God's Imitator

Quickly, 20 minutes passed.

The first round of the game was nearing its end.

The final ’1’ and ’2’ containers were successfully transported to the platform beside the Review Room, and the miniature clock tower chimed "clang clang clang" to indicate all goods had been delivered.

Zhou Wanlin was already waiting at the door of the Review Room.

She had been thinking about the game rules, but upon hearing the chime, she swiftly scanned her work badge next to the one-way door at the entrance of the Review Room and quickly entered.

Meanwhile, the raw materials unloaded at the Review Room’s door entered the room via a conveyor belt and dedicated entryway.

The inspector for Community 23 was a female player wearing heavy black-framed glasses, with an unremarkable appearance. She habitually kept her head down, and her thick bangs almost covered the entirety of the upper half of her face, giving off a severe social anxiety vibe.

Zhou Wanlin glanced at her badge: [Community 23 - Wu Xiufang].

raw materials were neatly stacked in front of the security machine. Although each one was only brick-sized, the aggregation was visually impactful.

Wu Xiufang did not show any obvious surprise at the quantity.

As Zhou Wanlin swiped in and entered the Review Room, the conveyor belt leading to the security machine started to operate automatically, and the raw materials began passing through the machine one by one.

Wu Xiufang had two methods of inspection:

Pressing the ’Inspect’ button would deduct 200 gold pounds and inspect the current raw material passing through the machine. Even if no contraband was found, there would be no additional loss.

She could also press the ’Full Inspection’ button to inspect all materials at once, but if no contraband was found, there would be a penalty.

Alternatively, Wu Xiufang could do nothing, allowing any contraband to pass through without hindrance.

Zhou Wanlin stood silently aside, trying her best to show no expression.

The raw materials had been packaged before being loaded into the containers, making it impossible to discern their exact nature from the surface.

Soon, three raw materials had passed through the security machine, and Wu Xiufang had not pressed any buttons.

The materials were loaded into specially made carts, neatly stacked at the bottom.

Suddenly, Wu Xiufang stretched out her hand and pressed the ’Inspect’ button three times in succession.

The security machine’s indicator light turned yellow. After the subsequent three raw materials passed through, all indicator lights showed green and emitted only a beep without any shrill alarm.

This meant that the three raw materials Wu Xiufang chose to inspect were not contraband.

This result seemed to surprise her slightly, but she didn’t show it too much and continued to wait.

A moment later, Wu Xiufang began randomly pressing the ’Inspect’ button every few materials.

Suddenly, the security machine’s indicator light turned red and emitted a piercing alarm.

"Beep—"

The detected contraband was directly destroyed in the security machine, while a sign beside it displayed the record: Community 2 was fined 1000 gold pounds.

Zhou Wanlin’s brow twitched but she said nothing.

For the last three raw materials, Wu Xiufang pressed the ’Inspect’ button consecutively again.

But unfortunately, nothing happened.

The sign beside it displayed the record again: Community 23 reported 2000 gold pounds in expenses.

Each use of the security machine cost 200 gold pounds; 10 uses meant 2000 gold pounds, making Community 23 suffer a more severe loss.

Whether it was the security machine expenses or fines, they would be deducted uniformly before the game’s settlement, so no payment was needed now.

Wu Xiufang said nothing; she completed her task and remained in the inspector’s position with her head down, like an NPC in standby mode.

The cart loaded with raw materials automatically entered the ’Raw Material Temporary Storage Area’, which Zhou Wanlin could not enter and had to return the way she came, leaving the Review Room.

...

Earlier.

Geng Yuxia, who was also acting as an inspector, waited nervously.

She knew that Community 23 players were transporting raw materials using miniature steam trains, but the Review Room was completely sealed off, so she couldn’t see outside nor leave, making her unable to grasp any external movements.

However, Geng Yuxia knew this concern was somewhat unnecessary, as the opposing side also comprised three players who had to be divided into roles as deliverer, inspector, and reviewer, each with fixed game areas.

If any anomalies occurred, the rest periods between the game rounds were sufficient for sharing information with other players.

After more than 20 minutes of waiting, the inspection process finally began.

The packaged raw materials were sent in via the conveyor belt and automatically began passing through the security machine.

Geng Yuxia roughly counted them; there were 10 in total.

She was somewhat surprised because this was less than she expected.

Soon, Geng Yuxia realized it must be because the opposing side hadn’t fully understood the rules for transporting raw materials with the steam train, unable to send all five containers, thus only managing to send half of the materials for inspection, with the remainder returned.

The male player responsible for Community 23’s delivery also entered the Review Room and began the inspection process after swiping his card.

However, Geng Yuxia noticed he was limping slightly, indicating an injury or minor disability on his right leg.

"Is this why the opposing community chose to make him the deliverer instead of the inspector?"

Geng Yuxia thought so instinctively but still followed Zhou Wanlin’s prior instructions to randomly inspect one-third of the cargo.

Although Zhou Wanlin didn’t explain why, Geng Yuxia, having been idle for a long time, roughly figured out the reason.

Firstly, inspecting everything wasn’t feasible due to the high cost, making it uneconomical.

If using the security machine, each raw material inspection cost 200 gold pounds, and pressing the ’Full Inspection’ button would mean paying 40% of the total raw materials’ value if failed.

If the opposing player cautiously transported no contraband, such excessive inspection would be a huge loss.

The amount of contraband the opposing player decides to transport depends on their game strategy: whether they’re high-risk or cautious players.

Once the deliverer and the inspector understand the opposing player’s style, they can take specific targeted strategies.

In the first round of the game, the opposing side would likely focus on probing, mixing in only a small portion of contraband even if detected to avoid major loss.

However, for the inspector, complete non-inspection is not an option as there’s still a small chance the opponent might audaciously transport all contraband from the start.

So, considering all factors, spot checks are the best choice.