Wasteland Border Inspector

Chapter 279: Subduing Yu Yong, Lost Memories!

He entered through the D Gate of the South Station.The person in charge of the inspection was an acquaintance once again—Zhao Jia, the man who had previously tried to cozy up to him.

Because he hadn't passed the assessment and the third phase of the Satellite City construction hadn't started yet, Zhao Jia could only remain on duty in the Buffer Zone.

Seeing Cheng Ye step out of the passenger seat, covered in mud splatters with a thick crust of dirt encasing his shoes and an unconcealable exhaustion written across his face, Zhao Jia was taken aback.

He paused for a moment before offering a wry smile. "Inspector Cheng, you really look travel-worn!"

"It can't be helped. The Satellite City is just getting off the ground, so the work never ends." Cheng Ye let out a yawn as he spoke, expertly picking up the inspection instruments to report the readings. Once finished, he casually asked,

"Has anything happened in the Buffer Zone these past few days?"

"Nothing major." Zhao Jia hesitated, his expression darkening slightly. "It's just that the people from the Integrity Supervision Department have been incredibly arrogant lately. They come over to harass us every few days."

"Haven't they yet to receive their official staff allocations?"

"It's exactly because they lack an official allocation that they dare to blatantly cross the line and break the rules," Zhao Jia sighed helplessly. "Once the Department System is formally established, they'll actually have to follow regulations, or else they'll be held accountable."

"Thanks for your hard work." Cheng Ye nodded slightly, choosing not to press the issue further.

He left Mu Shuang behind to handle the vehicle disinfection and submit the contained Infection Sources.

Although these Infection Sources had already had their traits extracted, they still held a certain degree of research value. Furthermore, the Research Institute could dispose of them properly, which was far safer than burying them out in the wilderness.

Cheng Ye wasn't in a hurry to leave the Inspection Station. He planned to head to the shower rooms in District D for a hot shower first. He couldn't exactly go around meeting people covered in mud; otherwise, they might mistakenly think Inspector Cheng was a fleeing refugee.

However, before he could take more than a few steps, and well before he set foot in District D, he spotted two tall figures walking side by side toward him.

It was Qin Zhaoye.

Cheng Ye stopped in his tracks, narrowing his eyes as his gaze swept over the man beside Qin Zhaoye.

This figure was nearly half a head taller than Qin Zhaoye, putting him almost eye-to-eye with Cheng Ye. His shoulders and back were so broad he looked like a moving wall.

He wasn't wearing any standard uniform. His upper body was clad in a black sleeveless vest, and thin iron chains were wrapped several times around his bulging biceps. His bronze skin was littered with scars of varying depths, reading like a violent tapestry of past slaughters.

He wore camouflage cargo pants on his lower half, the legs casually tucked into high-top combat boots, and a curved blade was slung diagonally across his waist.

His short hair was as messy as tumbleweed, with bangs obscuring half of one eye, and his expression was exceptionally cold.

'These bastards really won't leave me alone, will they?'

The arrival of these two was definitely no coincidence. They had most likely planted informants along the route from Dabo Town or Wenlu County and received advance notice of his return.

Cheng Ye scoffed inwardly. He simply crossed his arms, curious to see what kind of tricks they were planning to play.

As the figures drew closer, undisguised mockery flashed in both of their eyes.

Qin Zhaoye, in particular, looked him up and down before sneering, "Inspector Cheng, your outfit is quite unique."

"So you know what to call me today?" Cheng Ye asked, his tone flat.

"Of course. Inspector Cheng is so prestigious. Who in this Buffer Zone doesn't know your name?" Qin Zhaoye kept a smile plastered on his face. Surprisingly, his attitude was much milder than their last encounter, almost as if he were a different person.

"Do you need something?" Cheng Ye raised an eyebrow. "If not, I'm going to take a shower."

"Nothing major, really. I just came to introduce someone to you." Qin Zhaoye nodded, stepping aside to reveal the man behind him. "This is the Chief of the Anti-Corruption Supervision Department, Shen Chongshan. Chief Shen is quite interested in certain matters concerning you and would like to invite you to his department for a nice chat."

"Oh, another Chief?" Cheng Ye chuckled, a hint of ridicule in his voice. "Do you have an official staff allocation?"

"Inspector Cheng, there is no benefit in indulging in a fleeting battle of words."

Shen Chongshan's lips barely moved, and his voice was so indifferent it lacked any trace of warmth. "If you are willing to come with me to the Anti-Corruption Department now to prove your innocence, we might be able to reduce major issues to minor ones, and smooth minor ones over entirely. But if you insist on putting up pointless resistance, once everything is investigated and made public, I'm afraid it will severely tarnish the Inspection Station's image once again."

"Is that so?"

Cheng Ye curled his lip noncommittally. "Let me guess. Is your next sentence going to be that you are also a Source-Binder, so you aren't afraid of me?"

"Heh." Shen Chongshan let out a low chuckle. He reached up and brushed aside the messy bangs covering his left eye, revealing the completely empty socket beneath.

No, it wasn't entirely empty.

A streak of ink-like black liquid flowed within his eye socket, constantly condensing and shifting, writhing as if it were alive.

If Cheng Ye hadn't seen Elder Zeng's black-hole eyes, he might have been startled. But right now, he only felt that Shen Chongshan's version was a low-budget knockoff. It was almost laughable.

"Oh, it seems you do have some special ability to resist mental pollution."

Seeing that Cheng Ye's expression remained unchanged, Shen Chongshan put his hair back down, concealing his left eye.

"Given your contributions to Happiness City, we truly cannot do anything to you. But you need to think clearly. Your attitude is already influencing the other inspectors at the station. Even if we can't find any issues with you, can you guarantee we won't find any with the others?"

"If you take the lead in confessing and set an example for the other inspectors to come forward and turn themselves in, I can guarantee that, whether now or in the future, as long as you don't do anything completely out of line, the Integrity Supervision Department will not put any other trivial matters on your record."

He turned his head to glance at Qin Zhaoye before turning back to stare at Cheng Ye. "Will you be our friend, or our enemy? Inspector Cheng, you are a smart man. You should know how to choose."

"Are you done talking?"

Cheng Ye's expression remained passive, his tone devoid of emotion. "I'm going to take a shower. The next time you have this kind of nonsense to spout, don't come wasting my time."

With that, he turned on his heel and walked straight toward the shower rooms in District D, completely too lazy to spare the two men another glance.

'They want to dig up dirt on Inspector Cheng?'

His so-called anomaly was nothing more than stealing a bit of electricity. If this were pinned on a Trainee Inspector, it might be something they could use against him. But he was now a First-Stage Official Inspector wielding core inspector privileges. Even if they found out, what could they possibly do?

The Integrity Supervision Department wanted to use him as a breakthrough point to control the low-tier inspectors at the station. One could only say they picked the right strategy, but the wrong target.

They would be better off looking for those high-tier inspectors who actually had a pile of dirty laundry. Exposing them was the only way to serve as a real warning to everyone.

After enjoying a comfortable hot shower and changing into a clean Inspection Station uniform, Cheng Ye walked out of the washroom. Unsurprisingly, Qin Zhaoye and Shen Chongshan had already left, choosing not to stick around and pester him further.

"How annoying," Cheng Ye muttered under his breath.

Currently, the Integrity Supervision Department had yet to be officially established, so he could still use the staff allocation issue to brush off their harassment.

Once the Department System was officially implemented in the future, it would be perfectly justifiable for these people to invite him in for a cup of tea.

If he had to waste half a day dealing with these people every time he returned to the Buffer Zone, it would be a massive headache.

'Judging from the attitudes of those two guys, there really are probably a lot of inspectors at the station whose dirty laundry could be aired out.'

Stepping out of the Inspection Station and waiting at the bus stop, Cheng Ye couldn't help but ponder. 'Power has expanded in a chaotic manner over these past few years. Many people have been constantly dancing on the boundaries of the rules, which is exactly what gave the Integrity Supervision Department an opening to exploit.'

At this very moment, he could already imagine Ding Yishan's helplessness.

When two factions in the Department System clashed, the very first thing one had to do was ensure their own hands were clean.

Take Garcia's behavior of directly blocking the Central Station to extort tolls, for example. The Inspection Station hadn't intervened back then, but now that the Integrity Supervision Department had seized upon it, Garcia was in for a world of pain. Even if the Inspection Station wanted to protect him, their hands were tied.

The other inspectors had likely plotted just as much along these lines over the years. Aside from their fixed commission income, it was inevitable that they had also accepted extra supplies under the table.

This was probably the higher-ups' true motive for establishing the Integrity Supervision Department. On the eve of a massive expansion, they wanted to shuffle the deck first, weeding out the black sheep and leaving only those who could genuinely make contributions to Happiness City.

But then again, as the superiors act, the subordinates follow. During this enforcement process, could the Integrity Supervision Department guarantee that they wouldn't break any rules themselves?

The military legion was using this opportunity to muscle into the Buffer Zone and seize authority. A tremendous amount of profit was undoubtedly tied to their motives, so there was no way they were completely spotless.

"Fortunately, once I pick everyone up this time, I won't be coming back for another few months," Cheng Ye muttered to himself, temporarily suppressing his worries about the Integrity Supervision Department.

Upon returning to the central district, he walked into the Inner City and headed straight for the Research Institute.

With the identity authentication personally issued by Yu Erlan, the guards at the entrance didn't give him the slightest bit of trouble. They acted as if they hadn't even noticed him the entire time, allowing him to smoothly step inside the Big Egg.

He waited briefly at the coffee shop inside the institute. It didn't take long before a gaunt figure followed Shi Xu out from behind a door.

It was none other than Yu Yong!

Compared to his appearance back in the Containment Room, the current Yu Yong was like a completely different person.

His frame was so thin that it exuded an unnatural gauntness, as if all his vitality had been drained away, leaving only a loose sack of skin wrapped around jagged bones.

His cheeks were deeply hollowed, pushing his cheekbones up sharply. There was hardly an ounce of fat left on his face, and his dry, sallow skin clung tightly to the bone. His eye sockets were sunken severely, and his gaze was cloudy and exhausted, completely devoid of its former sharpness.

His messy hair hung limp, and his footsteps were unsteady as he walked, every step looking like a struggle to stay upright. His empty sleeves swayed back and forth. His entire being radiated the frailty of someone who had just barely clawed their way out of a desperate ordeal, looking exactly like a junkie who had survived a lengthy withdrawal period but had yet to recover.

"What would you like to drink?" Cheng Ye stood up, raising an eyebrow in inquiry.

"An... espresso, please," Yu Yong replied, keeping his head down. His eyes were glued to the floor, and his voice was as quiet as a mosquito's hum.

Seeing him in this state only piqued Cheng Ye's curiosity. Once the coffee arrived, he gestured for Yu Yong to take a seat.

"What, have you finally learned to regret?"

"People always take the wrong path at some point, and I suppose I've paid the cost." Yu Yong picked up his coffee and took a sip, the bitter taste making him frown. "I've forgotten how I came to be parasitized, but I don't think I am that kind of person. At the very least, I wouldn't be mad enough to destroy a Satellite City."

"Could someone have set you up?" Cheng Ye subconsciously shook his head, but he paused halfway through his sentence and rephrased it.

"Did you not remember before, or have you completely forgotten now?"

"I didn't have that memory before either." Yu Yong shook his head slightly. "I thought it was the Infection Source's self-preservation mechanism causing me to subconsciously block it out. But now that the Infection Source has been contained, I still can't remember. It's as if that day... never even happened."

"So, we can't rule out the possibility that someone framed you?" Cheng Ye picked up the juice in front of him and took a sip.

"It doesn't matter anymore." Yu Yong's voice remained low. "Flies don't sting a seamless egg. Whether someone set me up or I went insane on my own, the residents of an entire Satellite City lost their lives because of me."

He fell silent for a moment before looking up, a pleading look entering his eyes. "The reason I want to follow you is that I hope to use my remaining time, along with all the intelligence I possess, to trade for a single request from you."

Cheng Ye nodded lightly, following his train of thought. "You don't mean you want me to help you investigate what really happened that day, do you?"

"Yes." Yu Yong nodded firmly, his tone carrying the earnestness of a man pushed to despair. "I have at most half a year of lifespan left. I can't even hold out long enough to return to Torch to face their inquiry. I can only entrust this matter to someone else to preserve a sliver of hope that my name might be cleared."

He downed the rest of his coffee in one gulp, his voice growing somber once more. "If you feel this is too difficult, you can refuse. I will simply stay by your side as an ordinary person and peacefully live out my final days."

"What if I promise you, but I don't follow through, or I simply can't do it?"

"No, I believe in you." Yu Yong immediately shook his head, his gaze overwhelmingly sincere. "If I truly was framed, surely you wouldn't want something like this to happen again in Happiness City one day, or in your Dabo Town, right?"

He paused before adding, "I am a Level 4 Researcher from Torch. I possess a vast amount of Source Rail Technology and systematic knowledge frameworks. Although I can't reproduce those results without the proper equipment and data, I can help you cultivate a core team of researchers. You can also propose projects, and I will help you advance them. For the remaining six months, I am entirely at your disposal. Let's call this our trade."

With that, he stood up holding his empty coffee cup and walked toward the counter. "Could I get another cup of coffee, please? Sweeter this time, thank you!"

Stripped of the madness brought on by the Infection Source, the current Yu Yong was so normal it was almost unbelievable.

Cheng Ye pondered for a moment before glancing at Shi Xu, who gave a slight nod. "His condition has completely stabilized, and his fusion rate is only at twenty-five percent. The Elder asked me to inform you that once his fusion rate reaches seventy-five percent, he must be suppressed using Shadowless Light paired with Shadow-Suppressing Light. If you don't want to bring him back to the Research Institute to handle it, we can send someone to Dabo Town to help you build a small Containment Room."

"That's not what I'm worried about." Cheng Ye furrowed his brows. "I'm just wondering... is he truly innocent?"

"Hard to say." Shi Xu rubbed his chin. "But innocent or not, the blood of hundreds of thousands of lives is on his hands. Whether he wants to atone or make a trade, the wasteland has never been a place of simple rights and wrongs. If we do find out he's innocent later, it won't be too late to help him clear his name then. At the very least, we must let everyone know the truth behind the destruction of C35, rather than pinning all the blame solely on him."

"If I use him for research, won't word spread that I'm employing a homicidal maniac?"

"How could it?" Shi Xu chuckled. "This is called atonement. The harder you work him, the more thoroughly you exploit him, treating him not as a person but simply as a beast of burden—as long as you can squeeze even a single high-value technology out of him, it counts as helping him make up for his sins. But if you were to let him die so easily, to die a meaningless death without paying any cost, that would be the true injustice to all the residents of C35!"

"Director Shi, your level of awareness is quite impressive!"

Cheng Ye gave him a thumbs up before changing the subject. "When will my batch of equipment arrive? Dabo Town has already been cleared out. Now we're just waiting to plan and construct the various buildings."

"Don't worry. Director Yu is gone, but I'm keeping an eye on it for you."

Shi Xu continued, "Over the next month, I'll have someone perform maintenance on the equipment first, then deliver it to you in batches. You'd better build a storage facility for it beforehand. This equipment absolutely cannot be exposed to rain or dampness. If it breaks, you'll have to find an import sanctuary city to repair it. Just the manual support fee for a single machine costs several thousand Contribution Points, and on-site repairs start in the five digits."

"Alright, I'll leave it to you then." Cheng Ye nodded, lowering his voice. "What about the Burning Chive?"

"Three B-Grade or higher technologies in exchange." Shi Xu smiled after stating the terms. "These are the requirements Director Yu left behind. I can't change them. Besides, compared to the true value of the Burning Chive, three B-Grade technologies barely cover a third of the price. You can consider this an act of support for you!"

"Hmm."

Cheng Ye wasn't surprised by this condition.

If the Dabo Research Institute lacked sufficient research capabilities, obtaining the Burning Chive would just be a sheer waste.

As long as they could produce technologies to prove the value of the Dabo Research Institute and demonstrate that the Burning Chive wouldn't go to waste, they would naturally be able to acquire it smoothly.

"Yu Yong only has half a year of lifespan left. Are the people from Torch still coming to take him away?" Cheng Ye asked next.

"Probably not." Shi Xu pondered for a moment. "Since the Elder took him away, we've communicated with Torch, and they agreed to our method of handling him. They just have some matters they need to verify with Yu Yong in person. They didn't explicitly demand to take him back. It's fine for him to stay for half a year to help you with your research."

At the mention of Torch, a trace of obsession gleamed in his eyes. "It would be better if they didn't come. During my recent research on the Immortal Object, I've already made several major breakthroughs—more than I've discovered in the past five years combined. If I could just dedicate myself wholeheartedly to researching it for a few more years, I'd definitely produce concrete, practical results!"

"You will. Let them have the Immortal Object; we'll definitely encounter more in the future," Cheng Ye consoled him. Seeing that Shi Xu was still staring blankly, Cheng Ye simply waited for Yu Yong to finish his second latte before standing up and leading him outside.

The two men walked out of the Big Egg Research Institute.

The sky was still gloomy, but Yu Yong subconsciously raised a hand to shield his eyes, as if he hadn't been accustomed to the outside light for a long time.

He squinted, taking a series of deep breaths, looking like he was greedily savoring the scent of freedom.

"What should I call you? Do you still want to use that name?"

"A name is just a code. You can call me whatever you want." Yu Yong's tone was bland. "If you feel the name 'Yu Yong' will bring a bad influence to your Satellite City, I'm willing to change it to anything."

"Forget it. I'll just call you Yu Yong," Cheng Ye shook his head, pivoting the conversation. "What about the intelligence you mentioned?"

"Every week, I will tell you one piece of crucial intelligence. You can hand it over to Happiness City as my ransom."

"Are you afraid we'll go back on our word?"

"I'm not afraid of you. I'm afraid of those old fogeys in this sanctuary city." Yu Yong's expression remained neutral, but a heavy, solemn gleam flashed in his eyes. "They aren't like you. They aren't like either of us. They are remnants of the previous era—people who have utterly no bottom line when it comes to pursuing power. If the disaster of the next era is to begin, it will undoubtedly start with them."

"Just keep those words to yourself. Don't go spouting off like that in my Dabo Town," Cheng Ye warned.

"Alright!" Yu Yong nodded. But as he looked at Cheng Ye, a hint of surprise colored his gaze. "You aren't denying what I said? You're not going to defend your Elders?"

"No." Cheng Ye shook his head decisively. "If the Elders needed a lowly inspector like me to defend them, then there really would be a problem."

He changed the topic. "Do you want to grab a quick meal here, or head straight to my Dabo Town to taste Shi Province's specialty nutrient paste?"

"Let's go. I don't need to eat, nor do I need to rest," Yu Yong replied. "The Infection Source has been contained, but the foundational abilities it granted me are still present. In fact, I can even..."

Before he could finish speaking, his body suddenly went limp and dissolved into a wisp of black smoke, vanishing from sight.

The next second, Cheng Ye was astounded to find his own shadow contorting slightly, unexpectedly forming the outline of Yu Yong's figure.

'Holy shit, is there really going to be no problem letting this guy roam free?'

Cheng Ye's heart jumped. Before he could cry out in shock, Yu Yong reverted to his original state, his emaciated figure once again standing right beside him.

"Being controlled by power demands a cost. That is an entirely different thing from having Power Control and wielding it freely."

"You are a Source-Binder. One day, you will understand exactly the state I am in right now!"