He stood up, quickly straightened the report in his hand, then turned to face everyone, his voice clear and forceful: "After inspection and analysis by Fifth-stage Inspector Harlem, it is confirmed that Intern Inspector Cheng Ye carries no infection risk whatsoever. I am willing to bear all responsibility in my personal capacity and vouch for the result of this analysis."

"Good." Liu Kun nodded immediately and lifted his hand to tap lightly forward.

The fiery red cage that had been binding and isolating him vanished in an instant like a blown-out spark, leaving not the slightest trace on the ground.

The taut atmosphere in the room loosened by more than half at once. As if the moment Harlem gave his conclusion, everyone completely relaxed; their earlier vigilance and probing vanished without a trace.

"Cheng Ye, special times call for special treatment. I hope you can maintain the state you’re in today."

Harlem handed the documents to the staff member behind him, his tone carrying obvious approval. "As deputy station chief, I’m very satisfied with how you performed today."

With that, he stepped back into the formation, handing the scene back to Ding Yishan and Liu Kun.

The two exchanged a look. In the end, Ding Yishan silently walked forward and signaled for a staff member to bring over a stool.

With a makeshift table between them, the two sat facing each other.

Ding Yishan was silent for a few seconds before he slowly spoke. "Regarding the arrangements from here on, do you have your own choice?"

"I get to choose for myself?"

"Of course."

"I need intel from inside. As detailed as possible, and as relevant as possible."

"You can." Ding Yishan agreed without even thinking, only to be cut off by Liu Kun behind him.

"No." Liu Kun strode forward, pressing his palm down on Ding Yishan’s shoulder, his tone resolute. "The success rate is too low. Sending another person in to die now has no meaning whatsoever."

"But didn’t you say yourself earlier that putting people with potential on a pedestal and shielding them from all risk is what really wastes the efforts of those before us?" Ding Yishan turned his head. Their gazes collided in midair, neither yielding an inch.

Liu Kun fell silent for a moment, then shook his head. "The efforts of our predecessors weren’t so that Inspectors would go risk themselves in an environment that’s almost certain death."

"Wrong!" Ding Yishan’s voice suddenly rose. "At the very least, now we can give him the best equipment so he doesn’t have to fight a pollution source with his bare hands. At the very least, we can gather intel in advance so he doesn’t have to charge in blind like before. This... is the meaning of what our predecessors worked for!"

Heh.

Liu Kun almost laughed in anger.

Their eyes clashed again, and suddenly it all felt ironic.

The one who’d been shouting about needing Inspectors to sacrifice themselves was now the one stopping any risk-taking.

The one who had done everything possible to provide safeguards and protect Inspectors was now the one sending an Inspector to his death.

"Answer me this: if the Inspectors of the previous generation were standing here, would they go in to die?" Liu Kun forced down his emotions and shot back.

"Then let me ask you: back then, with so many people fighting for the station chief’s seat, why was it me who took it?"

Ding Yishan refused to budge, a hard edge in his voice. "I was the one who led the team that contained the Destruction-level ’Lion Dragon’. Me, not He Fei. Which is why I have the right to stand here and talk to you now!"

Their words clashed head-on. Liu Kun’s face went from green to white and back again, yet he couldn’t find anything to refute with.

The backbone of a checkpoint needs to be cautious, versatile in both brains and brawn.

But the ones at the very top of a checkpoint’s decision chain need recklessness, need impulsiveness, need capability, and even more, need a kind of courage and luck that ordinary people simply don’t have... as well as traits that look "irrational" on the surface.

But did Cheng Ye have the potential to become a top-level decision-maker?

Liu Kun froze.

Grade Five—that was his evaluation of the future of this Intern Inspector before him. That was already an extremely high mark of recognition.

Because a Grade Five could qualify to take post as a duty station chief at any time; from there to becoming a chief or deputy chief was only a matter of time.

But in Ding Yishan’s eyes... did he think the boy had potential beyond Grade Five?

Could he even surpass Cheng Long back in the day?

He couldn’t understand. He was still thinking, when he saw Ding Yishan suddenly stand up, his expression turning solemn in an instant:

"Inspector Cheng Ye, the Happiness City Checkpoint is now issuing you an updated mission directive."

"You are to enter as an Intern Inspector and contain the Disaster Level pollution source affecting Dapo Town."

"For this containment, in addition to necessary information and intelligence support, the checkpoint will also provide you with full protective gear, including: a set of single-soldier underwater reconnaissance equipment with protection strength reaching Destruction+ Level, a containment kit with containment capacity reaching Destruction Level, an A- grade benign infection source adhesion-removal set, a fully functional rapid-response rescue boat for surface operations..."

The equipment list poured from Ding Yishan’s mouth like a volley of gunfire; every item was something Cheng Ye had never even heard of.

So protective strength for equipment was actually set according to disaster grades?

And also... what the hell was an A- grade benign infection source set supposed to be?

Cheng Ye was still in a daze when he heard Ding Yishan suddenly shift gears again. "I now inform you: there will be no special reward for this containment mission. It will be settled as a standard Destruction-level mission of the checkpoint. Due to the current highly malignant nature of the situation, however, the containment reward will be raised by one grade according to regulations and settled as a Destruction Level mission."

"You have ten minutes to think about whether you will accept this mission."

With that, Ding Yishan let out a long breath and simply turned away.

Because standing beside him, Liu Kun’s face was already as black as a chunk of charcoal; if he didn’t walk away now, the two of them might actually start throwing punches on the spot.

Only after Ding Yishan had pushed through the crowd and left did Liu Kun pause for a moment, but he still didn’t say anything more.

His body simply moved as if defying gravity—stomping hard on the ground, he shot up into the sky in full view of everyone.