Chapter 147: Water Systems Can Be Changed, Natural Disasters Are Hard to Resist!

Opening the Collector function once again.The status of the three progress bars was clearly displayed. Toxin Filtration had reached 167%, with the main body appearing gray and covered by a large section of white light above.

The other two items were completely filled with white light, flickering with a faint glow.

Cheng Ye felt a surge of joy and mentally clicked on the progress bars, immediately triggering exchange prompts.

"Huh, the charge consumption for exchanging intelligence, items, and skills is actually different?"

He wondered how the Collector measured prices.

Intelligence, which previously had the lowest consumption, now required 50% charge here.

Skill exchange required 25%, matching the consumption of searching for an LV2 skill once.

Item consumption had become the lowest instead, requiring only 10% for one exchange.

Of course, Cheng Ye tried it and found that there was now an additional progress bar below that could be dragged with his mind.

The minimum was 10%, and the maximum could be pulled to 100% investment.

"This is probably a characteristic of the United Route, lowering the basic threshold while leaving room for exchange limits."

Cheng Ye pondered thoughtfully, not expecting the route's influence to be so significant, affecting almost every function to varying degrees.

He temporarily suppressed the urge to try exchanging and threw the last piece of purple tissue into the snake skin bag.

Opening the Collector was like opening the door to a new world. Countless thoughts churned in his mind, wishing he could immediately find a secluded place to thoroughly research the limits and usage of this function but now, the second round of assessment was still ongoing, and the Dapo Town mission was the top priority at hand.

Of course, if he encountered more mutated creatures or special items along the way...

While packing up, Cheng Ye suddenly sniffed and smelled a faint putrid odor mixed with the fresh scent of grass and trees, making it particularly pungent.

He waved his hand, and Jiang Chuan immediately came over alertly.

"What's wrong?"

"Do you smell anything?"

"Hmm?" Jiang Chuan held his breath slightly, then took a deep breath, frowning tightly, "Wait here, I'll go take a look."

He turned and pulled a machete from the truck bed, following the smell toward the grassland beside the county road. His figure quickly disappeared into the dense grass.

More than ten seconds later, Jiang Chuan's figure reappeared, his expression grave, "It's two scavengers attacked by malaria mosquitoes. Sigh... don't know how they ended up here."

Speaking thus, he sighed, "I'll dig a hole and bury them. You wait here."

"No need, let's go together."

Cheng Ye shook his head, stuffed the waterproof bag containing the flesh sacs into the truck bed, grabbed an entrenching tool, and followed.

Walking in the wasteland, such encounters would inevitably be common in the future, perhaps even routine.

Besides, he had already seen and dealt with terrifyingly shaped infected entities, so naturally he wouldn't be afraid.

Following the overgrown path inward, scattered footprints of varying depths littered the ground, clearly left during panicked flight from malaria mosquito pursuit.

Several bullet casings could still be seen in the grass. Cheng Ye picked one up and examined it, it was the most common pistol ammunition.

Based on his earlier testing, if one could accurately hit a malaria mosquito's head or torso, it could indeed cause serious damage, but this was an idealized combat scenario.

The flight speed of malaria mosquitoes was at least equivalent to an adult running at full speed. When encountering dozens attacking on the ground, solving the problem with a pistol would be impossible.

Only earlier, sitting in the vehicle, could he use the vehicle's speed to maneuver and calmly shoot.

If he had truly encountered them on the ground, even he would have had to use all his trump cards, possibly even pulling out his Wing Assault Units for emergency situations.

After walking about twenty meters, the putrid smell grew stronger. Two curled figures lay in a depression, their clothes long soaked with blood holes, their skin shriveled and gray, obviously drained of blood.

A backpack was thrown nearby, with various common scavenging supplies scattered from it.

After digging a large pit beside the two corpses, the two men tacitly avoided rummaging through the nearby backpack, using shovels to push the bodies and backpack together into the grave.

Taking things would mean getting entangled in karma.

If there were wishes from these two scavengers asking for completion, that would be minor, easily handled with notification but if there was an infection source hidden inside and they accidentally got contaminated, that would truly be life-threatening.

"Inspector Cheng staying as a trainee is really a waste. At least second-term would match your current abilities."

After filling the earth pit, Jiang Chuan patted the mud splashed on his pants and gave Cheng Ye extremely high praise for his composure.

"I don't deserve that. I'm just good at staying alive."

Cheng Ye waved his hand dismissively.

Jiang Chuan was already accustomed to the wasteland's cruelty, but burying two unfamiliar scavengers inevitably left his mood somewhat heavy.

Plus standing in the overgrown wasteland, he instinctively felt a trace of tension.

It wasn't due to insufficient strength, nor sensing monsters anywhere, but stemmed from natural awe of the unknown.

Only after returning to the vehicle and shaking off the debris and mud from their bodies did that oppressive feeling slightly dissipate.

The vehicle continued forward, moving slower and slower.

The distance from Happiness City to Dapo Town was clearly only sixty kilometers, but after driving for an hour and a half, they had only covered half the county road.

Suddenly, a pickup truck appeared parked ahead by the roadside, with people clustered around it as if encountering trouble.

Jiang Chuan squinted to observe, then laughed, "It's people from another group. We left late, they probably came out early. From the looks of it, their vehicle likely broke down."

As the pickup slowly approached, they indeed saw the left front and left rear tires had deflated, both tires had blown out simultaneously.

A burly figure leaned against the car door smoking, occasionally cursing loudly with a booming voice.

Cheng Ye took a glance and couldn't help but smile.

"Hey, Cheng boy, how did you also choose this side?"

Seeing the approaching pickup, Lin Bao immediately stubbed out his cigarette and strode to the middle of the road to stop the vehicle.

He spotted Cheng Ye in the passenger seat and grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth, "Which neighboring township did you choose?"

"Uncle Lin, I chose Dapo Town." Cheng Ye pushed open the car door and got out, his face showing some amusement.

Lin Bao immediately walked forward and extended his palm-sized hand, patting Cheng Ye's shoulder with a "thud thud" sound.

The palm struck the battle armor, producing a dull sound.

"Not bad, first time out?"

"Mm."

"Everyone went through this." Lin Bao waved dismissively, "Don't feel ashamed wearing battle armor. Your Uncle Lin wore it until becoming a second-term inspector before daring to take off armor in the wasteland for air."

He finished the last puff of his cigarette, flicked the butt to his feet and ground it out, his tone suddenly tinged with anger, "Don't know which bastard buried spikes in the middle of the road, punctured my tires. This godforsaken place to repair tires, don't expect to leave within an hour."

"There are spikes?"

Cheng Ye looked in the direction Lin Bao pointed and indeed saw two clusters of nails arranged under the accumulated water.


Looking below, they were actually fixed to the ground, clearly man-made.

If not for Lin Bao scouting ahead, when Jiang Chuan drove past, they would likely have met the same fate.

"Eh, Uncle Lin chose Wenlu County?" Cheng Ye feigned surprise.

"Naturally." Lin Bao made no effort to hide the ambition in his eyes, "In this area, only Wenlu County is suitable for building a second large satellite city. It looks broken now, but once construction gets underway, within half a year I guarantee it'll look better than the buffer zone!"

"Yes, I also think the surrounding area has good potential, which is why I chose Dapo Town." Cheng Ye agreed.

"Dapo Town..."

Lin Bao stroked his chin thoughtfully, "That place isn't suitable for a newcomer like you. How about it, want to switch positions? I'll go ask Old Ding to apply for you?"

"I'm just going to check the situation. I haven't made my final choice yet."

"That's right."

Lin Bao nodded, gesturing for him to get in the car, while he opened the rear door and sat down casually, "I'll ride in your car. Just drop me off at Wenlu County ahead."

He then waved to the people outside, "When the car's fixed, hurry over! I'll scout ahead first!"

"Yes!"

A fifth-term inspector, known for his fierce combat reputation, naturally had no one worried about his safety.

"Little Jiang, let's go." Lin Bao patted the back of the driver's seat.

Jiang Chuan nodded and restarted the vehicle.

The pickup slowly drove away, leaving behind the vehicle with blown tires and three figures busy repairing them.

Learning from the previous experience, Jiang Chuan drove extra slowly, deliberately avoiding all water puddles on the ground that might hide spikes.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Cheng Ye naturally wouldn't miss the chance to gather intelligence.

As a fifth-term inspector, Lin Bao surely knew much more information than he did, especially information not found in the materials.

He smiled and turned his head, continuing the conversation, "Uncle Lin, what's the situation in Wenlu County? I heard the underground pipes and infrastructure are completely ruined?"

"More than just ruined." Lin Bao leaned back in his seat, speaking casually, "This kind of old-era small county, without maintenance for twenty or thirty years, basically became ruins. The last time there was a settlement here was in New Era Year 4, about four or five thousand people, but our Shi Province can't grow crops, has no stable food source, simply can't retain people. It didn't take long before they scattered."

He paused, then continued, "After that, Wenlu County was completely abandoned. Only occasionally scavengers would come sweep for goods, looking for old-era items and such."

Noticing Cheng Ye's thirst for knowledge, Lin Bao didn't hold back, continuing, "Pipes are easy to handle. When building outposts in the wasteland, who still relies on old-era pipes? Wenlu County's advantage isn't in that."

"Oh, Uncle Lin, how so?" Cheng Ye immediately became interested.

"Wenlu County, ask for directions... do you know why this place got this name?" Lin Bao sold a bit of suspense.

"Hmm..." Cheng Ye pondered for a moment, the surrounding regional map flashing through his mind, then boldly guessed, "Is it because the surrounding roads all converge here, forming a transportation junction?"

"Exactly right."

Lin Bao nodded approvingly, "During old-era planning, Wenlu County was positioned as the logistics distribution point for Chuan City. Now you understand, all goods transported from outside would first be sorted at Wenlu County. What belonged to Chuan City would be transported inward, what didn't belong would be redistributed to subordinate areas from here."

Wenlu County was actually Chuan City's logistics hub?

Cheng Ye was stunned for a moment. This wasn't mentioned at all in the materials but he then understood, having been in the wasteland for only a few months, how had he forgotten the logic of modern regional planning?

Wenlu County was only dozens of kilometers from Chuan City, adjacent to Linjiang River, with natural geographical advantages.

Even looking nationwide, such well-equipped land-port logistics hub cities were rare.

The Dapo Town he had chosen happened to have the potential for port development.

However, given Dapo Town's current state of decay, it seemed the hub planning of those years ultimately never materialized.

"Unfortunately, not long after Wenlu County's planning came out, the S1 virus outbreak occurred, and construction was repeatedly delayed. After more than ten years, they barely managed to build a land logistics center. As for the port and airport, they all died in the womb, only laying simple foundations."

"But it was precisely this foundation..." Lin Bao said this and smiled, "When your grandfather's generation chose to establish roots near Chuan City's ruins, Wenlu County was also an important consideration, hiding the ambitions of their generation."

Cheng Ye responded, "They thought that someday they could rebuild the ruins and develop using Wenlu County's advantages?"

"Cheng boy, you're quite clever."

Lin Bao nodded slightly, "The underground network of the logistics center isn't finished yet. As long as construction begins, we can quickly restore vitality here, then step by step rebuild the city ruins. Moreover, the logistics center area is open and suitable for enclosure and construction, with guaranteed security."

He then shifted topics to mention Dapo Town, "As for your chosen Dapo Town, its only advantage is the foundation laid when building the port years ago. The river channel was widened, divided into Huangshui and Baishui rivers, with embankments built along both sides, and even docks built for channeling water from Baishui River to Linjiang River. Unfortunately, after all these years, it's probably rotted beyond recognition."

Building a port?

Cheng Ye had never even considered this. His only thought in occupying Dapo Town was fishing and repairing the hydroelectric station to first solve the most basic survival and energy problems.

As for using ships along Linjiang River for inter-provincial trade, the difficulty was simply unimaginable.

Water dangers far exceeded land dangers, and trading points would need ports built first for cargo ships to dock.

Given the current situation with rampant infection sources, the human and material investment required was simply beyond what could be undertaken at this stage.

However, the port foundation Leopard mentioned stirred something in his heart.

Perhaps instead of building a port capable of handling ten-thousand-ton ships, clearing out a dock that could accommodate small fishing boats would still be useful.

"Also, the materials you received are all old relics."

Lin Bao smacked his lips, his tone becoming heavier, "The hydrological changes in Linjiang River have been extreme in recent years. No, it should be said that after experiencing the rampage of transcendents, the entire planet's hydrological environment has been changed beyond recognition. They used their great power to forcibly alter water systems, which initially did greatly reduce flood probabilities and even solved many problems through water system management."

"Such as compensating for uneven water resource distribution, opening navigation bottlenecks, eliminating shoals and reefs in the middle and lower Yangtze River to improve ten-thousand-ton fleet passage, moderating the rapids and dangerous shoals of southwestern rivers, even our Shi Province gained sea access through this, reducing foreign trade logistics costs by more than half."

He paused, as if recalling that legendary era, "At that time, East China, North China, and Central China were even planning water-based high-speed rail, which could reduce logistics costs, relieve land transport pressure, and balance north-south water systems. People then thought transcendents could transform the world into paradise."

"But after the transcendents died, their great power began to fail." Leopard's voice carried some melancholy, "Those forcibly altered water systems began breaking free from human constraints, following natural laws to revert, even becoming worse than before. Widened river channels were silting up, straightened waterways were returning to old courses, and most critically, some tributaries that were forcibly blocked were breaching, while mountains that were erased for optimization couldn't prevent..."

Another bombshell revelation!

The speaker was casual, but the listener was intent. Others might just treat it as old-era trivia for entertainment but falling on Cheng Ye's ears, it was like thunder.

Transcendents could actually use great power to completely transform the nation's major water systems?

This... this was too exaggerated!

He was stunned, finding it hard to believe, but remembering the scene of two transcendents fighting and casually creating a volcano, he fell silent again.

"So the current water disasters in Linjiang River are also related to this?"

"Directly related." Lin Bao felt his pockets as if looking for cigarettes, finding them empty before giving up, "Linjiang River's channel was widened back then. Now with the great power failing, the embankments on both sides are loosening, and the riverbed keeps silting up. Every rainy season brings easy dam breaches."

"But don't worry, if we really build a satellite city, the higher-ups will definitely allocate funds to repair the embankments."

As they spoke, the vehicle slowly stopped.

They had reached the turnoff to Wenlu County.

Jiang Chuan made a gesture to drive him in, but Lin Bao opened the door and jumped out directly, his movements crisp and decisive.

"I came here to survey, not to attend a banquet. Walking in slowly is just right."

He patted Cheng Ye's car window, "Go quickly, it's already ten o'clock, it gets dark early on rainy days, return early tonight."

As his words fell, his figure was already stepping on gravel, striding toward the depths of the ruins.

His raincoat fluttered in the wind, exuding an air of independent wandering.

Cheng Ye watched that retreating figure, suddenly feeling somewhat moved and somewhat envious.

If he could one day traverse the wasteland with Lin Bao's composure, it would be worth this journey.

"Inspector Lin used to be your father's direct competitor. The two of them could be said to have gone back and forth."

As the vehicle continued forward, Jiang Chuan, who had been silent the whole way, spoke up, "Also, it's not just Inspector Lin, all the fifth-term inspectors at the station chose Wenlu County."

"Mm." Cheng Ye nodded, withdrawing his gaze.

This surprised Jiang Chuan, "Inspector Cheng doesn't find it strange?"

"What's strange about it?" Cheng Ye forced a smile, "With such great advantages in Wenlu County, competition is naturally fierce."

"Let's go, no matter how good it is there, it's not as good as my chosen Dapo Town."

A bit of self-praise lightened the car's gloom, and amid their conversation and laughter, the vehicle soon reached the turnoff to Dapo Town.

According to assessment requirements, from here he had to get out and start walking.

Cheng Ye pushed open the car door and looked down at his feet, where ankle-deep mud mixed with withered grass debris stretched before him. The seven-kilometer journey seemed exhausting just thinking about it.

But he still lifted his foot and stepped down. The mud immediately surged over his boot tops, the icy sensation climbing up through the waterproof layer but as the saying goes, read ten thousand books, travel ten thousand miles.

Perhaps only by measuring this land with his feet could he truly grasp its character and find answers hidden beyond maps and materials.