Wasteland Development Diary

Copper Bull remained silent throughout.

Iron Horse and Zhou Yi, however, actively negotiated.

The agricultural machinery brothers observed the land and climate conditions along the way, concluding that the nearby area was sandy, suitable for growing sweet potatoes and peanuts, with legumes for nitrogen fixation. However, if they were to provide the seeds, there would be an additional charge.

Iron Horse said, "I suggest using 100 mu of land as an experimental farming area. This way, the risk is controllable, and labor won't be wasted."

"For the two types of crop seeds, according to Recursive City's prices, for the initial planting, sweet potatoes are 2 light seeds per mu, and peanuts are 3 light seeds per mu. Subsequent replanting can extract seeds and seedlings from the first planting."

"In addition to that, a portion of legumes is needed for nitrogen fixation to fertilize the soil, which requires another 1 light seed."

"Then there's the issue of water and fertilizer. For water, there's a water source not far away. We can divert water from the source to the farming area, and the construction distance isn't far, so there's no extra charge for this part."

"But fertilizer is indispensable, and you need to provide the minimum base amount of fertilizer. Without sufficient fertilizer, the yield will be lower than your worst expectations."

"Finally, there's the issue of farmland security. No highly destructive dangerous creatures have been found nearby, which is within a controllable range, so my brother and I won't charge extra."

At the same time, an electronic spreadsheet popped up on the remote control screen.

《Recursive City Agricultural Service Pricing Standards》

It listed very detailed services, each with corresponding detailed prices, with many items.

Zhou Yi checked briefly and found that Iron Horse's quotation was indeed in accordance with the rules.

"Everything else is fine, but what about these feces for fertilizer?"

Iron Horse drove to the side of the container warehouse, and two spherical cameras on the top projected green light, scanning the raw materials inside.

"Although it's a relatively primitive organic fertilizer, it can be used. Unfortunately, the quantity is far from enough, and the land here isn't fertile either."

After calculating, it gave a quote: "Cultivating and deep plowing 100 mu of land, dividing 50 mu each for sweet potatoes and peanuts, including legume nitrogen fixation, will cost a total of 3 light seeds."

Zhou Yi was more concerned about: "What if I buy fertilizer from you?"

"Are you sure?"

Iron Horse replied: "The current price of fertilizer isn't cheap. We can only obtain a small amount locally, and more than 95% of the fertilizer needs to be purchased and transported. For 100 mu of land, the price of fertilizer per year is 10 light seeds, which is very costly."

"I'll take it."

"Are you sure?"

Zhou Yi nodded: "As long as it helps the farm take shape better. With standard-equipped fertilizer, you should be able to cultivate this place better, right?"

"Of course, as long as there are sufficient resources and conditions, the land will provide a corresponding return."

Iron Horse also said: "If you're sure, I'll update the supplementary terms of the agreement with Red Falcon. You need to pay this extra expense first, totaling 13 light seeds, before we can purchase the fertilizer."

A moment later, Red Falcon displayed the supplementary agreement to Zhou Yi through the screen, confirming the fertilizer transaction.

"Wait for me."

Zhou Yi entered the Dead Sea and activated Hunting Mode.

……

The Dead Sea was still dappled with light and shadow, and filled with heavy mist.

However, with Red Falcon's navigation, these were not obstacles.

After arriving here, Zhou Yi had been very restrained, only eliminating small monsters that actively attacked him.

Now it was time to withdraw some funds.

Through Red Falcon's vision, he saw a red dot slowly moving not far away.

The camera zoomed in.

The outline of the opponent gradually became clear; it was a bone fish.

Its body was connected and composed of various bones, shaped like a skeletal specimen of some large water snake.

The bone fish was rapidly rotating its body, using its sharp skull to dig into the underground soil, stirring up a large amount of dust.

This was the habit of the bone fish clan. They dug up bones from underground and attached them to their bodies to enhance their physiological functions. Growing in this way was much faster than slowly growing step by step.

The larger the size, the higher the strength of the bone fish. They could freely change their physiological form; some were shaped like octopuses, some like coral, and some even turned into humanoids.

There were many bone fish on the seabed, belonging to the low-level Light-Nourishing species, and they were also familiar faces on Zhou Yi's hunting list.

The Samurai Crabs quietly surrounded the target and launched a swift attack, using lances and harpoons to stab the bone fish, causing it to twist frantically, splashing mud and sand.

Zhou Yi waited quietly.

The bone fish's body continued to twitch, but the movements had become increasingly slow.

Zhou Yi walked over at this time and placed his hand on the serpentine fish bones, and a halo gradually emerged on it, gradually condensing into a small light seed.

He took out a small tin can from his pocket, and the light seed was sucked into it when it was brought close.

A light ring slowly completed a layer on the top of the can, and the number 1 appeared in the ring, indicating that the light seed had been stored.

This was the Light-Nourishing Box that Zhou Yi had obtained from Red Falcon.

Losing the support of power, the bones also disintegrated and scattered all over the ground.

However, a hole had been drilled in the ground, and the bone fish had long been separated from its body, and its head had escaped.

Zhou Yi was not surprised by this.

What he wanted was sustainable harvesting.

In the early days of hunting bone fish, he chose traditional killing methods, which were indeed efficient and fast. However, the "high-pressure mutation phenomenon" led to the emergence of a large number of mutated bone fish, which also caused him a lot of trouble.

After a lot of fighting, confrontation, and experimentation, Zhou Yi found a path.

To harvest, not hunt.

When faced with a deadly threat, larger mature bone fish would choose to break their tails to survive, abandoning their bodies and trying to escape with their core heads.

In order to attract and control the enemy, the abandoned body also carried a large amount of energy, which was enough to extract light seeds. If the light seeds could not be collected quickly, this high-purity energy would dissipate and return to the Dead Sea.

Borrowing enemies to harvest light seeds, and the fish head retaining self-awareness and a lot of experience had room to escape.

After repeatedly confirming this mechanism, Zhou Yi began to specifically choose larger bone fish to harvest, allowing their heads to escape, and only obtaining light seeds from the bodies they left behind.

He didn't touch juvenile bone fish.

Unfortunately, bone fish were, after all, a low-level monster, at the bottom of the Dead Sea food chain. Their efficiency in collecting energy was very low, and their growth rate was extremely limited.

Zhou Yi had specifically marked more than a dozen bone fish and found that it took at least 3 months from losing their bodies to replenishing their shells again and condensing enough energy to ensure there were light seeds.

Even with sustainable harvesting of bone fish, at most, they could only be harvested 4 times a year. Considering that bone fish would also flee to other places after being caught multiple times, it would be good to be able to harvest two crops a year.

But now that money was needed, he immediately took action.

He was already familiar with harvesting bone fish.

Three hours later.

Zhou Yi rode back to the ground and handed over the Light-Nourishing Box in his hand.

"This is your salary for one year, as well as the extra expenses for farming. Are there any other problems?"

"If the salary is sufficient, there are no problems. My brother and I will handle the rest."

A mechanical claw flew out from the side of the Iron Horse, connected with another large Light-Nourishing Box, and then the number on Zhou Yi's Light-Nourishing Box cleared to zero, while the number on the agricultural machine's box changed to +13.

The transaction was completed.

"Don't worry, my brother and I will absolutely guarantee quality and quantity."

"Copper Bull, go back and get fertilizer. I'll go choose the land and do the initial planning first."

Copper Bull turned around and drove north the way he came.

Iron Horse also made a rumbling sound and drove towards the oasis to the west.

Red Falcon lowered its altitude and hovered in front of Zhou Yi.

"Aren't you going to take a look?"

Zhou Yi shook his head: "I wouldn't understand even if I looked. I don't understand agricultural technology, and going there would only make things worse. Since you've determined that their expertise is not a problem, let them do their thing."

He looked at the drone: "There's one thing I don't understand. With your abilities, like Iron Horse and Copper Bull, it should be easy to hunt low-level Light-Nourishing species, right? Hunting alone would be enough to obtain a large number of light seeds, without having to work for such a long time. Why not directly enter the Dead Sea to hunt?"

"Two reasons."

"The first reason concerns instinct. Electromechanical lifeforms inherently have a strong order structure."

Red Falcon replied: "Doing what you specialize in according to your own functions, creating value, obtaining wealth, and improving your own skills, labor is the way of life for normal electromechanical lifeforms."

"The order structure allows us to trust each other, cooperate with each other, reduce unnecessary internal losses, and improve the efficiency of survival and evolution, in order to cope with challenges and crises in more ways. It is also because of this underlying foundation that signing an agreement with electromechanical lifeforms with city certification is highly reliable."

"The second reason is that the Dead Sea is also dangerous for electromechanical lifeforms."

"Being in the Dead Sea for a long time, without isolation and protection equipment, electromechanical lifeforms will also be continuously affected by dead light, resulting in unpredictable alienation and chaos, and ultimately leading to the destruction of order collapse."

Zhou Yi hissed: "Next time, don't enter the Dead Sea."

"Please don't worry, my shell has a certain isolation and protection function. Although the model is old, it can still be used as long as it doesn't enter extremely turbulent areas. If it exceeds the threshold, I will give an alarm."

Red Falcon explained: "I am a rescue aircraft, and I need to appear in various dangerous environments to search for those who can be rescued. These enhancements are modifications made according to functional needs, and are standard equipment for rescue team members."

Zhou Yi was relieved.