Wasteland Border Inspector

"Go ahead." As Cheng Ye responded, he fetched his portable Containment Box and carefully placed the piece of sponge fragment inside.

The panel had already prompted that the trait extraction was complete, but this fragment still had research value. Later he could put it on the truck’s test bench for deconstruction analysis; maybe they could find more information about the Demon Eye Sponge.

Luokuke整理了下思路,缓缓开口:"感染源的能力往往诡异难测,正面硬刚需要极强的实力,但我们检查官的核心任务是’收容’,不是’消灭’,所以没必要主动刺激它.收容的关键,在于观察力和判断力,分析它的活动规律,找出它的弱点,这部分和实力强弱关系不大."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "Those Fourth-Phase and Fifth-Phase Inspectors in the station who have contained Destruction Level infection sources—quite a few of them aren’t much stronger than me in terms of raw power. Even when Station Chief Ding contained the Destruction Level infection source ’Lion Dragon’ back then, he never attacked it head-on like you did. The entire process was spent probing outside the boundary of the infection source’s ability, slowly figuring out its patterns before completing the containment."

"But the weak have their way of doing things, and the strong have their own advantages."

Luokuke changed the direction of the conversation, his tone candid. "For someone like you, directly obtaining physical materials from the infection source really is the most efficient way. But I’m average in strength; I can’t keep up with your kind of ’on the razor’s edge of life and death’ probing. Tagging along with you would only waste time and even drag you down. On the other hand, with my slower-paced probing, you’ll most likely feel impatient and think it’s unnecessary, so..."

"We split up?" Cheng Ye followed up naturally.

No one who became an Inspector was a pedantic fool. Even Garcia had his own means of survival.

Someone as "reckless" as him, in Luokuke’s eyes, was essentially conducting life-and-death edge experiments.

It was just that, holding several trump cards in hand, Cheng Ye himself felt no psychological burden at all. He even wanted to tangle with the sponge tentacles a few more times, figure out the infection source’s attack patterns, and make more preparations for going into the water that night.

If they continued going into the water together, Luokuke really wouldn’t be able to发挥 any role and would instead be constrained.

"Right, we’ll go into the water in separate turns."

Luokuke nodded immediately. "You’re strong, so you’ll be in charge of testing the Demon Eye Sponge’s attack methods and triggering conditions, and while you’re at it, observe the underwater environment and see if there are other paths that lead into the karst cave. I’m weaker, so I’ll focus on testing its pollution methods, pinpointing the infection source’s core, and studying why it can suppress other infection sources, as well as any potential weaknesses. These are all key points for the subsequent containment."

He finished in one breath, showing not the slightest embarrassment over admitting his lack of strength. Instead, he promised in a firm tone, "Trust me, splitting up like this will definitely be more efficient. Each of us playing to our strengths is much better than being tied together."

"Alright, no problem!" Cheng Ye agreed with a nod right away.

Coincidentally, Underwater Breathing also had a cooldown period; after exploring for thirty-five minutes it needed to cool down for an hour.

On top of that, his acceleration energy also needed time to recover.

He had just burned through a big chunk; it had already dropped to 64%.

Although it was continuously recovering, he could clearly feel that this recovered energy didn’t appear out of thin air. Instead, the totem at his chest was drawing Life Energy—that is... stamina.

Fortunately, stamina was easier to replenish than mental energy. Drinking a few more bags of Nutrient Paste would restore it, so there wasn’t much to worry about.

"Alright then. I didn’t do much just now, so I’ll go first for the next probing run."

Luokuke didn’t dawdle. He turned around, took an Underwater Breathing Device from the equipment box, sat by the water with his eyes closed to rest for five minutes, flexed his wrists and ankles, then plunged into the water with a splash. His movements were clean and decisive, as if he hadn’t been affected at all by the life-or-death crisis they had just faced.

This kind of calm decisiveness and courage in the face of danger gave Cheng Ye a deeper understanding of what it meant to be an Inspector.

Power, responsibility.

Power corresponded to the generous treatment inside Happiness City, while responsibility meant facing life and death head-on in the Wilderness and shouldering the risks.

Since he hadn’t refused the power, he should fully shoulder the responsibility.

He withdrew his gaze, turned, and walked back to the equipment box, placing his hand on the surface of the box.

The Obsidian Battle Armor on his body immediately began to vibrate rapidly. The black material flowed back into the box along his fingertips like a receding tide and quickly disappeared.

"Nice!"

With the black film no longer covering his facial features, the light, sound, and even the temperature of the air outside all became clear.

Cheng Ye took a deep breath, feeling his whole body relax.

He put back on the heavy protective Battle Armor he had taken off earlier, picked up the Containment Box holding the sponge fragment, and strode toward the truck.

After getting in, Cheng Ye first shut the door tightly, then put the sponge fragment into the truck’s automatic analyzer, set up the analysis program, and pulled over the supply crate from the corner. He fished out a few bags of yellow-packaged Nutrient Paste, tore open the nozzle, and squeezed them straight into his mouth.

He downed ten bags in a row. Only when a distinct feeling of fullness came from his stomach did he stop, plop down on the alloy stool, and open the Collector panel.

The truck’s external discharge power wasn’t high, only 60 kW, but four hours had passed since they drove the truck into Dapo Town. The charging value on the panel had already recovered to 67%.

Seeing this number made Cheng Ye feel much more at ease. With charging value available, it meant he still had a trump card to play at critical moments.

With a thought, the panel immediately switched to the personal interface.

He swapped Wave Shuttle out for Snake Power, which was just a hair’s breadth away from being fully mastered, then let his gaze sweep over the data line by line, carefully sorting through the changes:

[Collector: Cheng Ye]