Wasteland Development Diary

On the sandy ground, Zhou Yi rode his bicycle slowly forward.

The young boy, A Jin, led the way on foot, asking many questions along the way.

"Master, did you pick up all these things?"

"Yes."

"Including the clothes you're wearing, and this... walking vehicle?"

"That's right, it's called a bicycle."

Admiration appeared on the boy's face: "So, even scavengers can live so decently."

"Every profession produces its champion."

"What is a champion?"

"It means the best of the best."

"I see."

A Jin asked curiously, "Master, did you come here by boat? Are there any cities to the east?"

"I only know that there's a market town east of Mao Gu Town, and a very, very distant city further east, but the old folks say that the east is just the Dead Sea, and no one can survive there."

Zhou Yi thought for a moment: "The Dead Sea area to the east does have many monsters, and it's vast, with some islands that might be inhabited."

"I hired samurai crabs to swim all the way from the Dead Sea, and encountered many storms along the way. In general, if you're not prepared, don't consider crossing the sea."

A Jin couldn't help but glance behind him.

Twelve samurai crabs, holding spears, iron rods, and large shields, were lined up on both sides, their shells imposing and their bodies strong. With them around, there was indeed no need to fear other monsters causing trouble.

He turned his head and said, "It is said that many prehistoric ruins are preserved in the Dead Sea. Have you seen them?"

"I've seen them. There are all kinds of buildings, many of which are well-preserved, and many things are still inside, but they've all been frozen by the power of the Dead Sea."

Zhou Yi hadn't chatted with humans for many years, and he wasn't annoyed by A Jin's questions.

"Merchants say that the bottom of the Dead Sea is the palace left behind after the gods left, a legacy from the age of gods. Many strange objects possess incredible power that humans could never create. Ordinary people who enter the Dead Sea will be punished by the gods and die, only enhancers are qualified to pass the Dead Sea trial and obtain the treasures left by the gods."

A Jin said, "There has always been a rumor among scavengers that there used to be humans under the Dead Sea, because there are human statues and carvings there."

"You've seen so much, was there really... prehistoric humans?"

Zhou Yi replied seriously, "Personally, I think there were."

After all, he was a prehistoric human himself.

...

Zhou Yi woke up from a long sleep and found himself in this wasteland era.

The entire world was shrouded in a layer of fluid light mist, which the life within called the Dead Sea.

Only light-absorbing species can survive in the Dead Sea; other life forms will be solidified upon entering. It is a very strange light that can seal various substances, forming a waxy light film on their surface, suspending the movement of the wrapped objects, creating an effect close to stopping time.

The whole world was like a giant amber frozen in resin.

Traces of human civilization were still clearly visible.

The skyscrapers, highway bridges, mostly maintained their original appearance.

BYD and Volkswagen cars, bus stops and residential gates with Chinese characters, piles of shared bicycles, recruitment phone numbers on broken walls, tangled telephone poles... only humans were missing.

Ordinary life would be broken down here, and only inanimate objects without self-will could be preserved in the light film for a long time.

Only the mutated creatures in the Dead Sea, the light-absorbing species, could move freely; the samurai crabs and clawed pigs belonged to this sequence.

Zhou Yi merged with the stone lion ornament in his home.

His deceased grandfather said it was a treasure given by a monk, called Bai Suanni, which could鎮宅驅邪 (suppress evil spirits and protect the house).

After becoming a stone lion, Zhou Yi couldn't move, maintaining a strange state of semi-sleep.

The stone lion slowly absorbed the power from the Dead Sea.

After who knows how many years, Zhou Yi gradually recovered from the lion shape to his own appearance, regained the ability to move, and dug his way out from the depths of the earth.

He was no longer the flesh and blood body of the past.

He didn't need to eat, sleep, or even breathe.

As long as he obtained the naturally free-flowing power in the Dead Sea, he could maintain his survival and slowly become stronger.

Zhou Yi had an initial panel.

...

[Body]

Health Points: 600

Defense: 5

Energy: 100

...

The only things that could be improved were health, defense, and energy.

For safety's sake, he used all the free energy he obtained to increase his defense, and used various buildings in the Dead Sea as cover and fortifications.

After the defense was strengthened, the light-absorbing species in the seabed couldn't break through his defense, and kept away from this surprisingly hard human.

But passive defense still brought Zhou Yi a lot of trouble.

Because there were always reckless guys who would come and try, unexpectedly biting him or tackling him with a hug, which didn't hurt or itch, but affected his mood.

Wasn't this bullying an honest man?

Zhou Yi tried to fight back in a human way, but ordinary punches and kicks were useless against light-absorbing species and couldn't cause damage.

He didn't have an attack panel.

This made him depressed for a long time.

Later, Zhou Yi noticed the samurai crabs on the seabed.

They were brave and fearless, and dared to take the initiative to attack creatures stronger than themselves, and could be called the honey badgers of the seabed.

After samurai crabs gave birth to their young, they would let the next generation fend for themselves until the young crabs grew up and were incorporated into the group, becoming formal family members.

A pure survival-of-the-fittest education method.

Zhou Yi captured some weak and dying little samurai crabs.

They were only the size of fingers, their translucent bodies were very soft, and even moving was difficult.

Originally, he wanted to eat some crabs to improve his diet. Relying on photosynthesis for a long time to maintain his survival made him feel like he was turning into a plant.

Even the smallest crab was meat.

During the process of catching crabs, Zhou Yi discovered that his energy could be transferred to these little crabs, rescuing them and even making them lively and energetic.

So he started the path of raising crabs.

These crabs, who were saved from a young age, regarded Zhou Yi as their leader.

The samurai crab clan had a strict internal hierarchy. In a group, all samurai crabs would obey an absolute core leader, and listen to any instructions issued by the leader until the leader died. This was the reason they maintained their competitiveness in the Dead Sea.

As long as they were not far away, they could maintain a telepathic connection with him.

The various instructions issued by Zhou Yi were faithfully executed by the samurai crabs.

After exploration and repeated comparisons, he determined the reason.

The key was the process of inputting energy.

Through the connection between the bodies, long-term energy input into other bodies would form this peculiar synchronization effect, as if consciousness invaded in the form of a virus.

Zhou Yi immediately thought that he could completely create a monster squad in this way, as his attacking force.

He began to command the samurai crabs to equip and use simple weapons, besieging and ambushing other solitary creatures on the seabed, officially turning from defense to offense in strategy.

In the war to support the war, the samurai crabs acquired a considerable number of valuable spoils - light seeds.

This was a highly condensed substance produced by light-absorbing species after absorbing energy, which could not only improve the panel strength of Zhou Yi's body, but also be absorbed by the samurai crabs to enhance themselves.

In 10 years, Zhou Yi cultivated an army of crabs, leading them all the way in the seabed to fight in the north and south, and was invincible in the weaker seabed area of light-absorbing species.

The 12 heads around him now were only a small part of them.

After having the power to protect himself, Zhou Yi decided to advance to the land.

He was still used to living on the ground, and missed the taste of rice, noodles, steamed buns, buns, and meat pies.

The Dead Sea had a strange smell, and there was heavy smog + light pollution everywhere.

It felt like people were smoking second-hand smoke every day, and being shot in the eyes by countless laser lights.

The living environment was really too bad.

...

"Master, we've reached the Mushroom Forest, we can't get any closer."

Zhou Yi's thoughts were interrupted by A Jin.

He stopped the car.

Ahead was a continuous dense forest, but the forests were tall and straight red umbrella white rod mushrooms. They were nearly twenty meters high, and the short ones were more than one meter high, each strong and powerful.

A faint red mist flowed in the Mushroom Forest, making it impossible to see the situation inside.

There were no animals around either.

A Jin pointed to the front: "There was a Mushroom Forest before Mao Gu Town. The territory of these mushrooms is even bigger than the oasis. It is full of poisonous gas, and few people who go in come out alive."

"As far as I know, there are three kinds of dangerous mushrooms here."

He introduced: "The first is the giant mushroom, which is the scary red mushroom, and the poisonous fog is released by them. People will pass out after taking a few sips inside."

"The second is the black hand mushroom. They are smaller, but they can walk around, imitate the appearance of adults, and are good at stealing, deceiving, and ambushing. They are actually more dangerous than poisonous fog."

"The most terrifying is the third type, the exploding mushroom."

The boy said in a low voice: "They are a kind of mushroom monster with a fierce personality. If an outsider enters the area covered by them, they will explode, and the power is very terrifying. Five days ago, a seven-member hunting group led by an enhancer entered the Mushroom Forest, but they stepped on the exploding mushroom on the ground as soon as they entered, and were blown to pieces..."

Zhou Yi silently remembered.

He glanced at the remote control in his hand.

The screen showed that the Red Falcon was on the periphery of the Mushroom Forest, very close to here.

I have to try.

Zhou Yi ordered the samurai crabs to dig soil from under their feet.

These huge shell monsters waved their double pincers and dug holes quickly. They often worked on the seabed and were very skilled.

The samurai crabs drilled into the cave and searched under the Mushroom Forest.

After working for more than two hours, they brought back a small metal cube.

The red dot movement of the remote control proved that this was the Red Falcon.

A Jin looked blank: "Also, can this be done... Avoiding the ground does not step on the exploding mushroom..."

He suddenly looked at the darkening sky and said, "Well, Master, then I will go back to town first. From here, go back in the opposite direction of the Mushroom Forest, and you can see the entrance to the Mao Gu Town cave. I live in the town, in the 11th cave on the left from the outside to the inside."

The young man was very sensible and knew that he should avoid it.

Zhou Yi nodded: "Come find me tomorrow night, same place, by the beach."

"Okay, okay."

A trace of joy appeared on the boy's face. He turned his head and left, and soon disappeared in the north.

Zhou Yi fiddled with the silver cube in his hand.

It looked like a metal cube, and the texture was good.

He was lucky and guessed right.

The Red Falcon should have crashed after running out of energy, and been buried underground for years, and the mushrooms grew above it.

Let's activate this thing and see.