Chapter 146: New Function Unlocked, Bestiary Feature Exchange!

Huff.Huff.

Cheng Ye breathed heavily, never having imagined he would one day crave free air so desperately.

Yes, air had taste and attributes.

The buffer zone had extremely sparse vegetation, and with drainage pipes that clogged every few days, everywhere except the inspection stations was permeated with a faint sour, rotten smell.

In the days since crossing over, he had grown accustomed to this odor and had almost forgotten what "fresh" was supposed to be like.

But now, stepping into the wilderness outside the city, the air carrying the fragrance of grass and trees mixed with moist earth scent was like a clear spring, instantly washing away the stagnant stuffiness accumulated in his lungs.

It was as if he had entered another world. Every breath brought bone-penetrating freshness, so exhilarating it made him want to shout aloud.

"Go ahead and shout, there won't be another chance once we go further," Jiang Chuan said, turning his face with a knowing smile at the corner of his mouth, clearly not his first time accompanying someone through the "first time leaving the city" ritual.

Cheng Ye paused, then couldn't help but roll down the car window and stick his head out.

Without any buildup, he simply opened his mouth wide and roared with all his strength:

"Ahhhh!"

The rolling sound waves pierced through the rain curtain, startling Snake, who was directing cleanup work in Zone C, making him jump but seeing the inspection station logo on the pickup truck and recognizing Cheng Ye sticking his head out, Snake's initial alarm quickly transformed into envy and longing.

It was as if the person sitting in the car wasn't Cheng Ye, but himself, heading toward that dangerous yet alluring wilderness.

He shouted continuously for four or five seconds until the air in his lungs was exhausted. Only then did Cheng Ye pull his head back, his chest heaving violently, all the pent-up frustration in his heart seemingly dispersed with that shout.

Never in his days in the buffer zone had he felt such exhilaration.

Even after taking down Zhang Can, what surged in his heart was only heavy mental fatigue, not the complete release he felt now.

"Comfortable!" he said, raising his right hand to rest it on the car door, breathing heavily. The rainwater splashing on his face was cold but refreshing.

"You're adapting quickly, and you seem to really like this feeling," Jiang Chuan said, gripping the steering wheel while deliberately keeping the speed around 15 mph to accommodate Cheng Ye's experience.

Many people wouldn't get carsick riding in the buffer zone, but would get dizzy from the rough terrain outside the city.

He had intended to give Cheng Ye time to adapt, but Cheng Ye's reaction was somewhat unexpected.

After the release, there was none of the excitement or panic ordinary people felt when first stepping into the wilderness. Instead, there was a deep sense almost like returning to familiar territory, with his eyes even hiding a trace of barely perceptible nostalgia.

"Yes, in my dreams I lived on this land for a very long time," Cheng Ye said spontaneously, his tone carrying a touch of trance.

Jiang Chuan heard this and took it for a scholarly romantic imagination, laughing heartily, "Young people are bold dreamers. When I first went on adventures, my head was full of thoughts about not encountering infected entities and returning safely to the settlement. I never dared think about such things."

He didn't know that Cheng Ye's thoughts had already drifted back to the distant past, crossing the chasm of time.

Back then, human travel never required such anxiety.

Crossing a mountain, spanning a river, going to neighboring provinces, even traveling to foreign countries, was as ordinary as taking a walk.

Those distances on the map were merely hours of driving, minutes of flying.

There were no yellow lines dividing civilization from chaos, no shadows of infection sources lurking, and certainly no heart-pounding anxiety that came with stepping out of sanctuary cities.

"Mm, safety is most important," Cheng Ye said, pulling back his wandering thoughts and looking straight ahead, beginning to seriously observe this unfamiliar wilderness.

After leaving South Station, the ground outside Happiness City had been given basic reinforcement, so even in rainy weather it wouldn't become muddy and splattered.

To reach the provincial road leading to Dapo Town, they needed to first go around toward the north side of Happiness City, in the direction of North Station.

The pickup truck drove slowly along the Happiness defense line, traveling unobstructed but soon, Cheng Ye's brow furrowed as they were about to enter the densely packed refugee area ahead.

Several days had passed, and there was still an endless queue here, exactly the scene he had observed from the watchtower a few days ago.

Perhaps because there were too many people, it became an abstract number. One hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, four hundred thousand, from a high vantage point, they all seemed the same, just an endless sea of crowding.

But approaching from ground level, that densely packed oppressive feeling hit them head-on, especially in the gloomy rainy weather, which added several degrees of stifling depression.

In the past, Cheng Ye would definitely have gripped his gun tightly to feel secure but now, he only tensed his spirit slightly, concentrating his attention while maintaining steady breathing, with no unnecessary movements.

"Currently twelve refugee camps have been established, with about fifty thousand people in each camp. Later migrants are all guided to new areas to ensure no contact transmission possibilities with previous migrants," Jiang Chuan said while carefully avoiding puddles on the roadside.

"All told, residents stationed outside have exceeded five hundred thousand. Led primarily by the newly established Settlement Bureau in the buffer zone, along with the Medical Department, Welfare Department, Supply Department and other departments, they're pushing forward preliminary settlement work, including medical treatment, clothing changes, and rule instruction. All necessary work must be done once."

He paused and added, "Expected completion of all basic work the day after tomorrow, at which point the inspectors will take over recruitment, making the difficulty much easier."

This was the confidence of a super sanctuary city.

Although inspectors had to take refugees out to manage satellite city construction, it didn't mean they had to handle every trivial matter personally.

Eating, drinking, defecating, urinating, ideological guidance, rule indoctrination, if all this were placed on one person's shoulders, even the most capable person would collapse.

Even ordinary settlements would divide these tasks among different people, let alone Happiness City.

Now, thousands of staff members had already recruited tens of thousands from among the refugees to assist with management, and order was gradually being established.

By the time inspectors took over, these basic tasks would already be complete, requiring focus only on "construction" itself.

After watching for a while, Cheng Ye suddenly asked, "What's the quality of these refugees like?"

"Uh," Jiang Chuan paused, a flash of hesitation crossing his face, as if considering whether to tell the truth.

Fortunately, at that moment, two armed pickup trucks approached from the distance, with people manning machine guns in the truck beds waving from far away.

"Jiang Chuan?" The person in charge on the pickup seemed to recognize him, calling out from far away.

"It's me, Captain Song, heading out to handle some business," Jiang Chuan said, rolling down his window. The two vehicles maintained a tacit distance of about ten meters, not approaching each other.

"Go ahead, just follow the markers on the ground."

"Got it."

"Why not use radio contact?" Cheng Ye asked, pointing to the communication equipment mounted in the car, somewhat curious.

Jiang Chuan's expression darkened slightly as he shook his head, "After leaving the city, I've turned off all these electronic devices. First, to prevent being tracked, and second, to ensure no one can interfere with the examination process."

Avoid tracking?

Ensure no one interferes with the examination?

Cheng Ye was startled, then looked thoughtfully out the window.

By now, he was no longer the novice who knew nothing about Happiness City when he first crossed over.

His predecessor's death, the various subtle targeting from different factions, and hidden threats had all made him realize one thing.

What Cheng Long left behind wasn't just personal connections, but also inescapable troubles.

These troubles were suppressed by rules within the buffer zone, but outside the city, no one could say what variables might emerge.

Lost in thought, the pickup slowly passed through the edge of the refugee queue.

The designated driving area was about thirty meters from the front of the refugee line.

Some refugees noticed the inspection station logo on the vehicle body and cast curious or hopeful glances their way. Some even tentatively moved forward, seeming to want to say something, but were stopped by staff maintaining order.

Cheng Ye watched for a few moments then looked away.

There were simply too many people, and unlike Tianyuan Community, there were no clear leaders.

If he really wanted to recruit personnel, he'd have to wait to get specific materials for careful screening. No need to rush observations at this moment.

They drove forward for about seven or eight kilometers before reaching the other end of the refugee area.

As the crowds gradually disappeared, both men straightened in their seats, the relaxation in their eyes fading somewhat.

"Relax, Inspector Cheng, I'll protect you," Jiang Chuan reassured.

"You?" Cheng Ye asked instinctively without much thought.

Jiang Chuan immediately smiled awkwardly. Although he knew Cheng Ye meant nothing by it, his mind couldn't help but flash back to that embarrassing situation at Tianyuan Community.

Being held at gunpoint by hundreds of people, then tied up by Big Dragon, a guy who had only opened ordinary tendon gates.

Although there were reasons why he didn't want to act and cause trouble, that scene was truly humiliating!

"Don't worry, there are extra people following," he said, gesturing with his chin toward the rearview mirror. Indeed, a pickup truck was trailing them from a distance, keeping its distance.

"This is?"

"Examination supervisors. First, to prevent us from colluding to cheat, and second, to protect us."

This little guy Jiang Chuan wasn't being honest.

When Cheng Ye asked the question, he opened his panel to watch the compatibility rating.

Sure enough, when Jiang Chuan said this, the value plummeted from 51% to 37%, then slowly climbed back to 48% after he finished speaking.

Clearly there was some water mixed into that statement, but Cheng Ye didn't ask further.

Although the flame wasn't yet sufficient for him to become a transcendent and ignore all dangers, Horned Starfish couldn't be faked.

Plus with the flying wings stored in his pendant, if he really encountered an emergency, he could leave immediately, even fly away directly!

And if transcendents from within Happiness City were targeting him, there wasn't much he could do about it anyway.

He couldn't hide in the city forever without coming out. At worst, he'd face them head-on and see what methods they had.

The car soon reached the vicinity of North Station, deliberately keeping some distance without approaching.

"The provincial road entrance is just ahead!" Jiang Chuan pressed the accelerator, the pickup speeding up to pull some distance from the supervising vehicle. "Past here, it's all wilderness. We need to be fully alert."

Cheng Ye nodded, turning his gaze to the window.

Happiness City hadn't cleared the wild grass and vines around the sanctuary city, but let them grow wild.

Not due to lack of manpower or resources, but to remind all who left the city that from the moment they crossed this boundary line, they must keep their nerves taut.

Moving forward now, the reinforced road surface completely disappeared, replaced by dirt roads soaked soft by rainwater. Wild grass on both sides grew waist-high, and tree shadows in the fog were crooked and twisted, like silent sentinels.

Less than two kilometers down the road, Jiang Chuan suddenly jerked the steering wheel, the pickup angling up a slope.

At the top of the slope, an elevated provincial road appeared before them.

Calling it a provincial road, it was more like the remnants of a ring highway from the old Chuan City.

The old road signs by the roadside had long since fallen away after over a century of weathering, replaced by new directional signs erected by Happiness City.

Near the intersection, a Y-shaped road sign appeared:

The left side led to Xiasha County, the industrial zone direction, while the right pointed toward Wenlu County.

There were obvious differences between the two sides. The route toward the industrial zone was better maintained, with road surfaces that had bumps and small potholes but no obvious cracks.

The route toward Wenlu County, however, showed spiderweb-like cracks across the road surface, with visible signs of local collapse along the roadside.

"It used to be maintained many times, once nearly rebuilt to old-world standards," Jiang Chuan sighed. "Later, you know how it is in this wasteland. Some people rebuild while others destroy. The better you build it, the more likely it becomes a target. They treat it like entertainment. Unless you post daily patrols and guards, major problems will appear within half a month at most. So they just let it rot like this."

The evil in human nature sometimes exceeded imagination.

Cheng Ye thought for a moment and uttered a name, "Leaping Field Sanctuary City?"

"Their shadow appeared before, but after being caught twice they became obedient," Jiang Chuan shook his head. "It's more often the Hundred Ghosts Gang."

"Hundred Ghosts Gang?"

Cheng Ye was startled, then reacted.

Taking Red Hair Ghost as an example, they made their living by taking infrastructure maintenance contracts from Happiness City.

If all roads were maintained in perfect condition, wouldn't these people be unemployed?

"Leave them some work to do. As long as the roads are passable, it's not a big problem."

As Jiang Chuan spoke, he skillfully turned the steering wheel, weaving around potholes without hitting a single deep one.

The occasional bumps and bounces were filtered quite gently by the pickup's suspension, making for a surprisingly comfortable ride.

Seeing that Cheng Ye showed no signs of motion sickness, Jiang Chuan increased speed to fifty mph.

The roadside scenery flew backward rapidly. This was Cheng Ye's first real look at the ruins of Chuan City.

How utterly dilapidated!

Broken walls and ruins loomed in the fog, toppled high-rises like gnawed bones, with rebar jutting from concrete, wrapped in withered vines.

Abandoned cars lay overturned by the roadside, rusted down to their frames, glass long since shattered to fragments.

Those buildings that once rose five or six stories now stood crookedly in place, as if they might collapse thunderously at any moment.

Looking through the black holes of windows was like seeing monsters crouched behind them, radiating an eerie, bone-chilling silence.

Perhaps this place was once bustling with traffic and flashing neon lights, but now only desolation remained.

Cheng Ye's heart suddenly felt heavy, imagining the contrast between the prosperous scenes of the old era and the ruins before his eyes. He felt time was incredibly cruel, like a dull knife slowly grinding away all vitality.

Fortunately, the vehicle only traveled along the ring highway without entering the interior of Chuan City's ruins.

After turning at another intersection, they completely entered the uninhabited wilderness, staying far from the urban ruins.

Endless wild grass spread before them, matching Cheng Ye's imagination of "untrodden wilderness."

It was currently midsummer, and though affected by cooling weather, the wild grass appeared somewhat dejected, all drooping with bent waists. But connected together they were still magnificent, as if driving into a boundless grassland.

At the horizon, shadows occasionally swept through the deep fog at extreme speed, their forms unclear.

Mutant beasts?

Cheng Ye instinctively placed his hand at his waist, gripping the Buffalo combat pistol resting on the seat.

Suddenly, his gaze focused on small dots in the distance at the edge of the provincial road.

Six tall, thin humanoid figures were standing in place looking their way, all holding guns with alert postures.

"Scavengers?" Cheng Ye asked.

Jiang Chuan followed his gaze and shook his head, "No, scavengers wouldn't cluster together in such open terrain. Too easy to be targeted as prey by others."

He slowed the pickup, pulling toward the roadside, "Should be hunters, making their living hunting mutant beasts. Recently quite a few special mutant beasts from other provinces have emerged from fog passages. They're quite valuable."

"Hunters," Cheng Ye said, looking carefully. Indeed, those six people were spread in a fan formation, their gun barrels faintly pointing in the same direction, more like maintaining vigilance than pursuit.

"Should we go around?" Cheng Ye asked.

According to what Jiang Chuan said before, when encountering people in the wilderness, it was best to avoid trouble, especially those of unknown identity.

But Jiang Chuan shook his head, "Can't go around, the road ahead is the only way to Wenlu County. Don't worry, we're displaying the inspection station logo. Even if they actively provoke us, they'd have to make way."

He pressed the accelerator, maintaining thirty mph as they slowly approached, while rolling the window up halfway.

As the distance closed, Cheng Ye gradually made out those people's appearance.

All wore worn camouflage clothing, faces stained with mud, carrying modified small-caliber hunting rifles that could maximize preservation of prey integrity. The barrels were wrapped with cloth strips, looking quite fierce.

When the pickup was still a hundred meters away, one of them was first to clearly see the inspection station emblem painted on the side of the vehicle. He immediately raised his hand and waved, signaling the car to stop.

Jiang Chuan slowly pressed the brake, stopping the vehicle about ten meters from the several people.

This distance maintained safety while not appearing too distant.

He pushed open the car door and got out, his entire demeanor suddenly changing dramatically. Gone was the gentleness Cheng Ye was familiar with, replaced by the lethal aura of someone who walked the wilderness. He actually looked more fierce than those hunters!

"Sir from the inspection station?" One of the six, a stocky man, stepped forward. His dark face was creased with an ingratiating smile, his tone carrying careful caution.

"What's the situation?" Jiang Chuan frowned.

"Sir, there are special mutant beasts active on the road ahead. You must be extremely careful," the man said, rubbing his callused hands together, his face creased into folds. "They're white, about twice the size of ant wolves, seven or eight moving together as a group. Not only are they incredibly fast, they can sense danger in advance. We brothers have been hunting them for two days without managing to kill a single one!"

"Didn't you report to Ghost King?"

"We reported, but no specific information was found. They look like monsters that ran over from Xue Province. They've injured quite a few people recently."

As he spoke, he pulled out a rusty badge from his pocket with a crooked character "刺" (thorn) carved on it, "We're from Thorn Ghost Gang, making a living in this area. We wouldn't dare deceive you, sir."

"Oh, thanks," Jiang Chuan nodded, pulling out a Happiness coin from his pocket and tossing it over.

The man caught it and saw it was worth 10 face value. His eyes immediately lit up, his smile becoming even more servile as he bowed repeatedly, "Safe travels, sir! Smooth journey!"

Jiang Chuan said nothing more, turning to return to the vehicle.

As the car started again, he smiled and said, "Many times, even the Blood Dragon Corps can't completely clear all surrounding threats, so we rely on these local snakes for early warning. They also look forward to meeting us so they can earn some small money."

"It seems you don't want much contact with them?"

"Business comes first. There'll be plenty of time to understand them later."
5 contribution points profit.

No wonder so many people were willing to come out and take risks. These returns were ridiculously high!

"Of course, these are Happiness City prices. In Hai Province, this stuff isn't worth nearly as much."

Jiang Chuan smiled, gesturing, "Want to try?"

"I'll do it!" Cheng Ye said, pulling out his waist knife and quickly stepping forward, first cleanly severing the malaria mosquito's proboscis but the moment the knife tip touched the flesh sac, his movement suddenly froze, drawing a puzzled look from Jiang Chuan.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just thinking about your technique."

Cheng Ye's expression remained unchanged. He quickly adjusted, following the example to cut open the flesh sac and precisely extract the purple tissue.

After finishing this, taking advantage of Jiang Chuan turning to get a collection bag from the truck bed, he immediately opened his panel, his gaze falling on the new information that had just appeared:

[Collector detected dissipating biological information, automatically absorbing]

[Absorption complete, corresponding native creature bestiary created]

[Mutant Malaria Mosquito]

[Description]: Special mutant organism from Hai Province, large in size, operates in groups, feeds on biological blood. Proboscis can be used to make gas masks, flesh sac contains medicinal components, can be used as antidote and bait materials.

[Currently recorded characteristics]:

Toxin Filtration (4.17%)

Toxin Neutralization (8.22%)

Bait Flesh Sac (5.57%)

[Note]: When characteristic recording reaches 100%, collectors can consume charge values to exchange corresponding rewards, including intelligence, items, or skills.

[Note]: Exchange effects are influenced by collector rank and route, current effects:

Intelligence: Obtain partial principle knowledge about the characteristic

Influenced by United Route: Collectors can reduce certain intelligence quality, specify intelligence direction

Items: Obtain one random finished product condensed from the characteristic

Influenced by United Route: Collectors can invest more charge values to improve finished product effects

Skills: Obtain a skill related to the characteristic.

Exchange skills may be special* skills, equipment will bring unpredictable consequences, please be sure to read exchange prompts carefully before exchanging

[Note]: Exchanges have no upper limit, each accumulation of sufficient characteristic value allows one exchange

[Note]: Maximum accumulation of exchange characteristic value: 200% (rank bonus 100%), cannot exceed this limit

Creature bestiary?

Cheng Ye stared at the new content on the panel, momentarily bewildered.

Killing a few mosquitoes actually unlocked a new function?

He noticed that next to the charge value in the upper right corner of the panel, there was an additional antique book icon.

Hmm?

Wasn't this the information value icon from the personal panel?

Cheng Ye was stunned, closed the prompt, and mentally clicked on that book.

The page switched as if opening a heavy ancient book, with several lines of text slowly appearing on the cover:

[Current Civilization: Solar System|Blue Star|Wasteland Human Civilization]

[This collector has gathered effective civilization information: 1.07 (million) entries]

[High-value civilization information: 21 entries]

[Currently unlocked content: Native Creature Bestiary]

"Ah? So that's how the collected civilization information is used?"

Cheng Ye couldn't help but be amazed.

For a long time, he only knew to collect civilization information according to rank requirements, but never understood the specific purpose of this information.

Although after advancing to rookie collector, he had tried more than once to use information as an identification function, he never found the method.

It seemed the civilization information he collected couldn't be used or consulted by him, the collector but now, the question finally had an answer.

It wasn't that it couldn't be used, he just hadn't found the correct way to access it!

"But I've killed many infection sources before, and there was that ant wolf last time."

Cheng Ye frowned slightly, then was startled.

It seemed that from when he became an inspector until now, he had never personally "killed" an infection source?

Every time an infected entity was discovered, the cleanup team would come to handle it.

Even when there were occasionally dead infection sources, they would be taken away. According to the manual requirements, he as inspector had never actually come into contact with infected entities or infection sources.

Including the starfish infected entities, since each small starfish was worth 1 contribution point, plus they could provide a steady stream of information degrees, he never thought to try destroying a starfish to test the effect.

Even the giant starfish formed by Zhang Can was ultimately taken away by research institute personnel.

"This really was right under my nose!" Cheng Ye couldn't help but shake his head. Actually, when he discovered the collector could absorb dissipating consciousness, he should have thought of this. It was just that at the time he had neither time to think carefully nor any samples for verification.

Not until today when he stepped into the wilderness and personally handled mutant malaria mosquitoes did he finally find the method for utilizing civilization information.

Exchange intelligence, items, skills?

He tried using his mind to flip through the "book" on the panel, and the page automatically jumped to a new one, very much like an achievement gallery in a game.

At the top was a small box with "Mutant Malaria Mosquito" written in it.

Clicking in revealed two images:

One showed the sky-blotting swarm appearance when flying, the other was a close-up of the individual he had just shot down.

Below the images was detailed text description, and at the bottom were three progress bars.

Corresponding to: Toxin Filtration, Toxin Neutralization, Bait Flesh Sac

Having just processed one, the Toxin Neutralization progress bar was almost at 10%, with much faster advancement than expected.

Of course, this might be because mutant malaria mosquitoes were just ordinary mutant creatures, with abilities that weren't particularly rare.

"Obtain partial principle knowledge about the characteristic, isn't this equivalent to..."

"Source Track Technology?"

Cheng Ye was thoughtful. This description was quite similar to the Source Track Technology Li Changfeng had mentioned to him.

Source Track Technology analyzed principles from infection sources for utilization, combining with technology to achieve special effects.

And now he could analyze the poison-filtering principles of malaria mosquitoes. Couldn't he also analyze the principles of infection sources?

As for items, that was easy to understand. Perhaps choosing toxin filtration would directly condense a complete gas mask.

Regarding skills, seeing the warning prompt, Cheng Ye nodded slightly.

Although he might not be able to directly equip these skills himself, special skills could fuse with the Heart-Protecting Fire.

If he combined "Toxin Neutralization" with it, perhaps the flame could gain the ability to ignore toxins?

Then by borrowing the transcendent symbiotic state to add it to himself, after this series of combinations, wouldn't he indirectly possess poison-resistant constitution?

As he was pondering, footsteps came from behind. Jiang Chuan walked over with a waterproof burlap bag from the truck bed.

"Let me do it, you help me keep watch," Cheng Ye said proactively, his short knife already aimed at the next malaria mosquito corpse.

"Hmm?" Jiang Chuan was surprised but didn't stop him, silently stepping aside to raise his gun on guard, his gaze sweeping the surrounding grassland.

He watched as Cheng Ye's knife rose and fell, efficiently severing the proboscises of mosquito after mosquito, cutting open flesh sacs to extract purple tissue. His movements became increasingly skilled, and there was even a trace of an unconscious smile at the corner of his mouth.

Jiang Chuan's eyes couldn't help but flash with appreciation.

Excellence came from diligence, ruin from play.

Whether high-level inspectors or wilderness adventurers, survival experience was accumulated step by step from these minute details.

Delegating to others could certainly save considerable physical strength, but the result was easily becoming arrogant and incompetent.

Someone like Cheng Ye, who could maintain focus and even enjoy the slow collection process, was simply natural adventurer material.

However, he didn't know that at this moment, Cheng Ye's panel was flashing with progress prompts every time he cut down a malaria mosquito:

[Toxin Filtration: 6.47%→4.52%→5.17%]

[Toxin Neutralization: 5.75%]

[Bait Flesh Sac: 6.1%]

Like grinding experience by killing monsters, the three progress bars rose rapidly.

After processing just thirteen, Toxin Neutralization was first to reach 100%, showing "exchangeable" afterward.

By the time all thirty-four malaria mosquitoes on the ground were collected, all three progress bars were completely filled.

Especially Bait Flesh Sac and Toxin Neutralization, which directly accumulated to 200%, allowing two exchanges each!