Wasteland Development Diary

Zhou Yi, along with the weapon masters, collected all the silk threads they could find and brought the silkworm-like creature aboard the Sea God.

As soon as he returned to Emerald City, he sought out Da Vinci and Bichi.

The mechanical and electrical doctor first performed a comprehensive scan and examination of the silkworm.

"It doesn't belong to any known species."

"Typically, insects have a forebrain for visual processing, a midbrain for processing sensory organ information, and a hindbrain for coordination, possessing at least one of these. But it lacks any brain-like structure; it's purely a digestive organ."

"Based on its characteristics, it's most similar to an intestine."

Zhou Yi was taken aback.

This silkworm is essentially a piece of intestine?

He examined it closely.

The white silkworm-like creature indeed had no eyes, only a toothless mouthpart, and appeared to have no other fluff, legs, appendages, or antennae.

It looked truly bizarre.

"It should be a light-absorbing species, right?" Zhou Yi asked.

"For now, it's more accurate to consider it an independent light-absorbing organ."

Da Vinci's green rays scanned back and forth across the unidentified creature's surface.

"Its physiological function is very simple: it ingests food from the front end and then secretes a thread-like substance from the back end through digestion and conversion. However, this thread-like substance is very special, with an extremely smooth surface that can react uniquely with dead light, thus maintaining a floating state."

Octopus also said, "This thing is a severely mutated light-absorbing organ."

"Under extreme conditions of continuous strong stimulation, the light-absorbing organ can become uncontrolled and gradually take over the entire host's body, eventually digesting the external organs, leaving only the independent light-absorbing organ. It's like the stomach eating the whole person."

It gestured with its suction-cup-covered tentacles, "But usually, at this stage, the organ itself cannot survive independently because its function is limited and insufficient to support survival in complex environments. It cannot forage, rest, or perceive, so it will quickly self-destruct or be hunted and eaten by other creatures."

Zhou Yi then summoned Little Fu from Machine No. 2 and asked if it recognized the creature.

The Tracer said, "Oh, that's a low-level Circular Flow life form. Different worlds have different names for it; we Tracers call it a Silk Spitter. The silk it spits floats and connects with each other, then captures and connects many fragmented consciousness keys, eventually expanding slowly…"

Zhou Yi immediately realized, "Are they related to Xinqiu?"

"Yes."

Little Fu explained, "The Silk Spitter's silk can form the framework of Xinqiu, just like some creatures build nests, they first construct a skeleton. Several low-level Circular Flow life forms have this function. Most importantly, the Silk Spitter's silk is very stable and tough, able to float under the Circular Flow's effect, so the Xinqiu it forms is often in a suspended state, even with a large amount of material accumulated, it remains very light."

"It's a pity that just one is useless; there need to be thousands upon thousands of Silk Spitters, taking years to create a Xinqiu."

This thing could indeed fly and maintain buoyancy in dead light.

Zhou Yi was more concerned about, "Why does this thing exist?"

The Tracer said, "When the Circular Flow erupts, it directly and instantly dismembers and pulverizes most life, but it creates low-level creatures like Silk Spitters."

"Their consciousness keys only have one pair, stable but unable to evolve, and unable to communicate with the outside world; they only spit silk. This silk is actually their self-growth and extension."

"Can Silk Spitters reproduce?"

"They have no active reproductive ability, but they can be passively split."

Little Fu said, "A strong external energy impact can blast the Silk Spitter apart, actually simulating the process of the Circular Flow eruption… The closest thing is the light burst zone, although the intensity is very low, it can still do a single split."

Zhou Yi was relieved.

This thing is very safe, won't self-replicate, and is lazy.

It's not bad as a research subject.

Little Fu continued, "Silk Spitters need a large amount of convertible food to support their material exchange with the outside world, which is spitting silk."

"In one hour, it needs to eat 64 times its own weight in food. It's not picky about the type of food; it can eat almost anything animals can eat. It has no aggressiveness; it won't eat unless it's fed to its mouth, and it won't chase after animals that escape from its mouth. Moreover, it's extremely lazy and hardly moves."

Da Vinci also verified the Tracer's information.

"Chairman, this creature absorbs a large amount of food when it eats. It needs half a kilogram of grain for every 10 centimeters of silk it spits, which is very consuming."

Low silk production, high food demand.

No wonder the long-necked crocodile had to empty the food from the passenger station; otherwise, it couldn't afford to feed it.

Specialization is key.

Zhou Yi ultimately handed the Silk Spitter over to the insect farmer, A Feng, and solemnly instructed him to be careful in raising it and to pay attention to safety issues.

"Yes, Chairman, I will definitely raise this insect well."

A Feng was very happy.

He grabbed the Silk Spitter and looked at it from left to right, "This guy can really eat, it's so fat. Huh, it doesn't look very comfortable, this looks like…"

A Feng reached into its mouth and scratched around for a while, then pulled out two staples and a piece of plastic… probably from the previous food packaging bags.

The Silk Spitter's body immediately stretched out and seemed much more relaxed.

He's a professional insect farmer after all, immediately noticing abnormalities that others hadn't noticed.

……

The Silk Spitter can only be used for some basic research for now. Relying on it to mass-produce silk threads requires a huge amount of food, and the company's grain hasn't reached the stage where it can be squandered.

Just as Zhou Yi and A Feng were discussing the Silk Spitter, the Red Falcon's electronic eye suddenly lit up.

"Nemo has an important discovery on the coast."

Zhou Yi immediately went over.

Then he saw Xie Xun and the scavenging team surrounding something on the ground.

Zhou Yi also joined in.

It turned out that there were several sand rats mating rapidly on the ground.

Zhou Yi was immediately disappointed; what was so interesting about this?

But he quickly noticed something was wrong.

Because among the sand rats, there were also two coal-shell beetles.

They had also joined the group mating army, and they didn't seem to be rejected by the sand rats, although the process was a bit difficult.

The coal-shell beetles, carrying heavy shells, had to flip over with their limbs facing upwards to perform reproductive movements. They were clumsy and their motor skills were visibly poor.

Mechanical mouse Nemo said on the sand beside, "Chairman, look. These coal-shell beetles can mate with sand rats, and they can even communicate."

"The shells on the coal-shell beetles are actually hair and bones, evolved to adapt to the Dead Sea environment, protecting themselves and camouflaging. Inside the shells are fragile internal organs and flesh."

"The sand rats believe, based on smell, that the coal-shell beetles are their distant relatives. I boldly speculate that the coal-shell beetles are sand rats that entered the underground of the Dead Sea and survived after mutation."

Zhou Yi's gaze immediately turned serious, "Are you sure?"

"The probability is high."

Nemo's small eyes glowed with a faint green light, "Because the sand rats' language itself has a specific frequency, but the coal-shell beetles can understand it. The coal-shell beetles' vocalizations are much lower, but the sand rats can understand them. The smells of the two sides are also very similar and have a natural affinity."

"Besides that, the most important thing is the mating instinct."

"I believe that a part of the sand rats entered the seabed and evolved into the coal-shell beetle branch. Or rather, earlier, the two were one, choosing to live on land or in the Dead Sea according to their survival needs, and then had specific forms in different environments."

"However, whether the two sides can produce offspring still needs at least 1 month to verify. But it seems that there is no rejection at present."

"But whether or not this is successful, coal-shell beetles have extremely high value; they are like sand rats in the Dead Sea."

The mechanical mouse wiggled its tail excitedly, "Chairman, I strongly suggest domesticating them, turning them into the company's eyes and scouts in the Dead Sea underground. With them, whether it's finding city ruins or minerals, it will become much easier!"

Zhou Yi was overjoyed.

The Silk Spitter looks intimidating, but the coal-shell beetles are more practical!

These inconspicuous creatures are native to the seabed. From the previous collection of supplies ordered by the long-necked crocodile, it can be seen that they can cooperate with each other and can perform complex tasks. From this point of view, they are indeed similar to sand rats.

With coal-shell beetles, the pace of external exploration is no longer one step at a time, but a silent expansion towards all directions underground.

"Nemo, you will be responsible for recruiting and domesticating them."

Zhou Yi said, "What do they need?"

The mechanical mouse replied, "Coal-shell beetles feed on some sediments from the bottom of the earth, so their bodies are severely mutated. They don't have any other demands, but like sand rats, they are very interested in fresh food. They like sweet potatoes and peanuts very much."

Zhou Yi thought for a moment, "Then issue a batch of grain to them every month as a reward for underwater exploration. You and Zheng Tao discuss the specific quantity."

"Yes. Chairman."