Wasteland Border Inspector - Chapter 885

Chapter 885: Chapter 287: Major Power Outage, Dawn Breaks! (End of This Volume)_2

“Regarding money, there’s currently the reward from the Satellite City’s infrastructure tasks to support us. As long as Happiness City keeps spending, Dapo Town won’t halt its development. But if the tasks are completed and we enter the stage of self-management, every penny spent would essentially be coming out of my own pocket…”

Cheng Ye’s eyes flickered as he silently calculated the recent expenditures and income.

The financial support promised by the Elder had already been fully converted by him into materials to repair the power plant.

In reality, what drives the construction of Dapo Town are the basic infrastructure points each Satellite City receives for support.

Otherwise, with three thousand residents, just the cost of each person consuming three bags of Nutrient Paste per day would require 27,000 currency units daily, which translates to 3,800 Contribution Points, making it unsustainable in the long term.

But the support tasks have a cap, and after that point, the town has to be self-sufficient.

Given the current neglect in other Satellite Cities, Cheng Ye wasn’t worried that Happiness City would stop investing this winter, or even before next summer.

But what he wanted went far beyond this: a dedicated research institute, renovating underground caverns, repairing waterways, and more complete infrastructure—these all had to be achieved by earning money himself, as relying solely on support was far from enough.

The most troubling issue was that Dapo Town wasn’t lacking in construction talent, to the point of excess, but there was still a void when it came to professionals capable of sorting out the balance sheets or coordinating personnel management.

He had to shoulder these tasks himself, relying on the knowledge and logic of a modern person to perform duties he wasn’t truly skilled in.

Yes, he could quickly set up a framework for a simple economic cycle model and gradually perfect it.

However, he wasn’t trained in economics nor did he possess practical experience, so every decision required careful consideration for fear of making a misstep that could impact the town’s future operations.

Everybody understands those principles; the core idea is to use the price difference in materials to reclaim currency from residents’ hands, maintaining economic balance.

But determining exactly how much to pay employees or what price to tag on materials needed meticulous calculation without any slack.

From the very first day that all the residents arrived in Dapo Town, they received wages after finishing their work daily.

For light work, the wage ranged between 12-18 currency units; after deducting the cost of three daily bags of Nutrient Paste (now priced at 3 currency units each), the actual income would be 3-9 currency units.

For heavier work, the wage ranged between 20-28 currency units; after deducting the cost of five daily bags of Nutrient Paste, the actual income would be 5-13 currency units.

However, the actual income difference between the two was merely 2-4 currency units. Many, after doing the math, felt it wasn’t worth it to do the hard and grueling work just for an extra bag of Nutrient Paste.

So, he had to make some adjustments in the material supply, such as allowing residents engaged in heavy labor to enjoy an extra daily quota of Nutrient Paste. The tailored discount packages launched by Happiness City were open for priority discounts to manual laborers.

The discounted packages offered by Happiness City varied daily, and the quotas required for stockpiling discounts also varied.

This demanded thorough research into residents’ needs to decide whether to stockpile goods in bulk.

This task wasn’t difficult, but it was extremely time-consuming and energy-draining.

Cheng Ye initially intended to teach Wang Kang how to handle bookkeeping and pricing, but after a week, Wang Kang still couldn’t figure out basic accounts.

Luokuke, who had traveled far and wide, could manage the accounts, but his pricing and decision-making often failed to meet expected outcomes; he couldn’t balance the books or maintain residents’ motivation.

“We must quickly find a few talents skilled in economic management and accounting…”

Cheng Ye made a note of this matter, but forgot to ask Liu Bi, the Fourth-stage Inspector, whether he had connections in this area.

However, since he would be coming tomorrow, there wasn’t an immediate rush.

If all else failed, he could only turn to Davidson.

With his role as a Fifth-stage Inspector, who had built such a large family power base, he undoubtedly had capable people under him. But this would deepen the dependency on Davidson, and those he sent might uncover the details of Dapo Town, potentially causing unforeseen trouble.

The time reached eight o’clock, and the tables for material distribution had already been packed away. Residents voluntarily returned to their respective homes.

At eight twenty, the curfew bell rang precisely on time.

According to regulations, from now on, for whatever reason, no one could step out from their residential compound, only move within the designated area.

But Dapo Town’s residents were more compliant than the rules demanded. At night, unless they were desperate from an upset stomach, no one wished to use the toilet. They’d rather hold it in till daybreak.

Another ten minutes passed, and the organized militia, armed with guns, marched neatly out of their barracks to begin night patrols.

Currently, Dapo Town’s alert level was divided into three categories: High-Risk, Dangerous, Normal.

Under normal conditions, the patrol squad consisted of six teams, each with eight people, responsible for supervising a designated area of Dapo Town.

Thanks to the day-and-night sweeps by the three major corps, no Infected Bodies migrating over land had been seen for many days. Instead, the White Water River sometimes floated down Infected Bodies or sources from upstream.

Hence, guarding the White Water River became a patrol focus, with Cheng Ye dispatching three patrol squads to station along the riverbank.

If the source or number of Infected Bodies found exceeded five times within a week, the alert level would automatically escalate to Dangerous, expanding the patrol squad to eight teams; if it exceeded seven times, it would escalate to High-Risk, directly expanding the patrol squad to twelve teams, simultaneously activating the emergency response mechanism, and seeking support from Wenlu County if necessary.

The time wound around to nine o’clock.

The checkpoint at Dapo Town was completely shut, and an armed pickup truck drove into the town’s entrance.