With experience in acquiring skills, Cheng Ye was extra cautious with a Lv.2 talent.

Before entering the main district, he called Uncle Dong to ask about nutrient paste supplies.

Perhaps due to the morning’s near-riot over goods, the Public Works Bureau unusually restocked shops that afternoon, mandating a sale price of 2 coins per unit. Violators faced fines ten times the excess or loss of selling permits.

“I got six crates. Don’t worry, plenty to go around.”

“Good.”

Uncle Dong’s voice seemed off, but Cheng Ye had no time to dwell on it.

At the entrance between the suburbs and the main district, sandbags blocked the road tightly, leaving only a narrow gap.

Yet, looking up, the dark clouds were slowly dispersing. It didn’t look like more heavy rain was coming.

Something’s wrong.

Cheng Ye quickened his pace, his heart sinking.

Previous roadblocks were for crowd control, with guards at the entrance merely for deterrence.

Now, six armed guards stood openly on high alert, with more positioned behind, their dark gun barrels peeking through sandbag gaps, exuding a chilling “keep out” aura.

“Halt.”

Seeing Cheng Ye jog over, the guards exchanged glances and stepped forward.

“Curfew in the main district. No one’s allowed in or out.”

“No one?” Cheng Ye’s face was impassive as he pulled out his badge. “Does that include me?”

The guard hesitated, quickly scanning the badge with his defense comm.

Seeing the displayed info, his tense expression relaxed. “Inspector, sir, please proceed. You’re free to move, of course.”

“What’s going on?”

“Not sure… orders from above.”

The guard faltered, pointing toward the inner city. “Came down suddenly, about half an hour ago.”

“Suddenly?”

No wonder the road to the Fertilizer Plant Compound earlier had no sandbags.

Could something major have happened?

Passing the barricade, Cheng Ye sped up, sensing trouble.

At the compound’s entrance, the Big Meat cafeteria was unusually dark early, not prepping tomorrow’s ingredients. Its windows were reinforced with iron plates, like preparations for a coastal typhoon.

Uncle Dong’s shop was lit, but the shutter was half-down, leaving just enough space for half a person to slip through.

“Uncle Dong.” Cheng Ye knocked on the shutter.

“Don’t just stand there, get in.”

The voice carried clear tension.

Cheng Ye ducked inside, pulling the shutter closed behind him.

The waterlogged counter was back in place, cleared of damaged goods.

Uncle Dong sat behind it, three guns on the surface.

One long, two short.

The long one was an assault rifle, the shorts a shotgun and a pistol.

The rifle was disassembled, a bottle of gun oil nearby, its sharp smell filling the air.

“What’s this…”

Cheng Ye froze. In three months, he’d never seen Uncle Dong like this.

The usual kindness was gone, replaced by a fierce, murderous edge.

“Station Chief He from Central Station died, right?”

“You heard?”

Cheng Ye wasn’t surprised. A checkpoint station chief’s death in the buffer zone was no small matter. Even if news could be suppressed briefly, with so many eyes, it’d leak within a day or two.

For a retired veteran like Uncle Dong with connections, hearing early wasn’t odd.

“Around noon, attacked by an unknown infected entity.”

“The infected that hit Station Chief He… caught?”

“Huh?”

Now it was Cheng Ye’s turn to pause. “They’d investigate before announcing. Probably caught, I’d guess.”

“You’re not sure, so it hasn’t been.”

Uncle Dong’s gaze was deep as an old well, his voice trembling slightly. “Last time a station chief died was thirteen years ago. After that, the buffer zone was in chaos for two months, with at least triple-digit unknown infected entities infiltrating.”

“All unknowns.”

“Don’t scare yourself.”

Cheng Ye’s heart jolted, but he reassured, “I was on duty at North Station today. If infected entities slipped in, wouldn’t I know?”

“It’s different. You guard against external threats, but internally…”

Uncle Dong flipped open his defense comm, navigating to the message interface.

Cheng Ye glanced and froze.

[Winter-4]

[Ghost at the door, suppressed. Meet at the venue.]

[June 28, 21:07]

?

June 28 was today.

21:07?

Cheng Ye’s mind flashed to a moment after sending Dai Zun off. He’d glanced at his defense comm.

It was around 21:02, wasn’t it?

“From an old comrade.”

Uncle Dong wasn’t surprised by Cheng Ye’s reaction, just sighed deeply. “Over an hour ago, Happiness Gate was attacked by infected entities.”

“What?”

Cheng Ye’s heart shook, his first instinct disbelief.

But the next second, a chill like needles shot through him, goosebumps rising.

His memory rewound.

At Happiness Gate with Dai Zun, there were indeed many prying eyes in the dark. He’d glared some back. Could those gazes have belonged not to ordinary vagrants, but…

“They didn’t breach, but plenty of infected likely slipped in.”

Uncle Dong spoke, his hands steadily assembling the rifle barrel. “You know the ‘dark pool’ principle. For external checks, no one’s more professional than you inspectors. But for stirrings in the buffer zone, us old cowards know better than anyone, and we know the consequences.”

“Plenty in the buffer zone envy inspectors’ badges, but deep down, everyone knows you’re the buffer zone’s barometer. Once you start taking casualties, chaos is coming fast.”

Click.

The rifle was assembled. Uncle Dong aimed it briefly, nodding toward a corner by the door. “Six crates, take what you need, on me as usual. The top crate has a key to this shop. Take it. If things go wrong, hide here. The basement’s reinforced, can hold out long enough for you to call the checkpoint for help.”

“Also, under the fourth floor tile in the basement, there are six high-explosive grenades, custom-made. They could level the Big Meat cafeteria next door. Don’t use them unless it’s dire.”

“You’re heading out to hide?”

Cheng Ye paused, glancing at the door. Sure enough, a long-handled key sat on the crate.

“Not hiding, settling some unfinished business.”

Setting down the rifle, Uncle Dong sighed. “When you’re old, you fear death daily. But at times like this, I’m not afraid. The shop might be closed for a while.”

Carrying three crates of nutrient paste back to his room, Cheng Ye locked the door.

The flimsy bullhead lock rattled on the frame, offering no security, only unease.

“Damn, why’s the wasteland such a mess since I transmigrated!”

“First day at the rapid checkpoint, I’m fine, but it feels like the buffer zone’s sky is falling?”

Cheng Ye grumbled, but he knew this mess had nothing to do with him.

The chaotic weather predated his arrival, traceable to thirteen years ago when a duty station chief died.

The old saying held true: natural disasters bring great upheaval.

Happiness City’s migratory mode worked in summer and autumn, drawing most infected entities to the industrial zone, leaving few to hit the buffer zone with vagrants.

But when disasters struck, the mode failed, and relaxed vigilance could spark sudden chaos.

Whoosh.

A gust rattled the window, creaking.

Normally, Cheng Ye wouldn’t care, but now it sent chills down his spine. He gripped his waist dagger, recalling those greedy eyes at the gate.

This damn buffer zone was anything but safe. No wonder everyone fought to reach the inner city.

In peaceful times, it was fine, but danger turned everything into a battlefield.

“No more. Tomorrow, I’m buying materials to reinforce the doors and windows.”

Cheng Long, a workaholic, lived at the checkpoint, leaving no property.

This single room was checkpoint-assigned, untouched by its previous owner.

Before, Cheng Ye was too focused on assessments to think about fortifying.

Now, it was a priority.

With three action points, reinforcing doors and windows should be doable.

Moving the table to block the door, Cheng Ye called Luo Xiaoxue to explain.

“Want to move to my place? Big B reinforced it multiple times. It’s safe.”

“No need. If chaos hits, we inspectors will be on duty. Coming and going could draw infected entities to you and Yiyi.”

Luo Xiaoxue didn’t press, knowing he was right.

Alone, she’d manage, but with Yiyi, frequent visitors were risky.

Hanging up, Cheng Ye moved the bed to the door too.

If an infected entity tried breaking in at night, it’d wake him instantly.

“Iron Body… you better be worth it!”

Thinking it, the Civilization Collector panel opened, switching to his personal interface.

At the bottom, his evaluation hadn’t changed.

But in the skill slot, a glowing purple frame had appeared.

“Equip, Iron Body!”

The moment his thought landed, the purple frame flashed, leaping from the reserve to the active skill slot.

Hm, no reaction for a Lv.2 talent?

Unlike skills, which flooded the mind with memories and illusions upon equipping, talents were subtle, like beast instincts, with no noticeable change.

But no buffs either?

Cheng Ye blinked, his gaze catching the window’s reflection.

In it, his youthful face burned red, as if magma surged beneath his skin!

Veins bulged densely from neck to scalp.

He looked less human, more like an infected entity, a grotesque red-skinned beast!

“What’s happening to me?”

No time to think or feel the changes.

Boom!

A muffled explosion erupted inside him, like tons of dynamite detonating at once.

Far from the calm of equipping a skill.

Cheng Ye’s vision spun, the world fracturing into blurry light and shadow.

It felt like being tossed into a storm’s eye, his organs shredded and remade.

But…

Did it hurt?

No!

Was it exhilarating?

Hell yes!

Indescribable sensations crashed over him, like paddling a kayak through raging waves.

Amid the intense impact, strange visions flooded in like a tide:

A parched, cracked pondbed, suddenly gushing with clear springs, nourishing every inch of broken earth.

The ground trembling, soil churning, a hill rising like a waking beast.

Deep in the earth, a tender sprout pushing through rubble, inching upward, breaking the hard surface!

Everything was different.

Something in his genes seemed to awaken.

The uncrossable chasm between the gifted and the ordinary, he’d stepped over it with ease.

“The changes from Iron Body are even wilder than I imagined…”

Moments later, Cheng Ye stood, leaning on the bedframe, pale. The strange phenomena faded, leaving only waves of heat rising from him.

His pain perception was now one-tenth normal, nearly numb.

He’d expected it to feel odd, but instead, it was the opposite. The nerves once tied to pain seemed rewired, sharpening his other senses to unprecedented levels.

For example…

He reached for the training dagger nearby.

The moment his fingers touched the handle, a strange sense of “oneness” sparked in his mind.

With a flick of his wrist, the dagger traced a silver arc, slashing upward. Cold light burst along the motion, sharp as frost.

The blade moved with his will, an extension of his arm.

An unprecedented thrill surged through him, as if he’d wielded this dagger for decades. Every angle, every force trajectory was etched into his genes, as natural as breathing.

“Is this the world of geniuses?”