Wasteland Border Inspector

Chapter 210: Mental Pollution, an Unstoppable Natural Disaster!

Splash.The surging river water repeatedly crashed against the embankment. Splashing waves fell onto the cold stone surface, seeping through the cracks into the damp soil and leaving behind rings of dark water stains.

Luo Kuke held up his flashlight. The beam of light shot forward along the riverbank, gently sweeping over rows upon rows of Crab-men.

The grayish-blue crab claws swayed slightly, like waves rising and falling with the current. They were packed so densely together that it made one's scalp go numb.

Even more suffocating was the fact that the stalked eyeballs protruding from the Crab-men's sockets all turned in unison toward the group standing by the path.

Countless cold, hollow gazes slowly shifted, locking firmly onto everyone's faces. Even their breaths seemed to freeze under this chilling stare.

For a fleeting moment, Cheng Ye even wished his eyesight was a bit worse, just so he would not have to see this horrifying scene so clearly.

But reality offered no escape. As the flashlight's beam moved, his gaze involuntarily followed the light, landing on the mud-covered faces of the Crab-men. Even the eerie, frozen curves of their mouths were starkly visible.

He looked at them, and the Crab-men looked back.

A pair of human eyes and countless bizarre stalked eyes engaged in a silent standoff in the dead of night.

"Inspector Cheng?" Luo Kuke noticed something was wrong and turned his head in surprise.

Only then did he realize that Cheng Ye's face was completely drenched in sweat, which dripped down the edge of his visor.

His lips trembled slightly, and his eyes bulged unnaturally, as if he were witnessing a terrifying sight far beyond human comprehension.

"Shh... keep quiet," Cheng Ye suppressed his breathing, his voice so faint it was barely audible, while stealthily taking a step back.

In this moment, he could not even manage to reach for the weapon at his waist.

An unspeakable, immense terror loomed over him, filling him with an overwhelming urge to run away and leave this place immediately.

However.

Unexpectedly, the Crab-men along the shore did not show any violent reactions. Instead, many of the stalked eyeballs slowly retracted, shifting their focus to the others and no longer staring at him.

'They didn't notice me?'

Cheng Ye's heart stirred, and he tentatively took another step back.

In an instant, even more eyeballs retracted. It was as if he, the intruder, simply did not exist. He was completely ignored.

'Huh?'

Cheng Ye suddenly had a hypothesis. After taking a deep breath, he took a large step forward.

Swoosh.

In a split second, all the recently retracted stalked eyeballs popped back out. Like triggered mechanisms, they snapped their focus right back onto him in perfect unison.

Even the Crab-men further away, who had previously been motionless, turned their heads to peer in his direction. The dense cluster of gazes enveloped him once again.

'Is there a trigger distance?'

Cheng Ye's heart jolted. Without hesitation, he retreated seven or eight steps, moving back to twice his previous distance.

This time, all the Crab-men retracted their stalked eyeballs. Not a single gaze fell on him anymore, as if that dense barrage of stares just moments ago had merely been an illusion.

"What is going on?" Cheng Ye was dumbfounded.

The scene before him completely defied all logic. He could not even figure out two crucial questions:

Where did so many Abyssal Water Cave Crab Infected Bodies come from?

And why were they standing so neatly along the shore? What exactly were they doing?

Pondering this, he frowned and reached for the Infection Source detector at his waist, long-pressing the switch to activate the device.

Just as he expected.

The detector's screen instantly lit up with a blinding red glare, casting an eerie halo across his visor.

During the daytime scan, the riverbank had only shown a mix of yellow and red. Now, it had turned into an endless, continuous corridor of red, stretching from where he stood all the way into the distant darkness. The entire detection range was filled with flashing red dots, so densely packed that it was impossible to count them.

"What color is the light on my face?" he asked, looking at Luo Kuke and pointing to the red glow reflecting off his visor.

Luo Kuke froze for a moment. His eyes suddenly grew dim, as if coated in a layer of ash, and his tone sank. "It's... green!"

"Are you fucking red-green colorblind?"

Cheng Ye could not help but curse.

Ever since he got this detector, he had only ever seen two colors: yellow and red. Where the hell did green come from?

"I..."

Luo Kuke's voice trembled. "I've never seen the detector show green before either..."

The moment those words left his mouth, he looked as if a heavy drum had slammed into his chest. His entire body stiffened in place, and his face instantly turned as pale as a sheet of paper.

The perception in his brain turned into a muddled, buzzing paste. His legs gave out, and he uncontrollably dropped to one knee, only keeping himself from collapsing by bracing his hands against the ground.

Only after a few seconds did he shakily turn around, aiming the flashlight's beam back at the riverbank. His voice quivered uncontrollably, "What... what is over there?"

"It's the tracking powder you sprinkled during the day, perfectly intact," Cheng Ye replied in a calm tone.

"Is that so?" Luo Kuke suddenly fell into a daze, his eyes filled with bewilderment.

"Yes. Come here quickly, don't get any closer to the river."

Cheng Ye waved his hand. He only breathed a quiet sigh of relief when Huang Liang and all the other team members had walked over to his side.

Luo Kuke's state clearly indicated that his perception had been twisted.

But it wasn't a complete cognitive overwrite like he initially thought. It was more like the human body's protective mechanism had been triggered, subconsciously avoiding threatening information and masking the danger with false imagery.

However, why would seeing the green light of the radio automatically be interpreted as red?

Could it be that sending a message to the outside world was considered dangerous?

Cheng Ye's heart sank. He pulled his finger back from the radio's communication button, forcing himself to resist the urge to transmit a signal immediately.

Everything happening right now was clearly far beyond the scope of what he, a Trainee Inspector, could handle.

Fortunately, with the protection of the Heart-Protecting Fire, he was temporarily immune to this cognitive distortion.

But remembering the Trait he had searched for earlier—it was an unprecedented gold tier.

Even with the Horned Starfish on him, he didn't have the slightest confidence in facing such a completely unknown entity.

At this moment, all he could do was try a desperate remedy in a dead-end situation.

If the Inspection Station couldn't receive his distress signal, he would rather break the rules and run out of Dabo Town than stay in the same place with thousands of Crab-men!

"Go find the Covert Agents, contact the Inspection Station, hurry!"

Cheng Ye spun around and sprinted swiftly toward the central Government Building of Dabo Town.

Soon, they arrived at the Government Building.

Some of the Covert Agents were keeping watch on the rooftop, while others were on the third floor. Seeing more than twenty people rushing over, the flashlights on the roof lit up first. After the two sides exchanged passwords, the captain of the Covert Agents immediately came down to greet them.

"Inspector Cheng, what happened?" the captain asked hastily, noticing his grim expression.

Cheng Ye paused. Instead of explaining, he took out the radio at his waist and pointed at the flashing circle in the middle. "What color is the light in the center of this radio I'm holding?"

The Covert Agent captain paused, leaned in for a closer look, and immediately replied, "It's... red!"

"And what should we do when it's red?"

Thud!

The captain's reaction was cut from the same cloth as Luo Kuke's. He suddenly clutched his head and dropped to one knee, trembling like a leaf in the wind as his teeth chattered uncontrollably.

Whoosh.

An invisible wave suddenly swept past. Cheng Ye's vision instantly blackened, and an intense wave of dizziness shot straight to the top of his head, nearly sending him tumbling backward.

It was utterly suffocating.

At that moment, it felt as though he had been thrown into an ice cellar. He could feel the blood in his veins instantly freezing, and goosebumps crawled all the way from his arms up to the back of his neck.

At the same time, the interface suddenly popped up in his vision. Prompts flashed wildly, flooding the screen:

[Detected that the Collector is being affected by area-of-effect Mental Pollution... Heart-Protecting Fire buff triggered, immune to this infection effect!]

[Detected that the Collector is being affected by area-of-effect Mental... Heart-Protecting Fire buff continues to take effect!]

[Detected...]

Countless sharp streams of information pierced into his brain like needles. Cheng Ye's vision went dark from the agonizing pain, and he shouted almost instinctively:

"It's green! This radio is green!"

As soon as his words fell, the shivering captain on the ground shuddered violently. He instantly stood up straight, his eyes regaining a shred of clarity.

"Is... is it green? Then it's fine. If you need anything..."

Before he could finish speaking.

He saw that Cheng Ye had already put away the radio. He was bent over, having flipped open his combat suit's visor, and was gasping heavily for air.

Drip.

Drip.

Beads of sweat the size of pearls dripped down, splashing onto the ground and blooming into small, damp stains.

After four or five seconds, a violent wave of nausea surged up his throat...

Urgh!

Cheng Ye dropped to one knee, clutching his chest as he began to dry heave. It wasn't until the dizziness in his head slightly faded that he weakly raised his head to look around.

The sight before him made his heart sink. Everyone, including all the Covert Agents, was frozen in place. Their eyes were vacant, as if their souls had been completely drained away, completely unresponsive to his actions.

Only Luo Kuke was still struggling, his face contorted in agony as if fighting against something.

Under Cheng Ye's stunned gaze, Luo Kuke arduously raised his hand, took out the metal Pendant hanging around his neck, and forcefully shoved it into his mouth.

Bzzzt.

A crackling sound akin to short-circuiting wires rang out. Luo Kuke's slightly curly blonde hair instantly stood on end, making him look like an electrified frizzball as the muscles in his face twitched uncontrollably.

The intense pain brought a sliver of clarity back to his eyes. He stared intensely at Cheng Ye, his voice stuttering, "Help... help me... at my waist... at my waist..."

"What?" Cheng Ye rushed over in two quick strides, following his gaze down to his waist.

Hanging there was a metal sphere the size of a fist.

"O-open it... and shove... shove it in my... mouth."

With every word he uttered, the clarity brought by the electric shock faded a fraction, quickly replaced by a thick, suffocating chaos.

Following his instructions, Cheng Ye didn't dare to delay. He snatched the metal sphere and twisted open the latch at the top.

When he saw what was inside, his expression froze slightly:

Inside the sphere wasn't any sort of tool, but a piece of rusted iron. Yet, at this moment, that rusted iron was actually squirming faintly, like a living lump of flesh.

'Is this... an Infection Source?'

With no time to overthink, he thrust his hand out, pried open Luo Kuke's jaws, and forcefully stuffed the squirming rusted iron inside. Then, he firmly clamped Luo Kuke's jaw shut, violently forcing him to swallow!

A heavy scent of rust instantly filled the air, and an eerie rusty-red glint suddenly flashed across Luo Kuke's eyes.

He paused for a second before slumping onto the ground with a dull thud, both of his hands frantically tearing at his own hair.

With every scratch, large clumps of blonde hair mixed with black iron filings fell off, scattering all over the floor.

Four or five seconds later, his blonde hair had been completely torn out, leaving behind nothing but a rust-spotted bald head, the scalp oozing a faint crimson hue.

Urgh...

He rolled over and violently started to dry heave again.

But what he threw up wasn't water, nutrient paste, or even blood. It was clumps of tangled, rust-covered iron wires, which landed on the ground with a soft series of clinks and clanks.

"Don't, don't be afraid. It's a Benign Infection Source, the Source Heart Flesh Iron!" Luo Kuke coughed, hurriedly explaining while unfiltered iron shavings still hung at the corners of his mouth.

'What is that?'

Cheng Ye paused, then immediately pulled out the Kindling Terminal at his waist. His fingertips flew rapidly across the screen, typing out the words Source Heart Flesh Iron.

The glossary entry popped up.

He skimmed the contents, reading ten lines at a glance, and only then did his hanging heart settle slightly.

Although he had never heard the name before, the entry listed its threat level as a mere F-. Similar to the Hidden Ice Snake he had encountered before, it was a type with a long incubation period, extremely low lethality, and weak infectivity.

However, the consequences of this infection were far more cruel than the Hidden Ice Snake. Once infected, one would enter a rapid onset state where the human body gradually ironized, slowly stepping closer to death.

Although the Infection Source could be removed at any time during this process, the price was extraordinarily heavy. One needed to continuously swallow a full five tons of Metal orally to satisfy the demands of the Source Heart Flesh Iron.

What was even more fatal was that after removal, there was a high probability that certain body parts would permanently remain in an ironized state.

"Don't... don't worry... As long as we can get out alive, Revival Technology can reverse the ironization." Luo Kuke vomited out another clump of tangled iron wire. Although his face was still extremely pale, his condition had clearly improved, and his speech was much more fluent.

"From this moment on, I only have... a final 72 hours to find the exact location of the Infection Source."

"Can't we leave Dabo Town first? We can figure something out once we're outside?" Cheng Ye asked, taken aback.

Luo Kuke didn't answer. He simply picked up the radio at his waist, stared at the screen for a long time, and slowly shook his head with a bitter smile.

"I... can't leave anymore."

The still-flashing green light seemed to mock him, reflecting in his eyeballs as a piercing red glare.

Cheng Ye suddenly fell silent.

Up until this very moment, he was still seeing the green light, which meant he was completely unaffected by the pollution.

What was even more bizarre was the atmosphere in the area. Only he and Luo Kuke could still move freely. The other team members were all frozen in place like they had been hit by a binding spell, utterly motionless.

"What exactly is the situation right now?"

"This is a relatively rare area-of-effect Mental Pollution within the Wilderness. Its cause is mostly directly linked to malignant, high-risk Infection Sources left over from the Old Era. The risk level of this type of pollution is at minimum Disaster-level, and in most cases, it can reach Ruin-level. In extreme situations, it can even approach Extinction-level. Whenever it appears, it inevitably causes uncontrollable, catastrophic consequences to the surrounding areas. Therefore, investigation and containment operations must be launched at the fastest possible speed to eliminate the hidden threat at its source."

Luo Kuke's voice was heavy, as if he were reciting information from a manual. "According to my hypothesis, it's highly likely that an Infection Source drifted down the Linjiang River and anchored itself around Dabo Town. Right now, the only way to isolate the pollution is to find the source and contain it. If we leave without authorization before containing it, the moment we step out of Dabo Town's boundaries, we will instantly mutate and die."

"Wait a moment!" Cheng Ye abruptly turned around and bolted toward the parking lot.

Sprinting all the way back to Unit Three in one breath, he forcibly suppressed his panic and slowed his steps, gently pushing open the unit door and calling out.

Less than half a minute later, Wang Kang walked out rubbing his eyes. He first glanced at the pitch-black sky, then let out a yawn. "Brother Cheng, is it time for a shift change? Hurry in and catch up on some sleep. I'll keep watch."

"Xiao Kang," Cheng Ye's voice was tight.

"Yeah?"

"What color is this thing in my hand?" Cheng Ye held up the radio.

Wang Kang paused, leaned in for a look, and subconsciously asked, "Huh? Why is it red? Didn't you say green meant it was safe?"

Crash.

Indescribable emotions instantly smashed into him.

Despair, horror, fear, helplessness... they completely submerged him like a rising tide.

Cheng Ye stumbled backward two steps, his back slamming heavily against the wall of the Supermarket before he barely managed to steady himself.

So, this was the true threat of the Wilderness?

Were humans really this insignificant in the face of Infection Sources?

Back when he encountered the Walker, the lethality of this beyond-visual-range Mental Pollution wasn't fully apparent to him.

It even once led people to mistakenly believe that the Walker was a turning point for Happiness City, and that a Wish-Guarding Transcendent could bring Vitality to the wasteland.

But now, when this sheer power enveloped them with pure malice, the helplessness that seeped from his very marrow was ten times, a hundred times more terrifying than the physical touch infection of the Starfish Epidemic!

"Brother Cheng... are you okay?" Wang Kang noticed his ghastly expression, though his voice was full of confusion, utterly clueless as to what was happening.

"Come with me, hurry! We have to go right now!"

Cheng Ye violently straightened up and ran back toward the Government Building.

By the time the two rushed back, Huang Liang's group, including all the Covert Agents in the Government Building, were still frozen in their original poses, completely motionless.

Seeing him return with Wang Kang, Luo Kuke wasn't surprised. He let out a soft sigh. "There's no point looking. They've already... been sacrificed."

"What?"

Cheng Ye clutched his chest as a wave of suffocating pressure violently surged up his throat, nearly causing him to choke out loud.

Unable to hold on any longer, his legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the steps in front of the Government Building with a thud.

Fragments uncontrollably flashed through his mind—Huang Liang scratching his head with a smile. "Sir, Li Jie still hasn't woken up, so I took the liberty of covering a shift for him."

He patted his chest and said, "My energy recovers fast. Four hours of sleep a day is enough for me..."

But.

Looking at Huang Liang's frozen face, those eyes still seemed to carry a hint of an honest, capable smile. But they would never blink again, and he would never speak again.

But!

Why?!

In an instant, Cheng Ye felt all the emotions in the depths of his heart twist into a tight knot, leaving behind only one.

It was a fury that burned so fiercely it tightened his throat and made his knuckles ache from clenching!

An unbridled rage, fiercer than courage, more tenacious than greed, capable of utterly crushing fear and terror, surged madly within his chest!

Suddenly, he turned his head and looked at Luo Kuke. "Aren't you curious as to why I haven't been polluted?"

Luo Kuke fell silent for a few seconds and shook his head. "If you leave right now, there's still time."

"Is there really still time?"

Cheng Ye lowered his head to look at the radio. He stood up in silence, gestured for Wang Kang to sit where he had just been, then walked to the side and long-pressed the green communication button on the radio.

Five seconds later.

There was no answer.

He froze for a moment, took a deep breath, and spoke, "I am the assessing Inspector of Dabo Town, Cheng Ye, requesting backup from Happiness City!"

The next second.

The chaotic crackling of static suddenly erupted from the radio, sounding as if equipment was being knocked over. The buzzing noise fused into a continuous hum.

Immediately after, a familiar and urgent voice pierced through the static: "Cheng Ye! This is Liu Kun! Can you hear me?!"

"Chief Liu..."

"You haven't been polluted?" Liu Kun's tone carried a trace of anxious confirmation.

"For now... not yet."

"Go to the east entrance of Dabo Town immediately! The exact location where you entered for the assessment, hurry up and get over here!" Liu Kun's voice was undeniable, and he quickly added, "Don't look around on the way, head straight for the destination!"

As the urgent command fell, Cheng Ye turned to glance at Wang Kang and Luo Kuke sitting on the steps, and his feet started moving.

At first, he was just walking, but he walked faster and faster, soon breaking into a jog, and finally sprinting with all his might!

It was a short two-kilometer distance to the entry point, but to those currently trapped in the town, it felt like an insurmountable chasm.

The night sky remained pitch-black.

The Wilderness was completely deserted; there was only the whimpering sound of the wind blowing through the ruins.

He had just raised the radio when he immediately heard Liu Kun's voice from within. "Walk twelve steps to the left, then three steps forward. Go slow, you must go slow!"

Following his instructions, Cheng Ye shifted his steps. At the final step, he paused for a moment before firmly planting his foot forward.

Whoosh.

A myriad of bright lights flooded his vision.

It felt as if he had instantly crossed from the dead of night into broad daylight.

Before him were no longer desolate ruins, but a sprawling temporary camp. Dozens of tents were neatly arranged, and various detection instruments were piled up in the clearing, their screens flashing with data.

Soldiers clad in Happiness Legion uniforms patrolled back and forth, while researchers draped in specially-made white lab coats were huddled around the instruments, deep in discussion.

Not far away, Ding Yishan, Halin, Liu Kun, Jiang Chuan... over twenty people were standing together, their gazes all falling onto him in unison.

Cheng Ye was dazed, instinctively raising his hand to block the glaring light.

The scene unfolding before his eyes left him stunned; he almost couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Congratulations, you survived."

Liu Kun, gripping a radio, stepped forward. His tone was devoid of any emotion. "Where are the others who were inside?"

"Garcia is missing, along with four squads, thirty-two people..."

"The Covert Agents supervising the assessment are all dead..."

"And my people, seventeen of them are dead too!"

"In order to stay conscious, Luo Kuke willingly infected himself with the Source Heart Flesh Iron. But he has already been polluted, he can't get out..."

"As for the others..."

Cheng Ye took a deep breath, suppressing his surging emotions, and declared word by word:

"Except for me, every single person has been polluted!"