Wasteland Border Inspector

Chapter 269: Phase Five Defection, The Beginning of the Storm!

Having successfully negotiated a transaction worth a million Contribution Points, the two men sat back down.This time, Davidson held nothing back. He reached under the table and pulled out several tea cakes of various kinds.

Besides the Cloud Mist Tea from Sha Province, there was Guicha from Guang Province, black tea from Hai Province, and ShaQing Tea from Xin Province. Each type of tea exuded a uniquely rich aroma that refreshed the mind and soul.

However, by now, Cheng Ye was no longer particularly passionate about simple culinary desires. "Can these teas be transplanted and grown around Happiness City?" he asked curiously.

"They can be planted, but there is no guarantee they will retain their original flavor,"

Davidson nodded in reply. As a Phase Five Inspector with a vast network of connections in the industrial zone, he had clearly known about the lifting of the farming ban for quite some time.

In fact, connecting the recent series of events, anyone in the know could guess that Cheng Ye was inextricably linked to the opening up of agriculture in Happiness City.

And with such a massive achievement in agriculture, let alone making him the Station Chief of Yueye Shelter City, it would even make sense to promote him directly to General Station Chief of the Inspection Station. The only question was whether a novice like him could secure the seat permanently.

"If you trace back a hundred years, my ancestors did not live in Shi Province, but in the vast, empty west on the other side of the ocean," Davidson offered, speaking of his own origins. "He owned a large farm and opened quite a few agricultural machinery manufacturing plants. So, this related knowledge has been passed down through generations, and I understand it fairly well."

After casually revealing his background, Davidson pinched open a bag of black tea and tossed it into the teapot.

Although he exuded the same refined aura as Tang Si, his method of brewing tea was much more unrefined. He simply lifted the lid of the kettle, threw the tea leaves in, and brewed them with boiling water.

Soon, a rich aroma that smelled like a blend of red wine and milk tea drifted from the pot, presenting a peculiar yet enticing fragrance.

"After the Transcendent Era began, the crop seeds of the past basically could no longer take root and sprout,"

Davidson said slowly. "Certain traits in the soil changed, or perhaps some rule restrictions were added. Those old seeds do not even have the right to acquire the nutrients needed for growth. Only the adapted seeds, specially cultivated by humanity later based on soil traits, can grow normally."

"Currently, there are three main popular crops: Kindling No. 4 Wheat, Natural Village No. 3 Wheat, and Tahiti No. 2 Rice."

"Kindling No. 4 Wheat was the earliest adapted seed to be mass-produced. Its stalks are as thick as a forearm, and it can withstand wind, sand, and heavy rain. The yield is about two thousand kilograms per acre. The outer shell of the wheat grain has a pale golden waxy layer. When ground into flour, it has extremely high gluten content, making it suitable for hard bread and wheat cakes. It isn't picky about soil fertility; it can take root even in improved semi-desert fields. Furthermore, consuming it can slowly nourish the body, enhancing physical constitution and endurance."

"Natural Village No. 3 is much more delicate. It has to be planted in fertile soil with ample irrigation, like river valley terraces, with a yield of roughly eighteen hundred kilograms per acre. The grains are plump and translucent, carrying a natural sweetness. Its core advantage is high nutritional density. Eating it long-term can mildly enhance human immunity, and after the stalks are crushed, they serve as excellent organic fertilizer. However, because of the harsh planting conditions, its production has always been limited."

"Tahiti No. 2 Rice is the benchmark for aquatic adapted seeds. It needs to be planted in clean water and shallow wetlands with deep soil layers. The yield is about sixteen hundred kilograms per acre. The grains are oval with a silver glow. After husking, the cooked rice is soft, chewy, and carries a faint, refreshing scent of algae. It has the most outstanding taste among the three crops. It does not possess any extra special effects; it simply wins on pure flavor."

Davidson listed them off familiarly, clearly possessing a deep understanding of these crops, which matched his years of experience out in the field.

After speaking, he opened his Defense Terminal and brought up pictures of the three crops to show. The thick ears of wheat and plump grains visually exuded a resilience adapted to the wasteland.

'However... the yield per acre is actually about twenty to thirty percent lower than in the Old Era?'

Cheng Ye was surprised inwardly, but on second thought, considering the special effects attached to these crops—such as physical enhancement and immunity boosting—the lower yield was quite reasonable.

However, this meant it would be difficult for a Small Gathering Place to rely on farming to survive. With unexceptional yields, they would have to expand their planting areas. Once the area expanded, the risk of encountering Infected Bodies and extreme weather would multiply.

"Besides these three mainstream crops, there are hundreds of other types, but they are all varieties cultivated independently by various shelter cities and cannot be promoted on a large scale," Davidson added. "Moreover, the traits of these niche varieties are mostly average. Many are not even as practical as these three core crops."

"First, we have to measure the soil traits of Happiness City and figure out its tendencies... This is actually determined by the Transcendent plants that grew here back in the day. The integration and residue of their traits will bring special buffing or debuffing effects to the land."

"For example, the planting grounds in Kindling Shelter City. No matter how bad the crops taste, there is a baseline. So they simply went all in on one path, ignoring flavor and focusing solely on the basic utility and yield per acre of the food."

Davidson's explanation was plain and easy to understand, but as soon as Cheng Ye heard it, he could tell that Davidson did not have deep contact with the Transcendent domain.

The so-called "traits of Transcendent plants" were, in essence, their residual rules of life.

These rules might still be buried underground. However, with Tan Ming's previous influence, whether they could survive until now was hard to say. Perhaps the soil in Shi Province had long lost its special traits, becoming just as "ordinary" as in the Old Era.

"Are there no plans to plant around Wenlu County?" Cheng Ye asked.

"There are no such plans for the time being." Davidson shook his head gently. "I am only responsible for the construction of Wenlu County. The difficult task of pioneering the surrounding areas will have to be left to others. Otherwise, a small mishap could ruin the current favorable situation."

He paused, his tone steady. "There are still many problems to solve right now. We must take it one step at a time and eat one bite at a time. Let's pioneer enough land first before discussing planting. Moreover, the situation outside is not optimistic. Once the surrounding shelter cities find out we can farm, they will most likely make a move."

Cheng Ye deeply agreed. As their eyes met again, both understood what the other meant.

He had also asked Lin Bao this question.

But the answer Lin Bao gave was the exact opposite, simply stating to build the city first, then pioneer the wilderness.

Davidson, however, considered many things. Besides the difficulty of pioneering, there were external changes to worry about.

The significance of Happiness City being able to farm went far beyond simply adding a core resource. It was more about making up for past shortcomings, plugging the gap in the wooden barrel effect.

Previously, when building the satellite town, killers and mercenaries had infiltrated, and inexplicable Infection Sources had frequently broken out. If the news of farming were to be made public now, the forces hiding in the shadows would likely become even more rampant.

However, neither of them talked much more about security. That was the military legion's responsibility, and if all else failed, there were Transcendents holding the fort.

The core role of an Inspector was to pioneer and defend. There was no need to get overly entangled with these "rats."

After chatting for a while about matters related to economic development, Cheng Ye checked the time and stood up to take his leave. The duration of his stay was exactly ten minutes shorter than his previous conversation with Lin Bao—not too much, not too little, perfectly grasping the boundaries.

Going downstairs, his excellent eyesight caught a glimpse of a figure flashing by not far outside the small building, quickly disappearing behind the roadside hoarding.

'Lin Bao's methods are too crude. Does he really think everyone is as straightforward as he is?'

Cheng Ye could not help but shake his head and chuckle.

After getting into the car, he did not immediately order a return to the Buffer Zone. Instead, he had Mu Shuang take a detour to circle around Zhou Changhai's territory.

Unexpectedly, upon asking around, he found out that Zhou Changhai had left Wenlu County two days ago.

Once the construction progress here stabilized, he had returned to the Buffer Zone. Even Xi Yan, who was responsible for architectural design, had gone back with him, meaning Cheng Ye missed the chance to speak with the Deputy Director of the Inner City Public Works Department.

'Could it be that the higher-ups are changing the plans for Wenlu County?'

Cheng Ye's heart stirred, vaguely sensing the approaching storm.

An era of great strife seemed to be right before his eyes.

Rewinding the clock ten years to when the recuperation period had just begun, even though Happiness City had deep pockets, it absolutely would not have invested in construction and recklessly laid out plans on such a massive scale.

But things were different now. Everyone was doing their utmost to find and seize opportunities.

Davidson was able to casually throw around a million Contribution Points for a deal. Such boldness clearly indicated he had caught the scent of an era's transformation.

As for himself, he had managed to ride the coattails of this impending revolution, securing opportunities he would never have dared to dream of in the past.

The convoy departed Wenlu County, traveling smoothly along the flat national highway, speeding toward the Buffer Zone.

The national highway itself had no new changes, but the active figures within the Chuanshi Ruins had multiplied tenfold compared to his last visit. It was hard to tell whether the Hundred Ghost Gang had come out in full force to prepare for pioneering, or if a large number of Drifters and Scavengers had flooded inside.

After passing through South Station D Exit and returning to the safe area, the four vehicles needed a comprehensive disinfection, which would take the better part of a day.

Leaving Mu Shuang in charge of the follow-up matters, Cheng Ye was not in a hurry to report for duty. Instead, he returned to his residential complex, took a cold shower, and changed into a clean set of clothes before walking toward the Central Station.

His memory of walking to Central Station for duty a few months ago was already somewhat blurry, and the renovations along this road added a layer of unfamiliarity.

Cheng Ye stopped and started as he walked, his gaze constantly sweeping over the changes in the blocks. Not only were the underground pipelines completely overhauled, but the overall environment of the Buffer Zone was improving at a visible rate.

Newly constructed affordable housing buildings rose from the ground. The previously planned mobile medical stations had also been implemented; every few blocks, a convenient clinic hung with a sign reading "XX Medical Station" could be seen.

What surprised Cheng Ye the most was the genuine smiles of satisfaction on the faces of the construction workers by the road. The women assisting them were also brimming with enthusiasm, showing none of the lethargy from the days of bitter struggling.

In just over two months, with the Walker's assistance and Happiness City's insane financial investments, the Buffer Zone was immediately no longer the impoverished, temporary area that shielded the Inner City from chaos.

It was slowly taking root and growing, like a tender sprout breaking through the soil in early spring, exuding an unstoppable, vigorous Vitality.

But precisely because of this, no one was willing to return to the past.

To return to those days of panic and precarious existence, when large numbers of residents carried their backpacks and left Happiness City with bitter faces in search of a way to survive; to return to the memory of the "Starfish" summer that, despite its blazing heat, felt so desolate.

Cheng Ye suddenly paused his steps and raised a hand to rub his temples.

He felt increasingly clearly that as his Strength grew and his Power expanded, the troubles weighing on his shoulders did not decrease. Instead, they became more complex and numerous.

Indescribable responsibilities quietly entangled his heart, pushing him to keep moving forward without any way to stop.

Undoubtedly, he was enjoying this process.

It wasn't just seeing everything change for the better before his eyes; he felt a genuine sense of happiness and satisfaction.

More so, it was due to the continuous positive feedback. Whether it was the enhancement of his Strength, the expansion of his Power, or his step-by-step development, every step he took was remarkably stable.

'But what if someone can't bear this Responsibility, this pressure?'

'What if someone hesitates to move forward, or even regresses?'

Turning the corner of a block, the massive Central Station appeared at the end of his vision, blocking off the endless Wilderness.

Cheng Ye slightly quickened his pace, sweeping away the chaotic thoughts in his mind, and stepped through the side door into the work area.

Come to think of it, this was his first time going to the General Station Chief's building to report.

The quaint, antique little building looked very charming. Cheng Ye could not help but fantasize about the Station Chief's building he would build for himself when he took up his post in Yueye.

However, as he walked to the ground floor, two squads of Guards flashed out from the shadows.

The lead Guard captain stepped forward and respectfully said, "Inspector Cheng, the Station Chief has gone to the Inner City for a meeting. Please wait on the first floor."

"No problem," Cheng Ye waved his hand and walked into the Station Chief's building.

The first floor was configured as a workspace, about four hundred square meters in size. It looked very similar to a large-scale print shop.

Behind each partition sat people hurriedly compiling materials and printing Outputs.

Some were calculating data collected from various sources, while others were organizing and filing existing data.

Cheng Ye took a curious lap around the room, but to his disappointment, the computers here all used the same command-line operating systems, which made one's head spin just looking at them.

Seeing his curiosity, a clerk specially brought over a textbook distributed by Kindling.

Cheng Ye sat in the waiting area, quietly flipping through it.

The text in the manual was clear and concise, highlighting the core advantages of the command-line system right at the beginning.

It lacked the redundancy of a graphical interface, and its running speed far exceeded that of visual systems. When processing massive data aggregation and bulk material generation, its efficiency was several times higher.

More crucially, there was its precision. Line after line of commands directly interfaced with the core Programs. There were almost no compatibility issues or lagging faults seen in graphical systems, making it particularly suitable for processing classified materials and important data.

It also featured extremely strong customizability. Users could write exclusive scripts based on different tasks, completing repetitive work like unifying formats and classifying data in bulk, saving a tremendous amount of manual operation.

"Hmm... these are advantages I hadn't thought of!" he muttered.

Cheng Ye became more engrossed as he read. Influenced by his preconceived notions of graphical interfaces from the Old Era, he hadn't considered these benefits.

However, the disadvantages were also obvious. The barrier to entry was far too high. Without visual icon guidance, all operations relied on precise command codes.

Moreover, the operation process was too tedious. The dense strings of characters lacked intuitive feedback, making it extremely easy to suffer from eye fatigue after staring at the screen for long periods.

Considering that he would inevitably have to research this area in the future, Cheng Ye patiently browsed through the materials on hand.

However, waiting from three in the afternoon until dusk, the rosy clouds on the horizon gradually faded into the hazy twilight. The outlines of the buildings outside the Inspection Station blurred, yet Ding Yishan still had not returned.

The lights in the first-floor office area all lit up, the bright white rays dispelling the dimness within the room, but they could not pierce the thickening night outside the window.

Cheng Ye closed the book, picked up his Defense Terminal, and glanced at it. It was already 6:40 PM.

He was debating whether to pack his things, go back to recharge, study the Trait he'd looted from Yu Yong, and resolve the matters at the Research Institute as soon as possible before coming back tomorrow to report.

Just then, the crunch of tires rolling over the ground finally echoed from not far away, accompanied by the distinct warning hum of an electric motor at low speeds, approaching from a distance.

Two military-green pickup trucks bearing the Inspection Station emblem parked steadily in front of the Station Chief's small building.

From the leading vehicle, Jiang Chuan pushed open the door and jumped down, his movements as crisp and agile as ever. But when the passenger door opened, Ding Yishan hunched his way out. His frame was a bit more stooped than usual, and his face was filled with unconcealable exhaustion and haggardness.

'I haven't seen Old Ding for a month, how did he get so exhausted?'

Cheng Ye was startled, but when his gaze swept over the second vehicle, he froze in sheer surprise.

The doors pushed open one after another. Halin stepped out of the passenger seat, but when the two rear doors opened, Lei Hu and Tang Si—the Duty Station Chiefs of the South and North Stations respectively—stepped out!

'That's not right. This morning, wasn't Lei Hu still at the industrial zone coordinating equipment transfers? Why is he suddenly back at the Buffer Zone for a meeting?'

A wave of astonishment surged in Cheng Ye's heart. Meanwhile, Ding Yishan took the lead and stepped onto the first floor, his leather shoes making a soft click as they crossed the threshold.

Halin, Lei Hu, and Tang Si followed closely behind. All three had their heads lowered and brows tightly furrowed, clearly deep in thought.

Even upon seeing Cheng Ye standing at the door, the tense expressions of the four men did not relax in the slightest.

Ding Yishan's Adam's apple bobbed. His voice was kept extremely low and carried a heavy solemnity. "Cheng Ye, you come too."

"Hm?" Cheng Ye felt a jolt in his heart, vaguely sensing that something major had happened. Unable to ask questions, he could only follow the four men.

Going up to the second-floor conference room, Lei Hu and Tang Si directly sat on the sofas on either side of the reception area. Halin pulled over the only chair in the room and sat on the left side of the desk.

As Cheng Ye was looking around, Jiang Chuan pushed the door open and walked in, carrying a folding chair.

Cheng Ye smiled, nodded to accept it, and took a seat on the right side of the desk near the door.

The Chief and Deputy Chief of the Inspection Station, along with the two Duty Station Chiefs—four heavyweights who represented almost the pinnacle of power in the Buffer Zone—were gathered in one room.

Although dealing with Lin Bao and Davidson had dispelled his awe of Phase Five Inspectors, sharing a room with these four men still made Cheng Ye inevitably nervous.

'I thought I would only experience a day like this when I took my post in Yueye. Now it's way ahead of schedule...'

Keeping his thoughts to himself, Cheng Ye quietly observed the expressions on the four men's faces.

He could tell it was probably nothing good. Even Tang Si had his brows locked tight, his fingers frantically tapping away on his Defense Terminal as if trying to contact the outside world to send messages.

Lei Hu was also gripping his Defense Terminal, periodically holding it up to glance at it. He seemed to be waiting for some news.

Ding Yishan took out a stack of documents from his bag and flipped through them, while Halin slowly lifted the kettle, poured himself a cup of hot water, and sipped it mouthful by mouthful.

The four men behaved differently. Fortunately, no one paid attention to his inner thoughts; they were all silently pondering, not in a rush to speak.

But the atmosphere in the room grew increasingly stifling, like dark clouds gathering before a rainstorm, weighing down on one's heart until it tightened and made it hard to breathe.

Who knows whether two or three minutes passed, or four or five minutes, just when Cheng Ye was feeling like he was sitting on pins and needles.

Ding Yishan finally looked up. His gaze swept over the crowd and finally landed on him. His tone was heavy and solemn: "Zhou Changhai has defected!"

What?

Zhou Changhai had defected?

When Ding Yishan turned his head, Cheng Ye had already mentally braced himself. But upon hearing the complete news, he still could not believe his ears, shocked to the point where he almost leaped out of his chair.

He had specifically gone looking for Zhou Changhai that afternoon. Hadn't they said he returned to the Buffer Zone? How did he suddenly... defect in the blink of an eye?

A Phase Five Inspector, choosing to defect right at the critical juncture when Happiness City was about to expand externally on a massive scale and stride toward its zenith?

This was simply absurd!

"Including Zhou Changhai, there are a total of seven Inspectors who left with him."

Ding Yishan's voice was so cold it almost made one shudder. "They planned all this in advance. As early as a week ago, they had already secretly left the boundaries of Happiness City. Those left behind were all body doubles cultivated ahead of time."

"When they left, they took nearly thirty vital talents from Happiness City, involving multiple key departments. This includes Xi Yan, Deputy Director of the Inner City Public Works Department; Gu Zhiyong, Chief Engineer of the Core Energy Research Institute; Lu Yu, Head of the City Defense Technology Department... and Zhang Shun, a Level 5 Researcher from the Inner City Research Institute!"

Boom!

Like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky, Cheng Ye felt his head buzzing.

Every single name Ding Yishan called out belonged to indispensable, pillar-level figures of Happiness City.

They might not have held supreme Power, but they definitely grasped massive amounts of critical technology and Core Secrets.

Especially Level 5 Researcher Zhang Shun. He was one of the six major cores of the Research Institute, an existence on par with Shi Xu, and a founding member of the Inspection Station's Research Institute.

All of these people were actually coerced by Zhou Changhai into defecting?

"Does he even have that capability?" Cheng Ye asked subconsciously.

If it had been before, he might still have had his doubts. But after personally experiencing the might of a Transcendent, he simply did not believe that an ordinary Phase Five Inspector could silently take away so many important figures.

Zhou Changhai was nothing more than a fence-sitter who bent with the wind. He was neither a ruthless character like Cheng Wu nor did he possess Cheng Long's prestige. How could he possibly pull this off?

"Naturally, he does not have that capability. It was external forces backing him that allowed him to complete these plans."

Halin took over the conversation, his expression grave to the extreme. "Through special tracing methods, we have verified that Zhou Changhai secretly joined the extremist organization 'Starship' in Hai Province seven years ago. Over these years, he consistently funneled important information from Happiness City to Starship, leaking secrets nearly a thousand times. He also covertly transferred massive Resources, assisting Starship in completing a series of extreme operations."

After saying this, he looked up, a hint of unspeakable complexity in his eyes. "And the Myriad Command Earth Dharma Conch you contained earlier was the handiwork of Starship."

As his words fell.

Cheng Ye was taken aback again, but the astonishment in his heart completely faded, replaced by a bone-piercing chill.

It seemed as though a massive net of conspiracy had long enveloped Happiness City, and no one had managed to discover it beforehand.

"What were they trying to do with the Myriad Command Earth Dharma Conch?" Cheng Ye asked in a deep voice.

Halin's tone was icy. "If not for this satellite town expansion, where you accidentally activated the Immortal Item and completed its Containment ahead of time, the Myriad Command Earth Dharma Conch would have eventually erupted, bringing Happiness City into its area of effect. By then... it would have been a living hell on earth."

'The abrupt appearance of the Immortal Item was targeted at Happiness City?'

'Then doesn't that mean...'

"What about Yueye Shelter City?"

"It was precisely because, while absorbing Yueye Shelter City these past few days, we uncovered anomalous information regarding the last Infection Tide. Through special methods, we traced the source and found the root of the problem."

Halin continued, "After in-depth analysis, it is certain that the June Infection Tide was artificially triggered; it was not a natural convergence. Starship used the Infection Tide to destroy Yueye, and then directed massive numbers of Drifters to perish in the waterways, providing Energy to the Immortal Item. During this period, Yueye's upper echelons had been thoroughly infiltrated, porous as a sieve. That's how they managed to keep this completely under wraps without leaking a shred of information to us."

"When we took over Yueye and began sorting through these materials and investigating the concealed information, Starship realized their plans risked exposure and immediately chose to retreat. Among those who left with Zhou Changhai were one Phase Four, two Phase Three, and four Phase Two Inspectors. It is confirmed that all of them had joined Starship. Based on their respective Field Duty routes, we can deduce that Starship's stronghold should be located somewhere in Hai Province, most likely on an overseas island."

He paused, unable to suppress a couple of coughs. "And currently, we still cannot determine whether the technical talents coerced away by him were Starship members themselves, or if they were forcibly taken because of their exploitable value. But what is certain is that Zhou Changhai has already crossed a thousand kilometers beyond Happiness City's vicinity. We have completely lost track of him."

The massive volume of information surged forth like a tidal wave.

Cheng Ye's gaze slowly swept over Ding Yishan and Halin, then landed on the faces of Tang Si and Lei Hu.

Since it could prompt the gathering of four core high-ranking officials in one room, the authenticity of this news was beyond question.

The annihilation of Yueye was actually single-handedly caused by the extremist organization Starship?

The deaths of over three hundred thousand people were merely to achieve their evil schemes?

His previous dissatisfaction and anger toward Yueye's upper brass for concealing information now completely dissolved into an indescribable, heavy chill pressing heavily on his chest. The cold-bloodedness and madness of these people had already far exceeded his imagination.

He pondered for a moment before speaking up again, "Is Starship a newly established organization? What is their purpose in targeting us?"

As his words fell, however, the room fell silent.

Ding Yishan kept his head down, flipping through the documents on the table. Halin shook his head slightly. Lei Hu and Tang Si also had no reaction.

'They don't know?'

The colossal Happiness City, the overlord of Shi Province, had actually failed to even grasp information on an evil organization like Starship?

"Starship is not a newly established organization. But to this day, there are no related records of them within the Kindling Alliance. We only managed to uncover their codename and rough details by tracing them through special means. The so-called Starship refers to Giant Creatures visiting the planet. They are not satisfied with humanity's sluggish pace in restoring civilization; instead, they want to rapidly trigger the arrival of the next evolutionary tide."

Halin was the one to answer. "Where exactly their organization comes from, what their numbers are, what their structure looks like, whether they have other ongoing plans, or if they have other hidden hands—we have absolutely failed to glean anything further..."

Before he could finish, a loud "smack" suddenly shattered the deathly silence in the conference room!

Lei Hu's fingers gripping his Defense Terminal tightened fiercely. The next second, he brutally smashed the device against the armrest of the sofa.

He stood up abruptly, his burly figure casting a heavy shadow under the light. His eyes widened in fury, and the veins on his forehead throbbed wildly. "We can't just sit around and wait anymore! If we don't know the background of Starship, how could the people below possibly track their movements?! Tomorrow, I'm leading a team to Hai Province to turn it completely upside down!"

"What dogshit Starship! I've personally dismantled no fewer than eight or ten evil organizations! Daring to scheme against Happiness City—do they really think we're soft persimmons meant to be squeezed?!"

His thunderous voice rolled through the room, laced with uncontrollable fury.

"I'll go too," Tang Si slowly stood up, his usually gentle gaze now as deep and dark as a bottomless pool. "I've stayed in the Buffer Zone for far too long these past years. It's the perfect time to go out for a stroll and see exactly what kind of background this Starship has, to be able to coldly watch hundreds of thousands of people die just for the sake of a plan."

'Hm?'

Cheng Ye's heart jolted as he looked at the two in astonishment.

Lei Hu had an explosive temper, so it was no surprise that he volunteered for battle. But Tang Si... how many years had it been since he last stepped out of the Buffer Zone?

Hai Province was thousands of kilometers away, and the Starship organization operated secretively. Let alone gathering intelligence, whether they could even protect themselves in an unfamiliar Wilderness was likely an unknown.

But before he could sigh in admiration at the two men taking the lead, Ding Yishan slowly put down the documents in his hand. He lifted his eyelids, his gaze calmly sweeping over the two of them, his tone completely devoid of joy or anger. "Do you want to go out and investigate Starship, or are you just trying to get out and lay low until the storm passes?"