Wasteland Development Diary

Under the transmission of the [Sky Road], Zhou Yi arrived at a vast complex of buildings.

Surrounded by wire fences and railings, there were fixed wooden signs outside, inscribed with the names of the lifeforms inside in both Eastern and Western common languages.

Each enclosure housed a different kind of animal.

Zhou Yi saw many familiar species, including Thorn Birds, Red-Eyed Vultures, Claw Swine, Forest Sheep, Red-Haired Goblins… Even sand rats had their own place.

A lazy voice came from behind.

“Welcome to the Garden of Beasts.”

The Warlord appeared beside him at some point.

He still had that sleepy look, with heavy dark circles under his eyes, giving him a strangely relaxed aura.

Zhou Yi [Alertly] noticed that the place was still filled with white light, still within the Pointing General Platform.

“Come, I’ll mainly show you the Golden Elephants.”

The Warlord strolled slowly to the side.

Zhou Yi followed behind.

In a spacious enclosure, he saw the Golden Elephants.

The Golden Elephants in the Garden of Beasts didn't seem very large; their legs were only a little thicker than Emerald City, clearly still in their infancy.

The little Golden Elephant’s right hind leg was also lame, twisted into a strange, wrinkled, conical shape.

“You have identification and discernment abilities.”

The Warlord said to Zhou Yi, “Help me see what’s wrong with it.”

Zhou Yi nodded.

He released the Atmospheric Being.

Ice Pot stretched out and enveloped the Golden Elephant's leg, activating consciousness-level inspection.

Zhou Yi also asked Yuanxiao on his right, “What’s its life condition?”

“There’s no immediate danger to its life, it’s just injured.”

The Death Angel carefully observed the little Golden Elephant, “But the injury is still expanding and hasn’t healed naturally. For a lifeform as strong as a Golden Elephant to suffer irreversible damage…”

After about two minutes.

Ice Pot said, “Chairman, it’s in extreme pain. I spent a lot of effort to find the source of related memories in its consciousness. This Golden Elephant is in a very ignorant infant state, its consciousness information is difficult to understand, I have organized the parts that can be read and understood.”

“The Golden Elephants are injured in their bodies. Their world is full of flowing high-temperature metal, which the Golden Elephants can continuously absorb and convert into the gold they need.”

“But because of the long-term, uninterrupted conversion of gold, they are constantly in a high-energy state, which causes many problems in their bodies.”

“There are mainly two ailments.”

“The first is that the Golden Elephant’s body will convert some irrelevant metals, which can be called impurity syndrome. Over time, the magazine metals accumulate and increase, which makes the Golden Elephant’s gold purity lower and lower, they become weaker and weaker, gradually lose control of their bodies, and eventually collapse into metal fragments.”

“Almost all Golden Elephants have this direction, it just depends on the severity.”

“The second is the situation faced by this young Golden Elephant: hollowization. Golden Elephants will unconsciously convert their own gold into energy, causing large and small cavities to appear inside their bodies, eventually dying in pain. The cause of death of the previous Golden Elephant was also severe hollowization.”

“Now both of these symptoms have become more common, and many Golden Elephants are ill.”

Zhou Yi immediately shared this information with the Warlord.

The Warlord pondered for a while, “Impurity syndrome… is related to the characteristics of Golden Elephant gold creatures, or the liquid metal world. But hollowization is a common problem for light core bodies.”

“Under normal circumstances, converting one's own elemental matter into energy for stable release requires a lot of practice.”

“Golden Elephants have very serious energy overflow and separation phenomena, and will carry out very dangerous assimilation behaviors. They have poor energy control, even worse than some Skywalkers.”

Zhou Yi couldn't help but think, “Are you saying that they will step out gold foil on the ground and convert other life into gold?”

“That’s right.”

The Warlord looked at the lame little Golden Elephant, “Assimilation and transformation are things that can only be done at a higher level. Using a tail in the water to walk on land will only constantly hurt and torment oneself.”

“The characteristic of a light core body is to convert matter into energy.”

“But above that.”

“The core of a Transmuter is to convert energy into matter.”

“Golden Elephants do not have enough and strong enough light cores, and they are taking risks before building a Transmutation system. Even if their golden biological strength is naturally very high, it is extremely dangerous… However, the Golden Elephant group itself is abnormal.”

The Warlord turned his face, “Do you know how long it takes for a Golden Elephant to go from birth to adulthood?”

Zhou Yi pondered for a moment, “Hundreds of years?”

The Warlord smiled and raised a finger, “One year.”

“In just one year, they can transform from a Skywalker form at birth into a light core body.”

Zhou Yi was stunned.

How much?

“One year?”

They can grow so big in one year?

This development speed is too outrageous.

“Does Senior know about the Golden Elephant herders?”

“Herders? Tell me about it.”

After listening to Zhou Yi's account, the Warlord touched his chin, “That makes sense.”

“Golden Elephants are raised by this group of never-before-seen herders, so they only need them to grow and harvest quickly, no matter what problems arise with their light cores.”

“Because they are forcibly ripened, the Golden Elephant's development is severely deformed and alienated, and their consciousness cannot keep up with the growth of their bodies, making it impossible to effectively control their bodies and actions.”

“The light core alienation rate is getting higher and higher, no wonder the number of Golden Elephant deaths is climbing year by year.”

Zhou Yi took the opportunity to ask, “Does Senior know the origin of this Forbidden Paradise?”

The Warlord shook his head.

“Currently, only two things can be determined.”

“First, it is open to native life in this world, but the Celestials are forbidden.”

“Second, the owner here left for some unknown reason, leaving this place as just an abandoned semi-finished product.”

“Semi-finished product?”

“Yes. Think about it, this continent is a carefully planned artificial land. The Flesh Mountain, Golden Elephant Valley, and Spark Plains are more like three artificial scenic spots, just like my Garden of Beasts, moving specific life and natural environments here. But many areas on the outer periphery are abandoned.”

“There are safety zone guides, outdoor-grown television advertisements, and local life mechanisms such as gray whales as ferries, but there is a lack of related more supporting facilities.”

The Warlord laughed, “It’s like a beautiful gun, with a polished, well-made stock, grip, and handguard, but no barrel and receiver.”

“So I say, this is a semi-finished product, not a complete body.”

Zhou Yi was immediately awakened.

No wonder the Forbidden Continent gives people a strange feeling between order and disorder.

Landing ferry boats, safety zone guides, and boundary markers all show a clear and understandable order and regulation.

However, places like Golden Elephant Valley and Spark Plains have no prompts or notifications, and there are killer rats with deadly abilities in the wild, all relying on tourists to explore on their own.

The coexistence of the two on the Forbidden Continent seems very contradictory.

If it is because construction was stopped halfway.

That's easy to understand.

“There is one more point.”

The Warlord said, “Golden Elephant breeding and harvesting should not require human operation.”

“That liquid metal world is a precise giant device that integrates breeding, mating, and harvesting.”

“Set growth period, weight, and harvest time, so that the Golden Elephant's lifespan is not long, and maintains a fixed number.”

“The Golden Elephant herders are likely the creators of this Forbidden Paradise.”

Zhou Yi sighed.

The Celestials are already unfathomable, but I didn't expect there to be experts like the Golden Elephant herders.

With such a group of max-level players messing around on Earth, it's no wonder ordinary locals are struggling.

“But there is one point you misunderstood.”

The Warlord said with a smile, “Death pleasure does not mean that this is a hunting ground, allowing visitors to kill these high-intensity lives. On the contrary, this is a place for visitors to die.”

“Facing the trampling death of the Golden Elephant, it will turn into solidified gold foil and lead blocks. On the Spark Plains, it will be electrocuted, pierced, and burned to death by terrifying claws. Even being besieged by killer rats in the wild will result in a sudden end to life…”

“These are all carefully designed different death experiences.”

“At the level above the light core body, most things can no longer produce enough stimulation and will gradually become low in desire. Only continuous strengthening and death can still effectively stimulate life's strong feedback.”

“Becoming stronger is very difficult, requires great hardship, and has a high failure rate. Death is much easier and is a better goal to pursue.”

“At the moment of death, life can experience the ultimate stimulation.”

The Warlord looked at the stunned Zhou Yi, “For example, if the stimulation of intercourse is 1, the stimulation of advanced drugs is 1000, then the stimulation of death theoretically has no upper limit, and each death has a different new height.”

Zhou Yi's lips moved, and his brain felt a little unable to keep up.

“Isn’t it real death?”

“Of course it’s real death. Fake death cannot be concealed from the source of physiology and consciousness.”

The Warlord said with a serious face, “At a higher Transmuter level, even if you die, you can be resurrected through special methods, but it will consume a lot of resources.”

“This is a fast and intensity-increasing stimulating experience that only requires the consumption of resources to experience unparalleled pleasure.”

“The Forbidden Paradise is such a place that provides death experiences.”

Zhou Yi spent a lot of time digesting this matter.

Experience the pleasure of death.

I can only say.

These city dwellers of higher civilizations really know how to play.

Zhou Yi couldn't help but think that the death experience attached to the breathing program once made Walker in the program department addicted, and even 703 had to forcibly uninstall it. It can be seen that death stimulation also has some kind of attraction to electromechanical life.

“……”

Seeing him silent, the Warlord said in a relaxed tone, “Don’t think about things that are too far away, just do what you can. In this world, every step you take outward, you will find that there are actually people in front of you.”

“Now you have more important things to pay attention to.”

Zhou Yi heard some unspoken meanings, “Please tell me, Senior.”

“Electromechanical City.”

The Warlord put away his smile, put his hands in his wide pockets, “You have chosen the most difficult opponent to defeat, this is a very difficult road.”

“Electromechanical City has never been defeated.”

“Even the Celestials have not been able to do it.”

“So, are you ready to welcome the counterattack of Electromechanical City?”