Wasteland Development Diary

Hunter Sea sped through the air.

The journey from Emerald City to the location of the alien form was 1700 kilometers. The Hunter Spine could reach a maximum speed of 200 kilometers per hour, but even at this extreme speed, it would take the better part of a day to fly. However, unlike electromechanical lifeforms, Hunter Sea could not maintain this high-speed state for long.

Zhou Yi told it not to rush and to fly at a normal pace.

He couldn't help but feel a sense of感慨 (gan kai, emotional feeling) that the most suitable pilot had been right by his side all along, and he hadn't realized it.

Hunter Sea had limited volume, and although it couldn't support the transportation of heavy cargo, it could still manage to carry a few people, or even an electromechanical lifeform like Da Vinci, who wasn't exactly light.

The high altitude wasn't much different from the past; the sky was blue and the clouds were white, and the world itself seemed unchanged.

But the scene below was a different story.

Zhou Yi saw that the land had been submerged by a large amount of light mist, with only scattered patches of land visible, as if the entire atmosphere had descended onto the earth.

The land area had shrunk considerably compared to the era he came from.

This made him think.

Deathlight had a high density in the Dead Sea and a low density on land. He wondered whether there was more or less Deathlight in the sky.

To this question, Red Falcon replied, "The distribution of Deathlight at high altitudes is non-uniform. The near-Earth side of the region close to the ground has a Deathlight density similar to that of the land. However, at altitudes above 1000 kilometers from the Earth's surface, the Deathlight density increases significantly. That is the Outer Dead Sea, formed by the atmosphere and Deathlight."

"The Deathlight density in the Outer Dead Sea is higher than that of the Inner Dead Sea on land, and it also poses more unpredictable dangers. It is usually the area where Skywalkers and high-level lifeforms roam."

Zhou Yi also came back to his senses.

The Dead Sea was a mixture of Deathlight and various gases, so the atmosphere was a natural carrier of Deathlight.

He asked, "Does Deathlight come from beyond the world?"

Red Falcon said, "It is certain that Deathlight comes from beyond the heavens and covers the entire world."

Various forces had been studying Deathlight, but its cause and origin remained a mystery.

It was already night when they arrived at their destination. The area was still snowing, and the large amount of snow being melted by the Dead Sea formed an even larger-scale fog.

However, the massive sea-based alien form was still clearly visible thanks to Red Falcon's positioning and camera.

It had a curved hook-shaped fuselage outline, with eight straight dams extending from the curve, like a large comb.

The main body of the structure was a gently sloping mountain with little vegetation. At the ends of the dams were three large concrete bunkers, each with a deep, circular hole.

It looked like a detached piece of coastline.

At the far end of this sea-based architectural lifeform were five ships of the Seventh Fleet, all flying blue and white anchor flags.

As with the Accordion, their hulls were all painted black—Zhou Yi now knew that this was actually sooty carbon, which made it easier to install light-imprint structures on them.

The flagship at the head was twice the length of the other ships, and just the visible weaponry included four secondary guns, two main guns, and also equipped with observation decks and communication stations.

This was the B-class heavy patrol ship "White Dove," where Captain Qin Xie was stationed.

The White Dove raised a white flag with a red cross.

"This is the signal flag for peace."

Red Falcon said, "They are expressing that they don't want conflict and probably want to have formal talks."

That could wait.

Zhou Yi focused his attention on the massive sea-based structure below.

This was the most important thing now.

Upon receiving the command, the Hunter Spine slowly descended and landed on the broad back of the sea-based alien form.

Zhou Yi once again stepped onto solid ground.

Next to him was a black bunker composed of cubes and spheres, which were the Serpent Victory members serving as garrison guards.

At Zhou Yi's summons, Hornhead swam over swiftly.

"Chairman!"

"We conducted a very detailed reconnaissance after arriving here. It's very large, but it hasn't actively attacked anything. However, it's impossible to enter the interior of this alien form. We've been all over the surface and haven't found any suspicious lifeforms or anything else, but there are some light-absorbing monsters following it."

"Oh, and one more thing."

Hornhead blinked its single eye: "Not long before you arrived, this alien form fought with a big guy. But it's not quite right to say they fought; the whole process was actually it hunting, and the other party had no power to fight back... That guy looked pretty powerful, but he didn't dare to attack the sea-based alien form at all."

Zhou Yi asked it to describe this in detail.

According to Hornhead, the creature being hunted was a large black fish with steel skin and iron bones, most likely an electromechanical lifeform.

The electromechanical black fish was targeted by the sea-based alien form, resisted desperately, but ultimately couldn't escape its hunt and was eaten into that hole-shaped mouth.

"...Everyone was startled at the time. Fortunately, this alien form didn't do anything to us. Its hunting target is only that specific type of large electromechanical lifeform."

"Also, a little bear came from outside, no, it should be an electromechanical lifeform. That guy claimed to be called Teddy and was the collaborator of Qin Xie, the captain of the Seventh Fleet of the Dead Sea Knights. It slept here for a while and could talk to us in our dreams, which was very magical."

"It said in our dreams that it wanted to cooperate with the company and hoped to meet you..."

Teddy Bear?

Zhou Yi thought for a moment.

Red Falcon was his collaborator, so it was normal for Qin Xie to have a Teddy Bear.

But that could wait.

Zhou Yi looked around and walked downwards, arriving at the comb-shaped dam near the Dead Sea. At close range, it could be seen that this was actually a trestle bridge. Red Falcon measured its distance and said that the length of each of the eight trestle bridges was 229 meters.

Behind the trestle bridge were three concrete-built water cave depots, and there were as many as eleven hidden entrances on land. These were all the results of the Serpent Victory members' investigation.

The problem was that it was impossible to enter any of the entrances or cave depots, as they were shrouded in a powerful high-pressure force.

Zhou Yi stood on the trestle bridge, looking at the coast behind him.

This was completely a modern port. If it could be moved back, it could directly complete the company's water infrastructure and supporting facilities, and the ships would also have a place to dock and maintain.

Next was the most important part.

Zhou Yi put his hand on the mottled stone pillar of the trestle bridge.

Energy, input.

...

"I want to buy you so that you can better serve your purpose. Name your price!"

A response came from Zhou Yi's mind: "This place is not for sale. Who are you?"

He was actually refused.

Zhou Yi completely hadn't expected this.

Was it a state-owned dock?

This was a bit tricky.

Zhou Yi pondered in his heart, continuing to communicate with the other party: "My name is Zhou Yi, and I am the chairman of Wasteland Development Company. Our company is developing and transforming the wasteland of this world to benefit humans and other lifeforms..."

"Is that so? That's very good. I wish you success."

This one was obviously different from Emerald City and Maria. The level of intelligence was higher than the former two, with a clear sense of self-awareness and judgment.

Zhou Yi asked, "What is your name?"

"Due to confidentiality principles, I cannot say."

Difficult to deal with.

Zhou Yi continued to try: "I have an employee named Jacob, who said that the 'Sea God' who lived with him was taken away by you. We are here to find the Sea God and hope to return it to its original owner."

The other party responded: "Due to confidentiality principles, I cannot say."

Zhou Yi frowned.

This was impervious to persuasion.

What to do?

Zhou Yi walked back and forth on the trestle bridge, thinking of various ways in his mind.

He decided to look around first to find clues about this guy's identity.

So Zhou Yi ordered Red Falcon and Hornhead to start a further investigation.

However, the interior of the port alien form itself was completely sealed, inaccessible, and there were no identifiable carvings or remaining text. The only thing that could be determined was that it had been separated from the land for some reason and then began its own journey in the Dead Sea.

Zhou Yi suddenly remembered.

There was still a group of local natives here.

Under the trestle bridge, there were some starlight-like substances around the concrete. They were like small lights with low brightness, attached to the edges of the alien form's surface, slowly flickering like breathing.

Light-absorbing monsters.

It could be rated as D because of its special physiological structure and skill characteristics. Other aspects were E or even lower.

Light-absorbing monsters were like quicksand or bubbles. When caught, they would break and scatter on their own, dying without hesitation. It was difficult for captors to get any benefits from them, and they would quickly regenerate in the Deathlight.

This type of creature was all over the Dead Sea, wandering with the flow of Deathlight, and also adsorbed some large light-nano species, and was a natural lighting object on the seabed.

But Zhou Yi couldn't say whether they had intelligence and could talk.

He had to try.

So Zhou Yi jumped off the trestle bridge and carefully reached out to touch a light-absorbing monster. As a result, the other party exploded instantly and died.

He had to switch to the next one.

...

After working for a long time, Zhou Yi was sweating profusely, but he couldn't truly complete a safe touch.

The situation was a bit stuck.

Red Falcon suggested, "Why not try using light seeds? Use light seeds to attract them."

Zhou Yi thought that was right.

He had caught too many fish, and fixed thinking was harmful.

It was all Bone Fish's fault.

Zhou Yi poured out light seeds from the light-nano box into his palm and then approached the flickering light spots under the trestle bridge.

Sure enough, a light-absorbing monster slowly approached and stuck to the light seeds.

At the moment of contact, Zhou Yi immediately began energy input.

...

"Can I ask you a question? If you are willing to help me answer, I will give you more light seeds."

"Okay, okay."

The voice of the light-absorbing monster was a bit ethereal, with a chaotic, undeveloped feeling like that of a young child.

"Do you know about this sea-based alien form that you are following?"

"It's very strong."

No matter what Zhou Yi asked, the answer he got was "It's very strong," with only slight differences in tone and pronunciation rhythm.

This light-absorbing monster had limited intelligence, and the information it could express was limited. It had tried its best.

Red Falcon also said, "This lifeform itself has a simple structure and regenerates very quickly, so most light-absorbing monsters have difficulty with complex descriptions and interactions. We need to find some light-absorbing monsters that have survived for a longer time, and perhaps we can get some information."

After listening to the drone's suggestion, Zhou Yi began to look around.

There were some small light-absorbing monsters beside the trestle bridge. He learned from Hornhead that the large light-absorbing monsters were originally around the land entrances.

It was safe there.

Zhou Yi saw them at the nearest ground entrance.

The brightness of the light-absorbing monsters here was much higher. Although they couldn't enter the dark entrances, they floated and stayed nearby, like lighting fixtures installed on a cement wall.

After repeated attempts, after paying 117 light seeds, Zhou Yi got the answer he wanted.

A large light-absorbing monster said, "It only eats certain electromechanical lifeforms, the kind that are long and strip-shaped, and can dive under the Dead Sea. It specializes in eating those and is looking for these ships everywhere."

"That kind of ship looks like a fish without fins..."

Zhou Yi and Red Falcon repeatedly confirmed the light-absorbing monsters' descriptions. The finless fish under the sea were submarine-type electromechanical lifeforms.

This wasn't an ordinary port, but a submarine base!

The fatigue Zhou Yi had accumulated instantly dissipated.

No wonder it said it was a matter of confidentiality.

This guy was likely a military building!

But if he could take it down, he would not only get this base, but also two submarine-type electromechanical lifeforms inside the base!