Chapter 184: Population Ratio, Dilemma of Choice!

On-site, actual combat assessment?An assessment that could originally be completed in a day was now stretched to a full three days to determine the winner?

Cheng Ye lifted his eyes without revealing his emotions, observing the reactions of the Western inspectors across from him, paying particular attention to Garcia, who had participated in one contracting assessment.

As expected, the Westerners' expressions varied, some solemn, some delighted, some bewildered.

When it came to Garcia, although he tried hard to restrain himself, the twitching at the corner of his mouth and the flickering in his eyes still betrayed his inner turmoil.

The rules for the first and second batch assessments had obviously changed.

Whether it was the hints between inspectors, both open and subtle, or the information mastered by those eliminated in the first batch, which varied in depth, there was never absolute fairness to begin with.

But now with the major rule change, everyone instantly returned to the same starting line, needing to face entirely new challenges.

"One partner team with 500 people, simultaneously taken to the contracting site to commence construction."

"What a grand undertaking!"

Cheng Ye secretly clicked his tongue, privately sighing at the magnitude of the inspection station's investment in this round of assessment.

Thirty-two teams, sixteen thousand people, all for the sake of testing the inspectors' capabilities.

Compared to the first batch that only sought to settle the population as quickly as possible, the direction of the second batch had clearly changed, no longer pursuing settlement speed, but instead focusing on the actual construction of satellite cities.

Cheng Ye couldn't help but speculate that this current shift was partly related to the dispersal of the void mist. The greatest threat looming over Shi Province had disappeared, so naturally there was room to conduct more refined assessments.

On the other hand, the rain line was about to shift, Happiness City's rainy season was clearly coming to an end, and with the real autumn construction boom imminent, it was natural to arrange the formation in advance and thoroughly ignite the competitive momentum.

Of course, there was another crucial reason.

The 25 inspectors selected in the first batch were perhaps already within the inspection station's plans. The assessment was merely going through the motions, just setting up the framework and dispatching personnel, with no need for rigorous testing.

By the second batch, it was truly time to test the inspectors' hard skills and select the most suitable personnel.

However, a problem arose. Places like Xipo Town, Tantou Town, Dapo Town, and the other six towns, even with two teams competing, would probably struggle to spread out and each occupy one side for construction.

More critically, if one team was eliminated, how should the mess left behind during the assessment be handled?

They couldn't just throw away the materials, supplies, and everything built within three days, that would be too wasteful.

And places like Hexi Town and Wanzi Town, which weren't very large to begin with, cramming four teams in to compete, with two thousand people crowded together building, would probably end up wasting a huge pile of materials, purely squandering resources and time.

These problems flashing through his mind, Cheng Ye wasn't anxious, continuing to flip through the materials.

He didn't believe the inspection station would set such an assessment goal without thinking of these issues.

The answer to the problem must be hidden in the detailed assessment rules that followed.

First skipping over a large pile of descriptions about on-site assessment categories, Cheng Ye went straight to the latter half of the materials.

After careful reading, he soon found the answer he wanted.

[The supercomputer system has extracted topographic maps of the 12 satellite city locations and, combined with analysis of the preliminary answer sheets submitted by inspectors, has completed the projection work for various assessment tasks]

[During the assessment, inspectors will only be allowed to lead teams in activities within designated areas. All other forms of activity are prohibited. Any free action behavior is strictly forbidden, violators will be directly eliminated. All activities must be strictly executed according to task objectives, with execution methods unrestricted]

[Inspectors within a group may independently choose assessment tasks. For teams that choose external assistance, assessment tasks will be determined randomly. Once assessment tasks are determined, all assessment teams must complete them within the stipulated time, with scores calculated according to completion progress]

[Example: If the routine task "Clear Ruins" is drawn, the supercomputer system will complete work area demarcation based on the actual geographical conditions and ruins distribution of that satellite city, ensuring that the workload of areas assigned to each team is completely equal. After the task begins, all teams participating in the assessment must simultaneously commence clearing operations. Ultimately, clearing effectiveness will be comprehensively calculated based on dimensions such as completion rate, compliance, and efficiency of ruins clearing, and used as the basis for scoring]

[Materials exchanged through initial points may only be used for satellite city development and construction, and must not be carried out of the assessment area. Wanton waste is strictly prohibited. If malicious waste is verified, the corresponding amount will be deducted from the involved inspector's personal assets as compensation]

"So it's not doing whatever you want, but competing simultaneously on drawn assessment tasks?"

Cheng Ye pondered inwardly.

With these restrictions added, the initial assessment standards were easier to understand.

The core indicator was completing basic camp construction. The four essential elements were certainly key to scoring. Although the total score percentage wasn't explicitly stated, it probably accounted for at least fifty percent or more.

And throughout the entire process, they still had to complete large and small tasks determined by the supercomputer.

Since it was arranged by the supercomputer, there certainly wouldn't be situations wasting manpower and resources.

In this way, even if competing teams were eliminated, it was equivalent to helping the remaining teams complete preliminary clearing, infrastructure, and other work.

As for some non-malicious material losses during tasks, with Happiness City's scale, it could completely afford it.

"Not bad." Cheng Ye secretly praised. "Identical assessment tasks and equal workloads better reveal the inspector's eye for selecting people, command ability during the process, and can also examine initial point expenditure, appeasement of people's hearts, and a series of infrastructure-related capabilities."

Thinking of this, he turned to look at Wang Kang.

It seemed those three posters had given Wang Kang some confidence, for he indeed showed no panic at this time.

Looking further at the third and fourth term inspectors in the first two rows, they were all terrifyingly calm.

On the contrary, most of the first and second term inspectors beside them had unpleasant expressions, unable to hide their anxiety.

This wasn't strange. Third period and above inspectors had all fought through the Great Expansion Era and already had experience leading people in construction, so the on-site actual combat assessment would actually let them display their advantages.

Meanwhile, most first and second term inspectors slowly advanced after the Great Expansion Era ended. Like the academic faction among the Easterners, they could talk eloquently, but when it came to practical implementation, they were often out of touch with reality. This update ıs available on ????????????????????✶????????????????✶????????????

However, looking at the first and second term inspectors on the Western side, their performance wasn't much better.

After all, they weren't leading one or two hundred people, but starting with five hundred people. Even with partner cooperation, this was a situation they'd never experienced before, inevitably causing mental chaos.

"Brother Cheng, this is our advantage."

Noticing Cheng Ye looking at him, Wang Kang turned his head and lowered his voice, unable to hide his excitement, "During the recent community construction, I dealt with at least seven or eight hundred people every day. These five hundred people are no problem at all."

This was where the Idealist faction route showed its advantage.

Cheng Ye nodded slightly, a glimmer of approval flashing in his eyes.

Although the refugees outside weren't as obedient and compliant as the people in Tianyuan Community, the methods the two could employ were different, and management approaches could be more strict.

But just as the thought arose, new problems emerged.

If it was simply competitive confrontation, the disadvantage of choosing families would be very obvious. Once they encountered heavy labor tasks, they'd basically be immediately finished.

After all, children also counted as people, far inferior to directly picking five hundred able-bodied young adults.

Could it be that the so-called initial points weren't fixed, but determined by the profile of the selected population?

Otherwise, all satellite cities would compete for able-bodied young adults. Might as well directly assign the same population to each team.

Since it was leading construction, and the core purpose of satellite cities was to accommodate refugees, choosing the old, weak, sick, and disabled should receive compensation, otherwise no satellite city would be willing to accept such populations.

A moment later, most inspectors in the venue had finished reading the materials, leaning their heads together whispering to each other.

Ding Yishan coughed once, and Harlin immediately understood, standing up to maintain order, "Silence!"

As his words fell, the entire venue instantly quieted.

"The standards for actual combat assessment have been clearly communicated to everyone. Now we formally enter the assessment phase."

Harlin's voice transmitted throughout the venue through the microphone.

"The inspection station has completed preliminary preparation work for all inspectors, designating twenty thousand refugees available for selection. All refugees voluntarily participate in this assessment. Inspectors need only enter the formation area to conduct personnel screening. After the assessment ends, relevant compensation will be uniformly paid by the inspection station."

"Now the refugee personnel profile will be publicly announced. Among them, single able-bodied young adults account for 30% of the total, that is, 6,000 people."

A commotion arose.

Before Harlin's words even finished, the inspectors below couldn't help but let out exclamations of surprise.

Six thousand able-bodied young adults?

Divided among 32 teams, each team could only get an average of 187 people, far from the goal of 500 people.

If any team could secure more able-bodied young adults, their advantage would be simply immeasurable.

Harlin clearly anticipated such a reaction and didn't immediately stop it, allowing everyone to discuss for a minute before raising his hand to signal for quiet.

After the venue regained silence, he continued, "Besides able-bodied young adults, childless couples account for 15%, a total of 3,000 people. Families with children account for 30%, a total of 6,000 people. Families with children and elderly account for 25%, a total of 5,000 people."

Another round of commotion arose.

As the personnel composition was announced in detail, the actual situation increasingly diverged from everyone's initial expectations.

"Didn't the first round assessment say we could select all able-bodied young adults?" Rocook turned to look at Garcia.

"You also said that was the first round." Garcia looked dazed, "Maybe none of the first batch of 12 satellite cities were willing to accept these populations, so they forced us to accept them through assessment?"

No one knew the answer, but it was certain that every assessment team had to make a choice.

And the key to the choice was obviously hidden in this population data.

"Now announcing the initial point allocation rules: selecting able-bodied young adults, 1 point per person. Selecting childless couples, 1.5 points per person. Selecting families with children, 2.5 points per person. Selecting families with children and elderly, 3 points per person."

After the scores were announced, the venue instantly quieted instead.

Everyone stopped talking, rapidly calculating the gap behind the points.

Between able-bodied young adults and families with children and elderly, the point difference was a full three times. This gap was truly exaggerated.

Looking at the overall situation in the wasteland, generally for families with this kind of configuration, with the couple in the middle, their labor could usually be calculated as 1.2 able-bodied young adults.

Children could at most be counted as 0.2, and elderly estimated at 0.4.

Calculating with one child and one elderly person, such a four-person family's total labor was 3.

Compared to able-bodied young adults, the labor was 2 lower, but could get back three times the points. This was definitely a worthwhile deal.

But obviously, such an extremely simple situation as one child and one elderly person wouldn't appear in this assessment.

Ding Yishan seemed very satisfied with the inspectors' reaction in the venue, actually taking the microphone and speaking, "Families with children all have two children, one boy and one girl."

"Families with children and elderly all have three children and two elderly, two boys and one girl."

"For the second batch of satellite cities, what I need you to demonstrate to me, to demonstrate to Happiness City, is tolerance capability, is wisdom, is the ability to find development in adversity."

"Ask yourselves, if you're only leading a group of able-bodied young adults in construction, do we need you inspectors?"

"What I want to see is that you have the confidence and courage to choose these families, using your abilities to compensate for disadvantages in labor. Whoever has the ability, the second batch contracting tasks will be entrusted to them. If you're already scared now, that's fine too. Submit an application to withdraw from the competition and you can leave!"

As these resounding words fell, the venue below remained silent as before.

Everyone continued calculating in their minds:

Childless couples, females calculated as 0.7 labor, compared to two able-bodied young adults, a 15% gap, but could get an extra 50% in points.

Two-child families, total labor 2.4, compared to four able-bodied young adults, a 40% labor gap, but could exchange for 150% in points.

Three-child, two-elderly, seven-person families, total labor 3.8, compared to seven able-bodied young adults, a 45% labor gap, but could exchange for 300% in points.

Once the data was laid out, selecting childless couples had far higher cost-effectiveness than selecting able-bodied young adults.

Calculating further, if wanting to take a gamble and select families with children and elderly, the labor difference was only 5%, yet they could get double the points.

However, could reality perfectly match the calculated numbers?

Managing five hundred able-bodied young adults and managing seventy families were on completely different difficulty levels.

These families that could still maintain three generations under one roof until today were either people with extremely strong risk resistance, or groups with maxed-out self-sufficiency capabilities.

Leading them in slow construction might be fine, but the key point was that this assessment was competition between teams.

What if they encountered heavy labor tasks or work with danger, and these families were unwilling to execute? What then?

With numerous practical problems before them, even Cheng Ye couldn't help but seriously contemplate.

Having to determine personnel allocation without knowing what points could purchase was indeed a difficult problem.

But just as Ding Yishan said, he wanted to see inspectors have the confidence and courage to choose these families.

If they knew in advance what points could exchange for, everyone's choices would become purely utilitarian calculations, instead violating the original intention of building satellite cities and assessing inspectors.

"Brother Cheng, how should we choose?"

Seeing other teams' inspectors beginning to discuss, Wang Kang also turned to ask.

"Don't rush to decide. We need to go out and see those people who voluntarily participate in the assessment, understand their quality before making a decision."

Cheng Ye said this, but his fingers flipped open the materials in front of him, his gaze once again falling on the content of the first page.

Among the four elements of the core indicators, except for the fourth item of registering information which didn't require materials, whether it was residences, sentry posts, or supply points, they all needed a certain amount of materials to meet consumption.

Below the materials was a special notation that the assessment would provide initial points for exchanging materials.

On the surface it was telling everyone that initial points could be exchanged for materials to complete objectives, but in reality it concealed a big trap.

How many points were enough?

Would selecting able-bodied young adults beyond a certain number result in insufficient points to purchase basic materials and direct elimination?

Additionally, in the scoring standards, practicality, efficiency, and innovation accounted for 80% of the weight, and all three items required sufficient materials to score high.

Even a skilled housewife cannot cook without rice. Without materials, no matter how ingenious the construction plan, it couldn't possibly catch up to competitors with abundant materials.

Conversely, if they blindly exchanged materials for points, resulting in insufficient labor, forget about completing assessment tasks, even erecting temporary residences, sentry posts, and supply points might become problematic.

Therefore, the difficulty in selecting personnel lay not only in studying population ratios, but more so in the eye for picking people.

With a sufficiently reasonable population ratio, perhaps they could compensate for deficiencies in vision and experience.

Conversely, if their eye was sharp enough and their methods commanded sufficient respect, even with an extreme ratio, they could ensure the final score.

The so-called optimal solution truly tested the inspector's personal capabilities and didn't have a fixed answer.

"Does anyone wish to withdraw?"

Ding Yishan spoke up again to inquire. Seeing no one in the venue raising their hand, he immediately waved his hand decisively.

"Good, you still have a final half hour of contemplation time. At 2:30, we depart on time!"

"Each team has four hours to select people. After selection, there are likewise four hours to determine materials to exchange with points."

"Tomorrow morning at seven o'clock, the selected personnel will be escorted by the Legion, taking buses to arrive at the satellite cities."

"Materials will be delivered in advance to designated points at dawn, guaranteeing that people and materials arrive together!"