Wasteland Development Diary

Zhou Yi went all the way to the Dead Sea next to Yalong Bay.

This place wouldn't easily affect other life.

The moment he took out the energy block newly captured by his prosthetic leg, he immediately felt his life force declining second by second.

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……

It seemed that as the volume of the energy block decreased, its external radiation power also weakened.

Zhou Yi felt slightly relieved.

The [Alert] perspective didn't show any abnormalities, only a colorful scene.

However, [Panoramic Reading] obtained different information.

[This substance possesses energy close to a LV1 grade light core body, and its structure is in an unstable state.]

It couldn't even be considered a light core body anymore.

It seemed that this energy block was greatly depleted.

Zhou Yi then focused his gaze on the solidified shell inside.

[This unit possesses a certain degree of intelligence, with a very weak consciousness and extremely faint life.]

This shell is alive?

And it has intelligence.

Could it be... this is an individual from the insectoid civilization of the Mud Tree world?

Zhou Yi immediately called Niger to verify.

"No."

The Mud Tree person only glanced at it and asserted: "Insects are not like this, Chairman. The insects over there are much weaker than us, and they can't withstand the energy block at all; they will die if they get close."

Then what is this thing?

Zhou Yi pondered.

Since it's a life form and has consciousness.

He tried touching the energy block with his left hand, and a strong burning sensation immediately came from his fingers.

Energy input, consciousness synchronization initiated.

After shouting a few times, he received a response.

"Are you one of us?" the other party asked.

Zhou Yi frankly said, "We shouldn't be the same kind. I found you in the ruins of the Cave Dwellers. Why were you frozen in the Cave Dwellers' energy block?"

"What are Cave Dwellers?"

The voice sounded very puzzled: "I wasn't frozen here; we created this [Solid Cloud Tincture] ourselves. But we are very weak and can only stop conventional movement, maintaining basic life characteristics in the Cloud Tincture, waiting for our kind to rescue and heal us."

Zhou Yi was a little surprised.

He originally thought that this shell life was captured by the Cave Dwellers, like a specimen or collection, and preserved in the energy block.

But the other party actually said that this energy block was created by them?

A thought that Zhou Yi had never considered before popped into his head.

"The energy blocks—that is, this [Solid Cloud Tincture]—were all made by you?"

"Yes, I think so. Because this solid-state energy structure was invented by us based on our own situation, and there shouldn't be a similar structure outside."

The shell explained: "Because the substances in the Cloud Tincture that carry energy are screened and specially manufactured. They match our physiological structure, so that our energy and consciousness will not volatilize, and we can survive in it for a long time."

"Other life forms cannot enter it."

Zhou Yi thought. This shell life is somewhat like the Gold Elephants, and should be a life form domesticated by the Cave Dwellers. But they can't realize the existence of the Cave Dwellers, so like the Gold Elephants, they can only live according to the planned process.

He then said, "Your current life state is extremely weak. Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"Really? Can you help me?"

The other party immediately said: "If possible, then I would be very grateful! I've never met a non-member of our species before! I didn't expect to meet in such a dangerous and downcast situation… I'm really a little embarrassed."

The shell was very polite.

"The biggest problem we are encountering now is that this Solid Cloud Tincture we are in has been consumed for too many years, and its energy has volatilized and dissipated in large quantities, causing us to be affected as well."

The shell life then said: "Our shelter has also suffered a lot of damage, because no members of our species have come to maintain it for too long, plus natural wear and tear. Now most of us have fallen into a deep sleep, and we dare not wake up."

Zhou Yi was stunned and asked uncertainly, "The shelter… is this shell?"

The other party couldn't understand the shell.

After Zhou Yi's explanation, the voice said: "I think perhaps it is. Ah? In your perspective, is our shelter so small? It is already incredibly huge for us, capable of carrying hundreds of millions of our kind."

The other party seemed shocked: "What kind of huge life form with such a large body do you have! It's unbelievable, unbelievable!"

Zhou Yi's mind was a little dazed.

According to the other party's statement, this shell is not their body, but their shelter, and they are all hiding inside the shell.

"There's more than just you in the shelter?"

"One? Of course not! Individual strength cannot perform complex expressions. There are a total of 1,600 surviving members of our species in this shelter, and I am the collective of the shelter members."

It turned out to be a collective intelligence life form.

Zhou Yi was a little surprised.

According to the other party's description, they should be microscopic life forms, and a shell is enough to accommodate hundreds of millions of such life forms.

However, such a small life group can actually create an amazing light core energy source like an energy block.

Zhou Yi couldn't understand: "How did you create the Solid Cloud Tincture?"

"I don't know this."

"Ah?"

The other party explained: "There are different divisions of labor among our kind. Some build shelters or exploration ships, some make Solid Cloud Tincture, some are responsible for external exploration, and some modify the environment… Because our lives are very fragile and easily die, it took a very long time and many of our kind died before we mastered these abilities."

"Members of our species who have mastered abilities will organize these methods and record them in our land, which we call [Recording Land]. As long as other members of our species enter this land, they can learn the records left by past members."

"In this shelter, there are individuals who are weak or difficult to fully recover due to various circumstances, sleeping here for a long time, waiting for other members of our species to find a way to rehabilitate us. Everyone comes from different regions and does not have any independently completed methods and technologies, so I'm sorry, we don't know how to make Solid Cloud Tincture."

But the more Zhou Yi listened, the more strange he felt.

"Wait a minute. You said that you leave various technologies and experiences on the land, is it to create something similar to a huge land layer, and then create holes one by one on it?"

The other side happily said: "Do you huge lives also do this? We seem to have a lot in common!"

"However, we build the land layer by layer, seal it with a protective energy shell to avoid damage, and put marks and records on each layer, which can be read and understood by our species."

"The overall appearance will have many huge pits, but those are very important marks and starting points. You have to read from those holes to the surrounding areas to form the correct information sequence and understand the entire technology."

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Zhou Yi's mind was buzzing.

These microscopic life forms in the shell shelter are the Cave Dwellers!

He couldn't help but further confirm: "Then, can you move space bubbles? Your life bodies are so fragile, can you do this too?"

"Space bubbles, do you mean… space channels? We can do that. Although it is technically more complicated, it has been used for many years."

This Cave Dweller collective said: "As you said, we are indeed a fragile life form. Compared to the tools or energy substances we use, we are like dust, easily blown away by the wind."

"But we have accumulated a lot."

"As long as the duration is long enough, all miracles can be created."

"In our heyday, we were once omnipresent in our world, with our kind everywhere. We built the land we wanted and constructed our space. Through generations of accumulation, we achieved a degree that we could never have imagined."

It said: "But there is one problem that has always troubled us, that is, we have not found any other life in the world. It's as if the whole world only has our kind of existence that can be called life."

"So we started to push space. We entered other unknown spaces through space channels, which you call space bubbles. We wanted to contact other intelligent life forms. This seems to be an instinct, or a long-term desire."

"Unfortunately, we have never met."

"To enter other spaces, we need to rely on Solid Cloud Tincture, otherwise our fragile bodies cannot withstand the huge twisting force of space and will die instantly."

"But the Solid Cloud Tinctures that have left have never returned."

"It's like there's only entry and no exit outside."

This Cave Dweller survivor said: "We are omnipotent in our world, but we cannot enter the outside world. It is like a curse of fate."

"Today, this curse has been broken! We have met you, proving that all our impulses and attempts have been valuable!"

"It's just… we can't find other members of our species anymore, only these 1,600 weak individuals. Have you seen other members of our species? What happened to our world? For too long, no members of our species have come to maintain the shelter, leaving only 1,600 of the 90 million members of our species who have barely not lost their life characteristics."

Zhou Yi shared the information he knew with this Cave Dweller speaker.

"Trees, Mud Tree people, insect swarms… so many new lives have been born. If there are members of our species, they will definitely take action, actively communicate, and pass such important news to the shelter."

It was a little surprised.

But it also knew nothing about the complete disappearance of the Cave Dwellers.

In its words.

"It's like everything changed from a certain moment. Originally, members of our species would come regularly to take care of and maintain the shelter, but after that time, there was never any."

"We can't go out, and we don't have any tools. We don't know what happened outside. We just have to wait, keep waiting…"

This group of surviving Cave Dweller refugees were the old, weak, sick, and disabled in the past, and now the situation has become even worse.

They have no idea why the Cave Dwellers disappeared.

Zhou Yi said: "What should I call you? Do you have names?"

"We don't have the individual codes and marks you mentioned. Because we are fragile and easily die, we act in groups to maintain mutual cooperation and continuation."

"We also don't distinguish internally, because there is no need for that. Each of us can understand each other's meaning. When we come into contact with each other, we can understand everything about each other and empathize with each other."

Cave Dwellers are different from any existing life form that Zhou Yi knows.

They are born small and fragile, but through a little bit of accumulation, they undergo qualitative changes from quantitative changes, and create an era belonging to the Cave Dwellers with extraordinary group power, which even the later Mud Tree people cannot match.

The Cave Dwellers proved with practical actions that their upper limit is very high.

As long as the remaining Cave Dweller mud slabs can be found, these seemingly old, weak, sick, and disabled Cave Dweller groups can also interpret the technology.

Whether it is space bubble movement technology or the ability to create energy blocks, these are priceless treasures!

Zhou Yi pondered slightly: "I can find [Solid Cloud Tincture] to recharge you. But I need you to help me interpret when I conduct archeology on the Cave Dweller civilization in the future."

"We are very grateful! Of course, no problem! You are truly a great and kind super life!"

"The 1,600 Cave Dwellers in the shelter thank you for your kindness!"

The other party became excited.

Zhou Yi said: "For convenience, I will call you [Cave Clan] in the future."

"Okay. Then I'll call you Zhou Clan, is that how names work?"

Zhou Yi's eyelids twitched: "Just call me Chairman Zhou."