Wasteland Development Diary

Winter departs and spring arrives, with fine rain like silk.

Night falls.

Two people, wearing bamboo hats and leading a camel, rely on the light of rhomboid stones to walk through the sandy land.

The lead man with a long beard says, "This is the Dune of Death. In the past, when passing through this place, one had to wear chicken feather clothes, smear chicken blood, and scatter chicken bones along the way to scare away the antlions underground."

"Back then, some people wanted to save costs. I knew a merchant who wanted to pass through wearing only chicken feathers, but he was never seen again after that…"

The young man beside him, his gaze slightly cold, presses his hand on the sword hilt behind him: "I'll handle it, you stay back."

"No, it's not that."

The bearded man next to him waves his hand: "Sir Knight, the antlions here have been cleared by the Wasteland Development Company, they're gone now."

The young man frowns: "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

The bearded man thinks, 'I wasn't finished yet.'

As rumored, this knight draws his sword at the slightest disagreement.

After walking for a while, a person holding an umbrella walks towards them, also carrying a rhomboid lamp.

The bearded man immediately recognizes the person: "Ah Wei, it's you."

"So it's Brother Bao."

The newcomer is young and slender, wearing a thick black coat and strange boat-shaped shoes made of cloth and fine rope.

Ah Wei glances at the swordsman beside him, then looks at Brother Bao: "Brother Bao, bringing people over for business?"

"Just coming to get some dried sweet potatoes. This is a friend of mine, coming along to see Emerald City."

Ah Wei immediately becomes happy and says to the sword-bearing youth: "Then you've come to the right place. When visiting the Sandport area, Emerald City is a must-see. You can stroll along the Light Ember Dam, and although outsiders can't enter Maria Hospital, you can walk through a part of Yalong Bay, where light-attracting monsters fly around like stars falling to the ground…"

He introduces the area with great enthusiasm, then suddenly remembers: "Oh dear, I have important business to attend to, I must be going."

Brother Bao laughs: "So hurried? Going to find a woman?"

"Nothing like that, just going to order some furniture, getting a bed. The beds made by the artisans are more comfortable to sleep on."

"Alright, you go ahead and get busy."

The other person's figure and lamplight disappear into the night.

The sword-bearing youth says: "Is he one of the company's people?"

"Yes."

Brother Bao leads the camel: "His name is Yan Wei, but everyone calls him Ah Wei."

"A few months ago, Ah Wei was starving and begging everywhere. Who knew that after coming here, he not only moved into Building 3 of Emerald City but also became a Light Ember worker, an employee of the Wasteland Development Company, earning 6000 mushrooms a month, far more than an agricultural team."

The sword-bearing youth asks: "Why is he wearing Dead Sea artifacts?"

"Rumor has it that it's a company reward."

Brother Bao walks slowly forward: "If Light Ember workers collect enough good quality Light Ember sand and rank in the top ten in production, they can get extra rewards in the monthly selection."

"Ah Wei used to be very lazy, but now he lives with Jacob, the bone man who has been number one for many consecutive months, and he's become as crazy as Jacob, very enthusiastic about making money. That outfit and those shoes are all company rewards."

After entering the oasis zone, long fields stretch across the land, and two electromechanical lifeforms are emitting light as they work in the fields.

The sword-bearing youth's gaze, however, sharply focuses on one of the machines.

"Combat electromechanical type. Just what I wanted."

He strides towards his target, draws the sword from his back, and faces the robust, square metal body: "Knight Ding Ye, seeks your instruction."

"What are you doing? What are you doing?"

Another electromechanical lifeform rushes over: "Don't disturb our work, we are agricultural machines, we only do farming work."

The youth frowns: "But it's clearly a combat type, I've fought against its kind before."

"That was in the past."

The agricultural machine says impatiently: "You were a child in the past, are you still a child now?"

The youth is momentarily speechless and finally sheathes his sword, saying regretfully.

He then asks: "Who is the strongest fighter here?"

"Of course, it's the chairman, who else would it be?"

The youth is thoughtful.

Brother Bao hurriedly comes over to smooth things over.

Finally, he manages to escort this Northern Ocean Knight to the borders of Emerald City, and he breathes a sigh of relief.

This commission is finally complete.

But the next second, Brother Bao feels the blood rushing to his head.

Because the young knight, for some unknown reason, has drawn his sword and started fighting a shield-wielding black warrior. This quickly attracts other black warriors, and as their numbers increase, the knight finds himself at an absolute disadvantage, in a rather sorry state.

Nearby merchants and local residents gather to watch, after all, it's rare for someone to cause trouble in Emerald City, this is something new.

Brother Bao is about to steel himself and step forward as a mediator.

Just then, the light from the youth's sword shines brightly.

"All that I see, I shall cut down!"

A wisp of white air rises from his body, and the sword hilt is suddenly pulled out from the iron sword, revealing a slender, crimson beam of light inside. A powerful sense of oppression immediately envelops the surroundings.

So the sword hadn't been drawn before.

The knight also becomes excited: "Come on, come on, let's have a good fight!!!"

The crimson sword in his hand burns fiercely.

Brother Bao is on the verge of tears, why are you dragging me down with you in your madness?! How am I going to escape if there's a reckoning later?!

He feels that his future has turned into ruins.

Just then, a thick bolt of lightning descends from the sky and strikes the youth squarely.

When the smoke clears.

The young knight lies on the ground, his hand still clutching the sword hilt tightly, but his whole body is smoking, and it's unclear whether he's alive or dead.

Brother Bao, however, is overjoyed.

Well done, as expected of Emerald City!

This minimizes the losses.

He then notices that the one who knocked the knight down with a single blow is a giant prism suspended in the air. The stern Spine Hunter has arrived at some point.

The samurai crabs directly drag the knight away.

The Spine Hunter issues a stern warning: "Anyone who knows anything about this troublemaking outsider must report it immediately. Anyone who harbors or conceals information will be subject to the most severe punishment!"

Everyone turns to look at Brother Bao.

Brother Bao can only honestly raise his hand: "I, I know the situation."

…

When Ding Ye wakes up, he finds himself lying in a spacious room with white walls on all sides.

Sword.

He looks around and sees his weapon, restored to its sword case, in the corner, and feels slightly relieved. At the same time, the intense pain caused by forcibly using the enhanced body assaults him, causing Ding Ye to arch his body and tremble all over.

He barely manages to reach into his pocket and finally finds the pills in the bag, then tremblingly puts them in his mouth.

A spicy, numbing sensation spreads.

The physiological rejection and sharp stinging pain brought by the enhanced body are finally relieved.

A mechanical lifeform with a lampshade head enters from outside the door: "I am Dr. Da Vinci, Mr. Ding Ye, your condition is very serious. The enhanced body is severely damaged, and the excessive use of suppressing drugs has caused systemic lesions in your physiological structure."

"Your enhanced body's spine has been chronically damaged and under high pressure, and there is some scoliosis. Due to the special nature of the spine, there are currently only two ways to treat it."

"One is to replace the spine. Since there are currently no successful cases of enhanced body replacement surgery, it is not recommended to try this approach."

"The second is to perform a comprehensive repair of the spine. This also carries a high risk. While repairing the light imprint structure on the enhanced body, it is also necessary to ensure that the enhanced body has no stress response and that the original owner's physiological characteristics are stable. Any fluctuation or abnormality could cause the patient to die instantly."

Ding Ye props himself up, a faint smile on his pale face: "Doctor, I don't have long to live. I saw that you have successful cases of activating the enhanced body, so I came to try my luck."

The mechanical doctor's long, strip-shaped screen on its face slowly lowers, reflecting the young patient's weak face.

"As a doctor, I will take all necessary surgical treatments for you. However, I cannot understand why you attacked the guards of Emerald City."

"A moment of hunter's excitement."

Ding Ye says casually: "I didn't expect the ordinary guards of Emerald City to have such impressive combat power. Those guards are all D-level, right? And those black woven shields, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to break them without fully activating my enhanced weapon."

"In the end, I felt the arrival of some kind of power, and then I lost consciousness. Did that chairman take action?"

"No, the chairman is away on a business trip. The one who captured you was the Spine Hunter 'Sea Hunter'."

Ding Ye immediately comes to his senses: "The Spine Hunter's [Light Prism Exoskeleton] is indeed very strong. Facing them, my current strength is still too weak. If it were anywhere else, I would probably be a corpse without a spine by now."

The mechanical doctor instructs: "Before the formal surgery, please take care of your body first and recuperate peacefully in this Maria Hospital. This will help improve the success rate of the surgery."

"Understood."

The young knight then says to the doctor: "Doctor, I have a request."

"Please speak."

"Can you let me fight that chairman?"

"Why fight?"

Ding Ye says with a smile: "I know very well that I will most likely die in the surgery. But that's what knights are like, you know this is how it will be when you embark on this path."

"That chairman can control a large number of light-nano type guards, the Spine Hunters are willing to patrol for him, I've heard that even the Dead Sea Abomination has been beaten and taught a lesson by that chairman, and even that sea abomination from the Seventh Fleet, which is helpless, has been recruited by him... Clearly, he is above these."

"I guess he has already entered the Skywalker stage."

"If I can challenge an A-level expert and see the world of a true expert, it will be worth living this life. Many knights never see a Skywalker in their entire lives, it seems I'm quite lucky."

"Of course, I am willing to pay the price for making such a rude request. After I die, this crippled body will be given to your company, you can use it however you want. But please keep my sword for me, the Sword Tomb will come to collect it."

A rectangular waveform appears on the mechanical doctor's face: "I can only help you with the application, you have to wait until the chairman returns."

"Thank you."

The mechanical doctor slowly leaves.

Ding Ye sits on the bed, looking at the misty sea outside the window.

Compared to being paralyzed in a hospital bed, dying in battle is the knight's destiny.

People can never choose their origin, so at least choose the death you want.