OBS Chapter 302: Spacetime Distortion, Forbidden Zone of Life!
Chapter 302: Spacetime Distortion, Forbidden Zone of Life!
Having seen so many profiles of others, this was the first time Cheng Ye had seen his own complete evaluation report, naturally sparking his curiosity.After scanning the various ratings on the front, he flipped to the back and reviewed the information sources one by one.
The information collected by the legion was clearly synchronized with the Inner City. It primarily listed the events that had occurred since his transmigration. As for the original body's past in the Inner City, it was simply labeled as "Meaningless" and entirely removed.
While taking small sips of his tea, Wang Rui quietly observed the shifts in Cheng Ye's expression.
In all fairness, this was a report that barely had anything to do with positive evaluations.
In the overall rating, the legion had made the most fundamental faction distinction for all the Inspectors at the Inspection Station:
White, Gray, and Black.
Inspectors in the White faction acted openly and aboveboard. Like Liu Bi, any matter they handled, big or small, could withstand public scrutiny.
Those in the Gray faction disregarded rules, focusing entirely on achieving their goals while merely maintaining the absolute bare minimum of moral boundaries regarding their methods.
The Black faction was purely results-oriented, not caring about the process in the slightest.
Currently, sixty percent of the Inspectors were classified into the Black faction, and thirty percent in the White faction. Those wandering the gray areas, like Cheng Ye, only accounted for ten percent—just a handful of people.
However, true to the report's description of his "emotional stability," Cheng Ye read through the entire document with a smiling face. He casually set the papers aside, his expression completely undisturbed.
"Well then, Inspector Cheng, do you think this information aligns with reality, or is it a bit biased?" Wang Rui initiated the conversation.
"It is indeed somewhat biased."
Cheng Ye nodded earnestly. "My loyalty to Happiness City is unquestionable. From the moment I was born, the mark of Happiness City has been engraved upon me. This loyalty has been seen and witnessed even by the Elders. Yet, the document judges me as a defection risk and gives me the lowest rating of E-minus. It really is far too unfair."
Hmm?
Wang Rui paused, the smile freezing on his face for a second before he burst into loud laughter. "Inspector Cheng, what do you think of the behavioral tags listed below?"
"Labeling people has never been a proper practice."
Cheng Ye continued to shake his head. "I've always felt that everything has two sides. Because the things I do are too outstanding and my considerations are too thorough, in the eyes of others, it appears as though I am maximizing my own interests. As for disregarding rules and crossing boundaries with my methods, forgive me for being blunt, but the complex situations an Inspector faces every day far exceed what ordinary people can imagine. If we strictly followed the rules in every single matter, we would first have to ask the rule-makers whether these rules can truly handle every unforeseen circumstance!"
"However, saying I'm emotionally stable and have a high tolerance for risk isn't wrong."
Changing the subject, he spoke with a sense of candor. "I was born with strong nerves and enjoy undertaking high-risk, high-reward endeavors. Of course, what is considered high-risk is merely a risk in the eyes of the mediocre. I have absolute confidence in handling things well and executing them to perfection."
Others could slap on whatever negative labels they wanted. Cheng Ye did not care in the slightest, nor would he ever carve those definitions into himself.
How did the saying go? After achieving success, great scholars would naturally step forward to justify my actions.
Right now, he did not even need to explain why there was a heaven-earth difference between his current behavior and his past performance in the Inner City. These people would find a logical justification on their own.
"Well said!" Lu Zheng, who had been looking down and flipping through the documents, suddenly raised his head, a hint of spirited determination in his eyes. "When we young people take action, how can we afford to overthink every little detail? If we were truly timid and worried about personal gains and losses, we wouldn't accomplish anything. It's better to go all out and fight for it. We only have one life. Whether we succeed or fail depends entirely on our own efforts."
With that said, he turned to Wang Rui. "Commander Wang, in my opinion, the prospects presented in this document are quite considerable. Why don't you take a look and give it an assessment?"
"Alright, let me have a look," Wang Rui replied, nodding with a deep voice.
The two had a clear division of labor: one tested his attitude, while the other focused on business.
Since Lu Zheng approved of it so highly, this document surely had exceptional qualities.
Upon opening the first page of the document, Wang Rui blanked slightly. What lay before him was not the construction plan he had expected, but a detailed economic plan.
Economics?
He raised an eyebrow and immediately sat up straight.
How to build a satellite city, how to zone military areas—these were all the same old tricks. Regardless of which satellite city they negotiated with, the content would be largely identical, yielding nothing overly stunning.
What truly mattered to the Heavy Machinery Faction, and indeed all legion factions, was money and resources—practical support that could sustain the legion's development.
After the legion's restructuring, Happiness City only allocated funds based on a standard of two thousand personnel. If they wanted to develop further, they had to secure additional support from the satellite cities.
Other satellite cities could still obtain funding approvals from the higher-ups, but Dabo Town was an independently designated area under the Inspection Station, meaning all decisions were finalized solely by Cheng Ye.
If Cheng Ye disregarded economic development and blindly pushed for massive infrastructure projects instead, the resources allocated to the legion would only diminish.
The continuous sound of flipping pages echoed in the room. The six-page economic development plan was dense and solid with information.
Although many sections were still preliminary ideas without clear implementation paths, Cheng Ye was confident that with their sharp eyes, the two men would undoubtedly recognize the value of these concepts and understand the immense importance he placed on economic development.
Over ten minutes passed before Wang Rui slowly closed the document, pondering as he spoke. "Inspector Cheng, this plan of yours is undeniably tempting, but I have a question I'd like to ask first."
"Please speak, Commander Wang," Cheng Ye said, raising his hand in a gesture of invitation.
"Much of the content in this plan has already reached the practical operational level. Aren't you worried that we might take this plan and use it for other satellite cities?" Wang Rui asked bluntly, his gaze locked tightly onto Cheng Ye, filled with scrutiny.
Lu Zheng also glanced over slightly, clearly curious as to how he would respond.
As the saying goes, character is revealed through one's answers. There was no absolute right or wrong to this question.
Whether he showed utter indifference, absolute confidence, or made excuses to change the subject, it would reflect the true nature of his personality.
"Commander Wang just mentioned the word 'sincerity,' and this is precisely the sincerity I offer the legion."
Cheng Ye tapped his finger lightly on the table, his tone candid. "For me, making money has never been difficult. The hard part is making others believe that I can make money, and that I am willing to share the profits with them."
"So you want to make a bet with the legion, trading the future profits outlined in this economic plan for our immediate support?"
Wang Rui wore a half-smile. "Pardon my bluntness, but what you're offering is merely an ethereal and insignificant future, while what we're providing are concrete resources. The contributions from both sides don't seem quite equal, do they?"
Had this been three days ago, Cheng Ye would have immediately shot back, asking if the other satellite cities could currently offer concrete support of equal measure.
But sitting at the negotiation table now, such retorts were entirely meaningless.
Since Wang Rui brought this up, it meant nothing more than his desire for more substantial bargaining chips, pushing the negotiation into a deeper exchange of interests.
Cheng Ye offered a breezy smile and immediately pivoted the conversation. He stopped discussing a hollow future and cut straight to a tangible distribution of interests.
It was both difficult and simple.
From the support ratio for military funding and the resettlement policies for personnel, to the planning for team construction, Cheng Ye's deep understanding of the legion's internal structure secretly astonished both Wang Rui and Lu Zheng.
The more the three men talked, the more detailed they became. The initial probing and observation gradually transformed into pragmatic negotiations and the finalization of specific matters.
They even went into detail regarding the rating conditions for the winter sweep of the Infection Tide, designing corresponding wager terms—the more outstandingly the legion performed, the larger the funding allocation would be.
Before they knew it, three hours had quietly slipped by.
When the conference room door opened again, it was nearly dusk. Liu Bi, who had returned to the Inspection Station after finishing a meeting in the Buffer Zone, was standing in an open space nearby, stretching his body.
Seeing Wang Rui and Lu Zheng walk out with smiles on their faces, his expression paused for a moment before he slowly walked over to greet them.
"Commander Wang, long time no see."
"Inspector Liu!" Wang Rui's smile widened as he reached out to shake hands. "I heard you're being transferred to East Peace Town to take charge of affairs there. Congratulations!"
Although the two knew each other, their relationship clearly wasn't very deep.
After exchanging a few simple pleasantries, Wang Rui turned his head toward Cheng Ye. "Inspector Cheng, I hope the consensus we reached today can lay a solid foundation for deep cooperation in the future."
"I look forward to it as well."
Cheng Ye nodded slightly, watching the two men board a military pickup truck. Only after the vehicle drove further down the asphalt road did he finally let out a soft sigh of relief.
"Did the talks fall through?" Liu Bi, standing off to the side, inevitably asked out of curiosity upon seeing his reaction.
"Not exactly. I'd say we reached a halfway agreement. We'll definitely need to hash things out a few more times before it's finalized. I didn't expect the internal dynamics of the Heavy Machinery Faction to be this complicated. It gave me a few new insights."
Cheng Ye shook his head, turning around with a thoughtful tone.
Looking at the relationship between the satellite city and the legion through the lens of a modern person had indeed been far too simplistic on his part.
The two were not engaged in mere cooperation; it was a deeply bound, symbiotic relationship.
Since they were bound together, joint responsibility was inevitable. If an incident occurred in Dabo Town, the Heavy Machinery Faction would be held accountable. Conversely, if the Heavy Machinery Faction faced difficulties, the satellite city could not remain entirely unaffected.
With a little thought, Cheng Ye could provide at least a passing answer to most of the questions Wang Rui raised. However, there were inevitably a few sharp inquiries that left him momentarily unable to respond.
"Brother B, he asked me a crucial question."
Cheng Ye paused before speaking. "He said, if there are people within the Heavy Machinery Faction who support me, and others who explicitly reject me, how would I handle the ones who reject me?"
"By telling them to scram as far away as possible, of course!"
Liu Bi answered with blunt straightforwardness. "The legion's restructuring is a system arranged by the higher-ups and approved by the Elders. It's not as if we're begging the legion to station here and protect the satellite city on our hands and knees. It's perfectly normal for some people to object, but how to handle them? Are we supposed to coddle them like our ancestors?"
"Haha, it's fine for us to say this privately, but we can't exactly say that to Wang Rui's face, can we?"
Cheng Ye couldn't help but smile. Asking Liu Bi about this was indeed unnecessary.
If they were handling things strictly by the book, only letting the legion be responsible for the satellite city's defense, there really would be no need to care about internal factional disputes.
Even if they were ultimately assigned the lowest-ranking legion, he was confident he could slowly nurture them and make them stand out.
The crux of the matter, however, was that the work he wanted the legion to do went far beyond their normal duties.
For example, the most core objective: pioneering the waterways and opening up the shipping routes along the upper and lower reaches of the Linjiang River.
Although the Leaping Wilderness had seen shipping routes established several times in the past, it came at the cost of over a thousand casualties—a tragedy beyond measure.
The reason it was later abandoned was not only due to joint suppression by neighboring shelter cities, but more so because the route's risks were far too severe, causing internal conflicts to grow increasingly sharp.
The Heavy Machinery Faction was already one of the factions within the Conservative Faction. Even if they were enticed by the profits of opening the route, they would still be extremely fearful of the inherent risks.
Furthermore, Dabo Town was situated near the river, and East Peace Town laid at the outermost perimeter of the satellite cities. The danger level this winter would inevitably be far higher than that of other satellite cities.
Getting a conservative faction to proactively take risks was clearly as difficult as ascending to the heavens.
However, Ding Yishan's choice to start with the Heavy Machinery Faction was not without reason. Wang Rui and Lu Zheng were prime examples.
Although both men belonged to a conservative faction, they possessed a strong drive for progress.
This was especially true for Lu Zheng. Not everyone could be like him—infected by an A-minus grade Infection Source yet still receiving help from a terrifying existence like Tan Ming.
Lu Zheng clearly didn't have much time left. It was estimated he had at most five to ten years. Once that period passed, he could only inch toward the end of his life in convalescence. Naturally, he wouldn't care about such risks.
As for Wang Rui, he had evidently realized that under the new restructuring, the conservative mindset was no longer viable. He was willing to take a gamble to change the faction's current state.
There were likely many others in the Heavy Machinery Faction who shared their mindset. But what about the staunch conservatives entrenched in old traditions? They were the trickiest variable in these negotiations.
Just like the question Wang Rui had posed: if there were those in the Heavy Machinery Faction who supported him and those who explicitly opposed him, how would he handle the opposition?
"When Old Ding chose the Heavy Machinery Faction, he definitely considered their internal complexity and compatibility. But just as he said, how much I can swallow and how much I can negotiate depends entirely on my methods and appetite."
Cheng Ye's gaze remained fixed on the end of the asphalt road. He had laid his cards on the table now without holding anything back. Next, it was up to the Heavy Machinery Faction to make their choice.
There was still some time before the legion's restructuring. It was likely he would have to wait until the moment the legion began its internal disassembly before a clear outcome would emerge.
"Don't worry." Liu Bi rubbed his chin, trying to offer comfort. "I know quite a few people in the legion too. Right after my meeting ended, someone called me to arrange a face-to-face chat. We might just find a more suitable partner than the Heavy Machinery Faction."
He shifted the topic to something else. "I originally wanted to find Song Hai to hand over the work for East Peace Town. I heard the blow of being replaced hit him quite hard. He was carried straight into the Medical Clinic."
"Hmm... if it were someone else, he might not think much of it. But with you stepping in, Brother B, Song Hai surely understands what's going on. He might even hold a grudge against us."
Cheng Ye shook his head, then added, "I plan to set out for Field Duty before mid-month. Today is the 3rd, so we have nearly two weeks left to prepare."
"Alright, that's enough time." Liu Bi nodded. "The situation over at East Peace Town isn't too complicated. Besides, after we leave, Li Matai will keep an eye on things. Letting him lead the men in Pioneering first shouldn't cause any major issues."
"Good. Then Sister Luo and Yiyi will stay with me for now. It's safer here. Once the mess in East Peace Town is cleaned up, we can figure out our next step."
In a few short sentences, the two finalized their general plan for the future.
Seeing that Cheng Ye's mood was noticeably subdued—having prepared for three days but failing to secure the most ideal result—
Liu Bi thought for a moment and offered some comfort, "You should start looking for an Administrative Officer for yourself. Handling everything personally is too exhausting."
An Administrative Officer?
Inexplicably, the figure of Huang Liang flashed through Cheng Ye's mind, and the gloominess that had only just subsided sank down again. "We'll talk about it later, Brother B." He rubbed the space between his brows. "I'm going back to sleep for a bit. I've been run off my feet these past few days, and I really can't hold out much longer."
"Alright, get some good rest. I'll see if I need to head over to East Peace shortly."
Returning to his room, Cheng Ye lay down on his small bed.
He emptied his mind, feeling comfort spread across his entire body the moment he closed his eyes, as if the exhaustion accumulated over a long time had instantly lifted.
Strangely, however, his chaotic thoughts seemed to have taken root, continuously swirling in the bottom of his heart, refusing to settle.
In the past, he had only seen descriptions of wasteland winters in books—how brutal they were, and how arduous exterior pioneering could be.
But during the back-and-forth negotiations with Wang Rui, these abstract words gradually became concrete, granting him a more profound realization.
Creatures running on land, flying in the sky, swimming in the river...
Winter was naturally the season when Infection Sources and Infected Bodies were most active. Their activity levels would far exceed those of summer and autumn by more than tenfold, and their numbers would surge by tens to hundreds of times.
Furthermore, the massive influx of people gathering in Happiness City this year served as an even stronger beacon of attraction for the Infection Sources.
Compounding this, the surrounding Leaping Wilderness, which used to serve as a buffer, as well as those scattered Gathering Places, were now completely deserted. There were zero buffer zones left.
If a large-scale Infection Tide formed—exceeding tens of thousands of Plague-level entities or higher—it wouldn't be too dire. Happiness City would undoubtedly concentrate all its forces to intercept and eradicate them.
But if the incoming threat consisted of horde-level or tide-level Infected Bodies, it would truly test the independent defensive capabilities of each satellite city.
Dabo Town was adjacent to a water system, inherently riddled with danger.
East Peace Town was located on the absolute outermost periphery of Happiness City's satellite cities, making its situation equally severe.
If he hadn't already demonstrated the strength to independently contain a Disaster-level Infection Source and presented a comprehensive defense plan, Wang Rui probably would have dismissed him with a remark about a newborn calf not fearing a tiger.
As he was thinking, his Defense Terminal suddenly chimed with a light "Ding-dong."
It was a group chat message from the Research Institute. He had set special alerts for Yu Erlan and Shi Xu. As long as the message was from either of them, the Defense Terminal would emit an auditory notification even on silent mode.
However, with his thoughts in disarray at the moment, Cheng Ye kept his eyes closed, in no mood to look.
But a dozen seconds later, the "Ding-dong" chimed continuously, so densely clustered that it sounded as if they were discussing some massive emergency.
Cheng Ye paused, eventually opening his eyes, and picked up the Defense Terminal to open the Research Institute function.
To his surprise, over a hundred messages had flooded the group in just half a minute.
Dabo Town's inherently sluggish internet connection was frantically downloading them, with a dozen new messages appearing every second.
Did something big happen?
Cheng Ye quickly scanned a few lines of the discussion. His pupils suddenly shrank, and he abruptly sat up, scrolling straight back to the source of the messages.
It was... two of the latest video files sent by Yu Erlan.
More than half a month had passed since she set out. Based on distance and travel speed, she should indeed have arrived at the border of Flower Province by now.
Tapping open the first video, the Defense Terminal's progress bar crawled at a snail's pace. Just as Cheng Ye was starting to feel impatient, the screen slowly lit up.
What entered his vision was a twilight scene remarkably similar to Dabo Town at this very moment.
The sun hung in the distant sky, the heavens clear and cloudless for miles. Yet, that star, which should have been scorching and bright, exuded an indescribable gloominess.
The light was so dim it seemed veiled by thin gauze, completely devoid of the fierce intensity appropriate for the afternoon. Instead, it looked as if it had exhausted its energy and was slowly plunging toward the horizon, preparing to sink into the dark night.
The camera lingered on the distant sun for a few seconds before a figure suddenly stepped into the right side of the frame.
Yu Erlan was holding another Defense Terminal, the time on its screen clear and piercing:
[New Era Year 35, October 1st, 14:27]
It was a video from yesterday, having only just been transmitted back to Happiness City through the alliance network today.
"What? This is the sky at two in the afternoon?"
Cheng Ye's pupils contracted violently, turbulent waves crashing within his heart.
It would make sense if it was a cloudy day blocking the sunlight, but the video clearly showed a cloudless, sunny sky. There wasn't even a single wisp of cloud to obscure the rays.
Even more bizarre was that the dimness wasn't caused by light being obstructed by some substance. Rather, it seemed the sun's very trajectory had faltered, arriving prematurely at the "sunset threshold," seeking to plunge this land into darkness far too early.
After the first video finished playing, Cheng Ye dragged the progress bar back to confirm it several times before opening the second clip.
The thumbnail revealed it was filmed inside a conference room. Once it loaded, it indeed showed the temporary experimental zone established by the Kindling Alliance in Flower Province.
Yu Erlan panned the Defense Terminal, sweeping the lens across the room: over a hundred attendees, both young and old, all wore expressions of absolute gravity.
Judging from the angle, Yu Erlan was likely sitting in the third or fourth row, with unknown leading experts of the field occupying the seats ahead.
The person currently delivering a speech on stage was a bald middle-aged man. His voice was steady but failed to mask its solemnity. "We have deployed our probes, and the distortion index is currently rising steadily. The light transmission paths across all of Flower Province have been forcibly stretched by the distortion. Photons now require a longer time to reach the ground, resulting in a disconnect between the visual position of the sun and its actual physical position.
"Furthermore, according to the inverse-square law, the increase in distance will cause the ground-level luminous flux to steadily decrease. The current rate of decline stands at approximately 21.73%."
"The stretching of spacetime has induced a Doppler redshift, causing light wavelengths to lengthen and shift towards the red end of the spectrum. If the distortion index continues to climb in the future, the redshift phenomenon will become increasingly severe."
"We are currently tracing the source of the distortion. The above summarizes our current research findings..."
At this point, the bald man cleared his throat with a couple light coughs. "Please turn off your communication devices. The ensuing information must temporarily remain classified to prevent widespread panic. We ask that everyone abide by the research protocols of the Kindling Alliance. Once we reach the public disclosure threshold, we will allow you to transmit this information back to your shelter cities to issue early warnings."
As his voice fell, the video came to an abrupt end.
Cheng Ye's heart crawled with unease, the word "distortion" echoing incessantly in his mind.
Was it the same kind of spacetime distortion he had witnessed atop Mount Everest when he was initially searching for Yu Yong?
Scrolling further down the group chat, he saw that after the two videos were posted, the Research Institute exploded into a complete frenzy.
Even without the Core Information being revealed, everyone had already begun formulating all sorts of hypotheses.
Sunlight was supposed to reach the surface in a straight line through three-dimensional space. But if a distortion twisted the space, the path of light would form complex curves, essentially increasing its travel distance.
This explained why daylight in Flower Province was growing shorter. The propagation route had lengthened, meaning the amount of luminous flux reaching the ground every day was continuously dwindling.
Cheng Ye scrolled for a while. Seeing that the discussions further down only became more professional and obscure, he simply stood up. The sleepiness that had just brewed in his mind had completely vanished as he went downstairs to find Yu Yong.
According to his usual schedule, Yu Yong should have still been on Diversion Island at this time. However, after training with Liu Bi for the past two days, he seemed like a changed man. Aside from his training hours, he spent all his remaining time locked in his room tinkering with something.
Knock, knock-knock.
"Come in," Yu Yong's voice called out from the room.
Cheng Ye pushed the door open to find him bare-chested, holding a perfect horse stance on the floor while focused entirely on his breathing exercises.
A stream of air spiraled and swirled around Yu Yong's body, actually exuding a trace of the intent found within the Heaven-Man Martial Domain. Upon closer inspection, however, one would realize it was the Transcendent Power inherent to his Infection Source.
"The video from Flower Province has been sent back. Do you want to see it?" Cheng Ye waved the Defense Terminal in his hand.
Surprisingly, Yu Yong shook his head. "The descent of Eternal Night is inevitable. Torch already established corresponding contingency plans long ago. I don't need to look."
"Just watch it first," Cheng Ye insisted.
"Hand it over." Yu Yong extended a hand. After receiving the Defense Terminal, his gaze locked onto the screen.
While watching the first video, his expression shifted slightly, tainted with a hint of solemnity.
But after finishing the second one, he actually steadied himself and exhaled a long breath.
"Since Director Fang has gone over, a conclusive result will definitely be reached."
"Director Fang?" Cheng Ye asked curiously, taking back the Defense Terminal.
"Fang Ming, a special-grade researcher at Torch, and the research team leader specializing in spacetime distortions," Yu Yong explained. "Although he can be somewhat vainglorious, his professional abilities are truly top-tier. With him holding down the fort, you can rest easy."
With that said, he pointed at the second video, abruptly changing the subject. "However, Eternal Night striking a single region isn't enough to affect the ecology of the entire planet. What truly warrants vigilance are the special creatures that rear their heads in the darkness. That is the real disaster Humans will have to face, not just a simple astronomical anomaly."
"Special creatures?" Cheng Ye blinked.
It seemed the concealed portion of the second video must have involved these so-called special creatures.
"I was merely a Fourth-Level Researcher. I don't know everything. Detailed intelligence regarding these anomalies is considered the absolute highest of top secrets within Torch. I even suspect..."
Here, Yu Yong's tone broke off. He didn't voice the rest of his speculation.
Straightening his back, he pulled on a hoodie, his expression earnest. "Shi Province is currently safe. At least for the present stage, it remains secure. When your grandfather chose to put down roots here back then, he must have observed some critical information. Those special natural anomalies don't just erupt out of nowhere; they will begin to spread outward from the chaotic zones that lost order long ago. Many of the normal areas Humans can still set foot in and rely on for survival today will ultimately face the erosion of distortion. They will slowly degenerate into red zones and black zones, eventually becoming forbidden zones of life where no living soul dares to enter."
"But you have to understand, danger approaches progressively. These mutating astronomical phenomena are like eviction notices. They will grant Humans who are clear-headed and understand when to let go enough time to evacuate. Only those who are insatiably greedy, vainly attempting to cling to their vested interests and fight to the bitter end, will become casualties in this disaster."
"But the problem lies in the fact that safe zones will only continue to shrink, while the human population won't plummet out of thin air.
"When the day comes that an overwhelming tide of outsiders frantically surges into Shi Province seeking refuge, only then will the true danger follow!"