There are many places in the buffer zone to exchange contribution points for supplies.
For instance, beneath the staff apartment where Cheng Ye lives, next to the meat cafeteria, there's an exchange center where you can buy many scarce controlled goods.
However, if you want to buy extraordinary ore to forge cold weapons, there's only one place in the entire buffer zone.
'Happiness Giant Wall Station has arrived!'
The voice from the announcement system came, making Cheng Ye twitch his eyelids and get off the vehicle with the crowd.
As the place closest to the Happiness Giant Wall, this has undoubtedly become the very center of the buffer zone.
Looking up.
The over thirty-meter-high giant wall was like a sky-high barrier, abruptly cutting off countless prying eyes from the buffer zone.
Under the sunlight, the wall's surface was pockmarked, with some areas still covered with dark reddish-brown stains, unsure if they were dried blood or traces of corrosion left by an infected body attack.
At the foot of the giant wall, ten-meter-high metal watchtowers stood at regular fifty-meter intervals surrounding it.
And in the midst of these towers was the place where hundreds of thousands of buffer zone residents dream to pass through.
The Gate of Happiness!
A giant alloy door approximately fifteen meters high and seven meters wide.
"No wonder the previous owner was so scared that he took medicine to take his own life after walking out of this door in less than a day."
Standing in the middle of the street directly facing the gate.
Cheng Ye's gaze penetrated the small door below the great gate for daily passage, witnessing a glimpse of the inner city behind the gate.
Indeed, like two separate worlds.
The buffer zone was filled with the ancient atmosphere of old times, whereas the inner city was the technological metropolis of human fantasies.
Be it the immaculate alloy ground or the skyscrapers that flickered neon even in daylight, all tempted one to rush in to explore.
Alas, the stringent contribution point rules had long blocked 99.9% of buffer zone inhabitants outside the inner city, including inspectors like Cheng Ye.
Unless one day he could ascend to Ding Yishan's position as the station head, perhaps then he might have the opportunity to return to the inner city occasionally.
Drawing his gaze away from the giant wall, the streets on both sides were crowded with shops, from weapon customization stores to second-hand protective gear stalls, with a mixed smell of engine oil, iron rust, and a faint breath of disinfectant in the air.
As the safest place in the buffer zone, ninety percent of contribution point transactions occur here daily.
Cheng Ye scanned around and quickly found his target, an inconspicuous two-story building among the many shops.
[Extraordinary Ore - Buffer Zone Branch]
This was the only place in the buffer zone where extraordinary ore could be bought, and also the only place offering weapon forging services with ore.
After placing an order, it would be transmitted to the inner city, where the craftsmen on that side would complete the production, and then transported back to the buffer zone by truck for transaction completion.
"Sir, are you here to have a handy weapon made?"
Seeing Cheng Ye walking straight towards the store, the shop greeter's eyes lit up and he immediately approached.
"Yes."
"Will you provide your materials for us to forge, or purchase the store's materials?"
"Buy."
Cheng Ye succinctly replied, not wanting to expose his intentions right at the bustling store entrance, understanding well the principle of not showcasing wealth.
The greeter immediately understood and invited Cheng Ye inside the shop, gently closing the door behind them.
"Hmm?"
"To be honest with you, our shop deals with rare customers, not doing business for three years, but when we do, it secures three years' worth of earnings."
After saying this, he continued, "The ores in the shop are all samples; choose the one you like and place a remote order for the inner city craftsmen to forge it. If you urgently need weaponry, there are also ready-made products to choose from on the spot, and if you order now, it will be delivered to your hand by the afternoon!"
"Let me first look at the materials... extraordinary ore."
"Alright, please follow me to the second floor."
Following the greeter Cui to the second floor, Cheng Ye then noticed the sparse number of people inside the shop.
One on the first floor, one on the second.
Including Cui, there were three people in the entire shop, indeed living up to the term "rare customer business."
"Master Liu, this customer would like to see the extraordinary ore, and I'll trouble you for that."
Introducing Cheng Ye, Cui nodded and swiftly left via the stairs, leaving enough private space.
And the Master Liu he mentioned was a burly man, seven feet tall with thick beard, looking quite rough around the edges.
"The shop currently has only three types of extraordinary ore; what weapon do you wish to forge?"
"A short knife, I only need to mix in a little."
"As expected, were it made entirely of extraordinary ore, the price would be at least tens of thousands of contribution points to start."
Master Liu laughed heartily, "Moreover, extraordinary ores are not as advantageous as rumored, the more you add, the better. After all, this stuff is also one of the infection sources created by the transgressions of the Extraordinary, so the more you add, the more likely it is to harm the user."
"There's such a saying?"
Cheng Ye was stirred, never expecting extraordinary materials hid such intricacies.
"A short knife is all about swift strikes, close-range engagements; adding too much sharp ore would instead lose its dexterity. Coincidentally, the shop recently got a good piece of material suitable for forging a knife..."
As he spoke, Master Liu crouched down and fumbled under the counter for a moment before pulling out a transparent glass bottle.
A fiery red stone lay quietly at the bottom of the bottle, about the size of a gold nugget, with a layer of fine patterns visible to the naked eye flickering with a faint glow.
Is this the ore containing the power of the Extraordinary?
Cheng Ye widened his eyes; this was the first time he saw something nonexistent in modern times since he crossed over.
Though beautiful and mysterious through the glass, the ore didn't reveal much else.
"Fire Storage Iron, just adding 3g can gain basic characteristics, specifically the first strike gains a speed and power boost, the extent depending on the user's force application skills, with a minimum of 5% and a ceiling of about 10%."
"Is it that amazing?"
Cheng Ye's heart warmed, and he blurted out, "How many contribution points?"
"1g is 50 points, if you add 3g, along with the appropriate auxiliary materials and labor, it totals 200 contribution points."
"So, so many?"
It was like being doused with cold water, and Cheng Ye was suddenly dumbfounded.
50 contribution points just to exchange for 1g?
Well, given the purchasing power of contribution points in the Buffer Zone, this price barred ordinary people from even taking a glance.
"Please understand, the cost to excavate and find this type of ore is enormous. We don't know how many lives have been lost, and such resources are basically irreplaceable, impossible to mass produce."
Master Liu said, echoing what Liu Bi had mentioned before.
Many scavengers tirelessly strip the Wasteland in hopes of finding such Extraordinary Ore and getting rich overnight.
If the price was ordinary, who would risk venturing out into the Wasteland to face death?
"Alright, can you give a discount, or perhaps allow me to owe a little temporarily?"
Cheng Ye fished his ID badge out of his pocket, introducing himself, "I'm a new inspector at the checkpoint, not long on the job, so I don't have many contribution points on hand. Could you accommodate me?"
Master Liu instinctively wanted to refuse but hesitated at the mention of the word 'inspector'.
After thinking for a while, he stood up, "Please wait a moment, let me communicate with the main shop and see what the manager says."
"Alright, thank you for the trouble."
After placing the glass bottle back on the counter, Master Liu got up and walked into the only partition on the second floor, pulled out his Defense Communication, and dialed the number.
"Master Su, it's like this..."
He briefly described Cheng Ye's situation and didn't forget to add, "Although this inspector looks young, he shouldn't just be a show-off; he seems to have some foundations."
"Really?" A voice full of suspicion came from the other end of the line, but it didn't continue to question.
"Then give him a discount, waive the labor and base material costs, just charge him the material fee."
"Okay."
Hanging up the phone, Master Liu came out to quote the price.
Cheng Ye was dumbfounded. Even if only the material fee was charged, it would still cost 150 points.
He could only brace himself and say, "I'm not sure if I could be accommodated further; I currently only have 143 points. Could the remaining 7 points be borrowed?"
"7 points?"
This Master Liu could make a decision on that and nodded immediately, "No problem, come with me to choose the short blade shape, please."
Inside the compartment, drawings were spread out, showing dozens of different forms of short blades.
From common reconnaissance daggers, tactical straight blades, to widely used bayonets, folding knives...
Cheng Ye picked and chose, and suddenly his gaze lingered on a unique profile, not conforming to ancient weapon forging concepts, leaning towards modern multi-tools.
"Vortex Stab, a very cruel weapon,"
Master Liu introduced, "The tip as sharp as an awl, it has a false edge that can twist open a wound when pierced, and if it hits a vital area, combined with the two knobs at the rear of the blade, its lethality can only be described as terrifying."
"Additionally... this Vortex Stab is equipped with a quick screw interface that allows it to be connected to a steel pipe as a spear shaft, turning it into a medium-range trident dagger."
"Then I'll choose this one!"
Cheng Ye decided almost without hesitation.
With the Extraordinary Ore being so expensive, he absolutely couldn't gather the contribution points to forge a second one in a short time.
So by choosing a Vortex Stab that could protect him in close quarters and transform into a mid-range trident dagger, he essentially saved 150 points.
"Wise choice."
Master Liu's narrowed eyes swept over with a hint of surprise, but he quickly buried his emotions in his wrinkles.
Having been in this business for over a decade, from the choice of weapon forms, one could generally judge the user's character.
For instance, someone who chooses an extended-handle tactical knife but still feels insecure might definitely not be unrelated to cowardice.
Or, someone who immediately opts for a three-inch cutthroat must be living on the edge constantly.
An inspector choosing a Vortex Stab, which aims to take lives rather than deal with the Infected Body?
Interesting!
Previously, those brave enough to use this thing were usually the ruthless ones who kept their lives tied to their belts.
"The forging will take 3 days; you can come pick it up anytime after 1 PM on July 1st."
...