Wasteland Border Inspector - Chapter 774

Chapter 774: Chapter 257: Recruiting Allies, Charging Pile!

Celestial Essence Mall.

The three Elders had just finished discussing the latest changes in the Buffer Zone and were sitting around sipping hot water to take a break.

Cheng Ye was holding his Defense Communication device, calling each of his acquaintances to report his safety, his tone light and casual.

“Sir, Hou Genbao is here.” Er Long tiptoed over, lowering his voice to report.

“Hey, Sister Luo, I’ve got some official business to handle, don’t worry, I’ll definitely come see you by this afternoon, or at the latest, tomorrow!”

Cheng Ye quickly explained a couple of things into the phone, hung up, and then turned to look at the passageway leading to the mall entrance.

Sure enough, three figures were striding quickly towards them.

Long walked on the left, Huang Yong guarded the right, and sandwiched in the middle must be the Yongxing Community’s district director, Hou Genbao.

Cheng Ye discreetly observed the approaching people.

In his forties, his face revealed a heavy weariness, and his height wasn’t particularly remarkable, approximately five feet and nine inches, with a slightly hunched build, wearing a simple yet efficient short-sleeved shirt and jeans, giving off a clean and neat appearance.

His walking gait was steady, with firm footsteps, and Cheng Ye could tell at a glance that the man had probably developed a Martial Body and grasped the basics of the Four Forces, although he hadn’t fully opened his Tendon Gate, yet his strength was still impressive among ordinary people.

The surprising thing was that Hou Genbao had styled his hair into a slicked-back pompadour, giving off a vibe reminiscent of the “God of Gamblers” Chow Yun-fat.

“Interesting.”

Cheng Ye found it amusing; this was the first person he’d met in the Wasteland who paid so much attention to appearance, almost to the point of being flashy.

More importantly, although Hou Genbao seemed to keep his head low and his posture very humble, his eyes were subtly scanning the interior environment of the mall and even sneaked several glances at him.

His demeanor was completely different from the law-abiding residents of Celestial Essence Community, clearly not someone content with the status quo and averse to risk.

“Elder, I liked him at first sight.” Cheng Ye turned to smile at Elder Song.

“Oh? Is that so?” Elder Song chuckled pleasantly, his eyes full of approval, “Inspector Cheng, it seems you’ve truly honed your skill in recognizing and discerning people.”

“Brother Cheng, what did you see in him?” Wang Kang, standing beside, asked curiously, following Cheng Ye’s gaze towards Hou Genbao with a look full of inquiry.

Cheng Ye’s lips slightly curved up, and he uttered, “Ambition.”

Ambition?

Wang Kang pondered these two words carefully, scrutinizing the approaching Hou Genbao again, observing his seemingly deferential yet subtly assessing demeanor, his gaze flickering, gradually seeming to understand something.

When the three of them drew nearer, Long gave a gentle nod.

Hou Genbao immediately stepped forward, his face adorned with a respectful smile, slightly bowing to greet, “Inspector Cheng, hello!”

“Hmm, take a seat.” Cheng Ye pointed to the chair opposite, his tone calm and unfluctuating.

“Thank you, Inspector Cheng.” Hou Genbao responded promptly, gingerly seating himself, barely touching the edge of the chair, his body kept ramrod straight, appearing both constrained and tense.

As he sat down, he quickly glanced at Cheng Ye from the corner of his eye, his heart inevitably shaking.

The rumors about this young Inspector Cheng were indeed true, at most only in his early twenties, truly alarmingly young!

However, not entirely accurate, many said this inspector was rather lean and muscular.

Yet the arms in front of him were thick like columns, almost bursting out of the short sleeves, the muscle definition stark, exuding an explosive sense of strength.

What’s more, what unsettled Hou Genbao was the faint aura emanating from Cheng Ye.

Intangible yet overwhelmingly oppressive, it kept him on edge, akin to being stalked by a lurking Mutant Beast, even his breathing subconsciously lightened.

However, what genuinely startled him almost out of his chair was the first thing they spoke of.

“I asked the police department, they say Yongxing’s main business is shady dealings, bringing in about four to five thousand Happiness Coins each month?” Cheng Ye’s voice remained level, yet it struck Hou Genbao’s ears like a thunderclap.

“Uh…” Cold sweat instantly broke out on Hou Hou Genbao’s forehead, his face turning slightly pale, quickly waving his hands to argue, “Inspector Cheng, this… this is a misunderstanding! Our Yongxing just does some small business of second-hand appliance repair, there’s no illicit profit to be made.”

“No need to rush to cover it up.”

Cheng Ye interrupted him, pushing the Defense Communication device in his hand forward, the screen facing Hou Genbao, “See for yourself, what’s on it, isn’t this what Yongxing’s been doing?”

[March 12th, smuggling a batch of refurbished electronic components (including old radios, modified circuit boards totaling 12 boxes), contact person ‘Old Ghost’, received 3,800 Coins]

[April 27th, Yongxing Community illicitly sold controlled communication equipment (modified walkie-talkies 30 units, signal jammers 5 sets), smuggled out manually, received 5,200 Coins]

[May 21st, Yongxing Community secretly purchased and resold stolen industrial raw materials (8 rolls of copper core cable, several aluminum alloy profiles), delivery contact driver ‘Li’, cash settlement 4,500 Coins]

[June 19th…]

[…]

Line after line of clear records scrolled across the Defense Communication screen.

Hou Genbao couldn’t restrain himself any longer and suddenly stood up from the chair, his face immediately turning ashen white.

These were all secrets hidden deep within Yongxing, even if the smuggled goods were caught, he had ways to bluff his way through, but how was it that even the names of contacts and transaction amounts were recorded so clearly?

Moreover, for Inspector Cheng to present such detailed records, is he intending to use official means to thoroughly investigate Yongxing?