Wasteland Border Inspector

Chapter 37 The Ruthlessness of the Scavengers, Inspection Principles!
The value of minerals depends on whether they can serve the logic of survival.

As society has degenerated into a pure struggle for survival, lithium mines have long surpassed a series of traditional precious metals in their strategic importance in Happy City.

For example, gold!

For the scattered settlements, small tribes, and nomadic groups around the sheltered city, a single gold bar found in the city ruins cannot change their predicament.

But a 10kWh battery from Happiness City can keep a community of a hundred people out of darkness for a whole month.

Lithium ore happens to be one of the core raw materials for manufacturing high-performance batteries.

"How many people were on the other side, and how did you win?"

Cheng Ye did not dwell on the authenticity and value of the mineral deposit, nor did he intend to keep the information to himself.

The senior management of Happiness City had already considered this point when the checkpoint was set up.

If inspectors could simply swallow up the discoveries of scavengers and keep them for themselves, no one would dare to venture out of the city to risk their lives.

Once you submit the location of a mineral deposit, the inner city will have a very complete inquiry mechanism and on-site investigation mechanism.

It is virtually impossible for anyone other than a discoverer to achieve this through this mechanism.

Once someone is deemed to have fraudulently claimed the money, there is only one outcome.

Execution in a public execution ground!

"There were 27 scavengers in total, and they were members of the Ruins Hundred Ghosts Gang, led by Big Head Ghost."

Cole grinned, revealing his back teeth. "Those guys treated us like sheep, trying to squeeze some money out of us. But the four of us have been through a lot of hardship in ruins since we were kids. We've seen it all before, so we're not afraid of them, and we're prepared."

He spoke casually, but his words were filled with murderous intent.

Cheng Ye had never heard of the Hundred Ghosts Gang, nor did he know who Big Head Ghost was, but he managed to break through the trap set by 27 people head-on, win the battle, and bring back the samples.

As long as you're not lying.

This combat capability is definitely much stronger than his half-baked prosecutor who has only trained for two months.

"Hmm, so they were shot?"

"Forehead"

Cole's smile froze instantly, and he hurriedly shook his head, "No, no, sir, they all have scratches on their bodies."

"Scratches?"

"It was done by a mutated beast!"

"When we were fighting the Hundred Ghosts Gang, the mutated beasts suddenly intervened, which allowed us to escape unscathed."

If it's a gunshot wound, with the lithium deposit as collateral, there's naturally no need to worry about Cheng Ye detaining them.

However, the nature of the scratches is completely different. If Cheng Ye insists on believing there is a risk of infection and locks them in the isolation ward, even if the senior management of Xingfu City comes, they will have nothing to say.

This is an ironclad rule at the checkpoint, and an unshakeable principle.

"Sir, we are willing to offer a meteorite obtained from the Bluestone Gathering Ground in addition to the six hundred coins."

"Shut up!"

Cheng Ye shouted, interrupting Cole before he could finish his sentence about the bribe.

Even the best things need to be enjoyed alive.

Despite the greedy nature of the Western faction members at the checkpoint, who seemed to let people pass for money, none of them dared to be careless when it came to screening for infected individuals.

Even if it's a fool from the neighboring B area, it's better to kill the wrong person than let one go.

This is why the reputation of prosecutors within the buffer zone has remained stable and has never collapsed.

Anyone who dares to break this rule is the enemy of all prosecutors and the public enemy of all residents of the buffer zone!
"You go out and let the person with the injured arm come in."

"Yes!"

Cole gritted his teeth, now only able to pin his hopes on the Eastern prosecutor in front of him, who was discerning and thorough.

Soon, the two switched places.

When the new Westerner took off his clothes, Cheng Ye saw a shocking scratch.

The scratch, which ran from the shoulder to the forearm, was at least 30 centimeters long, with the skin torn up and the bone visible!
"Name?"

"Ram Waters".

"Are you brothers?"

"Yes, sir, the four of us are brothers."

"Tell me how you got injured, be specific. Don't give me those bedtime stories for kids, I only have one chance to be patient."

"It's perfectly clear."

Ram's eyes hardened, and he instantly realized that his life was now in his own hands.

"They are antwolves, more than forty of them, and all of them are adults."

Antwolves are among the most common mutated beasts found in urban ruins, and are known for their prolific reproduction.

A flood of information rushed through Cheng Ye's mind, including standard descriptions from the prosecutor's handbook and scattered records from books in the survival library.

Its life form is similar to that of a gray wolf. Adult individuals are about 1.2 meters tall at the shoulder, have sharp fangs, run extremely fast, and their fur covered with carbonized keratin can effectively resist physical attacks.

The reason for adding the word "ant" before "wolf" stems from its distorted reproductive system.

Female antwolves go into estrus once every six months, and their abdomens evolve into giant brood pouches similar to those of queen ants, which can lay 15-20 eggs at a time.

Egg-laying wolf cubs only need three months to enter the growth period and reach maturity in one year.

Provided there is sufficient food and no natural predators, a few ant-wolves can multiply into a large population within four or five years.

However, while ant-wolf meat has a terrible taste, it is non-toxic and edible, which means they are unlikely to proliferate in the wasteland, especially within the borders of the Eastern Kingdom. Because ant-wolf meat is a staple dish on the tables of scavengers and homeless people celebrating holidays.

"You know the value of lithium mines, sir. We don't believe that a wild lithium mine would be discovered by scavengers, and that we would happen to know about it. But aren't scavengers risking their lives just to get rich and make a name for themselves? After much hesitation, we decided to go and explore the area. Before we went, we deliberately led a pack of ants to follow the car, thinking that even if there was an ambush, the ants would disrupt their rhythm."

"Our gamble paid off!"

A ruthless glint flashed in his eyes. "The scavenger mentioned that there was indeed pegmatite-type lithium ore on the sunny side of the exposed layer on the small hillside, and the ambush was as expected. But those bastards from the Hundred Ghosts Gang never imagined we'd bring the ants and wolves to their doorstep. While they were crouching on the shady side, the wolves swarmed them, and we took advantage of the opportunity to attack from the sunny side. It didn't take much effort to take them all down."

"but."

Ram paused, a wry smile flashing across his face.

"We also underestimated the wolf cubs' appetites. Twenty-seven people were not enough to satisfy them, and they turned on us as prey. These wounds are from the fight with the wolf pack."

Ram's narrative logic is not only clear but also very fluent, and you can tell at a glance that it has been repeatedly rehearsed and choreographed on the road.

Cheng Ye nodded slightly, unlike the other prosecutors who were resistant to it.

Unlike in movies and TV dramas, it doesn't illogically equate "smoothness" with "falsehood".

Before his graduate thesis defense, he had practiced repeatedly in his dormitory for two days. Now that it was a matter of life and death, if the four of them did not prepare their speeches in advance to prevent anyone from making a slip of the tongue, it would make them seem guilty.

"The four brothers are courageous, resourceful, and intelligent."

"Only someone like him is qualified to discover a priceless lithium deposit."

Cheng Ye sighed inwardly.

With heroes from all over the world as numerous as carp crossing a river, those who walk on this wasteland in the future should not be underestimated.

After all, those who can survive in the ruins of a city are all ruthless characters who have licked blood from the edge of a knife.

"Report the count."

"37.7/133/22"

Ram responded in a deep voice, but his heart sank slightly; this data was already on the verge of being abnormal.

If a person's body temperature exceeds 38 degrees Celsius, the inspector in front of them can throw them directly into the isolation ward without any reason.

"Let the man with the injured leg come in; the two of them can help him."

Cheng Ye spoke calmly, pointing expressionlessly to the corner of the isolation area, "You, stand in the corner and don't move."

"Yes, my lord."

The isolation door slid open, and the two men helped the injured man in quickly. Cole helped the man with the leg injury take off his clothes.

Good guy.

Compared to the injury on Ram's arm, the wound on this person's right leg was truly shocking.

From the calf to the thigh, there were large bite marks with flesh torn open. Even if he were sent for emergency treatment immediately, it would be difficult to save his leg from amputation.

"grown ups."

"Name?"

"Hel Waters, Simo Waters."

"Report the count."

With no chance to explain further, Cole gritted his teeth and had no choice but to help with the measurement and reporting.

"36.9/102/18"

"38.7/162/26"

Hel's data is normal, but Simo's three danger values ​​are so bad that even a dog would shake its head.

"Sir." Cole opened his mouth, but didn't know where to begin.

Asking Cheng Ye to make an exception at this moment would be tantamount to making him violate the principles of a prosecutor.

Although everyone understands that the abnormal data is likely due to an immune response triggered by severe injuries.

"Sir, lock me up! My injuries are too severe; there's no saving me."

Simo clenched his teeth, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. "Please, for the sake of the lithium mine, for the sake of us risking our lives for Happiness City, spare those three!"

"What nonsense are you spouting!"

Cole's expression changed drastically, and he grabbed Cole's shoulder. "Didn't we four brothers agree to live and die together? We've finally gotten a chance to turn things around, and we can't abandon anyone!"

"Shut up, Simo. If anyone's going to be locked up, it'll be me."

Ok.

It seems we have to retract our judgment that these four brothers are intelligent.

Cheng Ye sighed silently, thinking to himself that art imitates life. Although he wasn't as stupid as the interrogators in movies and TV dramas, the stupid people being interrogated really existed.

Whether or not someone is detained is indeed up to the prosecutor. Even if Simo's three data points are abnormal, he still has the right not to isolate him.

However, if only one person is detained while the other three are released, that would be a blatant violation of the rules.

Unless these four people are owners in the inner city and have higher-level authority to endorse them, he would be suspended from his post and investigated the moment he dared to do this.

boom.

After that shot into the sky, the world finally became much quieter.

The annoying melodrama was abruptly interrupted, and the four brothers froze on the spot, their minds filled only with the buzzing echo of gunshots.

Putting away his prosecutor's standard pistol, Cheng Ye stood up and gestured with his chin toward the corner:
“Leave him here, everyone else get to the corner and squat down.”

P.S.: It's already climbed to second place among new science fiction books! It's also broken into the top 50 on the overall charts! Awesome! Thank you all for your tremendous support!
P.S. 2: Happy weekend everyone! Don't forget to keep reading!
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(End of this chapter)