Wasteland Development Diary

For the next half month, Niger planted all the tree seeds one by one, only to be met with disappointment time and time again.

That was until the last seed rapidly sprouted branches.

Niger was completely despondent.

"It's over, it's over."

"How are they all Spiral Trees?"

"Is it the soil, or other factors? What exactly is missing from this world that prevents the Sky Trees from growing... Without Sky Trees, nothing else can even be discussed..."

Zhou Yi asked him, "Didn't you say that Sky Trees were improved from Spiral Trees? If you were to improve them again, would there be a chance?"

"But I'm from the Mud Tribe, I don't know how to improve them."

Niger revealed a melancholic expression: "That's something only natural scientists from the Tree Tribe can do, it's very complex, requiring a high level of knowledge and skills, but that person from the Tree Tribe has already been eaten by the Life-Extending Flower."

"What exactly is missing here that prevents them from fully developing, forcing them to remain in the Spiral Tree form?"

He muttered to himself.

Zhou Yi, however, focused his attention on the Spiral Trees. Cultivated by Niger with mud, they grew taller every day, just like bamboo.

The first Spiral Tree now stood five stories tall, so thick that it would take two people to hug it.

The biggest reason for their rapid growth was the ample supply of Light Amber, which, after absorbing energy, turned into ordinary sticky soil, with new Light Amber constantly being sent to cover the soil layer.

The bark of the Spiral Tree was a layer of dense, net-like fibers, somewhat like a giant palm tree. Its canopy, however, was different from any other tree, with a spiral structure expanding outwards, like a super-sized mosquito coil.

A large number of branches and leaves grew on the mosquito coil canopy, but the trunk grew faster than the leaves, like a teenager growing in puberty, appearing thin and slender.

The Spiral Trees were planted along the east coast, but their growth rates varied.

"I know, I know what's missing!"

Niger, who had been sitting cross-legged on the ground, suddenly stood up and looked at the sky, saying, "There's no Purple Light here."

"Purple Light?"

"It's the light that falls from the sky and shines on the ground, sometimes turning into Purple Light, but here it's black."

This was the first time Zhou Yi had heard of this: "Are you talking about the sun?"

"What is the sun?"

"It's the source of light in the sky."

"Is that what you call the sun here?"

Niger said, "We call it White Light and Purple Light. Sometimes White Light appears in the sky, and sometimes it turns into Purple Light."

"There's no Purple Light here, only Black Light, which is what you call the black sky, or night."

According to his description, the world of the Mud Tree civilization only had two different environments: daytime and purple-time, with no distinction between seasons.

During the day, everything was peaceful.

The plants on the trees grew vigorously, and the Mud Tree people could safely go to the Dead Sea to collect mud and soil. Even the monsters in the Dead Sea would be relatively leisurely and stable, and as long as they were not provoked, they would be too lazy to bother with even readily available prey, except for necessary predation.

During purple-time, the energy density of the entire world would increase dramatically, and all kinds of life would enter a period of riot.

Even the plants grafted onto the Sky Trees would undergo a large number of mutations. The monsters in the Dead Sea would go mad and become bloodthirsty, attacking and killing each other, and even the Mud Tree people would be affected to some extent, becoming irritable and angry.

However, it was also because of this special influence of purple-time that various plants of the Mud Tree people mutated on a large scale at an extremely rapid pace, obtaining a large number of biological tools.

"Without purple-time, Spiral Trees cannot evolve into Sky Trees."

Niger was a little stuffy: "The world is indeed different. Things that can grow in our world can't grow here. The sky is different."

Zhou Yi looked at the sun in the sky.

If the sun turned purple and drove an even stronger Dead Light density... it was really difficult to understand the operating mechanism behind the Mud Tree civilization's world.

"Is there a big difference between Sky Trees and Spiral Trees?"

"A big difference."

Niger said with a serious face, "The Spiral Tree is the ancestor of the Sky Tree, and also an ancient tree, but it is still in the category of ordinary trees. It can only bear fruit that can fill the stomach, without any other abilities."

In Zhou Yi's view, the fact that it could grow in the Dead Sea was already anything but ordinary.

"The Sky Tree is completely different, it is a life that has entered another stage."

The tall Mud Tree person's eyes were incredibly serious: "It wasn't that we discovered the Sky Tree, but that the Sky Tree chose us Mud Tree people."

"It repels the monsters in the Dead Sea, preventing them from climbing the tree. Sky Trees inhabited by people will also grow more and more suitable for living, growing more flat and thick."

Zhou Yi nodded: "Mutual selection is also a form of symbiosis."

Niger hummed: "Grafting seeds onto the branches of the Sky Tree will result in very strong mutants."

"However, before picking the fruit, it is impossible to determine its power and effect."

"It may just be ordinary fruit, or it may give birth to supernatural and magical creatures like Common Sense Bananas and Black Thorns."

This was similar to opening a blind box, and was also the Mud Tree people's fun during the harvest season.

"Spiral Trees don't have this ability."

Zhou Yi thought to himself, no wonder.

One could open blind boxes and drop equipment.

The other was just a large fruit tree.

The two were indeed worlds apart in the eyes of the Mud Tree people.

……

The company's autumn sowing was still in full swing.

Last year's white radishes and Chinese cabbages were a great success, and the farm expanded their planting area again.

But the vast majority of farmland was still dominated by staple foods such as wheat, sweet potatoes, and peanuts.

Zhou Yi had always been eager to plant rice, but was cruelly rejected by the farm machinery operator.

"Chairman, here, planting rice itself is much more difficult than wheat, it's not just a matter of sowing seeds."

"Although we contacted Liangshan and found suitable rice seeds, this year is not suitable for planting."

"Planting rice involves procedures such as soaking seeds, accelerating germination, and sowing. After the rice grows to a certain extent, the seedlings must be transplanted from dry land to paddy fields, which requires a certain amount of manual assistance."

The most experienced farm machinery operator in the company said, "This summer has lasted too long, and the rainfall is very small."

"Paddy fields cannot be separated from water. Although irrigation can alleviate some of the problem with the Dead Sea Canal, it is not enough to open up paddy fields on a large scale with just one Dead Sea Canal. Because the fields must maintain humidity and moisture, and the mud and water must be ensured to be soft and flat."

"If you decide to plant rice, then we should prepare this winter, first opening up a new Dead Sea Canal specifically for irrigating the paddy fields, solving the basic supply. Sowing early rice between March and April next year at the earliest can ensure a sufficient harvest between July and August."

Zhou Yi had no choice.

It was really not easy to eat a bite of rice cooked with new rice.

He immediately demanded from Gongsun Bao: "Build another Dead Sea Canal, specifically for irrigating the paddy fields, it must be done before next spring."

"Yes!"

"Also, go to the hospital to fix your teeth."

Gongsun Bao looked presentable, but his buck teeth were too conspicuous, which lowered his overall image.

"This... Chairman, can I not go? I'm afraid of pain, especially toothache."

Gongsun Bao said in a low voice.

"No, this is an order! Personal image is the company's image!"

"Yes..."

On the other hand, good news and bad news came from the breeding platform.

The good news was that seedling cultivation was very successful.

Grass carp, which grew quickly and were not prone to disease, had finally officially emerged after three generations of changes.

It used to take 4 months for the directionally improved grass carp to grow to 5 pounds, but now it only takes 2 months, shortening the growth cycle by half.

It can not only survive in the middle reaches of the river, but also in the area near the edge of the Dead Sea, greatly expanding the available aquaculture space.

This batch of fish fry has been transferred to Shu Huan Gong, making him very happy.

"Great! Mr. Zhou, now our fish production has doubled, and the money comes back quickly, so the fish farm can be expanded with confidence!"

The bad news was also that the fish fry cultivation was very successful.

Another fish fry, the Silver Needle Fish, mutated during directional breeding, giving birth to a ferocious alien species.

It would frantically snatch and devour various feeds and algae, and even attack and injure other fish, making them afraid to compete with it, and becoming stronger and stronger itself.

Later, it became a food bully, even slaughtering ordinary Silver Needle Fish.

Each of these Food Snatching Silver Needle Fish could grow very large and fast. Conventional Silver Needle Fish would take a year to mature, but it only took three months to mature, and the longest could grow to the size of a forearm.

It's just that their existence caused the entire directional breeding fish fry to basically fail, and other normal fish fry were too greatly affected.

Unfortunately, this kind of fish can only survive alone, and is a small aquatic overlord. If it is put into the river, I am afraid it will cause big problems for other fish.

So Zhou Yi could only eat this Food Snatching Silver Needle Fish with his company employees in tears to ensure that there were no future troubles.

The only consolation was that this kind of Food Snatching Silver Needle Fish tasted extremely delicious and was very tasty.

As the weather cooled further, the first Spiral Tree planted bore fruit.

Zhou Yi and Zheng Tao went to the tree together to observe it up close.

The Spiral Tree was now about twenty meters high, but its growth rate had slowed down significantly, and it was expanding more horizontally.

Fruits hung on the spirally coiled branches, shaped like mosquito coils.

They looked gray and dull, like balls made of mud and ash, and the largest was only the size of a fist, belonging to small and medium-sized fruits.

Niger nimbly climbed the tree and picked a pile of fruit.

They were all ripe fruits the size of a fist.

"The smaller ones don't taste good, they have to grow a little bigger."

He said this, then squeezed two fruits together with his big hands, causing them to squeeze each other and break the outer shell. A layer of mud-like or gravel-like outer shell fell off, revealing a milky white, tender fruit inside.

Niger handed the fruit to Zhou Yi: "The taste is generally average anyway, you better not expect too much."

Zhou Yi took a small bite.

Huh.

The taste was sweet, thick, and crisp, with plenty of moisture, and the taste was unexpectedly good. The fruit closest to it was jackfruit.

Zhou Yi finished eating it in a few bites and found that there were no pits in the fruit.

"The Spiral Tree has a very long growing period, and it is not yet in the mature stage, so it cannot produce seeds. Its seeds will only be produced after many years, about 300 rounds of fruiting before it gradually begins to have seeds."

Niger said this.

Zhou Yi calculated.

According to the current situation.

The Spiral Tree bears fruit every two months, and 300 rounds is 600 months, which is 50 years. The growth period is indeed long enough.

"This fruit... is amazing, amazing."

Zheng Tao closed his eyes and savored it.

"The Food Tongue likes it very much, this fruit is of a very high grade."

Zhou Yi asked Niger: "How many fruits can a Spiral Tree produce in one round?"

"I heard before that it can produce at least 10,000 to 15,000 Ash-Sucking Fruits, the bigger the tree, the more fruits."

Zhou Yi was stunned by the Mud Tree person's words: "How can there be so many?"

"It's not possible now, but it will be possible in the future."

"The Spiral Tree will still grow and develop."

Niger looked at the Spiral Tree in front of him: "It can currently grow at most a few hundred fruits."

Zheng Tao next to him suddenly opened his eyes and said: "Chairman, I suggest sending this fruit to test its specific composition."

"Although the Food Tongue's recognition of food is taste-oriented, the higher the edible value, the higher its grade. According to my taste just now, the Food Tongue's evaluation is almost the same as the Light Na kind of meat like Claw Beard."

Zhou Yi immediately contacted the Mechanical Knight and sent two Ash-Sucking Fruits to the Mechanical Knight's biological laboratory for food testing.

The results were amazing.

The controller screen showed the conclusions over there.

……

[Nutritional composition (per 100 grams)]

Moisture: 57.1g

Energy: 699kJ

Protein: 13.1g

Fat: 2.8g

Carbohydrates: 26.8g

Vitamins:……

……

The final assessment from the Mechanical Knights was that this was an extremely high-quality food, with rich and complete nutrition. The closest thing to it was eggs.

However, eggs have higher fat and moisture content, and are not as nutritious as Ash-Sucking Fruit.

This fruit can be eaten in large quantities, not only providing a high sense of satiety, but also being of great benefit to the growth and strength of most lives.

Zhou Yi looked at the report and felt a burst of excitement in his heart.

This is high protein that grows on trees!

No wonder the Mud Tree people are so tall, they have been eating this kind of thing since they were young, and they can be said to have been in a state of nutritional excess.

Finally, everyone can get some nutrition!