Wasteland Border Inspector

Chapter 31 Corrupted Vine, the Wonderful Use of Search!

[Searcher: Barrett]

Current cooperation rate: 57%

[Currently searchable categories: Intelligence, Items, Skills]

[Search Target Defined: Skill (lv.1)]

Searching.

Search successful!

Barrett Stewart (Parasite)

[lv.1 Skill]: Rotten Vine Life*, Rotten Vine Strength*, Rotten Vine Speed*, Rotten Vine Recovery*, Rotten Vine Digestion*, Lock*, Lock*, Lock*.

[Level 2 Skill]: Lock-on
[Note]: The searcher has been detected to be affected by a special force, and their skills have been distorted. The collector has issued a warning via *Note. Collectors must be aware that if the searcher is equipped with this special skill, they will be affected in the same way.

[Note]: After unlocking the Corrupted Vine* equipment, you can view the specific information about the locked* equipment.

[Note]: Unlocking the equipment Rotten Vine* will increase the information level; otherwise, it will have no effect.

"Why are they all rotten vines?"

"Wait, is this an infected creature?"

When Cheng Ye first saw the information on the panel, he was wondering what kind of old martial arts system this person was practicing, since the skill names were all so uniform.

Moreover, unlike Chu Yunfeng's skill tree which is divided into different directions, Barrett's panel directly and bluntly lists health, strength, speed, recovery, digestion, etc., giving it a kind of numerical monster feel.

However, the next second, Cheng Ye suddenly realized something.

What kind of old martial arts practitioner is this?
This guy is clearly a genuine infected!
Grass!
what's the situation?
The collector can even search for infected individuals and extract their mutated abilities after infection?!

Isn't this equivalent to directly obtaining extraordinary special power?
Unfortunately, before Cheng Ye could get excited, his gaze fell on the notes below.

The phrase "equal impact" was like a bucket of ice water, instantly extinguishing all impulses.

Since the side effects caused by the infected will also be extracted in the same way, why bother using a collector to search for them? Why not just let the infected parasitize them directly?
"No, this feature..."

Cheng Ye raised an eyebrow, suddenly realizing another ingenious use of the search function:
If the target's cooperation rate exceeds 50%, wouldn't it be possible to identify whether someone is infected at the source simply by searching for their information?
That's an amazing skill!
In an instant, Cheng Ye thought of several scenarios in which he could use this function.

For example, when going out on field duty, if you are unsure whether a teammate is infected, you only need to search for them.

For example, during the inspection process, if someone is unsure, they can also find the results through a search.

[Collectors, please make a selection. If you cannot select, you can cancel the search. Cancellation will not refund your charge points and will be considered a failure, but you will receive double action points.]

The collector panel lights up with a notification.

Double Action Points!

Cheng Ye's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected that canceling the search would bring such an extra benefit. Without further hesitation, he decided, "Cancel the search."

Since the notes state that you must equip 'Rotten Vine' to obtain some information value, what are you waiting for?
He finds it too troublesome to even search for this in the skill bar.

"Unless a method is found that can completely eliminate the source of infection, these skills should never be used."

Cheng Ye silently warned himself.

Impulsiveness is the devil. In the event of a life-or-death crisis, without the ability to infect, one might still be able to survive by making calm judgments.

However, once one is tainted by this distorted power, it is hard to guarantee that one will not develop a gambler's mentality of "trading one's life for another" at critical moments.

At that time, it may seem like there's another path, but in reality, it's putting shackles on oneself.

[Cancel search, return Action Points '4' (lv.1)]

The information on the panel flashed by, then disappeared from Cheng Ye's sight after popping up and returning.

Although they wasted a search opportunity, they unexpectedly discovered an alternative way to identify infected individuals and also gained action points.

Cheng Ye didn't feel disappointed. He immediately took a few steps back, intending to make up for the loss from another direction.

"Your Majesty"

Barrett, who was leaning on the railing waiting to be questioned, was puzzled.

He was momentarily stunned when he heard a deafening roar in his ears. The shockwave made his eardrums ache, as if his skull was about to be blown off by the loud noise.

skull?

He instinctively reached out to touch the sore spot on his forehead, but what he touched was not red or white, but some kind of viscous, dark green liquid that kept oozing from the bullet hole, carrying a nauseating, putrid stench.

I.
this.
yes.
Chaotic thoughts exploded in his mind. At that moment, he suddenly realized that his vision had shifted from first-person to third-person, looking at his own body from a top-down perspective.

Where the head should have been was empty; from the jagged neck, clusters of green vines gushed out from the broken section, intertwining and tangling in the air like boiling asphalt, forming a distorted human face.

I... I'm infected?
The moment I realized this, the memories sealed away in my mind surged forth like a tidal wave.

Within the city ruins at sunset.

A dilapidated Jinbei van sped into a dead-end alley. The door was flung open, and eight people stumbled out, their terrified eyes all fixed on the alley entrance.

In the last rays of the setting sun, a green vine monster more than ten meters tall slowly appeared. In the center of its massive body, a distorted humanoid silhouette was faintly visible, like a flying insect trapped in a spider web, silently telling a great terror that struck the human heart!
Everyone fired wildly, and a dense barrage of gunfire suddenly erupted. Bullets rained down on the monster, but only managed to create black craters on the tough vines.

The monster twisted its python-like branches, and with each lash, it could precisely grab a person from the crowd and tear them apart in mid-air, with blood and bits of flesh raining down.

Seven people, six people, five people
As his companions continued to die tragically, fear overwhelmed Barrett like a tidal wave.

When he was all alone, under the empty, desperate gaze of his dead teammates, Barrett's legs gave way and he collapsed to his knees.

He had neither the courage to pull the trigger in retaliation nor the guts to end his own life; all he could do was kowtow repeatedly to the monster, begging for mercy in a trembling voice.

The monster paused for a moment, then sent a branch through its mouth and nose into his body.

These memories, before this moment, were tightly sealed deep within his consciousness.

He only remembered that he had managed to escape, unaware that he had already become a puppet of the monster.

So, I was already dead all along?

So, I'm not human anymore?

His gaze fell on Cheng Ye, who was standing outside the isolation chamber firing shots. His broken face, bound in mid-air by vines, suddenly revealed a sinister smile.

As if under some kind of command, the spreading vines surged wildly out from the gaps in the fence of the isolation chamber.

The other three people in the same isolation cell as Barrett were terrified, but soon they discovered that green vines were also sprouting from their skin. Then memories surfaced: during their days of isolation together, they had been infected by the decaying vines within Barrett's body, but the painful memories of being infected had been selectively sealed away!
"Damn, why are these rotten vines so hard to kill?"

The host being shot in the head seems to have no effect on the operation of the decaying vine roots.

Moreover, one infected body suddenly multiplied into four, with hundreds of vines crowding the narrow fence space, trying to break through.

Fortunately, the isolation chamber was of good quality, and the fence remained unmoved; otherwise, Cheng Ye would have definitely turned and run without hesitation.

"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and go get someone! Are you watching a show?"

After emptying a magazine, Cheng Ye reloaded with one hand and found that Raven and Owl were still standing there, stunned.

He called out to them, and they snapped out of their daze.

The raven scrambled towards a nearby pillar, crashing into it as if it had slammed into it, and slammed down the alarm button.

The owl was even more decisive, darting to the back of the passage and grabbing a device that looked like a fire extinguisher.

"Sir, let me come!"

With a shout, the owl turned on the valve, grabbed the nozzle, and rushed forward, pressing its thumb hard on the firing button the instant it did so.

boom!
A tongue of fire, carrying the smell of sulfur, shot out, and the orange-red flames licked the green vines like living creatures. The roots that had been frantically pushing through the gaps in the fence just moments before instantly curled up into charcoal, and the splashing black droplets carbonized and smoked in the flames.

A strange burning sound rang out, not a crackling sound, but a crisp sound like bones bursting, mixed with the hissing of gas expanding within the vines, as if countless trapped souls were screaming in the fire.

"It's not a water gun, it's a firearm?"

Cheng Ye stared in disbelief.

This is completely unconventional. What kind of lunatic would install a flamethrower indoors?

"This is the emergency incinerator from Plan Three."

The owl turned its head and grinned.

But just as he turned to explain, a thorny vine suddenly burst out from the gap in the railing, weaving up and down in the flames like a venomous snake.

By the time the owl spotted it, the tip of the vine was less than three meters from the chest cavity!

Oops!

Is this thing fireproof?

"Go away!"

Before Cheng Ye could think, he suddenly lunged forward half a step and lashed out with a sweeping leg like an iron whip, knocking the owl to the ground.

At the same time, he reached out and grabbed the falling flamethrower, rolled over on the spot, and as he got up, he suddenly exerted force with both arms and slammed it hard against the firing button.

Wow.

Blazing flames erupted from the side, licking at the thorny vine like a giant python.

Unexpectedly, this thing's fire resistance was simply outrageous. It didn't until it bent and sped up to within two meters of Cheng Ye that its outer skin "crackled" and sparks flew, gradually cracking into black charcoal from the tip to the root.

Was it just pretending? Pretending to be afraid of fire and being restrained?
Cheng Ye's pupils contracted sharply, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, further deepening his understanding of the infected organism.

These ghostly things are far more terrifying than anything described in books.

And indeed, it is evolving in a direction that is unpredictable to humans. No wonder Brother B said that being cautious and prudent will allow you to live much longer than being familiar with the rules.

Da da da
The alarm sounded, and more than a dozen guards rushed in, the sound of rifles firing in unison instantly filling the corridor.

Seeing this, Cheng Ye stopped the flamethrower, which was running out of fuel and the flame intensity was already weakening, and pulled the owl that had been paralyzed with fear off the ground and retreated quickly.

As the flames died down, he glimpsed the vines that had been "hit" by the bullets healing at a visible speed. Green liquid gushed from the broken parts, repairing the wounds like a tide, and even growing denser fibrous tissue around the bullet holes.

Good heavens, where did this decaying vine come from? It's actually learning and evolving through contact, developing immunity to the physical impact of bullets.

However, the farce has come to an end.

Faced with a sudden outbreak of infected individuals, the guards might be unilaterally slaughtered.

But dealing with an infected person trapped in an isolation ward is incredibly easy.

Cheng Ye turned and walked outside.

All that could be heard behind me were continuous booming and explosions, which lasted for no more than a minute before returning to calm.

"Reporting, Inspector, the infected entity codenamed 'Unknown' has been successfully eliminated!"

"The station has dispatched professional containment personnel, and they are expected to begin clearing the area in ten minutes."

The raven came out and, while reporting, caught a glimpse of the owl sitting listlessly at the warehouse entrance, clearly terrified.

"Code name unknown?"

Cheng Ye pondered to himself, not expecting that not only were there no records of "Rotten Vine" in the books about infected beings in the Survival Library, but no one in Happiness City had ever seen this source of infection.

Is this a newly evolved source of infection, or did it migrate from elsewhere?

"Congratulations, sir. Unknown sources of infection always offer generous contribution points. Based on the Green Vine's attack power just now, you should be able to get at least 40 points."

"Is it?"

Cheng Ye nodded slightly.

For prosecutors, killing infected individuals is the most direct way to make money, rather than exploiting loopholes in the rules.

And it's fucking exciting.

Shooting at a stationary target, like a rotten vine, is completely different from shooting at a regular target.

Especially the feeling of adrenaline surging when he finally raised the flamethrower, Cheng Ye still can't help but reminisce about it, feeling somewhat intoxicated by it.

"Sir, I'll go and handle the aftermath."

Raven respectfully took his leave, without questioning Cheng Ye about how he could deduce Barrett was an infected person in just a few words.

For these low-level personnel at the checkpoint, all he saw was Cheng Ye stepping forward at the crucial moment and saving the owl.

Of the 150 prosecutors at the station, only a handful can do this.

We should treat them as human beings, not as cold, inanimate tools.

That's enough to make them risk their lives!
(End of this chapter)