Wasteland Development Diary

Winter stretches on, and my stomach rumbles.

Patrolling in the heavy snow, Lie Hai's mind drifted elsewhere.

The Spine Hunter clan is naturally very balanced, possessing both considerable strength and excellent skills, along with decent body durability. They are highly competitive among creatures of the same level.

However, creatures with balanced development face an unavoidable problem.

They consume a lot of resources.

Spine Hunters need to ingest a large amount of Light Seeds and also find high-quality bones as a supplementary diet. They need to temper their bodies, improve their resistance to blows and speed, expand their energy reserve上限, and enhance the skills and proficiency of their [Light Prism Exoskeleton] to ensure they can switch between attack and defense quickly and accurately.

In addition, mental training is also essential... Many Spine Hunters master multiple languages and body language.

Even the lazy Lie Hai was forced to learn four languages, including Human Common Language and Panda Language.

Just like my mother said:

"We are strong because we continuously strengthen and hone ourselves; strength is not innate."

At that time, Lie Hai couldn't help but retort: "But we are naturally stronger than lower-level creatures. Hunting them is enough; why bother training?"

Then, it was beaten to a pulp by its mother.

"Idiot!"

"Fool!"

"You have no ambition!"

"How could I give birth to a child like you!"

Its mother rebuked its 'good enough' mentality, telling it, "The reason the Spine Hunter clan can stand out and possess such impressive bodies is because of the efforts of generations of ancestors, who constantly improved and evolved, growing from the weakest Bone Fish to give you the advantages you enjoy today!"

"If you are not enterprising, you will inevitably become weaker and weaker, and eventually become prey for other strong individuals!"

Lie Hai hastily acknowledged its mistake, saying it would definitely practice hard.

In reality, it didn't take it to heart.

The Spine Hunter clan has already suffered all the hardships in its ancestors' generation; can't they enjoy themselves now?

Anyway, weak Light Seed creatures are always in the majority in this world.

As long as it doesn't provoke those powerful guys and feeds on low-level creatures, life should be easy.

After its mother passed away, it began to feed on low-level Light Seeds according to its own ideas, with its diet including D-grade Bubble Fish and D-grade Light-Sucking Monsters, and the highest-level prey being C-grade Long-Necked Crocodiles.

However, the actual situation was somewhat different from what Lie Hai had imagined.

Bubble Fish can create many bubbles filled with dead light, with reflective surfaces that make it impossible to see what's inside.

These bubbles scatter rapidly in all directions, making the Bubble Fish's location extremely elusive and difficult to determine which bubble they are hiding in. Touching the bubbles causes them to burst, resulting in some damage and an uncomfortable sense of paralysis.

Although Bubble Fish are D-grade creatures, they gave Lie Hai a lot of trouble.

Light-Sucking Monsters are easy to capture.

Lie Hai would grab them and slurp them down in one gulp, but eighty or ninety percent of the Light-Sucking Monster's energy would dissipate, and catching a bunch might not even yield a single Light Seed. This is because this type of creature is essentially an energy body, and under external forces, it will quickly return to dead light and then be reborn.

Lie Hai even tried diving into the seabed to prey on E-grade Warrior Crabs and Bone Fish.

It then realized why mid-to-high-level Light Seeds rarely enter the seabed.

The bottom of the Dead Sea has too many impurities. Absorbing the low-quality dead light there would affect its own body, making it feel drowsy and as if iron blocks and stones were injected into it. Not only would its mind become dull and its reactions much slower, but it would also make Lie Hai feel depressed and restless.

Low-level creatures, on the other hand, thrive in the sea. They don't have as much thinking, their physiological structure is simple, and they are inherently adapted to this turbid and inefficient harsh environment.

Normally, it could get by, but winter was a time of hunger and danger.

It had to hunt the relatively dangerous Long-Necked Crocodiles—which, cunningly, would hide in the seabed and deliberately enter the territories of other high-level monsters, making Lie Hai's hunting journey very difficult.

In addition, there were higher-level hunters whose watchful eyes brought a constant sense of urgency.

The various pressures of survival made Lie Hai begin to regret not listening to its mother.

The hunger in its stomach, the beatings it received, and the injuries it sustained were all due to past laziness.

Its mother had foreseen this situation.

So, she had found a piece of land here long ago. The number of Light Seeds here was small, barren, and far from the city. But for this reason, no Sea Lord had occupied it, making it sufficient as an emergency winter hunting ground.

But by a twist of fate, Lie Hai joined this mysterious organization called the Wasteland Development Company.

Just like Mom said:

"If you have the ability, go and explore and open up your own territory. If you don't have the ability, find a lord who takes a liking to you and go and rely on them. At least it will make me feel more at ease than you living alone."

Mom had foreseen this day long ago.

Alas.

Sorry, Mom.

I'm a good-for-nothing.

Various thoughts flashed through its mind.

The person on its back couldn't help but call out, "We've passed it, we've passed it, Brother Lie Hai. We're going to Mao Gu Town. You flew past it; you have to turn around."

"Is that the cave that looks like a butt?

"Yes, that's the one."

The young human on its back was called A Jin, also an employee of the Wasteland Development Company, called a colleague here.

Lie Hai had no experience with relying on others.

Fortunately, Mom had taught it some tricks.

For example, building good relationships with those of the same level in the same faction, knowing how to give gifts, and avoiding unnecessary conflicts.

It must appear diligent in front of the lord; this is more important than working behind the scenes.

There were several humans in the company.

They all seemed ordinary, but who knew?

To be valued by the chairman and have a higher sequence than itself, these people either had special abilities or very strong backgrounds.

The human colleagues kept their distance from Lie Hai, a Spine Hunter, maintaining a tacit defense and cold violence towards it, basically not interacting with it after answering questions.

Only A Jin was the first to take the initiative to say hello.

"You're bigger than me, so I'll call you Brother Lie Hai. I'm A Jin. You can call me if you need anything in the future."

This guy was unusual.

It was said that he was the first employee selected by the chairman, and his current duty was to survey the geography and do treasure hunting work for the company.

To help Lie Hai familiarize itself with the work and the surrounding environment as soon as possible, A Jin was allowed by the chairman to act together with it for a while and guide it.

Lie Hai contracted its body and slowly landed on the snow.

"Wait here for a moment."

A Jin jumped off its back and ran into the cave of Mao Gu Town.

It took a long time before it saw anyone come out.

Just as Lie Hai was about to go in to check the situation, A Jin finally reappeared, bringing with him several humans dressed in rags.

Unlike A Jin, these people looked at Lie Hai with fear and horror. They subconsciously retreated, and Lie Hai was very familiar with this expression of fear.

A Jin introduced to those humans.

"This is Brother Lie Hai. He's a new employee of our company. He will be responsible for patrol and defense work this winter."

"His past identity was indeed a Winter Beast, but the chairman said that he is now one of us, so there's no need to worry anymore."

"Brother Lie Hai is now our protector! He is very strong!"

Lie Hai was very pleased to hear the last sentence.

Although it couldn't beat enemies of the same level, it was still very dominant when encountering C-grade and D-grade stragglers.

The townspeople looked at each other, talking among themselves, seemingly still unable to believe it.

Lie Hai was immediately bathed in a layer of radiance, dispelling the darkness around it. It tried to make its human language standard: "I have been appointed by the chairman to protect your safety. If any monsters come out to cause trouble, I will end their lives."

"I will guard everything here."

It floated in the air, striking a strong pose.

The locals whispered to each other again, their faces different, seemingly very surprised and unable to understand this.

Soon.

A Jin took Lie Hai all the way to the Mushroom Forest, introducing it to the two photoelectric lifeforms working in the fields—they were also company employees, but belonged to the non-combat group, specializing in reclaiming farmland. However, the two only greeted it perfunctorily and then resumed their busy posture.

The manager of the Mushroom Forest, the Bone Man Sun Chonglai, was very polite to Lie Hai, directly taking it to visit the mushroom fields.

"This is the Monster-Attracting Mushroom, also one of the company's important resources, but now it has also produced a lot of new ones. Take a little of the previous ones and taste them."

After tasting the mushroom, Lie Hai relaxed completely, and its heart became more peaceful and tranquil than ever before. It felt that its mind became particularly clear... This situation reminded it of "Black Cattail."

Black Cattail was an expensive medicine that was worth its weight in gold, which could allow Light Seeds to suppress periodic dead light energy disturbances in the body, which could not only reduce physiological damage, but also stabilize emotions.

Only some specific areas could produce Black Cattail.

This also led to its high price, which was almost indispensable for Light Seeds during pregnancy.

Uncle was secretly growing this kind of thing! He could earn a lot of Light Seeds at any time!

Lie Hai felt a burst of excitement.

The stronger the uncle, the safer it would be to follow him.

Mom was so right.

It's better to find a hardworking boss than to work hard yourself!

A Jin said at this time: "Brother Lie Hai, the Death Sand Dune is buried underground, maybe it's a very valuable treasure. Can you help kill the Thorn Ant Lion there?"

"What is a Thorn Ant Lion?"

A Jin described it.

It turned out to be a big guy covered in hard armor, with a large number of tough cuticles and bones, an E-grade underground creature.

Lie Hai's appetite suddenly increased.

This Spine Hunter likes to gnaw on hard bones, it won't gnaw if it's not hard!

"Leave it to me!"