good heavens, this is letting me choose the appearance location?"

Cheng Ye's eyes lit up, immediately becoming excited.

He quickly scanned the room, fixing his gaze on the central open space, mentally chanting "put it here."

The glow suddenly contracted, then burst out in a gentle halo again.

Under his gaze, four objects appeared as if held by invisible hands, materializing in the center of the light circle, slowly descending:

Most conspicuous was an emerald green badge, actually twice as large as a resident's badge, palm-sized, more like a token than a badge.

Cheng Ye curiously picked it up, his fingertips brushing over the Mount Everest pattern carved on the front. The peak was covered with fine white patterns, as if truly covered with eternal snow.

But flipping to the back revealed lush green bamboo forest, with distinct bamboo joints and even leaf veins clearly visible.

"Eh, the color and pattern changed?"

Cheng Ye was stunned. This was completely different from what the resident had shown him before.

Could it be that Xinghuo Sanctuary City also distinguished between different levels of residents and institutional personnel on badges?

Beside it lay a phone, exactly the style Li Changfeng had shown him before, but the color was also vastly different.

Li Changfeng's was cream white, while Cheng Ye's was completely black, even the frame had a matte finish.

The headband glasses showed no change, almost identical to the pair he'd worn before.

Most surprising was the monitoring device, a square block with a smooth black panel surface and slightly rounded corners, looking remarkably like a modern bathroom scale.

It just lacked foot grooves and had several hidden ports instead.

Flipping it over revealed densely packed patch cables underneath, arranged neatly, though he didn't know how to use them.

"This is a bit troublesome. It seems completely different from Li Changfeng's things?"

Through searching, he again verified that it wasn't simply copying what the target should have, but followed some rule he couldn't yet understand.

Cheng Ye pondered, taking the phone and badge back to sit on the bed.

This device might be very unfamiliar to ordinary wasteland people, but for him, a modern person who spent at least eight hours daily on his phone before transmigrating, it was as familiar as part of his body.

Holding it now, his right thumb unconsciously found the phone's side edge.

Oh my, there really was a button.

Cheng Ye tried pressing and holding for three seconds. The pitch-black screen suddenly flashed a glimmer, then displayed a familiar pattern.

Exactly the blazing flame from behind resident badges!

The pattern lasted five seconds before slowly fading. A line of Chinese characters appeared on screen.

[Detected first use of Xinghuo Connect (Inspector). Please place identity badge on back for activation]

"Really is new!"

Cheng Ye's expression became somewhat complex.

He'd thought he could copy Li Changfeng's phone with personal data. Even if it needed cracking, at least he could see some historical information.

But now with a completely new Xinghuo Connect, this disrupted his plans. If data needed activation to download and he couldn't connect to the network now, wouldn't it be a beautiful "waste"?

Wait.

The phone was new. Could this badge also be new?

After pondering, Cheng Ye tried placing the badge on the phone's back.

Since he'd already left Xinghuo's signal coverage area, worst case activation would fail and lock the device. He could figure out cracking later.

But if there were other opportunities, maybe he could start using this without cracking.

He took a deep breath and placed the badge on the phone's back.

However, the moment the screen lit up, Cheng Ye's pupils suddenly contracted.

Lines of information flashed by like flowing water.

After clearly seeing the first line, he was so shocked he nearly jumped up from the bed.

[Name: Cheng Ye]

[Identity: Trainee Inspector]

[Affiliation: B4 District]

[Xinghuo Connect is activating. Please wait patiently for activation process completion...]

"Why is it my name?"

Whether it displayed Li Changfeng, any name he'd never heard, or even blank space.

Cheng Ye wouldn't be surprised and would even find it natural but displaying his own name was somewhat horrifying.

Had Xinghuo Sanctuary City stored his information in advance?

Certainly impossible!

Cheng Ye instinctively called up the collector panel, thoughtfully looking at it, but unfortunately no prompts appeared.

The civilization collector's power once again exceeded his understanding.

Skill search could copy someone's lifetime accumulation, even stripping away hidden talents alongside, already powerful enough.

Intelligence search could dig out a person's deepest secrets, even transcending time and space to recreate their words and actions, even more outrageous.

But now this item search could directly tamper with an item's core information?

Taking possession of it, fundamentally erasing possible troubles that searched items might bring to the collector.

"Job level is still too low. Need to advance quickly to probably learn more information..."

Switching to personal interface, Cheng Ye glanced at it.

Since the last upgrade, a series of searches had added considerable information degree, currently at:

[Collector: Cheng Ye]

[Current Job Level: lv.2 Rising Star (4.5/100)]

"Wonder if searching transcendents could add more information degree?"

Closing the panel, Cheng Ye collected his thoughts, quietly waiting for Xinghuo Connect to complete activation.

Previously, he'd been somewhat worried about using these things outside might bring trouble. After all, they were searched items. If monitored by Xinghuo Sanctuary City people or if they didn't match the database, it would inevitably attract unnecessary suspicion.

Now it was fine. The information had been completely altered by the collector.

As long as he didn't go to B4 District for on-site verification, even if a Xinghuo Sanctuary City inspector stood before him, he could brazenly pull out this badge for display. The other party might not spot any flaws.

"Does this count as an additional identity?"

Cheng Ye pondered. Before searching, he'd never thought about using these things to masquerade as a Xinghuo inspector for deception.

No need, in terms of sanctuary city scale and influence, Xinghuo was definitely one of the planet's top existences.

But regarding inspector reputation and actual status, Happiness City was not weak at all, even more useful in certain situations.

This was why he, a small trainee inspector, could face Li Changfeng, a fourth-level inspector, without any timidity.

However, before his thoughts could form a clear thread, Xinghuo Connect suddenly vibrated.

The screen lit up with a prompt, announcing activation completion.

[Detected first Xinghuo Connect activation, automatically entering beginner guide mode]

[Respected Inspector 'Cheng Ye', detected you are outside Xinghuo main network coverage. Unable to complete full function activation. Please proceed to network coverage area for active activation]

[Respected Inspector 'Cheng Ye', detected you are within Xinghuo Alliance network coverage. Connect to this network?

Please note:

1. Connecting to alliance network is only for sharing data downloads and basic function activation. During operation, Xinghuo Connect will run silently in background without affecting alliance network.

2. You may actively choose stealth networking (once enabled, cannot be detected by alliance network source address monitoring)

3. Due to sanctuary city network security restrictions, Xinghuo Connect cannot reconnect to Xinghuo main network through alliance network to transmit information. For special emergencies, please try contacting alliance network administrator for assistance]

[Proceed with alliance network activation?]

"Hiss, can actually use Happiness City's network to activate Xinghuo Connect?"

Cheng Ye was somewhat surprised.

But thinking again, it seemed reasonable. Xinghuo Sanctuary City and Happiness City certainly had secret communication networks between them, otherwise they couldn't achieve information flow during emergencies.

This network just wouldn't be open to ordinary people, only used for official communication between cities.

Without rushing to click confirm, he first briefly browsed the phone.

The system interface was quite crude. Smoothness was acceptable, but aesthetics completely couldn't compare to any smartphone he'd used before transmigrating.

Menu logic was similar to Happiness City's defense communicator, with many settings even having identical icons.

Returning to desktop, in the unactivated state, only a lone "Photo Authentication" function existed.

Cheng Ye clicked in to try, taking a photo of the backpack on the table. The screen immediately popped up a prompt:

[Please connect to network to download offline data!]

"Alright, looks like without activation, this thing can only be used as a brick."

Cheng Ye's finger paused on screen, finally opening the stealth networking function.

Since information wouldn't transmit back to Xinghuo Sanctuary City and could shield Happiness City's network monitoring, there really were no worries.

Just didn't know how these basic functions were and what permissions he as a "trainee" would have.

[Activating!]

The screen was instantly covered with scrolling green characters, with a progress bar popping up below.

Download speed was much faster than expected, jumping 1% about every ten seconds, but power consumption soared accordingly.

Starting with only 38% battery, it directly dropped below 20%.

Fortunately, Xinghuo Connect's charging port was compatible with Happiness City's defense communicator. Cheng Ye quickly found a charger to plug in, watching the battery slowly recover before sighing in relief.

After waiting over ten minutes, the activation progress bar finally filled completely, with screen showing "Basic Function Activation Complete" prompt.

The data download progress bar was still crawling at turtle speed. Glancing at the estimated time, it actually showed greater than 144 hours.

"Deliberately limiting speed to avoid monopolizing alliance network bandwidth?"

Cheng Ye smacked his lips but could understand.

Using alliance network was sensitive to begin with. Slow was better than being detected with anomalies.

He wound the charging cable toward the bedside, focusing back on the phone desktop.

The originally empty interface now had three new icons, from left to right:

[Job Level Tasks], [Information Query], [Information Link]

"Got it!"

Cheng Ye's eyes lit up. He first clicked Information Query, the function he cared most about.

In Happiness City, limited by permission levels, he couldn't know about many things.

To "overtake on curves," the Xinghuo Connect in his hands was undoubtedly the best choice.

Unfortunately, data hadn't finished downloading. The interface was completely blank with only a "Please wait for offline data synchronization" prompt. He could only exit disappointedly.

Clicking [Information Link] next.

The interface immediately displayed instructions: "Please bring information receiver close to phone back sensing area to activate linkage. Detector needs to snap into back groove to complete connection."

Below were instruction manuals for two items. Cheng Ye clicked to look. Every patch cable on the detector had introductions, even including repair guides.

Since data was still downloading, Cheng Ye wasn't urgent. After exiting, he clicked into [Job Level Tasks] to check.

In his thinking, this should be the most useless function.

After all, based on Happiness City's model, inspector job level advancement required auxiliary manual assessment to achieve.

Even if he completed many tasks on Xinghuo Connect, he couldn't return to Xinghuo Sanctuary City for promotion but the moment the list opened, Cheng Ye's relaxed brow suddenly furrowed.

[Trainee Inspector Job Level Task List:

1. Detect energy reactions 35 (Required)

2. Use 'Photo Authentication' function 5000 times (Required; must authenticate different objects)

3. Use 'Information Query' function to completely memorize required trainee materials (Required; can actively start assessment after memorization completion, score 95 points to pass)

Complete above three required tasks to finish trainee assessment and advance to Level 1 Inspector]

[NEXT CHAPTER]