Chapter 165: Flame Eagle Heart Fire, Xinghuo Communicator Activated!

Clatter.The rolling shutter opened from inside the shop.

It was already past ten at night, and cold wind mixed with night dew poured into the store, instantly dissipating most of the warmth from the beer they'd just finished.

Lee Matteo burped, rubbing his round belly and laughing, "Satisfying! Haven't had such a comfortable meal in ages, a hundred times better than nutrition paste!"

"My products have market potential, right?"

"Absolutely, of course they do." Lee Matteo's eyes lit up, "Once the caravan gets running, I'll definitely be the first major customer."

"You should focus on thinking about how to develop Dongping Town," Cheng Ye waved his hand with a smile, "Don't worry about the caravan anymore. Components and such are no problem, I'll oversee the repair and assembly, find the right time to start operations. As for personnel, I'll find suitable people."

"Good!"

With that, Lee Matteo took out his defense communicator, swiping the screen twice with his fingertips, but suddenly looked up, "That Master Tian, if he's willing to come, he'd be a good choice."

As soon as he finished speaking, Cheng Ye's defense communicator chimed with a "ding," and a new message popped up.

Opening it, he found Master Tian's complete file, with three core evaluations prominently listed at the top:

[Tian Wuying (Ten-year Resident)]

Scrolling further down, starting from New Era Year 18 when Master Tian settled in Happiness City, every year's whereabouts, entry and exit times from inspection stations, and even lists of supplies brought back were clearly recorded.

"Generally, buffer zone residents have C-level threat ratings. Being rated C- means even if he has a past, he's completely settled down now," Lee Matteo explained, "This type of person can be approached, but you can't use forceful methods. If you deliberately set up scenarios to hook him, it will only make him more vigilant, achieving the opposite effect. So how you win him over is up to you, I won't give random advice."

"Alright, I understand."

Cheng Ye nodded. He was accustomed to gradually understanding people's temperaments through slow contact but everyone had different approaches. Lee Matteo was skilled at using data and files to assess risks. Their methods differed, but their goals aligned.

Lee Matteo pulled up another string of numbers without notes and showed it, "Remember this number. If you want to investigate someone's background in the future, just report their name."

"This is?"

"An acquaintance in the inner city. Otherwise, we're not fifth-term officials or station chiefs, our clearance isn't high enough to randomly access resident files."

"Thanks." Cheng Ye saved the number in his defense communicator.

Come to think of it, he'd met both Master Tian and Lee Matteo on the same day.

Unexpectedly, it was also today that he finally saw the other side hidden beneath these two men's "ordinary person" shells.

Lee Matteo wasn't some slacking old inspector at all, but clearly a formidable character who kept his edge hidden.

Master Tian was no longer simply someone who'd achieved Unity of Heaven and Man, but carried the lingering essence of transcendents from the old era.

"Tomorrow starts new assessments. Next time I return to the buffer zone will be at least a month later. Take care of yourself," Lee Matteo zipped up his jacket and stepped toward the door, then suddenly turned back, his tone more serious than before, "Be careful. Your father, Inspector Cheng Long, has offended quite a few people. Don't die out there."

"You take care too." Cheng Ye nodded.

In the night, Lee Matteo's figure quickly disappeared around the street corner.

Cheng Ye stood at the shop entrance, watching that silhouette until it completely vanished, then thoughtfully pulled down the rolling shutter.

He leaned against the door and let out a long breath.

With great emotion, a thought suddenly arose in his heart.

Truly, heroes in the world are like fish crossing a river, yet even dragons and phoenixes among men still struggle with every step.

"Chirp chirp!"

As if responding to his sentiment, Fire Sprout hopped out from his vision, first chirping twice, then swaying like a drunken little lantern for two steps before suddenly spreading its translucent wings.

Whoosh~

Its tiny body spun in the air. Could it fly now?

But the next second it immediately lost control of direction, thudding into the wall and slowly sliding down along the wall like a cluster of unburned sparks.

"Hey, so eager to help share my burden? Then eat more..." Cheng Ye smiled and took out the fire basin.

Fire Sprout immediately dove back into the basin, and the orange-red light instantly brightened several degrees.

Visibly, the dry firewood began swaying, with wispy transparent light bands slowly extending and connecting, transforming into streams of warmth that burrowed into its body.

After just a few sips, it became like a warmed piece of fire jade, radiating gentle red light.

Seemingly sensing the pressure on Cheng Ye's shoulders, this time it ate particularly much, absorbing a full 2%.

Only when its body became somewhat translucent did it wobble and fall headfirst into the charcoal fire, completely motionless.

"Hey!"

"The more anxious you are, the more you need patience."

Cheng Ye brushed his hand over the heat above the fire basin, gently returning the little one to the spiritual space.

His murmur was as light as a sigh, unclear whether he was comforting the greedy Fire Sprout or advising himself.

He turned off the shop lights.

Lying on the narrow folding bed, he covered himself with the blanket, his mind replaying the entire day like a movie.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Suddenly, a warm current rose from his heart, flowing through his blood vessels to his limbs and bones, like soaking in freshly heated water. His tense nerves instantly relaxed by more than half.

Was it Fire Sprout?

Cheng Ye was startled and was about to focus on sensing it when the accumulated mental exhaustion from the two information-type skills suddenly surged up.

An indescribable fatigue, like running continuously for a day, made even his thinking sluggish.

He struggled to stay alert and sort through his thoughts, but more warmth poured out from the spiritual space, wrapping around his heavy brain like countless small warm hands gently massaging his tense nerves.

His consciousness finally stopped at the thought "Fire Sprout seems to be helping me recover."

Cheng Ye's head tilted, and he fell into deep sleep, his breathing quickly becoming steady.

At his brow, a faint flame mark quietly lit up, seemingly resonating with the wild grass totem at his heart, beginning to flicker in sync.

About half an hour passed.

Suddenly, everything returned to calm.

Thud.

Thud thud thud...

The defense communicator's alarm rang precisely at six in the morning. Cheng Ye fumbled to turn it off with his eyes closed, rolled over, and continued curling up under the blanket.

The fatigue from mental exhaustion seemed to linger, making even his eyelids too heavy to lift.

For the next hour, the alarm went off every ten minutes, only to be silenced by him each time.

Only when sunlight slipped through the gaps in the rolling shutter, casting a narrow strip of light on the floor, did Cheng Ye prop himself up on his elbows and rub his heavy temples.

"My god, haven't been this sleepy in ages..."

He still remembered the last time he slept like this was during his first internship at a construction site.

Working from six in the morning to one in the morning, lying down at one only to get up again at six, it felt like death but shaking his head, Cheng Ye suddenly froze.

The oppressive feeling from yesterday when he'd mounted "Basic Mechanical Principles" and "Intermediate Mechanical Identification", that sensation like having a stone pressed against his brow, had actually lightened considerably.

His thinking was no longer sluggish from suppression, and his mood no longer carried that indescribable depression.

"The energy consumed by ordinary skills is replenished through nutrition paste."

"But mental exhaustion... could Fire Sprout really have helped me last night?"

Cheng Ye suddenly remembered the warm current that had flowed from his heart before sleep, and the strange sensation of spiritual emptiness being filled by flame energy during transcendent fusion.

His eyes lit up as he immediately summoned Fire Sprout from the spiritual space.

The little one floated to his pillow, not fully awake yet, its wings swaying drowsily as it flapped twice.

Cheng Ye stared in amazement.

Fire Sprout's previously soft, translucent wings had today grown a layer of fine fire-red down, like scattered crushed sparks.

Even more mystical, at the center of its forehead, a strand of golden thread-like fur was slowly growing pointed, gleaming faintly in the morning light, making its originally lantern-like body appear more spirited.

Was this entering the next growth stage?

"This growth rate is too fast, seems dozens, even hundreds of times faster than humans!"

Cheng Ye whispered in amazement. Just as his fingertip touched that golden strand, the little one shook its head but as if it hadn't fully digested last night's "feast," it tilted its head and fell back onto the pillow, wrapping its small wings around its body and sleeping soundly.

Cheng Ye smiled and shook his head, then had a sudden thought and called up his personal panel.

Indeed.

With the fusion of information-type skills and changes in Fire Sprout's condition, after one night, many of the data on the page had changed.

[Collector: Cheng Ye]

[Current Rank: lv.2 Rising Star (24.7/100)]

[Life Level: 1]

[Skills: Heart-Protecting Fire, Wild Grass Physique, Basic Mechanical Principles (33.7%), Intermediate Mechanical Identification (42.8%)]

[Abilities: Flame Eagle Symbiotic State]

[Not yet unlocked...]

[Evaluation: Improvement in life tier means you possess growth limits exceeding native creatures. But limits don't equal strength, only through continuous training of various abilities and breaking through native creatures' physiological restrictions can you truly reach higher realms of power!]

[Heart-Protecting Fire (lv1; Transcendent Talent)]

[Flame Eagle Symbiotic State (Embryonic Form)]


Description: When ability is activated...

[Current State: Embryonic Form]

[Current Shareable Skills]:

Flame Eagle Heart Fire (Lv0, Rare, when symbiotic partner's mental energy is severely depleted, the Flame Eagle can devour flames to replenish trace amounts of mental energy)

Flame Eagle Fire Devouring (Lv0, Common, can slightly devour flames to heal minor injuries of self or symbiotic partner)

Air Suspension (Lv0, Common, gains brief hovering ability when falling from heights, reducing fall damage)

[Current Shareable Attributes]:

Strength +0.48% (based on symbiotic partner's current state)

Speed +1.19% (based on symbiotic partner's current state)

[Current Shareable Abilities]:

Kindling Power (Lv0, Common, slightly increased resistance to high temperatures)

Burning Fire Power (Lv0, Common, slightly increased resistance to low temperatures)

"Information density has increased significantly, and the evaluation below has changed too."

"So life tier improvement refers to upper and lower limits, not immediately reaching the maximum?"

Cheng Ye read through each item line by line, each new change bringing him joy.

Besides the increased information density, Heart-Protecting Fire's growth had also jumped forward, breaking through 0.1%.

Though the increase wasn't large, it was tangible progress.

Reflected in symbiosis abilities, Fire Sprout's various skills had quietly leveled up, even gaining a new skill:

[Flame Eagle Heart Fire]

"So last night it devoured so much flame not out of greed, but to help replenish my mental energy."

Cheng Ye couldn't help glancing back at Fire Sprout on the bed, feeling indescribable emotion.

Transcendence truly was another realm of life!

To think that even in its fledgling Flame Eagle form, Fire Sprout was already so intelligent.

He couldn't imagine what heights it would reach when fully grown.

Additionally, the previously absent shared attributes now finally provided bonuses.

Though at most just over 1% enhancement, he wasn't disappointed. As long as Fire Sprout continued growing, these values would certainly increase, accumulating bit by bit until eventually creating qualitative change.

As for abilities, Cheng Ye didn't pay too much attention.

Since the two flame varieties in the fire basin were too common, having no significant use now was normal.

In the future, when he ventured into the wilderness and found more types of flames, what should come would come.

"Looks like when I first searched for Heart-Protecting Fire, I really made the right choice."

Cheng Ye nodded gently, "With Fire Sprout supplementing mental exhaustion, I can be a bit more reckless when learning information-type skills in the future, accelerating my learning speed."

Of course, while saying this, he also noticed Fire Sprout's current state.

Presumably, a powerful skill like Flame Eagle Heart Fire that replenished mental energy definitely had built-in cooldown time.

With Fire Sprout's current growth progress, it couldn't be used continuously yet.

Moreover, if venturing out for adventures in the future, he'd need to carefully consider equipping information-type skills, lest mental exhaustion during combat put him at a disadvantage.

However, according to the evaluation description, receiving information should also count as a type of special training.

Persisting might actually develop brain capacity, becoming increasingly stronger like physical attributes!

With these thoughts, Cheng Ye closed the panel and simply returned Fire Sprout to the spiritual space to rest.

He got up and took out six packets of nutrition paste to heat, deliberately taking two packets of blue special nutrition paste.

Though this nutrition paste had a month's shelf life, he'd hoarded too much. If he didn't hurry to consume it, probably half would expire and be wasted.

While the nutrition paste heated, Cheng Ye habitually took out his defense communicator and swiped the screen to check for new messages.

The screen was clean, not even a system notification.

Seems the inspection station had truly placed "unemployed" trainee inspectors like him on the free-range list, saving him quite a few trivial matters.

Cheng Ye casually tossed the defense communicator on the table and took out the Xinghuo communicator from his waterproof bag.

Activating the screen, his eyebrows shot up.

The download icon in the upper right corner had finally disappeared, replaced by a completion notification.

"Finally finished downloading!"

Cheng Ye's eyes lit up.

The previously estimated 144-hour activation time had been dragged to nearly 190 hours due to Happiness City's frequent network resource adjustments.

Fortunately, the Xinghuo communicator could stealth-connect to the network for downloads during deep night hours, sometimes gaining 10% in one night, at least 5% on slower nights, so the effort wasn't wasted.

He immediately took the badge from the bottom of the waterproof bag and gently pressed it to the back.

The screen instantly lit up, with a progress bar scrolling rapidly.

Three minutes later, the progress bar disappeared, but the interface showed little change.

Still only three options: [Job Level Tasks], [Information Query], [Information Link].

But the previously grayed-out Information Query had finally lit up.

"Hey, there's something now."

Cheng Ye hid the badge back in the waterproof bag while drinking the freshly heated nutrition paste and clicking into Information Query.

According to Xinghuo Sanctuary City's requirements for trainee inspectors, advancement required complete memorization of mandatory trainee materials plus an assessment score above 95% to pass.

Clicking in now was like opening a book, indeed revealing six new categories.

Left side of the book: [Infection Sources], [Infected Entities], [Mutant Organisms]

Right side of the book: [Basic Sciences], [Basic Medicine], [Basic Languages]

"Oh, so this is how Xinghuo trains inspectors?"

Cheng Ye clicked into the Infection Sources category with interest, and text and illustrations immediately appeared on screen.

Unexpectedly, the first page was the most common "Green Giant" infection source.

Physical description, infection pathways, weakness annotations, not much different from Happiness City's teaching materials but glancing at the "total entries" at the bottom of the page, there were a full 500 infection sources.

This was nearly one-third more than the 350 that Happiness City trainee inspectors needed to master.

He clicked into Infected Entities and Mutant Organisms categories, finding quantities also far exceeding Happiness City's materials.

Obviously, Xinghuo Sanctuary City had greater scale, broader coverage, requiring inspectors to handle more dangers, naturally necessitating more comprehensive knowledge.

Beyond these, basic knowledge that Happiness City didn't train, Xinghuo Sanctuary City also required.

Clicking into Basic Sciences revealed divisions into four major categories: Mathematics, Biology, Physics, Chemistry.

Each page displayed roughly 200 words, with directory pages reaching 860.

"Good heavens, this is quite a project..."

Cheng Ye flipped through a few pages, finding the content basically covered elementary through sophomore college textbook knowledge.

Not unfamiliar, but at his current level, he'd still need considerable time to review.

Basic Medicine and Basic Languages were much simpler, the former only contained simple battlefield medical knowledge, like how to most efficiently preserve life when encountering various injuries, not involving treating others. The latter covered characteristic languages from various wasteland areas, totaling sixteen types, each requiring only learning one hundred common phrases.

"With normal intelligence, Xinghuo trainee inspectors would probably need about a year to complete this step, similar speed to Happiness City, but completely different training directions."

Cheng Ye rubbed the Xinghuo communicator's back shell, gradually forming his judgment.

Happiness City clearly emphasized practical combat more, requiring inspectors to first master "doing things" business capabilities, with theoretical knowledge being sufficient but Xinghuo was different, just the trainee period materials were nearly half again as much, obviously aiming to solidify theory first rather than emphasizing external contact.

However, these were just assessment differences. Cheng Ye had no intention of leaving Happiness City, nor did he think Xinghuo would be more suitable for him.

Moreover, he clearly understood that data requiring nearly 200 hours to download couldn't possibly contain only assessment materials.

After browsing through basic categories, he immediately focused on the updated core functions.

Indeed, the upper right corner of the Information Query page now had a search box.

"Try searching for Farmer?"

Cheng Ye tapped on the screen with his fingertip, not holding high hopes since he was only a trainee.

The page only stuttered slightly but actually redirected, with lines of concise information appearing:

[Codename: Farmer]

[Classification: Wish-Guarding Transcendent]

[Threat Level: S+]

[Current Activity Range: Black Zone D2, D3, D4]

[Characteristic Abilities: No permission for query]

[Recommendation: If encountered, immediately send distress signal through alliance network, do not attempt confrontation!]

Below the category was an attached hand-drawn illustration:

An old farmer wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat standing on a field ridge, holding a sickle, with a peaceful smile on his face, looking like an ordinary farmhand.

"Indeed, trainee permissions still can't access key information."

Cheng Ye enlarged the image, but the hand-drawn lines were simple. Aside from Farmer's general appearance, there were no details to excavate.

He exited the interface and tried inputting "Walker," wanting to see if Xinghuo had more information.

The page instantly refreshed, with considerably more detailed information than "Farmer":

[Codename: Walker]

[Classification: Wish-Guarding Transcendent]

[Threat Level: A-]

[Current Activity Range: Shi Province (information uploaded within past month)]

[Characteristic Abilities: No permission for query]

[Recommendation: If encountered, immediately request rescue through alliance network, maintain over five kilometers safe distance!]

"Huh, the information here is real-time updated?"

Cheng Ye's eyes narrowed. The activity range precisely specified Shi Province, also showing information uploaded within a month.

This meant that although he was stealth-connecting to the network in Happiness City, he could download information belonging to Xinghuo.

What surprised him even more was that three aerial photographs were attached below the information, plus a 10-second short video.

"This is accessible to trainee inspectors?"

Cheng Ye was somewhat bewildered.

Was Xinghuo's permission system more lenient, or because the Xinghuo communicator wasn't connected to Xinghuo's main network, inadvertently unlocking some information?

He had no time to think deeply and immediately clicked on the first photo.

The photo was taken from directly overhead, showing a person in a torn scavenger's coat, carrying a bulging scavenger's pack, running barefoot across the wilderness.

His hands were clasped behind his back, the scavenger pack's bottom slightly deformed from dragging, his posture remarkably like ninjas from Naruto, but his movements were more swift than ninjas, with fine traces of kicked-up gravel trailing behind him on the ground.

The scavenger pack's style wasn't unfamiliar to Cheng Ye.

It was identical to the scavenger he'd seen at B4 and Zhang Daniu's backpack but inexplicably, this familiar silhouette made his breath catch, giving him an ominous premonition.

The second photo was shot from the front direction, showing Walker running from the distance.

Cheng Ye enlarged the image, and his body suddenly trembled.

Sunken eye sockets, eerily greedy gaze, that ambiguous curve at the corner of his mouth...

He was not at all unfamiliar with the face in the image!

He'd even seen it in dreams for several nights, encountered it, been disturbed by it.

Indeed, it was that damned... scavenger!

It was him!

Cheng Ye's fingers trembled slightly, his heart inexplicably shaken. The Xinghuo communicator nearly slipped from his hands.

He had actually brushed past a legendary Wish-Guarding Transcendent?!

And there had been eye contact, even momentary visual exchange between them.

"Master Tian has contacted Wish-Guarding Transcendents, and I've also had direct contact."

Suppressing all emotions in his heart, Cheng Ye clicked on the third image, an enlarged detail shot.

It captured Walker's exposed lower leg, with skin covered in black burn marks, as if scorched by fierce fire but without scabbing, embedded in flesh and skin with indescribable horror.

Cheng Ye stared at the burn marks for a long time, unable to figure out what caused them, and could only memorize them for now.

Finally, he clicked on that short video.

In the footage, Walker charged into a field of building ruins at missile-like speed.

Rumble.

Abandoned stairs collapsed under his single step, and broken walls crumbled thunderously under his shoulder impact.

Dust flew everywhere, but he didn't even change direction, charging straight forward stubbornly.

The moment he passed through the ruins, a visible white tornado actually formed behind him, swirling rubble and dust into the sky in a scene as bizarre as something from American superhero movies.

After watching the video five times repeatedly, staring intently at Walker smashing through broken walls and creating tornadoes in the footage, a question suddenly arose in Cheng Ye's mind.

If Walker with this destructive power was only A-, what would S+ Farmer be like?

"It's also possible that threat level doesn't just represent destructive power..."

He pondered silently, returning to the search box and inputting "Wish-Guarding Transcendent."

Wanting to see if he could find general category introductions to understand threat level evaluation criteria but the page didn't redirect, only showing a gray prompt:

[No permission for query]

"Individual transcendents can be searched, but general categories can't..."

Cheng Ye was thoughtful, "Could this information query function originally be for inspectors' emergency use after encountering danger? Knowing who they've met and how to hide, rather than accessing high-level information in advance."

If so, it would explain why trainee permissions could browse Wish-Guarding Transcendent materials.

To verify this thought, he simply input "Transcendent Horned Starfish" in the search box.

As expected, the page quickly redirected, showing detailed information:

[Codename: Horned Starfish (Transcendent Object)]

[Classification: Marine Attribute, Biological Type]

[Strength: C+]

[Current Status: Extinct]

[Derivative Infection Sources: No permission for query]

The accompanying illustration was a hand-drawn horn starfish.

Cheng Ye looked at it and compared it with his pendant, they basically matched, especially the characteristic of each tentacle tip having metallic-textured small caps, identical.

"Seems this information query is reliable. Known information all matches up. When encountering unrecognized transcendents in the future, I won't have to guess blindly, photographing might provide accurate information."

Though knowing more things often brought more pain, fear, and anxiety.

Living "ignorantly" like Wang Kang and Master Tian might be happier.

However, this clarity also had benefits. After confirming that the scavenger he'd encountered was indeed Walker, his heart actually felt relieved.

Those repeatedly tormenting nightmares suddenly seemed to have answers, completely losing their vague terror.

Even if he dreamed of encountering Walker again, he'd only dream of how to slap that "old thing" to death.

Rather than imagining the other suddenly transforming into a terrifying monster, pouncing on him when he was powerless to resist and being crushed.

Next, Cheng Ye successively searched for Flame Eagle and Whirlpool Turtle, two known transcendent creatures.

Unfortunately, trainee permissions only revealed names, strength levels, and simple illustrations.

Flame Eagle was C+, same level as Horned Starfish.

Whirlpool Turtle was B-, one level higher than both.

However, he noticed that the hand-drawn Flame Eagle illustration wasn't the hawk he'd seen during fusion.

Presumably that hawk that had fused with the original transcendent object had long died during the S4 outbreak.

What Liu Kun was now symbiotically linked to, as well as Fire Sprout, were later inheritors of part of the original Flame Eagle's power.

If they could continue strengthening, their future heights would certainly exceed C+.

The Whirlpool Turtle resembled a sea turtle, distinguished by spiral patterns on its back.

Being a hand-drawn image, its size was unknown.

Beyond searching transcendent materials, Cheng Ye pondered and tried inputting "mechanical basics."

The interface stuttered for four or five seconds, then suddenly showed a prompt:

[Detected that 'Basic Sciences' assessment has not yet been completed, advanced progressive courses temporarily unavailable]

[Please complete trainee period assessment before querying!]

"Hey, there really is something?"

Seeing the prompt, Cheng Ye's eyes lit up, his surprise overshadowing previous complexity.

If the Xinghuo communicator contained complete mechanical knowledge, learning more complex, advanced information-type skills in the future wouldn't require hunting everywhere for books to build progress, he could directly look them up here.

Even better, it could be used together with those glasses, enabling learning in any situation.

"Mm, trainee assessment isn't difficult. Learning this previous knowledge won't take too long."

"Photographing for certification 5000 times is even simpler, I can start accumulating from today."

Cheng Ye suppressed his thoughts.

Compared to Happiness City's trainee advancement, he was confident he could complete Xinghuo's tasks within two or three months.

Before winter arrived, he could enter first-term and gain more permissions.

However, the most urgent matter now was still thoroughly mastering the two information-type skills he'd already found, striving to learn all of Sang Hezheng's second-level skills before going on contract work.

Besides this, caravan formation, vehicle assembly, community militia training, supervising pedestrian street construction, planning Big Wave Town development...

Cheng Ye listed items on paper, dense tasks filled the entire page.

Despite supposedly being vacation time without duty, this trainee had become even busier.

But looking at each task, Cheng Ye's mouth curved into a smile. He didn't feel tired at all; instead, he felt increasingly energetic and goal-oriented!

How did that saying go? Working hard in unknown corners, only to amaze everyone someday.

This kind of stable development was perfectly suited to his preferences.

In a flash, five days had passed.

Mechanical Department, Warehouse #12.

Cheng Ye crouched on the ground, the wrench in his hand seeming to have eyes, precisely fitting each bolt.

Like a veteran master with over ten years of experience, his movements were smooth as flowing water without any hesitation.

In just moments, a broken car that had just been driven in was dismantled into a pile of refurbishable parts, with even the wiring neatly organized.

The circle of apprentices standing around watched with bulging eyes, while the Sang brothers behind the crowd also gaped speechlessly.

Fortunately, before the strange atmosphere could continue spreading, the defense communicator hanging at Cheng Ye's waist suddenly vibrated with a "buzz buzz."

He set down the wrench, smiled at the surrounding apprentices, removed his oil-stained gloves, and pressed the answer button.

Old Sun's voice came through the receiver, carrying barely suppressed excitement.

"Inspector Cheng, the chassis you ordered, components, wiring, tires, everything has been completely transported into the buffer zone!"