"Station Chief Lei, it’s like this..."
Cheng Ye did not hold back and recounted in detail everything he saw and heard last night at Firewood: the suspicious man, the backpack, the coincidence of running into Zhang Daniu this morning, and the patch’s anomaly.
"You’re saying that this backpack is exactly the sa as the one you saw at Firewood?"
Lei Hu took the isolation bag, put on gloves, and examined it carefully, his face growing increasingly solemn. "I understand. Return to your duty point for now. I will imdiately contact Station Chief Ding, send over the backpack’s pictures and details for comparison, and verify the mother source information of Zone C35 for cross-checking."
"And Zhang Daniu’s wife..."
"Don’t worry, the inspection station has complete protocols for handling such matters."
Lei Hu intentionally kept his voice steady, "Don’t be anxious. Since its establishnt, Happiness City has dealt with over a hundred mother source infected bodies. This is just another storm we can weather."
"Moreover, in tis like these, inspectors must remain calm. If you panic, those under you will be even more at a loss. We’ll notify you as soon as there’s a result, so focus on your duty."
"Understood!"
Cheng Ye answered and left the room, feeling slightly relieved inside.
His biggest worry was that Lei Hu would think he was making a fuss and being paranoid, given how bizarre the situation sounded.
To infer a mother source infected body hypothesis based solely on a backpack patch seed far-fetched.
But clearly, his concerns were unnecessary. Lei Hu’s response was more cautious and swift than expected.
During the last Stand-In Starfish mother source invasion, the ordinary people of Happiness City didn’t know anything until the mother source was completely eliminated.
Behind this "silent defense" was evidently a set of mature response chanisms.
This ti, even if a mother source did penetrate through the Fog Cave, Happiness City likely had enough ans to locate, isolate, and eradicate it.
Clocking in, passing through the disinfectant mist-filled isolation passage, Cheng Ye sat at the inspection table in Zone B of quarantine.
Though his expression remained calm, showing no signs of panic, his mind was like wind-blown thatch, thoughts swirling chaotically.
"With its scale so massive, Happiness City, a shelter city with just a million people, can attract mother source infected body invasions. What about Firewood, then?"
"I’m afraid Firewood Shelter City... is the true dangerous nest!"
Cheng Ye’s gaze darkened.
Eliminating the mother source from Zone C35 is probably just the tip of the iceberg. As Li Changfeng said, maybe while the two of them were conversing in the air, a mother source infected body was watching them from sowhere.
It just hasn’t erupted yet.
This Fog Cave is like a coin.
Connecting to Firewood Shelter City, the "positive side" indeed brought tangible benefits to Happiness City.
Many supplies that could only be brought by caravans in the autumn were quickly transferred through the Fog Cave, saving countless manpower and resources and indirectly lowering the cost for Happiness City to purchase these supplies.
It even allowed him to access Source Rail technology, find a lot of good items, and stockpile enough food to get through the winter in advance.
But the threats brought by the counterpart cannot be ignored.
The Fog Cave spans across two cities, directly linking Happiness City to the most dangerous parts of the Wasteland.
Many troubles Firewood could handle might beco disasters upon reaching Happiness City.
But if you’re going to take the benefits, you must also bear the risks!
"I hope my discovery is just a false alarm, or rely an easy-to-handle infected body."
"If a more malicious infection source than Stand-In Starfish appears, who would dare co to Happiness City?"
Cheng Ye took a deep breath, forcing himself to put away the chaotic thoughts and slip into duty mode.
Still, he found it hard to focus for the entire morning.
Whenever he glanced at scavengers in line, he instinctively noted the design of their backpacks.
At the ntion of words like Firewood, Fog Cave, or infection source, his nerves inexplicably tensed.
Luckily, today wasn’t a peak day. The number of scavengers entering and exiting had halved since yesterday, so the workload wasn’t too heavy.
The entire South Station was quiet, with no gunshots sounding, harmoniously resembling its usual normal state.
Just after noon, Wang Kang ca early to take over.
"Brother Cheng, are you feeling unwell? You look terrible."
"Oh, I was busy all night last night, only slept a few hours, probably exhausted."
Cheng Ye forced a smile to cover up, letting Wang Kang take over the duty position like the day before, and he moved a chair to sit beside him.
Ti ticked by until it was three in the afternoon.
Dang.
A notification sound from the Defense Communication rang out. Cheng Ye instinctively grabbed the equipnt.
The screen lit up, but the sender was not Lei Hu— it was Jiang Chuan!
The ssage was short, with only a few words:
"Confird, call back."
With a jolt, Cheng Ye stood up abruptly, startling the two scavengers being inspected by Wang Kang.
"It’s fine, just going to the bathroom at the back."
He unlocked the isolation door and hurried into the restroom, splashing his face with cold water several tis.
Not until the fiery, burning sensation of anxiety subsided a bit did he wipe his cheeks dry with his sleeve and quickly go to the innermost stall, locking the door behind him.
He dialed the phone, and the other side picked up quickly.
"Is it C35?"
"No, don’t scare yourself."
Jiang Chuan’s voice ca through the receiver, with no emotion evident.
"It’s... the already deceased Guardian Extraordinary!"
...
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