"This nutrient paste has no real nutrition, just tricks your stomach. If you keep drinking it every day, you’ll end up with some deficiency disease."
Taking the five coins, Uncle Dong shook his head, pulled out a small stool, and sat across from Cheng Ye.
"Your dad left you a decent inheritance, and now you’re an inspector. Why be so hard on yourself? The Big Meat Canteen next door smells so good, doesn’t it?"
"Big Meat Canteen?"
Cheng Ye shuddered, his mind flashing with unpleasant memories.
When he first transmigrated, the name had lured him in, but one glance at the menu sent him bolting out without a second’s hesitation.
"Big Meat" was the affectionate nickname Happiness City residents gave to cockroaches.
A plate full of them, sandwiched in malt candy, supposedly crispy and bursting with juice when bitten!
But Cheng Ye decided that unless his life was at stake, he’d eat as little of it as possible, or none at all.
For protein, nutrient paste had plant-based protein. It wasn’t as efficient, but it was a viable substitute."I can’t stomach it. This is better."
"Fair enough. You grew up in the inner city, where even the worst stuff is synthetic meat."
Uncle Dong’s wrinkled eyes crinkled, watching Cheng Ye chew the malt candy with loud crunches, a touch of nostalgia in his expression.
"When you first came out here, you were suicidal. Who’d have thought you’d adapt so fast? In just two months, you’re already showing some of your dad’s spirit."
"It’s the environment forcing me to adapt. No choice. My dad pushed himself the same way back then."
Cheng Ye shrugged, feigning nonchalance.
Since arriving in this world and getting familiar with it, he never forgot to keep up appearances, never showing weakness, even to those close to him.
In this cutthroat wasteland, who knew if the person next to you might turn on you in the next moment?
The two chatted idly.
As the sun dipped lower, the last sliver of sunset swallowed by the horizon, the defense comm buzzed.
[Liu Bi: Meet at the usual spot. Got a surprise.]
"Big B’s calling me, Uncle Dong. I’m off."
"Take care."
Slipping the pendant back around his neck, Cheng Ye hurried out, crossing two blocks to the main road and hopping on the buffer zone’s only bus.
The route connected the east and west ends, spanning the entire buffer zone.
Being an electric bus, it ran free during the flood season, so it saw plenty of passengers.
Cheng Ye boarded at the Electronics Factory Workers’ Compound stop and got off at the Training Ground stop.
Stepping off, he landed steadily.
The air carried the thick smell of gunpowder, and the vegetable greenhouse-shaped training ground was already lit up.
Not far from the bus stop, a scruffy-bearded man in a tactical vest, built like a tower, waved him over.
Cheng Ye couldn’t help but smile.
If there was anyone in Happiness City he could trust, it was "Big B" Liu Bi.
As his father Cheng Long’s brother-in-arms, during their last mission together, Cheng Long had sacrificed himself to save Liu Bi, entrusting his only son to this rugged man.
"I haven’t even told you about today’s surprise, and you’re already grinning like that?"
Meeting up, Liu Bi looked puzzled.
"Did someone spill the beans?"
"Huh?"
"You don’t know? Then why the smile?"
Liu Bi smacked his lips, pulling out a half-bag of dark jerky from his pocket and dangling it in front of Cheng Ye. "Synthetic meat from the inner city. Knowing you can’t handle big meat, I got this for you."
"Don’t be polite with me. I don’t want to tell Old Cheng his son starved to death."
"Thanks, B." Cheng Ye didn’t hesitate. If he survived his external duty, he’d have plenty of chances to repay the favor. If he died out there, well, debts die with you, so consider it a loan from his dad.
Taking the jerky, he popped a piece in his mouth, chewing slowly, tasting a faint hint of beef.
Synthetic meat had "meat" in the name, but it was just plant protein mixed with a bit of beef powder for flavor.
Inner city elites wouldn’t touch it, but in the buffer zone, it was a top-tier delicacy.
"Also, from today until your external duty, you get a hundred free bullets daily."
"What?"
"Don’t be shocked. Old Ding approved it. Harlin’s crew’s been getting cockier, openly taking bribes from survivors to let them pass. Ding’s pissed and planning to get serious on the next external duty. It might cost a lot of lives."
Mentioning the East-West faction feud, Liu Bi’s face grew heavy.
Except when it came to protecting inspectors’ interests, the two factions were constantly at odds.
This was something Happiness City’s higher-ups encouraged. The checkpoint held some power, and a single voice would be harder to manage.
The way it was now, with Ding Yishan leading the Easterners and Harlin the Westerners, their rivalry was fierce, and a single word from the higher-ups was treated like a sacred decree from the old era.