The bus smoothly drove into the Works Department, traveling all the way unobstructed to the parking and charging area.

When the weather turned cold, the battery consumption of electric vehicles immediately skyrocketed.

All the charging stations in a row were occupied. After waiting a few minutes, one bus slowly drove away, freeing up a charging spot.

The remaining vehicles seemed to be planning to stay overnight, waiting until early morning to unplug and pack up.

Master Zhang's bus had been charged during the day, and the dashboard showed 81% battery remaining, more than enough to run four hundred kilometers.

But when he heard Cheng Ye say they needed to plug in and reserve a spot, then top off the battery before leaving, Master Zhang didn't hesitate at all and directly followed the instructions.

"I'll go charge up, you and Big Dragon go find pots and some seasonings."

"Alright."

Although it was strange why Cheng Ye was so concerned about charging, Master Zhang didn't suspect anything and happily left with Big Dragon.

There weren't seasonings in other places, but the Works Department should have some. Using Cheng Ye's reputation, finding some would be simple.

After everyone left, Cheng Ye removed the charging head and inserted his pendant, swiping his card to start charging.

[Current energy replenishment efficiency: Normal (Lv.3 energy)]

[Time remaining until full charge: 3.42h]

The notification flashed briefly on the interface.

This time Cheng Ye didn't plan to leave at 80%, but was preparing to fully charge the pendant.

After all, there was no garage in Quarantine District B, and plugging into a regular outlet at home would only replenish about 5% overnight, which was too slow.

Liu Kun could come over anytime in the next couple of days, so it was more reassuring to fully charge the energy value.

However, three and a half hours was still somewhat excessive. Fortunately, he could use eating and drinking to kill some time.

Entering the rest hall.

The heavy glass doors blocked out the cold air from outside.

Before long, Engineer Liu arrived hurriedly with two apprentices.

It was late at night and they had already gotten off work, but were called back by one phone call from Cheng Ye. Normally, they should have been resentful.

However, when they heard on the phone that there would be beef to eat and fish soup to drink, and they could even take some salted fish home afterward, the three of them didn't hesitate at all and rushed right over.

Of course, they still maintained the appearance of being respectful servants ready to appear whenever the Inspector needed them.

"Inspector Cheng, are you planning to make modifications today?"

Engineer Liu rubbed his hands, placed the blueprint folder on the table, his tone carrying a hint of professional nervousness.

For clients, modifying blueprints was just a matter of saying a few words, but they had to measure, draw, verify parameters, adjust structural nodes, update material lists. Every step had to be watched as carefully as embroidering, and any mistake could cause problems during completion.

In the old era, if problems occurred, at most they would arrest the person in charge and be done with it.

But in the wasteland, if problems arose, nobody from top to bottom could escape.

"No rush, I'm not modifying blueprints today. I want to hear suggestions from you industry insiders, just chatting while having a meal. I've been troubling you quite a bit lately too."

Cheng Ye smiled with narrowed eyes, leaned back in his chair, his tone relaxed. "The pedestrian street demolition is almost complete these past couple days, and you're almost finished with the planning drawings too. Construction will start soon. My thoughts alone are limited after all, so I need to listen to yours more, trying to get it right in one go so we don't have to keep revising later."

"Our thoughts?"

Engineer Liu was stunned, instinctively pushing up the glasses on his nose bridge, hiding the surprise in his eyes.

But the two apprentices behind him exchanged glances, both showing expressions of disbelief.

After all their interactions during this period, who didn't know that Inspector Cheng was the type who made decisions without room for argument?

The planning drawings had been revised three times, and each time he had made the final decision. Why was he suddenly wanting to hear their opinions today?

Cheng Ye observed their reactions and understood in his heart. "Don't be formal, sit down. You run around the construction site every day, so you definitely know better than I do where drainage ditches should be placed and where foundations need reinforcement. For example, that area of temporary shops, I originally wanted to make them all flat-roofed for a uniform, attractive appearance, but after today's heavy rain and passing through the shantytown, I realized... don't you think sloped roofs would be more practical?"

On the road to and from the inspection station, Cheng Ye hadn't just been looking at the scenery outside the window.

As a proper architecture graduate with top marks, what he lacked was practical experience, not a pair of eyes that could spot problems and knowledge reserves.

"Sloped roofs are indeed better, but they require thirty percent more materials and two additional days of construction time."

Engineer Liu frowned in thought, his fingers unconsciously tapping the blueprint folder. "How about this? Keep the flat roofs, but add a thirty-centimeter eave at the cornice, then dig a hidden drainage channel along the back wall of the shops, connecting directly to the main drainage system. The eaves can block diagonal rain, the hidden channel drains water discreetly, and it won't interfere with laying floor tiles on the walkway in front of the shops. Practical and material-saving!"

"Eaves..."

Cheng Ye frowned in thought. After not using his brain for just over three months, he felt like his previous knowledge was almost completely gone.

Seeing him thinking seriously, Engineer Liu became even more curious.

In this entire buffer zone, he had never heard of any inspector being familiar with the construction industry.

"Engineer Liu."

"Yes."

"What material are you planning to use for this roof?"

"Color steel sheets." Engineer Liu answered decisively. "Lightweight, easy to replace, and simple for later maintenance. Most practical in the buffer zone."

"Hmm."

Cheng Ye gestured an angle with his fingertip in the air. "Then the inclination angle of the eaves must coordinate with the edge treatment at the cornice. Color steel sheets have poor toughness. If you just fold the angle directly, rainwater will seep in through the sheet joints during heavy rain, and it'll rust through in less than half a month, making rework even more troublesome."

"This issue?" Engineer Liu's eyes lit up. "So we need to add an L-shaped angle steel lining at the fold, both to increase bending strength and allow water to flow directly down the lining to the ground. This is especially practical under low-maintenance conditions."

What the two were discussing was precisely the curtain wall principle commonly used in industrial plants.

The two apprentices listened with wide eyes, originally thinking Inspector Cheng was just asking casually, but unexpectedly this Inspector Cheng actually understood these practical operational details?!

"So you're planning to use drop treatment for the hidden channel structure?"

"Drop treatment?"

"The hidden channel itself has elevation differences. If rainwater directly scours the channel walls when flowing into the main channel, it easily accumulates blockages. During normal light rain, it can still be cleared, but if there's continuous heavy rain and still needs cleaning, people would have to jump into the channel to dig out mud."

After speaking, Cheng Ye completely forgot he had come to listen to opinions and unconsciously resumed his client authority. "It's best to place three-level stepped concrete blocks at the junction, with each level having a 5-centimeter drop. Also, the inner walls of the hidden channel need surface treatment, plastering with cement mortar to a thickness of 20 millimeters, compacted and smoothed."

"This way, the inner walls are smooth, water flow resistance is low, reducing siltation, and it can also enhance impermeability, preventing rainwater from seeping into surrounding foundations and affecting the structural stability of nearby buildings."

"Oh, you're talking about multi-level energy dissipation!"

Engineer Liu slapped his thigh with sudden realization. "I suggested this method when I was repairing the wastewater treatment pool last time, but the budget was tight then, and this approach required nearly 15% more in material costs, so it was rejected by the higher-ups with 'unnecessary'..."

"The pedestrian street budget cannot be skimped on. You must build it to the most durable standards for me. If materials aren't enough, just report to me. A budget increase isn't a problem. Since we're building, let's build something that can last ten or twenty years, not something that needs to be torn down and redone in a couple years, which is purely wasteful of manpower and materials."

"Sigh, if I had known earlier that you understood these technical details..."

Engineer Liu smacked his lips. "In our line of work, the biggest headache is budget reporting. Change a design, add a material, and the budget numbers just keep climbing up. When you encounter leaders who don't understand the industry, you can talk yourself hoarse explaining and it's useless. If I had known earlier that you were knowledgeable, I would have spoken directly about these requirements."

"Don't worry, my budget here is definitely sufficient. In the future, I plan to make this pedestrian street into a landmark building of the buffer zone, not only practical but also presentable."

Cheng Ye made no effort to hide his ambition.

Investing twenty thousand contribution points, if it only resulted in some barely usable shops that improved the lives of Tianyuan Community residents a little, it wouldn't meet the Elder's expectations at all.

The so-called making 50% of communities envious was just talk for fools.

The real intention, combined with the ideals the Idealist faction was promoting in the buffer zone, Cheng Ye could roughly guess that the elder wanted the buffer zone residents to see new hope and new development direction!

In this case, whether for community development, cultivating influence early, or maintaining ideals to accumulate capital for himself, he had to create something truly impressive.

Since they were building, they should build big and build special.

The pedestrian street had to become the "face" of the buffer zone, the first stop for visiting merchant caravans, a place all residents and scavengers would want to visit regularly. Only then would the money be spent on the cutting edge.

He had a vague premonition that even if the current budget was already over, as long as he achieved the effect he wanted, the inner city elders would definitely not be stingy with second and third investments.

When that time came, not to mention more, just getting several tens of thousands more points would recover all the early investment.

"Good, since you put it that way, I actually have some ideas too."

Engineer Liu gritted his teeth. Rarely encountering someone knowledgeable, all those ideas and inspirations in his head that had been suppressed by budget and schedule constraints bubbled up like foam.

Some ordinary architectural details were still understandable, but as they talked, it became things like, "I think we can add solar panels to the rooftops. They might not be practical in summer and autumn, but in winter and spring when electricity is charged for, the power generated by solar panels can both supply the shops and be sold back to the city grid, creating sustainable development."

"This is good, we can add it, and best to get some energy storage equipment too!"

Cheng Ye immediately approved the decision, delighting Engineer Liu so much his teeth showed but not his eyes.

The two apprentices suddenly became somewhat dumbfounded. When they came, Engineer Liu had warned them that tonight they must be cautious in word and deed, whatever Cheng Ye said was final, and they should try not to express any opinions.

But now, Engineer Liu himself was talking with flying spittle, where did he remember about being cautious in word and deed?

After a while, the rest hall door was pushed open, and four large iron pots were carried in.

Master Zhang followed behind carrying a bulging cloth bag. "Inspector Cheng, we found seasonings, quite a lot, they say they make the stewed meat very fragrant!"

"Rest first, boil water, cook meat, eat while we talk."

After the discussion with Engineer Liu, Cheng Ye was somewhat excited. That fulfilling feeling of gradually implementing the ideas in his head onto blueprints was even more satisfying than taking down Zhang Can, the high-level fusion body.

After all, in the wasteland, construction was the main theme, and combat was always something that erupted only when forced into desperation.

However, charging still needed nearly two hours, so they couldn't just sit around making awkward conversation after finishing the planning discussion.

The induction cookers hummed to life. The rest hall's wiring was connected to industrial lines, so four stoves operating simultaneously didn't even make the lights flicker.

Before long, the water in the pots was bubbling, and Big Dragon lifted up half a hind leg of Yaksha Bull, skillfully chopped it into large pieces and threw them into the pot.

As soon as the meat entered the pot, a layer of fine blood foam appeared.

Strangely, after the blood foam formed clumps, it actually gave off a faint delicate fragrance, not the fishy smell of ordinary beef, but carrying a hint of fresh vegetation.

"This smell is absolutely amazing!"

Big Dragon sniffed and used chopsticks to dip some blood foam into his mouth. "Sir, this beef seems unusual. It tastes..."

For a moment, he was at a loss for words, not knowing how to describe this flavor.

Cheng Ye simply moved close to the pot and similarly dipped a bit into his mouth.

Mm.

How to describe it?

It was somewhat like the yak meat he had eaten in western Sichuan, naturally carrying a special fragrance.

But this fragrance wasn't meat fragrance, but rather a rich floral and herbal aroma.

"With such good taste, how could it still be living in Hai Province?"

Cheng Ye couldn't help being surprised.

Supposedly in the wasteland, mutant beasts that were delicious and didn't have hard shells should have been hunted almost to extinction by scavengers long ago.

Even ant wolves were delicacies on scavengers' tables.

It seemed that in Hai Province, this type of Yaksha Bull should also be uncommon, a rare species.

Unexpectedly, after crossing through the fog passage to the inspection station, six of them came at once.

"Hai Province?"

Engineer Liu came over. "There are few people in Hai Province because it's right next to the sealed zone. Over the years, I've heard of people migrating to other places from there, but never anyone who would run over there."

"No wonder."

Cheng Ye raised an eyebrow and didn't say more.

Four pots: one for stewing meat, one for cooking fish soup.

For the remaining two pots, everyone gathered around. Without any seasonings, they just put thinly sliced raw beef into the boiling water for a quick dip. When the edges of the meat slices curled slightly, they would scoop them out and stuff them into their mouths while hot.

For people accustomed to eating heavily flavored food, eating this way was inevitably somewhat bland and tasteless.

But after drinking so much nutritional paste, the chewy beef falling into their mouths was so fragrant it made their eyes light up.

Master Zhang's seasoning bag contained chili powder. Cheng Ye pinched some to dip and taste, but felt the spiciness destroyed the natural fresh fragrance of the Yaksha beef, so he put down the seasoning dish and only ate the original flavor.

"Everyone eat freely, eat as much as you can, and I'll give you some to take when we leave."

When Cheng Ye said this, everyone said "we wouldn't dare" with their mouths, but their chopsticks didn't stop.

Steam rolled in the light, making everyone's faces red.

Engineer Liu enthusiastically told interesting stories collected from the construction site, Big Dragon picked up the thread and told amusing incidents from when the corps built the dock, and Master Zhang, who had driven trucks and traveled north and south in his youth, also joined in telling strange tales from surrounding provinces.

Only Cheng Ye and the two apprentices were listening, but the latter only had eyes for the meat in the pots and weren't paying attention to these stories at all.

Outside.

The fog seemed to have thickened again. Even the searchlights on the rest hall could only illuminate a short section of light beam, and visibility continued to decrease.

They ate for a full two hours, and by the time it was almost midnight.

Only then did everyone touch their round bellies and contentedly put down their chopsticks.

The two apprentices leaned back in their chairs, without even the strength to speak, with unwiped meat broth still on the corners of their mouths.

"Big Dragon, cook some more beef, and bring some back for Elder Song to taste."

"Right away."

Big Dragon immediately stood up, skillfully adding water to the pot and throwing in two more large pieces of meat.

Cheng Ye didn't plan to distribute the 85 bags of dried salted fish.

This stuff kept well and was essential supplies for winter, so it needed to be stored carefully.

But Yaksha beef was different. What mattered was freshness, and it would spoil if kept too long, so it was better to distribute it while fresh.

"Engineer Liu, each of you three master and apprentices take a piece home to treat your families."

Engineer Liu quickly waved his hands. "How could we be so shameless, we've already eaten so much of yours..."

"Take it."

Cheng Ye placed a piece weighing over ten pounds to the side. "Revising blueprints is also mentally taxing, so replenish yourselves."

The other two apprentices got less, five pounds each.

He also cut two more large pieces, both weighing twenty pounds, one for Luo Xiaoxue and another for Miao Yang.

"Big Dragon, take the rest back to process and give the residents some meat."

"Good, I'll thank Inspector Cheng on everyone's behalf."

Big Dragon happily agreed. With outsiders present, he finally didn't continue with pleasantries.

"Alright, you all continue eating. I'll go out for a walk to get some air. All this eating has made me sweaty."

Cheng Ye raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead and pushed open the door toward the bus.

The steam in the hall was too thick, and with the heated discussion earlier, his back shirt had long been soaked. Being blown by the cold wind actually gave a refreshing coolness.

Moreover, just now, the pendant had finally sent the notification that it was fully charged. This was the first time since activation that he had fully charged the energy value.

If it was just level 1 skills, he could search five times.

At worst, searching for items and investing all the energy value should greatly improve the success rate.

"If this still can't find anything, it would only prove I'm still too far from transcendent beings."

Taking out the pendant, Cheng Ye plugged the bus back into charging.

A thunk sound.

The charging station activated. He turned to return to the hall to rest a bit more, but his steps suddenly stopped, and his expression instantly turned cold.

At some unknown time, thick fog had once again swept across the entire parking lot.

In just the time it took to charge, visibility had dropped to less than fifty meters, and even the buses charging in the distance were only vague outlines.

But what really made his heart sink was the direction of the Works Department.

Heavy clouds and fog had completely swallowed all three buildings, including the rest hall, which had also disappeared into the mist.

"Is this endless, coming for me again?"

A flash of killing intent crossed Cheng Ye's brow, and he yanked open the bus door, opened his backpack and began assembling parts.

Click click several sounds.

Two long guns were quickly assembled, the heavy gun bodies pressed into his palms, and extra magazines were efficiently clipped to his belt.

Faint rustling sounds came from the fog, like something scraping against the ground, or perhaps hallucinations.

"Starting tomorrow, I should bring battle armor to work."

Cheng Ye took a deep breath, and the interface flashed in the upper right corner of his vision.

Dragon Force was unloaded, freeing up a slot to equip Iron Body at any time to enter pseudo-embryonic state.

Walking down from the bus door, left hand holding the Ranger in reverse grip, right hand holding the Thunder-1, he slowly walked toward the rest hall.

Never mind Yaksha Bull or mutant beasts, even if high-level fusion bodies came, they would first have to endure a round of fire suppression.

The moment he contacted the fog passage, a weak pulling sensation wrapped around him, like invisible hands gently tugging at his clothes from behind.

But after taking two more steps forward, the pulling sensation suddenly disappeared, replaced by a strange pushing sensation, as if someone was pushing his spine with their palm from behind.

The further forward he went, the stronger this pushing sensation became, but just before Cheng Ye could feel uncomfortable.

Hum.

A ripple flashed by, and the pushing force instantly disappeared without a trace. The fog so thick it couldn't dissolve was also parted like invisible hands, and visibility suddenly improved several times.

Everything in front became clear.

In the rest hall, Big Dragon, Engineer Liu, and a group of young men gathered together, not showing the vigilance he had imagined, but rather crowding curiously in front of the wall facing away from the main door.

Hearing footsteps behind them, they turned to see Cheng Ye walking in with guns, and only then did everyone react.

"Sir, this... this rest hall has opened a fog passage!"

"Fog passage?!"

Cheng Ye's heart tightened as he turned his head in the direction Big Dragon's finger pointed.

He saw that the side wall had somehow cracked open a huge oval gap, over three meters high, almost reaching the ceiling, and the width occupied the entire wall, at least five meters long.

The edges of the gap glowed with faint white mist, like being wrapped in flowing light gauze, but the middle had been forcibly carved out into a passage, clear enough to see the scenery on the other side.

It was a spacious cement street with bright streetlights standing on both sides, walls covered with dark green vines, showing a vitality that Happiness City didn't have.

Even more shocking was that several people were also crowded on the other side of the passage, wearing clean gray-blue uniforms, looking across the fog passage toward this side, their faces also filled with curiosity and unease.

From their expressions, obviously both sides had already had a simple round of communication.

"Is it a sanctuary city?"

"Yes!" Engineer Liu nodded heavily, his tone carrying several parts realization and excitement.

"They say they are... from Xinghuo Sanctuary City!"

[NEXT CHAPTER]