Cave Refuge

Sensing the commotion here, the Government Officials who had just brought people over immediately stepped forward to suppress it.

Those Government Officials, who had appeared genteel before, didn't say a word upon seeing the ringleader. They struck the non-lethal areas of his body, then promptly seized him, stuffed something in his mouth to prevent him from speaking, and quickly dragged him away from the area.

Their actions, smooth as flowing water, made everyone understand that these Patrol Team Officials must have dealt with such situations more than once, to be able to resolve it so quickly and efficiently.

Even though those Officials had swiftly taken the troublesome ringleader away, all of the survivors originally in line for registration began to look increasingly hesitant.

Without mentioning anything else, just seeing the Officials' clean and efficient handling method made it clear that such incidents were not uncommon here; otherwise, the Officials wouldn't have had such an indifferent expression that seemed so accustomed to the situation.

Noticing the somewhat fearful look on the faces of other survivors present, the Officials in charge of registration seemed used to this and spoke in a very calm tone to explain,

"The Officials do not force anyone coming here for registration to hand over their food, but if you choose to offer your own food supplies, these will be returned to you in the form of Contribution Points at a corresponding rate.

Surely you must be aware that simply obeying the summoning order and coming here does not mean that the Officials will provide you with shelter and food for free. What is currently in place is a work-for-aid system, where working on time every day earns you Contribution Points that can be used to purchase various foods and other supplies from the logistics department.

I know that some of you may have paid a heavy price to get here, so for those seekers who are truly in difficulty, we will provide a minimum guarantee no-interest loan of one hundred Contribution Points. These hundred Contribution Points, if you use them sparingly, are enough to buy you the basic resources to survive for ten days.

In order to prevent some from flipping goods for a profit, all personal buying and selling of goods is prohibited in the city until it is repaired.

To ensure that the city's repairs are completed as soon as possible, the Officials are enforcing strict control over the city's resources.

So here I remind you again, the various goods you bring from outside, if you don't want to hand them over to the Officials, that's fine, but once you register with me here, you cannot trade them within the city.

The troublemaker just now, perhaps it was for this reason that he had such a big reaction—he very likely could have been a scalper before the Natural Disaster struck.

Well, I won't say much else. If you accept these terms, you may continue to line up here for registration. But if you do not wish to accept the terms set by the Officials, you are free to leave this place directly, as the Officials will not obstruct you in any way."

Upon hearing the words of the person in charge of registration, the somewhat restless crowd suddenly fell silent. Though he stated that registration was voluntary, at this moment, those under the eaves had no choice but to bow their heads.

His words sounded good—stay or leave, it's all voluntary—but they had all come to this place, and outside there were Patrol Team Officials everywhere. Anyone with sense knew that the promises given were really just to be heard.

In the end, with no other options, people could only resign themselves to continue lining up. Only when order had been restored did those in charge of registration return to their seats to continue with the work of registering.

Perhaps it was due to what had just taken place, but the efficiency of the registration process increased significantly, and soon it was Dong Tianyu's turn to register.

The registration process was exceedingly simple. Dong Tianyu simply answered whatever the Official asked, who in turn didn't delve deeply and hastily completed the registration form.

The Official handling Dong Tianyu's registration, upon noticing the bulging backpack behind him, immediately spoke up, "Comrade, could you please open the backpack you're carrying? The Officials will reclaim the supplies inside according to a specific ratio."

Following the incident earlier, Dong Tianyu had gained a general understanding of the situation here. Therefore, before opening the backpack, he specifically retrieved most of the Food Bricks back into his Storage space.

The backpack, which appeared bulging from the outside, actually contained not much food but instead some worn clothing.

Seeing only a few Food Bricks and some tattered clothes in Dong Tianyu's backpack, the Official waved him off, "With so little, you can't exchange for many Contribution Points, so you might as well keep it. If you don't get enough to eat while working, you can use this food to supplement yourself.

I'm going to help you with an interest-free loan of Contribution Points. You'll start with one hundred Contribution Points. When you work and Contribution Points are distributed each time, they will be deducted at a fixed ratio. Don't worry, only up to five percent will be deducted at most each time. Although it will take longer, it won't affect your normal life at least.

Of course, if you want to settle the account quickly, you can also come to me to process it once you've saved up enough Contribution Points to repay it at once.

But remember, you can only come here for a one-time repayment if you have enough Contribution Points to settle the amount in full. Also, a word of caution—the Officials will distribute welfare only to those on the no-loan list. So, if possible, it's best to repay the loan as soon as you can."

Hearing the friendly reminder from the Official handling the registration, Dong Tianyu smiled and nodded. When he saw that the Official didn't confiscate all the Food Bricks upon finding only a few in his backpack, Dong Tianyu understood that the Officials were in control here and thus maintained certain standards.

After completing the registration, the Official gestured for Dong Tianyu to take out his communication tool. When the Official saw that Dong Tianyu produced what was once the most expensive tablet, his face immediately showed sympathy.

Logically speaking, survivors possessing such costly tablets as communication tools were unlikely to be in straits like Dong Tianyu's. But unpredictability was the norm during a Natural Disaster, and anything could happen.

Since everything was uniformly produced by the Imperial Court, authentication of communication tools was convenient: "Your identity information is now bound to your communication tool. Be sure to take good care of it. Even though identity information can be reissued if lost, Contribution Points aren't transferable.

Also, most importantly, whether it is to purchase supplies or for salary disbursement after you work, nearly all transactions are done electronically through communication tools. If you accidentally lose it, your life will become very troublesome."

Hearing this reminder, Dong Tianyu nodded earnestly.

Then, following the Official's directions, Dong Tianyu left the place and headed to a notice board not far from there.

Having experienced the corrosive winds, Dong Tianyu expected to find a wooden notice board, but to his surprise, the board erected on the ground was a massive LCD screen.

At that moment, the screen continuously scrolled information, with half of it incessantly announcing the recruitment locations and salary packages for various projects and the other half introducing some of the public facilities that were now operational in the city and their specific locations.

The rest of the public facilities weren't significant. What caught Dong Tianyu's attention the most was that the shared charging stations were now fully operational, providing charging services to most electronic devices.