The carrot-and-stick approach never fails.

Cole and Hal didn’t dare make a move, scurrying to squat beside Ram.

Being locked in isolation at least offered a chance to survive, but if Cheng Ye shot them as infected entities now, they’d have no one to turn to.

“Sir…”

“Shut up!”

As Cheng Ye approached, Simo opened his mouth, only to be cut off ruthlessly.

“Whatever I do next, you endure it. Otherwise, it’s straight to isolation, got it?”

“Got it, sir!”

Realizing there was hope for survival, Simo’s weary eyes lit up with a spark of life.

Unlike the central checkpoint, which only tested temperature, heart rate, and respiratory rate for drifters, isolating or expelling anyone with abnormal data, the rapid inspection station dealt mostly with Happiness City residents. To balance efficiency and accuracy, it was equipped with additional detection tools.

Cheng Ye swiped his badge over a black box on the desk.

Click.

The lock popped open, revealing two rarely used, pristine instruments, a scalpel, and a metal tray.

Dual-Mode Vital Signs Detector.

Corrupt Light Metabolism Detector.

The former, a handheld imaging device, displayed a real-time approximation of the subject’s internal structure on a rear screen.

The latter specialized in wound detection: under specific wavelengths, infected areas glowed visibly. If matched to the infection source database, the fluorescence was a glaring red; if unmatched, it showed normal green.

Sounds useful, but why were they pristine?

Simple: they weren’t necessary.

Quarantine Zone A held nearly three hundred people. While some were infected, at least 95% were clean—otherwise, who’d dare venture out?

But few inspectors were willing to take responsibility. When faced with abnormal data and unclear reasons, most preferred to label it high infection risk and toss the person into isolation for a while.

Whether they survived wasn’t their concern.

If questioned, they had a ready excuse, “We’re protecting the buffer zone’s hundreds of thousands. We can’t risk everyone for one person, right?”

“Can you still move?”

“Yes!”

“Follow my instructions and rotate your body.”

The dual-mode referred to microfocus CT and photoacoustic imaging modules.

Cheng Ye had never seen these in the modern world; this was his first time using them.

The displayed images were impressively clear, only slightly less sharp than hospital scans.

On the screen, a gray 3D model of a person rotated, the right leg glowing with a faint red warning.

After internal processing and magnification, the bite marks showed radially torn muscle fibers, with eroded tissue at the wound’s edges resembling acid-corroded sponge.

Other body parts showed circular or irregular high-density shadows, bleeding spots due to hemoglobin’s density.

“No issues, just the leg bite. The rest are bruises and scrapes.”

Cheng Ye exhaled slightly.

The narrative checked out, so the focus of infection detection shifted to the wound’s characteristics.

With only the leg wound, the likelihood of infection dropped significantly.

As Big B had said, infected entity attacks were chaotic. Once they locked onto a target, they’d pounce like rabid dogs, never fixating on just one spot.

Time for the Corrupt Light Metabolism Detector!

A pale green light shone on the leg wound, soon displaying green fluorescence, no red in sight.

This meant if the wound was from an infected entity, it could only be an unregistered one, like the Corrupt Vine.

The probability of infection dropped further.

“One last step. I need to cut a piece of your flesh. Can you handle it?”

“What?”

Simo froze, then broke into irrepressible joy.

What did he hear? The final step?

My God, was this inspector an angel sent by the heavens?

“Cut whatever you want, sir! Take the whole leg, I can handle it!”

“Not that dramatic, just a small piece.”

Cheng Ye forced a smile, not to ease Simo’s nerves but his own.

Shooting infected entities didn’t faze him; they weren’t human in his mind, just monsters, no different from hitting a dummy.

But cutting into a living person? That made him uneasy.

Thankfully, the scalpel in the box was razor-sharp. Cheng Ye lightly sliced a piece of flesh the size of a pinky nail from the wound’s edge.

Surprisingly, Simo showed no reaction, making Cheng Ye marvel inwardly.

Impressive.

If it were those “Candy Super Sweet” boy band types, they’d probably be howling three miles away by now.

“Raven, take this sample for infection source matching. Hurry!”

“Understood, sir!”

While the four underwent inspection, Raven and Owl had been waiting outside the isolation gate.

From an observer’s perspective, they couldn’t fathom why Cheng Ye bothered so much for ordinary people.

But from a commoner’s view, their feelings were complex, unsure how to judge.

They rushed the sample to the testing building in Zone E for analysis.

Time ticked by.

Ten minutes later, Raven returned, slipping a note through the gate.

“Problem?”

Cheng Ye frowned, but the note read “normal.”

He realized Raven was sharp, announcing it aloud would steal his thunder. Letting him declare the result showed workplace savvy.

“Alright, you three, stop sneaking peeks. Get dressed and come here.”

Back at the desk, Cheng Ye spoke softly.

The next second, the three sprang up like they had springs in their feet, rushing to Simo’s side.

“Thank you, sir! Thank you!”

Their tearful embrace made Cheng Ye’s throat catch, unsure what to say.

What a ridiculous world.

He’d only done his job, following the inspector’s manual to the letter, yet they treated him like a deity.

It’s not that I’m too good; this checkpoint’s rotten to the core.

Cheng Ye mused, then shifted his thoughts.

If this was the culture throughout Happiness City, what would he do if he faced a similar situation, forced to beg for his life?

“The sense of crisis is maxed out. No wonder everyone in the buffer zone climbs upward to avoid that day.”

As the four’s crying subsided, Cheng Ye refocused.

“What was that thing you said you’d give me?”

“Oh, right, meteorite iron! We got it from Qingstone Settlement!”

Cole slapped his head, hurrying to the van’s rear to pull out a fist-sized black ore.

“Look, sir, this stuff’s tough. We don’t know its composition. Keep it for fun?”

“Meteorite iron?”

Cheng Ye pinched the ore, feeling a cold, hard texture.

It looked unremarkable compared to the Fire-Iron he’d seen before.

“I’ll have Master Liu check it out when I pick up my weapon the day after tomorrow.”

Cheng Ye nodded, satisfied.

Without the action function, this raw ore would be useless to him.

But with action, finding a forging skill and equipment could let him craft weapons freely.

“I’ll keep this, but take these Happiness Coins back.”

Cheng Ye pushed the six coins across the desk.

Happiness Coins weren’t much use in the buffer zone; he needed contribution points for what he wanted. Besides, the coins Cheng Long left would take ages to spend.

“Sir…”

“Fine, I’ll keep one to ease your minds.”

Seeing their pleading looks, Cheng Ye sighed helplessly. “If you find more ores like this, bring them to me. My communicator ID is 96061.”

“You got it, sir! Rest assured, any ores we find, you’ll get first dibs!”

Cole’s eyes lit up.

A chance to connect with an inspector was once-in-a-lifetime. Even if it was a dog at the desk—cough—well, power was power.

But truth be told, Cheng Ye was different from other inspectors.

The four exchanged glances, their eyes gleaming with joy. The lithium deposit’s reward would provide a hefty startup fund, and linking up with a reliable inspector would save them countless headaches.

After nearly five years of scraping by in Happiness City, this could be their ticket to soaring!

“Hurry and get him treated. Move fast; that leg might still be saved.”

“Thank you, sir.”

The four nodded repeatedly. Cole dashed to the driver’s seat, starting the van, while Hal helped the others back to the rear.

Cheng Ye pressed a button, and the exit gate slid open.

But just as Cole waved excitedly, about to hit the gas—

Boom.

The freshly opened gate slammed shut with a deafening metallic clang.

At the same time, a piercing alarm blared through the checkpoint—two long beeps, two short, echoing relentlessly in the open space.

“What’s happening?”

The four looked up, stunned, only to see Cheng Ye and the Zone B inspector leap to their feet in shock.

Like a bomb had dropped, the alarm triggered hundreds of armed guards to pour out of the four quarantine zones, on high alert!

“Two long, two short—the checkpoint’s highest alert. Either an infected tide is coming, or…”

Cheng Ye whipped around, the four following his gaze.

On the checkpoint’s machine gun tower, two flags now hung.

One blood-red, one paper-white.

This meant…

“Red for danger, white for sacrifice. Both flags raised together…”

Cheng Ye’s voice sank. “A duty station chief has been killed!?”