Boom!
Electric serpents slithered as rain fell like pearls.
The longer the warm and humid air brewed, the fiercer the storm when it finally condensed into a downpour.
In the late night, Cheng Ye suddenly woke up with a jolt, leaping up like a fish and using his mind to retrieve the pendant that was charging.
"Is it... a blackout?"
The sudden alarm from the Collector made Cheng Ye initially think a thief had snuck in.
Luckily, after checking the panel, it was just a notification of paused energy input.
Snap!
He reached out to pull the lamp cord by the bed, but there was no response, likely because the entire line was dead.
Cheng Ye picked up the Defense Communication device by his pillow and glanced at it; it was four minutes to six.
So, he decided not to go back to sleep, got dressed, and got out of bed.
"Oh my god, what a downpour!"
He glanced out the window and was immediately stunned.
The rain curtain covered the sky, forming a white line far more extravagant than any storm he had ever seen.
It had been only six or seven hours, yet the courtyard of the electronics factory community was already flooded past one's calves.
In the darkness, one could see a dozen people with flashlights clearing the drainage in the yard.
Unfortunately, it was to little effect, as the streets outside the community were similarly flooded with water.
Wow.
It was like a small river was wantonly flowing down the street, carrying leaves and debris along its way.
As the storm washed over, the usual façade of harmony in the Buffer Zone peeled away, revealing old and mottled ruins beneath.
After all, this was ultimately the architectural ruins of a civilization from a century ago.
When it was planned and built back then, no designer could have foreseen that a hundred years later, this land would draw in multiple times the population initially expected to settle and live.
"If I ever have the ability to build a settlement, I'll ensure proper drainage from the very start."
Dreaming, Cheng Ye thought, his mind wandering far away.
If not for having glimpsed the tip of the iceberg of Extraordinary Powers, discovering the wonders hidden beneath the ruins of the Wasteland World, he would surely have spent his entire life nestled in the role of Inspector, locking down the iron rice bowl of Happiness City!
But now that he knows, how could he be content to stay here?
Even in death, he would rather die on the road to seek Extraordinary Power and pursue freedom.
Rubbing the edge of the pendant, Cheng Ye summoned the panel, and the charging value in the upper right corner had just surpassed 50% before the power outage.
This meant that if he found a target along the fast track, he would always have an opportunity to enhance his power again.
...
Seven o'clock.
The downpour eased a bit, but the flooding got worse.
Cheng Ye put on a raincoat and wrapped another layer of tape around the edge of his high-waist rain boots, preventing water from flowing in.
However, no one expected that the first step downstairs would land him directly into a pit deep enough to reach his knees.
"Damn!"
Old buildings like these tube-shaped apartments loved having high thresholds at the entrance.
This resulted in water getting in and unable to escape, only accumulating more and more, eventually submerging the first-floor steps and turning it into a fish pond.
"Haha, buddy, I was just about to warn you."
A man dashed out from behind the security door by the stairs, carrying a blue plastic water bucket.
Cheng Ye craned his neck to see — good heavens, this guy's house was almost turning into a fish pond, yet he could still laugh.
"Flooding means no work today, and we still get paid!"
The man seemed to notice Cheng Ye's confusion and immediately explained, "Also, I heard the Inner City's engineering team is discussing renovations on buildings like our tube apartments after the downpour."
"Renovations?"
Apart from tearing it down and rebuilding, Cheng Ye doubted renovations would make the tube apartments much better.
But if they could repair the drainage pipes, renovate the power facilities, and preferably swap out everyone's wiring with six-square-meter wires, that would be fantastic!
"You going to work? Here, I'll carry you out!"
Seeing Cheng Ye's dilemma standing at the staircase, the man put down the bucket and walked over.
"No need to be polite with me, Old Sun — we live in the same building. Besides, even if you're going to work, you're contributing to the Buffer Zone, far better than us drawing idle paychecks."
Referring to drawing idle paychecks, Cheng Ye felt as if Old Sun was quite proud of himself.
"Thanks, then!"
"Stop hemming and hawing, hop on."
Carrying Cheng Ye on his back, the man walked out of the community, one step deep, one step shallow.
When they reached the entrance, the water at the highest point had already risen past Cheng Ye's thighs, leaving yellow mud below the knees.
"I'm off; if you come back tonight, I'll carry you again."
Leaving these words, Old Sun splashed his way back.
Watching his gusty and fiery silhouette, Cheng Ye suddenly felt that maybe the hearts of people in the Wasteland weren't as bad as he thought.
The bad ones might be worse, but good people hadn't completely disappeared.
Meanwhile,
"Oh my goodness, my dear mother, be gentle, don't knock my shelf over!"
Uncle Dong's voice pierced through the rain.
Cheng Ye tiptoed to take a look and saw that the water in the small shop had already reached the workers' calves. Four or five workers were hunched over, scooping water out with basins.
Someone's elbow accidentally struck the shelf against the wall, causing plastic bottles and cans to clatter to the floor. Uncle Dong was heartbroken, patting his leg and stomping his feet, ready to rush in for rescue.
"Uncle Dong, I say, with your old arms and legs, stay out of it."
Cheng Ye walked over and grabbed the old man.
"Otherwise, if you fall or get hurt, the money you'd spend at the health center would be more than what you'd earn from selling these things."
"Cheng..."
Uncle Dong turned his head, his slightly graying hair stuck to his forehead, looking like a drenched old hen.
"If it weren't for my vigilance last night with this strange rain, I might have drowned in this shop."
"That serious?"
"I was organizing goods in the basement, dozed off a bit as I was tired, and the water started pouring in within seconds. It almost reached my neck!"
The shops at the entrance of the workers' residential area all share an old style, each having a basement for storage.
Cheng Ye's eyelid twitched, and he exclaimed, "You'd better stop using the basement. If you don't have a place to stay today, come to my place?"
"How could that work? If I don't watch over the store, I won't be able to sleep."
Uncle Dong shook his head and pulled out half a box of Nutrient Paste from the rescued goods beside him.
"Thirty packs, new stock that just arrived yesterday, kept for you. If this strange rain continues, people will go crazy snatching this stuff."
"Thanks."
Cheng Ye opened the box, packed the Nutrient Paste into his backpack, and handed over a handful of 10 denomination coins.
A pack of Nutrient Paste now costs 2 Happiness Coins, and the handful of coins he had easily amounted to twelve or thirteen.
Uncle Dong, unusually, did not haggle.
With a natural disaster like the heavy rain, the price of Nutrient Paste would only rise, and hoarding some to resell at five coins a pack wasn't hard.
More importantly, sometimes, even if you have money, you might not be able to buy any after the looting!
Indeed, as Cheng Ye walked to the North Inspection Station, there were long queues in front of the shops selling Nutrient Paste.
Unfortunately, he didn't see Chu Yunfeng's family; he didn't know if they had found a place to stay and stockpiled Nutrient Paste.
"Oh well, why did I think of Chu Yunfeng just after gathering a chance to search?"
Cheng Ye was somewhat tempted.
Compared to trying his luck at the inspection station, taking advantage of Chu Yunfeng, this golden legend, was more enticing!
Among the 13 lv.1 skills, excluding the non-combat ones he doesn't need for now, just the names of [Basic Perception] and [Quick Draw] suggested they were very practical.
However, he clearly understood that given this family's vigilance, without a legitimate reason, it was unlikely to achieve a 50% collaboration rate if he went to find them.
The best way was to wait for the next encounter at the inspection station.
Cheng Ye had a hunch that with Chu Yunfeng's ability, he wouldn't be content doing hard labor in the Buffer Zone forever. Regardless of whether he could support a family, given the direction things were heading...
"Prices have gone up, prices have gone up, Nutrient Paste is now 5 coins a pack!"
There were shouts from the roadside as scalpers who had sniffed out the rain opportunity were cornered on the streets, already selling Nutrient Paste at high prices.
Someone grumbled and squeezed out from the queue, ultimately forced to grit their teeth and buy a crumpled package from a scalper at more than double the price.
They had no choice; the demand for Nutrient Paste was too high, and with its low unit price, it's hard to infuse it with high-tech advancements.
In the heat, its shelf life is a maximum of five days, and a day is already lost during transport from factory to Buffer Zone distributors.
Most people, after a day of hard labor, neither have the energy nor extra resources to stockpile in advance.
Due to this, any kind of natural disaster in the Buffer Zone immediately causes price fluctuations.
"Shouldn't Happiness City authorities intervene, round up these damned scalpers, and deal with them!"
"Exactly! These profiteers making a fortune off disasters, don't let me catch you in the ruins!"
"You're naïve; where do you think these scalpers get their goods from?"
"Where else? Surely not handed over by the officials of the Supplies Department?"
"If you say that, you're new here. Remember, in the Buffer Zone, you can eat recklessly but can't speak recklessly. If the guards hear you, they won't waste time dragging you into the Security Office for a beating."
"...."
Cheng Ye moved quickly through the crowd, surrounded by clamors and discussions.
For some reason, when he thought about going to the Quick Inspection Station yesterday, he was apprehensive but now felt uncontainable excitement.
Especially when hearing and seeing the refugees, their frustrations, disappointment, curses, and defeat!
He increasingly felt the resignation of adapting to circumstances that belonged to the civilized times, not competing or striving, quickly fading from his genes with each step towards the North Inspection Station.
Replacing it, the ferocity and daredevil courage of the Wasteland were awakening in his bloodline.
The reality here is not one where everyone has hope or a new era where civilization is reviving.
It is a kill-or-be-killed battle where the strong attempt to dominate everything in this Extraordinary Wasteland era!
"The Collector opened an upward path for me, giving me the potential to continuously grow stronger."
"Brother B protected me during my most vulnerable time, giving me the capability to stand firm."
"Now!"
"It's finally time for this world to welcome me!"
...