Chapter 167: The Cycle of History, Second Wave of Satellite Cities Launched!

The rainfall came with extraordinary violence, almost like the fierce downpour that follows summer storm fronts.The torrential rain pounded the ground, splashing water half a foot high.

The buffer zone quickly accumulated water, especially in several old streets in the city center where water had risen above ankle level. When pedestrians waded through, their pants instantly became soaked.

Outside the Happiness Defense Line, the refugee tent area also experienced some commotion due to this storm.

Canvas tents flapped violently in the wind, and many people braved the rain to come out and reinforce their shelters, fearing their homes would be flooded.

Fortunately, order had gradually been established in the refugee community recently. Guards responsible for maintaining order quickly arrived, and the crowd's unrest was suppressed before it could last long.

Soon, searchlights atop the defense line suddenly blazed to life. Pale beams of light pierced through the rain curtain, illuminating the entire tent area as bright as daylight.

Thousands of figures in black raincoats emerged from the tents in single file, holding shovels in their hands. Following pre-planned routes, they began clearing drainage ditches.

Although this rainfall came suddenly and was not within the weather forecast's scope, Happiness City had long prepared comprehensive contingency plans. The figures all moved skillfully, shoveling out blocked silt and debris to ensure accumulated water could flow along the channels toward distant low-lying areas, preventing the tents from being flooded.

Meanwhile, a pickup truck marked with "Inspection Station" was battling the storm as it headed toward the inner city within the buffer zone.

The wheels crushed through accumulated water, splashing up waves like a small boat crossing the surface, leaving two long water trails behind.

Ding Yishan sat in the passenger seat, watching the flooded streets constantly flashing past outside the window. He couldn't help but click his tongue, "After all this time of repairs, the drainage still doesn't work."

For nearly half a month, the buffer zone had been repairing underground pipeline networks, but after one storm, it still ended up like this.

This showed that the buffer zone's drainage system had long been unable to meet demand and needed complete renovation.

However, despite his complaints, the joy in his eyes couldn't be hidden.

The car had just entered the inner city conference venue's parking lot. Before Jiang Chuan had even stopped the vehicle, Ding Yishan grabbed the document bag on his lap and rushed inside through the rain.

In the past week alone, dozens of meetings large and small had been held but today's meeting was more important than any previous one.

The conference room was already filled with quite a few people, all department heads from various bureaus in the buffer zone.

When Ding Yishan entered, everyone stood up and nodded in acknowledgment, though not many opened their mouths to speak.

These past few days, everyone had been burning the candle at both ends over satellite city construction and refugee resettlement. Each person's eyes were bloodshot from exhaustion, with daily sleep compressed to less than four hours. They were literally fighting for their lives, and by now had no energy left for pleasantries.

They could continue holding on only because they were waiting for that turning point that would allow them to breathe easier.

And today seemed to be when that turning point would arrive.

Before long, Hou Rui hurried into the conference room carrying a stack of materials, joy almost overflowing from his face.

He had no extra opening remarks. As soon as he took the stage, he waved the documents in his hand, "Everyone! I've just received confirmation from Xinghuo Sanctuary City's satellite surveillance. The Void Mist covering our entire Shi Province has completely dispersed!"

"Excellent!"

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the conference room instantly stood up, thunderous applause erupting.

Everyone's face showed long-absent smiles, and even the fatigue around their eyes lightened somewhat.

Compared to the drainage troubles brought by the storm, the Void Mist was the real "time bomb" hanging over everyone's heads.

Before it dispersed, no one could guarantee it wouldn't suddenly erupt again, whether it might trigger larger-scale cooling, or whether more unknown infection sources and Wish-Guarding Transcendents might emerge from the fog holes to disrupt Happiness City's construction plans.

Now that the Void Mist's dispersal was confirmed, it was undoubtedly tremendous news.

Happiness City no longer needed to divide its attention guarding against threats from within the mist. It could focus entirely on dealing with those infection sources that had already gathered outside the defense line.

Even the sweep zone could be completely expanded from the current fifty kilometers to two hundred kilometers around the perimeter. With this broader safe area, satellite city construction could proceed more confidently.

After the applause subsided somewhat, Hou Rui picked up another document, his tone gradually becoming serious, "However, everyone cannot let their guard down. According to statistical calculations from past Void Mist data, the probability of large-scale Void Mist erupting again within one month after ending is 3.5%, within three months is 19.7%, and within six months is 28.3%. The threat hasn't disappeared. Although the longer the time, the smaller the scale of any re-eruption, the risk still exists."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the entire venue, "Going forward, all departments must remain vigilant, especially patrol intensity along the defense line cannot be reduced, and early warning equipment for the satellite cities must be installed as soon as possible. Only by completely stabilizing the situation can we proceed with subsequent construction with peace of mind."

"Yes!"

Everyone responded in unison, their voices even louder than before.

The news of the Void Mist's dispersal was like a reassuring pill, loosening most of the tense atmosphere in the conference room. Hou Rui's reminder to "not relax" actually made everyone's enthusiasm even stronger.

Next came the usual synchronization of various infrastructure information.

"The seventeen mercenary organizations from Hai Province have been completely eliminated by us. The total number of prisoners exceeds 450. According to current interrogation information, the employers should be Rainbow Sanctuary City, Phantom Sea Sanctuary City, White Feather Sanctuary City, and Jiuchuan Sanctuary City. We'll arrange diplomatic contact and apply pressure subsequently."


"The major explosion that occurred in Wenlu County the day before yesterday is suspected to be caused by someone among the refugees being infected with Blast Wasps, but it hasn't been determined whether someone deliberately deployed them or if they were brought out from the Void Mist. A detailed report will be available within two days."

"It has been confirmed that inspection officials and core personnel participating in satellite city management have all been marked with bounties by assassin organizations from the surrounding four provinces. Currently, the highest bounties are on six fifth-term inspection officials, all with S-level bounty orders. Fourth-term inspection officials all have A+ ratings, and third-term inspection officials have A- ratings. Please allocate guard teams according to different bounty levels to ensure the safety of inspection officials. We absolutely cannot allow any security oversights."

"The whereabouts of those who disappeared in Xiasha County's infection wave last winter have been found. They're hiding in the underground pipeline network of Shunyi County, 130 kilometers away. Approximately 57,000 people, suspected of being infected with 'Thousand Curse Ice Toads.' Small-scale exploratory investigations are underway, with research results due within three days."

"The forty-seventh formation of 21,000 migrants expected to arrive at Happiness City in six days has been confirmed to be entirely infected with Soul-Eroding Worms. 17,000 of them cannot be cured. Requesting activation of Contingency Plan Three for elimination while tracing the mother source to prevent spread."

"Regarding the Linjiang flood issue, we have conducted three rounds of negotiations with Yueye Sanctuary City's city lord 'Zhu Zhiyi.' The current negotiation result is that we will deploy manpower and resources to handle flood elimination, while Yueye Sanctuary City provides 150% of project funds as compensation. As a gesture of good faith for further cooperation, we need to open one A-level technology and support 50,000 people to help Yueye Sanctuary City rebuild."

"Basic construction materials for twelve satellite cities are in place. Advanced materials are being manufactured urgently. Additionally, resources have been transferred from surrounding sanctuary cities. It's expected that the second batch of satellite cities can begin construction in five days, but there are still significant shortages of some rare materials. Construction plans need to be adjusted accordingly. This information will be synchronized with the inspection station."

"From the Mechanical Department, we have repaired 191 pieces of equipment with 237 still under repair, prioritizing engineering machinery for the satellite cities."

Reports came one after another. No one was verbose, no one shirked responsibility. Even the movement of flipping through materials conveyed efficiency.

Without internal friction, even if they were a bit tired, their mood was cheerful and relaxed.

When it was Ding Yishan's turn, he opened his file folder and spoke with steady yet forceful pace:

"First, recall orders have been issued to all field inspection officials. It's expected that eight fourth-term inspection officials will return within forty-five days to participate in the next round of construction tasks."

"Second, the second batch of satellite city management locations have been verified through supercomputer cross-checking. Twelve locations are planned for opening, forming the second link of the defensive chain, specifically including: Xipo Town, Wali Town, Donggang Town, Tantou Town, Dapo Town, Qiaokou Town..."

"The second round of satellite city assessments will begin in three days, with expected settlement numbers of four thousand to ten thousand people per satellite city."

"Station Chief Ding, isn't the settlement number a bit low?" Hou Rui frowned, tapping his fingers on the table. "These towns do need facilities rebuilt from scratch, but taking the middle number of seven thousand people, twelve satellite cities could only settle 84,000 people. Compared to the gap with the total refugee numbers, it's still far short."

"Minister Hou, there's a situation I need to explain clearly."

Ding Yishan explained in a deep voice, "The first batch of twelve satellite cities plus Satellite City Number One have already selected the most enterprising and capable young adults from among the refugees. The refugees remaining now are significantly inferior to the first batch in terms of both physical strength and cooperation. If we still settle them according to the first batch's scale, chaos could easily emerge, such as scrambling over resource distribution, passive resistance during construction, or even conflicts arising from minor issues."

"For the current gap, let the first batch of satellite cities fill in. Their scale has gradually expanded and can absorb more people. Once the second batch of satellite cities establishes their basic framework and management processes run smoothly, we can then gather refugees on a large scale. This approach is more stable."

"I see, I hadn't considered that thoroughly."

Hou Rui pondered for a few seconds and immediately nodded in agreement.

Refugee numbers could be counted through data statistics, but "quality" couldn't be seen in the data.

If the first batch had selected the highest quality manpower and the second batch insisted on the same scale, the difficulty would only multiply, making it easier for problems to arise.

"Additionally, please coordinate basic construction material data for the second batch of satellite cities as quickly as possible and provide it to the inspection station. Assessment plans need to be adjusted according to material shortages. We can't have inspection officials go with plans but no materials to begin work."

Ding Yishan added another point, his gaze sweeping over several ministers responsible for resource allocation.

"No problem! The data will be compiled and sent over by seven o'clock tomorrow morning!"

"We've already compiled statistics here and will have someone synchronize it shortly!"

"Materials returned from the first batch of satellite cities are still being counted. Specific quantities will be reported to the inspection station by four o'clock tomorrow afternoon at the latest."

Several ministers nodded one after another, efficiently synchronizing information in a way no one would have dared imagine before but now, everything had become reality.

Moreover, after synchronization was complete, there was no back-and-forth deflection. Everyone left hurriedly.

Ding Yishan had no time to linger in the conference room. He still needed to rush to the inspection station to sort out personnel planning.

These days, busy with coordinating first batch satellite city construction, he simply hadn't had time to detail the second batch's construction.

Fortunately, there were still three days of buffer time. Now that the first batch of satellite cities had gradually stabilized, he could finally spare energy to handle this matter.

"Sir, you should rest a while," Jiang Chuan said while driving, catching a glimpse of the dark circles under Ding Yishan's eyes. His tone was full of concern. "You've only been sleeping two hours a day recently. Your body can't sustain this."

Previously, with Walker's power supporting him, Ding Yishan could work continuously without feeling tired but now that power had long since dissipated. He was relying purely on mental determination to push through, visibly overextending himself.

"There's no time to rest now."

Ding Yishan shook his head, instinctively reaching into his pocket for cigarettes but coming up empty.

Seeing this, Jiang Chuan silently pulled out an unopened pack of cigarettes from the passenger compartment storage and handed it over.

Click.

The lighter flame flickered. Ding Yishan took a deep drag with the cigarette between his lips, rolled down the car window to let the smoke drift out, and spoke with weary contemplation in his voice:

"I expected early on that when Happiness City began developing, those surrounding super sanctuary cities wouldn't just stand by and watch. But I didn't expect them to be so ruthless, using mercenaries and assassins, and most likely secretly deploying infection sources, all just to prevent us from peacefully gathering refugees. I can't imagine what methods they'll use if Happiness City becomes even stronger in the future."

"Perhaps in a few years, wars will truly break out between sanctuary cities."

Human history always seemed like a cycle. Whenever it reached critical junctures of resources and power, it would always fall into spirals of mutual conflict.

Actually, current resources hadn't reached the point where super sanctuary cities had to tear each other apart in competition.

But no one wanted a "behemoth" rising beside them, absorbing all surrounding resources and talent.

The current harassment was merely preventive measures, but if Happiness City achieved breakthrough technology in the future, those sanctuary cities would probably do more than just harass.

Jiang Chuan didn't respond.

He knew Ding Yishan wasn't seeking answers, just releasing pressure. Continuing this conversation would only make him more anxious.

Better to remain silent and let Ding Yishan digest the emotions himself, since the upcoming work still needed him to hold things together.

When the car drove out through the inner city's Happiness Gate and returned to the buffer zone, the damp, stale smell unique to rainy days hit them head-on.

Ding Yishan simply rolled the window down further, letting the cold rain and unusual odors stimulate his nerves, forcing himself to stay alert.

Upon returning to the inspection station, he first gulped down two packs of blue-bag nutritional paste to replenish his strength, then immediately sat at his office desk and opened the personnel allocation chart for the first batch of satellite cities.

The management plans provided by Cheng Ye were merely broad frameworks. To actually implement them required considering far too many aspects!

And to ensure that two inspection officials wouldn't obstruct each other during satellite city construction, he specifically arranged the management officials in "one east, one west" configurations when dispatching them.

He had to consider Eastern-leaning officials among those favoring the West, while ensuring each person's abilities provided mutual checks and personality complements.

For core positions like Wenlu County, he had created complex checks-and-balances designs:

Lin Bao, Zhou Changhai, Ivan Davidson.

On the surface it appeared to be two East, one West, but actually became one East, two West because Zhou Changhai leaned toward the Western faction.

The beauty lay in Ivan Davidson and Zhou Changhai having always been at odds, completely unable to unite, instead forming a triangular balance.

Wenlu County's current fastest development speed perfectly validated that these arrangements weren't superfluous.

After reviewing the first batch materials, Ding Yishan opened the second batch inspection officials' list. His gaze swept over the densely packed names and suddenly paused, "By the way, where's Little Shuang? Why haven't I seen her these past few days?"

"She went to watch Inspector Cheng," Jiang Chuan answered from beside him.

"Oh? Did she discover anything from her surveillance?" Ding Yishan asked without looking up, having completely forgotten about this matter in all the recent busyness.

"That's unclear," Jiang Chuan was somewhat helpless. "She's been mysterious, leaving early and returning late, never mentioning specific details to me."

"Call her over to ask."

Ding Yishan picked up his red pen and circled Cheng Ye's name.

The first batch of satellite cities had already encountered every possible pitfall. After ten days of verification, the second batch's procedures would only be more refined.

More importantly, the first batch's management officials had already attracted most of the external firepower.

Whether it was outside assassins and mercenaries, or the attention of surrounding super sanctuary cities, all focus had been placed on the first batch of inspection officials.

By the second batch, the start would definitely be much safer than the first batch.

This was also one of the reasons he hadn't included Dapo Town in the initial construction, though Jiang Chuan, not being exposed to the peripheral situation, hadn't seen through this consideration.

A moment later.

The office door was pushed open. Mu Shuang entered holding a towel, wiping her dripping wet hair. Water droplets from her hair tips trickled down her neck, dampening her collar.

Ding Yishan looked up and was slightly stunned, "With such heavy rain, why didn't you wear a raincoat?"

"I'm used to being outside. Wearing a raincoat restricts movement and isn't convenient for activity," Mu Shuang smiled.

"So did your activities produce results?"

"About half," Mu Shuang shook her head.

"Half?" Ding Yishan repeated. "Which half?"

"Regarding Inspector Cheng, there are no valuable discoveries," Mu Shuang stepped forward half a pace and began reporting in a steady pace, as if reciting a well-prepared report.

"His life is extremely regular. He's a very disciplined person. Every morning at exactly six-thirty he gets up, either doing physical training in his room or jogging slowly in the residential area. After twenty minutes he returns to eat six packs of nutritional paste, then goes to Tianyuan Community to guide construction work there for an hour, after which he takes the bus to the Mechanical Department, staying from nine in the morning until seven-thirty at night. Except for bathroom breaks, he basically never leaves the warehouse."

"At Tianyuan Community, he's organized three hundred militia members who train daily in the southern suburb's open ground. After work he goes there and trains with the militia until ten-thirty at night, then goes home to sleep."

Mu Shuang paused, then added, "I've observed his sleep. The quality is exceptionally good, not turning over or getting up all night. Also, he should have a latent physical enhancement talent."

"Talent?" Ding Yishan's brow immediately furrowed tightly, the red pen in his hand stopping on the paper. "Neither Cheng Wu nor Cheng Long have any. How does he have one?"

After speaking, he quickly asked again, "Would this talent affect his lifespan?"

"It shouldn't," Mu Shuang shook her head, glancing at the silent Jiang Chuan beside her and explaining, "Physical enhancement talents are mild types that don't damage genetic chains. Instead, they can repair some latent damage. Ordinary people with this kind of talent actually live longer than average."

Ding Yishan looked toward Jiang Chuan. Seeing him nod in confirmation, he finally relaxed and asked again, "Anything else?"

"No more... Oh, right!" Mu Shuang seemed to suddenly remember something, her tone pausing, "He collaborated with Inspector Lee to start a merchant company. Do you know about this?"

"I know," Ding Yishan waved his hand, a hint of amusement in his tone. "Lee Matteo mentioned it to me a few days ago, saying he wanted to handle satellite city supply transport, and something about 'not earning a penny, just contributing to the satellite cities.' I agreed immediately and told him to submit a specific plan. He said he had to wait for Cheng Ye to set up the merchant company framework before finalizing the plan."

Seeing Ding Yishan was aware of the merchant company matter, Mu Shuang pondered for two seconds, then related everything she had observed at the Mechanical Department.

"Oh, he also likes to tinker with these kinds of things?"

Ding Yishan raised his eyebrows, surprise flashing in his eyes.

This was another thing not in the files.

However, thinking again, Cheng Ye's performance had deviated from the files from the very beginning. It wasn't strange for him to know more skills. After the initial surprise, he felt somewhat anticipatory.

"What about the other half?"

"I'm not the only one secretly watching Inspector Cheng..."

Mu Shuang thought for a moment, "There are four people total, all masters at the Dao Embryo realm. I investigated their identities, but strangely... they're not in the information database. They should be outsiders who infiltrated, but I checked recent entry records for the past week and didn't find their traces. It's like they appeared out of thin air."

"Is that so?"

Ding Yishan's expression instantly turned cold. His hand resting on the desktop trembled slightly, a fierce look flashing in his eyes as he turned to look at Jiang Chuan.

Mu Shuang spoke euphemistically, but the meaning was clear.

Without entry records, they either infiltrated through the defense line or through the inspection station.

Either way, it was a major incident requiring accountability.

Jiang Chuan was slightly stunned and nodded gently, "Sir, I'll investigate entry record loopholes. Tonight I'll also deal with these four..."

"No, listen to what I have to say first."

Mu Shuang quickly interrupted, complexity in her tone, "Station Chief, I haven't finished speaking yet."

"Go ahead," Ding Yishan's voice remained cold and hard, his weary face showing lion-like authority.

This was something Mu Shuang rarely saw.

Even when other sanctuary cities had previously sent people to cause sabotage, she'd never seen Ding Yishan this angry.

"All four of these people have already been captured by Inspector Cheng and the community people. They're currently detained within the community, just like..."

Speaking to this point, Mu Shuang couldn't help but turn to glance at Jiang Chuan, the meaning clear.

"Cough cough..." Jiang Chuan couldn't help but cough twice.

This was getting ridiculous but what surprised him was that Mu Shuang didn't continue mocking as she had before.

Instead, her expression was somewhat strange as she said, "Additionally, Inspector Cheng also discovered me. He arranged many community people to surround and monitor the area where I live. My room was also broken into by his people who installed listening devices."

"I don't know exactly how he discovered me, but if no accidents occur, he'll make his move against me tomorrow or the day after at the latest!"