For once, Lee Matteo didn’t act like a slacker. As he spoke his final words, he seemed to glow.

It perfectly illustrated that true loyalty stems only from shared interests and deep bonds.

“By your logic…” Cheng Ye frowned, pondering. “But the Central Station’s external mission board only lists delivery, reconnaissance, patrols, and supporting inner city operations?”

“What do you think faction alignment is for?” Lee Matteo snorted. “Easterners’ missions are assigned by Station Chief Ding, Westerners’ by Station Chief Harlin. If you stay neutral like me, you grind through grunt-work missions to earn contributions.”

“But join a faction, and the juicy assignments never stop. Plenty of ways to rack up points.”

So that’s the perk of picking a side?

Cheng Ye jolted, suddenly grasping the checkpoint’s underlying logic.

“Your grandfather, Cheng Wu, was one of Happiness City’s founding elders,” Lee Matteo continued. “Back then, he was a true high-ranking figure. Shame he never awakened transcendence, so he and other elders voluntarily moved to the outer district, what we now call the buffer zone.”

Cheng Wu again?

Cheng Ye’s inherited memories held no trace of this name, not even much of Cheng Long. After age ten, he saw his father maybe once every two or three years, always at Happiness Gate’s passage, where Cheng Long would exchange a few hurried words before leaving.

“This checkpoint was built by their generation,” Lee Matteo said. “Strictly speaking, without the first-generation inspectors risking their lives, Happiness City wouldn’t be what it is today.”

“The inner city thrived in the chaotic early New Era because of their protection, absorbing populations, advancing industry, and outpacing others to dominate Shi Province and beyond.”

“Many shelters and settlements now mimic our checkpoint system but can’t crack its essence. Their inspectors are just inner city lapdogs, power’s puppets, not partners in progress. They lack the guts to fight for authority or the strength to enforce it, so their systems collapse under any strain.”

Puppets versus partners.

Two words, worlds apart.

Cheng Ye gave Lee Matteo a curious glance. “And the current situation?”

“Inspectors are declining with each generation. As long as the old-timers are still around, we’re not quite puppets, but we’re drifting further from partners. Look around, how many here are just scrambling for power?”

He nodded toward the room. “The inner city’s leadership is weakening too, and their fights are fierce. One faction pushes to embrace transcendence, cultivating elite fighters to crush infected with force. The other wants to expand tech and industry, building a safe joint survival zone to block infected.”

Lee Matteo chuckled softly. “Then there’s neutral idealists like me, dreaming of happiness and safety for residents—cutting utility fees, controlling prices, pushing welfare policies. We’re the checkpoint’s biggest supporters.”

“Hm.”

Cheng Ye didn’t jab this time. Happiness City’s idealists had helped him immensely, enabling the collector’s activation and rapid searches. Lee Matteo, for all his slacking, was better than brainless climbers like Garcia.

“How many old-timers are left?”

“About a third, mostly on external missions. They’ll trickle back in autumn.”

So, around 50? Cheng Ye nodded slightly. With three checkpoints, each needing eight inspectors per cycle, only 24 were required. If veterans hogged spots, newbies had no shot. Summer and autumn’s lower infected numbers also left room for training, explaining why he could start duty at North Station immediately—veterans made way for rookies.

“What about my father? What kind was he?”

“Your father…” Lee Matteo swallowed, shaking his head, reverting to his slippery slacker mode. “Can’t judge him. He’s a remarkable man. Without certain… issues, he’d be head station chief, no question.”

“If you want answers, ask Liu Bi. He’s fourth-stage, I’m third. He can speak freely; I can’t.”

“Fine.” Cheng Ye sensed a big secret tied to Cheng Long, especially the Civilization Collector.

“By the way, can you bring family into the inner city?”

“No way,” Lee Matteo said firmly. “The higher-ups allow inspectors refuge based on personal contributions. Your family didn’t bleed for the city, why should they get in?”

“Not even fourth or fifth-stage?”

“Not even Station Chief Ding can bring family. It’s a hard rule set by the first inspectors, a matter of principle.”

“What about your family?”

“In the inner city, of course.” Lee Matteo looked puzzled. “The rule bans bringing family in, not families already there. My wife and kids are inner city folk… wait, didn’t you grow up there? Why ask?”

So that’s why his predecessor lived in the inner city?

Cheng Ye had an epiphany. He’d thought Cheng Long pulled strings to get him in, not that Cheng Long started a family there. His mother died in childbirth, leaving only vague photos in memory, and Cheng Long left his son in the inner city, barely checking in.

The first day outside, the “real” world scared his predecessor to death.

“Oh.” Lee Matteo slapped his head, miming a self-slap. “My bad, shouldn’t have said that.”

“What about fourth-stage privileges?”

“Fourth-stage…” Lee Matteo hesitated, squeezing out four words with a grudging tone: “Transcendent opportunity!”

Dong.

Dong!

The class bell rang, silencing the hall’s chatter.

The study session wasn’t just for off-duty inspectors. The back rows held dozens of blue-armband observers and key staff.

The projector stand scraped harshly against the concrete floor.

Cheng Ye barely noticed, still reeling from Lee Matteo’s bombshell.

Compared to transcendent opportunities and the purpose of external missions, third-stage inner city access seemed trivial.

“Happiness City’s raising special infected entities?” Cheng Ye’s mind reeled.

Per Lee Matteo, it wasn’t about humans contracting the S-series virus to trigger transcendence. Happiness City secretly bred special infected entities. Transcendent plants growing on them matured slowly, harvested every 5-8 years. Yields determined distribution amounts.

The last round gave fourth-stage inspectors about 5 grams each.

Though small, it could activate latent transcendent genes in humans, varying by individual.

The last successful activation was 11 years ago, when duty station chief Liu Kun awakened, joining the inner city’s Defense Bureau as director. His rise elevated the checkpoint’s status, stripping power from the Security Bureau, which dissolved eight years ago, leaving the checkpoint dominant.

Before that, 13 years ago, before Ding Yishan’s tenure, head station chief Reagan Carl awakened—nobody knew how. He resigned as head chief, becoming the industrial zone’s executive, now a tech faction heavyweight with immense power.

Their meteoric rises, wielding both transcendent power and authority, fueled inspectors’ ambitions.

“So the East-West feud is about… transcendence and the power it brings?”

With enough pieces, Cheng Ye saw the root of the conflict. From fourth-stage to station chief, each rank-up didn’t transform power but granted more transcendent plants for activation.

The last opportunity was five years ago, and Ding Yishan, in office nearly a decade, missed his shot. With Easterners weakened, Harlin wouldn’t pass up climbing higher.

“And transcendence is right beside me?”

Realizing transcendence was attainable through steady rank-ups, Cheng Ye’s heart blazed. But he didn’t plan to climb conventionally, waiting for inner city handouts.

With his search ability, he’d seize fully formed transcendent powers!

He hadn’t known who the transcendents were, but Lee Matteo named two prime targets: Liu Kun and Reagan Carl.

“One East, one West. You better not cross this inspector someday.”

Repeating their names, Cheng Ye burned them into memory, then forced down his surging excitement.

Even the weakest transcendent ability outstripped Iron Body, likely Lv.3 or Lv.4, beyond his collector’s current search capacity.

The priority was climbing ranks, clearing the trainee phase fast.

“Cheng Ye, Cheng Ye!” Lee Matteo nudged him under the table with his knee, whispering, “The overseers are here. Don’t slack, or you’ll be made an example.”

“Overseers?” Cheng Ye looked up, following Lee Matteo’s gesture. Two figures entered the hall: Eastern fifth-stage inspector Qiao Yuan and Western fifth-stage inspector Dario Haven.

Catching Cheng Ye’s gaze, Qiao Yuan nodded slightly, offering a faintly friendly look but maintaining the typical leader’s aloof air, scanning the room.

Dario Haven’s reaction caught Cheng Ye off guard. The Western inspector smiled warmly, like he was eyeing a promising junior.

Huh? Hallucinating?

Cheng Ye quickly looked away, sensing that lingering eye contact might prompt Dario to come chat.

“Don’t stare. Listen, even if it’s boring, act serious,” Lee Matteo advised, lips barely moving but voice clear. “Heard someone dozed off yesterday, got called out, and had to answer questions on stage. With only colleagues, it’s fine, but with all these observers and staff watching, it’s humiliating.”

As he spoke, applause erupted from the Eastern faction’s front rows.

Cheng Ye’s eyes sharpened, joining the clapping. The first lecturer was Luo Xiaoxue.

Though Liu Bi was an Eastern faction oddball, they gave her respect for the faction’s face, joined by Eastern observers and staff.

The Western faction, however, was indifferent to her entrance, some even sneering.

“No surprise, this is just the start,” Lee Matteo said. “The next transcendent opportunity is over a year away, post-winter, next spring. That’s when the real fight begins.”

Uninvolved in faction disputes, Lee Matteo clapped with Cheng Ye, drawing glares from Westerners. He seemed to relish the attention.

Each lecturer had five minutes. Luo Xiaoxue covered a hydrophilic infected entity she’d faced, concisely sharing countermeasures.

As she stepped down, the back curtain lifted, and the next lecturer appeared—an old warrior, met with cold indifference from both factions. No applause greeted him, and none followed his talk, despite its merits from Cheng Ye’s view.

“What a harsh hierarchy,” Cheng Ye sighed inwardly, his gaze shifting to the curtain entrance, spotting the waiting lecturers.

Wait, didn’t Uncle Dong say he was off to settle a wish last night? Why’s he here?