Wasteland Development Diary

The night raid went smoothly.

Zhou Yi's unit, having infiltrated from underwater, caught the looters completely unaware.

The battle-hardened Warrior Crabs boarded the ships, and the enemy offered no resistance, very consciously kneeling and raising their hands in surrender.

The pirate leader was called Yuan Tong. His hair was half-white, his beard thick, his teeth blackened, and the wrinkles around his eyes clearly showed his age; he was a genuine middle-aged man.

He wore a wide-brimmed hat and had two metal buckles on his belt.

Zhou Yi later learned that these two buckles were a small invention of Yuan Tong's.

He required every crew member to wear them. When the Dead Sea was choppy or in the event of an impact, ropes could be secured to the buckles to keep them attached to the ship, giving them a chance of survival even if they fell or were blown off the deck.

Yuan Tong wore a black leather strap diagonally across his forehead, covering his left eye.

He only had his right eye.

Using the Kestrel's [Overwatch], Zhou Yi read Yuan Tong's thoughts in real-time.

"I'll ask, you answer."

Yuan Tong nodded.

At Zhou Yi's signal, the Warrior Crabs took the other looters to the stern for unified management.

That left just the two of them on the forecastle.

Zhou Yi placed his hand on the railing of the ship, gazing at the misty, boundless Dead Sea.

"Tell me how you got into this line of work."

Yuan Tong began to speak.

Zhou Yi was a little surprised.

The pirate chief used to be a shipyard craftsman, a technical specialist.

Zhou Yi asked him, "Are there many like you?"

"Not many become leaders of raiding groups; craftsmen just specialize in technology. But there are quite a few who end up as looters and can't leave the ships after working as repairmen."

Yuan Tong pondered for a moment. "Later, I learned that the shipyards had dealings with the looters because of business. The extent of these dealings varied depending on the shipyard."

"The Knight Orders mostly have their own shipyards, but the looters have to buy ships from outside, or they can't enter the Dead Sea. Once they have ships and become pirates, it's not easy for the Knight Orders to encircle and suppress them."

"The looters' raiding groups are actually important clients of the shipyards, but they trade through intermediaries, so it's very discreet."

He added, "Pirates have their own territories, usually making money in their own areas. If they can get protection money, most pirates will let ships pass through, commonly known as 'sea passage fees.'"

"But when they don't get paid, they also intercept some small merchant ships, deciding whether to rob the cargo or the ship depending on the situation. The cost of running an enhanced ship in the Dead Sea is very high, so they need to break even."

"The stolen ships are also sold to some shipyards, who modify them and then sell them off..."

Zhou Yi interrupted him. "The pirates dividing territories, is that at the request of the Dead Sea Knight Orders?"

"Not just them, but the larger pirate groups all have backing."

Yuan Tong's beard twitched as he spoke. "Some pirates belong to a certain city, some are backed by merchant guilds... There's a big difference between pirates."

"Small groups like us, who collect sea passage fees, provide merchant ships with the latest information on nearby monsters, marking areas of rapids and light bursts to prevent them from encountering maritime disasters."

"In the long run, if there are fewer merchant ships, pirate revenue will decrease. At least that's how I think; if there are more merchant ships, even if we charge less, we can still survive."

Zhou Yi sized up this technical pirate chief.

Before launching the surprise attack, he had used mind-reading on these looters and gained some understanding of Yuan Tong's group's non-lethal robbery methods and the difficulty of retiring. The subordinates had some misunderstandings and complaints about this boss, but they supported him surprisingly well.

Now it seemed that Yuan Tong was indeed a skilled manager with a deep understanding of the sea robbery business.

Zhou Yi asked him, "How do other pirates do it?"

"If it's a small group like us, with one to three ships, there's not much we can do. Basically, we rob some small merchant ships or threaten obviously hurried medium to large transport ships to get some sea passage fees."

"Some also go ashore, landing near the Dead Sea to rob ordinary people."

Yuan Tong paused for a moment and said, "But some pirates are different. A group in a nearby sea area specializes in robbing women and children and trafficking people; that's their main source of income."

"Two years ago, there was a group of pirates who specialized in capturing living people to perform evil sacrifices, digging out their hearts to offer to the Heart-Eating Ghosts, which made their ships faster and stronger. They were wanted by all sides and eventually disappeared."

"I also heard that some pirates specialize in attacking ships from certain cities. At first, I thought it was at the behest of hostile city forces. But later, I learned that it was planned by several merchants to deliberately create panic to affect the market, to buy low and sell high..."

Zhou Yi listened carefully, tapping the railing with his fingers. "Tell me about this ship."

Yuan Tong blurted out, "This is a modified light enhanced ship, with a maximum capacity of 11 people. It can hold 15 days of fresh water, 12 days of food, and has limited carrying capacity. The ship next door is basically the same."

"Their maximum speed can reach 18 kilometers per hour, and their energy consumption is 1 energy pack per 12 hours. They don't have any weapon systems, relying on speed for harassment and interception."

Speaking of ships, he became a bit garrulous. "These two ships were originally produced by the Gaoling Shipyard in Xiaoyanling, with standard Yin-Light Art processing, and the hull coverage is very regular. Although they've been running for 12 years, the hull condition is still very good."

"Just a year ago, I reinstalled E-grade Light Imprints 'Propulsion' and 'Light Float' on both ships. With normal maintenance, they can still be used for 4 years."

Yuan Tong stroked the ship's railing with his hand, his face full of nostalgia and reluctance.

Zhou Yi remained expressionless, but he was muttering to himself.

What are Light Imprints?

It seemed like he had heard it several times.

He thought, "Kestrel, retrieve information on Light Imprints."

A moment later.

A synthesized voice sounded in his mind: "Light Imprint is an application technology developed from 'Imprint-Light Art'. Its basic principle is to imitate the light-Na organs of various light-Na species and replicate them in the form of Light Imprint structures. High-precision Imprint-Light Art can make the Light Imprint structure infinitely close to its template, but it cannot surpass it."

"Imprint-Light Art arranges and combines dead light through specific ring arrays, using stable materials such as metal, wood, stone, or ceramic as the carrier framework, and through special processing technology, finally produces a Light Imprint that can run."

"Light Imprint is the specific manifestation of Imprint-Light Art. Different Light Imprints have different effects, but any Light Imprint needs dead light energy support. Its universal energy source is the energy pack."

"This technology's application range covers all aspects, strengthening mechs, vehicle operation, weapon manufacturing, shell encapsulation... all use Light Imprint structures as internal support."

Zhou Yi thought of the Dream-Trapping Bullet he had seized: "Shell encapsulation, is that using a Light Imprint structure?"

"Yes."

Kestrel explained, "In the military field, common weapons such as swords, knight muskets, etc., have Light Imprint structures, and the Light Imprint structures equipped in ships, chariots, and cities are even more complex and precise. All kinds of artillery directly stimulate dead light energy for attack through Light Imprints."

"The biggest advantage of Light Imprint weapons is stability. After the installation is completed, it can take effect on targets within its range."

"But on the other hand, because the Light Imprint itself is a bionic replication, it is extremely difficult to break through its existing limits. Whether it is to extend the range or increase the power, it requires a lot of calculation, research, and repeated testing, which places very high demands on Light Imprint technology, and successful cases are very rare."

Zhou Yi understood.

Light Imprint is a 'man-made skill'.

This is the core wasteland technology mastered by the New Humans, and its essence is a replication of the 'skills' held by existing light-Na species.

Zhou Yi thought.

No wonder he saw New Humans first using flintlock guns with lead bullets, then glowing cold weapon spears, then the Copper Bull's rocket launchers, and then the bizarre main guns of warships with ridiculously short ranges... giving a confusing sense of an era being distorted and mixed up.

Although the New Humans inherited some of the things left by the Old Humans, their technological route is completely different.

Zhou Yi was a little curious again: "Then what about gunpowder?"

Kestrel said, "Gunpowder is an inefficient and unstable way of using energy, and it is a relatively backward technical means, only superior to ordinary cold weapons, and has many limitations when used. For D-grade and above light-Na species, gunpowder cannot even break through the defense."

"Its destructive power, explosive power, sustainability, stability, and universality cannot be compared with Light Imprints."

Understood.

However, Zhou Yi was a little puzzled again: "Since humans have mastered Imprint-Light Art, why are they still suppressed by Skywalkers and Sea Lords?"

The drone replied immediately: "Because in this aspect, mechanical life is at the forefront, and large light-Na species forces led by the Celestial Kingdom also have in-depth research and many achievements in the application field. Humans started late, developed slowly, and basically focus on processing raw materials and parts, as well as making low-level Light Imprints, located in the downstream of the entire Light Imprint industry chain."

Zhou Yi said "Ah."

These light-Na species have innate advantages in their bodies.

And their technology is also ahead.

New Humans are indeed a bit difficult...