"I wished for a stable iron rice bowl job, but I didn’t say it had to be in a wasteland!"
How did he end up transmigrating?
At the age of 26, during a graduate school reunion, egged on by friends, Cheng Ye half-jokingly made a wish: to quickly find a high-paying, stable "iron rice bowl" job.
Who could’ve known that upon waking, he’d find himself transmigrated to a wasteland sanctuary city called "Happiness City."
His predecessor’s father was an inspector in Happiness City, who tragically died during an external mission.
According to the rules, the original host, who grew up in the inner city, had to leave the high walls and take up his father’s role in the isolation zone. But within just one day, overwhelmed by fear, he took his own life with pills.
When Cheng Ye woke up, he had become the third-generation inheritor of this "inspector" identity.
Fortunately, being an inspector was indeed an iron rice bowl.
During the three-month probationary period without external duties, as long as he didn’t court death, the mortality rate was quite low.
"In half a month, I’ll have to go on external duty. I need to get used to scenes like this quickly."Staring at Edmond’s body, which had finally stopped twitching, Cheng Ye let out a heavy sigh, forcing the surging nausea back down.
"And there’s... activation!"
Raising his hand to grasp the star-shaped pendant on his chest, a flash appeared before Cheng Ye’s eyes, revealing a virtual interface only he could see.
[Civilization Collector]
[Current Activation Progress: 97.4%]
The interface shimmered with a faint blue glow, like ocean waves, gently calming Cheng Ye’s anxious heart.
This pendant was one of the legacies left by his predecessor’s father.
Unfortunately, the original host, overwhelmed by fear, never discovered its secret. It was Cheng Ye who, while rummaging through the belongings, accidentally knocked the pendant into a power strip, revealing that it could absorb electricity and activate this mysterious interface.
"I hope this thing does something useful once activated, or I’m in deep trouble."
Cheng Ye silently prayed.
For a modern person accustomed to the information age, interrogating at the gate wasn’t too difficult. But facing infected entities head-on? He had little confidence.
After all, the infected in this world weren’t like the zombies in American blockbusters, relying purely on gore and roars, only posing a threat when swarming in hordes and easily taken down by a lone adult.
In this wasteland, even the most common infection source, like the tentacle that had just been blown apart by the sentry, could revive a dead human on the spot.
As long as no one pointed out the fact of their "death," these infected corpses could walk, talk, and live among humans, until the infection source within them amassed enough power to trigger a second wave of mass infection.
Stronger infection sources, like the "Dandelion," would instantly release spores covering two kilometers upon death. Even inhaling a single micrometer of those spores would turn a human into a new infected.
Compared to their strength, if given a choice, Cheng Ye would prefer brainless cheats like "hundredfold rewards" or "daily check-in for divine skills," or at the very least, something like a "portal between worlds" or an "infinite upgrade system."
But reality was harsh. His so-called cheat, the "Civilization Collector," sounded painfully plain.
Speaking of plain.
Footsteps approached from the distance, where four bare-chested cleanup crew members seemed to embody that word even more.
No protective suits, no weapons, just a body bag, a shovel, and an isolation box for containing infection sources.
The four chatted and laughed as they opened the cage, swiftly smashing the still-twitching Edmond with the shovel, then grabbing the suction-cup-covered tentacles with their bare hands and stuffing them haphazardly into the isolation box.
Once the containment was complete, while the other three cleaned the cage, the leader turned with a grin, "Inspector Cheng, the contribution point reward will be credited to your personal account as usual, once the infection stage is confirmed."
"Thanks, treat the brothers to some drinks."
Cheng Ye nodded lightly, pulling two bottle-cap-sized coins from his pocket and tossing them over.
The man caught them, his smile growing brighter, though he said, "How could I accept this?"
"Come on, Flynn, no need for formalities between us. Just clean up faster next time."
"It’s a deal. I’ll make sure we’re here in no time, so we don’t delay your work."
Flynn patted his chest, unfazed by Edmond’s blood splattered on it.
This rugged "plainness" made Cheng Ye’s eyelids twitch, and it took a while for him to calm down.
For the rest of the half-day, perhaps influenced by Edmond’s incident, far fewer survivors chose conveyor belt No. 8.
With no one coming for half an hour, Cheng Ye simply packed up his desk and clocked out early.
What’s an iron rice bowl?
As an inspector, though he could never return to the inner city, he gained plenty of privileges.
Compared to inheriting his father’s role, slacking off at work, leaving early, or accepting bribes... ahem, those were just appetizers.
Because he had dealt with an infection source, Cheng Ye followed protocol and reported his health status when passing through the checkpoint.
It took only a few minutes, but it earned him a nod of approval from the checkpoint’s chief, Ding Yishan.
"Not bad. This Cheng Ye has his father’s style: efficient, decisive, and knows how to use his brain to solve problems."
"Most importantly, he follows our rules!"
"Pity his combat talent is so poor, and his courage is average. I wonder if he’ll survive his first external duty," Deputy Chief Harlin shook his head.
As the combat trainer, Harlin had seen many recruits, and Cheng Ye was among the worst.
Sometimes, Harlin even felt Cheng Ye was like a human from the old era, startled by his own gunfire.