Wasteland Border Inspector

Chapter 343: The Impact of the Void Mist, Aloof from the World!

The so-called Twin Moon Lake was not a lake visible on the surface, but rather two deep underground water systems.One was named Crescent Moon Lake, and the other was Cusped Moon Lake.

The closest one, Crescent Moon Lake, was a full seven kilometers away from the Gathering Place, while Cusped Moon Lake was over ten kilometers distant.

After all, even though underground water systems had a higher safety factor, they could not completely prevent the infiltration of Infection Sources. The only solution was to maintain a sufficient distance and lay down purified water pipes, utilizing it solely as an agricultural water source for the Gathering Place.

Passing through the Inspection Station, the Gathering Place behind it was not as expansive as imagined. Its scale was nearly identical to Dabo Town, where they had set off from.

The road beneath their feet was paved with smooth concrete. Although years of being trampled and crushed had caused fine cracks to spiderweb across certain sections and slightly worn the edges, it remained overall clean and tidy, devoid of any accumulated filth.

Concrete lampposts stood on both sides of the road at intervals of a dozen meters. Energy-saving light bulbs were embedded within the glass covers at the top of the posts, exuding a sense of disciplined order even in broad daylight.

Looking around, the terrain of the Gathering Place had clearly been deliberately planned. It was not rugged; instead, it gently rose in a terraced manner, following the natural topography, with every area distinctly demarcated.

The boundaries between the residential, administrative, and production zones were crystal clear, completely lacking the chaos of mixed habitation.

As far as the eye could see, the most conspicuous sights were the scattered brick houses. Most were two- or three-story buildings constructed from Blue Bricks. Some households had even painted their walls in light colors, looking clean and refreshing against the hazy gray sky.

It was easy to tell that each small building supported the livelihood of several families.

The first floors usually featured small courtyards that were kept spotlessly clean. Mended farming tools leaned against the corners of the walls, and stacks of dried firewood were piled up, serving as the main hub for the residents' daily activities.

The second and third floors were connected by external concrete stairs on the side. Each floor had independent doors and windows, with laundry hanging by the entrances and a few pots of flowers and plants resting on the windowsills, brimming with the rich flavor of everyday life.

Since it was not yet time to finish work, few figures could be seen on the streets. Only a scattered handful of children stood by their windows, timidly peering out at the convoy.

"Inspector Cheng, Inspector Liu, welcome to Twin Moon Lake Gathering Place to guide our work!"

That deep, rich male voice echoed through the radio once more. Cheng Ye turned his head to look, only to see a burly man nearly two meters tall striding briskly toward them with four staff members in tow.

It had to be said that in a Small Gathering Place like Twin Moon Lake, a physique like that was truly eye-catching.

This was especially true because the burly man was wearing a slightly faded canvas work outfit with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The muscles on his forearms were Knotted like old tree roots, brimming with a profound sense of explosive power.

His square face had been weathered by the wind and sand into a rough, dark complexion. With protruding brow ridges and stiff stubble bristling on his jaw, he possessed a commanding presence even when he wasn't angry.

"Allow me to make a Self-Introduction. I am the captain of the Twin Moon Lake Gathering Place guard, Wang Sheng!"

'Oh, so he is the head of the armed forces.'

Cheng Ye immediately understood. He reached out his hand to greet him and smiled, "Captain Wang, your physique alone gives off a great sense of security!"

"Haha, you must be joking, Inspector Cheng!" Wang Sheng let out a hearty laugh, his voice booming like a bell. "Those of us who do the heavy lifting definitely have to train more and shoulder more. That way, when danger strikes, we can charge out in front of the Residents!"

"Security work is no mere manual labor," Cheng Ye said, waving his hand with a smile. "Along the way here, I saw that the order and defenses of Twin Moon Lake are exceptionally well-maintained."

Flattery was a two-way street; the more people praised each other, the higher they elevated the mood.

After a few polite exchanges, the awkwardness of their first meeting dissipated significantly.

Liu Bi also stepped forward and politely chatted with Wang Sheng for a moment.

"Come, come, please come in! The Lord has already prepared a banquet. We can eat and chat at the same time!" Wang Sheng turned sideways and made a welcoming gesture. He consciously slowed his pace to fall half a step behind, guiding the group inside.

He introduced as they walked, "Past the outer perimeter of the Inspection Station is our Phase One residential area. Residents who have joined the Gathering Place within the last three years live here. If they make outstanding contributions to the Gathering Place during this time, or accumulate enough planting quotas, they can be promoted to the Phase Two or Phase Three areas further back."

"Oh?" Cheng Ye exclaimed in surprise.

He hadn't expected that Twin Moon Lake, with a meager population of just two thousand, would actually mimic the shelter city model and implement an inner and outer zone system for tiered living.

Seeming to anticipate his confusion, Wang Sheng immediately added, "There is something you don't know, Inspector Cheng. Our population has already swelled to around six thousand. We had to implement this tiered distribution to ensure fairness for the older Residents."

"Six thousand already?"

Cheng Ye frowned slightly. "Didn't the data submitted to Happiness City in the middle of the year state there were only two thousand people?"

"That was indeed the number mid-year." The smile on Wang Sheng's face faded slightly, and his tone turned solemn. "But you might be unaware that due to the Void Mist... our Twin Moon Lake and the surrounding Gathering Places were all attacked by monsters charging out of the fog. We were relatively lucky, only encountering ordinary Mutant Beasts and scattered Infected Bodies. The neighboring Sishuigou Gathering Place directly collided with an unknown Infection Source. All fifteen hundred people there... were completely wiped out."

He proceeded to recount the fates of several surrounding Gathering Places. The names Cheng Ye had seen on the Map before departure had shockingly all been reduced to history.

They had either completely collapsed or their populations had scattered. Within a radius of one hundred and fifty kilometers, Twin Moon Lake was now the sole survivor.

A hint of sorrow washed over Wang Sheng's face. "After the Void Mist dispersed, the glaring flaw of insufficient security in all the major Gathering Places was exposed all at once. Many people chose to migrate. Our Twin Moon Lake only took in a third of those who were unwilling to go to the shelter cities. Most of the rest fled toward the shelter cities in the Guangdong region."

Before setting out, he truly hadn't anticipated that a single Void Mist event could cause such a massive upheaval to the regional dynamics surrounding Twin Moon Lake.

Cheng Ye shook his head inwardly. Back when he offered strategies to Tang Si, he had even mentioned supporting the surrounding Gathering Places. Yet, after one sweep of the Void Mist, those Small Gathering Places had completely crumbled, ironically allowing Twin Moon Lake to grow stronger.

The changing tides of the world were truly impossible to predict.

Looking at it this way, Twin Moon Lake's preemptive decision to ally with Great Banyan Shelter City was indeed the right move.

If they had continued to rely on Happiness City, given the sheer distance between them, even basic communication would have been severely delayed, let alone material support. In a real crisis, they would have had to wait an eternity for help.

"Taking in so many people all at once, the pressure on you guys must be quite substantial right now, isn't it?" Liu Bi suddenly interjected.

Wang Sheng's expression stiffened slightly before he offered an awkward smile. "We don't have any other jobs to offer here either. Aside from growing Crops, the Lord could only use Work Relief, organizing manpower ahead of time to build these brick houses to alleviate the employment strain. We never expected that by some stroke of luck, this would inadvertently prepare us for the influx, allowing the newly joined Residents to be immediately assigned housing."

He paused for a moment before adding, "As for Daily Necessities, we mortgaged our entire harvest for this year, next year, and the year after to Great Banyan Shelter City. Only then were we able to borrow enough supplies to fill the deficit."

'No wonder they sent this Wang Sheng over to host us; his speech just now was quite skillful.'

Not only did he smoothly defuse the sharp question Liu Bi had thrown out, but he also conveniently explained the unspoken difficulties behind Twin Moon Lake's decision to join Great Banyan.

They lacked supplies. To survive, their only choice was to seek refuge with a neighboring shelter city.

Regardless of who heard these words, whether they believed them or not was one thing, but at the very least, it sounded perfectly justifiable on the surface.

Liu Bi gave a slight nod and didn't speak again, causing the atmosphere within the group to grow a few degrees more silent.

It wasn't until they passed through the Phase One residential area and stepped into the rear zone that Wang Sheng cleared his throat and resumed his introduction.

The first thing to catch their eyes was a two-story Medical Clinic. Its exterior walls were painted light blue, and a wooden plaque hung above the entrance, bearing the words "Twin Moon Medical Clinic" written in bold red paint.

Although the paint was somewhat faded and mottled, it remained striking.

The first floor of the Medical Clinic housed the examination room and pharmacy. Several simple hospital beds were arranged inside, and the medicine cabinets against the wall neatly displayed finished medicines obtained through trade, along with quite a few homemade herbal ointments stored in clay pots.

The second floor contained observation wards and a Rest Area for the medical staff. The equipment couldn't be called sophisticated, but it was More Than Enough to handle everyday minor illnesses, aches, and ordinary trauma.

Diagonally opposite the Medical Clinic was a large, single-story brick building, which served as the Gathering Place's Public Cafeteria.

A wide awning was pitched at the entrance, under which dozens of long tables and wooden benches were arranged.

Even though it wasn't mealtime yet, waves of appetizing aromas were already wafting out through the doors and windows.

Peering inside through the wide-open doors, the interior of the cafeteria was impeccably clean. A red banner bearing the slogan "Save Food" was plastered on the wall, radiating a sort of rustic neatness.

"Because the farmland and Crops outside are publicly owned by the Gathering Place, we do not allow Residents to hoard food or cook their own meals. All harvests are uniformly collected into the Gathering Place's warehouses to maintain overall operations. This is the key to ensuring everyone has food to eat,"

Wang Sheng explained with a smile, sniffing the air. "As long as one is willing to work hard, anyone can earn contribution Points. The Points a normal adult earns in a day are enough to feed a family of four, making three meals a day here absolutely no problem."

It sounded like a beautiful form of egalitarianism, but in reality, it was a harsh system where labor was strictly bound to survival.

Cheng Ye withdrew his gaze. Although the Happiness Coins a worker in Happiness City earned each day were also only enough to buy nutrient paste for a family of four—making the outcome seem similar—the fundamental nature of the two was entirely different.

In this kind of self-sufficient community centered around agriculture, the so-called Points couldn't be considered wealth at all; they were merely basic vouchers for survival.

The moment one left this system, the Points in their hands would become utterly worthless, instantly reducing their net worth to zero.

Happiness Coins, however, were different. Even if someone left Shi Province and entered the territory of other shelter cities, they still possessed genuine purchasing power. The significance of the two currencies was worlds apart.

Continuing past the cafeteria, the path was lined with small buildings like a farm implement depot, a general store, and a repair shop. They were all ordinary facilities, offering nothing worthy of special attention.

Moving forward another seven or eight hundred meters, the group finally stepped into Twin Moon Lake's Phase Two residential area, where the surrounding atmosphere instantly became lively.

Figures bustled about in every courtyard. People were dressed in coarse cloth garments of various colors that had been washed until they were faded.

The men were mostly bare-chested, with sweat towels draped over their shoulders. Some crouched on their doorsteps, sharpening farming tools, while others gripped chipped porcelain cups, sitting on small folding stools and staring blankly at the ground, lost in who knew what thoughts.

There was no shortage of people clutching old radios, often surrounded by a dozen or so others, all with their heads tilted back, listening with rapt attention.

The women gathered in twos and threes in the spacious courtyards. Their hands deftly twisted grass ropes while they gossiped about domestic trivialities, occasionally letting out hearty bursts of laughter. It possessed a very comforting, lived-in feel.

Flocks of children chased each other and roughhoused in the gaps between the courtyards, their footsteps thumping against the stone-paved roads. Some squatted on the ground, clutching crude Grass Cards and slapping them against the dirt in competitive games, their crisp, ringing laughter echoing through the alleys.

Even after living in Happiness City for more than half a year, Cheng Ye had rarely witnessed such an unadulterated, wholesome scene.

In the eyes of these people, he saw a rare purity, a long-lost simplicity.

The atmosphere here couldn't help but remind him of the rural villages from the 1970s and 80s recorded in old video archives.

Aloof from the world, the relationships between neighbors were so pure they contained not a single trace of impurity.

Because they had little concept of the outside world, and the interior strictly enforced egalitarian distribution, everyone essentially had their desires passively suppressed.

And once people lacked excessive desires, they could naturally find peace in their current lives without constantly agonizing over how they would survive the days to come.

"Working hours in the Phase One residential area are twelve hours a day, while here in Phase Two, it's ten hours. So they've just finished their shifts. Most people take advantage of the time before dark to weave baskets or twist ropes as handicraft work to exchange for extra Points."

Wang Sheng's voice rang in his ears, but Cheng Ye hardly registered most of it.

Walking through these alleys, he suddenly understood why some people would choose to settle in a Gathering Place like this, rather than fleeing to a safer shelter city with a more promising environment.

Knowing when to retreat from the rapids was, in itself, a form of profound wisdom.

The Wasteland had thoroughly stripped away the complex integration of old-era society. It allowed Humans to rush forward, exhausting every ounce of their strength to pursue a superior life; it also permitted Humans to completely slow down, living days entirely aloof from the world.

Without highly centralized management, as long as these Small Gathering Places held steady Means of Production, they truly could live exceptionally comfortable lives.

Just like Twin Moon Lake. As long as they managed the surrounding farmlands well, ensured a steady output of agricultural crops, found a powerful "backer" for protection, and established a stable Resource trading channel, they would thrive. As long as they strictly controlled their population size, compelled everyone to follow the rules, and didn't encounter wide-scale natural disasters like the Void Mist, their days would be far more peaceful than in a shelter city.

Of course, for those who had seen the wider world, a place like this was nothing short of a different kind of "prison."

Past the Phase Two residential area lay the central heart of the entire Twin Moon Lake Gathering Place.

The various functional departments that managed the Gathering Place were scattered here. Just like in Dabo Town, they were mostly simple Bungalows, each handling different administrative affairs.

Only the central Lord's compound stood out as exceptionally conspicuous. Arranged in a triangular formation inside the courtyard were three two-story buildings, featuring Blue Bricks and dark tiles. They were significantly more structured and refined than the surrounding architecture.

As for the Phase Three residential area of the Gathering Place, it extended even further back from here.

Glancing at the specifications and style of the Phase Three area, Cheng Ye could roughly guess its purpose.

Those living in Phase Three were most likely people like Wang Sheng and Zhang Weidong—the individuals who wielded Power within the Gathering Place.

As the Lord's right and left hands, the lives of these fundamental backbone members had to be well-arranged for the entire Gathering Place to maintain stable operations.

Arriving in front of the Lord's compound, Wang Sheng quickened his pace, stepping up to the courtyard gate first. He turned sideways and made a welcoming gesture. "Inspector Cheng, Inspector Liu, everyone, please!"

The four of them stepped into the courtyard. Having barely taken two steps, they saw an emaciated middle-aged man leading a large group of people briskly out of the small building to welcome them.

Having seen the pictures in the files, Cheng Ye instantly recognized this middle-aged man as the Lord of the Gathering Place of Twin Moon Lake.

Zheng Dayou!

However, in the pictures, he had looked quite vigorous, radiating a scholarly aura. Seeing him in person now, Cheng Ye found his figure to be as thin as a withered log swept by the wind. His face was gaunt, his cheekbones protruded slightly, and his shoulders were hunched inward. His face bore an unconcealable exhaustion, clearly indicating he was severely overworked.