Chapter 24: Unpaid internship, the unspoken rules of the checkpoint!
"Sir, we have arrived at the North Checkpoint. Please take your belongings with you. Welcome to the next ride."
Four hundred meters away from the checkpoint, the driver stopped the car, stood up and looked at Cheng Ye.
"My defense identification number is 41504, my last name is Tian. If you need a car later, you can call me anytime."
"You're going to pick me up by bus?"
Cheng Ye found it a little funny.
Counting it up, this is the third person who wants to invest in him after Uncle Dong and Gwen.
And what's strange is that the two people behind him only met him once and wanted to invest without even saying a few words.
"That's not it. Besides the bus, I also work part-time as a deliveryman for the Public Works Department. I have a small truck."
After saying that, Master Tian pointed to the checkpoint outside the window and said, "If you can get the charging permit from the Public Works Department, this small truck will have no problem driving out of the checkpoint."
Cheng Ye nodded and entered the identification number into his defense communication system. "Just a reminder, you may never receive a call from me."
"No, I'm pretty good at judging people. People like you are less likely to get trapped in a more stable environment."
"I'll give you my good wishes."
Grabbing his backpack, Cheng Ye got out of the car from the back door and squinted his eyes at a place not far away.
The buffer zone of Happiness City has an outer border, which is wrapped with iron nets, forming a huge arc surface to block outsiders and irrational infected bodies.
On the three-meter-high net surface, the sharp barbs are maintained and replaced every once in a while, and a guard tower is set up every five hundred meters. In terms of safety, it has far exceeded the buffer zones of other sanctuary cities.
Anyone who can't fly or burrow, whether infected or human, must pass through three checkpoints to enter the buffer zone:
Central main checkpoint, north and south checkpoints.
But unlike the main checkpoint which was built at the beginning of Xingfu City, subsequent expansion can only be based on the initial framework.
The North and South stations were officially completed twelve years ago. The inner city construction team used heavy machinery to drive the foundation twenty meters underground, which is enough to ensure that this behemoth can withstand any impact!
Its overall shape resembles an ancient city, square, with eight-meter-high and nearly one-kilometer-long walls stretching across like a gray behemoth, forming an enclosed internal space covering an area of nearly 1,200 acres.
Right in front of the city gate, eight passages shaped like modern highway toll booths are neatly arranged like the open throats of giant beasts.
Each passage entrance is equipped with an automatically rising and falling steel spike blocker and a self-sensing machine gun turret. Once the metal detection coil embedded in the ground detects someone breaking through the checkpoint, it will immediately burst out with full firepower and shoot the person into a sieve.
After passing through the entrance, the inner city is divided into six areas.
Entrants will be divided into the first four separate areas for inspection according to their type.
Area A: Mainly vehicles
Area B: mainly scavengers and ordinary people with resident ID cards
Area C: People from other cities of refuge
D District: Special personnel, such as sentries on patrol, inspectors on field duty, inner city guards, etc.
The other two areas, Area E is the office area and Area F is the combat readiness area.
The former is where Cheng Ye will go to complete his "employment" procedures, and the latter is the rest area for the patrol guards at the checkpoint.
"This place is worthy of the name checkpoint!"
Cheng Ye couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
The central main checkpoint is only used for refugees and survivors to pass through. Its simple layout can actually reduce the vigilance and fear in these people's hearts.
However, the two branch stations in the north and south are the facades of Happiness City, and people from other surrounding shelter cities all pass through here.
If it is dilapidated and shabby, it will inevitably be looked down upon by others, which will bring shame to the top management of Xingfu City.
In addition, Xingfu City is an industrial sanctuary, so it needs to demonstrate its strength in such places to attract more cooperation.
"You over there, what are you standing there looking at? You need to queue up at the passageway outside the city!"
Cheng Ye stood not far away and looked around, attracting the attention of several guards on duty under the checkpoint wall.
The north and south stations correspond to the east and west factions.
People from the east usually go through the South Station when entering or leaving, because as long as they follow the rules, they will basically not be deliberately harassed.
If you take the wrong road and arrive at North Station, you may only be squeezed and disgusted when leaving the city, but if you enter the city, you will definitely be exploited and a lot of money will be taken away from you.
Therefore, Cheng Ye now stands out here with his Eastern face.
As for the passage mentioned by the guard.
There are three gates under the city wall. The small gates on the left and right are for people to pass through, and the big gate in the middle is for cars to pass through.
It was not yet eight o'clock when the gates opened, but there were already more than ten people waiting at the small gate on the right side of the city wall, queuing up to go to the wilderness ruins.
"I'm calling you, but you're pretending not to hear me, right?"
Seeing Cheng Ye remained indifferent, two guards came up cursing.
But the next second, when they saw the badge in Cheng Ye's hand, their faces changed drastically.
In just a blink of an eye, the previous impatience, disgust and disdain disappeared completely, leaving only a face full of flattery and respect.
"Prosecutor...Prosecutor."
The tall guard who had spoken earlier had sweat on his forehead and his voice was trembling. "Why are you here?"
"Stationmaster Ding has ordered me to transfer from the Central Checkpoint to the North and South Stations. Today is my first day."
"Stationmaster's orders?"
The guard was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously said, "On duty, shouldn't you be going to... South Station?"
"I'd like to go to North Station first. Is that a problem?"
"No, no problem!"
There is an unwritten consensus among the guards:
No matter how fierce the fight between the East and West factions in the checkpoint, or how intense the open and secret struggles between the inspectors, it has nothing to do with these low-level guards like them.
Because no matter whether Ding Yishan or Harlin is in charge of the checkpoint today, they will not give them the opportunity to become inspectors.
Since the upward channel has long been locked, intervening in factional infighting has become the stupidest choice.
Even though Cheng Ye has an Eastern face, these Western guards have to treat him as one of their own and serve him well.
Otherwise, if a report is submitted, you won’t die, but you will definitely lose the position you have worked so hard to get.
After receiving Cheng Ye's badge, the guard swiped it through the defense channel, and the respect on his face increased.
"Inspector Cheng, please come in. The onboarding process is at the fourth window in Area E. I've already notified them."
"Okay, is it okay for me to stand here and wait for a while?"
"Um?"
"Wait for some people, otherwise it will be troublesome if we are not ready."
Cheng Ye smiled with narrowed eyes. The guard was stunned at first, then immediately realized what he was talking about and couldn't help but shrink his neck.
He had seen many arrogant people, but this was the first time he had seen someone as arrogant as Cheng Ye.
"You have something to say?"
"No." The guard shook his head quickly. "Sir, we are just tools of the inspection station. Whether you want to use us or other inspectors want to use us, we dare not have any other ideas."
"Yeah?"
Cheng Ye took a step forward and put his left hand on the other person's shoulder. "Then you can tell me what's going on in the North Station right now?"
"Ah, this..."
"You just said you were a tool and I could use you. Why, now I can't use you anymore?"
"No...I wouldn't dare."
The tall guard was startled, and a layer of fine white sweat instantly secreted on his back. He wanted to slap himself in the face.
Why are you so idle? People are just standing there watching, why do you have to say anything?
Now, this guy is obviously not a good person.
If you don’t say it, it’s equivalent to offending him directly.
Let’s say, if this guy goes in and makes a scene, won’t he be blamed?
damn it!
After mentally cursing the manufacturer of the guards around him, the tall guard said with a bitter face, "Sir, I wonder what you want to hear?"
"Tell me about it again, based on the level of personal rights at the North Station."
"How much power do you have?"
Fortunately, he wasn't asking directly for a prosecutor's personal information. The tall guard breathed a sigh of relief and said quickly:
"The most powerful person at our North Station is definitely the station chief, Mr. Bean Downs. Next in line is the deputy station chief, Ivan Davidson. However, the deputy station chief is often out on field missions, so we rarely see him."
"Aside from the two station chiefs, inspectors like you hold the greatest power. The rules of the checkpoint are that the four areas, A, B, C, and D, are randomly assigned and rotated every week."
"The duty hours are from 8am to 4pm and 4pm to midnight, so there are eight inspectors who rotate here every week."
"continue."
"Further down, there are the inspectors' children. They're responsible for organizing the station's paperwork and verifying the information of those entering."
“Do they have a staff?”
Cheng Ye narrowed his eyes and asked, "As far as I know, the inspector's descendants should not be able to enter the inspection station before they inherit the throne, right?"
"That's what you said, in principle, but..."
The tall guard hesitated, "To prevent an inspector from being killed and their offspring from being unable to familiarize themselves with the work after inheriting it, the stationmaster allowed them to serve as unpaid interns at the station, taking over some of the work to gain early training."
"What a free apprenticeship."
Cheng Ye couldn't help but sigh, what a clever method!
What is the salary at the checkpoint? Do they really rely on those few happiness coins to survive?
If you stay at the station and do a little bit of work, you can get a salary several times higher than your wages.
Even an honest man like Liu Bi, who never has any gas problems, can easily earn thousands of happiness coins every month.
The so-called free services nowadays can only fool fools.
No, even a fool should be able to understand the meaning of staying at the checkpoint and gaining some power.
"And further down?"
"Next up are the common people like us: observers, guards, staff, errand runners, food delivery people. Basically, we're just helping the inspectors. As long as we're staying inside the station and not outside, you're always there for us. No complaints!"
...
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