Chapter 506: Chapter 184: Population Ratios, Dilemma of Choices! (Part 2)

It seems that those three volumes of posters gave Wang Kang some confidence, and indeed there was no panic in him at all.

Looking further down the first two rows, the Third-Phase and Fourth-Phase Inspectors were all eerily calm.

In contrast, most of the First-Phase and Second-Phase inspectors beside them looked grim and couldn’t hide their anxiety.

It wasn’t surprising, as Inspectors from the Third-Phase and above had survived the era of great expansion and had experience in leading construction efforts. A practical field test could actually showcase their strengths.

Meanwhile, many of the First-Phase and Second-Phase inspectors had gradually risen after the end of the great expansion era. The Academy Faction in the East, for instance, was eloquent in theory, but in actual practice, they were often found lacking.

But looking at the Westerners’ side of the First-Phase and Second-Phase inspectors, their performance wasn’t much better.

After all, they weren’t leading a group of one or two hundred, but at least five hundred from the start. Even with a partner, it was a situation they had never experienced, and it was hard to avoid feeling flustered.

"Brother Cheng, this is our advantage."

Seeing Cheng Ye looking at him, Wang Kang turned his head and lowered his voice, barely containing his excitement, "During the community’s construction phase before, I dealt with at least seven to eight hundred people daily, these five hundred... not a problem at all."

At this point, the advantage of the Idealist Faction’s route became evident.

Cheng Ye nodded slightly, a hint of approval flashing in his eyes.

Although the refugees outside were not as obedient as those in the Celestial Essence Community, the means they could employ were different, and the management style could be stricter.

But just as the thought arose, new issues surfaced.

If it was merely about competitive confrontation, choosing families would be a clear disadvantage. When facing tasks requiring heavy labor, they would almost be unable to perform.

After all, children counted as heads, and it wasn’t as straightforward as picking five hundred young and strong individuals.

But on second thought, Cheng Ye ruled out this possibility.

The so-called initial scores were likely not fixed but determined by the profile of the selected population.

Otherwise, all the Satellite Cities would compete for the young and strong, and it would be better to distribute the same population to each group directly.

Since it’s about leading construction, the core purpose of the Satellite City is also to accommodate refugees. Therefore, choosing the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled should warrant compensation, or no Satellite City would be willing to accept such populations.

Moments later.

Most of the inspectors in the field had finished reviewing the materials and were whispering to each other. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Ding Yishan coughed, and Harlem quickly got the hint, standing up to maintain order: "Silence!"

As the words fell, the room instantly quieted down.

"The standard for practical assessments has been clearly communicated to you all, and now we officially enter the assessment phase."

Harlem’s voice rang through the hall via the microphone.

"The inspection station has completed preliminary preparations for each of you inspectors, designating 20,000 refugees available for selection. All refugees volunteered to participate in this assessment, and inspectors only need to enter the formation area to filter personnel. After the assessment ends, related compensation will be uniformly paid by the inspection station."

"Now, the refugee profiles are made public, among which single young adults account for 30% of the total, totaling 6,000 individuals."

Wow.

Even before Harlem finished speaking, the inspectors couldn’t help but express their astonishment.

Six thousand young adults?

Divided among 32 teams, each team could only get an average of 187 people, far from the 500-person goal.

If any team could fight for more young adults, the advantage would be immeasurable.

Harlem obviously anticipated such a reaction and didn’t immediately stop them, allowing the crowd to discuss for a minute before raising his hand to signal for quiet.

Once the hall returned to silence, he continued, "Besides young adults, childless couples account for 15%, totaling 3,000; families with children account for 30%, totaling 6,000; families with children and elderly account for 25%, totaling 5,000."

Another round of astonishment spread. As the detailed composition of personnel was revealed, the reality diverged further from everyone’s initial expectations.

"Wasn’t the first round supposed to allow selecting only young adults?" Luokuke turned his head to look at Garcia.

"You’ve said it yourself, that was the first round," Garcia looked bewildered, "Maybe it’s because the initial 12 Satellite Cities were reluctant to take these populations, forcing us to receive them through the assessment?"

No one knew the answer, but it was certain that each assessment team had to make a choice.

And the key to that choice was evidently hidden within this population data.

"Now announcing the initial score distribution rules: selecting a young adult earns 1 point each; choosing a childless couple earns 1.5 points each; selecting a family with children earns 2.5 points each; selecting a family with children and elderly earns 3 points each."

With the scores announced, the room instead fell silent instantly.

Nobody spoke, as everyone quickly calculated the differences behind the scores.

The point differential between young adults and families with children and elderly was threefold, an extremely exaggerated gap.

Considering the overall situation of the Wasteland, generally with such family setups, the labor capacity of the intermediate couple usually counted as 1.2 young adults.

Children at most counted as 0.2, and elderly were estimated at 0.4.

Assuming one child and one elder, such a four-person family’s total labor force was 3.

Compared to young adults, their labor capacity was 2 less, but they could exchange for three times the points, undoubtedly a worthwhile deal.

But obviously, such an extremely simple situation as one child and one elder would not appear in this assessment.

Ding Yishan seemed quite satisfied with the response from the inspectors present and unexpectedly took the microphone to speak:

"Families with children have two children, hence one boy and one girl."

"Families with children and elderly have three children and two elders, two boys and one girl."

"For the second batch of Satellite Cities, I need you to display to me, to Happiness City, your capacity for inclusiveness, your wisdom, and your ability to seek development in adversity."