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INS Chapter 107: Gaining Both Wealth and Goods, Omens of Strange Phenomena! (Part Two)
🕑 Added 2025-08-18 10:20:38 +0000 UTCThe sea-sinew ropes bundled into balls looked space-consuming but were actually very light, which explained why the fourth truck's total weight was only just over 10 tons.
Rope balls the size of hula hoops were carried down from the truck and piled on spread waterproof cloth. Staff weighed and recorded each one individually. Judging by weight alone, they matched the manifest records exactly without any discrepancies.
Snake crouched down and tried pulling at a corner of a rope ball, wanting to check if there were hidden layers inside.
But this sea-sinew rope had toughness comparable to steel wire and was wound very tightly. No matter how much force he applied, the rope ball remained completely motionless, let alone creating any gaps.
"Sir, these rope balls are wound too tightly. I'm afraid we'd need machinery to forcibly dismantle them."
Snake looked up for instructions, his eyes showing some difficulty.
Normally, this type of rope ball was the best place to hide things, but without solid evidence, they couldn't damage the merchant convoy's goods.
Cheng Ye said nothing, only walking to the pile of rope balls stacked like a small mountain, his gaze slowly sweeping over them.
Under the light, the translucent amber-colored rope balls gleamed with an oily luster, looking exactly like what he had seen in the intelligence.
"So amazing, this search function is really useful."
Cheng Ye touched the sea-sinew rope, secretly marveling.
The rope surface felt like nylon, looking smooth yet with just the right amount of friction. Just this one rope ball alone had a purchase price in Happiness City of up to 200 contribution points.
Counting the rope balls that had been unloaded, there were exactly 24, making this truck alone worth 4800 points.
The miscellaneous items from the third truck, calculated at 1500 points, meant the Red Mountain merchant convoy's openly declared cargo had a total value of 14400 points, with profit around 3000 points.
But because the 1860 points of moonbird crystals needed to pay 20% tax, the profit was 2700 points.
However, the hidden cargo was the big prize: steel crystal powder worth 5000, mutated crystals in fish bellies valued at 2000, calculated as 7000 in total value.
If undiscovered, they would net 1400 points clear profit, bringing total profit to 4100 points.
But being caught by him meant not only losing those 1400 points, but also paying an additional 700 points in fines, reducing profit to 2000 points.
Calculating this way, Cheng Ye had a clear picture and turned to ask, "Jin Dafei, can you untie these rope balls for us to inspect?"
"Sir, these... were wound up by machine. We can't untie them by hand."
Jin Dafei feigned difficulty, continuing to explain, "This is a famous specialty of our Red Mountain Shelter City. Sir, if you can get machinery here, we can guide you on how to untie them."
"Is that so?"
Cheng Ye smiled slightly.
He had to admit, he really enjoyed this feeling of control.
"Snake, carry one rope ball back into the truck bed, and find me a flashlight."
"Yes, sir!"
As soon as this order was issued, Jin Dafei's expression changed instantly.
The rope ball was carried into the truck bed. Snake held the flashlight, and Cheng Ye quickly found the pull string.
With a gentle tug, the rope bundle blossomed layer by layer like a flower bud, completely exposing the silver fine threads inside.
Snake was stunned for a moment, then exclaimed, "Sir, this..."
"What it is, we'll carry it down and ask him."
Seeing Cheng Ye jump down from the truck and dust off his hands, all the staff gathered around.
Everyone clearly saw the blossomed rope ball in the truck bed and immediately let out exclamations, their voices full of undisguised excitement:
"Really hiding something, these people are too bold!"
"Hey, he just said they needed machinery, but the sir opened it directly by hand!"
"What's this stuff inside? Looks somewhat like steel crystal powder?"
"Hey, it really is. Under the flashlight it's flashing blue-white light, that's the characteristic of steel crystal powder."
"My god, so much of it, there must be at least 100g in here!"
The staff chattered away, each sentence piercing Jin Dafei's heart like needles. His expression grew darker and darker, his clenched fists showing white knuckles.
Not until Cheng Ye walked back to the inspection table, his right hand inconspicuously resting on the Thunder-1, did this act like a basin of ice water, instantly extinguishing any thoughts that had just emerged in Jin Dafei's mind.
This was Happiness City.
He was facing Happiness City's inspector!
Anyone who dared harbor crooked thoughts about an inspector on this territory would only face endless manhunts. Even hiding back in Red Mountain Shelter City couldn't protect this life.
"S-Sir..."
"30%."
"Yes, no problem."
Jin Dafei replied through gritted teeth, his heart bleeding. This directly cost him 500 points.
Converting to firearms, that was at least 25 guard rifles lost.
Fortunately, the mutated crystals inside those salted dried fish were preserved. Calculating it out, he only lost less than a hundred points.
Still acceptable!
Following the method Cheng Ye had just used to find the pull string, Snake quickly untied all the rope balls.
Cutting open the seaweed glue tubes, all the steel crystal powder was poured into the checkpoint's special collection bottles.
After weighing, there was a full 1.7kg.
This stuff was sold by the gram, 3 contribution points per gram, with a cargo value reaching 5100 points.
30% inspection tax meant 1530 points, with Cheng Ye getting half, earning a massive 765 points.
"Sir..."
Seeing Cheng Ye approaching, Jin Dafei immediately straightened up.
Being discovered first, his heart had been full of both hatred and urgency, thinking some part of the process had gone wrong, perhaps the rope balls weren't tied tight enough or the pull strings had revealed flaws.
But after Snake followed Cheng Ye's taught method to untie the remaining rope balls one by one, all that resentment instantly dissipated completely.
Now he had no superfluous thoughts whatsoever.
This young inspector truly had substance. It wasn't luck, he clearly knew how to find the pull strings.
In this situation, no matter how tightly hidden, it would be useless. If other merchant convoys came, the result would be exactly the same.
Thinking this way, Jin Dafei actually felt relieved.
This rain had made him rush over urgently in the early morning, fearing Happiness City's checkpoint might close for several more days. He never expected to land right in this young inspector's hands.
Heaven's will, inferior skills, he admitted defeat!
"Those salted dried fish you're taking inside, what price do you usually sell them for?"
"Dried fish?"
Jin Dafei was stunned, obviously not expecting Cheng Ye to suddenly ask this. He then honestly answered, "When we came to Happiness City last time two years ago, the inner city officials purchased them at 240 points per ton."
With about 14 tons in the truck, at that price it would be 3360 points.
The price per ton wasn't expensive, but this stuff definitely wouldn't circulate in the buffer zone.
It's not about absolute poverty but relative inequality. Buffer zone residents drinking nutrient paste every day posed no problems whatsoever.
But if salted dried fish flowed into the market for old residents to taste and develop cravings for food, it would inevitably create various conflicts.
The inner city had no such concerns. It could both let residents change their diet and serve as welfare to highlight inner city superiority, actually winning hearts and minds.
"How about selling me two tons personally?"
Cheng Ye paused, his tone flat. "I'm not asking you to give them away. I'll purchase them from you at 120 points per ton."
"120 points?"
Jin Dafei was stunned and looked up sharply, the anger he had just suppressed instantly surging up again.
When had Happiness City become so bullying?
Having already found so many things, why were they still finding ways to scrape profits from merchant convoys?
However, just as his anger emerged, it was nailed in place by Cheng Ye's next words.
"I heard from someone that sword-tooth fish mouths, if you press behind the fish head, you can pry them open and reach inside." Cheng Ye squeezed out a faint smile. "Team Leader Jin, I wonder if this information is correct?"
"Uh..."
Jin Dafei opened his mouth, momentarily not knowing how to respond.
So not only the steel crystal powder in the sea-sinew ropes, but even the mutated crystals hidden in fish bellies had been seen through by this young inspector?
Looking at Cheng Ye's face still carrying youthful innocence, the bit of anger in his heart instantly transformed into bone-deep helplessness.
"Sir's information is correct. Fish mouths can indeed be opened that way."
"Then..."
"I'll make the decision, I'll give the sir two tons!"
"No, I said buy, so it's buy. How can we inspectors take merchant convoy materials?"
Cheng Ye reached out and patted Jin Dafei's shoulder.
Dealing with smart people was indeed effortless.
Initially, Cheng Ye had considered purchasing two tons at 240 points, but that would have been too pretentious.
In the wasteland world, no one would think highly of him for following such minor rules. On the contrary, if they knew the situation, they would call him a fool behind his back.
This way, purchasing at half price, he neither broke the rules nor clearly took advantage.
Anyone who knew would praise him for having methods.
As for why he didn't expose the mutated crystals in the salted dried fish, the inspector handbook had clear guidance.
Leave a line in everything, for easier future meetings.
Cheng Ye had really liked this saying at the time, and now seeing Jin Dafei's performance, it further validated this point.
Steel crystal powder blood loss of 500, mutated crystals earned back 400, plus 240 for the salted fish, total loss of 340 points.
But if everything had been discovered, that would have been a loss of 700. The difference back and forth was enough to exchange for 18 guard rifles.
"Thank you, sir. If you ever visit Red Mountain Shelter City in the future, please send word to Dafei. I must properly fulfill the duties of a host."
Jin Dafei understood the connections and forced out some smile on his face.
After all the back and forth, he actually now owed this young inspector a favor.
What could he say? This was an inspector's wisdom, and also a super shelter city's foundation.
Too many veteran inspectors from small and medium shelter cities who mixed until middle age still couldn't comprehend this principle.
Either they rigidly followed rules and handled affairs impartially, forcing merchant convoys to maintain respectful distance, or they were insatiably greedy, ultimately digging themselves into holes.
Someone like Cheng Ye who grasped the balance so perfectly was truly rare, and could only be encountered in super shelter cities.
"Go for disinfection. The city hasn't been very peaceful recently, so your merchant convoy should also be careful."
"Sir, rest assured. We know about the infection tide, but Happiness City... won't be defeated by a small infection tide."
Watching the truck slowly drive toward the disinfection area, Jin Dafei clung to the car window and cupped his hands toward Cheng Ye from afar, showing several degrees more genuine respect than before.
Only after the isolation door closed did Cheng Ye let out a long breath, taking out his defense communicator to check the time.
Without noticing, it was already 11:30.
Inspecting this one convoy had taken a full two and a half hours, keeping everyone busy and sweating profusely, their clothes soaked with large patches of sweat.
Fortunately, the harvest was substantial. Just the confiscation commission from steel crystal powder and crystal powder was enough for everyone present to earn a small merit.
Especially Snake, when he finished tallying the documents and walked over, his gaze no longer contained only respect, but additional emotions: admiration, and some awe.
"Sir, this is the inventory."
It recorded the discovered smuggled goods and corresponding confiscation points.
Cheng Ye took it and glanced over, his fingertip pausing on "dried fish." "I purchased two tons of dried fish from the merchant convoy, remember to add that."
"Right!"
Snake immediately agreed, picking up his pen to make the addition.
According to checkpoint regulations, inspectors indeed had the right to purchase merchant convoy goods on the spot, which wasn't against rules.
But Snake had worked at the checkpoint for six years and this was the first time he'd seen someone do this.
Young inspectors mostly had shallow foundations and not much spare money, while older inspectors didn't lack materials, at least not urgently enough to buy at the checkpoint.
But Cheng Ye was different. This single transaction earned him 889 points, spending 240 of that still left 649 points.
"Hiss, if yesterday's three merchant convoys had run into me, wouldn't I have earned nearly two thousand in one day?"
Cheng Ye stroked his chin, unable to help calculating in his mind.
Of course, it was just thinking.
There were opportunities to make money, but if he inspected every convoy that came, the efficiency would seem strange to anyone watching.
After all, he was just a trainee.
Being able to find the smuggled goods hidden by Red Mountain merchant convoy was already eye-catching enough.
Although these could be attributed to Liu Bi, if he continuously found contraband in three to five merchant convoys and kept pushing everything onto Liu Bi, Big Brother B probably couldn't handle the blame.
After all, in other inspectors' eyes, Liu Bi was a complete hothead through and through.
If he could bring out such an outstanding new person, then the future trainee assessment instructor shouldn't be Harlin, but Liu Bi instead.
Just imagining Big Brother B standing at the podium, loudly teaching all trainee inspectors to learn anger, made Cheng Ye want to laugh.
Bang, bang bang.
Just then, several gunshots came from neighboring Zone B. Cheng Ye looked up through the isolation net.
He saw two people fallen on the ground, blood pooling around them.
This was the South Station's first conflict of the morning, unexpectedly occurring in Zone B.
Cheng Ye frowned but didn't move, having no intention of going over to greet Song Hai.
They had met at the hospital before and exchanged pleasantries, but couldn't really be considered familiar.
It wasn't that Song Hai was aligned with the Westerners, but rather this guy liked putting on the airs of seniority, probably one of those who had gone too far in taking sides.
And he was now a promoter of new concepts. Going to contact these people might actually invite trouble.
After twelve o'clock.
Since completing inspection of Red Mountain merchant convoy, Zone C's passage had remained empty, with no second external merchant convoy arriving.
However, the rainy summer season was naturally the off-season for merchant convoys. Muddy roads would slow travel, and humid air could easily cause goods to mold.
Unless it was urgent merchandise that needed quick disposal, no one wanted to risk it.
But what was troubling was that not only showed no signs of weakening, the rain seemed to have opened floodgates, falling harder and harder.
Cheng Ye simply stood up and left the inspection area, planning to take shelter from rain in the back while dealing with lunch.
However, as soon as he looked up toward the wilderness, his brows unconsciously furrowed.
Fog had risen!
The city ruins that could still be vaguely outlined before were now completely swallowed by white misty vapor, leaving only blurred dark shadows, like a giant beast lurking in the fog.
Even the surrounding wilderness that should have shown green vitality was gradually soaked by fog, falling into an eerie stillness.
No insect chirping could be heard, no wind sounds, even the sound of raindrops hitting the ground seemed absorbed by the fog, becoming muffled and distant.
The entire South Station seemed enclosed in a huge glass cover, surrounded by light fog, emanating an indescribable oppression.
Cheng Ye turned toward the buffer zone direction, seeing the city was now also shrouded in a layer of light mist, like being covered with a thin veil.
Normally, this kind of natural phenomenon was very normal, nothing particularly strange.
But somehow, he instinctively felt somewhat panicked, suddenly having a restless feeling.
That was fear of the unknown!
