Chapter 168: Chapter 168

"Indeed, information-type skills are just as special as transcendent skills," Cheng Ye frowned slightly, his gaze rapidly scanning the remarks column on the skill panel.

Having searched through so many people's skills before, this was the first time he'd seen one marked with a ☆ symbol.

This undoubtedly indicated that information-type skills had thresholds, you had to cross a certain standard to truly step into this category.

Thinking about it now, ordinary skills only involved physical modification, nothing more than differences in enhancement levels but information-type skills touched the brain domain, which was completely different.

Previously, when browsing idle books in the library, Cheng Ye had seen many claims about "developing brain domains to dramatically increase memory and turn people into geniuses."

At the time, he believed it wholeheartedly and was eager to try it.

Later, after actually encountering those research experts, he understood that 99% of people's talents were fixed from birth, especially memory and brain capacity. Those who excelled since childhood continued to excel, and only one-in-ten-thousand level genius talents would undergo qualitative changes later in life.

And now, to receive so much external information at once clearly exceeded his natural talent limits.

According to the probability given by the Collector, there was actually a fifty percent chance of memory loss.

Not to mention losing professional knowledge, that would be picking up sesame seeds while dropping watermelons, a losing proposition no matter how you calculated it.

Without a moment's hesitation, Cheng Ye directly passed on the second option!

Looking at the remaining two descriptions, choosing the first option would be purely using the skill as a tool.

For instance, the skill needed for modifying charging piles earlier, now if he found it, he could use it immediately by spending action points, without any impact on himself. For origınal chapters go to novel fire.net

This method was suitable for specialized skills, like tailoring skills that might only be used a few times in a lifetime. When actually needed, just use them with action points, no need to learn them personally and occupy brain domain space but mechanical knowledge obviously didn't fall into this category.

Whether for current vehicle preparation needs or future engineering technology required for Big Wave Town's development, mechanical research was an unavoidable core requirement that had to be thoroughly mastered.

"United Mounting," Cheng Ye whispered these two words, feeling somewhat emotional.

He hadn't expected that the path he chose back then would have increasingly greater impact now.

Fortunately, he hadn't impulsively chosen those rash options back then. Now, after United transformation adaptation, the third option had become particularly suitable.

Was this a learning accelerator?

Cheng Ye temporarily suppressed his urge to investigate further, scanning through the Lv2 skills that Sang Hezheng possessed, finally settling on 'Basic Mechanical Principles.'

Those intermediate repair, identification, and assembly skills, though one level higher, were all application-level things.

Learning anything should start from the fundamentals. Without a solid foundation, later application learning would easily go astray.

As for source rail technology, Cheng Ye temporarily ranked it last.

First, according to Sang Tao's explanation, Sang Hezheng lacked permissions, and he himself hadn't figured it out either.

Second, even if he understood the principles now, with current conditions, he couldn't manufacture such things.

Learning something he couldn't use immediately wasn't as good as first thoroughly understanding mechanical fundamentals that could be put to immediate use.

After job level advancement, the probability of searching for Lv2 skills was 50%.

[Civilization Collector has successfully recorded: Basic Mechanical Principles☆ (lv.2)]

Success on the first try. Cheng Ye didn't delay and immediately struck while the iron was hot for a second search.

This time his target was 'Intermediate Mechanical Identification.'

The panel flickered even more violently than before, with all the phantom text completely blurring several times, looking like it would fail, but suddenly stabilized and displayed a relieving prompt:

[Civilization Collector has successfully recorded: Intermediate Mechanical Identification☆ (lv.2)]

"Not bad, luck is on my side today," Cheng Ye closed the panel, unable to suppress an upward curve at the corners of his mouth.

After assembling the vehicle later, he wouldn't need such trouble for rapid charging.

Even if it cost some contribution points, at least there would be a place to recharge, making continuous skill searches more convenient then.

It would be best to exchange all mechanical skills before the contract mission began, then find a way to get that growth factor and fuse it with Heart-Protecting Fire.

By then, when going on contract missions, he'd have much more confidence.

"Master Sang, I'm very interested in the principles and want to start learning from the most basic level," after reviewing everything, Cheng Ye pointed to the two principle manuals on the table.

Sang Hezheng wasn't surprised at all, smiling and nodding, "No problem! Our Mechanical Department doesn't have many manuals, but each one contains a lifetime of experience from veteran masters. As long as you study them thoroughly and understand them, when you encounter unfamiliar equipment in the future, you'll be able to quickly and accurately identify where the problems are."

"Additionally," Cheng Ye paused, voicing another idea in his mind, "If the Mechanical Department's rules allow it, I happen to be on leave these few days and would like to learn hands-on here, watching equipment and understanding processes. Do you think that's feasible?"

"What's wrong with that!" Sang Hezheng agreed immediately, but just after speaking, his face showed some difficulty.

"If Inspector Cheng wants to learn, I certainly welcome it, it's just that you can see..." Sang Hezheng gestured toward the factory floor, with large and small vehicles filling the warehouse and renovation orders covering the walls, everywhere showing busyness.

"The factory has a pile of work, and demands from outside keep coming. I'm afraid this old body will have to work around the clock, so I won't have time to explain things to you in detail. My two sons don't have experience teaching people either, so I'm afraid they won't teach you well..."

"Hey, that's no problem!" Cheng Ye laughed heartily, waving his hand, "I can just observe on my own. Learning isn't something that can be completed in a day or two anyway. Once I'm familiar with things, I'll gradually figure them out. No need to trouble you to specially make time."

During his three graduate years, his advisor never taught him hands-on. He always soaked in the library checking literature, then went to outside projects to learn from veteran masters, serving tea, running errands, and doing odd jobs. Even then, opportunities to handle engineering equipment were rare.

Now with his status, wanting to use equipment in the factory obviously wouldn't face obstacles.

As soon as Sang Hezheng left, Cheng Ye didn't delay any longer, clicking on his personal panel and first equipping Basic Mechanical Principles.

Choosing United Mounting mode, replacing the slow-progressing Mobile Shooting.

The panel flickered slightly. The next second, Cheng Ye felt like something was gently stuffed into his brain, yet he couldn't grasp it clearly. It wasn't clear knowledge, but more like a vague "sixth sense."

How to describe it? It was like entering an exam room and seeing test questions in school, clearly knowing this question's key points had been seen in textbooks, but momentarily unable to remember which specific page, that vague feeling.

"It seems this is United Mounting's protection mechanism. Only when I actually start learning will these memories gradually emerge," Cheng Ye understood in his heart, reaching for the first principle manual on the table. Just as he was about to turn the page, his gaze first fell on the author column.

Was this a coincidence with the inspection station chief, or was this manual actually written by him?

With this question in mind, he opened the , discovering this manual covered basic content related to "mechanical transmission." Just looking at the chapter titles, many were junior and senior high school physics knowledge he'd learned on Earth.

But thinking about it, this knowledge had probably long been lost in the wasteland. After all, no one now could patiently study from elementary through university like in the old era, spending sixteen years building foundations.

To help technicians get started quickly, they could only extract mechanical-related physics knowledge separately and compile it into this kind of "crash course manual."

But this also had an obvious problem. Physics and mathematics were never separate. Only learning scattered mechanical-related physics knowledge could at most train skilled technicians, making it difficult to produce people who could do R&D and understand deep principles.

Cheng Ye was pondering the wasteland's talent cultivation model when his hands kept turning pages. When he came back to his senses, this manual of about fifty pages had already been flipped to the last page.

The entire process was incredibly smooth, without any hesitation, like reading a book he'd already gone through. Every knowledge point and principle felt familiar, with no obstacles to understanding.

Although he had indeed learned this knowledge on Earth, he'd long forgotten most of it.

Something in his mind suddenly seemed to be unveiled, and the content he'd just read instantly surged out. From basic concepts of mechanical transmission to specific structural diagrams, every detail was crystal clear, automatically forming memory anchors in his brain that would never be easily forgotten.

"This..." Cheng Ye tried recalling content from one page and could accurately state that it explained gear transmission meshing principles, even remembering the gear tooth count markings in the diagrams.

Not just rote memorization, but truly understanding the underlying logic.

He immediately put down this "Reagan Carl authored" manual and grabbed another thicker principle book.

This time he deliberately focused intently, wanting to capture the feeling during learning, but the experience remained miraculous.

As his eyes scanned the text, knowledge points seemed to drill directly into his brain through his sight, with no obscure or difficult parts. Even complex mechanical structure diagrams looked as intuitive as everyday objects.

Another sixty-page manual was finished.

Cheng Ye took out his defense communicator to check the time. From opening the first page until now, only fifteen minutes had passed.

This learning speed was too ridiculous!

He quickly opened his personal panel, looking at the skill column, and indeed saw changes.

[Basic Mechanical Principles (9.17%)]

"This means I've almost absorbed 10% of the skill content?" Cheng Ye was slightly stunned.

Though the process was surprisingly simple, it completely matched the Collector's consistently powerful style.

Setting down the manual, he didn't rush out to find Sang Hezheng and shock this veteran master.

Instead, he first gathered all the remaining manuals on the table and began flipping through them one by one.

Indeed, mastering one led to understanding all.

Five aspects that should logically be listed under one major mechanical classification.

They were split apart to facilitate later learning, cultivating talents in different directions.

Now learning them together, Cheng Ye felt no obstacles whatsoever.

Under the enhancement of Basic Mechanical Principles, many knowledge points could be grasped at their core with a glance, understanding them effortlessly.

For those he temporarily couldn't understand, he didn't hesitate.

"Equip Intermediate Mechanical Identification, replace Tiger Force!"

What did it feel like to mount two information-type skills simultaneously?

Cheng Ye only felt his head suddenly become heavy, his originally clear thoughts seeming wrapped in thick fog, instantly becoming somewhat muddled.

It was like staying up all night without sleep, with thoughts just emerging being suppressed, even his mood becoming gloomy.

In just a few minutes, his previously bright mood had become somewhat depressed, with his chest feeling stuffy as if holding back something.

"It seems mounting two information skills simultaneously is my current limit," sensing the limit, Cheng Ye didn't retreat, taking a deep breath and continuing to read.

More than thirty manuals flashed rapidly through his hands, with the "whooshing" sound of turning pages particularly clear in the quiet room.

Pure text content of three to four hundred words per page required him dozens of seconds to read sentence by sentence to fully absorb.

But for parts with illustrations, just a few glances would imprint all mechanical structures and component connections in his brain, not missing even the marked dimensions.

Especially as the progress bars of both skills slowly rose, the further he read, the smoother it became.

Obstacles? Non-existent!

Bottlenecks? Obviously even more impossible.

Half an hour passed, with nearly half of the thirty-five manuals completed. Cheng Ye raised his hand to rub his somewhat sore eyes, glancing at the panel progress.

Basic Mechanical Principles had reached 16%, while Intermediate Mechanical Identification had surged to 27%.

"Not bad, seems Lv2 information-type skills aren't watered down. The knowledge they provide at once is indeed substantial," Cheng Ye was secretly pleased.

Of course, this was also related to having reference materials for learning now. Without these ready-made resources, relying entirely on self-exploration would definitely be much slower.

After resting a few minutes, he continued reading.

This time the speed was even faster, almost like going through the motions, glancing a few times before turning to the next page.

For some slow readers, this short time might not even be enough to read through once.

Suddenly, he stopped his finger, looking toward outside the office door.

Sang Tao's younger brother, Sang Zhe, had somehow appeared outside the door, staring in with amazement.

Sang Zhe quickly put on a polite yet awkward smile, "In-Inspector Cheng, I came to get something. Please continue!"

"It's fine, go ahead and get it," Cheng Ye smiled slightly, unconcerned, and continued looking down at his reading.

Still at that exaggerated speed, Sang Zhe retrieved some parts from a nearby cabinet and hurriedly escaped.

This Inspector Cheng was too strange, was this how books were supposed to be read?

However, he had no intention of giving reminders. Everyone had their own habits that should be respected!

Like his own methods, which also seemed strange to others, like getting stuck in dead ends.

The door was gently closed, and Cheng Ye remained completely unaware. In two and a half hours total, he had finished all the manuals.

Having absorbed a lot of information, his brain became increasingly sluggish.

It seemed that not only was there a limit to skill equipment, but learning speed also had certain restrictions.

However, opening the panel, in just this brief time, Cheng Ye had pushed both Lv2 skills past 30% progress.

Principles at 33%, identification at 42%.

"Seems my talent isn't bad either. At this rate, I can master an Lv2 skill in two days," Cheng Ye looked at the panel progress with great satisfaction.

Compared to fusing the four strengths, even with Collector assistance, it took at least ten days but learning these information-type skills could be completed in two days, the efficiency difference wasn't just a little bit.

More importantly, both skills could advance simultaneously. As long as charging values kept up, mastering all of Sang Hezheng's Lv2 mechanical skills within a week was completely feasible.

He organized the manuals properly, stood up, and walked out of the office, calling out, "Master Sang, I have something to handle first. I'll come again tomorrow!"

"Alright!" Sang Hezheng looked up from a pile of parts, waving with a smile.

Indeed, busy inspectors couldn't possibly have too much time to learn these things.

Like Cheng Ye, being able to sit quietly in a room reading for over two hours, then decisively leave without asking endless questions or desperately wanting to know things beyond the manuals, this composure alone was stronger than 99.9% of apprentices.

"Sang Tao, see off Inspector Cheng for me," Sang Hezheng called toward the corner again.

"Coming!" Sang Tao responded efficiently, got up, washed his hands at the door, and quickly followed Cheng Ye, escorting him out of the Mechanical Department gate.

"Inspector Cheng, please feel welcome to come inspect our work anytime."

Compared to Sang Zhe, Sang Tao's personality was obviously much more cheerful, like a normal person in his twenties.

Cheng Ye strolled out the gate. Instead of taking the bus back to the city, he jogged all the way back.

Extensive air exchange and highly repetitive physical exercise were the best ways to restore mental energy.

Sure enough, after running back to the urban area, the sluggish feeling in his brain had mostly dissipated, and he even felt energized enough for "another round of learning."

However, he took out his defense communicator to check the time, just past 3 PM, and called Master Tian, "Master Tian, off work yet?"

"Just got off, just finished turning in the vehicle."

"Then come to Central Station. I'll take you somewhere good."

Cheng Ye smiled. He planned to first check the scrap car yard situation. If the cars were too badly damaged to be usable, he could change approaches early.

When Cheng Ye reached the outside of Central Station, Master Tian was already waiting at the entrance.

However, Master Tian couldn't enter the inspection station interior, so Cheng Ye went to the logistics office to ask for the scrap yard location, unexpectedly finding it was next to the garbage processing plant in the southern suburbs.

"Is Inspector Cheng taking me to scavenge garbage?" After getting out of the car, Master Tian was surprised but his eyes showed even more curiosity.

"In a certain sense, that's exactly right," Cheng Ye smiled, leading Master Tian along the cement road toward the garbage processing plant.

The faint rotten smell in the buffer zone became particularly intense here, making their eyes water.

Fortunately, after turning a corner and reaching the upwind side, the stench lightened considerably, and a large compound surrounded by high walls appeared nearby.

Several guards stood at the entrance with patrols walking back and forth. Seeing the two approach, a guard immediately came forward respectfully, obviously having received advance notice from the inspection station.

"Inspector Cheng!" The guard saluted.

"Mm, take us to see those scrap cars."

"Yes, please follow me!"

Following the guard into the compound, Cheng Ye realized that the southern suburbs' desolation had given this car yard enough space.

Looking around, hundreds of broken cars were scattered haphazardly across the dirt ground.

All kinds of vehicles were there, transport trucks, pickups, freight trucks, large trucks, like a giant automotive graveyard but every single one looked terrible.

Some car bodies had rotted into twisted metal lumps, lying crookedly on the ground.

Some structures barely held together, but their roofs were dented inward by large chunks, like flattened tin cans.

Others had bodies covered in dense bullet holes, not to mention those that looked relatively intact but had their tires and internal components long removed, leaving only "empty shells" standing there.

Additionally, the compound had a square indoor garage built in it.

The guard pulled up the heavy metal rolling door, revealing hundreds more cars inside that were overall much more complete than those outside.

Most only had some impact marks on the front, body, or rear, though all tires had been removed as well.

"The inspection station actually has this many scrap cars?" Cheng Ye couldn't help asking.

At a glance, he felt there were no fewer than five hundred scrap cars parked here.

"They were all concentrated here recently. Before this, there were at most two to three hundred," the guard scratched his head, smiling as he explained, "They're not all from the inspection station either. Recently other departments' scrap cars are also being sent here, hoping the Mechanical Department will have time to see if any can be repaired for reuse."

Just then, a bald middle-aged man ran in from outside, greeting from afar with a smile, "Inspector Cheng, hello, I'm the person in charge here, Sonny Valentine."

"Hello," Cheng Ye extended his hand, and they shook briefly.

The nearby guard glanced at Master Tian and tactfully stepped aside.

"Currently the car yard has stored 612 vehicles total, 378 severely damaged ones outside, and 234 relatively intact ones in the garage," Sonny Valentine had also received notification and knew Cheng Ye's purpose, getting straight to the point.

"The pricing methods for both sides are different. Outside cars are priced by the whole vehicle, 100 contribution points each. Except for the frame which must stay, everything else, whether parts or wiring, you can dismantle and take whatever you want, but you can't cross-dismantle between vehicles. You pay for however many cars you choose."

"Inside cars are sold by individual components. Regardless of component condition, starting price is 50 contribution points, maximum 350 points. Here's the detailed price list for your reference."

He pulled out a densely written paper from his small bag and handed it to Cheng Ye.

Cheng Ye glanced over it. The prices matched what he'd learned from Lee Matteo earlier, no problems but before he could speak, Sonny Valentine added, "Because of satellite city development, all departments sent over their previously stored scrap cars, wanting to see if any could be useful. But now the car yard is really too crowded, so we're running a temporary promotion."

"For outside cars, if you select ten at once, we'll give you a 20% discount."

"For garage components, take ten items and get a 10% discount."

This promotion left Cheng Ye stunned, while Master Tian beside him thoughtfully said, "Sending scrap cars over is to release vehicle quotas, right?"

"Huh?" Sonny Valentine was startled, then smiled, "Seems this master knows the business! That's right, each department needs to release old quotas before applying for new vehicle allocations, so they're rushing to pile these old cars here to free up slots."

Seeing Cheng Ye didn't understand, Master Tian continued, "For example, the Works Department has regulations for 100 vehicle quotas, but only uses about 70 daily, so the remaining 30 quotas are occupied by these scrap cars. Otherwise, according to rules, empty quotas must be filled with new vehicles, but the Works Department neither has that much funding nor needs to spend money on useless vehicles."

"Oh, I understand!" Cheng Ye thought about it and instantly grasped the mechanism.

It was about temporarily using allocated vehicle purchase funds elsewhere to generate returns, then clearing quotas and buying vehicles when actually needed but this conveniently benefited him now. With this promotion policy, he could save considerably more funds.