Chapter 498: Chapter 181: Facing the Future, Competing Ideals!_2

He paused for a moment and added, "I don’t know if the rules allow me to work alongside you?"

"No need to work. The test certainly won’t openly distinguish between groups of people."

Cheng Ye couldn’t help but laugh, "As for whether we suffer losses or not, it ultimately depends on how well you and I command and whether the family we choose is capable, whether they are willing to rely on their own hands to fight for it."

While talking, the two had reached the entrance of the mall.

On this special day, Er Long finally shed the roughness of his usual sleeveless tank top and changed into a neat long gown.

To be honest, at first glance, there is an air of scholarly refinement about him.

Seeing the two approaching, he quickly came up to greet them: "Sir, the elders have all risen, and the manpower is ready too."

"Hmm, not bad!"

Cheng Ye nodded and walked into the mall with Wang Kang.

The elders were seated in the central open area on the first floor, below which three hundred militia were lined up neatly, everyone dressed in clean black long gowns with short knives at their left waists and pistols hanging on the right.

This formation, if the short knives were replaced with axes, would really not be much different from the Axe Gang in the movies.

"Inspector Cheng." The two walked along the edge of the formation to the front of the platform, where the three elders stood up simultaneously and nodded slightly.

"Today, I will need the help of the three elders."

"Rest assured, your matter is our matter, it’s the community’s matter," Elder Song was the first to express.

Today, he wore a black Zhongshan suit; although his figure was thin, he exuded a unique spirit.

Elder He and Elder Zhou, on the other hand, changed into brand-new deep green pioneer military uniforms, exhibiting their veteran calmness unmistakably.

Though they were there to support Cheng Ye, it was also the first time in over a decade that they stood in front of the platform again.

"Time flies so fast," Elder Song exclaimed, "The last time we stepped out of Shelter City was nine years ago... Didn’t expect that one day we could leave the city so grandly, even if I die tomorrow, this old thing would have no regrets."

"Isn’t that right." Elder He also laughed, raising his hand to touch the pioneer badge on his uniform, "We two didn’t expect that there would still be a day we could wear this outfit and show off outside."

He had four badges on his chest, while Elder Zhou had only two.

Seeing Cheng Ye looking over, Elder He deliberately pinched a badge to show, "This one is from the year of the big flood when the floating bridge we built was about to collapse, and I took the lead in stabilizing the bridge’s foundation and eventually led people to preserve the bridge, for which the domain overseer specially awarded me this badge!"

The badge was not large, about the size of a resident badge of Happiness City.

It shone with a bluish-green hue, with the three big characters "Second-Class Merit" engraved on the front and two lines of small characters on the back:

[Flood Relief, Shielding Bridge with One’s Body]

"Don’t get too cocky," Elder Zhou deliberately teased sourly, "Showing off to everyone, who knows if the refugees outside will even recognize it!"

The remark made Elder He laugh heartily, and the atmosphere also lightened up.

After a few jokes, Cheng Ye turned his head to the three hundred militia and raised his voice to ask, "Is everyone ready?"

"Ready!" came the chorus from below in unison, though not as synchronized as imagined, having trained for a week this outcome was already quite good.

Cheng Ye didn’t expect to train an elite force with his abilities alone.

For training troops, eventually, he needed to find a talent to help handle it for him, now... it couldn’t be rushed.

"Very good, everyone is full of spirit, I hope we can maintain it throughout the day."

Cheng Ye’s eyes scanned across the faces, filled with satisfaction.

What is the ideology?

Saying it out loud is also a kind of ideology.

Showing it through actions is also a kind of ideology.

This is not a university club recruiting, setting up a table and shouting benefits, making empty promises, and the college students rushing over for a few credits.

In the wasteland, there’s really only one ideology that works.

How to let people follow you and survive!

What he needed to do was to lead these three hundred militia, and the three elders, to demonstrate his ideology.

As for whether anyone would say he was breaking the rules?

They could go and speak to the Elders about it.

He was taking the Idealist Faction route of uniting communities, if even this wasn’t allowed, then what was the point of promoting ideology.

Moreover, not all other inspectors would be as honest as those who randomly select people for assessment.

No doubt, someone has already secretly done some manipulation, gathered enough information to know what to choose.

These people are the more violating group, but to be serious, isn’t this also part of an inspector’s ability?

After inspecting the manpower, Cheng Ye turned to the alley behind the community that had been converted into a parking lot.

All vehicles were wiped clean, even the tires were brushed shiny.

Long was standing on the car roof tidying things, with Master Tian lending a hand beside him. Seeing Cheng Ye approach, the two quickly jumped off the car.

"Master Tian, today I need to trouble you to lead the team driving to help us make an impression."

"Inspector Cheng, those words sound too polite." Master Tian touched the back of his head with a simple laugh, "I happen to be off today, and it counts as experiencing the world outside."

Long quickly followed, "Sir, the supplies and slogans are ready, should we put them up now?"

"No hurry, find a place to put them up after we leave the city."

"All right!"

In addition to manpower, vehicles are also crucial.

Most other inspectors probably thought spending money on vehicles was a waste, while those Fourth-phase Inspectors with trade caravans were far away and couldn’t make it back.

At this time, it was the best moment to showcase this part of his advantage.

For residents of the Buffer Zone, these vehicles were rarely seen, let alone for refugees outside.

When the cars drive out and the slogans are put up, they will surely be the focal point of attention.

Moreover, these vehicles are the basis for the future Dapo Town, not a deliberate show-off.

"Manpower and vehicles are to let others see the benefits of following us."

Cheng Ye’s voice shifted, "But more important is to show off the advantages of Dapo Town, this is the highlight."

He brought the somewhat bewildered Wang Kang back to the small shop, pulled open the rolling door, and after rummaging under the shopfront counter, he pulled out dozens of rolled-up posters.

To prevent leaks, he hand-drew all these over the past few days, with no involvement from outsiders.

Although his drawing level was only middle school standard, under the boost of Action Points, he accurately showed the effect he wanted.

Signaled Wang Kang to lend a hand, they pasted the posters one by one on the empty wall of the shop.

The colorful posters were especially eye-catching.

"Brother Cheng, this is..." Wang Kang’s eyes were fixed in astonishment.

"Engineering plans." Cheng Ye replied simply, for the first time, a hint of a reassuring smile broke on his face, which had been placid since the inspection began.

Designing the construction plan for Dapo Town requires far more than just one architectural plan.

This is not modern times, with layers of approval and strict adherence to the plans.

In the wasteland, the emphasis is on flexible adaptation.

Today lacking materials, tomorrow changing demands; there are no immutable plans.

So the architectural plan is merely for passing the assessment, with little meaning to outsiders.

What truly can move the refugees is letting them see the future at a glance.

Would other inspectors think of this layer?

Looking at Wang Kang’s shocked expression, Cheng Ye already had the answer in his heart.

The top half of each poster is his hand-drawn representation of the current state of Dapo Town:

Muddy rural roads, a town turned into ruins, the distinct White Water River and Yellow River, and the desolate surrounding wilderness.

The lower half shows the appearance after engineering transformations:

The rural roads widened into cement roads, with large clearings on both sides, set with sections of emergency rest points.

The ruins were torn down and rebuilt, with buildings rising on the surface, including floor plans, aerial views, frontal views...

There is no data on any of the posters, only images.

River channel reforms, fishery openings, and even hydroelectric stations were drawn into them.

Of course, the most magnificent thing is placed centrally on all posters, occupying four panels’ worth of space—a magnificent building.

Dabo Inspection Station!

This is a large inspection station no less in scale than the Central Inspection Station, angular and with a sense of reassuring solidity.

Standing in front of the already formed Dapo Town, like a majestic pass, seemingly able to block all Infected Bodies.

"They might talk about ideology, resources, experience, and their past accomplishments."

"These, we do not have."

Cheng Ye pointed at the poster, his voice still steady, "But what I want to tell them is the future."

"A future that can be seen with the eyes and touched with the hands... a future!"

...