"Doesn’t seem like it?"
Cheng Ye couldn’t help but shake his head, "Nothing happening, go back and rest."
"Sixteen minutes left."
The security door clanged shut, the enveloping smell of blood made the three shudder.
Only after several seconds did the three pairs of eyes meet, incredulous joy instantly washed over their faces:
"Inspector, this... Cheng Ye, Inspector Cheng?"
"Unbelievable, an Inspector living here, he’s so young..."
"What’s wrong with being young? Being young is good!"
Huang Sheng excitedly slapped his thigh, lowered his voice, "Young people want to make great achievements, in our Pioneer Corps, those up the ranks recently, none over thirty-five."
"But... isn’t the Pioneer Corps recruitment standard below thirty-five?"
"Get lost!"
Unable to calm.
This run-down electronic factory building did have Inspectors living here a dozen years ago, but hadn’t heard of anyone coming here ’to suffer’ since.
As the highest authority in the Buffer Zone, an Inspector’s power is unimaginable.
Such as...
A drone flew up, its camera scanning over the three.
Defense Communication broadcast:
"Inspector Cheng Ye has established a squad; Huang Sheng, Zhu Xiang, Wu Zhihong were included in the squad."
"Detected Inspector Cheng Ye initiated contribution determination mechanism, personal actions will be fully recorded by the drone, submitted to supercomputer, rewards distributed according to contribution value!"
This was one benefit of joining the Inspector’s squad.
No need to scramble for kills, the drone uploads records, automatically judges contribution value.
Shooting, cleaning up the battlefield, rear support... every action will be assigned significance!
"This Inspector’s identity, seems like it offers a lot of untapped help?"
Looking at the video showing their joyful faces, Cheng Ye realized this mechanism’s advantage.
Due to the special rewards and linked mechanism effects, this efficiency in uniting people is impressive.
Without any coercive measures, strangers can be united to form fighting force.
Plus because of no infection, naturally they are on the same side, no conflict of interest.
With drones to harvest and rule judgment, when infection tides come, if Inspector desires, he can form a team of hundreds or thousands at any moment.
"What’s the purpose, why give Inspectors so much authority?"
Cheng Ye furrowed his brows thinking, could only associate it with Idealist Faction system experiments.
No matter the cause, this authority for his current situation is undoubtedly a stroke of luck.
Ding.
The alarm rang again, screen showed 11:40, just one minute until outbreak.
He looked up at the wall hygrometer; pointer pointed at 99%, glass surface condensed with fine droplets.
"Is it coming?"
The sound of gunfire had completely engulfed the Buffer Zone.
To Wastelanders, this was a death knell, a call of doom.
But to Cheng Ye, it evoked a sense of homecoming during New Year, the cacophony of firecrackers on New Year’s Eve.
Suddenly, numbers on screen jumped again.
Cheng Ye thought only intermittent thundering explosions were the loudest sounds.
But he was wrong; at 11.41, a piercing screech split the air, ascending to the sky, overshadowing all noise.
Silence.
Cheng Ye felt dizzy, eardrums pressured like his head was punched, throat surged with metallic taste.
Amidst tinnitus, he vaguely heard low explosion sounds from outside, twenty-odd fire meteors trailing tails from Inner City direction.
What was that?
Boom!
Fire meteors hit a vacant area in the South Suburb, erupted into dazzling light orbs, yet no shockwaves produced.
Almost simultaneously, the screech stopped abruptly, like a throat being squeezed.
[Emergency broadcast, code name ’Stand-In Starfish’ fusion period mother source completely annihilated!]
[Humidity reached, mother source suppression failure, infected about to enter outbreak period, all residents prepare!]
...