Wasteland Border Inspector

"I have confidence!"

Cheng Ye raised his head, his gaze firm, his voice resolute, without a hint of hesitation.

"Is it really confidence, or just a facade?" Elder Qian continued fiddling with the teacup in his hand, his tone slightly teasing as he chuckled.

"Of course, it’s real!" Cheng Ye’s tone grew deeper, his stance increasingly determined. "Task assigned personally by the Elder, even if it costs me my life, Cheng Ye will complete it!"

"Oh——" Elder Lin, sitting beside him, was amused by the words, his eyes full of teasing.

Elder Pang shook his head helplessly, looking at Elder Qian. "Old Qian, I told you long ago, this kid is perceptive. Testing him like this is useless, do you believe it now?"

"I wouldn’t call this a test."

Elder Qian put down the teapot, pushing a freshly poured cup of hot tea towards Cheng Ye, lightly tapping his fingers on the rim. "Aren’t you curious why you’re the one sent to take over Yueye?"

Cheng Ye didn’t hesitate for a moment and spoke directly, "Yueye concealed information, almost causing a Destruction Level disaster. Emotionally and rationally, they deserve death."

"Yueye, under the influence of Tan Ming’s conviction, made mistakes but was rewarded, undeservingly."

"More importantly, Yueye has just been severely damaged, at its weakest. Conquering it now puts the least pressure on Happiness City."

"Well said!"

After hearing this, Elder Qian nodded slightly, his eyes showing some approval. "Yueye has indeed not been idle over the years, helping Happiness City block a lot of infection sources from the west, so they’ve earned some credit. That’s why, regarding this information concealing issue, we didn’t act directly, but sent the materials to the Fire Alliance for trial, giving them fifteen days of buffer time."

"Now, Yueye’s City Lord is already retreating with his people, avoiding direct conflict with us. However, we’ve also surrounded Yueye, preventing them from taking away crucial infrastructure and personnel, so it won’t just be an empty shell when you take over."

"Now that you’re going, I can decide to give you responsibility for building Yueye’s inspection station and grant you some corresponding authority."

"Just the inspection station?" Cheng Ye was startled.

"What else?" Elder Qian raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised, yet hiding a bit of tease. "Do you expect to directly govern an entire Large Shelter City as an Intern Inspector, becoming the City Lord?"

Cheng Ye immediately realized, giving a wry smile, "Elder Qian, however you arrange it is suitable. I was just asking casually. It’s just that I’m... more adept at pondering economic development matters, and staying at the inspection station handling daily affairs isn’t exactly my strong suit."

"Therefore, I will give you a choice."

Elder Qian took a sip from his tea cup, his tone gradually becoming somber, "With your current capability, being put in charge of a large shelter city’s inspection station is a result we three old fellows fought hard for you. In fact, winter is fast approaching, and Yueye Shelter City will be transformed into Happiness City’s first Military City, do you understand what that means?"

Military City?

Cheng Ye frowned, pondering carefully, suddenly recalling the term "Tuntian Soldiers."

"Is it to establish the fourth military branch? Specifically for planting?"

"It seems you’ve read quite a bit, understanding instantly."

Elder Qian’s tone held a hint of profound meaning as he continued, "The barrier Tan Ming left us has only one year. To maintain the barrier’s energy, we have to expand enough fields for planting quickly according to his ideology. While he is indeed creating development space for you, for Happiness City, this is also a tremendous opportunity."

"Apart from Happiness, Cross, and Blood Dragon, the fourth corps has been named... Pioneer."

"If you are willing to go to Yueye, the conviction Tan Ming bestowed upon you might grow at a faster rate. But you know the cost as well: this path is essentially a doomed one, where the quicker you gain strength, the closer you are to the end, to death. We won’t force you to go to Yueye Shelter City, nor will we compel you to inherit Tan Ming’s conviction and become a tool. But if you urgently need strength, we won’t stop you. Thus, the final choice has always been in your hands."

The once-defunct Pioneer Corps, unexpectedly resurrected in this manner.

Cheng Ye pursed his lips, his throat feeling somewhat dry, he couldn’t help but pick up the tea on the table, drinking it down in one go.

No taste, or rather, at this moment, he had no mind to savor it.

Choosing to go to Yueye not only meant rapid growth in power but also a qualitative change in terms of authority.

Staying in Happiness City, he was just an Intern Inspector sheltering Immortal Objects.

Perhaps, with this achievement, he could quickly ascend to the rank of High-level Inspector at the inspection station within a year or two.

But if he chose to go to Yueye, even if initially only responsible for the inspection station, it was a leap, directly becoming the head of the inspection station.

The power behind being the head of a Large Shelter City could bring many benefits, ones he didn’t even dare to think about in detail.

But the more it was so, the more uneasy he felt deep down.

Power and responsibility have always been equivalent. Though Elder Qian didn’t make it explicit, he subtly highlighted the crux:

Heading to Yueye, growing with Tan Ming’s conviction, equates to dedicating his life to Happiness City.

During the Pioneer Corps’ Tuntian missions, when his abilities were needed, he’d be a "tool."