Wasteland Development Diary

The electronic compendium popped up on the remote control screen.

The sand rat is a small, brownish-yellow rodent with flat claws on its toes and a short neck with a slender snout.

The description was only a few words.

...

[Sand Rat]

Habits: Gregarious, adept at burrowing and collecting.

...

Red Falcon said, "According to the species definition, a Light-Receptor species must possess Light-Receptor organs, capable of collecting dead light and converting it into energy. Sand rats do not have this characteristic; they are just a common small animal."

Zhou Yi ordered, "Retrieve records related to sand rats from Recursive City's database."

"Retrieved."

Line after line of text appeared on the screen.

《Basic Knowledge of Sand Rat Breeding》, 《Common Methods for Preventing Infectious Diseases in Sand Rats》, 《Ethical Guidelines for Using Sand Rats in Live Experiments》, 《Treatment Process for Sand Rat Hoarding Disorder》...

The records about sand rats were either as experimental subjects, live food for other creatures, or a mere footnote in regional ecological surveys.

This species seemed unremarkable.

Zhou Yi patiently read through the relevant information and discovered an inconsistency.

Sand rats live in groups and dig underground burrows, but these are limited to animal-level nests, usually built near water sources or human settlements, away from dangerous predators.

Building an underground nest in the dunes infested with antlion is against their nature.

Using chicken feathers and bones to ensure nest safety, using antlion to deter potential enemies, and building complex underground city-style nests with clear functions and planning, this must be done with clear guidance and intelligence.

It seems that a leader with considerable intelligence may have been mutated among these sand rats.

While Zhou Yi was pondering, A Jin, who was doing the excavation work, made another discovery.

"Chairman, there's another layer below, actually a double-layered nest!"

Zhou Yi turned his gaze.

Under the drone's lens, the deeper layer was clearly visible, with a crisscross structure with the upper layer.

In the deep storage room, A Jin found some seeds.

He picked up one of the round seeds, identified it, and said, "These are acorns from the sand oak tree, some of which have sprouted. It's strange; they don't eat these seeds but store them for the winter?"

"This is thistle seed; there's a lot of this stuff in the oasis zone." A Jin grabbed a handful of things that looked like peeled cucumber seeds and said, "But this kind of grass seed is dry and hard and not very edible. What are they collecting this for?"

Zhou Yi faintly had a guess.

He had Red Falcon raise the viewing angle and immediately saw that the sand rat underground city in the dunes presented a strip shape, with one end extending into the depths of the dunes and the other connecting to the oasis area.

Zhou Yi immediately ordered, "Continue digging, dig along these underground passages, and find the endpoints at both ends."

So, the large-scale midnight excavation project began.

Ridge Hunters hovered high in the air, shining brightly, acting as artificial suns for lighting. The excavation was carried out by Hammer Soldiers, with A Jin doing on-site exploration, identifying the various things inside.

As the excavation work continued to deepen, the amazing face of the sand rat underground kingdom also surfaced.

Their underground passages extended west to the Death Dunes, east to the oasis zone, reaching the burrow below Maggot Valley Town, and further east all the way to the beach area near the Dead Sea, with the closest point less than 1000 meters from Emerald City.

To the north, it went deep into the territory of the Claw Hog groups, and to the south, it approached the Mushroom Forest.

The Maggot Valley Town area had a vast underground kingdom spanning southeast and northwest. The sand rats could safely enter these areas at any time through underground tunnels to observe different regions and collect supplies.

They stored large amounts of hay, branches, feces, and seeds, and built magnificent underground cities with access to all directions, which can be called a natural wonder.

This seemingly inconspicuous and weak creature had far more control over the nearby land than any other group.

Even Red Falcon said, "The situation here is very abnormal, very abnormal!"

"The grass seeds and tree species they store highly overlap with the ecology of the oasis area. The underground passages have the largest number and highest density of small saplings and thistles, all growing from the passage coverage area as the core in all directions... This group of sand rats is continuously planting trees and creating grasslands, or rather, they are maintaining and even building the oasis zone."

"With the sand rat's labor force, it is almost impossible to build such a complex and interconnected vast underground passage system and maintain its continuation and expansion. Assuming that 20,000 sand rats dig and build day and night, it would take at least 40 years of high-intensity work to do so."

"The lifespan of a sand rat is less than 2 years, which is 20 generations, totaling nearly 4 million sand rats accumulating a lifetime of labor."

"In terms of the scale of the underground nest, building specifications, and the meaning of ethnic group behavior, this is already a city-state, and can even be called a special underground kingdom."

"This is something that has never been in the database."

4 million sand rats.

They also plant trees and grass, transforming the environment.

Zhou Yi felt a little scalp tingling.

His judgment of the sand rats was still too conservative.

According to Red Falcon's judgment, this group of sand rats must have a clear division of labor, a relatively clear social order, dedicated food providers, and full-time diggers and porters to mobilize a large amount of labor for long-term continuous operations.

They have now disappeared without a trace.

"Flat claw footprints of sand rats have been found in the underground city."

Red Falcon continued, "All the footprints are in the same direction; they are orderly withdrawing to the west of the dunes, which is not far from Chicken Head Town. I suspect that because winter is coming, they are migrating to the Chicken Head Town area to avoid the Light-Receptor species attacks here. That area belongs to the Sand Port jurisdiction and has protective forces, which is relatively safe."

"This scale of evacuation will take a lot of time, so it must have been planned in advance. The reserves in the nest have not been touched, and there are no signs of destruction or transformation."

Various thoughts flashed through Zhou Yi's mind.

The sand rats themselves are weak and common, and it is not easy to attract attention. In addition, they have been deeply involved in the Maggot Valley Town area for at least decades. This is the real local snake, and there are their eyes and ears everywhere.

They have maintained a low-profile underground life for a long time, and there is no conflict of interest with the company. It might be possible to try to communicate with them and see if they can be recruited.

Zhou Yi asked Red Falcon to make map markers for the underground city, and ordered A Jin to use sand to cover the excavated underground nest with the Warrior Crabs, restoring it as much as possible, and leaving a considerable number of dried mushrooms as compensation for the damaged local works.

This underground kingdom is a spectacle created by sand rats, and it would be a pity to damage it.

A Jin was a little indignant: "Chairman, you don't know, these sand rats often steal our things! Everyone in Maggot Valley Town has been stolen by them. It turns out they are digging holes everywhere. No wonder we can't always find their nests!"

"When these sand rats are found by us, they will drill into some small holes and deliberately be caught by us to cover other sand rats. They are very cunning."

Zhou Yi told him: "A Jin, remember, you are an employee of the Wasteland Development Company. The company wants to develop this land, to maximize the use of existing resources to generate more revenue and value, rather than simply and rudely expelling the original inhabitants here, engaging in plunder and exploitation."

A Jin lowered his head and said nothing.

New humans live hard lives and hate the sand rats who steal their property, which is normal.

Zhou Yi changed his perspective and said, "A Jin, suppose we expel the sand rats and Claw Hogs that pose a threat to humans, what will this place become?"

"Without sand rats, no one will plant trees and grass, and the oasis will become smaller and smaller. Because the people of Maggot Valley Town are only habitually picking up branches and wood, collecting hay, until the fuel becomes less and less, and eventually it becomes colder and harder to get through in winter, and people may die every winter."

"Without Claw Hogs, there will be no dung, our Monster-Attracting Mushrooms cannot be planted, and we will lose an important economic crop. And the people who live here, losing the main source of dung production, the mushroom production will be greatly reduced, and hunger will become more and more serious."

"Eventually, Maggot Valley Town will decline faster than it is now. Because the people of Maggot Valley Town can survive here, closely related to the various creatures around them, and cannot live alone on this not-so-rich land."

He was not only persuading A Jin, but also making the company's new human employees understand the importance of sustainable development for long-term stability.

The voice transmitted by Red Falcon made A Jin's eyes a little confused.

The boy was in a trance for a while, and his eyes regained their brilliance.

"Chairman, I understand."

"Like us scavengers, if other people don't leave things behind, there's nothing to pick up! We must let other people and monsters exist so that our company can get more things!"

Zhou Yi said, "That's the point."

Digging is easy, but repairing takes more time.

The underground city restoration work continued until daytime.

The habit of new humans is to come out at night and hide during the day. Even after coming to the company, they still maintain the ancient tradition.

But today, A Jin was still working during the day, and he and the Warrior Crabs were busy together.

It was noon.

Zhou Yi went to the kitchen to cook a portion of white rice, and unpacked a bag of braised chicken legs, a bag of beef jerky, and a bag of spicy kelp shreds, ready to start eating.

At this moment, a whistle sounded outside.

He went to the window and looked.

A silver-black heavy truck was parked outside the Emerald City's gate wall, and Qian Su, wearing a felt hat, was waving hello.