After leaving the residential complex, Cheng Ye took out his defense communicator and glanced at it.

As expected, the medical application had already been approved by the inspection station, and they had assigned him a dedicated medical facility.

The 'Happiness' Medical Center.

Clicking on the location, it was in the southern outskirts of the buffer zone, not far from the South Station either.

"There are currently eight medical centers still operating in the buffer zone."

Jiang Chuan quickly caught up and explained. The two had a tacit understanding not to expose what had just happened.

With this layer of understanding established, he now truly regarded himself as a clerk sent by the inspection station to escort someone, his tone carrying the steady confidence of someone familiar with the process.

Cheng Ye wasn't being polite either. Having someone who understood the situation to guide him would surely save a lot of trouble.

Their conversation became more natural.

"Besides the five public medical centers, the other three are for internal use, belonging to the three major legions, with each legion occupying one." Jiang Chuan explained as they walked. "The inspection station uses the Happiness Legion's medical center. Their soldiers basically never get injured, and even when they occasionally do, they go to the inner city for treatment rather than coming to the buffer zone, so this place is relatively idle."

"Then how are medical costs calculated? Do we use contribution points or Happiness coins?"

"Medical costs?"

Jiang Chuan was stunned for a moment and couldn't help but laugh. "Inspector Cheng is fortunate. It seems you've never been to a medical center. In our Happiness City, whether in the inner city or buffer zone, all medical centers are free. As long as you have resident identification, you can receive treatment."

"Completely free?"

"Yes."

"What if someone is reckless and gets injured fighting or brawling with others? Can they still get free treatment?"

"Any situation is covered. All costs are borne by Happiness City."

Good heavens.

He hadn't expected that the idealists would not only provide free electricity but also completely waive all medical costs.

Wait.

Something Zhu Xiang had said a few days ago suddenly flashed through his mind. Cheng Ye frowned slightly and continued asking, "Can you get treatment immediately when you arrive?"

"It depends on the situation. If there are available beds, yes. But if there aren't..."

"Can you buy medicine yourself if there are no beds available?"

"No." Jiang Chuan shook his head. "Medical supplies are controlled items. Only the inspection station's field teams can purchase them according to quotas. Well, outside merchant caravans can also buy them, but the prices are ridiculously high, especially those special medicines with mutation crystals added. These are the foundation of each shelter city's existence, how could they be casually distributed?"

"No beds available, and you can't even buy medicine..."

Cheng Ye silently gasped in amazement. Now he understood why Zhu Xiang had the idea of promoting private medical care.

If someone was seriously injured and couldn't get a bed, wouldn't they just have to wait outside to die?

Moreover, since medical care was free for everyone, medical centers could only rely on funding from above for income.

Progress in the medical field depends on continuous research investment for technological updates, and a single funding model obviously couldn't support these long-term costs.

Over time, no wonder they had given up on developing corresponding medicines for infection sources.

While he was thinking, a large Golden Cup van stopped in front of them. It was an official vehicle from the inspection station.

The driver got out and smiled respectfully, "The buses to the North and South Stations have been packed with migrants these past few days. Inspector Cheng, the station chief has specially approved vehicle usage rights for you. It's available on call during your medical treatment period."

"That's very convenient indeed."

Cheng Ye nodded slightly, his gaze casually sweeping over Jiang Chuan beside him.

The latter's expression remained unchanged, showing no signs of abnormality.

Ding Yishan's person?

Getting in the car, Cheng Ye leaned back in his chair and pondered silently.

Anyone who could send someone over at this time definitely couldn't be from the Western faction. Even if they were Westerners, they wouldn't send an Eastern clerk to handle things.

Could it be that Ding Yishan knew about his investment from the idealists and specifically sent someone to test him?

After thinking it over, Cheng Ye shook his head with little concern, quickly pushing these unfounded speculations to the back of his mind.

When it came down to it, the confidence brought by the Horned Starfish was just too strong.

Even if he really had to get involved in factional struggles within the inspection station, he wasn't afraid at all, at least not of these underhanded methods.

With this confidence, plus the fact that he was openly Cheng Long's sole heir, although the Cheng family had brought wave after wave of "harm" to the inspection station, there were equally countless people who owed the Cheng family favors.

To be honest, who would dare touch him openly?

The car headed south all the way. By this afternoon, there were much fewer migrants on the road.

Because leaving now would mean traveling at night, which was far too dangerous.

Most migrants got up in the dark to travel, walking from night until dawn. Few people dared to set out in the evening.

"Inspector Cheng, this is the first time I've seen someone so respected and loved by community residents."

Seeing Cheng Ye's silence, Jiang Chuan didn't forget his "original intention" and began probing again.

However, to his great surprise, Cheng Ye seemed to have no intention of hiding anything and said directly, "That's right. On the night the infection tide broke out, I led them in several rounds of fighting. That third-class Happiness Merit was earned by me leading people, so of course they're grateful to me."

"Hmm?"

Jiang Chuan was stunned and quickly made note of this information. "Did you encounter any danger?"

"How could I not? I encountered three fusion bodies, two elementary ones and one advanced one."

Mutual probing was just that simple.

Cheng Ye slowed his speech, his peripheral vision falling on Jiang Chuan's face, taking in that flash of surprise.

Eh, could it be that the inspection station didn't know what happened that night?

In just an instant, Cheng Ye's mind raced. If it wasn't about knowing the idealists and coming to test him, could it be that they wanted to recruit him?

That would be good news.

From the moment Liu Bi called back, Ding Yishan had already started releasing goodwill.

But it seemed that because of the Cheng family's reputation, this goodwill was being released very slowly.

Jiang Chuan's arrival now precisely confirmed his judgment.

With this in mind, he said with feigned relief, "Fortunately, the command center in the inner city contacted me and provided me with sufficient intelligence support, which allowed me to defeat that advanced infected entity."

"Command center?"

Jiang Chuan was stunned again, very obviously this time, staying frozen for a full two seconds before coming back to his senses.

Realizing that Cheng Ye was staring at him, he quickly forced out a smile. "Advanced infected entities are not easy to deal with. Inspector Cheng's skills are really impressive."

"I've only had three months of proper training, so I definitely can't compare to experts like you all."

Cheng Ye shook his head.

In this wasteland, strength and intelligence didn't equate to each other, especially those who had trained in martial arts to the extreme, most of whom had relatively "simple" minds.

Although Jiang Chuan was somewhat stronger than Liu Bi, he wasn't that much stronger.

Since he knew his purpose, Cheng Ye simply continued talking eloquently, "Moreover, the command center saw that I performed well and the Tianyuan Community cooperated well, so they specially awarded the community 20,000 contribution points in construction funding, supervised by me, responsible for B-7 district development. You should have seen it when you went there, right?"

"I saw, I saw it."

Jiang Chuan nodded, not even noticing the slight stutter in his own voice.

"Don't go back to the inspection station and tell people randomly. I'm only telling you because I think we're destined to meet."

Cheng Ye grinned, then changed the topic, "Actually, it's not that those people respect me, it's that I can bring them benefits. Everyone benefits mutually, that's the only way to keep going."

He slightly emphasized the words "mutually beneficial."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Chuan was stunned, a flash of seemingly understanding cunning quickly crossed his face, but it immediately returned to calm. He simply nodded lightly.

He wasn't stupid. Having followed Ding Yishan for so many years, he naturally understood the subtext in Cheng Ye's words.

These clever people always hid their true purposes in their words for you to comprehend.

If you couldn't comprehend it, then it was the literal meaning, but if you could comprehend it, it was an entirely different meaning.

The rest of the journey passed in silence.

Cheng Ye tilted his head to look at the street scenes flashing by outside the window, while Jiang Chuan repeatedly pondered what he had seen and heard this afternoon, calculating how to report to Ding Yishan.

Having been in the buffer zone for three months, there were many places he hadn't visited.

The medical center was one of them.

The car hadn't been driving out of the city for long when a cluster of buildings appeared in the distance.

Three six-story buildings were enclosed by a circle of mottled walls, with signs reading "Outpatient," "Inpatient," and "Emergency" hanging on the buildings respectively.

On the side of the building near the outer edge, old traces of the characters for "Hospital" could still faintly be seen where the wall paint had peeled off.

"Was this place a hospital before?"

Cheng Ye looked around curiously, somewhat puzzled.

"Yes!" Jiang Chuan snapped back to attention and explained, "Previously, the buffer zone had no medical centers, only two hospitals. One was called Happiness Hospital, serving internal needs, and the other was called Lefu Hospital, serving residents. Later, due to low treatment efficiency, they were dismantled and reorganized by the Medical Affairs Department into the current medical centers, making them compete with each other."

"But if they don't charge fees and only rely on funding from above, wouldn't efficiency just get lower and lower?"

"Hmm?" Jiang Chuan was stunned but ultimately nodded. "That's indeed the logic. Initially, the higher-ups only looked at cure rates, so the medical centers discovered that when patient numbers increased, periodic cure rates would decline, so they began deliberately extending treatment periods, then having patients discharged collectively when statistics were calculated."

"Later, the indicators were changed to include patient numbers, satisfaction scores, cost control, and such. But with these changes, doctors became dispirited due to heavy workloads and low returns, gradually leading to perfunctory treatments and patient referrals."

"Aren't they planning to reform this?"

"They've been talking about reform for a long time. According to higher-ups, they want to change to three core medical stations and dozens or hundreds of mobile medical points. Core stations would handle severe cases, while mobile points would handle minor injuries and common illnesses, and screen severe patients to send over."

Jiang Chuan seemed to have little hope for this system.

"Core medical stations would still use the current free medical model, but the mobile medical points below would change to a combination of fee-based and free services."

He paused and explained more specifically, "Simply put, medicines would be free, but medical services would be charged. Each mobile medical point would have a fixed medicine quota, and once a month's supply was used up, there would be none left. The service fees collected could be used to develop their own medical points, train new people, purchase equipment, and so on."

"There's also an evaluation system based on indicators like patient satisfaction and cure rates. High scores could upgrade the medical point's level. The higher the level, the more medicine quota they could get, and they could also apply for more funding."

Medical points competing with each other?

As soon as Cheng Ye heard this, he immediately detected the obvious flaws in this model.

Although core medical stations provided a safety net for severe cases, leaving only minor cases for medical points.

But even among minor cases, there were differences.

With fee-based treatment and limited medicines, would medical points only be willing to accept patients they could definitely cure, or those who could pay higher fees, in order to earn more income and achieve higher ratings?

"Also, medical points need community sponsorship to be established. I don't know what the higher-ups are trying to achieve with this reform..."

"Sponsorship?"

Cheng Ye was slightly stunned, vaguely grasping the thread of the idealists' buffer zone reform.

Whether it was community management or this medical point sponsorship system, it all seemed to be pushing the buffer zone toward some extreme.

But this thread wasn't yet clear, and as the car steadily stopped in front of the outpatient building, he temporarily stored it in his mind.

"We're here. I'll go help you with the hospitalization procedures."

"Thank you for the trouble."

Having mutual understanding was indeed good. After their mutual probing, Jiang Chuan was no longer putting on a show.

Otherwise, he would still have to be dragged around to see doctors, go through a series of examinations and analyses, before finally settling the hospitalization matter.

After waiting about four or five minutes, Jiang Chuan came out with an envelope and handed it over.

Cheng Ye looked down and scanned it. The envelope's surface read "Inpatient Building 5th Floor 505." Opening it, there were several documents inside and a card.

"Inspector Cheng, this card serves as both your room key and your spending card. Although medical costs are completely free during treatment, meals and use of certain facilities still require payment, all of which can be charged to this card, with expenses covered by the inspection station."

Hiss.

Once again experiencing the convenience of privilege, Cheng Ye was left only with amazement.

The idealists had indeed elevated the status of inspectors to infinite heights. If they hadn't taken the path of power struggle, perhaps some inspectors would really sell their lives for these privileges now.

"Inspector Cheng, if you need a vehicle, just contact the inspection station's public number directly."

"Alright, thank you very much."

After seeing off the Golden Cup van, the two walked toward the inpatient building one after the other.

The building had an elevator that, although looking quite old, functioned normally.

When they reached the fifth floor, Cheng Ye had barely stepped out of the elevator when his steps halted.

Not far away, someone who saw him appear also froze in place.

Interesting.

He turned to look at Jiang Chuan, who still wore a smile with no change in expression.

Want to see my attitude toward Westerners?

Cheng Ye smiled and walked over openly, but to his surprise, Garcia's face also showed a few traces of a smile, and he even spoke first, "Inspector Cheng, are you here for hospitalization too?"

"That's right, got a bit injured, need to stay here for a few days to recover."

"That's wonderful. I was getting bored staying alone, we can keep each other company."

In their back-and-forth exchange, the two spoke as familiarly as old friends, without a trace of awkwardness.

Even when Cheng Ye used his card to swipe the door to the adjacent room, the smile on Garcia's face never changed.

A person who climbed up through taking sides, indeed not simple.

In the past, Cheng Ye might have been wary of a smile hiding a knife.

But now, he was just a roadside dog. In a little while, once he gathered the four forces and strengthened his meridians.

If he dared to jump, one kick would kill him!

"This environment is really nice. I didn't expect it to look ordinary from the outside but be so spacious inside!"

The door opened and Cheng Ye stepped into the room.

He had thought it would be an ordinary hospital room, similar to his tube building, but the actual situation was completely different.

This hospital room actually had a living room, bathroom, and further inside was the bedroom, with a 1.8-meter bed by the window.

Sunlight streamed onto the white bedding, and a small yellow flower was placed in a vase on the bedside table.

It made one feel somewhat dazed, as if returning to modern times.

"This is an independent hospital room specially prepared for inspectors. If you need anything, just press the button by the bed."

Jiang Chuan smiled as he carried the luggage inside, introducing while placing books one by one into the storage cabinet beside the bed.

Suddenly, when he picked up one of the books, an envelope fell out.

"Inspector Cheng, there seems to be a letter for you here?"

"Is there?"

Cheng Ye was stunned and took the envelope.

The envelope had several large characters written on it: "For Cheng Ye personally, left by Xia Dong."

Uncle Dong?

He turned to look at the remaining books, vaguely seeing that several other books also had things tucked inside them.

"Well, just leave these books here, I'll arrange them myself later."

"Alright, if there's nothing else you need, I'll head back first. There are still some matters at the station..."

"Sure."

Cheng Ye nodded and took out his defense communicator from his waist, "Leave a number?"

"Mine?"

Jiang Chuan was stunned, then smiled, "998899, my number is quite memorable."

"Indeed quite memorable, let's stay in touch."

After saving the number in his phonebook, Cheng Ye waved his hand, and Jiang Chuan quickly left, gently closing the door behind him.

Standing by the window, he watched him quickly get into the Golden Cup van waiting by the roadside. After the car drove out of sight.

Only then did Cheng Ye sit on the bed, let out a long breath, and pick up the letter Uncle Dong had left behind.

Without strength to rely on, participating in factional struggles was indeed like walking on thin ice.

But now, he only looked forward to seeing what reaction Ding Yishan would have after hearing these things.

Opening the envelope, there were several thick pages of paper inside.

"Good thing I brought all the books upstairs that night. If I had forgotten, this letter would probably have been soaked and ruined by water!"

Uncle Dong hadn't given him the letter directly, but had hidden it here.

Cheng Ye was somewhat curious and turned to the first page, reading word by word from beginning to end.

[Cheng Ye, when you see this letter, I imagine I will already be far from Happiness City. I regret that although everyone advised me to say goodbye to you properly, I ultimately held back. For many people, driving trucks to other provinces is a matter of life and death, but for me, Xia Dong, former captain of the 02nd Green Dragon Team, this isn't much of a challenge, haha!]

[I'm someone who loves to brag, and during our two-plus months together, you've probably gotten used to it. But you don't know that I'm actually a complete coward, always full of ambition at night but immediately deflated at dawn. Many years ago when I chose to retire while ahead, people in the team thought I foresaw that winter's infection tide and retired early, but that wasn't it at all. I was just scared, just afraid of death, had my courage shattered by fusion bodies.]

[For a warrior, without courage, death isn't far away. So I could only retire, return to the buffer zone to find the safest work to do. I never expected to eventually meet you, a young man fresh from the buffer zone.]

[Please forgive my disrespect. Others revere inspectors, but I was active in your grandfather's era. Back then, we and the inspectors were life-and-death comrades, never with any hierarchy. Although I often wanted to call you "sir," the words could never come out, because your father also called me "Brother Dong" back then, hehe.]

[Getting to the point, thank you very much for that applause that day. It made me realize I wasn't a worthless nobody, but I'm even more grateful that you helped me find my lost edge. Do you remember when you first left the inner city? You were quite frightened during that period, coming to my shop every afternoon. I had to comfort you for a while before you could calm down.]

[But you grew too fast, like a meteor streaking across the night sky, brilliant and dazzling. Watching you, Uncle Dong felt like he was seeing his former self. To be honest, I was just as dazzling back then (really not bragging). From you, I gradually regained my confidence. If a young man could stand firm, how could I, Xia Dong, not face my inner demons?]

[I've left, went with the large convoy, nearly 300 people. All members of the Winter Squad left with me, including the woman I love most. Even if we die, it's worth it! But I can't leave my possessions to others. The land deed and transfer certificate for the shop are tucked in the books. Take them to register, and they'll be yours. Of course, this might be useless to you, but you could give it away to earn a favor. Uncle Dong really has nothing else to thank you with, just this, don't despise it.]

[Oh, right, there's also Old Sun, the property manager in the complex. That old fellow comes to my shop every few days to complain, saying your room has abnormal electricity usage. Others use a few dozen kilowatt-hours per month at most, but you can use over a thousand. When the free period ends, he plans to report you (this guy doesn't know you're an inspector). I thought about it and took care of Old Sun before leaving, and I also reset your electricity meter (I reset the whole building, don't worry). Uncle Dong is old, but his hands and feet are still nimble, handled it cleanly, won't implicate you.]

[Well, don't think Uncle Dong was too harsh. That Old Sun wasn't a good person. Over the years, he relied on his connections with the Production Department to bully men and women, and repeatedly forced me to sell my shop at half price, threatening me with his connections. I've disliked him for a long time, this time it's also settling an old score.]

[That's about all. Cheng Ye, I'm very excited right now, because while writing this to you, the woman I love most is sitting on my lap. This old blade isn't dull yet, haha!]

[Wish that I can return alive. I will definitely bring you some good things that Happiness City doesn't have.]

[Xia Dong, farewell!]

Eight hundred kilometers from Happiness City.

Moderate rain was pouring down, but a camp consisting of more than a dozen trucks had fallen into chaos.

An infected entity with a giant starfish growing from its head was rampaging through the camp, chasing humans who scattered and fled.

Occasionally someone would shoot back, but with little effect, not understanding the rule that three fatal wounds were needed for death, thinking the infected entity was immune to bullets.

Even more troublesome was that a huge intermediate fusion body was also entrenched in the center of the camp.

It swayed back and forth between the trucks, and each time it struck, it could randomly grab a human, with screams rising and falling.

But just then, a light shone from the distance, and a head poked out from a truck window shouting, "Everyone move aside, move aside!"

Under the shocked gazes of a group of people, a truck shot forward like an arrow, crashing hard into the intermediate fusion body.

The tremendous impact force nearly crushed half of the fusion body's body, but its ferocity remained undiminished, with remaining limbs still flailing wildly.

"Damn, I used so much force, how are you still alive?"

The figure poked his head out again, but this time holding a shotgun in his hands.

Bang, bang.

One shotgun shell after another spat out, with empty shells falling to the ground one after another.

The fusion body pinned under the truck still wanted to struggle, but couldn't push this steel behemoth weighing over ten tons, and could only watch helplessly as the figure pressed the gun muzzle over.

"Captain, you can't survive, but we still want to live. Sorry about this!"

Bang!

Another shotgun shell roared out. The intermediate fusion body's head tilted, and the instant death condition of seven fatal wounds was triggered, completely motionless.

Without the fusion body leading the disruption, the infected entities in the camp were quickly eliminated by the convoy members who had regained their senses.

After all, they were truck runners who had long prepared to deal with infected entities.

Moreover, although the starfish infected entities were bizarrely explosive, their combat ability was pitifully weak.

Half an hour later, the survivors gathered together.

Of the 276 people who had set out, only less than 140 remained.

But more troublesome was that the main and deputy captains of the Autumn Moon convoy had become a fusion body and been torn apart by the fusion body respectively, leaving the entire team completely without backbone.

Some people in the crowd were getting restless, wanting to propose dividing up the supplies and disbanding.

But the person who had killed the fusion body stepped forward first.

"There are only 12 vehicles, not enough to divide. Taking the supplies back isn't worth much money!"

"But if we continue forward, reach Sand Province, these things can be exchanged for ten times, no, fifty times the profit."

Xia Dong raised his arms and shouted, "We've already come out here risking our lives, are you willing to just slink back like this?"

"But the captain is dead, what else can we do if we don't go back?"

Someone in the crowd asked, and when their gaze met Xia Dong's, he calmly pulled out a slight smile.

"I'm not particularly talented, but I am Xia Dong, former 02nd Green Dragon Team Captain of Happiness City's Blood Dragon Corps!"

He swept his gaze over everyone, "Whoever is willing to follow me, come behind me. I'll lead you to good food and drinks."

?

This was to take over the Autumn Moon convoy by taking advantage of the situation?

Some people in the crowd muttered to themselves, their gazes sizing up Xia Dong.

But just then, Yun Wei also stood up, "This is my man. Those willing to follow us, come over!"

"It's Sister Yun's man? I might not trust others, but I trust Sister Yun!"

As soon as the words fell, more than ten people stood up without hesitation and walked behind Xia Dong.

Seeing this, the others didn't dare hesitate any longer and got up to follow.

At this time, the team indeed needed a leader to stabilize the situation first.

As for whether they would really follow Xia Dong later, that depended on whether he had the ability. If his capabilities were lacking, it wasn't like everyone didn't have legs and couldn't disband and leave at any time.

"Captain, this convoy... just became ours like that?"

As the camp gradually restored order, members of the Winter Squad came over, their voices still carrying disbelief.

Before departure, everyone had planned to run trucks for two years, save enough capital, then organize their own convoy.

But they never expected that just after leaving the city district, they would directly "take over" the Autumn Moon team.

"Normal. This is how truck running works. When encountering infected entities, it's not unusual for the leader to change seven or eight times in one trip. What matters are the people in the team. Boss Li also took over a convoy for free from the previous captain."

Yun Wei also smiled, but what truly made her happy wasn't taking over the convoy, but Xia Dong's appearance just now.

In a trance, that man who had once been as dazzling as a meteor seemed to have returned, even with a few more traces of steady sharpness than before.

"Yun Wei is right. We didn't take over the convoy through internal fighting. So many people witnessed it, we can withstand scrutiny wherever we go. But this is still a good start!"

Xia Dong grinned. Speaking of which, since deciding to make a comeback, his luck had never been bad.

Could it be that after lying low for so many years, his fortune was finally starting to accumulate and burst forth?

"After we finish trading, are we still returning to Happiness City?"

"Of course we're returning. Of course we're going back."

Xia Dong nodded heavily, looking toward Happiness City's direction, "That's our root. No matter how long we're away, we have to return."

"Moreover, I, the captain, still owe a great debt that hasn't been repaid!"

[NEXT CHAPTER]