Raven and Owl stood at the isolation gate twenty minutes early to greet him. Seeing Cheng Ye’s figure round the corner, they quickly tapped the identity verifier.
The electromagnetic lock clicked open, and the alloy gate slid apart.
“Sir, you’re here!”
“Hm.”
Cheng Ye mumbled a response, his mind still on Arthur, casually asking as he walked, “No big incidents yesterday, right?”
“None. Only three vehicles cleared Inspection Area A yesterday. The rest were detained, no issues.”
“No incidents? Wait, how many are detained now?”
Cheng Ye stopped abruptly, looking up in shock. “How many people are in the isolation warehouse?”
“319.”
Raven reported the exact number, a surge of 48 since yesterday.Area A’s isolation warehouse had 75 cells, each holding up to 4 people, a total capacity of 300.
This meant some cells now held over 4 people, exceeding the limit.
Per the handbook, inspectors had to screen personnel immediately to bring the count below the threshold.
“Thirteen vehicles were inspected. Though no data anomalies were found, Inspector Riley Polk insisted on detaining most of them. Also…”
Raven hesitated.
Cheng Ye frowned. “Spit it out, what else?”
“Well…” Owl took over, voice heavy. “Since the warehouse exceeded capacity, Inspector Polk mimicked your approach from the day before, entering for a major sweep. We went in with him. An infected parasite was indeed shot on the spot, but, uh, 13 people were injured by mistake, 3 from the same cell died instantly, and the remaining 10 are still in medical treatment.”
“What?”
Cheng Ye froze, brows knitting.
Mimicking my approach?
I wasn’t planning a major sweep, just a quick skill search!
“No, Polk’s not copying me. He’s clearly using this to complete the study group’s inspection tasks!”
Cheng Ye’s mind raced.
His actions two days ago weren’t a sweep, just a newbie getting familiar with the environment.
Even taking down Barrett was a coincidence, yet Polk claimed to mimic him, obviously trying to pin civilian injuries on him.
“Damn it, screwing up and trying to make me take the fall.”
“Just you wait.”
Cheng Ye cursed inwardly, mentally adding Polk’s name after Garcia’s.
He didn’t start trouble, but if someone tried to pin blame or mess with him, he’d make them pay when the chance came!
“Where is he?”
“Suspended by Station Chief Harlin, sent to reflect for a week.”
“Suspended…”
What was a guess was now confirmed.
Cheng Ye’s gaze darkened.
Overnight, inspectors likely received news of the Stand-In Starfish spread.
Polk was clever, using suspension as an excuse to prepare.
With the warehouse over 300, regulations required Cheng Ye to clear it below 300 by shift’s end, or it’d mark his record.
As a full inspector, it’d just cost some Happiness Coins.
But as a trainee, this could delay his promotion.
“Fine, I was planning to hunt infected for contribution points today. Overcapacity gives me the perfect excuse to open the warehouse and release people.”
A sharp glint flashed in Cheng Ye’s eyes.
Two days ago, he noticed many had been detained over 7 days.
With a quick review, clearing 30 people would be easy.
Catching infected in the process would be a bonus, the more the better!
“Raven, fetch all files for those detained over 7 days. I’ll review them one by one.”
“Owl, take the guards to set up an isolation area. I’m opening the warehouse for releases. No one approaches during the review!”
Decisive and swift, no sooner said than done.
As Cheng Ye spoke, Raven and Owl felt an inexplicable relief.
Though only a day, following Cheng Ye versus Polk, a second-stage inspector, was night and day.
The former acted decisively like a second-stage, while the latter dawdled like a trainee.
Guards bore no blame, so it didn’t matter who they followed.
But as observers, they weren’t here to slack. With Polk, avoiding punishment was a miracle, let alone standing out.
“Yes, sir!”
While they busied themselves, Cheng Ye detoured to the garage, swiping access to slip his pendant into the charging slot.
Each of the four inspection areas had different functions but similar structures. There was no reason Area B’s warehouse could hold so many more than Area A.
Plus, Lee Matteo detained over a hundred daily. Even with quick processing, his warehouse should be packed.
Entering the inspection area, he saw Lee Matteo half-reclining, sipping nutrient paste.
Wearing rubber gloves, his exposed skin shimmered with a transparent gel coating, physically blocking all contact.
“You’re here?”
Through the metal mesh, seeing Cheng Ye’s makeshift “gear,” Lee Matteo finished his nutrient paste and stood.
“Didn’t Liu Bi transfer you some money? Need a hundred from me?”
“No need.”
Cheng Ye shook his head, not mentioning his monthly borrowing limit was maxed.
“My warehouse is over capacity. Regulations say I’ve got to clear it immediately. You detain so many daily, how do you handle it?”
“That?”
Lee Matteo shook his head. “What can you do? Stuff 5 per cell to start, then cycle back and keep stuffing. My Area B cells now hold 8 each, and no one’s complained. Keeping them locked up is actually a good thing right now.”
A cell’s just 5 square meters. Eight people, you can barely turn around!
“Also, I’ve got more cells, 90 total, about 740 people now.”
As if it were trivial, Lee Matteo shrugged, “You’re not thinking of releasing them, right? Inspectors have isolation quotas, but as a trainee, it doesn’t affect you much. Just… pretend you don’t know.”
“Easy for you to say. I’m aiming for a promotion evaluation.”
Cheng Ye shook his head, exasperated. “A daily violation means five marks against me by the end of the week.”
“Promotion…”
Lee Matteo smacked his lips, realizing Cheng Ye was still a trainee. “Then you’ve gotta be careful. How many over?”
“319, 19 over.”
“What, just 19? I thought it was a hundred or so!”
Hearing the number, Lee Matteo perked up, beckoning Cheng Ye closer and lowering his voice. “Alright, I’ll teach you two tricks. No bragging, but you can easily clear 40 or 50.”
“Tell me!”
Cheng Ye nodded eagerly.
As expected, a third-stage veteran like Lee Matteo, surviving a decade at the checkpoint, had some tricks up his sleeve.
Except for slacking, which Cheng Ye couldn’t emulate.
“It’s simple.”
“First trick: rich or poor, go home for the holidays. Here’s how…”
Diving into “professional” knowledge, Lee Matteo spoke passionately, oblivious to Cheng Ye’s shocked expression.
The so-called “slacking” wasn’t just turtling up.
It was dancing in the gaps of rules, ensuring safety while skating the performance line without sinking to the bottom.
“Second trick’s a bit harder, but with your smarts, you’ll get it.”
“I call it: harness the people’s wisdom, eagle catches chicks…”
Half an hour later.
Hiss.
Cheng Ye sucked in a breath. “No way, that’ll work?”
“You think I’ve been at the checkpoint for nothing?”
Lee Matteo scoffed, a hint of lonely mastery in his expression. “Any old-timer here over a decade has a few tricks. Others may sneer at my methods, but in ten years, they’ve never failed!”
“Unless, one day, infected grow brains and turn pseudo-human. Then, not just my tricks, the whole checkpoint, top to bottom, won’t walk out upright.”
“Alright, if it works, I’ll thank you properly.”
Cheng Ye nodded.
The tricks sounded absurd, but he’d have to try them to know, as a newbie, doing something wild should be forgivable, right?
“Sir, I’ve brought all the files you asked for!”
Raven’s voice came as four thick stacks of documents landed on the alloy table.
“How many detained over 7 days?”
“199 total.”
“Good. Go help Owl. I’ll call if I need you.”
Cheng Ye sat at the table, pulling a file, scanning it quickly.
Inspectors detained people seemingly at whim, but the follow-up process was meticulous.
Each detainee’s resident data was compiled into a booklet, including basic info and a transcript.
For team members, they’d be isolated separately, questioned on a single issue for records.
If conflicts existed, Raven marked them in red, making contradictions clear.
Beyond that, their behavior in the warehouse was noted, including violations.
“Alick Hawk, huge appetite, demands three extra nutrient paste bags daily, howling and disturbing others.”
“Marin Rogers, self-harming tendencies, often provokes others with insults, inviting beatings.”
“Andre Mason, moderate mania, likes mimicking infected outbreaks at night to scare cellmates.”
“Tom Hardy, fasting during detention, claiming it’s God’s punishment, ignoring epidemic rules.”
…
Of 199, 14 were non-compliant, each a bizarre case beyond Cheng Ye’s understanding.
Come on, you’re locked up, can’t you behave?
He set these aside, to be dealt with when they calmed down.
Among the remaining 185, 77 had conflicting testimonies. Though some conflicts were minor, Cheng Ye shelved them for now.
“108 people, perfect for four groups, 27 each.”
He shuffled the files into four stacks.
Calling Raven, he began arranging per Lee Matteo’s first trick.
“Each stack is a group. Find them, tell them there’s a chance to leave, but they need to pay a deposit to prove innocence. Emphasize it’s a deposit, not a bribe; it’ll be refunded, with the checkpoint taking a 5% storage fee.”
“Also, make clear: the warehouse has 319 people, only 108 get deposit slots, split into 4 groups of 27, but only the top 10 bidders in each group walk.”
“One key point: if two people from the same cell are in one group, split them into different groups.”
“Have them write bids on paper, tally them, and bring them to me.”
“Got it?”