Since everyone was maximizing profits within the rules, Cheng Ye saw no reason to play coy.
His motto: bold and unrestrained!
Cower when it’s time to cower, but never hesitate when it’s time to act.
Following Raven’s guidance, Cheng Ye swiped his badge on the charger, and it instantly switched to power mode.
Taking the charging head, he pretended to inspect his gun while subtly attaching the Collector pendant to it.
To his surprise, unlike when charging via a power strip, where the pendant could only cling to the socket’s exterior, it now merged directly into the gun’s interior.
“Huh, clipped through?”
Cheng Ye raised the gun, peering inside, and saw only a faint glimmer of the pendant at the top—barely noticeable unless you were looking for it.
“Must be because the charging gun’s circuit is internal?”
Cheng Ye’s eyes lit up as he realized the trick to “stealing” power going forward.
If the pendant needed a closed circuit to absorb energy, it all made sense.
A power strip’s live and neutral wires were close, so it could work from the outside. But the charging gun’s positive and negative poles were a thumb’s length apart, requiring deeper insertion to connect.
“This is perfect, hiding it inside means no one will spot anything unusual.”
After last night’s blackout, he’d learned the pendant wasn’t something he could just toss away.
Any anomaly triggered an immediate alarm.
Plus, its 10-meter recall mechanism meant even if someone took it, he could summon it back with a thought.
But for now, concealing it inside the gun was the safest bet.
Cheng Ye called up the Collector panel.
The energy gauge in the top right corner now showed a lightning icon indicating active charging, and it had changed.
With 2.5kW AC power, the icon was a faint gray, almost fading away.
Now, with 7kW DC power, it solidified into a steady gray, locked on the interface.
Focusing his mind, a small pop-up with two lines of text appeared.
[Current Charging Efficiency: Weak (Lv.3 Energy)]
[Time to Full Charge: 13.32h]
“It finally shows the charging time and even lists efficiency?”
The panel kept unlocking new features.
Cheng Ye studied it, intrigued.
So electricity wasn’t the lowest-tier energy, it was Lv.3?
“When I’m on duty, no one touches this charger without my permission, got it?”
He hung the gun back on the charger.
After a moment’s thought, he turned to Raven and Owl. “Understood?”
The two nodded frantically. “Rest assured, sir, this is the checkpoint’s private charger. Anyone sneaking a charge is stealing public assets, by the rules, that’s a death sentence!!”
Since charging was tied to battery wear, and the private charger was an inspector’s income source, regular folks wouldn’t dare steal power unless they were tired of living.
The only risk was Raven and Owl selling favors behind his back if he didn’t use it.
But after this warning, Cheng Ye was confident they wouldn’t dare.
“Let’s go check the other warehouses!”
Leaving the garage, Cheng Ye headed to the other three warehouses in Zone A’s quarantine area.
First was Warehouse 3, the supply room, roughly the same size as the garage. It was neatly stacked with boxes of nutrient paste, quarantine gear, and, in a corner, two rows of shelves holding ammo boxes.
As for the “contraband” Raven mentioned, Cheng Ye didn’t see any.
Such items, being a key side hustle for duty inspectors, were likely taken home at shift’s end, not left for the checkpoint to clear out after seven days.
“With the recent storms, nutrient paste might be hard to come by outside. If you need any, sir, feel free to take a couple of boxes when you rotate out,” Raven said, pointing to the stacked paste.
Cheng Ye gave a noncommittal hum, with no intention of taking any.
With an inspector’s authority, there were countless ways to earn Happiness Coins. No need for such blatant grabs.
Besides, he’d gradually figured out the checkpoint’s survival code: when others took big, he took small; when others took small, he took none.
This way, even if Happiness City’s higher-ups cracked down, he wouldn’t be the first target.
“Let’s see the isolation ward.”
Next to Warehouse 3 was Warehouse 1, the isolation ward.
Though adjacent, their styles were starkly different.
Built from thick concrete, the isolation ward was a rectangular fortress. Small ventilation windows, each about five centimeters square, lined the walls, resembling a modern prison with an air of stern oppression.
Rounding the corner to the front, the rough, heavy exterior wall reeked of damp mold.
A sliding steel isolation door, thick as a gate, bore two bold yellow-painted slogans:
[Isolation is Honor, Evasion is Crime]
[Isolate for Happiness City, Isolate for Humanity’s Future]
Cheng Ye had expected it to hold mostly “undocumented” people.
But even before approaching, he heard a chaotic din like a bustling market.
“How many in isolation?”
If this were the entire North Station’s isolation count, fine. But nearly 300 in just Zone A?
How many left the city daily? Did everyone have to stay here for days?
Cheng Ye’s brow twitched as Raven verified his identity, and the warehouse doors slid open.
A wave of damp, rotten, sweaty stench hit him, so thick it stung his nose.
Inside, the ward mimicked a modern prison.
Crisscrossing metal walkways ran through it, with honeycomb-like isolation cells tightly packed.
Each cell, under five square meters, had four stacked iron bunks, leaving a narrow aisle and a corner drain, crammed like sardine cans.
Over a hundred pairs of eyes turned to him—dull, numb, savage. Some, noticing his Easterner face, showed unexpected surprise.
Cheng Ye narrowed his eyes, stepping forward instead of back, meeting their gazes.
Visibly, the raised heads rippled like waves, pressed down by an invisible force, quickly bowing again.
Some, seeing his youth, thought he was a soft target to push around.
Little did they know, once inside, they’d handed their survival to others.
A ruthless inspector could pair them with a high-risk infected entity, guaranteeing near-certain death.
Cheng Ye’s mind raced.
If they’d surrendered their survival to others, didn’t that mean their compliance would be higher than during cage inspections?
Sure, the odds of hitting a “golden legend” might not match careful observation outside, but at least he had stable search targets!
With that thought, Cheng Ye’s interest piqued, his eyes scanning the ward.
He had one search chance now. If he found a suitable target, why not use it?
With the charger, he’d have another chance by tomorrow afternoon.
Compared to hoarding chances and waiting for targets, boosting his strength quickly was the better deal.
“Sir, I’ve been isolated for seven days, please let me out!”
“Sir, I can prove I’m not infected. Look at my spirit, pure workhorse, diligent every day. Viruses wouldn’t dare touch me!”
“Sir, I’m reporting him, he’s definitely infected. He stares at my ass every night and keeps groping me!”
As Cheng Ye walked down the aisle, people in the cells went wild, clutching the bars and shouting.
Hearing a report, he turned instinctively.
Holy hell, what a bear of a man!
Round face, buzz cut, small mustache, the accuser fit Cheng Ye’s stereotype perfectly.
As for the accused? Well, they could’ve come from the same mold.
“Sir, I was just joking with him. How could I be infected?”
“Sir, he’s lying. Last night he stuffed his socks in my mouth to stop me from calling for help.”
Not bothering with their drama, realizing he might be part of their “play,” Cheng Ye shook his head and moved on.
The world was vast and strange.
Survivors who trekked here were already a mixed bag, but those in the isolation ward truly showed the spectrum of humanity.
Finding a suitable search target…
Suddenly, Cheng Ye paused before Cell 48.
What a beast of a man!
On the lower bunk of Bed 2 sat a guy rivaling Brother B in size.
Towering like an iron pillar, muscles knotted like rebar, veins bulging on exposed forearms, hair bristling like steel needles, exuding explosive power.
Called by Cheng Ye, the man froze, then leaned forward to the cell bars.
“When were you locked up?”
“My team of eight, only I survived. The inspector deemed me a high infection risk, so I’m here for 15 days.”
“Fifteen days? That long?”
Cheng Ye kept his face neutral, secretly opening his panel.
[Barrett, 57%, Searchable: Intelligence, Items, Skills]
As expected, those in the isolation ward were cooperative, easily hitting over 50% without much pressure.
Cheng Ye didn’t hesitate, mentally triggering the search.
He didn’t ask for much, just a skill to boost his combat power.
But the next second, the panel before him sent his heart into a frenzy.
[Barrett Stewart (Parasitic Entity)]