After Yu Hong left with his people, only Liu Kun and Ding Yishan remained sitting across from each other in the conference room.

Silence swept over the mahogany table like a tide, until the sunlight outside the window had shifted another inch or so diagonally. Only then did the two men successively stand up and walk out with heavy steps.

At the entrance, Achuan had already prepared the supplies for visiting the injured, with four bulging packages piled at his feet.

Seeing both men emerge with grim faces, his heart suddenly skipped a beat. Not daring to breathe loudly, he silently picked up the supplies and followed.

The black pickup drove away from the conference area. Just after turning two street corners, Liu Kun suddenly broke the silence, "Old Ding, what Yu Hong said makes sense, but it only makes sense, that's all. You saw it too. The times now are different from before. In the past, everyone could argue red-faced over a system, using reason and facts to convince others, but now if you say one wrong word and displease the higher-ups, you'll be thrown out."

"Mm." Ding Yishan responded softly, his gaze falling on the inner city streetscape passing by outside the window, "I understand what he means, but he may not understand our difficulties."

"Exactly!" Liu Kun slammed the steering wheel hard, causing the pickup to shake, "Without becoming transcendent, one remains an ant in the end! Without real power in hand, whatever you say is empty talk. Who the hell would take it seriously?"

"Cheng Wu is the best example, driven away by the elders' few words!"

He took a deep breath, his chest heaving violently, his voice full of suppressed anger, "Hou Rui and his gang are increasingly looking down on us, but we still have to bow and scrape, begging them to allocate supplies and provide support. These days are too stifling!"

"Director Liu, times change." Ding Yishan's voice became calmer, "In their day, they too endured such frustrations. We must endure."

"Endure? Endure my ass!"

Liu Kun burst out with profanity, but quickly suppressed his anger. A flash of ruthlessness crossed his eyes, "But don't worry, these days won't last much longer. Recently, I've found new ways to become stronger."

Speaking of this, he paused, turned his head to look at Ding Yishan, and curved his lips into a meaningful smile, "Cheng Ye is quite promising material. You should cultivate him well. He might be another surprise."

"Cheng Ye?" Ding Yishan was stunned, his brows slightly furrowing, "What about him?"

"You don't know? He discovered a special infection source at the North Station."

Liu Kun's voice lowered somewhat, carrying a few notes of excitement, "That thing's characteristics are unprecedented, and it's just what I need. In a few days, I'll personally go to the ruins to see if I can find any fusion bodies of this infection source. If I can find them..."

"Heh, everything will eventually come full circle."

Liu Kun didn't finish his words. The car turned a corner, and sunlight happened to sweep across from the horizon, slanting across his face, casting that ruthless expression with an eerie quality.

Ding Yishan glanced with his peripheral vision and suddenly felt a jolt in his heart, as if stung by something.

But his face remained calm, and his body didn't move at all.

Before long, the pickup steadily stopped in front of Happiness Gate. The heavy alloy door slowly opened, revealing the gray, hazy buffer zone scenery outside.

The two men got out of the car one after another. Liu Kun stood inside the gate while Ding Yishan, carrying supplies with Achuan, walked outside.

"Old Ding."

"Mm."

"Remember my words. Times are different now. We... must keep up with the times, can't be conservative!"

Liu Kun spoke again, lowering his voice, carrying an unusual excitement.

"Good!"

Ding Yishan nodded heavily, showing a smile, and quickly boarded the checkpoint's pickup truck.

But even after the vehicle had driven far from Happiness Gate, he still frowned in deep thought.

"Sir, I somehow feel..."

"Shut up."

Ding Yishan growled lowly, his gaze falling on the rearview mirror. The towering silhouette of Happiness Gate grew smaller and smaller, and Liu Kun became a small black dot.

But somehow, this city he had guarded for most of his life, this gate symbolizing the boundary between inner and outer worlds, and these people who once fought alongside him... all seemed to have unconsciously changed beyond recognition, becoming increasingly unfamiliar.

And now the problems before him were becoming more and more numerous.

According to the idealists' intention, they wanted the station's Eastern and Western factions to quickly determine a winner. But now the Eastern faction's power was already weak. Even a duty station chief position had four Eastern fifth-term inspectors fighting desperately for it. Where would they find the ability to suppress Harlin?

Looking down, the younger generation of the Western faction, although slightly better off than the Eastern faction, were all focused on taking sides and climbing up, each putting their energy into power struggles and profit-seeking.

Initial intentions, what bullshit initial intentions.

Only someone like Lee Matteo, who didn't want to climb up, could still remember a few responsibilities of being an inspector.

"Now we lack someone who can carry the banner for the younger generation of the checkpoint."

"Otherwise, even if we want to pile up resources, we don't know where to pile them."

Ding Yishan leaned back in his chair, looking at the mottled stains on the car ceiling, suddenly feeling somewhat dazed.

Back then, he bet that Cheng Long could succeed, and he was half right. He poured all the station's resources toward Cheng Long, and Cheng Long indeed supported the checkpoint and helped him climb step by step to the station chief position.

But truly, success came from Cheng Long, and failure also came from Cheng Long.

Under Liu Kun's influence, Cheng Long's obsession with transcendence was too deep, almost reaching the point of going mad, ultimately meeting such an end.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but recall Lee Matteo's suggestion.

Cheng Ye?

Another member of the Cheng family?

He instinctively felt some resistance. This well-known "waste" of the inner city had no achievements in his records from childhood to adulthood, not even comparable to ordinary scavengers from outside.

When he initially protected Cheng Ye from being killed by those whom Cheng Long had offended in the inner city factions, he hadn't thought much about it.

He was just following the checkpoint's rules, showing that the checkpoint would protect any inspector's offspring. Even if they died, they must die within the checkpoint, absolutely not allowing inner city factions to interfere.

Additionally, it would naturally allow someone to die on duty, freeing up a position for Achuan, so he wouldn't fall into criticism by directly promoting Achuan.

But the world was just that absurd.

This waste, upon leaving the high walls, transformed into a rookie inspector whose assessment scores were second only to Harlin's.

And originally his combat talent was so weak that even Harlin couldn't be bothered to be wary, but after going to the North Station, his performance was surprisingly competent, even attracting olive branches from the Western faction.

This instead left him unable to play his cards and put him in a passive position, now stuck in the middle, neither up nor down, extremely uncomfortable.

Moreover, this damned world seemed to have some things that the more he resisted, the more they would develop in the opposite direction of his expectations.

A trainee inspector, even a monster as strong as Cheng Long.

Back then, he had to go to the Pioneer Corps to train for two and a half years first, then after returning to the checkpoint, climb up step by step in factional struggles, taking over five years in total.

But this Cheng Ye was even more outrageous than his father and grandfather.

In today's meeting, he felt somewhat apprehensive just hearing this name.

Even Liu Kun mentioned him. Could it be that the Cheng family was truly destined to suppress the checkpoint and suppress him, Ding Yishan?

Thinking of this, Ding Yishan sat woodenly for a while, then suddenly spoke, "Achuan."

"Here."

"Last time I told you to test that Cheng Ye, did you go?"

"Not yet. Didn't you say to wait until he went to the South Station, then find an opportunity to test him?"

"Did I say that?"

Ding Yishan was momentarily confused, then asked, "Then where is he now? He didn't get into trouble during the infection tide, did he?"

"No, all inspectors reported their information. No casualties... Sir, please wait, let me check."

Achuan took out his defense communicator, his fingers quickly tapping to search for information, "Inspector Cheng applied for medical treatment an hour ago. This is the injury photo he took. Would you like to take a look?"

"Give it here."

Ding Yishan took the defense communicator, glanced at the screen, and immediately raised his eyebrows, slightly shocked.

He wasn't unfamiliar with the background of the photo. It was Liu Bi's home.

Cheng Ye was bare-chested, with almost no good skin left on his body. Blue and purple bruises extended all the way to his waist. His leg injuries were probably not light either.

"What did he do? Even Garcia wasn't injured this badly, right?"

"It's different. This should just be superficial wounds. Inspector Liu's beating of Garcia caused internal injuries. It looks less serious, but it's actually more troublesome."

As someone who practiced martial arts, Achuan could naturally tell the difference at a glance, "Also, Inspector Cheng hasn't reported his movement trajectory during the infection tide yet, but we have records showing his defense communicator had contact with the inner city, specifically the command center."

"Command center?"

Ding Yishan was startled, "He, a trainee inspector, contacted the command center for what?"

"Yes, the call records have been retrieved, but what exactly was said... the station doesn't have permission to access it. Should I apply upward to see if it will be approved?"

"Hmm..."

Ding Yishan hesitated slightly, but finally shook his head, "Forget it. The command center involves too much. If we're rejected, it would be embarrassing. You said he applied for medical treatment?"

"Yes, the process has reached Station Chief Harlin and has been approved. Now it just needs your approval."

"Approve it for him, and also..."

Ding Yishan paused, then added, "Transfer him to the medical facility where Garcia is staying. Put them in adjacent rooms, and have someone record what they say and do... If they fight, Garcia is second-term and Cheng Ye is no match, but as long as no lives are lost, don't stop whatever happens."

"Yes!"

"Also, later you go directly to the area where Cheng Ye lives and investigate for me. Don't let other people at the station know. See if you can find out what he's been doing. After he's hospitalized, we'll be the first to visit him."

"Understood."

Achuan responded again, with a slight note of joy in his tone.

Hearing his joy, Ding Yishan was startled, then couldn't help but sigh deeply, "Achuan, your becoming an inspector will probably be delayed again."

"Sir, I really don't want to become an inspector. I just want to run errands for you for the rest of my life."

Achuan smiled happily, "I don't have any of the skills needed to be an inspector. Even if I really became one, I would only fall into the whirlpool of power struggles like others. Now that someone can come out to share your worries, I couldn't ask for more."

"You..."

Ding Yishan first sighed deeply, then sighed heavily again.

Yes.

What was lacking now was indeed not people who could engage in scheming, but people who could truly do practical work.

Internally, they had to be able to block infection bodies, possess hard strength to carry the banner of the younger generation of inspectors.

Externally, they had to be able to develop settlements and sanctuary cities, bring back additional income for the checkpoint, help update equipment and repair facilities, and accumulate operational funds.

But such people, from the checkpoint's establishment to today, could be counted on two hands.

To really put this burden on a trainee inspector, was it possible?

It was completely just his wild fantasy.

Noon.

After eating another tasteless meal of boiled cabbage, Cheng Ye quickly walked out of the chemical factory residential area.

The intelligence he obtained from Luo Xiaoxue contained a lot of information.

"No wonder Ding Yishan transferred me to the express station, and Big Brother didn't obstruct it. Strictly speaking..."

"The Cheng family owes the checkpoint too much!"

Whether it was Cheng Wu or Cheng Long, both had brought serious weakening to the checkpoint.

Cheng Wu took away a group of veterans when he left, digging up the checkpoint's roots.

Cheng Long led a bunch of Eastern faction backbone members to their deaths, making the Eastern faction weak in the station and causing internal strife.

"Following this trend, next it should be my turn to deal another heavy blow to the checkpoint, right?"

Cheng Ye stood by the roadside pondering, and couldn't help but smile.

But overall, after clarifying that Cheng Long's death had nothing to do with the checkpoint, he felt somewhat relieved.

At least he could confirm that the enemy wasn't inside the checkpoint.

Plus with the Horned Starfish in hand, he was no longer constrained like before.

However, the more this was the case, the less he wanted to leave Happiness City to venture into the wilderness.

Now that he had the ability to establish a firm foothold, it was a good time to develop quietly.

Not to mention anything else, just that set of battle armor, worth a full 2,800 contribution points, was obtained for free in one battle.

And he also gained an additional 20,000 in huge funds to cultivate his own forces and trusted subordinates.

"I thought that old man was from the Idealist Faction before, but now it seems he's probably an elder?"

Cheng Ye pondered secretly.

He hadn't told Luo Xiaoxue about the 20,000 contribution points because he couldn't figure out the situation before.

Now he finally had some clues.

"The community concept was proposed by the Idealist Faction. Now it seems there must be elders pushing it from behind. My alliance with the community just happened to enter the elders' field of vision. Do the elders want to see what kind of sparks will fly from my combination of inspector and community?"

"But this way, in the eyes of others at the checkpoint, wouldn't I become someone who has sided with the idealists, going against the Original Intent Faction's ideology?"

Thinking of this, Cheng Ye had a bit of a headache.

According to Luo Xiaoxue's introduction, the so-called "Original Intent" was the ideology proposed by Cheng Wu.

That is, the set of human rights equality where everyone who entered the buffer zone, regardless of strength, should have equal opportunities, and when facing danger, should also enjoy equal rights to live, without enjoying privileges because of noble status.

For example, with this substitute starfish incident, according to Cheng Wu's ideology, the first moment it was detected, all residents should be notified, then a city-wide isolation should be conducted.

Then the buffer zone would uniformly allocate manpower for door-to-door inspections and medicine delivery, cutting off transmission from the source.

Under his management, inspectors had almost no special privileges and were no different from management personnel of the Works Department, all just screws in the buffer zone.

But facts proved that this ideology ultimately couldn't work, not only because infection sources came wave after wave with increasingly bizarre transmission methods.

More importantly, the population loss within the buffer zone was too severe. No one wanted to be trapped like a tool by a word from above and marked for death just because of infection.

The Idealist Faction emerged accordingly and quickly gained the elders' support, forcing the Original Intent Faction to leave.

Afterward, the Idealist Faction relaxed human rights restrictions and reformed the inspector system, elevating inspectors' status infinitely.

They attempted to use the checkpoint to block infection sources, isolating them outside the defense line, rather than simply relying on large-scale isolation to solve problems every time infection sources infiltrated.

But unexpectedly, after power suddenly expanded, everyone became busy fighting for power and climbing up, completely forgetting the responsibilities that inspectors should bear, ultimately leading to heavy casualties in the buffer zone.

Later, veterans of the Original Intent Faction regained power, retaining certain Original Intent ideologies while enjoying the benefits brought by idealist reforms, namely the supreme status of inspectors.

This was very twisted.

It caused the current checkpoint to be fundamentally trapped in internal strife.

Some people wanted to be good inspectors, maintain their Original Intents, and block infection sources outside the defense line.

Others were single-mindedly focused on climbing up, becoming transcendent, and reaching high positions.

For both groups, while buffer zone residents weren't tools, they were just numbers.

Just as Lee Matteo said, inspectors were there to prevent infection bodies from flowing into the buffer zone, not to give scavengers and merchant teams green lights to promote buffer zone economic development.

"But if I succeed in this matter, wouldn't I become the first inspector to promote internal development, becoming a promoter of new ideology?"

"Moreover, this feels like putting myself in a high-level position, managing the buffer zone like a settlement?"

Thinking of this, Cheng Ye couldn't help but click his tongue.

Perhaps influenced by modern concepts, he hadn't thought about so much when doing these things.

Now looking back with complete information, he was indeed walking on this path.

Fortunately, this path wouldn't clash with the checkpoint's two ideological streams for a while, and even if he offended people, he now had cards to hedge risks.

"Fortunately, the factional struggles within the station aren't as precarious as before. I'm now basically familiar with the rules. Outside the rules... if anyone dares to think about killing me to solve problems, it's a good opportunity to try what transcendent power feels like."

"However, I absolutely cannot get involved in the entanglements between the inner city's three major factions and the disputes between these factions and the checkpoint!"

Those qualified to sit at the table and speak at this level were probably all transcendent beings.

Relying on the Horned Starfish's five minutes, he might barely be able to protect himself, but to delude himself into being on equal footing with these people was simply wishful thinking.

When he had gathered transcendent abilities someday and was fully qualified to speak, then squeezing into this circle would be appropriate.

While pondering, a bus drove over in the distance.

Cheng Ye looked at the person sitting in the driver's seat waving at him and couldn't help but smile.

Vehicles going to the checkpoint came one after another, all loaded with residents migrating away.

But buses returning from the checkpoint were all empty because the checkpoint was sealed.

The vehicle stopped.

Cheng Ye got on the bus and sat in his usual window seat, saying, "Master Tian, I thought you were resting today."

"How could I rest? This whole week is peak period."

Meeting Cheng Ye, Master Tian's face, originally carrying some sorrow, squeezed out a few smiles, "You're safe, that's really wonderful!"

"What could happen to me? During the infection tide, your family..."

"Everyone's fine, very well."

Master Tian smiled, then sighed again, "It's just that some old neighbors I've known over the years are now packing and preparing to leave one after another."

"What's wrong? The elderly all want to leave too, do they also want to seek development outside?"

"Yes, the buffer zone's structure has long been solidified over the years. The paths for newcomers to advance have all been blocked, tightly gripped by the old-timers. But these old-timers themselves are also confused, only able to muddle through day by day, making development here worse and worse. Plus, being affected by Happiness City's scale, they have to bear wave after wave of infection risks."

"Going outside, as long as you have courage, there are plenty of people who can make something of themselves in a year or two. But staying in our buffer zone, you can only work day and night, barely scraping by for food."

"You say it's safe, but it's actually not safe either. Tiring, that's truly tiring."

After Master Tian finished speaking, he quickly added, "But the main reason is that contribution points have become increasingly difficult to accumulate over the years. From the initial one hundred points to enter the inner city, now it takes one thousand points. The difficulty is getting greater and greater, so taking advantage of this opportunity, when the poor think of change, the elderly naturally want to leave and try their luck at other sanctuary cities!"