Wasteland Border Inspector - Chapter 792

Chapter 792: Chapter 262: Cutting Off One’s Own Limbs, Major Strategic Shift!

“Are there no plans to continue expanding around Xiasha County Town?” Cheng Ye asked.

“It’s impossible to expand.” Matthew Lee shook his head and pointed eastward from Dongping Town, where an endless great Wilderness stretched out. “This area hasn’t been cleared by Happiness City. If we expand further, we simply won’t have the resources to manage it. Nowadays, new sources of infection and Infected Bodies emerge to attack the town almost every day.”

Heading further down from Dongping Town doesn’t lead to Yueye Shelter City, but instead toward the direction of Guang Province.

Although Stone Province and Guang Province seem to border each other, interactions between the two had essentially ceased a few years ago.

Firstly, there’s a competitive relationship between the two regions; secondly, Guang Province has little demand for minerals.

Rainbow Light Shelter City had already occupied the resource points at the border, capable of both farming and mining, leading to a prosperous life. The minerals from Stone Province sold for less in Guang Province than they would if transported to the farther Sand Province.

“Has halting the expansion kept the casualties under control?” Cheng Ye pressed on.

“For now, it’s stable, but that’s the best we can do,” Matthew Lee said with a tone of resignation. “Expanding further is unmanageable, so we have to keep everyone confined to the town and focus on development, extending outward gradually.”

The construction of a Satellite City isn’t something that can be accomplished overnight. Even Happiness City took nearly fifteen years of scattered development to reach its current scale.

With previous experience dealing with other Inspectors, Cheng Ye refrained from hastily giving his opinion.

While Matthew Lee was willing to listen to him, Cheng Ye’s ideas might not entirely align with the realities of Dongping Town.

“Don’t worry too much. Once my Dapo Town develops, our two places will be able to connect and support each other.” Cheng Ye offered some reassurance, before pivoting to the main topic, “How are the negotiations with the industrial district going? Have you secured any sustainable industries?”

“It’s settled! The lines are laid out, and they’re definitely going to share some of the industries with us.”

Speaking of industries, Matthew Lee’s eyes lit up as he hurriedly signaled for Cheng Ye to follow, “Let me show you!”

As one of the first batch of Satellite Cities, Dongping Town’s core area was now roughly three times the size of Dapo Town.

Even if Matthew Lee divided it with Song Hai, the northern district he held was still much larger than Dapo Town’s core area.

“Because there are no skilled workers here, the industrial district is only willing to transfer the metal processing and small machinery equipment manufacturing industries here.” Matthew Lee explained as they walked, leading the way as he opened the door to the metal processing warehouse.

As soon as the door opened, Cheng Ye was taken aback.

Inside, people crowded together, the hum of machinery and the clatter of metal mixing throughout, with at least a thousand people bustling around.

That many people engaged in production at once?

Initially startled, Cheng Ye took a closer look and realized that out of the thousand people, less than a third were actually handling operations; the rest were watching and learning from behind.

“This is the industry with the highest demand right now, which involves the secondary processing of recycled scrap metal into various common tools.” Matthew Lee excitedly counted on his fingers, “Tools like hoes, shovels, saws, chisels, files, and other farming and handheld tools, as well as nuts, bolts, and nails.”

He paused and then continued, “In addition to this, items like iron pots, iron basins, kettles, and other household goods, and even metal brackets, door locks, and connectors are being made. For all this, I made a one-time purchase of cutting machines, furnaces, iron molds, air hammers, drill presses, and bending machines from the industrial district…”

As he listed over a dozen types of processing equipment, Cheng Ye matched them mentally.

They were all small-scale processing tools with low operational difficulty, an industry that wouldn’t generate substantial profit but could solve widespread employment.

It would be a waste of skilled labor on the industrial district floor, but perfect for relocating to the Satellite City.

After a brief tour, upon reaching the finished products area, Cheng Ye was momentarily stunned when he saw the triangular mark imprinted on the tools’ handles.

“Does this mark indicate that these are products of Dongping Town?”

“Yes!” Matthew Lee nodded immediately, with a hint of pride in his tone, “Didn’t you say before that building a brand reputation was important? I followed that idea and branded them first to get people familiarized.”

“Do you know what this mark represents in other Satellite Cities?” Cheng Ye asked, picking up a wrench, his tone slightly nuanced.

“Hmm?” Matthew Lee looked puzzled as he shook his head.

“Defective products.” Cheng Ye stated bluntly.

The wrench in his hand had a bent handle, its adjustment wheel unusually stiff, requiring effort to turn, producing an unpleasant “creak”.

Picking up several metal connectors at random, almost all showed visible manufacturing deviations, with irregular dimensions.

From his morning visit to other Satellite Cities, he had frequently spotted tools with this triangular mark.

Inspectors, especially the Second-stage Inspectors, talked about these tools with a seething disdain.

Originally, he thought they were marked as defective out of the industrial district, but it surprised him that they came from Matthew Lee’s Dongping Town instead.

Earlier that morning, when he visited other Satellite Cities, this type of tool with the triangular mark was commonplace. He assumed they were demarcated as defective, only to realize they were from Matthew Lee’s Dongping Town.

Good heavens!

If word got out that the brand was from Dongping Town, they’d surely face a backlash.

“Uh…”

Matthew Lee’s eyes flickered, his tone uncertain, “Is it… that bad?”

“What do you think?”

Cheng Ye sighed, shaking his head, and proceeded to dump out all 500 connectors just packed in a box in the finished goods area.