Fire at the Brow, a Godly Opening!

What kind of status did an on-duty stationmaster hold at the checkpoints? According to Liu Bi, they were the designated successors to the chief stationmaster, handpicked by Happiness City's upper echelon. To become an on-duty stationmaster, one either had to have made monumental contributions to Happiness City or possessed exceptionally outstanding capabilities. If Ding Yishan were to fall in the line of duty, the ultimate stationmaster seat would be chosen from among the on-duty stationmasters. Indeed, Deputy Stationmaster Harlin could not directly inherit the stationmaster position. Although his competitive edge was greater than anyone else's, he still had to compete on equal footing with the other on-duty stationmasters. In Cheng Ye's view, an on-duty stationmaster was essentially an imperial prince. When Emperor Ding Yishan passed away, the new emperor would be chosen from Crown Prince Harlin and the remaining princes. Who came out on top all depended on who had the harsher, firmer hand when the knives came out at the Xuanwu Gate. Of course, that was merely an analogy for the power dynamics; in terms of interpersonal standing, the stationmaster and the on-duty stationmasters treated one another as equals. "I only saw Downs this morning, and no infected entities slipped into West Checkpoint, so nothing went wrong here." "As for East Checkpoint and Central Checkpoint..." Cheng Ye paused. Could his luck really be this good—picking West Checkpoint and dodging a disaster by sheer chance? Logically speaking, Central Checkpoint rarely encountered troublesome infected entities. After all, a potent infection source took a massive toll on its host; most of those capable of trekking long distances to reach Happiness City were like the Deathwhisper Tentacles—bizarre in appearance, but with little combat power. Fast checkpoints, however, were an entirely different story. Someone like Barrett, infected by a Rotting Vine, had been locked in an isolation pod for four whole days without even reaching the outbreak stage. If a potent infected entity like that ran rampant in a crowd, it could mow down a massive swath of people in minutes. "It's not your fault. Just wait patiently," Cheng Ye reassured the nervous four brothers. Setting an example, he sat down beneath the rain umbrella, waiting patiently for further news. When an on-duty stationmaster died unexpectedly, regardless of which area it happened in, all three checkpoints had to be locked down immediately under high alert. No one in, no one out. Just like in Quarantine Zone B next door, the dozens of people queued up to enter the city could only sit and wait for the alert to be lifted. Wait, Simo was also waiting to head out for medical treatment. Who would have thought that after passing the inspection under Cheng Ye, he would end up stuck here? The man's luck was truly rotten. *Central Checkpoint and East Checkpoint are both manned by Easterner inspectors right now. Whichever one died, Ding Yishan is going to have a massive headache. The balance of power was already fragile, and now it's bound to tilt even further toward the Westerners.* *As for me, I don't know whether this is a blessing or a curse. My only worry is if Ding Yishan goes off the deep end...* A flurry of thoughts surged through his mind. Inspectors might look glorious and powerful in the eyes of ordinary people, but who knew how much they walked on thin ice behind the scenes? Cheng Ye could only do his best to look at the bigger picture and analyze the repercussions of this shift in power. *If I were Ding Yishan, what would I do?* *The Easterner inspectors are at a disadvantage fundamentally because of a generational gap among the youth. But looking higher up, their core backbone is still solid. Brother B mentioned before that among fourth-stage senior inspectors, Easterners are slightly stronger than Westerners, and for the highest-ranking fifth-stage inspectors, they hold an advantage of four to two. Only from the third stage down have the Westerners seized a major lead.* *On top of that, Easterners held two of the three on-duty stationmaster posts, which was the only reason the balance hadn't completely broken.* *Now that an Easterner on-duty stationmaster is dead, what comes next...* Analyzing it step by step, Cheng Ye's eyes suddenly lit up. From Ding Yishan's perspective, the absolute top priority right now was the newly vacant on-duty stationmaster position. If the Easterners could still keep two stationmaster seats, the situation would return to the prior stalemate. But if the Westerners snatched this seat, the power dynamic across the checkpoints would turn completely upside down in an instant. With fire burning his eyebrows, how could Ding Yishan possibly spare the attention to keep tabs on a minor apprentice inspector like him? And taking ten thousand steps back, even if Ding Yishan was dead set on screwing him over to hand an opening to his own cronies— *The worst that could happen is I flip the table and defect straight to the Westerners. Who's afraid of who?* To survive in an iron-rice-bowl establishment, there were only two paths. Either stay safely invisible, sipping tea, reading newspapers, refusing to join any faction, and quietly riding it out until retirement; or strive with all your might—relying on ruthless methods if you had no backing, and speaking with raw strength if you didn't know how to play politics. The former was something Cheng Ye couldn't choose, nor did he want to. The wasteland was not the civilized modern era; those at the bottom had no right to decide whether they lived or died. As for the latter, his strongest backer, Cheng Long, was gone before they had even met, leaving only Liu Bi. Yet leaning on Brother B alone was far from enough weight to safeguard him, Cheng Long's sole descendant. *Brother Long might be gone, but he left behind a huge web of favors. If I kick the bucket at a critical juncture like this and someone with an agenda makes a fuss about it, Ding Yishan will have a monstrous headache!* The more he thought it through, the clearer it became. Only when the clash between East and West reached a fever pitch without a clear victor would they turn their attention to the bottom ranks. Although no one knew whether this window of opportunity would last days or months, one thing was certain: it gave him more than enough time to show his worth! "Inspector Cheng, hey, over here..." Hearing someone call his name, Cheng Ye pulled himself from his thoughts and looked toward the voice. To his surprise, it was the Westerner inspector from Quarantine Zone B next door. A scrawny, middle-aged man with thinning hair, deeply sunken eye sockets, and a distinct European facial structure. Could this sly slacker who only knew how to shove people into quarantine be coming over to kick him while he was down? "I got word. It was Stationmaster He Fei from Central Checkpoint—he died unexpectedly!" Separated by the wire mesh fence between Zones A and B, the Westerner inspector walked over with a few quick strides, his expression complicated as he lowered his voice. "What?! He Fei?" Cheng Ye couldn't help but draw in a sharp breath. His memory instantly flashed back to his first day interning at Central Checkpoint. Back then, this thick-browed, large-eyed Stationmaster He had personally led him to Quarantine Station 8 and specifically told the other inspectors to look out for him as a new apprentice, his words full of warmth and concern. After that, although they hadn't crossed paths again, Cheng Ye had called He Fei just three days ago to ask for leave. The man had even reminded him, "Don't let Stationmaster Ding and everyone down." Who would have thought that just a few days later, He Fei was dead? "A peculiar water-affinity infected entity slipped into Central Checkpoint. Its abilities were very bizarre. They're still investigating how Stationmaster He died..." "Don't get the wrong idea. I might be a Westerner, but I never get involved in the factional struggle between East and West. I just focus on doing my job. Whether you're an Easterner or a Westerner doesn't matter to me one bit." Without waiting to see what Cheng Ye thought, the Zone B inspector wiped cold sweat from his forehead. "Still, we're both inspectors. If an infected entity breaks into my area, you can't just leave me to die." Well then. So that was what this was about. Cheng Ye had been wondering why this guy went out of his way to come over, leaking checkpoint intel while stressing his neutrality in factional politics. Turns out, he was just an old freeloader looking to coast safely into retirement. "Let me introduce myself. Matthew Lee." "Cheng Ye." Exchanging names counted as establishing a connection. Cheng Ye hadn't expected that the first inspector he got acquainted with at West Checkpoint would be introduced like this. No wonder the guy shoved people straight into quarantine the moment something seemed off; now he finally understood why. To someone coasting by, avoiding trouble was the greatest achievement of all. Stuffing every suspicious person into an isolation pod, ensuring hardly anyone passed cleanly through the checkpoint—this slacking method was nothing short of "genius"! "I know how you Easterners do names. You can call me Lee Matthew, too—plenty of people do." Chuckling dryly, he continued, "My luck was bad this week, getting assigned to Zone B. Too many people. If only I could partner up with you over here in Zone A—safe and hassle-free." "I'm just an apprentice inspector, and it's my first day at a fast checkpoint. Inspector Lee, you flatter me. If we worked together, I'd be the one learning from you..." "I'm not joking around." Matthew Lee turned solemn and shook his head repeatedly. "Nothing stays secret at this checkpoint. What happened this morning was common knowledge the second our shift started. You were pretty ruthless teaching those young punks a lesson. They're spoiled rotten anyway, trying to provoke just anyone. If only they knew what your old man pulled off back in the day..." "Ahem. I'm a bit curious, though—when you went into the isolation pod, how did you figure out that guy was infected after just a few words? That was an entirely new infection source. Don't go telling me it was just luck." "Sorry to disappoint, but you guessed right. It really was just luck." Cheng Ye's cheek twitched. He hadn't expected Matthew Lee to guess the literal truth. Yet even though it was the truth, the response sounded utterly dismissive, as though he had no desire to get close. Fortunately, the piercing alarm broadcast finally cut off at that moment. Looking up at the sentry tower, the two alert flags had been replaced with one: a yellow flag. "Damn it, why am I so unlucky?" Matthew Lee couldn't help grumbling. "It's already two o'clock. Just two more hours and I could've clocked out. Now look at this—every off-duty inspector has to muster at Central Checkpoint, while those of us on post have to drag it out until evening before we can leave." "Drag it out until evening?" Cheng Ye scratched his head. His expression remained unchanged, but a spark of delight flared in his chest. Quarantine Zone A hadn't seen a single soul for half the day; even if he stayed until night, it would be remarkably quiet. And if the next inspector didn't come to relieve him, wouldn't that mean he could keep recharging the entire time? At this rate, he would have another search attempt recharged before clocking out tonight! "Guess we just have to endure it. Damn infected entities... At least with a yellow flag, the checkpoint closes at eight. Otherwise, working a sixteen-hour day would break even a man made of steel." Matthew Lee sighed, then leaned closer and dropped his voice. "Inspector Cheng, if danger hits, don't leave me hanging. Back me up once, and I'll give you twenty contribution points. Deal?" "Deal!" Cheng Ye agreed without hesitation. For one, if an infected entity went berserk in Quarantine Zone B, it would inevitably affect Zone A anyway. Besides, twenty contribution points wasn't a small sum. He could make money just standing here providing fire support—why refuse? *Interesting. Who would've thought spotting Barrett's infection would make them think I'm the real deal?* Back in his seat, Cheng Ye mulled it over and suddenly realized that this opening hand was absurdly fantastic. If he hadn't put those young punks in their place first and simply stumbled upon Barrett in Quarantine Zone A, people probably would have chalked it up to dumb luck. Instead, he had demonstrated his ruthless methods first, establishing a strong, formidable impression before heading to the quarantine area and uncovering Barrett's infection in just a few words. The implications were entirely different. A man who understood workplace politics and had the competence to back it up. In the eyes of those inspectors, his image had likely shifted from "a greenhorn Easterner apprentice" to "a tough nut nobody wants to mess with." *Heh, wonderful! Recharging is smooth and easy, and danger is minimal.* *Once the charge finishes tonight, I'll do another sweep of the quarantine pods. If I don't find an infected entity, I can draw a skill; if I do find one, I earn contribution points, reinforce my reputation, and cancel the search to double my action points!* *This opening hand really is a god-tier draw!* ...