Wasteland Border Inspector

Within the pedestrian street, the terrain is complex and the alleys intertwine. Cheng Ye designated it as the final assault target.

He decided to prioritize clearing the fruit and vegetable market and the hotel.

As they advanced, the allure of over three hundred fresh meat was unimaginable. The infected bodies hidden deep in the alleys were drawn by the aroma, rushing out eagerly towards the team without needing any bait.

The outcome was predictable.

Contribution Points, usually hard to earn, had now become effortlessly simple.

Three drones hovered in the air, recording chacun's combat merits in real time.

The three hundred people in the mall, eyes red with fervor, did not wait for Cheng Ye's orders. They instinctively formed a battle formation to confront the enemy.

Whether with long knives slicing or guns firing.

Continuous alerts sounded and even before reaching the fruit and vegetable market, the information degree had astonishingly surpassed the 50% threshold!

"Form up, pull back!"

Upon reaching the market's edge, Cheng Ye shouted abruptly.

The scattered battle formation suddenly retracted like a tide. The three hundred people, initially fanned out, reformed into a circular defensive array in less than twenty seconds, with gun muzzles outward to create an impenetrable web of firepower.

"Meat, eat the meat!"

"Meat..."

Inside the fruit and vegetable market were mostly temporary shelters, as the rent was cheap, and most of the residents were newcomers to Happiness City, disorganized and unable to mount a defense.

The strong scent of living humans spread, and infected bodies began to charge out from the market entrance immediately.

"Open fire, shoot!"

As soon as the words were uttered.

Da... da-da-da...

Four machine guns roared to life, their muzzles spewing flames, sweeping like a lawn mower, felling over a hundred infected bodies in mere seconds.

"Cease fire, begin the sweep!"

The formation instantly dispersed, with eight people forming a squad, and three squads forming a group.

Cheng Ye didn't even need to take action personally; the team members methodically exterminated the remaining enemies. Each felled infected body translated into an exciting surge in information degree.

"Master!"

To his surprise, there were still survivors inside the market, who tumbled out, faces filled with relief at their narrow escape.

"Find a place to hide the bodies, any problem with that?"

"No, no problem!"

Cheng Ye initially thought not many people could have survived, but he soon discovered that each temporary shelter could accommodate more than a dozen people.

Soon enough, as many as two to three hundred people swarmed out, many clutching makeshift weapons like steel pipes and machetes.

Unfortunately, without a leader, they couldn't organize a defensive circle and could only passively await their doom in fear.

Cheng Ye scanned the crowd on tiptoes but couldn't locate Chu Yunfeng, likely indicating he wasn't there.

"Once you're done, move on, leave the cleanup to them."

"Understood."

After clearing the infected bodies in the vegetable market, Cheng Ye glanced at his panel, noting the information degree had already reached 86%.

By his previous estimate, they had already gathered enough, but as anticipated, further improvement became increasingly difficult.

Many infected bodies no longer increased the information degree, evidently due to redundant data collection.

"There's still the hotel and the pedestrian street; it should be enough!"

With ample weaponry and ammunition, ordinary infected bodies became mere Contribution Points.

Leaving the vegetable market.

Soon, the Hongguang Hotel was also cleared, much easier than the vegetable market.

The residents here were mostly veterans from old military units who had repurposed furniture and rebars into makeshift defensive installations, engaging in a stalemate with hundreds of infected bodies.

Additionally, many infected bodies had drifted over from Zone B-3 and lingered nearby in significant numbers.

When the team arrived, they merely needed to assist from the flanks, and dense firepower instantly shattered the infected tide.

"It's the brothers from Celestial Essence Mall!"

The two sides connected, and Long seemed quite familiar with the hotel leader, striking up a conversation while cleaning up the scene.

Cheng Ye, on the other hand, wandered among the infected bodies like a diligent bee, continuing to gather information degree.

From the initial 0.37 to now seeing 0.01 and 0.02, the data collected by ordinary people could no longer suffice for the Collector's requirements, with an occasional 0.05 sparking excitement.

Suddenly.

A 0.13 appeared, and before Cheng Ye could feel elation, a notification popped up on the panel.

[Intern Collector "Cheng Ye" has reached 95% information acquisition progress!]

"95%?"

Switching to the Collector interface, he saw that only a thin margin remained to be filled in.

Excitement surged in Cheng Ye's heart, dissipating some of the fatigue from staying up all night.

At this moment, it was already 2:41 AM.

More than two hours had passed since confronting the Fusion Body. The infection warning level in Zone B-7 on the 3D map had dropped to yellow, standing out amid the surrounding glaring red lights.

Once the final pedestrian street was cleared, they could declare the infection tide purged.

As he thought of the troublesome infection tide nearing its end, Cheng Ye couldn't help but yawn, feeling slightly weary.

However, these thoughts were expelled from his mind in the next moment.

"It's not over yet; that Fusion Body might ambush us at any time, I can't get drowsy."

He patted his cheeks and took out the blue bottle prepared by Master Tian, taking a deep inhale.

Satisfying!

A cool minty sensation surged to his brain, instantly dispelling the fatigue from staying up late.

It felt as invigorating as a good night's sleep, his mind clearer than ever.

"Master, sixty brothers from the hotel also wish to join us, to sweep the pedestrian street..."

Long approached, scratching his head, unsure how to explain, as the current danger was generally under control, and three hundred people were already more than enough. Adding one more person would mean splitting more Contribution Points.

Cheng Ye didn't mind this trivial amount, but just as he was about to nod and agree to expand the team further to reduce the probability of casualties.

Ding.

The Defense Communication suddenly rang.

Instinctively, he picked it up, thinking it was a peripheral infection tide warning, but the displayed information made him freeze.

[Happiness City Broadcast Central]

[Please note, an Advanced Fusion Body has bio-located you due to a strong obsession, marking you as evolutionary food. Please enter combat status immediately, with details on the Fusion Body synchronized below:]

[Advanced Fusion Body, fusion progress: 30%]

[Abilities mastered: Screaming Shock, Rapid Regeneration, Giant Force Rip, Shell Defense (click for details)]

[Current Status: Has deployed 2 Junior Fusion Bodies towards your location, it is advised to establish a defense line immediately and find cover to counterattack!]

[Note: Ensure to interrupt the Fusion Body's devour behavior; if you cannot prevent it from feeding, existing equipment analysis suggests you will be unable to inflict effective damage!]

"Hmm?"

"Am I really marked by it?"

...