Wasteland Development Diary

Zhou Yi sipped a can of iced tea, looking out through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Outside Emerald City, a thick fog blanketed everything.

It was only early autumn, but the foggy weather had persisted for a full five days.

Visibility outside was too low, and the fog also increased the concentration of deadlight, so Zhou Yi ordered everyone to stop outdoor work and return to Emerald City or their residences to rest until further notice.

There were two exceptions.

One was the express delivery center, which was already working in the Dead Sea.

The other was the farming machinery brothers.

“Chairman, we aren’t afraid of this kind of situation. We have fog lights, and the increased deadlight concentration doesn’t affect us much. The autumn wheat can’t be delayed at the best time. These two thousand acres are very simple, and we brothers are enough,”

Tie Ma was as always racing against time, unwilling to bow to the harsh environment.

Zhou Yi agreed.

Now, the company’s mechanical and electrical life employees were connected to the Red Falcon, sharing the United City’s satellite information, allowing them to get weather information in real-time and avoid natural disasters in time.

The New Humans could only stay home to rest.

Sitting in his chair, Cao Dayuan held a cup of hot tea and grumbled, “Chairman, everyone wants to continue working. Now that the Light Tarnish Dam is being improved, and with the help of the Striving Machines, the workers’ income has generally doubled. Letting them rest at home means their salaries are reduced. The workers don’t want to…”

Zhou Yi said, “Trust the judgment of professionals. Safety first, production can wait.”

The company was on a rapid rise, and the employees naturally wanted to go further, to acquire wealth and better positions in the company.

He understood.

But Da Vinci gave a very serious reminder: “Chairman, the autumn fog is not ordinary haze. Not only is the deadlight concentration very high, but it also contains a large amount of Dead Sea dust, with an average of 700 times the harmful particulate matter of normal ambient air.”

“If people are active outdoors and continuously inhale these things, it will cause serious respiratory hazards. When the weather is dry in winter, there will be large-scale diseases, causing symptoms such as bleeding from the mouth and nose, and lung necrosis.”

“For the sake of everyone’s life and health, I request that everyone stay home to rest and avoid this dangerous climate.”

That was why Zhou Yi issued an emergency order to stop all outdoor work in the company.

Yuan Tong, who was in charge of the dam, said with a smile, “I think it’s a good thing to give everyone a forced vacation.”

“For the past half year, because the benefits have been getting better and better, the workers have been working harder and harder. Sometimes I see many young people working day and night, and I’m really worried that they’ll develop a lot of health problems.”

“Now that we have the Striving Machines, it’s time for them to change their thinking. Overwork is not a good thing. Wang Tai’s case has already proven that perhaps more leisure and private time can produce better ideas and truly increase output.”

Zhou Yi looked at him and said, “You, the person in charge, must be exhausted too, right? And I told you before, when are you going to have your left eye surgery? Whether it’s prosthetic modification or enhanced organ prosthetics, the company will fully reimburse you, buying the best. We didn’t have a budget in the past, but now that we do, don’t delay.”

“I’ll wait a little longer.”

Yuan Tong chuckled: “Chairman, I’ll have the surgery next spring.”

Zhou Yi knew what he meant.

Yuan Tong wanted to wait until after the Honor War before considering his own affairs.

As they were chatting about the company’s recent situation, Red Falcon suddenly broadcast a message.

“Just an hour ago, Shell City was hit by a Category 17 typhoon from the sea. A large number of houses in the city were destroyed, and granaries were damaged. Seventeen people have already died, and it is estimated that more than 200 people have been injured.”

“The Northern Ocean Legion’s 5th Brigade is assisting in the rescue.”

“Duke Baydu requests our assistance with a batch of Emerald Soup to ensure the basic food supply for the residents.”

Zhou Yi immediately became serious: “Contact Duke Baydu.”

A few seconds later.

Duke Baydu’s voice came from the drone: “Mr. Zhou, the situation here is very serious… The typhoon came too suddenly. The biggest typhoon Shell City has ever experienced was only Category 10. The city didn’t have time to take any targeted measures. I’ve been planning defenses in the Dead Sea, and I’m currently trying my best to rescue the wounded.”

The live video came from there.

The sky was gloomy, and many houses in Shell City had collapsed, with debris all over the streets. It was raining heavily, and many residents were hiding in corners, with noise and cries everywhere. The wind blew rubble everywhere, injuring many people.

Several Sea Fighters were building temporary shelters with stones and wooden boards to provide shelter for the homeless.

Iron Guards were also digging through the rubble one by one, looking for survivors, carrying and helping the wounded to evacuate.

However, these rescue forces were too small in the face of the disaster that affected the entire city.

There were still many collapsed areas without support.

Duke Baydu said, “There is a severe shortage of manpower. A large number of the outer fortifications that were built have also been damaged. I didn’t expect to encounter this kind of thing just before winter arrives.”

Zhou Yi didn’t waste any words: “Our aid will arrive as soon as possible.”

“I am very grateful.”

After ending the call, Zhou Yi had Red Falcon contact Steel Refinery City and Sandport City to inquire about the situation in those two places.

Duke Steel Refinery said, “We have heavy fog and continuous rain here. The steel mill can only ensure that one blast furnace is operating. There are more shutdowns in the mining area. It is easy for casualties to occur in the slippery mountains, so we can only open shallow mines. The steel production this month will have a certain decline, but everything else is fine.”

The situation in Sandport City was basically the same as in Emerald City.

The foggy weather had an impact on the locals.

Duke Sand Sea said with a smile, “The outdoors is indeed troublesome, so I concentrated the workers and farmers to mainly do the grinding and packaging of cattail powder, as well as fried chicken skeletons, high-temperature fried peanuts, and sweet red melon seeds. Anyway, there are so many foods to choose from for export. If it’s not good to do outside, then do indoor work.”

“Fried peanuts and fried melon seeds are very popular now, and we are also expanding this part of production.”

He was as flexible as ever.

Zhou Yi began to form a rescue team.

He appointed Red Falcon as the captain, and the team included Sea God, Doctor Feng Ying, all members of the Scavenger Team except Ah Jin, as well as ten Hammerhead Soldiers and twenty Samurai Crabs.

In addition to Emerald Soup, the relief supplies also included space blankets, tents, sleeping bags, and other warm items.

After the entire team quickly assembled, they took the Sea God to Shell City as quickly as possible.

……

Last autumn was very stable, but this autumn came with a bang.

Zhou Yi couldn’t help but feel a little worried.

Residences were not afraid of wind and rain because of Emerald City. But farmland was not like this. Was it possible for a similar level of typhoon to hit here?

Yuan Tong, who had run across the sea, said, “Super typhoons usually only appear in the ocean and by the sea. The Sandport area only has rivers and is not really close to the sea, so it is unlikely to encounter this kind of situation.”

“However, changes in nature are complex, so it’s hard to say.”

The employees had no good solution to this, because man-made disasters could be eliminated in advance, but natural disasters could only be avoided and defended against as much as possible.

The biggest advantage of Emerald City now was that the living environment was solid and safe, with real-time navigation and weather forecasts from satellites, so large-scale disasters could be detected in advance. However, people could hide, but outdoor crops could not be moved.

“Actually, this is not a problem for us.”

Sun Chonglai took off his cowboy hat and said, “Chairman, actually many people don’t know that the Mushroom Forest can prevent wind. Our Giant Mushrooms have a very strong ability to prevent wind and fix sand, and maintain soil and water.”

“From the oasis belt from north to south, only the vegetation near the Mushroom Forest is lush, because of this characteristic of the Giant Mushrooms.”

“They grow very fast, especially in the beginning. As long as specific cultivation and division are carried out, they can grow to 3 meters high in less than a week, and slow down when they reach about 5 meters.”

“The interior of the Giant Mushrooms has a hollow structure, and they are very flexible, so they are not afraid of wind and rain at all.”

Zheng Tao next to him frowned: “I believe all of this, but the biggest problem with Giant Mushrooms is toxic fog. Even if you increase the spacing and reduce the density, I’m afraid it will be difficult to control, right?”

“Old Zheng is right.”

Bone Man chuckled: “However, the outside world doesn’t know that Giant Mushrooms are actually divided into two types, poisonous and non-poisonous. But everyone sees exactly the same thing, all red caps, and I’m afraid they can’t judge.”

“Normally, Giant Mushrooms are poisonous, that’s right, but we have made some small adjustments to them. When they are still in the early stages of growth, we remove their poisonous hyphal bundles, which are actually used to prevent pests. But only the Black Hand Mushrooms can completely remove those hyphal bundles. They are the real mushroom experts.”

“Giant Mushrooms with poisonous hyphal bundles removed become hidden warehouses in the Mushroom Forest, and are very safe because no one will provoke such poisonous things.”

Zheng Tao looked stunned: “This… Giant Mushrooms can actually be used like this. The mushroom field is really broad and profound, incredible.”

“The Mushroom Forest has stood firm for so many years, it’s not entirely relying on luck.” Sun Chonglai’s tone was full of pride.

Zhou Yi maintained his composure on his face, but gritted his teeth in his heart.

Sun Chonglai, you old boy, you’re only telling me about such an important economic crop now!

Bone Man seemed to sense the murderous aura and hurriedly explained: “Chairman, actually, we have been exploring this point in the past. Because even if the poisonous hyphal bundles are removed, it is harmless to the Black Hand Mushrooms and me, it does not mean that it has no effect on humans or other flesh and blood life.”

“In the past half year, we asked the Sand Rats to try repeatedly, confirming that they can rest and nest in non-toxic Giant Mushrooms without any side effects. Then I also asked Cao Dayuan to help try to move around nearby, and also asked Doctor Da Vinci to help with identification…”

Zhou Yi said coldly: “It seems like I’m the only one who doesn’t know.”

“This… mainly if there is a problem, Giant Mushrooms will not be a helper, but a killer.”

Sun Chonglai carefully said: “Related to life safety, I dare not report the news indiscriminately. Now it has basically passed various biological experiments and has been determined… then I dare to tell you.”

Zhou Yi looked at him with a strange expression: “It sounds like your Mushroom Forest is still doing other research?”

The other party chuckled: “How could it be, we are just a small forest. Helping the company grow mushrooms, raise bone fish and shellfish, we just plant flowers and grass.”

This guy is probably still tinkering with something.

However, Zhou Yi did not pursue the question.

Because when he recruited Sun Chonglai, he promised to let the Mushroom Forest maintain independent operation.

It was not a bad thing to have Bone Man report only when there were definite results.

Zhou Yi restrained his thoughts: “Then since there is no problem, let’s start by planting non-toxic Giant Mushrooms on a large scale around us.”

“Okay, Chairman.”

Sun Chonglai got up, put on his hat, and said happily: “Then I will take the children to plant mushrooms now.”

Bone Man left.

Zhou Yi turned his attention to Qian Su, who had been dozing off and looked confused: “The express delivery center has not stopped operating. What is the situation now?”

“Chairman, how should I put it…”

The young director covered her mouth and yawned, and took a sip of Red Bull: “Our express delivery is really too popular.”

“Because of the large-scale extreme weather this autumn, sea transportation is particularly difficult. In order to be able to deliver large items on time, many large items have been broken down into small items and handed over to us. We are the only one who can do direct transportation from Recursive City to Coral Mouth…”

“In the past week, the average daily order volume of Wasteland Express has increased by 17 times. We are too busy, but the orders to be received are still growing, which is very exaggerated. In winter, this may be the norm.”

Qian Su rubbed her face with both hands, looking sleep-deprived: “Now everyone has higher and higher demands on time, and they all hope to deliver it as soon as possible, and the requirements for timeliness have been greatly improved. Due to special weather reasons, we have also received additional subsidies, but there are still too many, this money is placed in front of you… I am still trying to get it.”

Zhou Yi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

This was one of the few good news under the autumn disaster, but it offset the work stoppage damage caused by the disaster.