Wasteland Border Inspector

Chapter 24 Unpaid Internship: The Unspoken Rules of the Checkpoint!

"Sir, we have arrived at the North Checkpoint. Please take your belongings with you. We welcome you to take our train again next time."

Four hundred meters from the checkpoint, the driver stopped the car, stood up, and looked at Cheng Ye.

"My mobile phone identification number is 41504, and my surname is Tian. If you need a car later, you can call me anytime."

"Are you going to pick me up in a bus?"

Cheng Ye found it somewhat amusing.

This makes him the third person, after Dong Shu and Gwen, to want to invest in him.

What's strange is that the two people who met him only once, and after exchanging only a few words, wanted to invest.

"No, besides taking the bus, I also work part-time as a deliveryman for the Public Works Department. I have a small truck."

After saying that, Mr. Tian pointed to the checkpoint outside the window, "If you can get the charging permit from the Public Works Department, there won't be any problem for this van to leave the checkpoint."

Cheng Ye nodded and entered the identification number into his defense communication device. "Just a heads-up, you might never receive a call from me again."

"No, I'm quite good at judging people. Someone like you is less likely to get trapped in a stable environment."

"Lend your auspicious words."

Grabbing his backpack, Cheng Ye got off the bus through the back door and squinted at the distance.

The buffer zone of Happiness City has an outer border, which is surrounded by iron netting, forming a huge arc to block outsiders and irrational infected individuals.

The three-meter-high netting is reinforced with sharp barbs that are maintained and replaced periodically, and a sentry tower is set up every 500 meters. In terms of security, it far surpasses the buffer zones of other sheltered cities.

Unless they can fly or burrow underground, both infected and human beings must pass through three checkpoints to enter the buffer zone:

Central main checkpoint, north and south branch checkpoints.

However, unlike the main checkpoint which was built at the beginning of Happiness City, subsequent expansions could only be made on the initial framework.

The North and South stations were only officially completed twelve years ago. The inner city construction team used heavy machinery to drive the foundation 20 meters underground, which is enough to ensure that this behemoth can withstand any impact!
Its overall shape resembles an ancient city, square in shape, with an eight-meter-high and nearly one-kilometer-long city wall stretching across like a gray behemoth, forming a closed internal space with an area of ​​nearly 1,200 acres.

Directly in front of the city gate, eight lanes resembling modern highway toll booths are arranged neatly like the open throat of a giant beast.

Each entrance to the passage is equipped with automatically rising and lowering steel spikes and self-sensing machine gun turrets. Once the metal detection coils embedded in the ground detect someone trying to break through the checkpoint, they will immediately unleash full firepower, turning the person into a sieve.

After passing through the entrance, the inner city is divided into six areas.

Those entering will be divided into four separate areas for inspection according to their type.

Area A: Primarily Vehicles
Area B: Primarily composed of scavengers and ordinary people holding resident identification cards.
Area C: People from other Sanctuary Cities

Sector D: Special personnel, such as sentries on patrol, inspectors on field duty, and the inner city guards.
The other two areas are, respectively, the office area (Area E) and the military preparedness area (Area F).

The former is where Cheng Ye will go through the "onboarding" process, while the latter is the rest area for the patrol guards at the checkpoint.

"This place truly deserves the name 'checkpoint'!"

Cheng Ye couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

The central main checkpoint is only used for the passage of refugees and survivors. Its simple layout can actually reduce the vigilance and fear in these people's hearts.

However, the two branch stations, one in the north and one in the south, are the gateways to Happiness City, and people from other surrounding sheltered cities pass through here.

If it is dilapidated and shabby, it will inevitably be looked down upon and lose face for the senior management of Happiness City.

In addition, Happiness City is an industrial sanctuary, so it needs to demonstrate its strength in such a place to attract more cooperation.

"Hey you over there, what are you standing there looking at? If you want to leave the city, go to the passage and queue up!"

Cheng Ye stood not far away, looking back and forth, which attracted the attention of several guards on duty at the checkpoint.

The two stations, one in the north and one in the south, correspond to the two factions, one in the east and one in the west.

People from the east usually use the South Station to enter and exit, because as long as they follow the rules, they are unlikely to be deliberately harassed.

If you take the wrong route and end up at the North Station, leaving the city might only result in some annoying scorn and complaints, but entering the city will definitely lead to you being thoroughly ripped off and having a layer of your money skimmed off.

Therefore, Cheng Ye's Eastern appearance makes him quite conspicuous standing here.

As for the passage mentioned by the guard.

There are three gates at the bottom of the city wall: small gates on the left and right sides for people to pass through, and a large gate in the middle for vehicles.

It was not yet 8 o'clock when the gates opened, but more than a dozen people were already waiting at the small gate on the right side of the city wall, queuing to go to the wilderness ruins.

"I'm calling you, are you pretending not to hear me?"

Seeing that Cheng Ye remained unmoved, two guards walked up, cursing.

But the next second, when they saw the badge that appeared in Cheng Ye's hand, their expressions changed drastically.

In the blink of an eye, the previous impatience, disgust, and disdain vanished completely, leaving only a face full of flattery and respect.

"Prosecutor."

The tall guard who had spoken earlier was sweating profusely, and his voice trembled slightly. "What brings you here?"

"Station Chief Ding ordered me to be transferred from the Central Main Inspection Station to the North and South Stations for duty. Today is my first day."

"The stationmaster's orders?"

The guard paused, then instinctively said, "On duty, shouldn't you be going to the South Station?"

"I'd like to come to the North Station first, is that okay?"

"No, no problem!" There was an unwritten consensus among the guards:

No matter how fiercely the two factions fought within the checkpoint, or how intensely the open and covert struggles were between the inspectors, it had nothing to do with these low-level guards.

Because whether it's Ding Yishan or Harlin who's in charge of the checkpoint today, they won't be given the opportunity to become prosecutors.

Since the path to advancement is already blocked, getting involved in factional infighting is the most foolish choice.

Even though Cheng Ye had an Eastern appearance, these Western guards still treated him like family.

Otherwise, if a report is submitted, he won't die, but he'll definitely lose the hard-earned position.

Upon receiving Cheng Ye's badge, the guard swiped it on his defense device, his respectful expression growing even stronger.

"Prosecutor Cheng, please come in. The onboarding process is at the fourth window in Zone E. I have already notified them."

"Okay, is it alright if I stand here and wait for a while?"

"Ok?"

"Wait for some people, otherwise it will be too troublesome to deal with things slowly later if we are not prepared."

Cheng Ye smiled with narrowed eyes. The guard was taken aback at first, then immediately realized what he was talking about and couldn't help but shrink his neck.

He had seen plenty of arrogant people, but he had never seen anyone as arrogant as Cheng Ye before.

"You have something to say?"

"No." The guard quickly shook his head. "Sir, we are just tools of the checkpoint. Whether you want to use us or other inspectors want to use us, we dare not have any other ideas."

"is it?"

Cheng Ye stepped forward and casually placed his left hand on the other person's shoulder. "Then tell me, what's the situation here at the North Station right now?"

"Ah this."

"You just said you were a tool, and that I could use it. What, now I can't use it anymore?"

"No."

The tall guard was startled, and a fine layer of white sweat instantly broke out on his back. He wished he could slap himself.

Why do you have so much free time? People are just standing there watching, why do you have to say something?

Now look, this guy is clearly not a good person.

If I don't say anything, it's tantamount to offending them directly.

Tell me, what if this guy goes in and causes a scene? Won't he end up taking the blame too?

Fuck!
After cursing the manufacturer of the product in his heart, the tall guard could only say with a bitter face, "Sir, which aspect would you like to hear about?"

"Tell me about the hierarchy of individual power at the North Station."

"Level and rank of power?"

Thankfully, they weren't directly asking about a prosecutor's personal information. The tall guard breathed a slight sigh of relief and quickly said:
"The highest authority at our North Station must be Station Chief Binn Downs, followed by Deputy Station Chief Evan Davidson. However, the Deputy Station Chief is always on field missions and we rarely see him."

"Besides the two station chiefs, the inspectors like you have the most power. The rule for the checkpoints is that the four areas, A, B, C, and D, are randomly assigned and rotated every week."

"The duty hours are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 12 a.m., so there are 8 prosecutors rotating here every week."

"continue."

"Next are the children of the prosecutors, who are responsible for organizing the station's documents and verifying the information of those entering."

"Are they officially employed?"

Cheng Ye squinted and asked, "As far as I know, a prosecutor's offspring shouldn't be allowed to enter the checkpoint before inheriting the position, right?"

"That's how it is in principle, but..."

The tall guard stammered, "To avoid the situation where a prosecutor's offspring are unable to familiarize themselves with the work after their sacrifice, the station chief allowed them to take on some of the work at the station without pay and get some training in advance."

"What a wonderful unpaid internship."

Cheng Ye couldn't help but sigh, "That's a brilliant move!"

What kind of salary do checkpoints pay? Do they really expect to live off those few happiness coins they receive?

Staying at the station, one can earn several times more than their regular salary simply by skimming off a little extra cash.

Even honest people like Liu Bi, who never cheats, can easily earn thousands of happiness coins every month.

The so-called "free of charge" is really just fooling idiots.

No, even a fool should understand the significance of staying at the checkpoint and wielding some power.

What happens next?

"Next are ordinary people like us, including observers, guards, staff, errand runners, food delivery people, basically just helping the inspectors. As long as we stay in the station and don't go outside, we'll be there whenever you call without any complaints!"

P.S.: Wow, several readers said the pacing was slow, like a slice-of-life story, and they wanted to see more zombie killing. Well, from the very beginning, this book wasn't set in an apocalypse, but rather in a wasteland. Compared to the former, the latter actually possesses order, but this order teeters between collapse and existence. A natural disaster or an infection wave could suddenly push it to an extreme. Therefore, the book's initial intention was to show the gradual changes in the protagonist, supporting characters, and environment under these changes, rather than a relentless cycle of killing.

PS2: I'll be posting a trial recommendation tonight. The plot is also just entering the main storyline, so please vote, add it to your favorites, and keep reading!

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(End of this chapter)