Wasteland Border Inspector - Chapter 947

Chapter 947: Chapter 302: Forbidden Martial State, External Assignment

Cheng Ye picked up his backpack and slowly paddled his small wooden boat back to Bluestone Pier.

The area remained unrestored, retaining its original rustic charm, though somewhat worn.

But beyond the pier, Dapo Town had expanded by nearly half over the past ten days.

Although the construction machinery borrowed from Wenlu County had been returned, the area extending five kilometers outward from the town center had been thoroughly cleared.

This provided ample buffer zones and laid a solid foundation for subsequent construction.

A gigantic tower crane stood in the center of the buffer zone, methodically hoisting steel bars, cement, and other materials, while workers laid the basic pipelines and hastened to construct the town’s crucial winter perimeter wall.

The waterproof wall served as the first line of daily defense, preventing infected sources from coming ashore along the river.

The town’s perimeter wall was the core reliance against the winter infection tides, crucial to Dapo Town’s very survival.

Facing the most fundamental safety needs, all non-essential construction plans, including the research institute, had to temporarily yield.

Turning to look inside the town, it too had been renewed over the past ten days.

From the entrance moving inward, previously chaotic areas became orderly, and the administrative bureaus that once only had foundations were now fully constructed and operational:

The [Civil Affairs Bureau] occupied two interconnected houses, headed by Hou Genbao, responsible for registering residents’ information, evaluating survival needs, monitoring population movement, and providing precise data support for town planning.

The [Public Security Bureau] was located within a courtyard of three buildings, with Wu Zhihong as Director, overseeing border patrols, conflict mediation among residents, and combating theft and looting to maintain town-wide peace and order.

The [Materials Bureau] as Dapo Town’s core department, was fully managed by Luo Xiaoxue, orchestrating resource collection, material distribution according to needs, and managing the storage warehouses to ensure the basic survival supplies for all residents.

The [Construction Bureau] had two independent buildings for office space with Huang Sheng as Director, leading architectural planning, defensive structures, and optimizing town layout and construction efforts.

The [Medical Bureau] led by Zhu Xiang, was responsible for treating residents’ injuries and illnesses, storing essential medicines, conducting public health education, and training frontline emergency responders to strengthen the health defense.

Lastly, there was the [Industrial Bureau], which had only a basic framework and lacked both professional staff and a director’s position still vacant.

The six bureaus fully covered the operational demands of Dapo Town at this stage.

To avoid bureaucratic bloat and wasted resources, except for the complex affairs in the Public Security Bureau and the Materials Bureau, each bureau’s full-time staff was controlled at 10-15 people.

Notably, Dapo Town’s Second-Phase recruitment plan for refugees had officially begun, with 1700 new refugees moving in.

The town’s total population had now reached five thousand.

Compared to Wenlu County’s hundreds of thousands, it might seem negligible, but given Dapo Town’s starting timeline, it was quite an accomplishment.

According to the plan, the town expected to continue absorbing refugees through the winter, eventually stabilizing the population between ten to fifteen thousand people, forming a self-sustaining settlement scale.

Cheng Ye walked along the town’s main road toward the collection station as the surrounding residents cast respectful gazes, with some instinctively pausing to make way and others quietly greeting him, eyes full of reliance.

Initially, he was unaccustomed to this feeling of being surrounded, but over time he gradually understood:

A gathering place for humans in the Wasteland indeed needs a pivotal figure.

Just like An Xingfu had left Happiness City long ago, but every major announcement still bore his name, not only to signify Shelter City’s legacy but to stabilize morale.

If even the symbolic City Lord were absent, Happiness City might have long since fallen into factions and instability.

Returning all the way to the third floor of the collection station’s office, Cheng Ye sat down and retrieved ten bags of Yellow Bag Nutrient Paste from the crate under the table.

Tearing open the package, the thick paste flowed slowly down his throat, with a faint osmanthus flavor.

Even without equipping new skills or undergoing Skill Fusion, his natural energy demand now had reached fifteen bags of Yellow Bag Nutrient Paste per day.

“Eating more and more, and the body’s digestive burden grows heavier too…”

Cheng Ye drank eight bags in a row before a sudden wave of sourness and bloating struck his stomach, causing him to stop immediately.

When equipping skills, the collector aided in converting energy; no matter how much nutrient is consumed, it can be precisely absorbed without waste or bodily burden.

Yet natural consumption was entirely different; it required considering the digestive efficiency and enduring metabolic pressure.

Fortunately, the Nutrient Paste had maximized absorption efficiency, making it easier for the body to accept compared to conventional food.

After about five minutes, the sour bloating sensation gradually subsided, Cheng Ye finished the remaining two bags of Nutrient Paste and then took out a dedicated instrument to measure his physical stats.

[Current Energy Rating: 142]

“Up by two points again.”

A hint of satisfaction flashed in Cheng Ye’s eyes, “From the 97 when I was discharged, it’s already increased by 47%, nearly half.”

He opened his research notebook, where the first ten pages were densely filled with skill names, fusion processes, and results uncovered over these days, while the back recorded his physical stat changes and subtle sensations after each evolution.

At that moment, he turned to the third page on the back to update the latest energy rating.

The data changes clearly showed that the growth rate was gradually decreasing.

Not only had Skill Fusion hit its current limit, but the natural improvement in physical quality was also reaching the ceiling of the current life level.