Wasteland Border Inspector

Chapter 39 A Matter of Life and Death, A Perfect Start!

What is the position of the station chief at the checkpoint?
According to Liu Bi, he is the successor to the chief station manager appointed by the senior management of Xingfu City.

To become a duty station chief, one must either have made significant contributions to Xingfu City or possess exceptional personal abilities.

If Ding Yishan were to die unexpectedly, the final station chief position would be chosen from among the station chiefs on duty.

Yes, Deputy Station Chief Harlin cannot directly inherit the position of Station Chief. Although he has a greater competitive advantage than others, he still needs to compete fairly with other station chiefs on duty.

According to Cheng Ye's understanding, the station chief on duty was actually a prince.

Since Emperor Ding Yishan has passed away, an emperor will be chosen from among Crown Prince Harlin and other princes.

Who will win depends entirely on how ruthless Xuanwu Gate's tactics are during the attack.

Of course, this is just a metaphor for power; in terms of interpersonal relationships, the station chief and the duty station chief are equal.

“I saw Downs this morning, and no infected people have infiltrated the North Station, so there won’t be any problems here.”

"As for South Station and Central Station."

Cheng Ye was stunned. Could it be that he was so lucky that choosing the North Station had saved him from disaster?
Normally, the central checkpoint rarely encounters troublesome infected individuals.

After all, powerful sources of infection consume a great deal of energy from their hosts. Those that can travel long distances to reach Happiness City are mostly creatures like the Death Whisper Tentacles, which look strange but don't have much combat power.

But fast checkpoints are different.

Barrett, who was infected by the rotten vine, has been in isolation for four days and has not yet reached the outbreak stage.

If such a powerful infectious agent goes out of control and goes berserk in a crowd, it can take away a large number of people in no time.

"It's not your problem, just wait patiently."

Cheng Ye comforted the four anxious brothers.

He set an example by sitting down under the rain umbrella and patiently waiting for further news.

If the station chief dies unexpectedly, regardless of which area he dies in, all three checkpoints must be immediately closed and placed under alert.

Unable to enter, unable to leave.

Just like the dozens of people in quarantine zone B next door who were queuing up to enter the city, they can only wait for the alert to be lifted.

No, Simo is also waiting to go out for treatment, but he got stuck here after passing the inspector's examination. He's really unlucky.

"Both the Central Checkpoint and the South Checkpoint are now staffed by Eastern inspectors. Regardless of which one dies, Ding Yishan will have a headache. The already unbalanced situation will likely tilt even further towards the Westerners."

"I don't know if this is a blessing or a curse; I'm just afraid Ding Yishan might go berserk."

A jumble of thoughts surged within me.

Although prosecutors may seem glamorous to ordinary people, who knows the precariousness they face in private?
Cheng Ye could only try to broaden his perspective and analyze the impact of the changing situation.

If I were Ding Yishan, what would I do?
"The reason why the Eastern prosecutors are weak is the lack of succession among the younger generation. However, the core strength is still sufficient. As Brother B mentioned before, the Eastern prosecutors are slightly stronger than the Western prosecutors in terms of the strength of the fourth-term senior prosecutors. The highest-level fifth-term prosecutors are even more superior, with a 4 to 2 advantage. Only the third-term and below are overtaken by the Western prosecutors."

"Moreover, two of the three station chiefs are from the East, which is why the situation has not become unbalanced."

"Now that an Easterner station chief has died, what's next?"

Analyze step by step.

Cheng Ye's eyes suddenly lit up.

From Ding Yishan's perspective, the most important thing right now is definitely the vacant position of duty station chief.

If the Easterners can still retain both station managers, the situation will return to the previous stalemate.

But if a Westerner were to take the position of stationmaster, the situation within the checkpoint would likely undergo a dramatic change immediately.

With his eyebrows in the air, Ding Yishan had no time to pay attention to a mere trainee prosecutor like him.

Even if we take a step back and assume that Ding Yishan is determined to kill him and give the vacant position to his own people.

"At worst, I'll just flip the table and surrender to the Westerners. Who's afraid of who?"

If you want to secure a stable job, there are essentially two paths.

Either live a quiet, unassuming life, drinking tea and reading newspapers without getting involved in any faction, and honestly drifting away until retirement, or strive to catch up, relying on your own methods if you don't have a powerful backer, and letting your strength speak for itself if you don't know how to choose sides.

Cheng Ye couldn't choose the former, nor did he want to. The wasteland was not a modern civilization, and the lower classes had no right to choose between life and death.

The latter, Cheng Long, his strongest backer, was gone before they even met, leaving only Liu Bi.

But relying on Brother B is far from enough to protect him as Jackie Chan's only descendant.

"Although Brother Long is gone, he left behind so many favors. If I were to kick the bucket at this crucial moment, some people might take the opportunity to cause trouble, and Ding Yishan would definitely be in a real headache!"

The more I think about it, the clearer it becomes.

Only when the struggle between the two factions reaches a fever pitch and no clear winner can attention be turned to the lower classes.

Although no one knows exactly how many days or months this period is, one thing is certain: this amount of time is more than enough for him to demonstrate his value!
"Prosecutor Cheng, over here."

Hearing someone call his name, Cheng Ye snapped out of his thoughts and looked in the direction of the sound.

Unexpectedly, it turned out to be a Western inspector from the neighboring quarantine zone B.

A thin, middle-aged man, somewhat balding, with deeply sunken eyes, and a typical European face.

Is this guy, Lao Liu, who only knows how to cramm people into the quarantine zone, here to take advantage of someone's misfortune?
"I received news that He Fei, the station chief of the Central Checkpoint, has died unexpectedly!"

Sections A and B were separated by a wire fence. The Western prosecutor approached in a few steps, his expression complex, and said in a low voice, "What?! He Fei?"

Cheng Ye couldn't help but gasp, his memory instantly pulled back to his first day of internship at the Central Checkpoint.

At that time, Station Chief He, with his thick eyebrows and big eyes, personally led him to Quarantine Station No. 8 and specially instructed the other inspectors to help him, the new trainee, with his words full of enthusiasm and concern.

Since then, although the two haven't met again, he called He Fei three days ago to ask for leave.

The other party also reminded him not to let down Station Chief Ding and everyone's expectations.

Unexpectedly, He Fei died a few days later?

"A special hydrophilic infected entity has infiltrated the central checkpoint. Its abilities are quite bizarre, and the investigation into Station Chief He's death is still ongoing."

"Don't misunderstand me. Although I am a Westerner, I never get involved in the struggles between Eastern and Western factions. I just focus on doing my job well. Whether you are Easterner or Westerner has nothing to do with me."

Regardless of what Cheng Ye was thinking, the prosecutor in Block B wiped the cold sweat from his brow and said, "But we're both prosecutors. If an infected person gets into my area, you can't just stand by and watch me die."

have to.

So I was waiting here.

Cheng Ye was wondering why this person had come all this way, revealing information about the station and emphasizing that he wouldn't get involved with any factions.

After all that fuss, it turns out he's just an old slacker who wants to live a peaceful life until retirement?
"Let me introduce you, Matthew Lee."

"Cheng Ye".

Once they exchanged names, they were considered to have established a relationship.

Cheng Ye never expected that the first prosecutor he met at the North Station would be met in this way.

No wonder this guy sent people to the quarantine zone as soon as he noticed something was wrong; now we finally know why.

For those who just coast along, not causing trouble is the greatest achievement.

By cramming all suspicious individuals into isolation wards, making it difficult for most people to pass through checkpoints, this method of getting by is simply ingenious!
“I know your Eastern customs. You can call me Li Matai, that’s what many people call me.”

He chuckled twice and continued, "I was unlucky this week and was assigned to Zone B. There are too many people there. It would be great if I could work with you in Zone A. It would be safer and easier."

"I'm just a trainee prosecutor, and this is my first time at a fast-track checkpoint. Prosecutor Li, you're too kind. I still have a lot to learn from you since you're working with me."

"I'm not joking."

Li Matai's expression turned serious, and he shook his head repeatedly. "There's nothing new at this checkpoint. We all know what happened this morning as soon as we arrived at work. Your methods for disciplining those kids were quite harsh. They're really spoiled; they dare to mess with just anyone. If they knew what your father had done..."

"Ahem, I'm a little curious. When you went to the isolation ward, how did you manage to determine that the person was infected with just a few words? That was a completely new source of infection. Don't tell me it was just luck."

"Sorry, you guessed right, you're really lucky."

Cheng Ye's face twitched; he hadn't expected Li Matai to guess the correct answer so easily.

But even if the answer is true, it sounds perfunctory, as if the person is unwilling to develop a deeper relationship.

Fortunately, the piercing alarm finally stopped.

Looking up at the watchtower, the two warning flags had been replaced with a yellow flag.

"Damn, why am I so unlucky?"

Li Matai couldn't help but mutter, "It's already two o'clock. In just two more hours we could have gotten off work. Now all the off-duty inspectors have to gather at the central station, and those of us on duty will have to stay until night before we can leave."

"Stay until tonight?"

Cheng Ye scratched his head, his expression unchanged, but a hint of joy flickered in his heart.

You can't see a single person in quarantine zone A for half a day, and it's very quiet even at night.

If the next officer on duty doesn't come to relieve him, wouldn't that mean he can keep recharging?
At this rate, I can get another search opportunity before I leave work tonight!
"Just hang in there, damn these infected. Luckily, Huangqi Station can close at 8 o'clock. Otherwise, even the strongest person couldn't last working sixteen hours a day."

Li Ma sighed, then suddenly lowered his voice and leaned closer, "Prosecutor Cheng, don't just stand by and watch someone die in danger. If you help me this once, I'll give you 20 contribution points, how about that?"

"make a deal!"

Cheng Ye readily agreed.

First, if an infected person goes berserk in quarantine area B, it will inevitably affect area A.

Besides, 20 contribution points is not a small amount. He can make money just by standing here, firing a gun, and playing a support role. Why not?
"Interesting. I didn't expect that discovering Barrett would make them think I have real skills?"

Back in his seat, Cheng Ye pondered for a moment and suddenly realized that this start was simply too wonderful to be true.

Without educating Deng Xiaoping, if he had gone directly to Quarantine Zone A and bumped into Barrett, he would probably have been considered incredibly lucky.

But the significance of his actions—first demonstrating his methods and creating a strong first impression, then discovering Barrett's infection in the quarantine area—was entirely different.

They know how to outmaneuver others in the workplace, and they also have the corresponding skills to succeed in their work.

In the eyes of those prosecutors, his image probably immediately changed from "the newly arrived trainee from the East" to "a tough nut to crack".

"Hey, great! The battery is charging really well, and there's not much danger."

"After I finish recharging tonight, I'll go search the quarantine area again. If I don't find any infected individuals, I can get skills; if I do find them, I can earn contribution points to strengthen my character and cancel the search to get double action points!"

"This is an absolutely perfect start!"

P.S.: Have a happy weekend, dear readers! Here's 3.2k words.
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(End of this chapter)