There were still people standing outside, so Lee Matteo didn't dare say much. He quickly pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it over:

"List of inspectors currently still in the buffer zone. I've categorized the items, you can look for yourself."

Unfolding a corner of the paper.

Seeing several Eastern faction names listed under the Western faction, Cheng Ye's expression slightly hardened, and he calmly folded the paper back up:

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Lee Matteo grinned, but there was no smile in his eyes. "When you really become station chief in the future, just don't forget this favor I did today."

With that, he turned and walked out, his steps light as if afraid staying even one more second would bring trouble, not dragging his feet at all.

Watching his figure disappear from view, Cheng Ye tucked the paper into his pants pocket and silently pondered.

The inspection station's current version was "factional alignment."

The few fifth-stage inspectors at the top were fighting fiercely for the position of duty station chief, while those below couldn't get involved and could only stand aside anxiously.

But Ding Yishan suddenly holding a big meeting to "cultivate new people" was equivalent to delegating the focus of the power struggle down to him, a trainee inspector.

Fourth and fifth-stage aside for now, those first and second-stage inspectors definitely wouldn't miss this opportunity.

Even if they just came to show their faces, it was a sure-win deal.

After all, if he really could pull through, as Lee Matteo said, his power would be comparable to a duty station chief. Any resources he leaked then would be enough to keep them well-fed.

But the problem was, the first one to jump out and get involved in the center of the storm shouldn't have been Lee Matteo.

Cheng Ye searched his heart. His relationship with Lee Matteo was far from reaching that level, and Cheng Long hadn't had any personal dealings with this "old slacker" when he was alive.

Faction?

Ideology?

Cheng Ye raised an eyebrow, already having an answer in his heart.

Lee Matteo obviously wasn't a Western faction loyalist, and couldn't possibly be Ding Yishan's confidant.

Otherwise, not to mention Harlin, the entire Western faction group wouldn't tolerate him.

"Who would have thought this old slacker was actually... half an Original Intent faction member?"

Cheng Ye couldn't help but sigh inwardly and sat up straight.

The complete Original Intent faction held the belief that the buffer zone residents and the inspection station's defense line were equally important, complementing each other, and neither could be abandoned.

But half an Original Intent faction was different. Their only obsession was to guard this barrier of the inspection station well, not for factional struggles, not for power changes, but just to let people in the shelter city live one more day if possible.

Perhaps they would never actively take sides, and might even deliberately put on an attitude of "just getting by."

But at critical moments, they would always use their own methods to help those "who could still get things done."

"Does Lee Matteo think I'm the kind of person who would do practical work?"

Following this line of thought, he suddenly remembered.

The day they met, it was only after he had finished inspecting the four brothers that Lee Matteo had actively come over to chat.

Before that, even though both had some free time at noon, they hadn't made contact.

"Quite an interesting person."

Cheng Ye muttered to himself.

Someone else was walking in from the door. He looked up and saw a familiar horse face.

"Uncle Zhou, oh my, why did you come over too?"

Zhou Changhai was carrying a large transparent bag, bulging with contents. Inside weren't supplements, but books.

There were yellowed old-era magazines and some handwritten bound volumes on dealing with infection sources.

By visual estimate, no fewer than thirty to fifty books, obviously chosen after specifically inquiring about his preferences beforehand.

"Cheng Ye, why didn't you tell Uncle Zhou when you got injured?"

Zhou Changhai set the book bag on the table, quickly came to the bedside, and grabbed his hand. His voice trembled slightly, his eyes slightly red, "You don't know, when the station chief notified us this morning, Uncle Zhou was almost scared to death... Your father left early, our inspection station must take good care of you no matter what."

"This wave is the fault of us few fifth-stage inspectors. We didn't protect you new people well. Rest assured, this kind of thing will absolutely never happen again!"

These words were said loudly, and several first-stage inspectors who had rushed over and were waiting outside immediately clicked their tongues.

Truly worthy of being fifth-stage, their level was just high.

If they were sitting inside hearing these words now, they would probably bow down immediately.

But who would have expected that an even louder voice came from inside next.

Cheng Ye naturally grasped Zhou Changhai's hand, his tone sincere, "Uncle Zhou, what are you saying? From the day we became inspectors, who among us doesn't put the peace of the buffer zone first in our hearts? When the infection tide came, how could I cower behind the residents!"

Inside the hospital room, Zhou Changhai's face stiffened for a moment, but then turned into an even deeper smile. He vigorously patted the back of Cheng Ye's hand, "Good! Good lad! These words hit the mark! Truly worthy of the Cheng family, with the blood of us inspectors in your bones!"

Just like their last exchange.

After a few pleasantries, Zhou Changhai left some words about resting well and turned to leave.

But at the moment he turned around, Cheng Ye caught a glimpse of the smile in this horse face's eyes immediately disappearing.

"This guy is probably getting anxious about competing for duty station chief?"

Cheng Ye was somewhat surprised.

Lee Matteo could come first because of their relationship and his slacker identity.

But Zhou Changhai was different. No matter what, he should have appeared as the finale, not before other first and second-stage inspectors.

Setting such a high tone inevitably made those coming after curse inwardly.

Sure enough, after Zhou Changhai left, the several inspectors standing at the door didn't come in, but hesitated for a while before turning away.

It wasn't until all three of his IV bags for the day were finished that new footsteps appeared.

"Inspector Cheng, do you still remember me? I'm Zhao Jia... We're only six years apart in age, and we even studied at the same school in the inner city!"

"Oh my, Inspector Cheng, you're so amazing! We first-stage inspectors have to retreat immediately when we see advance fusion bodies, but you actually dared to actively engage them. We really admire your courage!"

"Inspector Cheng, nothing else to say, if you ever need help in the future, just give me a call and I'll be there immediately. We young generation inspectors really need a leader like you!"

"..."

One after another, inspectors that Cheng Ye had never even met, whose names he couldn't even call out, filed in.

While making small talk to show their faces, each person carried a stack of books.

Some had over ten books, others had twenty to thirty.

The quantities were obviously controlled intentionally, not exceeding the stack Zhou Changhai had brought, but in the selection of books, they had obviously put considerable thought.

Most were practical books on fighting infection sources, with old-era magazines only making up a small portion, like bonuses.

What surprised Cheng Ye was that among so many books, there were no duplicates at first glance.

"There's this benefit too?!"

Cheng Ye's eyes showed some genuine smile.

Now he didn't need to actively collect them. These inspectors were delivering them as favors, like pie falling from the sky.

At this rate, it wouldn't be long before he could open a survival library.

"Thank you, thank you!"

After seeing off the last first-stage inspector, Cheng Ye had just caught his breath when, more than ten minutes later, second-stage inspectors began arriving one after another.

Currently, there were 54 inspectors from the inspection station on external duty who hadn't returned, and 96 remaining at the station.

Excluding the 47 from the Western faction, the Eastern faction had 49 people in total.

But according to the list Lee Matteo had given, the Western faction currently had 55 people while the Eastern faction only had 41, with 8 people having "defected to the enemy."

In the current factional struggle, Western faction inspectors naturally couldn't come to visit him, but those Eastern faction inspectors who had secretly joined the Western faction didn't miss out.

After brief contact with this group, Cheng Ye finally understood why the Eastern faction had become increasingly weak.

Setting aside strength for now, since they were all first and second-stage with similar levels anyway.

Staying at the inspection station for duty was sufficient, but once they stepped into the wilderness, they could lose their lives at any moment.

But in terms of mental outlook, the Eastern faction inspectors were indeed far inferior to those who had sided with the Western faction.

The former were more like academic types, mostly coming out from the inner city to succeed their fathers.

They hadn't experienced any major disasters or hardships, nor had they developed the will to forge ahead when facing difficulties.

They had simply taken on inspector duties, passed assessments, and barely possessed some ability to stay alive during duty.

The latter were like practical types, similar to Raul, who had never stayed in the inner city since childhood, growing up struggling in the inspection station with their fathers, long familiar with the station's rules and clearer about how to climb up and compete for third and fourth-stage qualifications.

If the environment were stable, the academic types could grow progressively, gradually making up for the experience the practical types had developed over years. They might even go further on the inspector path with their complete education from the inner city and systematically constructed thinking patterns.

But in the current chaotic situation, with no clear leadership and no extra time for the academic types to slowly develop.

"Indeed, if the Eastern faction produced someone who could unite all inspectors, the situation could be reversed."

Cheng Ye evaluated internally.

As long as the "old guys" above were still there, the new generation below just needed to develop steadily.

If someone could stand up and either stop the factional fighting or directly draw the struggle onto themselves, others could grow peacefully and weather this crisis.

Otherwise, it would only cause the new generation to gradually lose their progressive spirit in repeated factional alignments, with their minds full of nothing but power struggles and climbing up.

After the first and second-stage finished, the few third-stage inspectors made their appearance.

The gifts they brought were no longer commonplace items, including many books involving the transcendent realm.

This was exactly what Cheng Ye was most interested in, and absolutely precious materials that could never circulate on the market.

At the same time, the favors Cheng Long had left behind finally began to show their effect.

Anyone with both the third-stage and Eastern faction tags had received favors from Cheng Long to some degree.

If he could stand firm and successfully rise to power in this wave, he would immediately gain this group's support.

As for the Eastern faction's fourth-stage inspectors and the remaining three fifth-stage inspectors.

Until the sun set in the west, not a single one had come.

Cheng Ye vaguely guessed that these people would probably wait until the next few days to appear in batches, unlike ordinary inspectors who were eager to show their faces.

After all, fourth-stage inspectors were already the backbone of the inspection station, and their every move needed to be weighed carefully.

"Wow, Brother Cheng, how did you get so many books here..."

Wang Kang woke up groggily from sleep. Seeing his hospital room door open, he walked in and was startled.

A corner of the large living room had already been piled full with various books, no fewer than three hundred at a glance.

The air carried a faint scent of ink, mixed with the unique aged aroma of old books that had accumulated over the years.

"Someone knew I liked reading books and specially sent them to keep me entertained."

Cheng Ye got up and moved his muscles and bones.

Having equipped Wild Grass Physique for just one day, he already felt that his injuries were mostly healed.

He estimated that in three to five days, he would completely recover.

"Let's go. Now that you're awake, I'll take you to train. You'll be on duty in a few days, and your current level is completely insufficient."

At the training ground.

Cheng Ye sat quietly in the rest area, his gaze falling on Miao Yang instructing Wang Kang.

Unlike Liu Bi's simple and brutal teaching method, Miao Yang had been training new recruits for years, so his teaching ability was naturally unquestionable.

But he also noticed that every so often, Miao Yang would inconspicuously sigh and shake his head slightly.

Obviously, Wang Kang's foundation was much worse than even ordinary people.

"Inspector Wang, please throw five hundred punches next, making sure to use fifty percent strength each time."

"Fifty percent strength?" Wang Kang was stunned, looking troubled. "But I... I don't know what counts as fifty percent."

"Uh..." Miao Yang paused, trying to explain as simply as possible. "It's when you feel like you're using force, but haven't reached the point of completely exerting yourself. That's roughly fifty percent."

"Okay!"

Wang Kang nodded, clenched his fists, and began punching the target.

Thud.

Thud.

The dull sound of punching echoed in the training ground.

In terms of diligence and effort, Wang Kang was indeed beyond reproach. Every punch was thrown seriously, even though his movements were still awkward.

But the more this was the case, the more Cheng Ye felt it was somewhat regrettable.

Although Ding Yishan had been benevolent enough to these "sinners'" descendants, giving each person time to learn and opportunities to fight for their lives, it... still wasn't enough!

If Wang Kang could be given several years to slowly learn and train solidly, perhaps he really could grow into an excellent inspector.

But now, having just passed the trainee assessment, he was being forced into service and directly assigned to duty at the inspection station.

"Not everyone can be forced to emerge like Cheng Long."

Cheng Ye sighed internally.

But Miao Yang walked over and sat beside him. "Inspector Cheng, I don't know if I should say something?"

"Just say it."

"Rather than bringing Inspector Wang here to learn these basics, you might as well take him to the prison to handle two death row inmates, or go to your inspection station's isolation chamber and find two infection sources to practice on."

"You mean he lacks killer instinct?"

"More than that." Miao Yang shook his head. "Killer instinct is something everyone is born with and needs to be excavated from the heart. There's no question of having it or not."

He paused, hesitating before speaking. "I don't know how you activated your own killer instinct, but one thing is certain: Inspector Wang can't be trained like ordinary people."

"Why? Because he's very kind?"

"Yes, you could say that." Miao Yang nodded. "His goodness has suppressed his killer instinct. If this can't be changed, if he can't recognize the evil in human nature, that killer instinct will never be excavated, let alone becoming a qualified warrior."

In all these years, Wang Kang was the first person from the inner city he had trained.

Upon contact, he naturally discovered the difference quickly.

"Recognize the evil in human nature?"

Cheng Ye was slightly stunned, a scene flashing through his mind.

The boss leading two young men guarding the security door, it was indeed that moment that had completely changed him.

No longer holding baseless hopes for this wasteland world, he began to truly excavate his killer instinct.

But now, how should Wang Kang discover this?

Cheng Ye suddenly realized that the problem Ding Yishan had thrown at him wasn't as simple as he had thought.

Being able to carry the banner within the inspection station and lead the growth of young generation inspectors.

And leading the three hundred people from Tianyuan Community to clear the infection tide in B-7 district were completely different things.

The community's three hundred people had already been tempered in the corps, already the result of training. After he took over, he only needed to give orders and be a good leader leading from the front. The rest would automatically follow his pace and unleash all their combat power.

But inspectors like Wang Kang, like the academic faction inspectors at the station, were completely different.

Killer instinct trapped by goodness, courage hindered by timidity, and confusion about what they were fighting for.

"Indeed, I crossed over from modern times, so my goals have always been clear."

"I want to survive in this harsh wasteland, live with quality, and tirelessly pursue transcendence, constantly growing stronger. Every step I take is toward the end of this path."

"I won't get lost, much less confused. Even before the collector was activated, I had thoughts of leaving Happiness City and the inspection station if I encountered danger, to venture into the wilderness and other shelter cities."

"But these people are different. They were forced to leave the stable inner city and take over inspector positions."

"Fear comes from being afraid of repeating their fathers' fate, dying inexplicably in some corner."

"Confusion is because the paths for the younger generation to advance have been gradually blocked by generations of predecessors expanding outward and the inspection station gradually losing influence. Now only factional alignment remains."

Threads of thought intertwined in his mind.

Before this, Cheng Ye had never thought deeply about these things, but today's continuous encounters with people and events gradually made him see through the root problems beneath this surface.

These academic young people didn't lack ability, but lacked opportunities, lacked a philosophy that would make them willing to grip their weapons.

The Original Intent faction's philosophy wasn't enough, because they had lived in the inner city since childhood, had no perception of suffering. Those "empty and grandiose" slogans were too abstract for them.

The idealist faction's philosophy was even less workable. Who would be willing to give up their inspector status and dignity to truly sink into the residents like him and become a district leader?

Only the transcendent faction's philosophy had sufficient appeal!

Only the power brought by individual transcendence, the sense of security it provided, would make this batch of young inspectors frantically pursue and align themselves!

"Perhaps it's precisely because I didn't take the transcendent faction's path and instead inherited some of the idealist faction's philosophy that Ding Yishan saw a different possibility and was willing to give me this opportunity?"

"Rather than any character or ability, the inspection station has plenty of people with those."

Cheng Ye pondered secretly.

Strength could be gradually accumulated through the collector, but thinking patterns needed constant adaptation to this wasteland. Otherwise, he would just become a dragon-proud character with brute force but no brains.

Unfortunately, guessing the thoughts of these old foxes who had been struggling in the wasteland for decades was too difficult.

After all, in this land, any wrong decision meant consequences far beyond just losing position.

The slightest mistake could cost even their lives.

So every move had to hide backup plans, every decision wrapped in repeated weighing, allowing no carelessness.

Realizing this, Cheng Ye felt suddenly enlightened.

In that case, did Ding Yishan arrange for Wang Kang to come over to see how he would teach a philosophy different from the transcendent faction?

Wang Kang was exactly the most typical representative among the academic faction—kind, confused, with his killer instinct trapped by goodness, yet lacking instinctive fanaticism for transcendent power.

Rather than having him cultivate combat power, Ding Yishan sending such a "half-finished product" to him was more like an ideological test.

Could he forge a new path that was neither factional struggle nor power worship?

If he could forge it, he would be pushed into position, completely rewriting the inspection station's existing pattern starting from the younger generation.

Kicking out worship of power and pursuit of transcendence entirely.

If he couldn't forge it, then everything would be over.

Unless he was strong enough to punch through the entire inspection station, otherwise in Ding Yishan's eyes, he would be no different from other inspectors.

"This is easy. How to sink back into the people is too simple for me, the Tianyuan district leader!"

[NEXT CHAPTER]