Wasteland Border Inspector

Chapter 278: Action Initiated, Repairing the White Water Dam!

Consistent with the investigation from two months ago, the damage to the White Water Dam had not worsened; it remained stable.Cheng Ye paced back and forth, making a thorough observation before quickly finalizing the overall construction plan in his mind.

First, he needed to cut off the water flow and divert it to ensure the dam remained dry during construction. This was not a problem at all in the wasteland. He could simply pick any direction in the vast wilderness to divert the water, and it wouldn't matter even if it flooded a nearby abandoned village.

Once the diversion was complete, he would clean the carbonized surface of the dam, mix C30 concrete according to the proper ratio, pour it in layers, and cure it for a week before it could be put into use.

As for reinforcing the dam, he only needed to drill holes in the base, insert steel anchor bolts, and then weld the steel bars and anchor bolts together to form a reinforcing mesh. This would easily hold up for a few years. When he had the funds and time later on, it wouldn't be too late to demolish the dam and rebuild it from scratch.

Overall, repairing the dam body would take the most time. The remaining tasks, such as updating the spillway gates and replacing the power equipment, were technical jobs that could be finished in half a day.

Cheng Ye casually lifted the waterproof tarp to check the material labels. By using Davidson's channels, the industrial zone had not only prepared the required materials but also provided an extra fifteen percent surplus, giving him complete peace of mind.

The only problem was the manpower. The original plan was to hire two structural engineers and fifteen skilled technicians, with a construction period of fifteen days.

However, all the satellite towns were currently fighting over construction resources. Dabo Town had started too late, and the engineers from the Public Works Department had already been snatched up. By the time they freed up their schedules, it would be at least a month or two later, and winter would be fast approaching.

Therefore, after mulling it over, Cheng Ye simply decided to do it himself.

At this moment, he opened his interface and clicked into the action ability he hadn't used for a long time. He only had sixty action points left.

It couldn't be helped. Recharge value was scarce in the early stages, and it was too much of a loss to exchange it for action points. Out of these sixty points, forty-one were specifically farmed by him over three days. By using the special mechanism of abandoning searches, he obtained double the action point returns, which was equivalent to exchanging them directly with recharge value.

'Once the hydroelectric station is built and my strength progression slows down in the future, farming action points will become much easier.'

Cheng Ye calculated inwardly.

This function was originally intended to help the Collector quickly build a faction and save time. However, after obtaining the Collector, he either had no chance to leave the city or had to deal with the Immortal Object. It was only now that he finally had the free hands to actually get things done.

'Action, repair the hydroelectric station, repair the water...'

He silently chanted it three times in his heart. A blue panel suddenly unfolded next to the White Water Dam, clearly listing the action point consumption, step breakdowns, and estimated completion time required for the repair.

[White Water Dam (Lv0; Damaged)]

[Description]: A gravity dam handed down from the old era. The interior is currently severely damaged, with carbonized peeling on the dam surface and multiple weathering cracks. Although the core load-bearing structure has not collapsed, it lacks stability. It can no longer intercept water flows or function normally for production, and it is in urgent need of systematic repair.

[Action Directions]:

1. Cut Off Water and Divert Flow (Excavate a new river channel, use sandbag enclosures combined with diversion trenches to guide the current waterway, clear the dam operation area, and create a dry and stable repair environment.)

Estimated Action Points Cost: 33 (Sufficient materials and tools acquired; point cost reduced.)

2. Base Layer Repair (After clearing the dross and carbonized debris on the dam surface, fill in shallow weathering cracks and peeling areas, reinforce the steel bars, and restore the foundational sealing of the dam.)

Estimated Action Points Cost: 81 (Sufficient materials and tools acquired; base surface pretreatment skill check passed, point cost reduced.)

3. Functional Equipment Update (Replace the aging and scrapped core components of the power unit inside the dam.)

Estimated Action Points Cost: Locked (Current conditions do not meet the action standards; please try to acquire construction machinery.)

4. Perfect Upgrade (Modify the structure to improve the production efficiency of the hydroelectric station, increasing its installed capacity to 750kw, with the theoretical maximum power raised to 1200kw.)

Estimated Action Points Cost: Locked (Current skills do not meet the action standards; please try to acquire advanced construction skills, please try to acquire construction machinery.)

[Please choose an action direction, Collector!]

'Damn, the point cost for water diversion and base repair is this high? Combined, they're over a hundred points?!'

Scanning the numbers on the panel, Cheng Ye couldn't help but sharply inhale.

Logically, this kind of purely physical-driven project shouldn't have a high technical threshold, and the demand for action points shouldn't be so exaggerated.

But on second thought, this was a workload that would normally take fifteen workers half a month to finish. Now, relying solely on him, it could be completed in an extremely short amount of time. Having such a point requirement actually made perfect sense.

As for the fourth option, Perfect Upgrade, Cheng Ye only glanced at it before temporarily skipping it.

The current theoretical installed capacity of the White Water Dam was 300kw. With the industry's standard loss rate between five and ten percent, it translated to an output of roughly 270 to 285 kilowatt-hours of electricity per hour, reaching a daily power generation of 6,500 kilowatt-hours.

This amount of power was enough for him to fully charge the Collector eight times. Even if a portion had to be supplied to Dabo Town, the town had no factories in the early stages, so the electricity demand wouldn't be large. It would completely satisfy his need to freely use the Collector.

Later, when the town developed and the electricity demand increased, it would actually be easier to proceed with upgrading the hydroelectric station.

'Hmm, besides the existing equipment, we also need to supplement energy storage equipment and transformer equipment...'

Cheng Ye thought to himself. The town's electricity demand was intermittent. Without the support of a complete power grid, they had to rely on energy storage equipment to save power to ensure a stable twenty-four-hour power supply.

By peak shaving and valley filling, the surplus power generated by the hydroelectric station could be stored and then released during peak usage or when power generation was insufficient, thus avoiding supply interruptions.

However, these pieces of equipment were all controlled materials of Happiness City. One must have a justifiable reason to apply for them...

Only after the hydroelectric station was repaired and passed an on-site inspection by personnel dispatched from the industrial zone would the relevant supporting materials be delivered according to procedure.

Estimating based on the current power generation scale, batteries with a capacity of at least one thousand kilowatt-hours would be needed to fully store the daily surplus electricity and prevent waste.

Currently, Happiness City's official buyout price for batteries was fifteen thousand contribution points per hundred kilowatt-hours. Calculating it this way, just purchasing the batteries would cost a staggering one hundred and fifty thousand contribution points...

Even though Dabo Town had received support from multiple parties, this was still an exaggerated, jaw-droppingly astronomical figure.

'I have to negotiate for support policies. The batteries are sold so expensively simply out of fear that core resources will leak out. I'm using them for the construction of Dabo Town, which is intrinsically expanding Happiness City's sphere of influence. To still charge such a high price would be truly unjustifiable!'

With his mind made up, Cheng Ye stopped dwelling on the battery issue and returned his gaze to the hydroelectric station.

For cutting off the water and diverting the flow—the most troublesome part of all the projects—he decided to complete it directly using action points.

For the subsequent mortar application and steel reinforcement, he could simply dispatch residents from Dabo Town to help. As for the equipment installation, he planned to find Lin Bao to request a few engineers and construction machinery.

Inspector Cheng wasn't a donkey working a millstone; he couldn't just transform into his Earth-Shrinking Giant Louse Form and huff and puff while carrying the equipment up himself.

Besides, the subsequent debugging work also had to be done by professionals. He had studied civil engineering, not a major related to power facilities.

'Action, cut off water and divert flow!'

Cheng Ye silently chanted in his heart. The moment his intent fell, the long-unused action ability activated in response.

The next second, a miraculous scene suddenly unfolded!

The rushing water flow abruptly stopped in the middle of the river channel. Splashing water droplets froze into crystal-clear particles suspended in midair, and even the wind in the distant wilderness seemed to have a pause button pressed on it.

The time-stop space unfolded once again.

The instant he lost control of his body, Cheng Ye's perspective sharply elevated, as if hoisted by Tan Ming's power, transforming into a third-person view overlooking the earth. The entire panorama of the White Water Dam and the river channel was laid out before his eyes.

In his field of vision, a figure identical to his own seemed to be fast-forwarded. Its speed surged more than a hundred times over. Snatching up the prepared heavy hydraulic pick, it dashed in great strides to the preset location upstream, a hundred meters away from the dam body.

The roar of the hydraulic pick was filtered out by the time-stop space, leaving only swift afterimages of movement. First, it rapidly excavated along a marked arc. The hard surface of the concrete riverbed peeled off layer by layer under the pickhead. Gravel and mud splashed up, only to freeze midair.

Immediately following, the figure switched to an engineer's shovel, widening and deepening the excavated trench. It then dragged a roll of thickened canvas and dozens of folded sandbags from the material pile, filling and stacking them with astonishing efficiency. Temporary enclosures were built on both sides of the trench, forming an inclined diversion slope.

'Holy shit, am I really this efficient at working?'

Even though he had seen the efficiency of the action ability before, Cheng Ye was still startled.

In the time-stop space, he could maintain his peak physical condition without slacking off for a moment. Furthermore, every swing of the tool seemed precisely calculated; not a single ounce of extra force was used, making every strike perfectly placed.

In the blink of an eye, the concrete river channel that originally led straight to the White Water Dam had a half-meter-wide gap forcibly carved into it. The figure then shouldered a prefabricated alloy diversion trench, accurately slotting it into the inside of the gap, securing it to the riverbed with expansion bolts, before laying the canvas into the trench and pressing the edges down with gravel.

This was to reduce the scouring of the water flow and prevent the diversion channel from collapsing.

As the final sandbag was securely stacked, the time-stop effect dissipated. The previously still water seemed to break free from its confinement, pouring out along the diversion trench and rushing toward the preset low-lying areas of the wilderness.

Under the initial impact of the water flow, the gap was quickly widened by the force to over a meter, ensuring that the main waterway could smoothly divert without leaving stagnant water to interfere with the dam operation.

[Action Completed!]

His perspective snapped back instantly.

The entire process was so fast it was a blur, as if only a second or two had passed, yet the original river channel had been turned completely upside down.

Cheng Ye blanked out for a moment. Compared to searching for skills, items, or intelligence, this tangible ability to modify the environment shocked him far more deeply, leaving him unable to calm down for a long time.

Strong!

It was simply too powerful!

A job that originally required a large number of workers and machinery was effortlessly completed by him alone. This single step shortened the hydroelectric station's repair construction period by roughly five days.

He walked over to the gap and crouched down, confirming that the water flow was smoothly diverting out through it. It would take half a day at most to create dry construction conditions, and his heart was filled with absolute restlessness and excitement.

With the efficiency and speed of the action ability, as long as he had enough energy, he could build a massive base all by himself.

This ability was absolutely more insane than the two types of belief Tan Ming had bestowed upon him, and it came at zero cost!

'The modification of the underground cave... As long as the technology and materials are in place, with the energy boost from the hydroelectric station, I can complete it all by myself!'

Cheng Ye stood quietly for a moment, and after confirming that the diversion had no issues, he turned around and drove back to the town.

Supervising three thousand people working was originally a troublesome affair, but fortunately, he had quite a few talented people under him to share the burden.

At this moment, Dabo Town looked as though a swarm of locusts had swept through. The originally decaying ruins were slowly devoured down to nothing, turning into neatly stacked piles of construction waste.

As the haphazard old buildings within the town vanished, the topographical advantages of this place were thoroughly revealed.

Not only was transportation convenient, but the surrounding terrain had also become extremely flat after years of being flooded and scoured by river water.

On one side lay a boundless great plain, and on the other were the meandering White Water River and Huangshui River. Situated between the two, Dabo Town monopolized the advantages of timing and geography; it would be hard for it not to develop.

By four in the afternoon, Cheng Ye returned to the river channel to check the diversion status. He found that only a shallow layer of water remained at the riverbed, completely exposing the upper half of the hydroelectric station. He immediately rushed back to the town to organize manpower.

He didn't need too many; fifty people were enough.

The engineering team brought by Huang Sheng was fully capable of handling tasks like mixing mortar and pretreating materials.

The only trouble was that the road from the town to the hydroelectric station hadn't been pioneered yet. The surroundings were overgrown with weeds and tall trees that needed to be cleared as soon as possible.

Arranging for Wu Rui to lead a squad to stand guard around the hydroelectric station, Cheng Ye donned his Fire Lotus Battle Armor and once again threw himself into the work of sweeping the surrounding wilderness.

No sexagenary cycle in the mountains, unaware of the passing years.

When staying in the buffer zone, there was still a distinction between day and night, with the hours of commuting to and from work dividing the rhythm of life.

But after coming to the boundless, vast wilderness, time gradually melted its boundaries amidst repetitive labor, becoming blurry and ethereal.

At dawn, when the east had just begun to show a touch of fish-belly white, Cheng Ye was often the first to get up, donning his gear and leading the team to continuously open up the wasteland outward.

At dusk, when the evening glow reeled in its final trace of lingering light, Cheng Ye was once again the last to return and rest. Even during brief meal times, he kept his brows slightly furrowed, sipping nutritional paste while listening to the team members' status reports, constantly verbally reminding them of points to note, ensuring every single detail was thoroughly considered.

On this long and arduous road of rebuilding civilization, time had long since lost the meaning of being counted by days.

The days were stretched endlessly, with weeks as the absolute minimum unit, months as the measuring scale, and even years as the span required to measure the metamorphosis of every inch of land.

And the excitement and thrill initially held in everyone's hearts, like a single spark starting a prairie fire, gradually lost their scorching heat amid day after day of heavy labor and dull repetition.

Yet this emotion never truly vanished; instead, within the construction of Dabo Town and everyone's mutual support, it precipitated and transformed into a quieter, more resilient strength.

Hope!

It hid in the bottom of everyone's hearts, concealed itself within every new seedling that broke through the soil, and reflected in the unextinguished light within everyone's eyes.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed!

September 11th.

The horizon had yet to fully brighten when the Defense Terminal vibrated gently, causing Cheng Ye to immediately open his eyes.

As expected, an unstoppable, aching soreness washed over his entire body. Even though his physical fitness had long since reached a non-human state, his workload over the past three days had synchronously skyrocketed.

Tasks that originally took three to five days to complete were now finished by him in a single day, which ironically made his physical stat boosts seem increasingly insufficient.

'Oh, today is the day I need to go pick up Yu Yong...'

The calendar reminder on the Defense Terminal's screen caught his eye, making Cheng Ye's heart skip a beat as he slowly climbed to his feet.

He reached out and unzipped his one-person tent. The autumn dew dripped down the edges of the tent, slipping into his collar with a trace of chill.

When he emerged from the tent, it was just the break of dawn.

The blue-gray sky was slowly suffusing with the pale golden morning light. The air was a mixture of the freshness of vegetation and the dampness of soil, completely devoid of the lingering rotten stench of the former ruins.

Compared to three days ago, the present Dabo Town seemed exceptionally empty, bearing somewhat of a resemblance to the scenes of the South Suburbs of the buffer zone.

But this wasn't a desolate emptiness; it was a vastness achieved through meticulous sorting.

The broken walls and ruined remnants were nowhere to be seen, leaving only leveled earth stretching off into the distance along the terrain.

Behind his tent, nearly a thousand tents of all sizes and colors were neatly arranged, closely resembling a temporary camp in the South Suburbs.

In the initial stages of pioneering, life was indeed kept as simple as possible.

Fortunately, the ruins clearing was nearing its end. The shattered walls and gravel that once sprawled across the town had all been transported to the outskirts and piled up centrally.

Standing in the center of the town now, Cheng Ye looked toward the riverside. His line of sight was entirely unobstructed; he could even see the rushing, flowing White Water River at a single glance.

According to the plan, in another two to three days, after completely clearing out the roadbed beneath their feet, they could commence the pipeline renovations and bury all kinds of pipes deep underground.

Taking a deep breath of the fresh air, Cheng Ye turned and ascended to the rooftop of the Government Building—the only structure in the town center that had yet to be demolished—and gazed out at his surroundings.

Three days of continuous pioneering had cultivated the surrounding wastelands out to a full kilometer, forcibly carving out a wide, open expanse amid the siege of the wilderness and providing Dabo Town with an ample buffer zone.

Based on the plan, this area would be expanded outward by another two kilometers in the future, and only then would they stop cultivating to build the first line of defensive facilities.

For now, however, time was limited. Cheng Ye temporarily placed all his focus on the road leading to the hydroelectric station.

As he looked out right now, the weeds and trees along the dirt road leading from the west side of town to the hydroelectric station had been completely wiped out, leaving only a straight and flat dirt path stretching far into the distance.

The unpolluted atmosphere boasted exceedingly high visibility. Standing on the rooftop, he could even vaguely make out the silhouette of the hydroelectric station two kilometers away.

'What incredibly dense vitality...'

Cheng Ye comfortably stretched his back and sat on the edge of the rooftop, letting the warm morning light spill over him.

He could clearly feel that the once-dilapidated Dabo Town was rising from the ruins bit by bit, steadily approaching the form of a proper home.

And this was something that none of the other satellite towns possessed.

The construction of those satellite towns was, in the end, merely erecting walled strongholds to house residents. Only his Dabo Town was truly advancing steadily according to the standards of a shelter city.

It wasn't until the sun fully vaulted over the horizon, blanketing the earth in golden sunlight and the residents began trickling out of their tents, that Cheng Ye stood up and returned to the ground level.

As per his routine, he first went to check on the dam's repair progress.

After three days, the foundational repair work was nearing its end. Cheng Ye silently activated the action ability, and the required action points for the base layer repair displayed on the panel had dropped from the initial eighty-one points down to twelve.

It would take one more day at most to finish. However, he had to return to the buffer zone today to pick up Yu Yong and didn't have the spare time to wait for the residents to slowly apply mortar and build the reinforcing mesh. Consequently, he simply expended the twelve action points to conclude this phase of the project.

As the figure in the time-stop space accurately filled and laid out the prepared materials on the ground, all that was left was to wait for the materials to dry naturally before entering the equipment installation phase. The hydroelectric station was getting closer and closer to being operational.

"Xiao Kang, I need to make a trip back to the buffer zone." Cheng Ye turned on his Defense Terminal and first made a call to the community to confirm the situation before finding Wang Kang and saying, "Uncle Lin and Rocook are also out. I'll bring them over on my way to help share some of the pressure with you."

Wang Kang was clearly so exhausted he was a little dazed. Upon hearing this, he merely nodded blankly before instantly returning to his spaced-out state.

Cheng Ye shook his head helplessly. Though he could understand his exhaustion, there was nothing he could do about it.

Over these three days, working high-intensity jobs for over sixteen hours daily, the residents could take shifts to rest, but he and Wang Kang—the two backbones—had no way to take breaks.

One was leading a team to pioneer outward, having to stay constantly vigilant against infection sources popping out from hidden corners of the wilderness.

The other stayed behind in town to oversee the construction, running around frantically from start to finish to coordinate progress and solve problems. He had long been operating on overload.

Fortunately, once Rocook came over, he should be able to help rotate shifts and give Wang Kang a breather.

After moving over twenty containment boxes into the back of the armed pickup and securing them, per his orders, Wu Rui's squad entirely stayed behind, responsible for guarding the town and ensuring no accidents occurred.

Mu Shuang, however, still tagged along. She got into the driver's seat of the pickup and, stepping on the accelerator, sped off in the direction of the buffer zone.

After three days, this section of the township road leading to Wenlu County had already been paved into a brand new, four-lane asphalt surface.

Driving on it felt almost like riding a magic carpet; practically no bumps could be felt.

Cheng Ye let out a yawn, tilted his head, and tiredly narrowed his eyes shut.

It wasn't until the vehicle gradually came to a steady halt that he opened his eyes. The busy three days felt like a dream, and he found himself back in front of the South Inspection Station once again.