Whether Lee Matteo’s trump card methods were effective, Cheng Ye wasn’t sure yet.
But trying them cost nothing, and if they worked, he’d claim them as his own.
Though he didn’t expect to pass them down to a son to continue as an inspector in Happiness City, at least he’d have a solid plan for future warehouse releases.
“Alright, please wait, sir.”
Raven, though confused, followed Cheng Ye’s orders, quickly sorting the paper slips.
Starting with one group.
Cheng Ye picked up the top five bids, scanning them, and couldn’t help but click his tongue.
1700, 1450, 1300, 1300, 1250.
Cheng Long, a fifth-stage inspector, left him just over 5,000 Happiness Coins.
Yet these people offered over 1,000 for a deposit, incredibly generous.Of course, since the deposit would be refunded, the 5% fee was only about 80 coins.
If it were a full 100% take, they’d likely manage only a few hundred at most.
The lowest five bids:
140, 70, 50, 50, 30.
The highest was ten times less, the lowest nearly fifty times less.
The second and third groups followed a similar pattern.
Top group averaged 1,500, bottom group ranged from 50 to 200.
The fourth group surprised him.
The highest bidder reached 2,200. Was a god of wealth locked up in there?
“Sir, they’re scared from Inspector Polk’s actions, so the bids are high,” Raven explained, sensing Cheng Ye’s confusion.
“The one bidding 2,200 revised it three times. Started at 1,200, added 500 twice, and even tried bribing me to check if his bid was in the top ten.”
Good grief.
Setting aside Lee Matteo’s method’s effectiveness, the 5% deposit fee alone, for releasing 20 people, would net nearly 800 coins.
That money burned to hold!
No wonder Lee Matteo suggested reporting it to the station immediately.
If everyone did this, racking up tens of thousands of coins in a month would be easy.
“Is the venue set up?”
“The main combat zone is ready. The isolated observation zone you requested is almost done.”
“Good. Start with groups one and two. Three and four wait.”
Cheng Ye waved decisively. “Pair the highest bidder from group one with the lowest from group two in the main combat zone. Everyone else goes to the observation zone.”
“Oh, and allow them to discuss bids, even guide them. Got it?”
“Uh, sir, what do you mean?”
Raven hesitated, scratching his head. “Can you give me a hint?”
“Sure.”
Cheng Ye grinned, nodding. “The five highest bidders, aren’t they the ones most desperate to leave?”
“Yes!” Raven nodded. “They’re willing to pay so much, naturally they want out the most.”
“And the five lowest bidders, don’t they think they’ve got no chance?”
“Yes!” Raven nodded again. “I observed them. They genuinely can’t afford more, so they wrote the highest number they could, without hope.”
“So, if I pair a high bidder with a low bidder to scrutinize each other’s statements, with only one allowed to leave, how do you think they’ll react?”
“Huh?”
Raven froze, then his eyes widened. “What if neither has flaws?”
“Then both walk. Aren’t there 18 others watching? Tell them if they spot flaws in the pair’s statements, they get to go next.”
“Twenty people, only 10 leave. It stops when that’s done.”
“Huh?”
Raven froze again, pondering for two or three minutes.
“So only 10 really leave?”
“Yup, but I said groups one and two get 10 slots. I didn’t say the rest are eliminated. The remaining 10 pair perfectly with group three, right?”
Cheng Ye grinned.
Raven shivered, a flash of shock in his eyes.
Questioning dozens one by one was too tedious.
Better to use “rich or poor, go home for the holidays” to filter those desperate to leave, then “eagle catches chicks” to let two chicks debate on stage while eagles below catch flaws.
Having 38 eager people face scrutiny, if an infected slipped through, its intelligence would be near invincible.
Even if kept in the warehouse, it couldn’t trigger before the isolation period ended.
“Now you get it?”
“Got it!” Raven gritted his teeth, his gaze at Cheng Ye tinged with complexity.
“Don’t look at me like that. The inspector next door taught me. Just testing it.”
Cheng Ye deflected blame, not wanting to seem calculating.
It wouldn’t help his career.
Too-clever types got isolated in the workplace; no one wanted to work with a scheming mastermind.
Cheng Ye knew why Lee Matteo shared this. First, his “old slacker” reputation was already set, immune to labels.
Second, he likely wanted to make an impression.
Some things Lee Matteo couldn’t do due to his status, but a trainee like Cheng Ye was perfect for it.
Especially now, at a critical team-alignment moment, he needed to show real skill to avoid being underestimated.
“Sir, the venue’s ready. Start the review now?” Owl appeared.
“Go ahead.”
The warehouse’s rear had a simple interrogation area, modular for adding cells.
Four alloy cages stood at the corners as observation zones.
Two people entered for debate.
Twenty armed guards outside monitored the debaters and observers, ready to act if infection signs appeared.
“Please, Mr. Keller Nick and Mr. Darin Lewis, enter.”
Raven called loudly. The two, escorted by guards under gunpoint, entered the interrogation area.
Inside, two chairs and a table were thoughtfully provided.
Per Cheng Ye’s request, two sets of paper and pens were added for noting flaws in each other’s statements.
“Let me out, I’ll give you 300 coins,” Lewis whispered to Nick as they sat.
“That’s enough to improve your life. Just stay a few more days.”
“Fine, if you’re clean, I’ll concede.”
Nick said it, but smirked inwardly. Money’s useless if you’re dead.
With constant rain and the warehouse overcrowding, who knew if a new cellmate was infected?
Paired with an infected, you’d die unjustly.
“Silence!”
Cheng Ye held the files, standing behind the guards, shouting, “Mr. Darin Lewis, with a 1,700-coin bid, has priority. State why you were detained.”
1,700?
The 38 in the observation cages gasped, especially the 19 lowest bidders, their eyes flashing with odd looks.
“Inspector, sir—”
“No need to address me. Your reasons and explanations must convince those around you.”
“Uh…”
Sweat rolled visibly down Lewis’s forehead. He glanced nervously around, voice tight. “I was detained because an item on our vehicle was contaminated by an infected.”
“I swear, it had nothing to do with us. The contamination was there when we acquired it at the settlement!”
“What item was contaminated?” Nick jumped in before others could.
“A crystallized core, a bag of them!”
“Where’d you get it?”
“Clearstream Settlement.”
“Sir, he’s lying!”
Someone in a cage couldn’t hold back. “Clearstream’s cores are contracted to the Oasis Caravan. They can’t reach freelancers. If caught, it’s a tenfold fine!”
“Is that so?” Cheng Ye looked at the cage, surprised the first catch came so fast.
Visibly, Lewis’s face paled.
In moments, his eyes filled with crimson, and fine black fur sprouted under his exposed skin, glossy like rat fur, rapidly covering his neck and arms, soon encasing his body in a bizarre mutated form.
I…
Lewis slowly raised his hands. Feeling the stiff fur sprouting from his palms, he froze.
Then, sealed memories flooded his mind like a breached dam.
A desolate wilderness beside a ruined provincial road.
Twilight fell, darkness gathering.
His perspective twisted in madness, shifting to a strange third-person view.
He saw himself and three teammates hiding in a pile of rotting grass, greedily eyeing the distance.
A six-person scavenger team approached!
Carrying sacks, they skulked along the road’s edge, faces beaming with barely concealed smiles, clearly having scored big.
Unlike shelter city residents with factory jobs, most settlement dwellers had little work, relying on periodic hunts for mutant beasts to make ends meet.
Some ventured to city ruins, scavenging undiscovered supplies or hunting infected to trade their sources for money.
But hardworking scavengers sometimes became prey themselves.
Especially when returning with a full haul, they were easy targets.
“Move!”
As the scavengers neared thirty meters, Lewis hissed.
Four guns blazed. The scavengers, fresh from escaping ruins, didn’t even have time to beg before being riddled with bullets, their sacks spilling like a waterfall.
Laughing wildly, the four rushed from the grass.
The team heading back to Clearstream didn’t disappoint!
Besides mutant beast bone powder, fur, and special herbs, a bag of twenty crystallized cores gleamed blue under a flashlight.
Bloodied mutant beast meat lay beside the bodies, three large chunks!
A windfall!
The four, long deprived of meat, swallowed hard. They hastily cleaned the scene and lit a fire.
Fat sizzled on the grill, blood still seeping from the meat. The aroma drove them wild, tearing into it with bare hands.
Why… why am I so hungry?
Lewis froze. He’d never seen his own expression so ferocious while eating, nor his three teammates fighting over bloodied meat like mortal enemies.
Chewing echoed in the wilderness, mingled with the crunch of breaking bones.
Unnoticed, strands of black fur crept over their skin, thickening like countless greedy rats crawling and multiplying.
“Me?”
“Infected?”
Surging power flooded his limbs, Lewis’s sanity ebbing like a tide, replaced by raging bloodlust.
He looked around blankly. Nick cowered in a corner, trembling; the humans in the cages wore terrified faces.
Squeak, squeak.
He grinned, black-furred cheeks twisting grotesquely, emitting rat-like squeals.
A mere cage thought to trap Lord Rat?!
He reached out, claws springing from his fingers, slashing at the isolation mesh with a whistling force.
Clang.
A crisp impact rang out. Lewis’s fur-covered face froze, smile fading.
The mesh, which memory said should tear easily, was impossibly solid.
Clang, clang, clang.
He clawed frantically, but not a scratch appeared.
“Why?”
“What?”
“How?”
Pop, pop, pop.
A shrill burst of bullets answered him.
In seconds, his massive body collapsed, bloodlust fading, a trace of sanity miraculously returning.
Lewis turned his head with effort, looking at the inspector behind the guards.
The man didn’t spare him a glance, turning to the warehouse, clearly heading to deal with his three meat-eating teammates.
Hahaha!!
Die together, all of us!
No one escapes!
His maniacal laughter cut off, the fur-covered body still at last.
“Codename: Bloodthirsty Rat, Infection Stage: Two, neutralized by Trainee Inspector Cheng Ye!”