The wasteland people's desire to climb upward, their longing to live a prosperous life, could it ultimately overcome the terrifying infected entities?
Cheng Ye had no definitive answer in his heart.
But he felt that as long as Happiness City's leadership hadn't given up struggling, this super shelter city that dominated Shi Province still had hope of surviving this disaster.
"The Stand-In Starfish infected entity's strength isn't actually that strong. Although its defense has more than doubled, humans weren't naturally thick-skinned like mutant beasts to begin with. The base defense value is probably only 1-2, and even if doubled, it's just 2-4, which can't even compare to some mutant beasts' initial defense."
"And the strength and constitution improvements are only twenty percent, plus there's the negative effect of speed decreasing by thirty percent. If it weren't for the contact infection characteristic, it wouldn't be fearsome at all."
On the way to the bus stop, Cheng Ye repeatedly pondered these data, constantly simulating scenarios of dealing with infected entities in his mind.
For ordinary people, without money to purchase protective suits, directly facing Stand-In Starfish infected entities was undoubtedly extremely high risk.
Because once infected, with the surrounding environment being in a comfortable parasitic state for the infection source, the infection progress would skyrocket exponentially. Even if one immediately took Epidemic Powder, the success rate couldn't reach one hundred percent.
But he was different. As long as he got the equipment and didn't blindly take risks, the danger was completely within controllable limits!
"Marksmanship!""Combat techniques!"
"I must get these two skills as soon as possible, replace Beast Instinct, and prepare for battle!"
Fear stems from the unknown, from speculative imagination.
And Happiness City's accumulated profound foundation was like a sharp blade cutting through this layer of fog, completely dispelling the panic in people's hearts.
Since there was no way to evacuate, no matter what, they had to face the infected entities.
With this thought, Cheng Ye cast all his worries behind him, transforming them entirely into motivation to move forward.
To survive on this wasteland, running away was impossible.
Only by relying on a behemoth like Happiness City, only by constantly climbing upward and gaining higher information authority.
Could one, like now, prepare equipment before the great chaos erupted, and build psychological defenses before the storm arrived!
All the way to the bus stop, Master Tian's bus was indeed waiting in the usual spot.
But today, he was no longer in the mood to polish his bus, restlessly pacing around the vehicle.
Seeing Cheng Ye walking from afar, Master Tian immediately went to meet him.
"Inspector Cheng, I've prepared all the liniment you requested."
He said, pulling out a green bottle identical to yesterday's from his pocket.
Three bottles in total.
Cheng Ye took them, opened the bottle mouth to smell them. The scent was unchanged, so presumably the effects wouldn't differ either.
"Additionally, these are two types of special secret medicines I'm giving you."
Master Tian pulled out two more small bottles from his pocket, only their colors had changed from green to red and blue.
"The red secret medicine can be taken internally or applied externally. There are five doses total. When taken internally, it can stimulate life force, greatly improving wound healing speed. When applied externally, it can instantly stop bleeding from wounds. There are no side effects whatsoever, and taking it internally and externally simultaneously is also fine. The portions are separated in compartments within the bottle. When you finish one dose, tap the bottle body and the next dose will automatically pop out."
"The blue secret medicine can only be used externally. If you feel mentally exhausted, open the bottle and take one breath to recover. But this thing has a cost. Once you stop using it, after 12 hours, your mental state will collapse even worse. You'll need to sleep soundly for 3 consecutive days to recover."
Huh?
Staring at the red and blue bottles, Cheng Ye was stunned. Weren't these HP and MP potions from games?
One restored health, one restored mana.
Master Tian actually had such treasures?
However, he didn't directly take the two secret medicines. Instead, he narrowed his eyes.
As the old saying goes, when people don't know reason, there must be trouble; when things are abnormal, there must be demons.
Master Tian giving him liniment could barely be explained as earning a price difference to supplement household income.
And while that medicine was effective, it wasn't to the degree that would make people envious.
But these two secret medicines were different. Either one, if brought out in the wasteland, could be exchanged for a life. They were absolutely priceless hard currency.
Giving them to me?
Seeing that Cheng Ye not only showed no interest but actually shook his head slightly, Master Tian couldn't help but sigh.
"I can give you the formulas for all three medicines."
"Speak up, what do you want me to do?"
"My daughter has a fever. I'd like you to take a look and see if she's..."
Master Tian's voice grew quieter, his gaze turning toward the rear of the bus.
Following his line of sight, Cheng Ye only then noticed that in the usually empty passenger compartment, a girl was sitting.
She appeared to be an adult, her appearance not particularly striking, but she had a gentle, quiet face, exactly like those well-behaved girls who listened to their parents and had walls covered with merit certificates.
"She works at the Works Department. These past two days she's been responsible for area isolation statistics, but since last night, she's had a persistent high fever."
"Just take medicine."
Cheng Ye said, about to pull out the Epidemic Powder he had just received from his backpack.
Regardless of whether she was infected with Stand-In Starfish or not, taking one dose for peace of mind, as long as it was within twenty-four hours, the information stated the success rate was one hundred percent.
But Master Tian shook his head with a bitter expression, "Inspector Cheng, you don't know, this medicine... has already killed quite a few people."
"What?"
Cheng Ye's hand paused, staring at the grayish-brown powder he had just pulled out, stunned.
"Epidemic Powder actually started being distributed last night. When you went to collect it just now, there weren't many people in line, right?"
"Mm, there weren't many."
Not just few, even though it was work hours, he was the only one who went to collect it.
"Starting at ten last night, it was distributed door to door. Many people heard it could enhance immunity and just poured it into their mouths... But from last night until five this morning, the corpse collection vehicles never stopped, one after another hauling people out."
Last night at ten?
He was sleeping soundly then, completely unaware that the second half of the night had been so "lively."
No wonder there was no queue when collecting medicine earlier. If this deadly Epidemic Powder was forcibly promoted, the buffer zone would probably explode before the infected entities even rioted.
Wait, could it be that some people had been infected for more than 24 hours already?
So after taking the medicine to eliminate the starfish, the failure probability meant direct death?
Or did Epidemic Powder have certain side effects, and even if one didn't take more than 3 packs within 7 days, it would still cause irreversible damage to the human body?
"I'd like you to take a look. If she's already sick, then we'll take the medicine directly and leave survival to fate."
Master Tian sighed, "If she's not sick, since she's running a fever now, it's better not to take this medicine if possible."
The formulas for three secret medicines, plus the finished products, in exchange for one chance?
Cheng Ye hesitated. If the method for detecting starfish got out, the buffer zone would immediately fall into chaos.
Because this method was too simple, just apply water to the forehead and there would be a reaction.
The buffer zone was still without water supply until now. On one hand, it was to isolate high humidity conditions, and on the other hand, they were probably worried that people would figure out this point.
But looking at Master Tian's sorrowful and helpless expression.
Cheng Ye opened his panel and glanced at it, his pupils suddenly constricting.
[Master Tian, 100% (Perfect), Searchable range: Intelligence, Items, Skills (Lv1, Lv2)]
"One hundred percent cooperation level?"
Words could deceive, fever could be faked.
But according to Cheng Ye's testing during this period, the cooperation level value was absolutely the gold standard for testing people's hearts.
Everything else could lie, only the numbers wouldn't!
"Search or not?"
"Search!"
Glancing at the 65% charge level, Cheng Ye only hesitated for an instant before his mind immediately pressed the search button.
A 100% cooperation level was really too hard to achieve. The other party had to trust him very much.
This trust couldn't be reluctantly obtained by taking advantage of someone's crisis, but had to be unreserved, pure belief.
Judging from the effects of Master Tian's three secret medicines, this guy was definitely a formidable character hiding his true abilities.
Incomprehensible characters flickered on the panel, and lines of text began to form.
However, just looking at the topmost description, Cheng Ye couldn't help but want to curse.
[Search successful!]
[Master Tian (Parasitic state)]
"Good grief, still worried about your daughter when you're already infected yourself..."
Cheng Ye subconsciously glanced at Master Tian's attire.
Similar to his own, also rubber gloves, with exposed skin wrapped in a layer of plastic film.
Being so careful and still getting infected...
"Did you go out last night and have contact with those who died?"
"How do you know?"
Master Tian was stunned. With his skills and caution, he absolutely shouldn't have been discovered by anyone.
Especially by the inspector before him, who hadn't even cultivated the four forces, and had no reason to...
Cheng Ye didn't respond because the panel was already displaying searchable targets.
[Master Tian]
[Lv2 Skills]: Talent: Danger Perception (Excellent, enhanced six senses, can sense active dangers within five meters) Talent: Cold Weapon Affinity (Excellent, slightly increases control over cold weapons)
Talent: Steadiness (Common, slightly improves body control)
Talent: Veteran Driver (Common, slightly improves vehicle operation ability)
Skill: Mobile Shooting (Rare, special frontal shooting technique, greatly improves mobile shooting accuracy)
Skill: Ghost Draw (Excellent, special gun-drawing technique, slightly increases gun-drawing and shooting speed)
Skill: Dragon Force, Tiger Force, Eagle Force, Snake Force, Trajectory Prediction, Advanced Stealth, Emergency Trauma Treatment (Common)
[Lv3 Skills]: Locked
[Lv4 Skills]: Locked
"As expected, another powerhouse with Lv4 skills, and these talents..."
Cheng Ye's gaze swept from top to bottom.
This was no longer the gap between academic achievers and underachievers.
Even a talent monster like Dai Zun would still look like a rookie in front of Master Tian.
Four talents, though none were rare, except for Veteran Driver, each was an extremely practical talent.
And the skills were even more on a different level.
"It seems the complete four forces are indeed Lv2 skills. Dai Zun doesn't have them, indicating his four forces aren't yet complete."
"As for the choice..."
Cheng Ye's gaze fixed intently on 'Mobile Shooting' in the purple frame, silently praying as he pressed search.
Rare talents had increased his strength by almost five times.
So what about rare skills?
A strange sense of certainty crept up Cheng Ye's heart again, but this time it carried additional information.
"So perfect cooperation level adds an extra 50% probability?"
No wonder the cross-level search at 25% didn't fail. After adding this 50%, the actual probability reached 75%, higher than even the basic search probability for Lv1 skills.
And if 100% cooperation level searched for Lv1 skills, the success rate would be maxed out with absolutely no chance of failure.
The panel began to flicker.
This search was unprecedentedly long, a full three seconds before the flickering settled.
[Search successful]
[Civilization Collector has successfully recorded: Mobile Shooting (Lv.2; Skill)]
"Master Tian, go stand at the back of the bus and don't peek. I'll test whether she's sick."
"I have a special drug here that can make someone briefly unconscious. Just press it on the nose tip and it'll take effect. If it's inconvenient for you..."
"Give it here."
Master Tian's thoughtfulness was heartbreaking.
Cheng Ye took the round disc that looked like a makeup powder puff and boarded the bus.
"What's your name?"
"Tian Lei."
"Don't resist. I'll test whether you're sick. Also, after the examination, you can't go out for the next few days. I'll help you request leave from the Works Department."
"I understand, Inspector Cheng!"
Cheng Ye hummed through his nose and opened the panel for another glance.
As expected, Tian Lei's cooperation level was also maxed at 100%, but there was no prompt for the option to search Lv2 skills.
"No Lv2?"
Cheng Ye nodded slightly. This was normal. If every random person encountered had Lv2, these wasteland people would be too formidable.
Gently pressing the powder puff on her nose tip, Tian Lei's eyes became dazed, then she softly collapsed into his arms, a trace of well-behaved smile still at the corners of her mouth.
Cheng Ye took out his water bottle from his backpack, poured some water into his palm, and pressed it to her forehead.
The water stain quickly spread.
After more than ten seconds, there was still no starfish pattern display.
"Hmm, this is lucky, but the Works Department has provided protection for staff from the beginning. Having a lower infection rate than ordinary people is normal."
Using his sleeve to wipe away the water traces, Cheng Ye held Tian Lei upright again, letting her head rest against the window, then turned and walked off the bus.
"She is not sick."
"That's wonderful!" Master Tian's bitter old face immediately bloomed with a smile.
However, the smile hadn't lasted even a second before he heard Cheng Ye say again, "But you are sick."
"Me?"
Master Tian was stunned for a moment, then immediately pulled out a pack of Epidemic Powder from his pocket.
He poured it into his mouth without hesitation, not doubting Cheng Ye's judgment at all.
"Cough, cough..."
As the powder entered his throat, he dry-chewed it twice.
Visibly, Master Tian's complexion began to redden, a barely perceptible starfish mark flashed across his forehead, then disappeared without a trace.
It worked!
Cheng Ye's expression shifted slightly, and he asked curiously, "Weren't you worried about poisoning yourself?"
"Making a living in a shelter city, how can you be afraid of this?"
Master Tian shook his head and smiled, "Staying here means believing that the shelter city can come up with countermeasures when facing this kind of situation. If you don't even believe this, you should have rolled out long ago to find some small settlement to hide in, so as not to harm others and yourself."