Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Before dawn could fully break, the piercing shriek of engines exploded across the buffer zone.
Cheng Ye rolled over and cursed vaguely, wondering which bastard had started renovating so early in the morning, didn't they want people to sleep?
But before his words had finished, he suddenly jolted awake!
Damn.
This wasn't the modern world either, and the apartment building only had five floors, so who would be renovating at this hour?
Sleep instantly evaporated, and Cheng Ye almost reflexively reached for the handgun at his bedside. The cold metal touch made his hair stand on end.
Immediately after, he stored the still-confused Fire Sprout beside him into his spirit space, then rolled off the bed in one motion, pulling out the two rifles from under the bed.
Click click, two crisp sounds as the safeties were efficiently released.
He then used his foot to hook out the armor case from the innermost position, ready to activate the Tears of the Horned Starfish at any moment but after completing this series of actions, Cheng Ye suddenly came to his senses.Having lived in the wasteland for so long, he seemed to have become somewhat mentally oversensitive!
The rumbling outside didn't sound like an infection tide invasion, nor like infected creatures causing trouble. Instead, it was extremely regular, carrying a strangely familiar dull vibration, just like...
He frowned, crouching as he moved to the window, pinching a corner of the curtain with his fingertips and gently lifting it to create a small gap.
At this moment, the horizon was just showing a fish-belly white, around five o'clock or so. A thin layer of morning mist hung like water-soaked gauze, softly covering the earth, with visibility no more than five or six hundred meters.
But when his gaze lifted to the sky, Cheng Ye's breathing suddenly stopped, and his tense shoulders instantly relaxed.
False alarm.
So it was Happiness City's aerial forces.
The sky overhead was painted into a flowing galaxy by flashing signal lights. Red, green, and yellow light points blurred in the fog, weaving together into a constantly moving net.
Large and small helicopters rose like migrating locust swarms from the inner city direction, covering the sky as they flew toward the outer city in a black mass, their rotor wash causing the morning mist to churn restlessly.
Cheng Ye squinted, tilting his head back as his gaze swept over those steel creations slowly moving through the air.
Most conspicuous were several helicopters with bodies like elongated bread loaves, streamlined noses tilted slightly downward, and rotor hubs atop their bodies like metal bowls turned upside down, currently hovering above the buffer zone.
Their side doors were open like half-pulled drawers, with anti-slip steel strips welded around the edges. Several soldiers in camouflage uniforms stood at the door openings, half their bodies leaning out, waving glow sticks in regular arcs, apparently directing the following formations.
The dozens of helicopters diving forward were much smaller, tapering from nose to tail like magnified flying fish. Their tail rotors were enclosed in spindle-shaped ducts, producing much sharper sounds when rotating, like a swarm of disturbed wasps rushing toward the defensive line in a black mass, presumably assault models responsible for forward reconnaissance.
Of course, higher up, there were quite a few large helicopters moving leisurely.
Their fuselages had bulging radar domes like giant pebbles stuck on them, with square equipment hanging from their bellies that occasionally flashed red light, particularly conspicuous in the fog.
They flew relatively steadily with closed cabin doors, but vague human figures could be seen moving behind the portholes, probably command aircraft responsible for reconnaissance and communications?
Cheng Ye roughly counted, his pupils slightly contracting. Just from what he could see clearly, the number already exceeded a hundred.
In the distant mist, even more lights of various sizes were moving.
"So this is Happiness City's foundation..."
Cheng Ye couldn't help but murmur softly, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing the rifle's textured surface.
From the checkpoint's contribution system, he had known before that Happiness City didn't lack aerial power.
The restrictions on these airborne vehicles might even be more lenient than those on ground-running vehicles like the Big Golden Cup but he had never imagined the scale would be this enormous.
However, thinking it over, Happiness City had been established for 34 years since its founding.
These kinds of decisive battlefield weapons would never stop production as long as manufacturing capability existed.
Accumulated over the years, having such numbers was actually reasonable.
After watching for a while longer, Cheng Ye simply pulled open the entire curtain and pushed the window completely open.
The drone of engines instantly filled the room, and the airflow carrying metallic vibrations hit his face like an invisible hand gently pushing against his cheeks.
Bathed in this powerful humming, he walked back to the bed and put down his gun, but didn't push the armor case back under the bed.
From today onward, the armor case needed to be carried with him. The outer city plan's activation meant combat could break out at any time.
Fire Sprout poked its little head out from the bottom of his vision in the spirit space, tilting its small head and calling "yi ya" twice, as if complaining about being woken up.
After last night's testing, Cheng Ye discovered that the spirit space visible when he closed his eyes didn't expand with his own strength, but grew along with Fire Sprout's development.
For instance, after feeding it some Dry Wood Fire, when he next entered the space through possession, it had gained a bit more room to move, no longer as cramped and tight as initially.
But it was still ultimately confined, so last night he simply let the little guy sleep in physical form beside his pillow.
When his eyes were open, the space would automatically expand, and he could actively make Fire Sprout appear in reality.
Although only he could see it, this was enough to ensure the little guy didn't always have to be trapped in darkness.
"Alright, don't pop out randomly during the day," Cheng Ye extended his hand, gently rubbing Fire Sprout's bald little head, his fingertips able to feel a trace of warm heat.
This kind of interaction always made him feel novel, especially the sense of closeness from the bottom of his heart, like suddenly grasping onto something in this lonely wasteland, instantly dispelling much loneliness and adding an extra spiritual anchor.
It was just that this little guy was really too small, and its appetite was quite delicate. The Dry Wood Fire it had eaten last night still hadn't been completely digested, leaving its little belly still bulging.
When Cheng Ye withdrew his hand, Fire Sprout called "yi ya" once more, nuzzling his fingertip with its head before diving back into the spirit space.
When he opened the security door to go wash up, the liveliness in the corridor was somewhat unexpected.
This time should have been quiet, but now it was crowded with people carrying washbasins and towels draped over their shoulders, all heading to the washroom.
More surprisingly, everyone's faces wore smiles, showing no irritation at being woken by the early morning roar.
"Huang Sheng, what are you grinning about like an idiot?"
Cheng Ye walked over, seeing Huang Sheng and two others crouched by the window at the end of the corridor, gripping the windowsill and pointing, their smiles almost reaching their ears.
"Ah."
Huang Sheng turned to see him, his smile growing even brighter, "Sir, the last time I saw this kind of spectacle was nine years ago during Happiness City's 25th anniversary parade! I thought I'd have to wait until next year to see it again, but I didn't expect to witness it early this year!"
Grand parade...
Cheng Ye searched his memory but found no clear images.
It seemed his predecessor truly had no interest in these displays of military might, too lazy even to join the excitement.
"Do you recognize all those helicopters?" he asked, following Huang Sheng's gaze toward the window.
"Of course, they're all old friends!"
Huang Sheng patted his chest, pointing at the various helicopters in the air as he introduced them.
The bread-shaped helicopters were called "Air Buses," actually capable of carrying about thirty people. Happiness City had even opened civilian airline routes before but later, after several serious accidents and high costs, they were discontinued.
Now they mainly managed air traffic order, essentially serving as the command center's eyes.
Of course, this was also due to greatly reduced radar effectiveness. Although fog passages hadn't appeared again, the air fog had extremely strong signal-blocking properties, reducing the efficiency of all radar equipment to some degree.
They could only resort to this more primitive command method as assistance.
Next, the flying fish-shaped helicopters were called "Swordfish," with light bodies and high speed, responsible for reconnaissance.
The helicopters at the very top were called "Sky Command," with those round bumps on their fuselages for signal enhancement, and the square boxes underneath capable of capturing movement within a ten-li radius, specifically providing information supplements to ground command.
Listening to this, Cheng Ye gradually understood.
Everything, all of this massive spectacle.
It was probably not just to properly arrange today's arriving first wave of migration tide, but also to show muscle.
They needed to let those incoming displaced people witness Happiness City's terrifying foundation firsthand, making them understand that even if they couldn't enter the buffer zone, this shelter city had the capability to protect them completely.
Only this way could the subsequent outer city settlement work proceed smoothly.
"To build a shelter city from nothing in the wasteland and become the leader of an entire province."
"My previous worry that the leadership would be at a loss when facing the refugee impact was indeed unnecessary."
After washing up, Cheng Ye picked up his backpack and armor case and went downstairs.
It wasn't even six o'clock yet, but the buffer zone streets already bustled with quite a few figures, mostly residents who had been woken up and lost their sleepiness while being unclear about the situation, gathering in small groups by the roadside discussing, their gazes occasionally glancing toward the sky.
After waiting briefly, Master Zhang's bus came swaying over.
Exactly six o'clock.
Ding.
The defense communicator suddenly chimed with a notification, and since Cheng Ye hadn't turned on silent mode, this meant it was an urgent notice from headquarters.
Opening it, a bulletin addressed to all residents had indeed popped up on the screen:
[Happiness City Broadcasting Headquarters, Notice to All Residents]
[Dear residents, when your terminal receives this message, it marks that New Era Year 35's autumn migration tide has started early. Due to climate change and comprehensive external environmental influences, large numbers of new residents will migrate to Happiness City, becoming new members of this shelter homeland]
[As a super shelter city standing in the wasteland for 34 years, Happiness City has activated Level 2 response protocols: checkpoints have tripled duty personnel, supply depots have preemptively activated 16 supply channels, the Cross Legion and Blood Dragon Corps have fully mobilized, all processes are complete, with capability to handle beyond-expected migration scales]
[Please maintain normal life order, residents need not overly focus on dynamics around migration corridors. Please turn on your radios promptly at 6:30 each morning, where Little Sun will provide real-time updates on the latest settlement details, resource allocation plans, and new resident integration programs. These broadcasts will simultaneously cover migration team reception terminals, ensuring information symmetry and transparency]
[From New Era Year 2's city founding until now, every growth of Happiness City has depended on all residents watching over and helping each other. Let us welcome new partners in building our homeland with an open and inclusive attitude. This city's temperature of happiness is always written together by all of us]
[Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. Broadcasting Headquarters wishes you and your family peace and prosperity]
The brief announcement cleverly packaged the impact brought by the Walker as an autumn migration tide.
For Happiness City, previous years' autumn migrations were actually not worth mentioning, at most ten to twenty thousand people, more just industrial zone returnees making the buffer zone livelier.
The real migration peak season was actually during the period right after he had crossed over.
Late spring and early summer, after ice and snow melted, displaced people would travel together toward shelter cities.
"Step by step, slowly telling residents the real situation, continuously raising expectations. After accepting thirty to fifty thousand people, accepting seventy to eighty thousand becomes more understandable. After accepting seventy to eighty thousand, even hundreds of thousands later won't be too shocking, and will most likely be promoted as a major opportunity for urban development."
Cheng Ye pondered this as he put away his defense communicator and boarded the bus.
"Master Zhang, let's first go circle around the Central Station area to see the situation."
"Right away."
The bus specially assigned to him naturally didn't need to follow the usual fixed routes.
Driving along the way, intersections already showed quite a few Public Security Bureau duty personnel busy directing foot traffic but facing Master Zhang's bus, no one came forward to stop and question them, since the clerks had already made notations in the security terminal through the checkpoint, and this vehicle's passage authorization had long been entered into the system.
When still nearly a kilometer from the Central Station, Cheng Ye rolled down the window and could already faintly hear the chaotic human voices coming from ahead.
The migrants affected by the Walker had traveled almost day and night to arrive, with large numbers already reaching last night.
Although the North and South Stations operated through the night, the Central Station hadn't opened synchronously, so displaced people arriving at night could only camp outside the defense line, waiting for daybreak to enter the city.
"Inspector Cheng, your vehicle can't go further forward, it's under martial law ahead."
When still three hundred meters from the checkpoint, two guards from the Central Station approached, giving Cheng Ye a standard military salute with respectful tones.
"Have the migrants arrived?"
"They have!" the guard nodded in response.
"How many people?"
"The current notice from above is... forty-seven thousand people."
Good heavens.
Over forty thousand people?
Cheng Ye didn't have too concrete a concept for the moment, only signaling Master Zhang to park the vehicle by the roadside while he pushed open the door and walked toward the Central Station.
This was where he had been on duty for over a month, a place he could navigate blindfolded to every corner, naturally not unfamiliar.
The closer he got, the clearer the outside commotion became. The buzzing human voices surged like tidewater, mixed with children's crying, adults' shouting, and the crisp clatter of metal objects colliding.
Swiping through several isolation doors, Cheng Ye climbed the office building on the checkpoint's outer side, standing on the fourth-floor observation platform to gaze outward.
The wilderness outside the checkpoint, usually so empty you could see the broken walls and ruins of Chuan City, rarely showing human traces but now, densely packed heads stretched from outside the defense line all the way to the ruins' edge, a black mass extending beyond sight.
Looking to both sides, no boundaries were visible.
The air above the crowd seemed heated and distorted by breathing and body temperature, even sunlight appeared to ripple with blurry waves when passing through.
Some people sat on the ground wrapped in tattered blankets, others were checking supplies in their backpacks, and half-grown children with packs on their backs chased and played in the gaps between people, only to run back sheepishly after being scolded by adults.
Further away, temporarily erected shacks formed continuous patches. Canvas, plastic sheeting, even broken sacks became materials for shelter from wind and rain, dozens of times more spectacular than tent camps!
"This is just the first wave?"
Cheng Ye stood frozen in place, his Adam's apple bobbing.
Those paper-based plans now seemed pale and powerless when facing so many living faces.
Forty-seven thousand mouths, how much water and food would they consume today?
How many batches would be needed for city entry screening? How would they be settled?
How could potential infection sources be rooted out from this human tide?
A series of questions instantly flooded his mind.
Cheng Ye couldn't help rubbing his temples. This was much more difficult than simply dealing with infection tides.
Even as a Transcendent, facing such a human tide, suppressing everything with force was impossible.
Returning to development, ultimately it still depended on brains, on wisdom, on... methods!
"Fortunately, I still have three more days of duty, so I don't have to face the first wave's settlement personally."
Cheng Ye exhaled deeply, turning to walk out of the checkpoint.
He wondered if Ding Yishan's negotiations had yielded results but even if the inspector contracting system was approved, the first batch certainly wouldn't fall to a trainee like him.
Several fifth-term, numerous fourth-term and third-term inspectors were the checkpoint's main forces.
Facing the first wave's chaos, these anchoring pillars had to stabilize the situation first before subsequent batch contracting could become possible.
Returning to the vehicle, Cheng Ye called over two more guards to roughly understand information about the migration tide.
Such as gender ratios, family proportions, original residential areas, whether there were intact communities, etc.
If displaced people were to be diverted to the South Station, this information would be key points for targeted inspections.
In the vehicle, Master Zhang was fiddling with the radio, the dial passing through noisy bands when suddenly uplifting music played, accompanied by clear singing voices.
Cheng Ye suddenly turned his head, finding it strangely familiar. Listening more closely...
Hmm? Wasn't this young Wang Kang's voice?
He paused, and indeed after not even two minutes, another slightly green male voice took over.
'The moon is right above my head, the great road is right under my feet'
'Footprints string into lines toward the cloud edge, the water bottle sloshes out half a song~'
Master Zhang's hand stopped, turning his head in amazement, meeting Cheng Ye's somewhat embarrassed smile.
"It's a hobby, one of my interests."
Cheng Ye touched his nose. He had never expected to hear "himself" singing on the radio.
And it actually sounded quite good, carrying the clarity of youth.
Only those lyrics and melody were different from modern tunes, presumably folk songs unique to this world.
By the time he finished understanding the basic situation and got in the car, it was exactly six-thirty.
Master Zhang started the vehicle driving toward the South Station, and during a music intermission on the radio, a gentle and sweet female voice sounded.
[Dear Happiness City residents, good morning mimi ya!]
[This is Happiness City Morning Radio that will accompany you punctually at six-thirty every day from now on. I'm Little Sun, who applied three layers of lipstick today and still doesn't think it's sweet enough ya, bringing full energy to greet everyone again~]
[Tell everyone some super exciting news! A large batch of new residents is rushing toward our Happiness City, and long queues have already formed outside the buffer zone's happiness defense line. Little Sun pressed against the window to peek, wow, a black mass, so many people ya! New friends, welcome welcome ya, coming to Happiness City, we'll be one loving family from now on~]
[Don't worry don't worry, Happiness City prepared well in advance some days ago! We're giving our new neighbors not just 99 points of hope, but adding 1 point of sickeningly sweet belonging ya. Alright, next Little Sun will solemnly broadcast Happiness City's latest arrangements regarding new residents. Little mouth, don't speak, little ears, prick up, please listen carefully~]
[1. We're building new fences for Happiness City ya! The existing happiness defense line will take this opportunity to expand expand expand, that's right yo, it's the expansion plan Deputy Deputy City Lord Yuan proposed in New Era Year 30. Happiness City will work extra hard this autumn to develop space for a million people to settle and live in one go. Just thinking about it is so exciting wa! By then our homeland will slowly grow like an inflating balloon, maybe future morning runs could even run across provincial borders ne~]
[2. Outer city construction is great news benefiting all residents ne! Happiness City will provide sufficiently numerous, completely free building materials to construct large communities that can accommodate at least a million people. And ya, these communities have super complete supporting facilities, schools, medical stations, nearby factories, all kinds of living necessities, everything you can think of, we've arranged properly long ago, guaranteeing comfortable and convenient living!]
[3. Let's talk about the material distribution details everyone cares about. From today, nutritional paste prices will return to 2 happiness coins per bag! But within the planned outer city area, we've established 75 distribution points total. Each new resident can receive 15 bags of nutritional paste for free with identity proof, coming here means never having to worry about food again...]
[4. Settlement construction details are here too. Starting today, residents can apply for outer city settlement themselves or live in the buffer zone first. Note yo, if you choose outer city settlement, housing will be automatically allocated after the outer city is built da.
Currently designated areas are: individual housing no less than 45 square meters, family housing no less than 75 square meters. If household size exceeds 6 people, each additional person gets an extra 10 square meters ne. And ya, you can also apply for the acquaintance proximity principle, settling homes in the same community, being neighbors with good friends, just thinking about it makes me happy ne]
[5. Regarding job position recruitment details, all departments will open their doors wide starting today, waiting for everyone to join. Community management, material distribution, facility maintenance, basic construction positions are too numerous to count. Whether experienced veterans or newcomers wanting to learn new skills, everyone can find suitable spots. Not only are the benefits generous, but you can also meet many new friends at work yo~]
[6. Regarding construction preparation details, starting today]
[7. Regarding outer city planning details, starting today]
[8]
Little Sun's broadcast maintained its leisurely pace.
Since the fog passage outbreak, Cheng Ye had also listened twice, each time feeling somewhat impatient due to that dragging rhythm but listening now in the swaying bus had a special flavor.
Not only did he not find it annoying, but actually enjoyed it somewhat.
Leaning against the chair back, he listened quietly, his brow sometimes slightly furrowing, sometimes relaxing.
From these seemingly trivial settlement details, Cheng Ye could piece together a conclusion: the inspector contracting system had most likely already been approved but what surprised him immensely was the outer city construction positioning.
The leadership apparently didn't plan to use this area completely as a migrant settlement, continuing to repeat layer after layer of nested boxes. Instead, they seemed to want to use this opportunity for a thorough reshuffling of the existing buffer zone structure.
Was this an idea after elder intervention, or had Happiness City planned this long ago?
Cheng Ye couldn't figure it out for now, but one thing was certain: the outer city construction model coincided perfectly with his previous vision.
Indeed, they hadn't chosen that simple and crude "radioactive expansion," adding another buffer zone layer outside the buffer zone like spreading pancakes in disorderly sprawl.
Instead, they completely adopted Xinghuo's mature experience, deciding to develop outward in satellite city form.
This was definitely a milestone in shelter city construction history, worthy of inclusion in Happiness City's development annals.
Because once this model was chosen, it meant overturning the existing structure.
The absolute superiority of Happiness City's main body would inevitably be weakened. The inherent advantages accumulated by old residents through seniority and first-comer status would continuously disappear as the outer city expanded.
If they gave up taking a chance outside, they would quickly be overtaken by new people who dared to venture and fight.
Those better living conditions, superior residential environments, higher incomes, and brighter advancement paths... would all be grasped step by step by newcomers.
But conversely, the inner city's transcendent status would become increasingly prominent, becoming an unreachable top-tier symbol, drawing the "pyramid apex" boundary even clearer.
However, overall speaking, for newcomers just joining Happiness City, this was undoubtedly the best of times.
Because from this moment forward, the myth of getting rich through hard work would officially begin!