As an inspector on his first day of duty in Zone C, naturally, it was impossible for him to find any loopholes out of thin air.
"Thank you, sir, for your insight!"
As the driver walked past the inspection table with a bow, he lowered his head slightly to flatter him, and then, following the staff’s instructions, started the truck and drove toward the disinfection area in front of the garage.
There, the entire vehicle would undergo a thorough cleaning, with special attention given to removing any sources of contamination that might be clinging to the tires and chassis, to prevent pollution from spreading into the Buffer Zone.
"Second truck!"
Big Beard raised his hand, and the second truck slowly rolled onto the scale, with the display jumping to show: 15.5 tons.
This heavy, again?
Cheng Ye raised an eyebrow, suddenly realizing the real challenge of inspections in Zone C.
Inspecting for infected bodies might not be the main focus; uncovering concealed goods within the cargo was the primary task.
Otherwise, a day on duty here would just be a day wasted. Who could rely on the ager amount of Happiness Coin provided by the checkpoint for a living?
Moreover, an announcent was just made a couple of days ago that by next sumr, all inspectors’ monthly wages would be halved. As an intern, he now only got 250 coins a month.
The second truck ca to a halt.
The driver exited the vehicle and, following procedure, submitted to inspection, with all data still normal, after which he stood in the corner and waited.
As the doors of the cargo compartnt swung open, there were no nutrient pastes inside. Instead, there were neat rows of long items tightly wrapped with waterproof tarpaulins, looking more orderly than raw materials for nutrient pastes.
Before She could reach out to lift the tarp, a strong sll of the sea surged up from below, carrying a salty scent that rushed right into their nostrils.
"Sea products?"
Cheng Ye was taken aback for a mont, then he saw the tarp being completely pulled away, revealing piles of neatly stacked salted fish strips!
Wow.
Over ten tons of salted fish?
In just an instant, everyone present licked their lips.
Though they’d grown numb to the taste from drinking the bland nutrient paste, it didn’t an they’d lost their pursuit of food.
Even Cheng Ye couldn’t help his Adam’s apple from moving, suddenly finding himself curious about the taste of the salted fish.
Only Hei remained calm, with drooped ears, sniffing around the cargo pile dutifully, searching for any unusual scents.
"Sir, these old smugglers must have known about Hei’s abilities."
She put down the tarp, her face a bit grim, with a frustrated tone, "So the cargo in these two trucks slls so strong, deliberately masking other scents, making it hard even for Hei to distinguish..."
Faced with the young Inspector Cheng, he also wanted to show off his abilities to gain favor.
But no one expected to encounter experienced hands, which was a bit of a slap in the face.
"Don’t be hasty. First, rule out infection risks and do your primary job,"
Cheng Ye softened his tone, comforting them.
Seeing his calm deanor, everyone gradually settled down and continued their work.
Salted fish couldn’t be exposed to water, so the staff brought over a large waterproof tent from the back to quickly set up, laying a thick waterproof cloth at the base before they began removing the fish in batches for inspection.
This was entirely in line with Cheng Ye’s understanding, from his week working in Zone A, of the challenges faced by inspections in Zone C.
All the work was dirty and exhausting!
But even this check wasn’t easy; the salted fish were tightly packed, bundled together so densely that you couldn’t tell if anything was hidden just by flipping through them.
Cheng Ye casually side-eyed, catching sight of Big Beard’s subtle, almost fleeting, yet indescribably arrogant smile.
This brazen?
Did he truly believe the inspector couldn’t deal with him?
Cheng Ye suppressed the turmoil in his heart and bent down to join the staff in examining the fish.
With fierce determination, everyone suppressed their cravings for the fish, opting instead to be more ticulous in their inspections.
"Sir, the interior of the wagon has been inspected and there’s no problem."
She examined the area and joined the checking team.
Suddenly, a grunt was heard. Cheng Ye looked over to find a staff mber’s hand impaled by a sharp fish spine, with blood trickling down through clenched fingers.
"Sir, these are swordfish, dried fish from our Red Mountain Shelter City, so be careful when you’re handling them!"
Big Beard shouted from the outside.
Cheng Ye turned to et his gaze. Big Beard’s face betrayed no emotion, with an unassuming and composed stance, as if suggesting this wasn’t their problem but rather self-imposed consequences.
"Interesting,"
Cheng Ye felt a tingle of interest.
Having been in Happiness City long enough, accustod to everyone’s complete reverence for inspectors, this was the first ti he’d encountered soone revealing a face other than respect.
That hint of challenge, defiance, and arrogance seed to inject a fresh breath of life into this stifling world.
He stood up, peeled off the fishy rubber gloves, tossing them into the disposal box, and returned to his desk.
Both the driver squatting in the corner and Big Beard beyond the isolation net tensed up, but upon seeing Cheng Ye only reviewing the cargo invoice instead of reaching for his gun, they both sighed with relief.
To be honest, even they got headaches when they wrote this manifest, ensuring Cheng Ye couldn’t possibly discern anything from it.
"What’s your na?"
"?" Big Beard barked back when Cheng Ye suddenly looked up, "Sir, I’m Jin Dafei."
As soon as the words were out, a slight fluctuation altered the display panel, flashing a line of text.
[Jin Dafei, 11%, searchable field: Intelligence]
"Such low compliance?"
Cheng Ye silently shook his head, muttering to himself ’smuggling high-value items,’ and clicked on the intelligence search.
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