Chapter 43: Lv.2 Talent, Iron Body!

Perfect!The prompt for searchable targets chimed in his ear.

Cheng Ye had never found those two words so pleasing, so delightful.

It was as if a slippery screw had suddenly caught its thread, slowly turning in a rusty nut, each rotation accompanied by the crisp sound of metal friction, sending a thrilling tingle through his scalp!

"Hold on, I need to calibrate the equipment."

After calming Dai Zun, Cheng Ye glanced at the detector but mentally activated the search function.

Lines of virtual text flickered on the panel.

Five seconds later, they formed a readable information panel.

[Dai Zun]

[Lv.1 Skills]: ...

[Lv.2 Skills]:

Talent: Iron Body (Rare, reduces pain perception, enhances physical resilience, grants immunity to some non-lethal injuries)

Talent: Firearm Affinity (Common, slightly improves firearm handling)

Skills: Cross Legion Standard Slash Technique (Common), Cross Legion Standard Shooting Technique (Common)

[Lv.3 Skills]: Locked

"?"

"There's even a grading system?"

Cheng Ye paused, surprised. When searching for Lv.1 skills, the panel listed everything in a jumble, overwhelming and hard to choose from.

But the Lv.2 interface was entirely different, not only categorizing talents and skills but also indicating quality levels, making their relative strength clear at a glance.

For instance, both were talents, but Iron Body glowed with a faint purple light, marked as [Rare].

Firearm Affinity, also a talent, shimmered with white light, labeled [Common].

"This is much clearer. No need to guess what a skill does based on its name anymore."

Perhaps because Dai Zun was too young, he hadn't mastered many Lv.2 skills, with only two Cross Legion standard skills listed on the panel.

Without hesitation, Cheng Ye focused his mind on the highest-level skill, Iron Body.

Cross-level searching had only a 25% success rate.

Yet, inexplicably, he felt certain this attempt would succeed.

Because Dai Zun, lying on the ground, wasn't cooperating out of fear or intimidation but out of a genuine desire to survive, trusting Cheng Ye from the bottom of his heart.

A faint purple hue enveloped the entire interface.

The panel began to flicker.

One second later.

The Civilization Collector did not disappoint!

[Search Successful]

[Civilization Collector has successfully recorded: Iron Body (Lv.2; Talent)]

"It actually worked?!"

The panel automatically switched, and Iron Body on Dai Zun's skill list shimmered, flickering as it copied to the equippable skill slot.

Uncontainable joy exploded in Cheng Ye's chest.

His thoughts seemed to freeze, overwhelmed by a flood of elation.

Though he had a hunch before the search, that feeling paled compared to seeing Iron Body appear in his personal panel's equippable skill slot!

"Inspector, sir?"

Dai Zun, puzzled by Cheng Ye's slightly trembling back, grew nervous. "Is something wrong with the equipment?"

"No, just give me a moment. The device is starting up."

Suppressing his joy, Cheng Ye responded.

He closed the panel, took two deep breaths, and finally calmed his surging emotions.

Whether Dai Zun was infected no longer required equipment to confirm.

But checkpoint protocol allowed no oversights, and skipping steps could raise suspicions.

Cheng Ye followed standard procedure, even cutting a tissue sample for testing.

After about ten minutes, Raven returned with the expected news.

"You're clear!"

Cheng Ye peeled off his rubber gloves, tossing them into the quarantine zone's trash bin like a basketball shot, then walked over with a smile.

"Huh?"

Dai Zun was stunned, doubting his ears until Cheng Ye repeated himself. His eyes widened, and uncontainable joy shattered all attempts at composure.

Outside the isolation door, Wu Rui's rigid posture stiffened further. His iron-tower-like frame shuddered, and his rough palm swiped across his face, slamming against the iron netting with a dull thud.

After so much tension.

His heart had been in his throat.

Thankfully, the outcome didn't disappoint!

"Captain Wu, I'm from the inner city too. I'm off duty now, so I'll escort him. No problem, right?"

Cheng Ye asked at the door. Wu Rui paused for a split second before nodding vigorously.

"No problem. I'll coordinate now. Take him to Happiness Gate, and someone will meet you there."

"Alright."

One more person meant one more round of inspection procedures. As Cheng Ye turned to leave, a voice called from behind.

"May I ask your surname, Inspector?"

"Cheng."

"Cheng... is Cheng Long your...?"

"My father."

A flicker of surprise crossed Wu Rui's face, quickly turning into knowing approval.

No way, Cheng Long is famous even in the Cross Legion?

Cheng Ye paused, surprised, but kept walking, instructing Owl and Raven to carry the stretcher and follow.

They exited through the isolation corridor, Dai Zun's pale face still etched with the daze of surviving a close call.

At the exit, Cheng Ye hesitated, then dialed Station Chief Downs' number.

By protocol, requisitioning a vehicle was within an inspector's authority, but this was the North Station, Western faction territory.

"Station Chief, here's the situation."

Cheng Ye briefly explained Dai Zun's case, preparing to justify the vehicle requisition, when hurried footsteps echoed through the receiver.

No one expected Downs to rush down from his office in person.

Normally, a station chief's direct involvement wasn't unusual, but with a duty station chief's death just that noon, approaching someone not fully cleared of infection risk was far from wise.

"Station Chief Downs, maybe... keep your distance?"

With a dozen steps to go, Cheng Ye called out a warning.

To his surprise, Downs scoffed, quickening his pace with a dismissive look, muttering, "When the checkpoint was founded, I cut the ribbon with your grandfather. You think I'm like He Fei?"

The checkpoint's founding?

Cheng Ye ignored Downs' boasting but caught a key detail.

His predecessor's grandfather was involved in the checkpoint's founding?

That impressive?

"Alright, he's not parasitized. I'm authorizing a vehicle. Get him to treatment quickly."

Downs crouched to inspect the wound, declaring confidently, then shot Cheng Ye an odd glance.

"First day, and you're stirring up the station, taking down an infected entity, and now saving a Cross Legion member. Even Cheng Long back then wasn't this capable."

"Uh..."

Cheng Ye took it as a compliment, not arguing.

But he knew Downs was warning him that his prominence today was excessive.

As the saying goes, too much brilliance invites backlash, likely drawing unwanted attention.

That said, Downs hadn't considered one thing from Cheng Ye's perspective.

"I'd love to keep a low profile, but too low, and I'm dead."

The Jinbei van roared out of the checkpoint, tires leaving a clear black mark on the ground.

Dai Zun coughed repeatedly from the jolts, blood foam seeping from his lips.

"Brother, slow down. We've got an injured man here."

Cheng Ye couldn't help but remind the driver, who eased off the gas, flashing an awkward smile.

Only for urgent missions like this did the higher-ups overlook power consumption.

For regular duties, strict standards applied. Exceeding power limits could mean deductions or outright dismissal, much like Old Era traffic enforcers getting kicked out for exceeding average fuel use.

"Buddy, can you still talk?"

"I can."

"Asking you something, doesn't break Cross Legion rules, does it?"

"Inspector, speak freely."

Dai Zun was curious about this inspector, younger than himself.

Cheng Ye didn't act like the checkpoint's seasoned veterans, who shirked responsibility and danger, cloaked in stifling bureaucracy.

A fearless rookie?

Yet, oddly, his actions were remarkably steady, lacking any trace of a newcomer's inexperience.

Even Captain Wu Rui followed his orders without feeling suppressed.

"My big brother, Liu Bi, is also an inspector. He went to support the hydroelectric station with an inner city engineering team two days ago. Any news on him?"

"Liu Bi..."

Dai Zun thought for a moment, then shook his head. "The Cross Legion guards the entire industrial zone, split into eight sectors. The hydroelectric station is in Sector B, while we guard Sector F, over ten kilometers apart. But don't worry, as of noon today, the hydroelectric station hadn't been invaded by infected entities."

Realizing Cheng Ye was unfamiliar with the industrial zone, Dai Zun gave a brief overview.

Due to the hydroelectric station's fluctuating energy supply, Happiness City ramps up production from early summer to mid-autumn to stockpile enough resources for winter and spring, both for self-use and trade.

Each mid-spring, the buffer zone recruits tens of thousands, sometimes over a hundred thousand, workers for the industrial zone.

By mid-autumn, when power output drops, workers are sent back to the buffer zone to prepare for winter.

Such large-scale personnel shifts naturally attract nearby infected entities, which swarm the industrial zone with relentless harassment and attacks.

"Too bad I transmigrated after the spring recruitment ended, missing that spectacle."

Cheng Ye sighed.

Each sanctuary city has tailored survival strategies, and Happiness City's "migratory production mode" is particularly ingenious, far surpassing other cities.

It not only bypasses the challenges of long-distance power transmission but also cleverly resolves the defensive dilemma between residential and industrial zones.

In summer and autumn, peak migration seasons, the industrial zone draws the attention of nearby infected entities, reducing the risk of infection tides triggered by population gatherings.

In winter and spring, when migrations slow, industrial zone workers return to the buffer zone, consolidating everyone in one place to maximize survival against infection tides.

"There’s no absolute good or bad, just trade-offs. Without an infection tide outbreak, it's stable, but this year..."

Dai Zun sighed. "Since the start of the year, infection tide outbreaks have surged several times over. Who knows what level of tide will hit Happiness City this winter!"