Wasteland Border Inspector

Chapter 338: Level Three Slate, Freedom to Come and Go!

Regarding the mechanism analysis of the Fiery Sunflower, Cheng Ye only sorted out three core points before putting down his pen.These conclusions were all speculations based on intelligence observation. To verify their authenticity, he needed further on-site contact and testing.

However, right now, he had no observation equipment and could only rely on the intelligence space to gather information.

Furthermore, for some unknown reason, an almost insane thought began to spread through his mind!

If he could avoid outside intervention and complete the Containment of this Fiery Sunflower alone once his Strength was sufficient, the benefits he could reap would definitely go far beyond just Sunlight Slates and Energy-Gathering Redstones. It might even bring about a qualitative transformation in his own Strength.

If he could master its Biological Deconstruction Ray and its radiant defense capabilities, it would be equivalent to possessing an incredibly powerful instant-kill method and a comprehensive defense system.

Coupled with the Fiery Sunflower's sunlight energy conversion Trait, he might also be able to drastically improve his own Endurance.

'Calm down. What I need to do now is figure out a way to slow down its expansion speed.'

Cheng Ye took several deep breaths in a row, yet his heart still pounded wildly, refusing to settle down.

When dealing with animal-type and plant-type Infected Bodies, the latter was obviously less difficult to handle.

Moreover, the Fiery Sunflower had taken root inside the mine shafts of the Red River Gathering Place, relying on the massive original redstone mine as its energy source. It would absolutely not relocate to another place rashly.

Even if the winter Infection Tide arrived, there was a high probability that it would not join in and wander around.

Therefore, as long as he eliminated the Stone Sunflower People on the rock wall who were responsible for absorbing sunlight, he would cut off its Core energy replenishment channel. At the very least, when he returned next time, he would not have to worry about the mountains and plains being completely overrun by Large and Small Stone Sunflower People.

"The ones I killed before were all Small Stone Sunflower People. This time, I will take down a big one and test the waters!"

Cheng Ye shifted his gaze, directly locking onto the Large Stone Sunflower Person he had noticed earlier when he went down to pick up the slate.

Carefully counting the red stones embedded in its face, there were fully thirty-two of them, scattered haphazardly across its visage.

The small ones were about the size of a fingertip, while the large ones were nearly as big as quail eggs. Every single one shone brilliantly, clearly showing they were no ordinary items.

Quickly donning his Fire Lotus Battle Armor and mounting his Flying Wings, Cheng Ye did not rush to make his move.

First, he marked a spot on the opposite rock wall—Mine Shaft Number Three—as a foothold. After resting briefly inside the shaft and carefully observing the surrounding environment, he repeated his previous tactic, silently arriving below the mine shaft where the Large Stone Sunflower Person was located.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Cheng Ye tried his hardest to suppress his racing heartbeat, striving for absolute calmness in this moment.

Buzz.

The Giant Louse mark suddenly lit up. The figure on the Flying Wings flashed instantly, appearing behind the Large Stone Sunflower Person in the very next second.

However, this time was different from his previous encounters with the Small Stone Sunflower People.

Almost the instant he stabilized his footing, the massive Large Stone Sunflower Person actually sensed him and abruptly whipped its head around!

The moment their eyes met, Cheng Ye furrowed his brows, and the Little Flame pattern right between his eyebrows lit up in a flash.

So what if it noticed?

Having already seen the main body of the Fiery Sunflower itself, why should he fear these ordinary Symbiotic Derivatives?

Ethereal flames erupted with a roar, instantly covering both of his arms as Cheng Ye lunged forward.

Even with the enemy right in front of it, the Large Stone Sunflower Person just stood there foolishly, while its face began to emit a blinding golden light.

It was a classic "mage-style" fighting method—relying solely on long-range instant-kill methods with absolutely zero close-combat capabilities.

Furthermore, a mature mage would at least actively create distance. This Large Stone Sunflower Person, however, only knew how to rely on its own defense to tank the damage while dedicating all its energy to unleashing its instant-kill attack.

Boom!

A deafening explosion suddenly blasted out!

A pair of fists wrapped in ethereal flames smashed directly into the Large Stone Sunflower Person's glowing eyes.

The illusory flames crackled and popped instantly, sending a wave of intense heat spreading in all directions.

Before that layer of golden radiant defense could fully trigger, the stone-like skin on the Large Stone Sunflower Person's face shattered and flew everywhere like an explosion. Debris rained down with a clatter, striking the rock wall of the mine shaft and his Fire Lotus Battle Armor.

Cheng Ye instinctively looked down, and his heart immediately sank. The areas on his battle armor that were covered by the ethereal flames remained completely intact and undamaged.

However, the other exposed areas unprotected by the flames were already covered in large cracks, and some parts had even suffered honeycomb-like structural damage.

Damn it!

An indescribable wave of heartache instantly surged into his mind. Roaring furiously in his heart, the ethereal flames on his arms surged even higher, and his offensive became far more ruthless.

Changing his fists into palms, he clamped both hands tightly around the Stone Sunflower Person's neck and gave a vicious, explosive yank.

A stone head fell into his right hand with a snap, while the headless body slowly collapsed to the ground.

In an instant, all the commotions in the surroundings came to a screeching halt.

Cheng Ye bent over, gasping heavily for air, as the Little Flame pattern between his brows slowly dimmed and vanished.

It had been a long time.

It had been a very long time since he had completely exhausted Little Flame's power.

The structural strength of the Large Stone Sunflower Person's neck joint was at least ten times that of a Small Stone Sunflower Person.

Even with the dual Burning and Melting effects of the lethal flames and his Earth Fire Power, that forceful yank just now still made him feel like he was lacking the strength.

A few seconds later, crackling and shattering sounds echoed out. The stone sunflower head in his hand turned into flying sand and dissipated, causing the thirty-two Energy-Gathering Redstones to clatter onto the ground.

Bang!

The headless corpse on the ground gave a violent shudder. As if it had been struck by a Biological Deconstruction Ray, it instantly disintegrated into nothingness.

From where its heart had been, a standard level-two slate rolled out, spinning until it bumped into his leg armor and stopped.

It was actually a level-two slate?

Didn't that mean he could try combining it with the level-two slate he already had to create a level-three slate?

A surge of wild joy instantly rushed into his mind. Cheng Ye temporarily forgot to mourn his Fire Lotus Battle Armor, which had been practically ruined by the flying rubble.

However, in the very next second, an unimaginably violent wave of Energy Fluctuation violently erupted from deep within the mine shaft.

Cheng Ye's expression changed drastically. Without a second thought, he snatched up the slate and swept the scattered large redstones off the floor, stuffing them all into his Shadow Box.

There were still a few small ones left, but he could no longer afford to care about them.

Because the oppressive energy pressure surging from underground this time carried a maddened fury intent on annihilating everything. It was obvious that the Fiery Sunflower was thoroughly enraged.

He mounted his Flying Wings, and the bionic wings began to vibrate frantically.

Between fleeing toward safety and charging straight up to the top of the cliff, Cheng Ye chose the latter without any hesitation.

And facts proved that this choice was undoubtedly correct.

Before the Flying Wings could ascend to the cliff's peak, a massive wave of red light surged out from the mine shafts below.

But this time, it was not a straightforward beam of light. Instead, it manifested as a thick, viscous red fog that churned and expanded outward.

All the Stone Sunflower People guarding the entrances seemed to receive a sudden command, retreating into the depths of the mine shafts in unison.

The red fog rapidly billowed over all the cave openings, completely shrouding the entire Red River Gathering Place.

Thud.

The Flying Wings finally breached the top of the cliff, simultaneously popping up a low battery warning (20%).

Cheng Ye looked down to see that the red fog had already spread to a height of a hundred meters. It was only about twenty meters away from the cliff top, barely shaken off by his quick escape.

"Good lord, could this Large Stone Sunflower Person be its precious darling? It went completely crazy just because I killed one?"

Cheng Ye could not help but click his tongue in shock.

Fortunately, back when he was at Torch, he had not given up on searching for this highly mobile flight equipment.

Faced with this terrifying, wide-area attack, even fleeing in a vehicle would have meant certain death. Only the Flying Wings, capable of vertical evacuation, could offer a sliver of hope for survival.

Of course, the prerequisite was having sufficiently sharp perception to detect the intensity level of the underground threat in advance.

However, one minute, five minutes, ten minutes passed, and the spread of the red fog showed no signs of stopping.

Mixing with the rain, it looked exceptionally eerie. As the raindrops fell, they were no longer transparent. Instead, they were wrapped in fine red fuzz, striking the puddles on the ground and blooming into pale red ripples, much like blood slowly seeping into water.

The outlines of the distant buildings were gradually swallowed up by the red fog. The previously clear structures were reduced to blurred shadows, as if everything between heaven and earth was destined to be completely annihilated by this crimson mist.

'Could it be that because today is a cloudy day, it's simply taking this opportunity to perform a major spring cleaning of its surroundings?'

After waiting for a full half-hour, the red fog still showed absolutely no signs of dissipating.

Cheng Ye had no choice but to pilot the Flying Wings and evacuate from the other side. By the time he reached the base of the cliff, the battery of the Flying Wings was down to a mere fifteen percent.

He simply hoisted the Flying Wings onto his shoulder and trudged across the muddy ground, making his way back toward the shelter.

Before he even got close to the shelter, he saw Liu Bi standing at the entrance of the canyon with a worried expression, constantly peering inward.

Detecting the flickering of a human figure, Liu Bi's gaze quickly shifted over. When his eyes landed on the battle armor riddled with holes, his heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly rushed forward to greet him. "What happened? Did you fight with the Stone Sunflower People?"

"Yeah, it wasn't anything dangerous. I killed a Large Stone Sunflower Person and even got some good loot to drop."

Cheng Ye grinned, revealing his teeth. He opened the Shadow Box and pulled out the level-two slate and the thirteen large redstones from inside.

The hue of those quail egg-sized redstones was far more magnificent than that of the smaller ones, and the smoothness of their surfaces vastly exceeded the latter.

Liu Bi accepted the redstones and gripped them in his hands. He opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

Advise Cheng Ye not to take risks?

But an Inspector's job was inherently accompanied by constant danger, and the Wilderness was filled with lethal peril at every turn.

Tell Cheng Ye to give up on the profits inside?

That was even more impossible. Countless Scavengers would risk their lives and fight to the death just for a bite to eat, let alone for technology like this that could become a pillar for a sanctuary city.

After a long silence, all his worries eventually dissolved into a single sentence: "As long as you are okay!"

The two of them walked back to the shelter side by side. Standing under the awning, Cheng Ye stripped off his battle armor.

As he peeled it off, the armor plates on his abdomen cracked open directly, shattering into three pieces.

The leg armor was also covered in tiny holes. Even though they hadn't completely penetrated the material, the Defensive Power had already been severely compromised.

Although this set of Fire Lotus Battle Armor, worth two thousand eight hundred Contribution Points, had not been through many battles, every time he wore it, he was facing the monsters that Humans feared the most.

'When I go back this time, it's about time I swap for a new set of protective equipment,'

Cheng Ye thought to himself.

At this point in time, what he was facing was no longer ordinary Infected Bodies, but the direct Symbiotic Derivatives of Transcendent Creatures.

If he had a choice, the Obsidian Battle Armor would naturally be the best option. It could hide his Essence and freely change its size.

However, the maintenance costs for the Obsidian Battle Armor were absolutely astronomical, easily demanding tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of Contribution Points.

Make money!

He needed to make money fast!

A powerful desire surged from the bottom of his heart. Cheng Ye picked up the two level-two slates and attempted to splice them together.

Unsurprisingly, the fusion of slates with identical specifications encountered zero resistance, merging seamlessly into one.

The double axis core on the slate shifted as well, transforming into a much more complex and dense quadruple axis core.

The Spiral Light Paths twisted and intertwined. The central portion vaguely seemed as if it was about to form a Rune, but having witnessed a genuine Rune before, he knew that its current state was still far from it.

Pressing his Pendant against the newly synthesized slate, the power increase was mediocre due to the overcast weather, reaching only 4.7kw.

Cheng Ye wasn't surprised. He then replaced all the redstones on the slate with the large redstones.

The upgraded level-three slate was embedded with twelve large redstones, and its power output immediately jumped to 7.2kw.

Considering the near fifteen-to-one power discrepancy between sunny and cloudy days, Cheng Ye's eyes were filled with anticipation as he quietly waited for the moment the rain clouds would part.

In addition, he opened the Illustrated Handbook and browsed through the changes in his Traits.

Sunlight Absorption, Energy-Gathering Redstone, and Flame Energy Conversion were, unsurprisingly, instantly stacked to their two-hundred-percent maximum value.

As for the Biological Deconstruction Ray, its progress had also jumped to fifty percent.

Even the most difficult one to accumulate, Sun Flame, had reached twenty percent, fully proving the value of a Large Stone Sunflower Person.

Throughout that entire day, the red fog never dissipated.

Cheng Ye simply stayed in the shelter, pretending to be a complete "newbie" who knew nothing about construction or engineering. He followed Liu Bi around to learn building techniques, thoroughly satisfying Liu Bi's desire to teach.

The two of them made further modifications to the awning: they built a partition down the middle, separating it into a left and a right room.

The front of the rooms was secured with wooden planks and crossbeams. Originally, there was no need to install doors, but a space without a door could only be called a "hole," so they found two more wooden planks, fashioned them into wooden doors, and installed them.

The left room was designated by Liu Bi as a workshop, obviously reserved for him to study the Sunlight Slates.

The right room served as a supply storage. When it was time for everyone to leave, the supplies outside would be moved inside for safekeeping.

Not only was it resourceful, but it also left some room for future arrivals to utilize.

At night, the red fog continued to pervade the air.

The Fiery Sunflower's ability was truly terrifying. What it unleashed felt more like an overarching domain rather than a simple array of rays.

It wasn't until the early hours of the morning that the red fog finally began to dissipate.

But considering that the Flying Wings were low on battery, Cheng Ye didn't risk heading back to the mine shafts. He planned to fully charge the Flying Wings first before doing anything else.

To his surprise, however, barely half an hour after the red fog cleared, the mist once again blanketed the gathering place.

Moreover, it spread even faster and fiercer than yesterday. If one didn't notice and escape at the very first sign, they would undoubtedly be completely trapped inside.

'This thing actually has intelligence. It's playing dirty tricks on me, huh?'

Cheng Ye clicked his tongue inwardly, unable to resist upgrading his mental assessment of this transcendent plant's intelligence by two whole tiers.

At the same time, he became even more aware of the importance of the Sunlight Slates.

Even for the Fiery Sunflower, producing a level-two slate must be extremely difficult at this stage without enough Stone Sunflower People to convert energy.

'Wait. I just have to keep waiting!'

The autumn rain lingered endlessly. It wasn't until five o'clock in the afternoon that he finally accumulated a new twenty-five percent Recharge Value.

Cheng Ye didn't hesitate. He chose to manifest an item from the "Flame Energy Conversion" Trait, ultimately receiving a block the size of a palm.

The back of the block was made of the same material as the Sunlight Slate, but the front had two additional sockets.

One was a two-prong socket, and the other was a three-prong socket.

It was so intuitive that he absolutely didn't need an instruction manual. Stunned for a moment, Cheng Ye hurriedly pressed the block against the slate, then pulled out the charging cable for the Flying Wings and plugged it in.

At this time, the Collector's power output was stabilized at 8kw, but when the charging screen for the Flying Wings popped up, the displayed information caught him slightly off guard.

[Current charging speed: 220V; 15A; 3KW (Maximum)]

[Estimated time until fully charged: 5 hours 27 minutes]

Three kilowatts was the charging limit for the Flying Wings, not the energy conversion limit of the small block.

Furthermore, after sticking the Pendant onto the block, not only did it not interfere with the charging process, but it could also absorb any extra escaping energy.

Cheng Ye stroked his chin, leaning down to carefully observe the main body of the block. A profound sense of satisfaction practically overflowed from his heart.

The sheer power of the Civilization Collector was vividly demonstrated once again.

For a piece of equipment capable of converting and Outputting the energy of the Sunlight Slate, even now, he still didn't have the slightest clue how it worked. Yet, just by expending a twenty-five percent Recharge Value, he could use energy to construct the corresponding device out of thin air.

If the ultimate energy conversion limit of this block was substantial enough, he could convert the Fierce Dragon Armored Vehicle into a battery-driven vehicle as soon as he returned from this trip. No matter where he traveled in the future, he would never have to worry about charging issues again.

However, with no high-power equipment around to test it on right now, he could only make a mental note of it and slowly figure it out later.

Another day passed, and the seventh day of his Field Duty unknowingly arrived.

Cheng Ye didn't go back to the mine shafts to take risks, but his biological clock remained exceptionally punctual. He woke up before five-thirty.

Instinctively rubbing his eyes, he looked toward the horizon, only to see the dark clouds that had blanketed the Wasteland for three entire days finally beginning to slowly disperse.

As several streams of morning light streaked across the sky, that level-three Sunlight Slate instantly lit up. The radiance was actually more dazzling than its most powerful state on an overcast day.

Pressing his Pendant against it, in just the time it took for the morning sun to inch upward, the slate's power output had already skyrocketed to 17kw.

'Strong. This is just too strong!'

Wild ecstasy flooded Cheng Ye's heart, and any lingering drowsiness vanished without a trace.

Climbing up to the shelter's watchtower, he waited silently, watching as the slate's power output incrementally climbed and recovered.

The sunlight after the rain still carried a hint of dimness. However, approaching eight o'clock, the brightness on the slate's surface had already surpassed that of an ordinary Stone Sunflower Person, becoming so piercing that one could barely keep their eyes open.

At the same time, its power output did not let down any of his previous expectations. After soaring upward, it gradually began to stabilize.

The System Panel flickered just in time. As he focused his gaze, a line of prompts slowly popped up:

[Escaping energy detected. Conducting energy recovery...]

[Current energy replenishment efficiency: Weak (Lv.1 Energy)]

[Estimated charging time: 9.4H]

"Phew. Just a single level-three slate can already achieve an eighty-kilowatt charging power."

Gazing at the morning light in the distance, Cheng Ye let out a long breath. It was inevitable for an unprecedented sense of exhilaration to swell within his heart.

"As vast as this Wasteland is, it can no longer restrict my freedom to come and go!"