Wasteland Border Inspector - Chapter 788

Chapter 788: Chapter 261: Complete Framework, Inspecting the Satellite City!

The car drove onto the dirt road carved out between the mountains. The surface was still quite rough, but the traces of careful repair were obvious.

The roadbed that had been washed away by the flash flood had been refilled with crushed stone, potholes tamped flat with packed earth, and a new half‑man‑high stone wall had been built along the roadside, clearly to prevent mudslides in the rainy season.

When the entrance of East Valley Town came into view in the distance, Cheng Ye couldn’t help but brighten. The entire town had been encircled by a tall wall, its body a newly built brick-and-stone structure, with scaffolding still standing at the top.

He hadn’t expected that Gu Xinjing and Zhang Wen would actually want to turn this place into a “modernized mountain stockade,” sealing this stretch of mountain terrain firmly within a barrier.

When they were almost at the stockade gate, it was clear Gu Xinjing had received word in advance; he was standing at the entrance with several people, waiting.

The car stopped in front of a temporary iron gate. Cheng Ye bent forward and glanced into the town.

The old buildings of East Valley Town seemed to have all been demolished, and the debris cleared away. At this moment the open grounds were full of traces of construction.

Bundles of rebar, neatly stacked bricks, and prefabricated components wrapped in waterproof tarps were piled densely all over the ground.

The long arms of several tower cranes crisscrossed in midair, sometimes hoisting heavy steel frames, sometimes lowering batches of building materials. Workers moved back and forth under the crane bodies, some directing lifts, some assembling formwork; everyone’s steps were hurried, busy without a pause.

Around the site, several buildings had already taken initial shape. Some were factory buildings with just-erected frames, their thick steel columns supporting beams, hinting at a spacious interior. Some were multi-story houses with walls under construction, the walls already stacked three or four stories high, progressing at a rapid pace.

There were also low-lying structures close to the ground that seemed to be in foundation work, surrounded by temporary barriers.

The entire interior of the town was one large, spread-out construction site. The roar of machines and the clanging of metal blended together; everywhere was a scene of blazing Heat Fire, so bustling it was hard to look away.

“Inspector Cheng!”

Just as Cheng Ye got out of the car, Gu Xinjing stepped forward with a smile and extended his hand, his tone carrying a hint of pride. “My place here looks pretty decent, doesn’t it?”

“Impressive.” Cheng Ye reached out and shook his hand, genuinely a little surprised.

He hadn’t expected Gu Xinjing to have this level of execution; in just one month he had put together the town’s rough outline. The progress was easily ten times faster than in Dapo Town.

And all the buildings here were based on reinforced concrete; once completed they would easily last for decades.

“I heard you took in a Destruction Level infection source in Dapo Town. Truly a tiger has no dog for a son.”

Gu Xinjing praised without stint, his words carrying a bit of information. “Station Chief Ding specially asked you to come inspect. Looks like he wants to focus on grooming you.”

“Inspector Gu is joking. I’m just here to take a look and learn from your experience.” Cheng Ye replied with a smile, his attitude modest.

The two walked side by side into the town. Gu Xinjing enthusiastically introduced the planning and construction details of each area. Cheng Ye nodded in approval from time to time, while slowly feeling out the differences in development philosophy between himself and these veteran Prosecutors.

The first thing Gu Xinjing thought about was never development, but safety.

In his eyes, all economic planning could be pushed back. The top priority was to build a safety shelter barrier capable of accommodating a sufficient population.

As for subsequent development, that could wait until safety was absolutely guaranteed.

Precisely because of this, he and Zhang Wen had, from the outset, walled off East Valley Town, just like the Happiness Defense Line wrapped around the Buffer Zone, first building a solid turtle shell.

Cheng Ye casually asked about East Valley Town’s future revenue planning, and got an unequivocal answer.

“That’s not important. Only by first ensuring absolute safety can we make the drifters feel at ease to stay. Only then does subsequent development have a foundation. Yes, we have to protect the people first before we can talk about development!” Gu Xinjing said as such.

Cheng Ye nodded slightly. After bidding farewell to Gu Xinjing at the town entrance, he got back in the car and rushed to the next Satellite City.

“Inspector Cheng, you seem not too satisfied with East Valley Town?” As the car drove along the rugged dirt road, Mu Shuang kept her eyes on the front and asked softly.

“Even you noticed?” Cheng Ye was a bit surprised.

“Of course. I’m a hundred… ahem, I mean, I do have at least that bit of discernment.” Mu Shuang almost let something slip and quickly changed the subject.

“It’s not that I’m dissatisfied. I just noticed some problems I hadn’t paid attention to before.” Cheng Ye shook his head, his tone turning heavier. “Happiness City hasn’t expanded outward for so many years, and I’m afraid it’s not just because the population is insufficient. Biases in construction concepts are understandable, but when there are divergences in development philosophy, it speaks volumes.”

Gu Xinjing cared nothing for the long-term development of East Valley Town. Holding to the idea that as long as people are alive there will be a future, he focused only on pushing forward to meet assessment indicators, leaving everything that followed to the wisdom of future generations.

Was this an isolated case, or were all the Inspectors like this?

Cheng Ye wasn’t sure and didn’t dare draw a conclusion lightly.

But by a little after one in the afternoon, after inspecting the sixth Satellite City, his expression inevitably changed.

It really wasn’t an isolated case! In these six towns, all twelve Prosecutors had exactly the same mindset!

Whether in towns with geographical advantages or those with locational advantages, not a single person had seriously considered how, once the Satellite City was built, they would ensure work and income for residents, or how to enable the town’s economy to develop autonomously.

Some even stated outright that once the Satellite City was completed, they could simply divert a few factories from the industrial zone, and that would solve the employment problem.

“Back when they had Prosecutors take full responsibility for Satellite Cities, it was to ensure the process of gathering drifters could proceed smoothly.”

Cheng Ye quickly sorted things out in his mind. “The higher-ups indeed never clearly required consideration of subsequent development. Looked at this way, my planning for Dapo Town really is far too forward-looking. I’ve been treating it as a truly independent Satellite City, which, once it takes shape, will be even larger than the Buffer Zone, with a complete, independent economic system. It could even maintain internal operations even if it were cut off from Happiness City.”

“Whereas what everyone else has built is, at best, just a diversion point for drifters.”

Thoughts flashed through Cheng Ye’s mind, and he suddenly understood.

Ding Yishan had him conduct this inspection before his debriefing precisely so he would “bring questions and wait for answers.”

The problems that had become glaringly obvious in the process of developing these Satellite Cities, and the hidden risks they might pose for the future, were not something the higher-ups could have failed to notice. They were probably already looking for solutions.

The issue was, if it were easy to solve, the major Shelter Cities would have started expanding outward long ago.

Now, what must be done to reverse the overall situation and move into a virtuous cycle?

…