Leaving the library, Cheng Ye opened the interface and glanced at the charge level.
44%
Based on a maximum capacity of two hundred kilowatt-hours, the remaining six percent came to twelve kilowatt-hours.
*Closing this last gap will be easy. I can just plug in tonight at home, and tomorrow I'll have enough for a search.*
The power cap for residential electricity in the Buffer Zone was still far too restrictive.
Cheng Ye had considered sneaking into a factory or looking for charging stations used by buses and transport trucks, where high-output ports were guaranteed.
But after weighing it, he decided it was too risky.
With his current standing and strength, he couldn't afford the consequences of being discovered.
If someone reported his anomaly to the Inner City and he was mistaken for some special infected variant, it would invite instant catastrophe.
*Play it safe. Don't push your luck!*
Cheng Ye repeated the reminder to himself, quickly tossing those reckless notions to the back of his mind.
He looked up at the sky.
A misty drizzle fell, and the dark clouds hung low and heavy, much like before. It seemed another torrential downpour was on its way.
Curfew in the Main Urban District took effect immediately, leaving the bus on the return trip empty once again.
By the time Cheng Ye passed through the checkpoints and returned to the electronic factory staff residential compound, it was nearly nine thirty at night.
Uncle Dong's shop was already closed, but the kitchen of the chunky meat cafeteria still had a light on, likely prepping ingredients for the next day.
*I really need to get used to living alone as soon as possible.*
Cheng Ye shook his head.
The past two months had flown by. Busy with martial training and busy passing the inspector assessment, he hadn't felt the passage of time dragging.
Yet with Liu Bi gone, he didn't even have anyone to talk to.
As if in response to his thoughts, just as he reached the fifth floor before he could even unlock the door, the defense comm at his waist chimed.
Pulling it out, Cheng Ye sighed. It was indeed Luo Xiaoxue.
His late father, whom he had never met, truly had good fortune to make such loyal and devoted friends in the wasteland.
In his shoes, Cheng Ye couldn't say for sure whether he could look after a friend's child with such dedication after their passing.
"Hey, Sister Luo. I just got home."
Closing the security door behind him, Cheng Ye answered the call.
"You're reporting to the fast checkpoint tomorrow. Why are you getting home so late instead of resting?"
"I went to the library to read for a bit. Mainly because I haven't fought infected variants face-to-face yet. I wanted to prepare as much as possible so I can handle whatever comes up with a cool head."
Two seconds of silence followed from the receiver.
"Cheng Ye, don't keep yourself wound so tight. Relax," Luo Xiaoxue said, deliberately slowing her pace to comfort him. "When I first went to the front lines back then, I was pretty much the same. I kept imagining infected variants as unstoppable monsters, terrified that a single lapse would cost me my life. Only after facing them in real combat did I realize most of that fear was just scaring myself.
"At the end of the day, infected variants are made of flesh and blood. Those so-called special abilities only pose a truly fatal threat when they form massive swarms. Just stick to what I told you yesterday, and I promise you'll hang on until Brother B gets back."
Cheng Ye had to admit that neither Liu Bi nor Luo Xiaoxue had any talent for political maneuvering.
Even though both understood this personnel reshuffle had dragged Cheng Ye into the vortex of conflict between the East and West Factions, they still harbored wishful thinking, hoping he could simply keep his head down until the storm passed.
*Am I overthinking things?*
A flicker of doubt crossed Cheng Ye's eyes, but vanished a second later, replaced by firm resolve.
He had only one life, with no second chance for trial and error.
Before possessing enough strength to brush aside any scheme, preparing for the worst was always the right call.
"I know what I'm doing, Sister Luo, so don't worry. Reading at the library is a way to relax, too. After all, Brother B worked me so hard these past few days that I'm still sore all over."
"Isn't that the truth? You're practically a different person now."
On the other end of the line, Luo Xiaoxue chuckled.
"Then get some proper rest. Brother B arranged everything before he left. When you go to South Station tomorrow, no one will give you a hard time. That place is full of East Faction people, and every single one of them owes your dad a favor."
"South Station?"
Cheng Ye's smile vanished. "Sister Luo, barring any surprises, I plan to head to North Station first."
"What?"
The sound of a kettle crashing to the floor came through the receiver, followed immediately by Luo Xiaoxue's shout: "Are you out of your mind? North Station is packed with West Faction people! As a rookie, are you worried you won't die fast enough?
"Garcia is still lying in the clinic right now! The West Faction hates Liu Bi's guts, and you were trained by him personally. If you go there, won't they target you to death?"
Luo Xiaoxue's voice was unusually agitated.
If she hadn't met Cheng Ye and didn't understand his demeanor and way of thinking, she would have assumed the kid had simply lost his mind, something easily fixed with some persuasion.
Yet precisely because she knew he had his own reasoning and convictions, she couldn't understand why he would risk going to North Station!
Moreover, she couldn't imagine how crazy Liu Bi would go if he returned and heard that Cheng Ye had stubbornly run off to North Station and gotten hurt.
Even seasoned East Faction inspectors dreaded being rotated to duty at North Station.
For a rookie who had never worked a fast checkpoint and was still just a trainee inspector to head into the enemy's stronghold—wasn't that just seeking death?
"Besides, the King of Hell is easy to deal with, but the little demons are hard to manage! Even if the station chief at North Station doesn't make things difficult for you, won't the guards and staff on duty find ways to give you trouble at every turn?
"Listen to me. If something happens to you at North Station, Brother B will smash that checkpoint to pieces!"
Luo Xiaoxue's emotions grew more intense, her voice trembling, sounding as if she would leap right through the defense comm if Cheng Ye didn't agree on the spot.
"Sister Luo, please calm down first. Don't scare Yiyi. Just hear me out..."
Cheng Ye hadn't intended to explain so much, but considering how well Liu Bi's family treated him, Luo Xiaoxue would probably lose sleep every night worrying if he didn't make his reasoning clear.
"I know everything you just said. Don't worry. Didn't you say yesterday that I'm as shrewd as someone from the old era?"
"Then why are you being so stubborn now?"
"It's not stubbornness. It's... human nature. Sister Luo, let me ask you a question. What kind of relationship do you think exists between the inspectors, the staff, and the guards beneath them?"
Luo Xiaoxue was silent for a few seconds before saying in a low voice, "There are only two ways to become an inspector: either inherit the position from a parent, or have the station chief promote you when a vacancy opens up. Those with no hope of advancement their entire lives might be friendly toward you, but those qualified to rise up would love nothing more than to swallow you whole, precisely because you don't have descendants."
"Wrong!"
*Crack!*
Thunder exploded outside the window.
The rain intensified, fat drops battering against the glass like the pounding of war drums.
"Wrong?"
"Sister Luo, the waters at the checkpoint run far deeper than you think."
Cheng Ye stood and pushed open the window, letting the roar of the rain drown out the room's quiet. "As long as the higher-ups don't abolish the hereditary system, anyone on the checkpoint who dares to show ambition for an inspector's seat will offend every inspector across both the East and West Factions and become an enemy to all.
"Put yourself in their shoes. If Brother B intends to pass his inspector seat to Yiyi in the future, but someone at the station has their eye on that position, would you just let it slide?
"In some areas, the East and West Factions fight tooth and nail. But in others, they share the collective interests of all inspectors. Even if they despise me to the bone and wish I'd drop dead this very second, not a single one will dare cross that red line before I die."
Luo Xiaoxue fell into a long silence, leaving only the rushing sound of rain on both ends of the line.
That was an angle she had never considered.
Now that Cheng Ye had laid it out, thinking it through carefully... it really did seem to be the case.
In truth, it was a limitation of the era that blurred Luo Xiaoxue's understanding of the dynamic between inspectors and the guards under them.
Placed in ancient times, it was easy to grasp: the station chief was the emperor, and the inspectors beneath him were feudal lords.
If a feudal lord died without an heir, the emperor could grant his fief to meritorious ministers and generals.
Yet if a feudal lord was still alive, and someone grew impatient and attempted to claim the fief by plotting the lord's death, would the emperor tolerate it?
Would the other feudal lords tolerate it?
Even taking a step back, even if everyone wanted that feudal lord dead, they would never allow a subordinate minister to entertain such ideas.
Why?
Because who could guarantee their own descendants would securely hold their inspector seat?
*If no one speaks for me today, when chains bind me tomorrow, I will have brought it upon myself.*
Precisely because he understood this, Cheng Ye wasn't the least bit worried about being harassed by subordinates at North Station.
And even if someone acted as foolishly as Garcia, he had plenty of ways to deal with them.
"Then wouldn't going to South Station be the same?"
Luo Xiaoxue held back for a long while before finally responding, still somewhat unconvinced.
Even if the subordinates didn't give him trouble, would the West Faction inspectors and station chief let him off the hook?
"That brings up another issue. Sister Luo, can you trust me?"
Cheng Ye sighed.
Some things simply couldn't be stated plainly. For instance, the person who most wanted him dead right now was Ding Yishan, while Harlin might not actually want him to perish at North Station.
After all, if Cheng Ye, rated at a "3," were to die, the East Faction could immediately promote a powerful replacement—at least a "6" or a "7"—to bridge the gap in their combat strength.
Meanwhile, the West Faction had just lost a key figure. With the shifts in strength, the balance between the two factions would return to a delicate equilibrium.
Therefore, heading straight to North Station now, even without familiarity with the fast channel, was the relatively safer choice.
If he followed Liu Bi and Luo Xiaoxue's advice and went to South Station completely blind, an accident befalling a trainee inspector would be all too ordinary.
"I can trust you, but I... and Brother B don't want to see..."
"Bwother Cheng Ye, me too!" Liu Yi's voice piped up over the receiver. Though she had no idea what they were talking about, she refused to be left out.
"Haha, Yiyi, why aren't you asleep yet?"
"It's thundering! So scary! Daddy isn't home, I'm worried about Daddy!"
"Don't worry. Next time your daddy goes out, how about Brother Cheng Ye goes along to protect him?"
"No way, no way! Daddy said you're really weak, and that I have to protect you when I grow up!"
*Hiss.*
That stung.
"Sister Luo, hurry and take Yiyi to sleep. I promise nothing will go wrong."
After Liu Yi's interruption, the tension eased considerably.
"Besides, even if they really try to make things difficult for me, I can just turn around and head to South Station tomorrow. They won't dare say a word."
"Do you promise?"
Sensing that she couldn't dissuade him, Luo Xiaoxue sighed and finally relented.
It wasn't because she couldn't think of a counterargument, but because Cheng Ye's performance the previous night and his maturity now gave her a fleeting impression of the first time she had met Cheng Long all those years ago.
"I promise. I will definitely stay alive... until Brother B comes back!"
Chapter 21