Chapter 192: Chapter 192

Heading to the outer buffer zone to select personnel from the refugee formation, Ding Yishan and Harlin obviously wouldn't accompany them.

After announcing the relevant time points, the two left with their materials.

At this time, Jiang Chuan walked in, followed by a team of as many as sixty clerks.

"Esteemed inspectors, the upcoming assessment will be completed with our accompaniment. Each team will be assigned two clerks to respond to needs: one responsible for supervising the assessment, so please do not engage in any violations, and the other specifically to respond to your various needs. Just inform him directly of anything."

After Jiang Chuan finished speaking, he began assigning clerks according to the roster.

Western inspectors were all assigned Eastern clerks, and vice versa.

Jiang Chuan himself served as the chief clerk, coordinating the execution of the entire assessment work.

"Inspector Cheng, I'm Jevi, and this is Link. If you have any needs going forward, just inform us directly." Two Western clerks stepped forward.

Although the Eastern and Western inspectors within the inspection station didn't get along, the clerks underneath weren't affected by this.

However, what was interesting was that while everyone still appeared quite calm in the meeting hall, once they left the station office building, their footsteps involuntarily quickened, even breaking into a jog, afraid of falling behind others.

Especially those first and second term inspectors, it seemed they already had ideas in mind, rushing out with hurried steps, as if afraid that going late would mean the people they fancied would be picked by higher-level inspectors behind them.

"Inspector Cheng, not running yet?"

Seeing Cheng Ye walking leisurely, Yang Xingwen caught up from behind and asked curiously.

"No rush, I'm still thinking about what kind of people to select."

"Hey, you're really calm enough." Yang Xingwen smiled, quickening his pace and rushing ahead.

After all, whether able-bodied young adults or families, the total number was fixed. Going late, they'd probably only be left with what others had picked over.

"Xiao Kang, why aren't you anxious?"

Watching inspectors run past one by one, Cheng Ye tilted his head and discovered that Wang Kang also had a completely calm expression, which made him somewhat curious.

"Brother Cheng, if we were randomly selecting refugees outside, we'd definitely have to run faster."

Wang Kang shook his head, "But these are all people screened by the inspection station. Since they voluntarily participated in the assessment for compensation, they definitely have their own thoughts and plans. To truly recruit them, we'll probably have to put in some effort. It's not like going early gives us an advantage."

Cheng Ye smiled and simply pulled Wang Kang to sit down on a bench in the inspection station's official business area. Jevi and Link stood behind the bench waiting.

With too many people, how could they highlight individuality and uniqueness?

This wasn't going to the supermarket to grab eggs. Since the refugees outside had made up their minds to come take this risk, they certainly wouldn't just follow any random inspector.

It looked like inspectors were selecting people, but in reality, these people were also selecting inspectors.

Unfortunately, most low-term inspectors hadn't thought of this. Only after everyone had walked through once did they see the third and fourth term inspectors leisurely walking out of the station office building.

Everyone was chatting and laughing, not like they were going to participate in an assessment, but rather like they were going camping in the wild.

Seeing the two sitting on a bench not far away, several fourth term inspectors showed no change in expression, but the third term inspectors cast several unusual glances.

Especially Gu Xinjing, who curiously asked as he walked over, "Really not anxious?"

"Not anxious. Anyway, there are four hours, and twenty thousand people. No matter how they're picked, some will be left for me." Cheng Ye replied with a smile.

"Not bad. It seems Song Hai's evaluation of you really wasn't wrong. Work hard. If there's anything you can't handle afterward, you can call me to ask." Gu Xinjing nodded slightly and casually recited a string of numbers.

Cheng Ye quickly responded, immediately taking out his defense communicator to record the number.

Last time, Gu Xinjing partnered with Garcia and ultimately suffered a loss and was eliminated.

This time he was partnered with another third term inspector. With the two strong forces combined, their chances of winning were probably good.

"Inspector Cheng, won't you record mine too?" Zhang Wen beside him also spoke with a smile, likewise reciting a string of numbers.

"Inspector Zhang, Inspector Gu, I wish you both a smooth assessment." Cheng Ye recorded both numbers and looked up with a smile.

"We'll take your good wishes."

Both nodded simultaneously, then turned and left.

Watching their backs disappear, Cheng Ye felt a trace of something unusual in his heart, but also vaguely guessed some of the reasons.

It seemed the Eastern faction wasn't monolithic internally either. These people skilled at choosing sides each had their own camps.

Song Hai, Gu Xinjing, Zhang Wen, these three should be in the same camp.

"Song Hai's evaluation of me," Cheng Ye shook his head thoughtfully.

Although he still didn't know specifically what Song Hai had said, being able to connect with three third term inspectors within the Eastern faction was indeed a good start.

However, among the fourth term inspectors above, aside from Brother B, currently no one was willing to have contact with him. This probably confirmed that saying.

Genius is only the threshold to meet me.

People who could reach fourth period should all have been stunning geniuses back in their day.

Merely showing potential wasn't enough. He still needed sufficiently strong capabilities and methods to stand at the forefront.

Otherwise, after being deliberately elevated in seniority by Liu Bi, Cheng Ye himself was unwilling to be a junior to these fourth period colleagues, and the fourth term inspectors also didn't want to lower themselves to interact with him as peers.

The bell for 2:30 rang on time, and the assessment officially began.

Cheng Ye still wasn't in a hurry to move. He first called Big Dragon to arrange for community personnel to leave the city, then closed his materials and, led by the two clerks, headed toward the assessment location.

This was Wang Kang's first time leaving the city, so he was inevitably somewhat nervous. However, the current situation obviously didn't give him a chance to calm his emotions and shout to vent.

Just stepping out of the inspection station, he had to immediately face round after round of challenges.

Boarding the shuttle, the vehicle drove toward the open space in front of North Station.

Not long after, they saw the refugee formation surrounded by yellow barrier tape, with quite a few Legion battle vehicles parked around the perimeter, responsible for maintaining order and ensuring safety.

"Wow, this is quite a setup!"

Cheng Ye looked from afar. Twenty thousand people didn't sound like much as a number, but when actually arranged in formation before his eyes, the scene was still quite massive.

At first glance, there were densely packed heads everywhere, as if there wasn't even space to set foot.

However, when the shuttle drove a bit further forward, he saw large oval-shaped flat-topped awnings set up in front of the formation, looking somewhat like the scene of university club recruitment.

Under each awning sat two inspectors, equipped with ten guards maintaining order and two clerks, presenting the appearance of an interview scene.

From time to time, refugees would step forward to communicate face-to-face with inspectors.

"So we really can't just go down and pick people directly."

Cheng Ye found this amusing inwardly. He'd already seen that although Yang Xingwen had grabbed a front-row tent, he could now only sit inside with a bitter smile because there was absolutely no line of refugees at his tent for consultation.

The situations for other inspectors were similar. Even high-term inspectors only had three to five people inquiring at their tents.

It was clear that these twenty thousand refugees definitely knew some of the assessment rules and weren't rushing to make choices right now. They were just watching those tents from afar, clearly intending to wait for the inspectors to make the first move before picking and choosing themselves.

However, the inspection station had obviously considered this point and ultimately only provided sixteen thousand slots.

The refugees themselves also had to compete. If they just kept observing, they might very well be left out.

"Inspector Cheng, only the last awning is left." Link turned his head, his tone carrying a bit of embarrassment.

Compared to the front-row awnings, the 32nd awning was already off to the right side of the refugee formation, at least seven or eight hundred meters from the first awning.

"It's fine. Whether it's the last one still depends on methods."

The 32nd could also potentially be the 1st.

Who said the one at the front had to be the first?

After all, they were all surrounding the refugee formation. The positions of all the awnings had no inherent superiority or inferiority.

The shuttle stopped, and the two got off and walked into the awning.

On the table, about five meters long and two meters wide, lay "recruitment tools" provided by the inspection station.

A portable typewriter that could quickly print promotional materials according to the inspector's requirements.

Two large loudspeakers for proclaiming one's philosophy.

And two large boxes of badges, used to distribute to refugees and confirm recruitment quotas.

Cheng Ye picked up a badge to look at it and immediately laughed.

"Brother Cheng, why are we Little Black?"

Wang Kang was immediately dumbfounded. Turning to look at the neighboring tent, others were all using colorful characters and symbols.

"This is eye-catching. It's South Station's divine beast."

Cheng Ye smiled and waved the badge in his hand. The big black dog pattern on it was remarkably lifelike.

"Little Black specializes in checking if merchant caravans are hiding private goods. Getting this badge now is also a good omen."

Cheng Ye put down the badge. Content orıginally comes from 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⚫𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⚫𝔫𝔢𝔱

He looked at the drawer under the desktop. Inside were ordinary tools like tape, notebooks, ballpoint pens, and such.

As expected, trying to recruit people with these things provided by the inspection station wasn't very realistic.

When Ding Yishan announced the start of the assessment before leaving, he meant that from that moment on, the real test had already begun.

Now, no matter what methods were used to recruit refugees, they were all demonstrations of the inspector's personal capabilities.

However, what was unexpected was that just as the two sat down, before their butts were even warm, more than a dozen able-bodied young adults separated from the refugee queue and walked over, with two heading straight to the front of the awning.

Cheng Ye instinctively opened his panel and glanced at cooperation levels. People choosing the neighboring tent all had at least 20% cooperation level as a baseline. Looking further into the distant formation, people with 30% or above weren't uncommon either.

Since they voluntarily came to participate in the assessment, this cooperation level wasn't strange.

But these two people in front of him both had eye-catching single-digit cooperation levels.

Were they mercenaries who had accepted Pinghai Tower tasks?

Or were they pawns sent by people Cheng Long had offended to interfere with his assessment?

Cheng Ye remained composed, showing a slight smile on his face and signaling the guards to let them through one by one.

Link was quick with his hands, taking out two nameplates and placing them in front of Cheng Ye and Wang Kang respectively.

The first to step forward was a middle-aged man wearing a sleeveless tank top, his muscles slightly bulging all over, clearly at the prime age of strength for work.

He stepped forward with a slight bow, looked at the name on the nameplate, and said, "Inspector Cheng, are you still recruiting able-bodied teams? I can bring 50 able-bodied workers to cooperate with your assessment and guarantee completion of all tasks you assign."

"Oh?" Cheng Ye's tone was flat. "I do accept them here, but your team..."

"The inspection station is offering us compensation of 100 Happiness Coins for three days. We hope you can add another 100 Happiness Coins on top of that. What do you think?"

Good heavens, seeing that he and Wang Kang were young, they'd come to do business?

Cheng Ye immediately understood that he'd just misunderstood the other party's origins. He hadn't expected there would be such people in the refugee formation.

Because just in the moment he pondered, the man's cooperation level suddenly jumped several points, reaching over 20%.

"50 people, adding another 100 Happiness Coins, that's 5,000 Happiness Coins."

Cheng Long had left him just over five thousand Happiness Coins in total, and these people were asking for that much right off the bat.

Really thought highly of themselves, didn't they?

Cheng Ye gave a look, and a guard immediately understood, saying to the man, "Please leave."

"Inspector Cheng, please reconsider. How about 80, 80 Happiness Coins?" The man shouted somewhat unwillingly, but Cheng Ye's expression didn't change in the slightest from start to finish.

After he left, Cheng Ye turned to Link, "This is also allowed?"

"If you privately promise them compensation, that's a violation. But if you use initial points to exchange funds to give them, that complies with assessment regulations." Link clearly anticipated this and immediately answered.

It seemed that when initially screening refugees, they'd considered this point and hadn't only selected completely honest people to put in the formation.

This itself was also a test. After all, people assigned to satellite cities in the future couldn't possibly all be obedient.

Able-bodied young adults were indeed willing to work hard, but having people work couldn't all get the same compensation. Now that someone was making additional demands, it wasn't strange.

As soon as the first man left, the second person quickly stepped forward, also here to "sell services."

However, the price was much cheaper, only 50 Happiness Coins per person, and he could even help Cheng Ye screen the population in the refugee formation according to his requirements, such as needing those who could construct buildings, those with strong alert capabilities, or those quick at work. Any requirement could be met.

Of course, it cost extra.

"These people are really damn realistic!"

After that person was driven away, Wang Kang couldn't help but complain, "If we had that much money, why would we need to hire them? We could just go to the buffer zone and find community people. They'd be much more proactive."

The 100 Happiness Coins promised by the inspection station weren't enough, they wanted an additional 100. Those with special abilities would cost another 50-100 more.

Calculated as daily wages, it was 100 Happiness Coins a day. Did they really think they were here to get rich?

"Don't be anxious. This is probably also one of the inspection station's assessment checkpoints."

Cheng Ye found this amusing inwardly.

He was too familiar with the tricks in labor intermediaries. Back in university, every winter and summer break when going out for work-study, he inevitably encountered such unscrupulous intermediaries.

Reporting one price to the factory and telling workers another price, just profiting from the difference in between.

The so-called bringing 50 able-bodied workers to help or providing people with special abilities, were these people really his own people?

Most likely, after getting a confirmed compensation promise here, they'd go back to the refugee formation to recruit again.

At that time, even skimming just 20 Happiness Coins per person, without doing anything, they could easily earn a thousand lying down.

Looking to the side, other inspectors encountered similar situations. Right now they were all being approached by labor intermediaries.

Some, like him, refused without a second thought. Others were haggling with the intermediaries.

High-term inspectors were more numerous among them. Perhaps having dealt with all kinds of demons and monsters, they didn't reject this method.

This involved the art of negotiation.

The existence of intermediaries was inherently to save some trouble. If they could achieve their goal at a reasonable price, it wasn't a bad approach.

After dealing with more than a dozen intermediaries who came madly promoting resources, an inspector finally couldn't hold back. He stood up, picked up a loudspeaker, and walked to the front.

Cheng Ye glanced over and was surprised that the first to stand out was actually Zhao Jia, who had called him.

"Wanzi Town is recruiting personnel! We need two hundred able-bodied young adults willing to endure hardship. On top of the basic salary, each person will receive an additional 30 Happiness Coins as compensation. Wanzi Town has safe terrain. There's very little activity from infected entities or mutant creatures in the surrounding area. It's the most suitable place to build a satellite city. During the assessment, we will genuinely ensure everyone's personal safety..."

The rest was basically nonsense that no one cared about, but the phrase "30 Happiness Coins additional compensation" immediately caused a stir in the refugee formation.

Under great rewards, brave men will surely come forward.

In a flash, over fifty able-bodied young adults walked out of the formation and went to that awning to sign up.

Seeing this, inspectors under other awnings no longer held back and stepped forward to make announcements one after another.

Before the high-term inspectors made their moves, the low-term inspectors first opened up the situation using the most direct method. Badges representing identity were successively distributed.

However, everyone seemed to have a tacit understanding. No one offered more than 30 coins in compensation. Depending on different terrain and conditions, it was either 20, 25, or at most 30 coins.

Moreover, the number of able-bodied young adults recruited was also very uniform, all 200 people. No one pulled all 500 able-bodied young adults into their team at once. They probably also considered the initial points issue.

To satisfy these people's additional compensation, they had to work on the points, finding families with children and elderly to fill this gap.

In just over ten minutes, the formation decreased by more than four thousand people.

Of the six thousand able-bodied young adults, fewer than two thousand remained observing and weren't rushing forward to sign up.

"Brother Cheng, should we also..."

"No rush. Haven't you noticed those high-term inspectors haven't moved yet?"

Cheng Ye responded, inwardly sighing with emotion. As expected of the academics' simple thinking, always only considering idealized situations when doing things.

Why would high-term inspectors rather negotiate with intermediaries than choose to personally call out and recruit people at high prices?

Once they opened the door to promising additional compensation for people to join, how would they handle the gap of those remaining three hundred people?

Did they really think those seven-person families were willing to be mascots just filling point gaps?

As the first round of recruitment came to a pause, Zhao Jia, who'd first called out, stood out again and continued, "We need 20 seven-person families. We promise that children and elderly in each family won't need to participate in heavy labor tasks. They only need to take care of their own safety. We'll provide necessary protection and supplies..."

The impassioned words fell.

No one paid attention.

Every seven-person family staying in the refugee formation remained unmoved, as if they hadn't heard.

"Huh?" Zhao Jia was stunned for a moment and picked up the loudspeaker to repeat it again.

Still no one paid attention.

Instead, an intermediary took the opportunity to step forward, "Inspector Zhao, you're giving able-bodied young adults 30 extra Happiness Coins. Why aren't you giving anything to these families?"

"Why should I give them anything? I don't even need them to work!" Zhao Jia said as if it were obvious.

"But you... need the points they provide." The intermediary said with a low laugh. "You may have misunderstood something. If they didn't want to work and only wanted to slack off, they couldn't possibly pass the refugee screening and enter the formation to cooperate with your assessment."

"What?" Zhao Jia froze.

"Yes. Your promise to them is meaningless. The children in the formation are all over ten years old. They also want to use their own hands to earn more money and reduce their family's burden."

The intermediary coughed lightly at this point, "If you're willing, give each family an additional 150 Happiness Coins, and I can help you find 15 families. How about it?"

Distributed per person, that was over 20 Happiness Coins in additional compensation per head. A child's additional compensation was almost catching up to an able-bodied young adult?

Zhao Jia's expression immediately became uncertain. After rebuking the guard to drive away the intermediary, he sat back in his original position, his thoughts completely in chaos.

Seeing this, others also hurriedly shouted recruitment calls, but faced similarly awkward situations.

Did inspectors need the labor of able-bodied young adults but not the points provided by seven-person families?

Where there's demand, there's a market.

Seven-person families obviously understood their point value better than able-bodied young adults. Especially those inspectors who'd already finished selecting able-bodied young adults and had huge point gaps that had to be filled by seven-person families, they were now stuck between a rock and a hard place, simply becoming the most tempting "fat pigs."

If they didn't take this opportunity to slaughter these people, did they really think those who could maintain three generations under one roof in the chaotic wasteland were pushovers?

"Brother Cheng..." Wang Kang's lips trembled slightly. He felt his worldview collapsing again.

The harmonious scenes in his memory of getting along with community members were rapidly fading. The people before him were no longer companions striving for common goals without concern for worldly interests, but had instead become faces of self-interest only staring at immediate returns.

"Xiao Kang, you don't really think everyone in the community is a pushover, do you?"

Cheng Ye turned his head, his finger lightly tapping on the table, "Do you know what Big Dragon's nickname is among outsiders?"

"Poison Hand Dragon?"

"Do you know why he's called that?"

"Then let me tell you. The people he's crippled and maimed add up to over a thousand."

Cheng Ye's tone was flat, as if discussing an ordinary matter, "This isn't a reputation earned in the buffer zone, but the impression of ruthless brutality he left on outsiders since joining the Pioneer Corps."

"What?" Wang Kang was completely stunned. Big Dragon, who'd always been so docile in front of Cheng Ye and himself, was actually such a ruthless and brutal figure?

"But do you know why he behaves so docilely here with me?"

"..." Wang Kang fell silent, but the expression on his face slightly changed. He obviously already had an answer in his heart.

The renovation of the shopping center, the reconstruction of the pedestrian street, the promise of factories, and expectations for the future...

It was precisely these things Cheng Ye had done that made the community people truly love and obey him from the bottom of their hearts.

"Remember this well. Whether in the wasteland or the old era, money is what makes a hero!"

As the words fell, a cry of surprise came from the refugee formation.

Many people's gazes turned toward their side, but the line of sight didn't fall on the awning, but further back.

Wang Kang instinctively turned to look, and the expression on his face instantly became animated.

Not far away, a convoy of six vehicles was slowly approaching, arranged in a line, quite conspicuous.

Behind the vehicles followed three hundred black-shirted militiamen, each with a short blade and pistol at their waist, walking in neat formation, fully displaying a murderous aura.

Cheng Ye stood up, rolled his neck, and gently patted Wang Kang's shoulder.

"Watch carefully, learn well. You still have a long road to walk!"