Happiness Coin is a necessity for ordinary residents wanting to settle and thrive in Shelter City.
Its backing is the inexhaustible energy from hydroelectric plants, the minerals from the surrounding area that can be mined for decades, the powerful industrial strength of the Inner City, and the military force strong enough to crush small-scale infection tides head-on!
With this combination of "resources + industry + military power," Happiness City doesn't even need to expand farmland but can easily exchange large quantities of agricultural products from surrounding Shelter Cities, large settlements, and small gathering places to meet the daily needs of millions.
Even when the upper echelons of Happiness City frequently make spur-of-the-moment idealistic decisions, like waiving electricity fees during the water-rich rainy season or lowering the price of Nutrient Paste by one Happiness Coin during harvest season, the market can still maintain stable operations.
This is because residents will spontaneously save money to cope with the price increases caused by resource shortages in winter and spring.
In addition, timely official adjustments also keep the purchasing power of Happiness Coin when leaving Chuan City and going to other cities or Shelter Cities.
However, Contribution Points, which are one level higher than Happiness Coin, have a completely different underlying logic and backing.
The items exchangeable with Contribution Points are all strategic resources and controlled goods.
For example, improved firearms, adjusted to military specifications, not only use rare alloys to enhance durability but also have specially optimized ballistics for lethality far exceeding market equivalents.
For example, high-tech electronic products like military-grade communicators, thermal detectors, and special equipment against infected bodies—each is a life-saving artifact on the wasteland.
Of course, there's also the cold weapon that Cheng Ye now wants to buy with borrowed money.
To modern people, the technology to create cold weapons is no longer a challenge; the difficulty lies in the materials used.
For instance, materials like 'Damascus Steel,' '52100 Steel,' and '15N20 Steel,' often seen in sword-forging competitions.
But in the wasteland, these steels are no longer considered top-tier forging materials. What is truly valuable, needing Contribution Points to purchase, is what Cheng Ye just learned about today: "Extraordinary Ore."
Its original form might have been just an ordinary iron ore, but after being polluted by Extraordinary or infected bodies, it has a chance to develop incredible properties.
The price varies hugely according to the degree of pollution.
Take Liu Bi's short knife as an example. It contains less than 20g of ordinary Extraordinary Ore, yet it's enough to maintain sharpness and offer excellent hardness and toughness far beyond modern materials.
"Yes, of course, I know that."
Cheng Ye wasn't surprised, nodding slightly, knowing that the staff had kindly reminded him to prevent him from unknowingly breaking the rules and getting penalized due to his intern status.
Contribution Points are so precious that, with their backing being uncertain, they are naturally not allowed to be freely traded and circulated.
Moreover, in Happiness City, personal channels for obtaining Contribution Points are very limited.
Only certain specific institutional roles have fixed ways to obtain them, such as Inspectors, who can get a Contribution reward for detecting infected bodies smuggled into the city; or the Public Works Bureau, exceeding land reclamation expectations can also earn Contribution rewards; or Engineers, ensuring city facilities function properly, can regularly receive Contribution rewards every cycle...
Apart from that, Contribution Points are only given to those who genuinely contribute to Happiness City.
For example, if a sentinel unexpectedly discovers a hidden group of infected bodies and reports it for verification, they'll receive Contribution Points.
Or if scavengers find something valuable in urban ruins during expeditions, submitting it can also earn them some Contribution Points depending on its value.
It's a set of strongly incentivizing policies, but if Contribution Points could be freely traded, their value measurement and behavior-guiding significance would be greatly diminished.
Therefore, Happiness City explicitly mandates that Contribution Points can be loaned out, but there is a maximum limit per person in each cycle.
Ordinary residents are capped at 10 points every six months.
A junior like a Cheng Ye, being an Intern Prosecutor, has a limit increased tenfold to 100 points.
However, this set of rules isn't without loopholes. For instance, if Cheng Ye wants to buy a handgun worth 20 points, he can purchase it via Liu Bi and then "gift" it to himself, bypassing personal borrowing restrictions.
The staff member's reminder just now addressed this point; Happiness City has a monitoring system in operation, where minor rule-bending might go unnoticed, but if someone is reported, the additional fines are steep enough to bankrupt the violator instantly.
"Alright, I've signed it."
Cheng Ye nodded, handing the application form with his name filled out to the window.
The staff quickly tapped on the keyboard, and a few seconds later, Cheng Ye's Defense Communication device buzzed.
[Happiness Bank Buffer Zone Branch]
[18:47, June 26, Year 35 of New Era]
[A transfer of '100' Contribution Points from 'Song Yongfeng' at the Public Works Bureau]
[Current balance: 143 points]
"Why is it 143?"
Cheng Ye casually opened the transaction record below for a look.
[07:00, June 26, Year 35 of New Era, Normal salary credited '24' Contribution Points]
[Balance: 43 points]
[Remark: Death Language Tentacles reward settlement completed, Rating: Early Second-Phase]
"So the reward for Death Language Tentacles was settled together..."
At 7 o'clock, Cheng Ye was just on the phone with Ding Yishan and didn't notice the transfer notification.
And the 5 points he had promised to Garcia earlier couldn't be transferred in time because the latter was violently beaten by Liu Bi and sent to emergency treatment.
"143 points, after deducting the 20 points needed for the handgun, there should definitely be enough left to buy materials. Even if Extraordinary Ore is more expensive, I can add a little less, at least enough to meet current needs."
With grains in hand, one feels at ease.
Cheng Ye doesn't have many needs for firearms, just getting a Wild Bull Handgun like Brother B's for self-defense.
When it's time to go on field duty, he can see if there's a need to upgrade to more powerful weapons like submachine guns or rifles.
But cold weapons are different; a suitable weapon requires the user to undergo long-term adaptation.
Take Liu Bi's short knife, for example. Despite initially being forged from general materials, he's patched it up and used it for over a decade without replacement.
"Cheng, Sister Luo, since the points have been transferred, I'll head back to the Public Works Bureau now."
Taking the transfer slip and putting it into his backpack, Song Yongfeng turned to smile at the two, wrinkle lines forming at the corners of his eyes.
"Fortunately, this spell of heavy rain comes intermittently, giving our buffer zone's drainage system some breathing room; otherwise, if it rained for another day, it would be manageable in the suburbs, but the city would definitely suffer from flood paralysis."
"Old Song, hasn't your Public Works Bureau predicted how many more days it will last?"
As the three walked out, Luo Xiaoxue couldn't help but ask worriedly, "My husband went to support at the hydroelectric station; if the rain keeps coming, I'm afraid he'll have to stay there for a while..."
"According to the forecast from the Inner City Meteorological Bureau, it will at least continue for a small half month."
"That long?"
"Yes, since the start of this year, the news from Shelter Cities across the regions hasn't been promising. The stability of weather conditions is heading towards chaos, and who knows what strange things might happen later."
Speaking of this, Song Yongfeng's smile faded, revealing a trace of worry.
The threat posed by weather disorder is no less than the attacks of swarming infection tides.
Currently, it's just heavy rain. The buffer zone can still alleviate it by clearing the drainage system, but what if it turns to heavy snow?
Not to mention heavy snow, if the upcoming fall season affects grain production and transmits to Happiness City, it could lead to a disaster affecting everyone.
Additionally, the activity patterns of infected bodies are closely related to celestial phenomena, such as the water-loving infected bodies that move with the rain line.
If the celestial phenomena continue to be disturbed in this way, it's hard to say whether a large-scale infection tide might erupt around Happiness City just before winter.
"Uncle Song, take care."
They watched until Song Yongfeng disappeared on the bus in the distance.
Then the two returned their gaze and sat side by side on the bench at the bank entrance.
...