Three days had passed, and the North and South Stations still hadn't diverted the endless stream of migrants flooding in.
At this moment, the number of refugees blocked in front of the Central Station had soared to a terrifying 290,000.
Following this growth trend, it would inevitably break through 300,000 tonight and head straight toward 350,000!
What kind of concept was this?
After experiencing the Stand-In Starfish infection wave, the buffer zone's total population had fallen below 250,000.
Now the population blocked outside Happiness City's defense line actually exceeded the buffer zone's residents.
And even with the Central Station operating at full capacity, it could only admit a mere 5,000 people per day.
Before work that morning, Cheng Ye stood atop the central watchtower looking ahead, momentarily unable to find suitable words to describe the scene before him.
It seemed no fundamentally different from what he had witnessed here a few days ago, still the endless sea of bobbing heads stretching beyond sight, colorful tents spreading in sheets like tattered cloth crumpled by fierce winds, clinging desperately to the gray-brown wasteland.
But he knew better than anyone that this seemingly calm human tide had already become a powder keg ready to explode at the slightest touch.Just one spark could blow countless people to smithereens.
And the spark to ignite this powder keg was currently gripped in his hand, clearly displayed on his defense communicator's screen.
"It's finally about to begin."
Cheng Ye murmured quietly, his thoughts involuntarily drifting away.
The work of settling refugees ultimately couldn't begin amid flowers and celebration, but would have to take its first difficult step from a landscape of utter desolation.
Happiness City's leadership was far more decisive and more ruthless than he had imagined!
Or rather, what was about to unfold was the true main theme of this wasteland.
Such a massive refugee population inevitably harbored an extremely terrifying number of infection sources.
Known or unknown, there might even be mother sources lurking among them.
If they were naive enough to accept everyone wholesale, then rely on inspectors and grassroots forces to screen bit by bit, not to mention how inefficient that would be, the final casualties would probably be several times greater than triggering conflict all at once.
So the leadership had not hesitated at all, directly adopting the simplest and most brutal method:
Direct screening.
Activate all infection sources at once, suppress them collectively, thus completing a qualitative transformation of "rebirth through fire."
Those who survived would become Happiness City's new residents.
Those who died would become fertilizer for this super sanctuary city's next round of development.
Was it cruel? Indeed it was cruel but it seemed to be the best choice under the circumstances.
Of course, perhaps the situation wasn't as bad as he thought. How things ultimately developed would depend entirely on whether Happiness City had made thorough preparations.
Having played with fire to this extent, Cheng Ye could already determine that even if the final result was failure, Happiness City must have complete confidence in thoroughly suppressing all chaos.
Otherwise, they would never execute such radical orders with 300,000 refugees backed up.
If they could intervene the instant it erupted, completing initial purification with minimal casualties, this storm might immediately become an opportunity for rise rather than the beginning of destruction.
Of course, all this had nothing to do with him, a mere trainee inspector.
Cheng Ye could only barely discern the deeper meaning behind Happiness City's various choices, thereby preserving himself.
To interfere with such a behemoth's advancement plans, even Ding Yishan would probably be somewhat powerless.
Eight o'clock at night.
After three days of round-the-clock operation, over eighty percent of the migrating scavengers had returned home.
By this time, the area in front of the checkpoint had returned to its previous emptiness, with no one queuing anymore.
Sure enough, as expected, the checkpoint's announcement arrived punctually:
Starting tonight, completely restore normal operating status, with some schedule adjustments.
Morning duty time was postponed to nine o'clock, closing time moved up to six o'clock.
At the same time, instead of two inspectors taking turns daily, it would change to one person taking full responsibility, with a lunch break from one to two o'clock during which the checkpoint would completely close for disinfection.
This way, even with single-person duty, an inspector's working hours would still be eight hours.
"Brother Cheng, with these changes, won't many inspectors be able to rest?" Wang Kang looked at the announcement with some emotion.
Like the neighboring Zones A and C, their two inspectors worked together, sharing the pressure but Cheng Ye shouldered all the pressure alone, allowing him to have sufficient sleep and recovery time each day.
He had barely managed to persist through the first duty cycle, especially these past three days when he was exhausted like a dead dog each day, able to fall asleep the moment he lay down after returning.
Unexpectedly, just as he had persevered through it, the system above had changed.
"Yes, they can rest now," Cheng Ye smiled, raising his eyes to look at the sky where thick clouds were already pressing heavily overhead.
The air was filled with damp stickiness, like a wet cloth pressed against nose and mouth, with moisture almost condensing into droplets ready to fall.
After completing the handover procedures and collecting two boxes of nutritional paste as usual, Master Zhang's bus slowly approached.
"Master Zhang, starting tomorrow, you won't need to come pick me up anymore," Cheng Ye paused as he boarded the bus.
Master Zhang's expression remained calm, as if he had expected this, "Yes, I was also about to tell you, the Works Department has already notified all drivers to assemble tomorrow."
"Stay safe."
"Don't worry, what's coming will come. Sooner or later we all have to take this blow."
Master Zhang's tone was emotionless as he gently turned the steering wheel and the bus pulled away from the checkpoint.
Wang Kang initially didn't understand this exchange, but as the bus neared their stop and he looked at the increasingly heavy darkness outside the window, he had already guessed quite a bit.
Rumble.
Lightning suddenly flashed across the clouds, followed by rolling thunder that made people's hearts jump.
Bean-sized raindrops began pelting the bus windows with crackling sounds.
"Brother Cheng," Wang Kang's voice was somewhat tight.
"Hmm?"
"We shouldn't sleep too deeply tonight, should we?"
"Don't worry," Cheng Ye couldn't help but laugh, "If it really reaches that point, no matter how alert you are, you won't be able to escape. This Happiness Defense Line isn't so easily breached, and it definitely won't reach that level."
"Okay."
Wang Kang responded, but judging by his tense profile, he would probably still toss and turn sleeplessly tonight.
Sometimes knowing too much was painful.
Knowing too little was another kind of torment entirely.
Returning to his room, Cheng Ye closed the security door and turned to retrieve a raincoat from his wardrobe, hanging it on the coat rack by the entrance.
Just as he finished hanging it, an orange-red flame burst out from his blind spot, fluttering its wings as it burrowed into the raincoat pocket, pecking at the fabric with its small pointed beak.
"Don't make trouble," Cheng Ye smiled as he reached out to pull it out, "Just grown a bit bigger and already so mischievous. Won't you be tearing the house apart later?"
Three days had passed, and the flame's growth rate was ridiculously fast.
Whether it was because the Dry Wood Fire he fed it was high quality, or due to the transcendent creature's inherent characteristics, the little thing had already grown to sparrow size, covered with fine down, barely able to flutter short distances.
Now caught and placed on the bed, it immediately curled into a fluffy little ball, tilting its head to look innocent, making Cheng Ye shake his head helplessly.
After checking that the raincoat had no leaks, Cheng Ye bent down and dragged two large waterproof backpacks and a heavy waterproof suitcase from under the bed.
These had all been secretly acquired by Big Dragon at the used goods market.
He first spread out the first backpack, loading the equipment he had collected from the checkpoint over the past few days by category:
Compass, waterproof flint, multi-function entrenching tool and other survival gear formed one category.
City maps, factional distribution materials, various sanctuary city contact codes and other documents were sealed separately in waterproof bags.
There were also several packets of emergency gauze and disinfectant, plus a medical bag stuffed into the backpack's side pocket.
The other backpack was filled entirely with nutritional paste.
Yellow bags, blue bags, black bags stacked neatly, the zipper already bulging when pulled halfway.
Finally opening the waterproof suitcase, Cheng Ye carefully placed the books he had vacuum-sealed inside.
Especially those related to transcendents that he hadn't had time to read through, which he placed at the very bottom.
Actually, Cheng Ye knew in his heart that even if the sky fell tonight, he wouldn't step one foot outside his door.
Even if the outside devolved into carnage with corpses everywhere, it wasn't something he could change by witnessing it.
And just as he had told Wang Kang, Happiness City's defense line wasn't so easily breached but no matter how much he comforted himself, his mind kept conjuring the various scenes he had witnessed through the drone, recalling every detail of his confrontation with Zhang Can.
And under Xinghuo's nightfall, that pitch-black satellite city C35 with no sign of human life.
By the time he finished packing, the rain outside was pouring like buckets, pelting the glass with dense crackling sounds, like countless hands urgently knocking.
Cheng Ye walked to the window and lifted a corner of the curtain to look down.
The buffer zone's streets were completely empty, only streetlights casting blurred halos in the rain curtain, illuminating the wet pavement with a cold gleam.
In the distance, intermittent clamor came from the direction of the Central Station, as if strangled by the rain, not quite audible.
Was it battle? Was it chaos? Or something else?
All of it was shredded by this torrential rain and scattered in the wind!
After watching for a moment, Cheng Ye withdrew his gaze, turned to push the two backpacks and suitcase back under the bed, and adjusted the raincoat on the rack to ensure he could grab it immediately.
The flame on the bed had somehow fallen asleep, its small chest rising and falling gently with its breathing, occasional weak red glimmers flashing through its down.
Cheng Ye reached out to cover it with a small piece of fleece, then turned off the light.
In the darkness, the blue panel slowly lit up, the charge value in the upper right corner maintaining a healthy 87%.
With a thought, the interface jumped to the personal information page:
[Collector: Cheng Ye]
[Current Rank: lv.2 Rising Star (17.6/100)]
[Life Level: 1]
[Skills: Heart-Protecting Fire, Wild Grass Physique, Tiger Force, Mobile Shooting]
[Ability: Flame Eagle Symbiotic State]
[Not yet unlocked]
[Evaluation: Excavating life levels]
After a week of settling, Dragon Force had completely integrated and operated smoothly.
Tiger Force was what he had acquired from Miao Yang yesterday, immediately filling his learning progress.
Perhaps because he had mastered Dragon Force first, according to Cheng Ye's perception, Tiger Force would only need about ten days, maybe even shorter, to become muscle memory.
This speed was more than ten times faster than those called geniuses who still needed three to five months to master proficiently.
"Always comforting others, but I probably won't sleep peacefully tonight either."
Cheng Ye lay on the bed, listening to the thunder outside coming one after another, lightning occasionally tearing through the night sky and illuminating the room bright as day.
In his daze, he suddenly felt a faint sense of happiness.
Perhaps at this moment, outside the buffer zone had already descended into chaos. Perhaps countless people were fleeing in the wind and rain, fighting desperately for survival.
Perhaps those things lurking in the darkness were showing themselves, baring their fangs but right now, he could lie here peacefully, feeling the warmth of the bed beneath him.
Listening to the rain's roar, enjoying this moment of tranquility.
Crack.
In the inner city, at the infection source research institute shaped like a giant egg, a crack suddenly split open at the top.
The fissure extended to both sides at alarming speed. Soon, a metal platform slowly rose from below.
A woman in light purple armor stood at the platform's center, eyes slightly closed as if asleep.
Under her transparent helmet, long hair fell like an ink waterfall over her shoulders. Her face couldn't be called traditionally beautiful, but radiated a quiet, intellectual beauty.
"Director Yu, codename 'C35's' position has been completely determined. Should we initiate launch?"
"Launch."
The woman slowly opened her eyes. Astonishingly, those pupils had no irises, only bottomless black depths that seemed to devour light.
Before her words finished, the platform beneath her feet suddenly retracted downward like a spring compressed to its limit.
The next instant, visible purple arcs exploded across the armor's surface as the woman's figure shot skyward like a cannonball, breaking through the cloud layer with sharp sonic booms.
After ascending nearly a thousand meters, a pair of purple alloy wings suddenly extended from the armor's back, their tips gleaming with cold metallic luster.
Using the wings' guidance, she dove like a meteor toward a valley seventy kilometers outside Happiness City.
In just three minutes, the woman's figure hovered above the valley, her pitch-black eyes casually scanning the ground as her voice transmitted through the helmet, "Come out, or shall I invite you out."
As her words fell.
Deep in the valley, a figure wrapped entirely in black robes rose from the ground, seeming to merge with the shadows.
It was a seemingly unremarkable middle-aged man with a sallow complexion, as if chronically malnourished.
"Yu Erlan, I harbor no designs on your Happiness City, nor have I ever caused any damage," he looked up at the woman floating in the air, his tone urgent as if desperately trying to explain but the next second, a fiery red badge-like insignia fell from the sky, landing with a "thud" one step in front of him.
The badge's front bore a majestic Mount Everest relief, while the back was carved with four blood-red characters.
[RED WARRANT]
"Xinghuo Red Warrant, codename 'C35', symbiotic mother source: Shadow Spider"
"Confirmed ability: Can parasitically infect through biological shadows. Once a shadow is invaded, the host gradually loses autonomous consciousness, becoming a puppet controlled by its commands and acting according to predetermined instructions. Its ability significantly strengthens at night with synchronized increases in control numbers. Current calculated maximum control capacity: 250,000 people."
"Confirmed annihilation conditions: If Shadow Spider avatars hidden outside the main body are not completely destroyed, even if the current body is destroyed, its consciousness can instantly flee into any infected person's shadow, completing reconstruction and resurrection through shadow medium. Eradication method: Must simultaneously annihilate both avatars and main body."
Yu Erlan stood in the air, her voice transmitted through the armor as steady as reading an academic report.
The middle-aged man below showed an imperceptible change in expression, a sinister gleam flashing in his eyes as his lips curved into a cruel smile, "Since you understand I'm immortal, why bother coming to find me at a time like this?"
He spread his hands, shadows beneath the black robe writhing like living things, "I admit the refugees outside have been infected by me, reaching my control limit, but I merely wanted to enhance my power while watching a good show of newcomers and veterans slaughtering each other."
"Good, we need to add another condition: rare main consciousness retaining thinking ability after symbiosis with mother source."
Yu Erlan nodded slightly, her pitch-black eyes showing no ripples, "Yu Yong, you are Xinghuo's thirty-eighth defected research personnel. According to warrant requirements, I'll give you one minute to state your reasons for stealing the mother source and achieving symbiosis with it."
"Stealing mother source?"
The shadow-wrapped Yu Yong suddenly burst into piercing laughter that echoed through the valley, "What is a mother source, what is a transcendent? I'm a transcendent just like you!"
"I just don't enhance my abilities as stupidly as you do, constraining myself and the growth of transcendent creatures with rules and regulations."
His face showed fanatical expression, as if showing off some treasure, "I merely indulged him, satisfied him, pleased him, letting him provide me with more magnificent power."
"Doesn't Xinghuo also utilize mother source power? Why must you label me with this accusation?"
He took a deep breath, squinting in intoxication, "How strong he is, able to grant me eternal life, able to give me nearly infinite power."
"You have thirty seconds left."
"You don't really think you can kill me, do you? Haha!" Yu Yong remained unmoved, his face cold with mockery, "I admit you're strong, but you're just a newcomer who entered the second stage not long ago. Even if you've fused with a combat form, even if you can destroy my main body, can you kill those 250,000 migrants outside?"
He stepped forward, shadows beneath the black robe spreading faster, "Stop pretending. The next Destruction Day is coming soon! Only thirty-five years into the New Era and transcendent numbers have exceeded ten thousand again. You multiply like cockroaches. Even if you can restrain yourselves now, can you ensure every future transcendent will hold the line?"
"The 'mother sources' you speak of will only increase. Power's expansion will only cause more people to lose their way. Those like me who can remain lucid are the true masters of power, the kings who might rule this planet and all living things in the future!"
"Ten seconds left."
"Stop the nonsense!" Yu Yong suddenly raised his head, shadows beneath the black robe exploding outward, "I didn't come to surrender, and don't think you can shake my convictions!"
Before his words finished, his body incredibly began inflating like a balloon, instantly transforming into a black giant shadow the size of a mountain, surrounded by countless twisted shadow tentacles like a beast crawled from hell.
"This era is the best of times and the worst of times!"
The giant shadow spoke, its voice thundering, "Because we found the key to unlock biological evolution, rather than stupidly relying on technology, allowing ordinary people to master world-destroying power!"
"That's the path to self-destruction, the main reason this planet became wasteland!"
Boom.
Pale lightning tore through the night sky, illuminating the black mountain on the ground and purple figure in the air.
Almost simultaneously, both moved.
Shadow tentacles shot skyward like torrential rain, carrying the cold aura of devouring everything.
The purple figure trailed long light streams, diving toward the giant shadow's core.
Whoosh.
A bizarre scene occurred.
Those seemingly fierce tentacles curled back, blackened, and ultimately turned to ash scattered in the rain the moment they approached within half a meter of the purple figure, as if burned by invisible flames.
Whether whipping or striking, all attacks couldn't even touch Yu Erlan's armor.
"So strong, so strong!"
Yu Yong's roar carried pathological fanaticism, "This is the power I want, this is it!"
Saying this, facing the diving Yu Erlan, he actually abandoned all resistance, spreading shadow-covered arms as if welcoming some blessing, "Come, kill me! Let me feel the limits of this power!"
"Someday I'll possess it, I'll bring it to kill you, make you taste despair!"
"Hahaha..."
He roared madly, his mind already envisioning those scenes.
However, the next second, the fanaticism on his face suddenly froze.
The ground beneath his feet had somehow cracked with spider-web fissures, purple-gold energy pillars bursting from the earth, instantly weaving into a massive cage with flowing runic light that slammed upward with a "clang."
All black tentacles were firmly locked inside, unable to move.
"What?"
Yu Yong's expression changed drastically. He could clearly feel his spiritual connection with those 250,000 infected completely severed, as if cut by a sharp blade.
This cage not only sealed his body but acted like an energy barrier, completely suppressing his abilities within a small space.
"What the hell is this thing?!"
He frantically hammered the cage walls, shadow tentacles striking the pillars with the same result as approaching Yu Erlan, instantly dissolving into black smoke.
"Sorry, I never communicate with trash unless I want to kill them."
Yu Erlan landed on the ground, light purple armor boots stepping on wet soil and splashing small droplets.
She slightly clenched her palm, and the purple-gold cage began contracting like a living thing.
In the blink of an eye, it shrank from mountain size to palm size.
Yu Yong inside also rapidly diminished, gradually losing human form and finally becoming a fist-sized black spider with his terrified, twisted face reflected on its back carapace.
"Also, you were wrong."
Yu Erlan's voice came through the helmet with barely detectable mockery, "I've already entered the third stage, and it's... Transcendent Control State."
She rarely curved her lips into an extremely faint smile, pinching the miniature cage between her left thumb and index finger.
The transparent helmet popped open, revealing her intellectually beautiful face, but the next second she suddenly coughed violently, her complexion instantly turning ashen like a fish suddenly deprived of oxygen.
Pressing her right hand to her earpiece, she paused as an urgent response immediately came through, "Director Yu!"
"Codename 'C35' successfully captured, infection connection severed. Please immediately proceed with Zone A cleanup."
"Understood." The voice from the other side was decisive.
The black spider in the cage struggled violently as Yu Yong's voice came through the carapace, progressing from shock to disbelief, finally becoming hysterical madness, "You're insane! You actually used me, used my power to purge infection sources from those refugees. You're playing with fire!"
"You... aren't you afraid I'll detonate early?"
He shrieked incoherently, clearly never imagining anyone would dare be so bold as to use his ability in reverse as a purification tool.
Because only mother sources had this capability, the ability to indulge power expansion.
While transcendents had to constrain themselves, the tighter the constraint, the greater power they could obtain.
"Really?"
Yu Erlan resealed her helmet, blocking out the rain and air, taking several deep breaths as her complexion regained some color.
Holding the cage before her eyes, she rarely showed some interest, "A little bug like you can actually understand what exploitation means?"
"Fine, I must admit your ability is quite good, and you've retained considerable thinking capacity."
"Worth my... research for a while!"