Chapter 557
Chapter 557 - 537: Entering the Pass
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8 min read
Lu Ping’an initially thought that the return procedure would end here, but as soon as he "got off the plane," he realized that the trouble had just begun.
"I have to clear customs again? Didn’t I already do it once?"
"That was only a basic inspection and paperwork. Now the quarantine, eligibility screening, species registration, and high-level taboo items registration and other of the thirty-two related inspections begin. It’s expected to take up to three days. Don’t worry, the hall sells sleeping bags and water."
Many returning explorers are fuming at this barrage of news, some more than others.
However, most sensible people can understand such a policy.
After all, letting unchecked outsiders and imported goods flood into their world is not necessarily a good thing for the safety and stability of this world.
Lu Ping’an had already been somewhat suspicious of the "100KG" carry-on limit... This likely wasn’t the limit of the Divine Kingdom Ark, but was intended to force the returnees to make their "cargo manifests" transparent.
A new system needs to be tested slowly at the beginning. The initial procedures and processes are very cumbersome, but as long as nothing goes wrong, everything can continue.
Perhaps, as the back-and-forth trips to the "Otherworldly" become more routine and frequent, future policies and procedures will be simplified significantly. However, they will probably use all of their imagined procedures for these initial few times.
While Lu Ping’an didn’t care, there were indeed serious issues for some people... Just on the first day, Lu Ping’an saw the Special Service Team and the Strongman groups running back and forth in various team resting areas, with faint sounds of conflict and shouting.
There was ample space in the High Tower. With a little extra payment, Lu Ping’an’s team managed to get a rest room with a shower.
"Checking for contraband?"
"Hmm, also wanted criminals, dangerous creatures that could cause a biohazard, smuggled Evil Gods..."
Lu Ping’an casually asked a guard at the door and got a list of dangerous items in reply.
When boarding, although each person was only allowed to carry a hundred kilograms of goods and only had the slots for two accompanying persons, due to the limitations of local inspection manpower and combat strength, as long as you declared your goods according to the rules, you could get on board smoothly.
But once you disembarked, it was Earth people’s territory... The prohibited things in there needed to be further screened.
"Can they really detect wanted criminals?"
"It’s a personal entry system, similar to a temporary work visa which requires forms to be filled out and some rituals to be audited. It is said that a series of contracts need to be signed."
When explained like this, everyone understood.
Every world has good people and bad guys, and in a doomsday environment, the rogue ones who will do anything to survive are more likely to get tickets.
These people, naturally, can’t be allowed to join this world freely.
It’s not just about tracing specific wanted criminals, but a whole "registration system", starting from declaring your identity to signing a "don’t stir up trouble" contract.
Can they really trace these people’s pasts? That’s highly unrealistic, and human resources can’t keep up with such a level of scrutiny.
"Just registration mainly? And signing a ’don’t make trouble anymore’ contract... How effective is that?"
"Not much use, contracts of this level are just like that, with almost zero constraint. But if the contract is breached, when they find him later, he will have to give a reason, it can be a reference, and make them be a bit more careful."
This widespread contract amounts to "don’t break the law" and its punishments are very light. To the Strongmen, it’s not really meaningful, and is more of a psychological restraint.
"You’ve come in following procedures, been audited, and even signed a contract. Our world has order, don’t mess around with your own rules."
The newcomers must "register", Lu Ping’an made a quick calculation, that workload sounded quite terrifying.
At least fifty thousand explorers went out this time, thus, they must have fifty teams, and each person had two additional tickets.
"My god, at least a million outsiders, can they really handle this?"
Only after making this estimate, did it become apparent how the explorer system would inevitably bring about national and social impacts. This minimum level of population movement, in the hundreds of thousands as a base, will force many things to change whether they want to or not.
Lu Ping’an understood more about the new rule of prohibiting discrimination against the Exotic Races. The significant increase in the number of immigrants would inevitably conflict with the original Foreign Clan Residence Law. This would naturally lead to all sorts of contradictions.
He was aware that most of these ticket holders were not ordinary people, many of them were strongmen, who would certainly bring chaos and change.
"Not many, we’ve only sent about two thousand explorers to the Silent Mountain Range. Around thirty to forty thousand Exotic Races have returned. With a day or two of overtime work... at most one week, we should be able to complete the initial checks and registration."
The number was astonishing, but once dispersed across the states, and then further split between cities, it seemed manageable.
"So why are many still fighting?"
The young worker with glasses was friendly, partly due to the small number of Exotic Races that Lu Ping’an and his group had brought.
"Some clearly carry issues, like Biological Weapons and nuclear bombs that can be detected by Spirit Vision. But mostly, they just won’t submit... They still cling to their old mindset that being governed is equivalent to being bullied, and make a scene."
The young man started chuckling.
"We’ve brought in several Rule-level enforcers, and Divine Envoys from various Churches for support. They saved us a lot of future management work by making a fuss."
Well, was this a case of killing the chicken to scare the monkey? But Lu Ping’an still had other things on his mind.
"Are there any that slip through the net? Those without tickets but still managed to get in."
"Of course, with all the chaos, abilities, and special items, even the Divine Kingdom cannot handle everything at once. Just in this month, we’ve busted quite a lot of illegal immigrants."
"Oh, how were they dealt with?"
"For explorers attempting to sneak in illegally, they are given a warning and fined. Their method of smuggling is recorded, and if they dare to try the same method again, they simply won’t be able to board."
"Just like that?"
"For the first offense that’s the case, but after a year the record is cleared. However, if they are caught for the same offence within that year, their Explorer qualification will be revoked and they’ll need to take the exam again."
Upon hearing this, Lu Ping’an felt a subtle sensation. This did not seem like a punishment, but more like encouragement...
"Smuggling in is ok, honey, just don’t get caught, honey."
For people who already passed the "Explorer Qualification" once, would it be difficult to pass it again? It was more like revoking the explorer qualification for one examination period. Unless the exam was abolished, compared to the benefits of smuggling, the punishment was far from deterrent.
With this type of subtle information in mind, along with several other speculations, Lu Ping’an needed more clues to analyze the specifics of the regulations.
"So, what about those smuggled in? Can’t realistically send them back. Destroying them seems somewhat inhumane."
"Register them just like other passengers. They are all part of the Exotic Races, none is superior to others"
Lu Ping’an became more certain, the natives of this world weren’t picky at all, and the attitude of those who implemented the system was quite ambiguous.
The young worker became friendlier after receiving some special gifts from Lu Ping’an.
It takes time to check and register personnel, and that’s not the most troublesome part.
"The most troublesome part is confiscating and detaining various ultra-dangerous goods. The recent brutal fights broke out because of this. One time it even led to a Rule-level group fight, it was really..."
The young worker looked grim as he talked about it.
After all, no one would stay calm seeing Godzillas fighting in front of them, accidentally flattening both them and their houses.
"Does our state have so many Rule-level enforcers?" Lu Ping’an was surprised, wondering when the official forces had become so strong.
"We didn’t before... but since the implementation of this system, many Rule-level strongmen have become cooperative. This time, all the Churches have dispatched top enforcers as requested."
With that, Lu Ping’an now completely understood.
— End of Chapter 557 —