Wasteland Border Inspector-Chapter 135 - 84: Post-Disaster Assembly, Will of the Elders! (Double-length)
With an unremarkable appearance, wearing a long robe washed to a faded white, sleeves neatly rolled up to his forearms, he looked less like someone wielding power and more like an ordinary school teacher.
But the moment he stepped into the conference room, everyone present stood up almost simultaneously, their gazes fixed on him, even their breathing seemed to slow by half a beat.
"Alright, everyone sit down."
The middle-aged man’s voice wasn’t loud, yet it carried an invisible penetrative force.
He walked straight to the head of the mahogany table and sat behind the nameplate inscribed with "Yuan Gang," lightly tapping the tabletop with his fingertips.
"The infection wave has just passed, let’s dispense with idle talk."
He raised his eyes towards the upper left side: "Hou Rui, report the data."
"Yes, Deputy City Lord."
Hou Rui, the spokesperson of the Technology Faction, immediately responded, pushing up the glasses on his nose and began to calmly enumerate the data.
Although everyone present had already speculated about the casualties, there was still a suppressed gasp when the death toll of 160,000 was mentioned, and many faces showed slight astonishment.
"Among them, 147,000 in the Buffer Zone, 14,000 in the Industrial Zone, and 129 in the Inner City."
Hou Rui’s voice was devoid of any emotion, as if he was reciting a string of cold numbers, "Currently, only 370,000 people remain in the Buffer Zone; due to the impact of the infection wave, it is estimated that 130,000 will migrate out, reducing the population to 240,000, about 280,000 fewer than before."
Hiss.
Another wave of inhaled breaths of shock ensued.
An infection wave had virtually exhausted the resources painstakingly saved over the years from the shadow of the Nightmare Leech.
"According to data verification, from June 6th to July 6th, there were 52 duty shifts by Inspectors at the inspection station, excluding repeats, this included 3 Fourth-stage Inspectors, 7 Third-stage Inspectors, 22 Second-phase Inspectors, 19 First-phase Inspectors, and 1 Intern Inspector."
After speaking.
Everyone in the room instinctively looked towards Ding Yishan.
The latter maintained a solemn expression, seemingly oblivious to the gazes cast his way, still staring at Hou Rui.
"According to inspection station internal regulations, personnel arrangements were proper and showed no anomalies."
"Records of the Stand-In Starfish mother source infected body’s entry were retrieved, confirming the bypasser was: Garcia."
"Further retrieval of Inspector Garcia’s records: On the evening of July 2nd at 18:41, a conflict occurred with Inspector Liu Bi, resulting in Garcia being beaten to a medical facility and still undergoing treatment."
"Retrieving Inspector Liu Bi’s records: On the morning of July 3rd at 06:45, conducted an external task arranged by Station Chief Ding Yishan, escorting resources to the hydroelectric station, currently still not returned from the hydroelectric station."
"The cause of the conflict between Liu Bi and Garcia is determined to be a verbal altercation. Tracing back, the issue arose when Inspector Cheng Ye, while negotiating with Garcia on exchanging inspection personnel, used Liu Bi as leverage to demand terms, causing resentment in Garcia, which later escalated into a direct conflict with Liu Bi."
"Retrieving Inspector Cheng Ye’s records: identified as an intern, entered the inspection station on April 27th to learn in succession of his father Cheng Long’s position, completed all assessments on June 13th, ranking second in the inspection station, second only to Deputy Chief Harlem. First duty location was the Central Inspection Station, currently serving at the North Rapid Inspection Station."
"Duty records are as follows: ...no anomalies."
"Comprehensive inspection found no direct association between Intern Inspector Cheng Ye, Second-phase Inspector Garcia, Fourth-stage Inspector Liu Bi, and the Stand-In Starfish infected body’s intrusion. Ultimately characterized as: an accidental event."
As he finished speaking, the room fell silent for a few seconds. Ding Yishan’s fingers under the table slightly loosened.
The words "accidental event" temporarily relieved the inspection station from halt.
But he knew, this was just the beginning.
Sure enough, as soon as Hou Rui finished, the bald-headed member of the Extraordinary Faction questioned, "Station Chief Ding, what is your inspection station doing, with the internal Inspectors fighting each day, even sending someone to the medical facility, how are you conducting your work effectively?"
"This is my responsibility, a negligence in work, for which I deeply reflect."
Ding Yishan stood up, bowed, "Thank you for your criticism, Director Carl Dickinson, I will prioritize mental and civil education in the station moving forward, strictly preventing such incidents from occurring."
"Hmph."
The other party snorted coldly, but seemed unsure how to continue confronted by Ding Yishan’s attitude.
Once Ding Yishan sat down, Hou Rui continued reporting the data.
Compared to the Buffer Zone’s casualties, the Industrial Zone fared slightly better, but still lost a large number of experienced skilled workers.
"By the end of the summer production task, it is anticipated that the Industrial Zone will lose 37,000 workers."
"Very serious." Yuan Gang suddenly spoke with a flat but unyielding tone, "We must retain these people!"
He swept his eyes across the room, his face showing indifference, "It doesn’t matter if everyone in the Buffer Zone leaves, there will always be newcomers joining, but we cannot afford to lose a single one of these workers we’ve spent so many years training in the Industrial Zone."
After speaking.
The room was momentarily silent, then voices began to rise one after another, with many standing up to propose:
"Deputy City Lord, I propose we immediately allocate emergency funds to the Buffer Zone, commence large-scale reconstruction of Area A, assign new residences to workers, and lay heating pipes in advance to cope with winter temperatures..."
"Deputy City Lord, I suggest establishing large medical institutions in the worker residential area to comprehensively improve medical and rescue mechanisms, fundamentally relieving their concerns..."
"Deputy City Lord, I propose significantly increasing worker salaries while cutting Inspector salaries as a warning; this reflects our determination in Happiness City for rewarding merit and penalizing mistakes, and can pacify worker sentiment!"
"Deputy City Lord, I propose..."
