Wasteland Development Diary

The fourth day after Clockwork City completely disappeared.

This event has completely fermented within the Development Alliance, with the Overlords of the territorial waters holding varying attitudes.

Some say that preparations should be made for retaliation from the Principled Alignment.

Others believe that taking advantage of the hype to promote the company's various products would be beneficial for increasing sales.

Overlord Extinction, on the other hand, suggested another strike, directly bombing Mirror City as a research center to expand strategic advantages and further exert pressure.

Zhou Yi decided to remain on standby.

Curling took the electric cats to Mars for support, but there are still Photon Cores and the Cat God here.

It integrates many abilities, with considerable stealth and strength, and can directly lead many electric cats, serving as Zhou Yi's shadow bodyguard.

Fifth day.

Red Falcon flew over and said, "Zhou, the Principled side requests contact."

"Connect it."

The cold and authoritative voice of the man echoed from the speaker again: "Hello, Mr. Zhou. We deeply apologize for the misunderstandings and conflicts that have arisen between our two parties."

"The source involves the existing mechanisms of the program. After a large amount of calculation and correction, a suitable optimization method has not been found, so external manual intervention mechanisms were sought."

Zhou Yi immediately became vigilant.

Are they unable to handle it and calling for backup?

Is the Principled Alignment calling on the Celestial Kingdom, Star Axis, or… the Celestials?

"Ultimately, we selected a candidate to replace the Principled program to handle this matter."

"Today, the manual intervention representative and special envoy of the Principled Alignment, 'Shang Yang,' will arrive at your location and will be committed to discussing a solution to this problem with you."

So it's Shang Yang.

Zhou Yi felt slightly relieved.

But thinking about it carefully, the Principled side can't call on the Celestials either. The Celestials don't care about matters on the ground. As long as the world's life is not greatly reduced, as long as the Huanliu is still running, this colony is usable to them.

Their focus is on the Ring-Sun Wall, on Jupiter.

Just an hour and a half later.

The special envoy of the Principled Alignment arrived at Emerald City.

"Nice to meet you. Please give me your guidance."

The other party clasped his fist.

Zhou Yi was very surprised: "You are Shang Yang?"

"I am Shang Yang."

Standing before him was a Pandaren, dressed in a black robe with a white belt around his waist, his eyes shining. The Pandaren had a thick black beard and held a bamboo staff with a gourd hanging from it.

He looked quite chivalrous, more like a martial artist than a programmer and reformer.

Completely different from what Zhou Yi had expected.

"Most people haven't seen me in person, so it's understandable to have such thoughts. After all, I am the only flesh and blood life form that has been imprisoned in 404 City."

Shang Yang looked straight ahead.

Zhou Yi waved his hand to signal: "Please sit down."

Shang Yang leaned his bamboo staff against the wall and sat down casually on the sofa.

"What would you like to drink?"

"Tea if you have it, water if you don't."

Pandaren are very health-conscious.

Yuanxiao poured two cups of green tea and placed them in front of Zhou Yi and Shang Yang, then retreated to the side.

Zhou Yi asked, "You are from the Pandaren tribe, why did you become a mechanical and electrical programmer and follow Pangu to study?"

"This is a long story. Since Mr. Zhou wants to hear it, then I will talk about these old stories."

The other party pondered for a moment.

"I initially followed the Black Emperor and was a member of the Dawn Guard. After the failure of the Joint Resistance Army, I withdrew from the Guard due to injuries."

"Because I discovered that the path of force is not feasible. Because the top level of this world is the Celestials, and the gap between local life and their level is too great. Directly confronting them is tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg. To survive, one must recognize this reality and need to be circuitous and patient."

Zhou Yi nodded as he listened.

Shang Yang continued: "In my opinion, the mechanical and electrical life forms have the highest growth potential and are the most promising in this world."

"They have the strongest and fastest learning ability. The learning and experience of each individual can be completely transmitted to other individuals and continuously corrected and strengthened. Their powerful manufacturing and inheritance capabilities are unmatched by other races."

"So I believe that to change this world, one must rely on mechanical and electrical life forms. To completely activate and operate them, improve their mobilization ability and organization, and enhance the combat effectiveness of the mechanical and electrical life form group."

"So I followed Pangu, the teacher of the Mechanical and Electrical Knights, to study."

"Under the careful guidance of my teacher, I became a mechanical and electrical programmer, able to understand the survival mechanisms of mechanical and electrical life forms and learn their perspective on the world."

Shang Yang looked at the table.

The heat from the teacup was slowly rising, and the fog was clear in the refrigerated room.

"That period of study was the purest and happiest. Knowledge itself is the fairest. As long as you learn it, it can be used by you."

He slowly said: "When I started applying the knowledge I learned, I found that problems emerged one after another."

"I promoted the transformation of Legislative City."

"That was a very small city with a total population of less than 10,000, including 1,721 mechanical and electrical life forms, 7,503 humans, and 441 Photon Nascent Species. At that time, there was already the initial version of 'Principled,' but it still had many defects."

Zhou Yi had heard of this.

Shang Yang supported the death penalty in Legislative City, executing many mechanical and electrical life forms. The enforcement was strict, but it led to the city's development becoming worse and worse, and the transformation was declared a failure.

In the end, Shang Yang was judged by the Purification City and the Security Department to be extremely dangerous and would endanger the entire mechanical and electrical society. He was arrested and sent to 404 City.

"It's convenient that you know."

The Pandaren nodded: "After entering prison, I was sentenced to life imprisonment. The Pandaren tribe has a long lifespan. I am a Skywalker. Although I was seriously injured during the war, I can still live normally for hundreds of years."

"Wait a minute."

Zhou Yi was very concerned about this: "Why were you sent to 404 to serve, instead of going to the Celestial Kingdom prison? According to the laws of the Celestial Kingdom, Pandaren should be extradited back to the Celestial Kingdom."

"I was deprived of my Celestial Kingdom citizenship by the Black Emperor and am not protected by the Celestial Kingdom."

Shang Yang picked up the teacup and slowly took a sip.

"But this is not more important."

Zhou Yi wanted to ask to the end, but it seemed that Shang Yang didn't want to say.

He stopped there.

"Let's put the small talk to an end."

Shang Yang said: "This time, I am here as the manual intervention representative of Principled, hoping to come to negotiate patent matters. Mr. Zhou, your request is for the Principled Alignment to pay the patent fees for the electric cat system and related accessories. I wonder if my understanding is correct?"

Zhou Yi nodded.

"The Principled Alignment is willing to pay this fee and deeply apologizes for the previous blacklist and program closure."

The Pandaren explained: "Please believe that this was not intentionally harming your company's interests, but Principled can only execute according to existing procedures. As long as it is a program, there will be loopholes, and these loopholes can only be repaired after they are discovered, because Principled still follows the principle of procedural justice."

Zhou Yi was noncommittal: "If I hadn't bombed Clockwork City, would Principled have given feedback so quickly, or even introduced external manual intervention?"

The other party was silent for a while.

Zhou Yi said: "The past cannot be changed. Let's talk about the patent fee. This is the most important thing right now."

"Okay."

Shang Yang nodded: "Your company shared the floating heart technology patent with Yinshang Investment Company and other institutions for a price of 3 million Photon Seeds."

"If your company is willing to authorize and share the core electric cat breeding technology and the Electric Cat Bible with the Principled Alignment, we are willing to pay 12 million Photon Seeds."

Zhou Yi shook his head: "No way."

The core technology of electric cats still needs to be firmly controlled by the company.

This technology not only includes the construction parameters of the Bent House, but also the cat breeders' cat raising process, as well as the valuable experience that various departments and electric cat employees have explored together.

Relying on electric cat transfers alone is enough to generate a continuous stream of cash flow, and 12 million is actually not much.

"That's a pity."

Shang Yang continued: "Regarding the electric cat infrastructure supporting patents, such as the Bent House, Power Ball, Cat House, Electric Cat Staff, Electrolytic Cat Box, Sky Net, and other existing supporting facilities and equipment, Principled has made an assessment. Our side is willing to pay 3 million Photon Seeds for this. What do you think, Mr. Zhou?"

Zhou Yi nodded: "Okay."

Giving money shows sincerity, and both sides can retain some face.

"However, currently, the cities of the Principled Alignment are making large-scale investments in agriculture, military industry, and basic industrial product manufacturing, and a large number of Photon Seeds have been invested in various fields. It will take a long time to allocate this money, estimated to take 3 to 6 months."

The Pandaren said, "There is another faster way, which is to offset it with the taxes and existing goods of the mechanical and electrical cities. If this settlement method is adopted, we are willing to increase the amount to 3.1 million."

"Wasteland Development Company has been removed from the sanctions list and blacklist. Your company can access the pages of any mechanical and electrical city through the Mech Station."

Zhou Yi's heart stirred as he listened.

This seems not bad.

He immediately picked up the enhanced controller next to him to test.

Of the several cities accessible to Zhou Yi, Recursive City became a company holding, Storage City was gone, and Coral Port belonged to the Celestial Kingdom.

Mass Production City was still accessible.

The city page had a huge list of goods that made Zhou Yi dazzled for a moment.

After Principled came to power, the sales of goods, whether in terms of type or quantity, increased significantly.

The Pandaren next to him said, "Mr. Zhou can choose at will. If needed, you can directly connect to Mirror City, Holy Mountain, and Snow County, the three largest mechanical and electrical cities. The paid services provided can also be deducted."

Zhou Yi pondered in his heart.

This is not bad.

Many things produced by the mechanical and electrical cities, Sandport can't make yet, and some must be purchased from outside. Such as medicines, medical equipment, rubber, plastics, fertilizers, vehicles, various Photon Imprint tools, etc.

It's not bad to offset these necessities with this money.

But there is a more important thing to solve right now.

Zhou Yi looked at Shang Yang beside him: "Is the time almost up?"

The other party was puzzled: "What's almost up?"

"I mean, have you warmed up enough? That Photon Core weapon hidden in your body…"

The Pandaren's pupils suddenly shrank.

He was about to violently attack, but he suddenly stiffened in place.

Cat God's 【BGM Domain】 had completely controlled him.

A thin red light pierced into the Pandaren's back.

After a moment.

The spotlight outside the window gave feedback.

"Chairman, the energy diffusion reaction in his body cannot be stopped. There is a 15-minute countdown. It is best to take him into the Dead Sea to detonate it."

Zhou Yi took a sip of tea.

"No hurry, I'll take a look first."