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INS Chapter 109: Winning Hearts and Minds, Tide-Level Catastrophe!
🕑 Added 2025-08-18 10:26:50 +0000 UTC[EMERGENCY NOTICE]
[Unknown disaster "Void Mist" has descended on the Happiness City perimeter, impact has now ended]
[All duty inspectors must immediately begin personnel evacuation work, strictly prevent border inspection chaos]
[This Void Mist is a regional disaster in Sha Province, relevant data is being urgently retrieved from Sha Province's "Tianxin," "Liantan," "Xueyuan," "Olympics" and other super-class and large shelter cities, expected to synchronize to all inspector defense communicators no later than 8:00 AM tomorrow]
[Void Mist has extremely strong interference with electronic signals. Defense communicators were automatically locked during signal interruption while in the mist. Field duty mode is now activated for all inspectors, defense communicators will cancel the signal interruption lock mechanism]
[According to preliminary information monitoring, "fog passages" in the Void Mist appear bubble-shaped. Contact with any bubbles in the mist is strictly prohibited, as this may trigger fog passages connection, causing personnel to be forcibly transported to the other side of the fog passages]
[Void Mist has persisted in Sha Province for over three months, with cumulative casualties under ten thousand. Threat level rating: 'Tide.' All inspectors should actively guide residents to respond rationally and must not spread panic]
[Subsequent information will be continuously updated. Report high-value clues immediately, Happiness City will provide corresponding rewards based on information importance]
Happiness City's emergency response speed was swift, especially when facing known disasters.
Almost two to three minutes after the Void Mist dispersed, a series of messages were distributed.
"Threat level only Tide-class?"
Scanning through the warning information line by line, Cheng Ye's gaze paused slightly.
Using casualty numbers alone to define disaster threat might apply to other types of disasters, but clearly couldn't be applied to Void Mist.
Because of the fog passages' existence, Tide-class should only be taking the average threat value.
The real threat level would depend on what emerged from inside after the Void Mist descended.
If it were transcendent earth-bound spirits or mother source infection bodies, the threat level soaring to Destruction-class wouldn't be surprising.
Conversely, if nothing appeared from the Void Mist, it would merely be a special natural phenomenon with no real threat at all.
"Gambling on luck?"
For individuals, this might still be acceptable.
But for a super shelter city like Happiness City, every decision involved the life and death of hundreds of thousands of people. They obviously couldn't pin disaster response on mere "luck."
Cheng Ye could already imagine how hectic the inner city command center must be right now, but fortunately, these matters weren't for a small trainee inspector like him to worry about.
As a grassroots member, inspectors' current task was simple: just handle personnel evacuation work.
"Sir, the ant wolves have been cleared, and the two missing guards have been found!"
Snake had changed clothes, but still reeked heavily of blood.
"Oh, already cleared?"
Cheng Ye turned to glance over. Indeed, dozens of wolf carcasses were piled in the corner of the quarantine area, bleeding black blood.
But he hadn't heard gunfire, clearly the cleanup of these ant wolves hadn't even required firearms.
This was normal. The guards who could stay at inspection stations were all capable hands selected through several rounds of screening.
In terms of individual combat ability, they might not match the elite picked from thousands in the three major legions, but compared to ordinary garrison troops or scavengers, they were already outstanding.
"How are those two guards? Not injured?"
"Just scared, hiding in isolation chambers not daring to come out. We only found them after clearing the wolf carcasses."
"Not bad, they have brains!"
Cheng Ye didn't say much more. In this environment, fear was instinct. Being able to preserve their lives wasn't shameful.
Isolation chambers were made from specially crafted isolation alloy. As long as they didn't encounter special infection bodies that could corrode metal, they were indeed much safer than staying outside.
However, after thorough inspection, Zone A still brought bad news: one staff member had been killed.
The mutated creatures that appeared in Zone A through fog passages were large beasts called Yaksha Bulls.
Six in total, with massive bodies, each estimated at least 1,200 kilograms or more. They had three-pronged forks atop their heads and thick keratin membranes covering their bodies. Ordinary bullets could only spark off them without penetrating their defense.
The unfortunate staff member who died had underestimated them, thinking ordinary rifles could suppress them, only to be gored through the chest by a Yaksha Bull.
As for how to deal with these creatures, the manual had never covered them, presumably because they weren't mutated beasts from Shi Province.
Just as Cheng Ye was recording this in his defense communicator's memo, planning to search for related information when he returned, Wei Lecheng, the inspector from Zone D, proactively approached.
"They're mutated beasts only found in Hua Province." Wei Lecheng's face carried a deliberately friendly smile. "I've been on field duty there before and seen these things. Usually their aggression is moderate, they even ignore humans most of the time. Most likely their ferocity was triggered after passing through fog passages into unfamiliar territory."
After speaking, he lowered his voice with a hint of gratitude, "Thank you, when the mist was thick earlier, I know you wanted to warn me. I heard you tapping the railing."
Cheng Ye glanced at him, "You stayed in the inspection area the whole time?"
"Of course." Wei Lecheng puffed out his chest. "I'm an inspector, it's my duty. I had to guard the inspection area."
"Heh."
Cheng Ye smiled noncommittally and didn't continue the conversation.
This person, whether in behavior or speech, clearly wasn't sincere, the cunning type.
But this was expected. How could one expect truthfulness from an Eastern inspector who had betrayed his faction to join the Westerners?
However, one thing made Cheng Ye secretly alert.
Both Song Hai and Wei Lecheng seemed to know about Void Mist, and each knew more details than the last.
"I've been so busy practicing martial arts and reading books, always feeling radio information reception efficiency was too low. Now it seems I was too eager for quick success, too anxious to quickly understand all information about this wasteland!"
Cheng Ye sat behind the isolation desk, pondering silently.
Knowledge gained from books could only let him know about past events, but when encountering unprecedented celestial anomalies like Void Mist, these records left by predecessors were utterly useless.
To collect information in advance and prepare properly, he had to constantly pay attention to seemingly unimportant messages on the radio.
"This means that neither Uncle Dong nor Master Tian and others never miss radio messages not just for entertainment, but because it's the most direct way to collect outside information."
No one had specifically reminded him of this point before, presumably because no one had ever expected someone who didn't like listening to radio.
But who could know that for modern people accustomed to scrolling short videos, even focusing on reading text could cause restlessness, let alone patiently listening to those slow radio broadcasts.
Having suffered this setback, Cheng Ye belatedly resolved that no matter how busy future days became, daily radio broadcasts would be mandatory listening.
Perhaps some seemingly insignificant message could save lives at crucial moments.
After these delays, time passed 3:30, with only half an hour remaining before shift change.
Since Zone C still had no caravans coming, Cheng Ye could temporarily catch his breath.
But neighboring Zone B where Song Hai was stationed had considerable trouble. The two to three hundred scavengers who had been queuing earlier encountered mutated beasts emerging from fog passages during the Void Mist coverage. After the battle, four died on the spot, over twenty were severely injured, and nearly fifty had various degrees of minor injuries.
Setting aside the dead, the twenty-plus severely injured required immediate treatment, but before that, their infection risk had to be assessed first.
This tedious process couldn't possibly be handled by Song Hai alone.
Sure enough, within minutes, two staff members hurried through the isolation passage, bringing Lei Hu's orders:
"Station Chief's order: duty inspectors from Zones A, C, and D immediately execute personnel redistribution to assist Zone B in completing infection detection!"
"Understood."
Cheng Ye stood and responded without hesitation.
If personnel weren't redistributed, when Wang Kang came for shift change, all these people would still need his help.
Better to clear the backlog of scavengers while there was time and space available.
Having already inspected convoys and caravans, inspecting scavengers was still his first time, but it shouldn't be too difficult.
After the order was issued, under guards' guidance, the scavengers originally crowded at Zone B's inspection entrance quickly redistributed, evenly allocated to three inspection points.
Nearly fifty people were assigned to Cheng Ye's side, including two severely injured and over ten with minor injuries.
Under Snake's guidance, they entered the inspection area in groups of three for examination.
Truth be told, inspecting scavengers was indeed quite simple.
No need to check for smuggling or repeatedly inquire about travel details. Just confirm no suspicious wounds on their bodies and normal vital signs, then direct clearance.
For injured cases, the process was the same as when inspecting Zone A caravan members earlier: detailed wound examination required.
If wound examination showed no problems, they could be sent to isolation areas for treatment.
As for when they could leave isolation areas, it still followed the 21-day isolation protocol.
But for scavengers, preserving their lives was already enough. They didn't dare hope to return to the buffer zone at such times.
Because even if they returned, seeking emergency medical treatment at clinics might not guarantee bed availability.
"Data normal, clearance!"
"Clearance!"
"Send to isolation!"
"..."
Bang, bang.
Gunshots suddenly rang out from Zone D as a Green Giant infection body fell in a pool of blood.
Less than half a minute later, Zone A also heard gunshots as two infection bodies were caught.
But Cheng Ye's Zone C remained incident-free until the last person was sent to isolation.
"Yesterday had many infection bodies, today is obviously more normal."
Cheng Ye nodded silently.
From this morning's queue until now entering the buffer zone, there were easily one to two thousand residents, yet including Song Hai's morning shooting, only five infections had been detected.
Less than 0.5% probability was already quite good for Happiness City's massive scale.
But with fog passages appearing, infection rates in coming days would likely rise again.
"Sir, Inspector Yang from Zone A, Yang Xingwen, wants to trade Yaksha Bull meat for some ant wolf meat and a few pounds of salted fish. What do you think..."
Leopard hurried over from the isolation area with a mischievous smile. "Inspector Yang also said the Yaksha Bull meat is particularly tender, whether eaten raw or stewed with salted fish, it's a rare delicacy. He said you'd surely understand."
"Trade it. We'll make the exchange during shift change!" Cheng Ye responded decisively.
He naturally understood. Trading meat was just an excuse; essentially it was about drawing closer to each other.
Song Hai could pack up and leave, but he and Wang Kang still had to continue duty here.
Today was only Tuesday. Zone A's Yang Xingwen had five more days of duty. During this period, Zones A and B could be mutual support, and now was the time to build good relationships.
By 4 o'clock, all inspection points had no more queuing people.
Zone C still had no second caravan coming, so Cheng Ye secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
After experiencing the frightening ordeal in the Void Mist, he truly lacked energy to handle complex inspection procedures, especially large caravans requiring vehicle-by-vehicle searches.
Song Hai had also instructed guards to temporarily maintain order while leaning against the isolation net, pulling out a half-crumpled pack of cigarettes and placing one between his lips.
The lighter clicked to life with a blue flame, smoke slowly dispersing before his eyes, mixing with the remaining mist.
Seeing Cheng Ye looking over, Song Hai raised the cigarette pack, gesturing to pass it over, "Have one, good stuff imported from Sha Province, helps refresh the mind."
Cheng Ye shook his head slightly, "I'm not used to it, you smoke."
"Good that you're not used to it." Song Hai chuckled, stuffing the pack back in his pocket. "This stuff is precious now, 55 contribution points per pack. Smoke one, lose one. Really can't afford it."
As they spoke, the inspection station's bell finally rang.
Dong, dong!
Two chimes, signaling the inspection station's temporary closure.
The half-hour rest period for duty handover had finally arrived!
Cheng Ye returned to his desk to organize duty records while Song Hai continued leaning against the isolation net, puffing smoke.
Before Wang Kang arrived, Zone C's replacement inspector entered first.
The newcomer appeared somewhat thin and short, wearing ordinary clothes indistinguishable from scavengers.
Black hoodie, fitted pants below, leather shoes, shoulders slightly hunched, face carved with weariness beyond his years.
"Inspector Cheng?"
"Inspector Dong?"
Cheng Ye immediately approached, and they shook hands.
Dong Xing. They had chatted extensively in the hospital room a few days ago. He was a first-term inspector who had recently been promoted.
However, "recently" here didn't mean Dong Xing's duty time at the inspection station was short.
From trainee to first-class, Dong Xing took nearly two years and eight months to barely complete it, among the slowest on record at the entire inspection station.
Not that Dong Xing lacked ability, but his luck was simply cursed.
Duty at the inspection station was stable enough, but once on field assignments, he'd encounter all sorts of bizarre troubles.
Good roads would suddenly collapse, vehicles would get repeated flat tires, even passing scavenger fights could somehow result in him getting grazed by stray bullets from hundreds of meters away.
Later, Ding Yishan couldn't stand it and specifically assigned an experienced third-term inspector to accompany his missions, but that time was even more cursed.
The two had simply gone to recover a signal tower in the wilderness, yet encountered migrating mutated elephant herds, causing mission failure and the third-term inspector to break a leg, requiring over half a year to heal.
Dong Xing's field duty was directly marked as a serious incident, all nine evaluation forms reset to start over.
When he again steadily obtained nine evaluation forms, under joint recommendation from Ding Yishan and Harlin, the inspection station held a meeting to vote on whether to let Dong Xing skip field duties.
All inspectors voted in favor, allowing him exceptional promotion.
After all, Dong Xing's ability was long sufficient. Luck was too mystical, and sending him out again risked bringing disaster to the inspection station.
Better to let him honestly perform inspection station duties. At least during three years of duty, he'd never encountered accidents or made errors.
"Thank you for your hard work. I just heard about this Void Mist when I arrived at the inspection station. Inspector Cheng didn't encounter danger, did you?" Dong Xing took the duty records and gently flipped through them.
He showed no airs of a first-term inspector toward a trainee, instead treating Cheng Ye like a third-term inspector.
"It was manageable. The Void Mist was quite eerie, those fog passages..."
Speaking, Cheng Ye gestured toward the corner of the isolation area. "Some ant wolves came through, nothing major happened."
Dong Xing nodded without further questions, placing the record book on the desk and saying solemnly, "I received notice from headquarters when clocking in that this mist won't dissipate for the next week or even half month, and could transform into Void Mist at any time. Zone C is adjacent to Zone B, so when real danger comes, we should look out for each other where possible."
"Don't worry."
Cheng Ye replied, "I'll be right next door in Zone B. Even when not on duty, I'll mostly be watching over Wang Kang's area. If anything happens, a shout will be heard, and we'll definitely look out for each other."
"I really envy Inspector Wang." Dong Xing smiled, and they shook hands again.
Zone C's brief day trip thus concluded.
Wang Kang from next door also came to complete shift change with Song Hai. Cheng Ye waved from the isolation net, and Wang Kang immediately showed a relieved smile.
Growth!
A few days ago, Wang Kang would have been too scared to function properly.
But now, he could not only maintain composure but also display such steadiness. Truly commendable.
Looking at Wang Kang and Song Hai's relationship, while not close, it was normal interaction between inspectors.
This suggested yesterday's injuries on Wang Kang probably weren't from conflict with Song Hai.
Could it be observers or guards?
Cheng Ye shook his head slightly. That was even more impossible. The inspection station had rules, and no one dared be so bold.
Leaving the inspection area, the Red Mountain merchant convoy's four trucks had completed disinfection and departed when the mist cleared.
The unloaded two tons of salted fish were piled in the open space in front of the garage under rain-proof awnings, with two layers of waterproof cloth underneath.
"This quantity seems more than two tons?"
"It's three tons. The extra ton is a special gift from Captain Jin." Leopard relayed, "He said if not for rushing to the inspection station, encountering this cursed mist in the wilderness, not only would cargo certainly be damaged, but who knows how many would die."
"He also said having inspectors like you at Happiness City is why caravans love coming, come often, and will return next time."
"Heh, this guy's quite sweet-tongued."
Cheng Ye shook his head slightly. This was an unexpected bonus.
However, he still planned to purchase the extra ton at 120 points per unit.
Jin Dafei had his own way of handling things, and the inspection station had its own rules.
Price fluctuations when buying goods were within acceptable range, but accepting caravan property for free would constitute bribery suspicion.
Perhaps no one would say anything now, but if this were dug up at crucial moments, it would be trouble.
"Set aside five hundred pounds to trade with Inspector Yang for bull meat."
"Yes."
How to transport all this salted fish was a problem.
Cheng Ye could only figure on having Big Dragon bring some people to the inspection station tonight to help carry it to the bus.
For storage, Uncle Dong's convenience store was currently empty and could temporarily store it there, just needed to ensure rainwater didn't flood the store.
When pedestrian street construction began later, he'd build a dedicated small warehouse for convenient future storage.
"Inspector Cheng!"
Just as he was thinking, Yang Xingwen's hearty voice came through the isolation passage, penetrating strongly enough to be heard even through the Void Mist earlier.
As a first-term inspector, Yang Xingwen naturally couldn't escape factional alignment and was also a factional enthusiast.
However, in the current fog-locked city situation, encountering such people wasn't necessarily bad.
With slight effort, he could unite Zones A, B, and C.
As for subsequent replacement inspectors, at such critical times when lives could be lost at any moment, they presumably wouldn't refuse such mutually supportive alliance.
"I brought bull meat for you!"
Yang Xingwen was tall and broad-shouldered with a resolute face, clearly powerful.
Four guards followed him, jointly carrying a large piece wrapped in waterproof cloth. From its outline and weight, it was apparently an entire cleaned Yaksha Bull.
"This much?"
"Not much at all."
Yang Xingwen waved his hand. "Three kept for station reserves, I keep one, you get one, and that remaining harmful beast gets distributed to Zone A brothers for eating and venting anger!"
Speaking of this, his tone carried some weight, "Today only my Zone A had a brother sacrifice himself. As the inspector, I failed to protect him properly. I'm ashamed."
Yaksha Bull meat was rare.
Distributing meat to inspection station guards and staff was even rarer.
A crowd had already gathered to watch the excitement. Cheng Ye's thoughts turned quickly, and he understood immediately, raising his voice:
"Inspector Yang can't say that. Everyone who comes to inspection station duty is living with their head on their belt! When brothers are sacrificed, we grieve, but what we must do more is handle follow-up compensation properly, ensuring their families receive proper settlement. We absolutely cannot let brothers shed blood and tears, chilling people's hearts!"
"Yes! I promise everyone I'll personally supervise compensation matters, not one cent less, not one item missing."
"I'll personally contribute equivalent materials as compensation, absolutely won't let sacrificed brothers bleed in vain!"
Seeing Cheng Ye so cooperative, Yang Xingwen's eyes flashed with gratitude.
As his words fell, cheers erupted around them.
At this moment, Song Hai emerged from the isolation passage, glanced at the excitement here, shook his head lightly, but didn't join the commotion.
He could only secretly sigh that young-generation inspectors were becoming increasingly skilled in methods.
Back when his generation first entered the profession, they only knew to work with their heads down, never understanding these heart-winning tactics.
Only later, gradually learning through factional struggles and tasting the benefits of unity, did they slowly learn to read people's hearts.
After the exchange, 500 kilograms of salted fish were taken by Yang Xingwen in return for an entire bull.
With so much meat, they certainly couldn't finish it all.
Cheng Ye immediately had Leopard cut off two thick bull legs, one for Zone C guards and staff for better meals, another sent to Zone B.
Void Mist was eerily unpredictable, and upcoming duty periods would certainly be more dangerous than usual.
To unite everyone and focus their efforts, the simplest direct method was using supplies to buy hearts.
Sure enough, Zone C immediately erupted in cheers, leaving Dong Xing only able to shake his head in envy.
So much so that when Cheng Ye left, even flipping through the duty manual and seeing records of confiscated smuggled goods worth 7,000 points barely stirred his emotions.
He could only shake his head and sigh that sometimes the gap between people was greater than that between people and dogs.
When the Yaksha Bull was carried to Zone B, Wang Kang hurried over to swipe open the isolation door, followed by two observers.
"Good day, Inspector Cheng. I'm Hulu, he's Jundao."
The older observer proactively introduced them, still in the old-young pairing.
Hulu handled clerical work while Jundao focused on combat.
Cheng Ye studied both men carefully, quickly confirming yesterday's injuries to Wang Kang had nothing to do with them. That heartfelt respect for inspectors couldn't be faked.
"Xiao Kang, go on duty first. I'll come over later."
"Alright." Wang Kang responded and left.
With Zone C temporarily having no caravans for inspection, everyone was idle. Two and a half tons of salted fish were quickly transferred to Zone B through staff relay transport.
Cheng Ye took out his defense communicator to call Big Dragon. Hearing about helping move things, Big Dragon agreed without hesitation.
"Mm, also find Old Zhang on this bus route, have him drive to the inspection station to wait for me."
"Got it."
By 5 PM, the rain finally lessened somewhat, becoming gentle drizzle.
However, the mist shrouding Happiness City's periphery hadn't dispersed, ultimately stabilizing at 700 meters range after various changes.
Not exactly heavy fog, but like a bone-deep parasite impossible to ignore and its accompanying threats.
After arrangements were complete, Cheng Ye sat on the steps before the isolation chamber, finally relaxing.
Come to think of it, he hadn't been idle during breaks and had been busy non-stop during duty but these gains were truly delightful!
Both bull meat and salted fish, how could he have dared imagine such good fortune during previous duties?
Yet in just one day, everything that should be there was there.
Before completely eliminating food cravings, just thinking about eating a few pounds of raw bull meat and drinking some wine after duty ended made Cheng Ye's eyes narrow with joy.
Moreover, this salted fish was extremely easy to store. If this winter's infection tide was massive in scale and required hiding out somewhere, food shortage wouldn't be too concerning!
