Wasteland Border Inspector - Chapter 697

Chapter 697: Chapter 235: Epilogue, Luokuke’s “Death”! (2)

Cheng Ye gave a slight shake, shrinking his body back to its original height, and quickly reached the first level of the Cotton Room.

Just as he was about to leave through the breach, his gaze unintentionally swept over the Demon Eye Sponge in the corner, and he froze on the spot.

It’s gone!

There had clearly been three runes embedded in the Demon Eye Sponge’s body before, one large and two small.

But now, the large rune that had been emitting a ghostly blue halo had disappeared without a trace, leaving only two dim small runes embedded in the sponge’s body.

Did the Ten Thousand Orders Land Conch actively reclaim the rune?

Or had the Demon Eye Sponge’s energy become insufficient to sustain the operation of the large rune, forcing it to retract?

“Still have to raise my rank. If my rank went up one more level, maybe I could’ve recorded it.”

Cheng Ye let out a somewhat regretful sigh.

Fortunately, all of the Demon Eye Sponge’s traits had already been collected, including Water and Earth Element Cotton Pattern.

As long as he had enough energy later, he could completely materialize this large rune via intel exchange and record it, so it wasn’t a total waste.

As for rank.

Cheng Ye immediately called out the panel and switched to the personal page:

[Collector: Cheng Ye]

[Current Rank: Lv.2 Newcomer (91.3/100)]

[Life Tier: 2]

[Skills: Shrinking Earth Giant Louse*, Ze Ye Physique, Iron Body, Hundred Martial Students]

[Abilities]: Shrinking Earth Giant Louse Coexistence State* (Mature), Scorching Eagle Coexistence State (Shaped)

[Not yet unlocked]

[Evaluation: Life Tier…]

…

He was only 8.7 information points away from Lv.3—just one last push to break through!

And that didn’t even include the bonus from the two Tanming Runes on the back of his hand, nor the progress he’d gain from later containing the Ten Thousand Orders Land Conch fragments.

Once everything in the karst cave was wrapped up, he would most likely jump straight to Lv.3 and unlock more panel permissions.

Suppressing the anticipation in his chest, Cheng Ye gave the Demon Eye Sponge one last look, switched Iron Body into Fish Mimic State, and turned to step out through the Cotton Room’s breach.

The hundred remaining tentacles were all drooping to the ground, listless and feeble, looking like they had no vitality left.

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Cheng Ye pondered for a moment, and in the end didn’t make a move on the Demon Eye Sponge, instead floating up toward the surface.

Right now Tan Ming and the Ten Thousand Orders Land Conch were fighting fiercely in the karst cave, and the Demon Eye Sponge was the key carrier sealing the cave. If he messed with it and caused the carrier to collapse, the shockwaves of two Extraordinary monsters clashing would transmit to the surface.

That would truly be an unimaginable catastrophe; best not to create extra complications.

Just wait till the fight’s over, till they’ve contained the Ten Thousand Orders Land Conch’s fragments.

By then, with the Immortal Objects’ support gone, the Demon Eye Sponge wouldn’t be able to run even if it wanted to. It would have no choice but to stay underwater and let him harvest it; there was no need to take risks now.

He activated the buzzing acceleration energy, his body shooting forward like an arrow leaving the bowstring.

Only when his mouth and nose broke the surface and fresh air rushed into his lungs did he finally shake off that oppressive combat atmosphere completely.

Cheng Ye looked up, and saw that at the edge of the distant skyline, the setting sun was slowly sinking, orange-red clouds spilling across the water’s surface, even the ripples tinged with a layer of golden light.

Dozens of slightly mischievous black-and-white striped fish gathered into a school, leisurely swimming around him, suddenly adding a bit of vitality to the water.

He stared blankly for a moment; his eyes, which had been tense and rigid, gradually softened.

“Lived… another day!”

In this damned Wasteland, danger always descended without the slightest warning, never giving anyone a moment to prepare.

One second he was still planning the construction blueprint for Dapo Town, and the next he might be facing the threat of a Destruction Level infection source head-on.

Compared to that, the days in Happiness City before—even when he was on duty at the checkpoint dealing with sporadic Infected Bodies—had felt as relaxing as a vacation.

Facing the sunset, Cheng Ye took several deep breaths in a row, his nerves completely relaxing, his body instantly wrapped in a wave of laziness.

Endless exhaustion and fatigue surged through his mind in waves, his eyelids so heavy they were almost impossible to keep open.

From last night until now, he’d been going nonstop for more than half a day; both his mental and physical strength were exhausted to the limit.

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He floated on the water’s surface, letting the orange-red glow fall across his face, enjoying this rare moment of tranquility.

For this moment he didn’t have to think about the threat of infection sources, didn’t have to think about the headache of containing Immortal Objects, didn’t have to ponder shortcuts to increase his strength.

He just needed to sit quietly and feel the solidity of “being alive” itself, and a sense of Happiness unlike anything before rose up in him.

It wasn’t until the sun completely sank below the horizon, the sky wrapped in a familiar darkness, and a slightly cool evening breeze rippled across the water’s surface that he slowly swam toward the point where he’d entered the water.

After climbing ashore and taking just two steps up, he spotted Luokuke, who was leaning against the dock wall and snoring away.

Luokuke seemed to be having a nightmare; his brows were tightly furrowed, his lips trembling slightly, as if he was seeing something terrifying.

Cheng Ye deliberately increased the weight of his steps, the soles of his shoes making “pata, pata” sounds on the stone road.

Only then did Luokuke jerk awake, his hand instantly reaching for the short knife at his side. His eyes swept vigilantly around until he saw it was Cheng Ye approaching; only then did he let out a long breath and stagger to his feet with the support of the wall.

“Inspector Cheng, how’s the Immortal Objects under the water?” His voice was rough with sleep, but his eyes were locked tightly on Cheng Ye’s face, trying to catch the answer from his expression.

“Relax, everything’s fine.” Cheng Ye smiled, first reaching up to peel off the Obsidian Battle Armor on his body.

The layer of black film attached to his skin stripped away, and the world around him instantly became “real” again.

The damp smell in the air, the cold touch of the stone road beneath his feet, the sound of the river flowing in the distance, the clanging of tools from the residents—all of it flooded into his Perception, no longer as blurred as when he’d been wrapped in the Battle Armor.

He indulged in this sense of vividness a bit greedily, first stroking the bluestone wall beside him, then letting his fingertips brush over the cracks he himself had stomped out earlier, before continuing, “Tan Ming’s already fighting the Immortal Objects. Once they’re done, we’ll go down and contain it.”