Chapter 85: The headache-inducing Stationmaster Ding, the promoter of the concept!
After Yu Hong and his men left, only Liu Kun and Ding Yishan were left sitting opposite each other in the venue.
Silence flowed over the long mahogany table like a tide, until the sunlight outside the window moved an inch diagonally, and then the two of them stood up one after another and walked out with heavy steps.
At the door, Achuan had already prepared the supplies for visiting the injured, and four large bulging bags were piled at his feet.
Seeing the two men coming out with gloomy faces, his heart suddenly skipped a beat. He didn't dare to breathe, but just silently picked up the supplies and followed.
The black pickup truck drove away from the conference area. Just after turning two corners, Liu Kun suddenly broke the silence. "Old Ding, what Yu Hong said makes sense, but it's just sense. You see, the times are different now than they were before. In the past, people could argue tooth and nail over a system, using reason and facts to convince others. But now, if you say something wrong and the adults are dissatisfied, they will fly out."
"Yeah." Ding Yishan responded softly, his eyes fixed on the inner city streets passing by outside the window. "I understand what he means, but he may not understand our difficulties."
"That's exactly what I'm saying!" Liu Kun slammed the steering wheel, causing the pickup truck to sway. "If you don't become extraordinary, you'll end up being an ant! Without real power, all your words are just empty talk. Who the hell would take you seriously?"
"What about Cheng Wu? He's the best example. He was forced to leave by a few words from the elders!"
He took a deep breath, his chest heaving violently, his tone filled with suppressed anger: "Hou Rui and his gang are increasingly disregarding us, yet we still have to bow our heads and beg them for supplies and support. Life is so frustrating!"
"Director Liu, this is a different time now." Ding Yishan's voice calmed down a little. "They also endured humiliation back then. We have to endure it."
"Endure? Endure his fucking skin!"
Liu Kun cursed, but quickly suppressed his anger, a fierce look flashing in his eyes, "But don't worry, this kind of life won't last long. Recently, I found a new way to become stronger."
Having said that, he paused, turned to look at Ding Yishan, and a meaningful smile appeared on the corner of his mouth:
"Cheng Ye is a good seedling. You have to cultivate him well. Maybe he will be a surprise."
"Cheng Ye?" Ding Yishan was stunned, frowning slightly, "What happened to him?"
"You don't know? He found a special source of infection at the North Express Checkpoint."
Liu Kun lowered his voice, a little excited, "That thing has characteristics I've never seen before, and it happens to be very useful to me. I will go to the ruins myself in a few days to look for a fusion of the source of infection. If I can find it, I will be very happy."
"Oh, everything will come to an end in the end."
Before Liu Kun finished speaking, the car turned the corner and the sunlight just happened to pass by from the horizon, hitting his face obliquely, making the fierceness in his face look a little weird.
Ding Yishan glanced at it out of the corner of his eye and was startled, as if stung by something.
But his face remained calm and his body didn't even move.
Not long.
The pickup truck stopped steadily in front of the gate of Happiness. The heavy alloy door slowly opened, revealing the gray buffer zone outside.
The two got off the car one after another. Liu Kun stood inside the door, while Ding Yishan and Achuan walked out carrying supplies.
"Old Ding."
"Um."
"Remember my words. Times have changed. We must keep pace with the times and not stand still!"
Liu Kun spoke again, lowering his voice with a strange excitement.
"good!"
Ding Yishan nodded heavily, smiled, and quickly got on the pickup truck at the checkpoint.
But even when the car was far away from the gate of happiness, he was still frowning in thought.
"Sir, how do I feel?"
"Shut up."
Ding Yishan growled and looked at the rearview mirror. The towering outline of the Gate of Happiness became smaller and smaller, and Liu Kun turned into a small black dot.
But somehow, this city he had guarded for most of his life, this door that symbolized the boundary between inside and outside, and these people who had once stood shoulder to shoulder with him.
It seems that everything has changed beyond recognition without us noticing, and is becoming more and more unfamiliar to us.
And now there are more and more problems facing him.
According to the idealists, they want the Eastern and Western factions in the station to decide the winner as soon as possible. However, the Eastern forces are already weak. Even the position of a duty station chief has caused four Eastern fifth-term inspectors to fight each other to the point of bloodshed. How can they have the ability to suppress Harlem?
Going further down, the younger generation in the West, although in a slightly better situation than the Easterners, are also obsessed with standing in line and climbing up, and everyone focuses their energy on fighting for power and profit.
Original intention, what the hell is the original intention?
Only a scoundrel like Li Matthew, who doesn't want to climb up the ladder, still has some regard for the responsibilities of an inspector.
"We are currently lacking someone who can serve as a leader for the younger generation at the checkpoint."
"Otherwise, even if I wanted to pile up resources, I wouldn't know where to put them."
Ding Yishan leaned back in his chair, looking at the mottled stains on the roof, and suddenly felt a little dazed.
He bet that Cheng Long could succeed, and he was half right. He poured all the resources of the station into Cheng Long. Cheng Long did support the checkpoint and helped him climb up to the position of stationmaster step by step.
It is true that Cheng Long is both the cause of his success and failure.
Influenced by Liu Kun, Cheng Long's obsession with the extraordinary was too deep, almost to the point of being possessed, and eventually ended up like that.
Thinking of this, Li Matthew's suggestion flashed through his mind.
Cheng Ye?
Another member of the Cheng family?
He instinctively felt some resistance. This "waste" known to everyone in the inner city had no record that was worthy of attention from childhood to adulthood. He was even worse than an ordinary scavenger from outside.
At the beginning, he saved Cheng Ye from being killed by people offended by Cheng Long from the Inner City faction without giving it much thought.
Just follow the rules of the checkpoint, which means that the checkpoint will protect the offspring of any inspector. Even if they die, they must die in the checkpoint, and the factions in the inner city will never interfere.
In addition, he could also die at his post in a natural way, freeing up a position for Achuan, so that he would not directly push Achuan to the position and give people a chance to criticize him.
But the world is so absurd.
This loser escaped from prison and transformed himself into a rookie inspector whose assessment results were second only to Harlem.
Moreover, his fighting talent was originally so weak that even Harlin was not on guard against him. However, after going to the North Checkpoint, he performed quite well and even attracted the Westerners to extend an olive branch.
This made him unable to make any moves and put him in a passive position. Now he was stuck in the middle, unable to move forward or backward, feeling extremely uncomfortable.
And in this damn world, it seems that the more he resists some things, the more they will develop in the opposite direction of what he expected.
A trainee prosecutor, even a monster as strong as Cheng Long.
Back then, he had to go to the Pioneer Corps for two and a half years of training, and after returning to the checkpoint, he had to climb up step by step in the factional struggles. It took more than five years in total.
But this Cheng Ye is even more outrageous than his father and grandfather.
At today's meeting, he felt a little scared when he heard the name.
Even Liu Kun mentioned him. Could it be that the Cheng family is really destined to be unlucky with the checkpoint and Ding Yishan?
Thinking of this, Ding Yishan was stunned for a moment, and suddenly said: "Achuan."
"exist."
"Last time I asked you to go and try Cheng Ye, did you go?"
"No, sir, didn't you say to wait until he gets to the South Checkpoint and then find another opportunity to try?"
"Did I say that?"
Ding Yishan was in a daze for a moment, then asked, "Where is he now? Did he survive the wave of infection?"
"No, all the inspectors have reported the information, and there are no casualties. Please wait a moment, sir, I will take a look."
Ah Chuan pulled out his defense communication app and quickly clicked through information. "Inspector Cheng applied for medical treatment an hour ago. Here are the pictures he took of his injuries. Would you like to see them?"
"Bring it here."
Ding Yishan took the defense communication, glanced at the screen, raised his brows, and was slightly shocked.
He was familiar with the background of the photo, it was Liu Bi's family.
Cheng Ye's upper body was naked, with almost no intact skin on his body. The bruises and purple scars spread all the way to his waist. It seemed that the injury on his legs was not light either.
"What has he been doing? Garcia isn't injured this badly, right?"
"It's different. These are probably just flesh wounds. Garcia suffered internal injuries from Prosecutor Liu. They may not look serious, but they're actually more troublesome."
As a martial artist, Ah Chuan could tell the difference at a glance. "Also, Inspector Cheng hasn't reported his movements during the infection wave, but we have records of his defense communication system being in contact with the inner city, so he's the command center."
"Command center?"
Ding Yishan was stunned. "Why would he, a trainee inspector, contact the command center?"
"Yes, the call logs are available, but the station doesn't have the authority to retrieve the specific content. How about I apply to the higher-ups and see if they approve it?"
"Hmm"
Ding Yishan hesitated slightly, but finally shook his head. "Forget it. The command center is too involved. It would be embarrassing if he was rejected. Did you say he applied for medical treatment?"
"Yes, the process has been approved by Station Master Harlin. Now we just need your approval."
"Give him a pass, by the way."
Ding Yishan paused and added, "Transfer him to the medical center where Garcia lives. The two of them will be separated next to each other. Find someone to record what they say and do. If they fight, Garcia is in the second stage, and Cheng Ye is no match for him. But as long as no one is killed, don't stop them no matter what happens."
"yes!"
"Also, you're going to go directly to the area where Cheng Ye lives and investigate for me. Don't let anyone else in the station know. See if you can find out what he did. When he's hospitalized, we'll be the first to visit him."
"clear."
Achuan agreed again, with a hint of joy in his tone.
Hearing his joy, Ding Yishan was stunned for a moment and couldn't help but sigh: "Achuan, I'm afraid your becoming a prosecutor will be postponed again."
"Sir, I really don't want to be an inspector. I just want to run errands for you for the rest of my life."
Ah Chuan smiled happily. "I don't have the skills required to be a prosecutor. Even if I did become one, I would just be caught up in the vortex of power struggle like everyone else. I'd be more than happy to have someone come out and help you share your worries."
“You.”
Ding Yishan first sighed, then sighed heavily.
yes.
What we lack now is not people who can engage in intrigue, but people who can really get things done.
Internally, to be able to contain the infection, we must have the strong power to carry the banner of the younger generation of prosecutors.
Externally, we must be able to develop gathering places and sanctuary cities to bring back additional income for checkpoints, help update equipment, repair facilities, and accumulate activity funds.
But since the establishment of the checkpoint, there are only a handful of such people.
Is it really possible to put this burden on a trainee prosecutor?
It was just his fantasy.
noon.
After eating another meal of tasteless boiled cabbage, Cheng Ye quickly walked out of the chemical factory area.
The information we learned from Luo Xiaoxue is very rich.
"No wonder Ding Yishan transferred me to the express station. Brother B didn't stop me. Strictly speaking..."
"The Cheng family owes the checkpoint too much!"
Whether it was Cheng Wu or Cheng Long, both of them brought a serious weakening to the checkpoint.
Cheng Wu took a group of elderly people away and dug up the roots of the checkpoint.
Cheng Long took a group of core members of the Easterners to die, which weakened the Easterners in the station and led to internal strife.
"At this rate, is it my turn to inflict heavy damage on the checkpoint next?"
Cheng Ye stood on the side of the road, thinking, and couldn't help but smile.
But overall, after finding out that Cheng Long's death had nothing to do with the checkpoint, he felt a little relieved.
At least we can be sure that the enemy is not inside the checkpoint.
With the Horned Starfish in hand, he is no longer controlled by others as before.
But the more this happened, the more he didn't want to leave Happy City and venture into the wilderness.
Now that we have the ability to gain a firm foothold, it is a good time to concentrate on development.
Apart from anything else, that set of armor was worth a full 2,800 contribution points, and he got it for free in just one battle.
He also received an additional huge sum of 20,000 yuan to cultivate his own power and confidants.
"I thought that old man was an idealist before, but now it seems that he is probably a veteran?"
Cheng Ye thought secretly.
He didn't tell Luo Xiaoxue about the 20,000 contribution points because he didn't know what was going on before.
Now I finally have some clue.
"The community concept was proposed by idealists, and now it seems that the elders are behind it. My wave of community integration just happened to catch the elders' attention. Could it be that they want to see from me what kind of sparks will be created when the prosecutor combines with the community?"
"But then, in the eyes of the other people at the checkpoint, wouldn't I be seen as siding with the idealists again, going against the ideals of the originalists?"
Thinking of this, Cheng Ye felt a bit of a headache.
According to Luo Xiaoxue's introduction, the so-called "original intention" is the concept proposed by Cheng Wu.
That is to say, the equality of human rights. Once in the buffer zone, everyone should have equal opportunities regardless of their strength. When facing danger, they should also enjoy the same right to survive, and no one will enjoy privileges just because of their noble status.
For example, in the case of the stand-in starfish this time, according to Cheng Wu's idea, all residents should be informed as soon as they are detected, and then a nationwide quarantine should be carried out.
The buffer zone will then coordinate manpower, conduct on-site inspections, deliver medicines, and isolate the spread at the source.
Under his management, inspectors had almost no special powers and were no different from managers in the Public Works Department, just a screw in the buffer zone.
But it turned out that this idea ultimately failed to work, not only because the sources of infection came in waves and the methods of transmission became more and more bizarre.
What’s more, the population loss within the buffer zone is too serious. No one wants to be trapped like a tool by the above sentence, because being infected means being labeled as dead.
The idealists came into being and quickly gained the support of the elders, forcing the originalists to leave.
Later, the idealists relaxed human rights restrictions and reformed the prosecutor system, infinitely elevating the status of prosecutors.
We try to block the source of infection through checkpoints and isolate it outside the defense line, rather than simply relying on large-scale isolation to solve the problem every time an infection source sneaks in.
Unexpectedly, after the sudden expansion of power, everyone was busy vying for power and climbing up, completely forgetting the responsibilities that the inspectors should have shouldered, which ultimately led to heavy casualties in the buffer zone.
Later, the old members of the original faction came back to power, retaining certain original ideas and enjoying the benefits brought by the idealistic reforms, that is, the status of the prosecutor was supreme.
This is very twisted.
This has resulted in the checkpoints today being fundamentally mired in internal strife.
Some people want to be good inspectors, stick to their original intentions, and block the source of infection outside the defense line.
Another group of people are obsessed with climbing up, becoming extraordinary, and reaching the top.
To both, the inhabitants of the buffer zone are just numbers, if not tools.
Just as Li Matthew said, the inspectors are there to stop infected bodies from flowing into the buffer zone, not to give the green light to scavengers and caravans to promote the economic development of the buffer zone.
"But if I succeed in this, won't I become the first inspector to promote internal development and become a promoter of new ideas?"
“Also, it feels a bit like you’re putting yourself in a high-level position and managing the buffer zone as a gathering place?”
Thinking of this, Cheng Ye couldn't help but click his tongue.
Perhaps influenced by modern ideas, he didn't think so much when he did these things.
Looking back now that I have completed the information, I can see that we are indeed on this path.
Fortunately, this road will not conflict with the two ideologies of the checkpoint for a while, and even if he offends someone, he now has a trump card to hedge the risk.
"Thankfully, the factional struggles within the station aren't as tense as they used to be. I'm pretty familiar with the rules now. As for those outside of them, if anyone dares to think of killing me to solve the problem, I'll give them a chance to try out their supernatural powers."
"However, I absolutely cannot get involved in the disputes between the three major factions in the inner city, as well as the disputes between these factions and the checkpoints!"
People of this level who are qualified to sit at the table and speak must be extraordinary people.
He might be able to protect himself for five minutes relying on the horned starfish, but it would be a pipe dream to think that he could be on equal footing with these people.
When one day he has gathered all the extraordinary abilities and is fully qualified to speak, it will be appropriate for him to squeeze into this circle.
As I was thinking, a bus drove over from a distance.
Cheng Ye couldn't help but laugh when he saw the person sitting in the driver's seat waving at him.
Vehicles headed to the checkpoint one after another, all filled with residents who were migrating away.
But the buses returning from the checkpoint were all empty because the checkpoint was closed.
The car stopped.
Cheng Ye got on the bus, sat down in his usual window seat, and said, "Master Tian, I thought you were taking a break today."
"How can I rest? This whole week is the peak season."
When he met Cheng Ye, Master Tian's face, which was originally a little sad, forced a smile and said, "I'm so glad that you're okay!"
"What could happen to me? You're at home during this time of infection."
"Everything is fine. Very fine."
Master Tian laughed, then sighed, "Some of the old neighbors I've known over the years are now packing up and preparing to leave."
"What's wrong? The old people are leaving. Do they also want to seek development outside?"
"Yes, the buffer zone has become entrenched over the years. The path for newcomers to move up is completely blocked, tightly controlled by the elderly. These elderly themselves are also confused and can only muddle through their lives, causing the development here to deteriorate. Furthermore, due to the scale of Happiness City, they have to bear the risk of wave after wave of infection."
"Out there, anyone with enough courage can make a name for themselves in a year or two. But in our buffer zone, you can only work day and night to barely make a living."
"You say it's safe, but it's not safe. It's tiring, really tiring."
After Master Tian finished speaking, he quickly added, "But the main reason is that it's become increasingly difficult to accumulate contribution points over the years. From the beginning, you only needed 100 points to enter the inner city, but now you need 1,000 points. It's getting more and more difficult. So, taking this opportunity, when you're poor, you think of changing your ways. Naturally, the old people are thinking of leaving and trying their luck in other sanctuary cities!"
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