Wasteland Development Diary

In the wasteland, winter is a dangerous season for most, a time to minimize outdoor activities, but it's also an opportunity for merchants to make a profit.

"Now is the peak season for our line of work. I need to travel around more. Where there's fighting, there's a demand for weapons."

"I should be back in about three months. I'll bring some new goods then. Take care."

The young weapons merchant bid farewell to Zhou Yi and drove her big truck toward her next customer.

This transaction, in and out, earned Zhou Yi a total of 3658 Light Seeds.

On the other side, the Blast Mushrooms in Mushroom Forest achieved a bumper harvest this month despite the snowy weather, yielding another 5000 Light Seeds after extraction in Emerald City.

Adding in the regular income from underwater fishing, he now had 10,000 Light Seeds in hand for the first time.

He could be considered to have some capital.

Resources need to circulate to realize their value, especially in this wasteland with no industry.

Zhou Yi first thought of investing in the farm.

Since hiring the Farm Machinery Brothers, he had become a hands-off manager and hadn't even visited the place in person once.

The Red Falcon flew all the way to Mushroom Forest, acting as Zhou Yi's cybernetic proxy.

In the snowy fields, the Farm Machinery Brothers were as busy as ever.

The silent Copper Bull slowly moved back and forth around the entire farm. It had a humanoid support on its roof, swaying left and right like an inflatable doll in front of a store, and its whole body would glow from time to time, looking very festive.

Iron Horse, after separating from its chassis, carried the load and entered the snowy paths between the fields in its tractor form. Its tractor head extended two U-shaped antennas on the left and right, scanning the farmland all the way.

Zhou Yi lowered the altitude and said, "How are things in winter?"

Iron Horse replied through a somewhat noisy loudspeaker, "The temperature is within acceptable limits, but there are quite a few biological hazards in this area. There are birds day and night that peck at the seedlings in the fields, so Copper Bull set up a deterrent doll for regular patrols."

"These birds aren't afraid of mechanical and electrical lifeforms because they know we won't hunt or eat them. The dolls are useful because humans hunt and eat them, which they fear."

So the humanoid support was an electronic scarecrow.

At this moment, Zhou Yi felt that some things in the wasteland hadn't changed.

"Besides the birds, there were also gerbils before, but they rarely come out after winter. The absence of gerbil gnawing has caused the insects in the soil to become a big problem."

"The two biggest problems are dung-eating grubs and winter mole crickets."

Iron Horse extended a slender mechanical arm and displayed an insect specimen: "This is a winter mole cricket. It gnaws on the roots and stems of various crops."

The image under the lens made Zhou Yi frown.

This fierce-looking insect, with a conical carapace, hooked slender claws, and scythe-like mouthparts on its head, was different from the mole crickets in his memory.

The more Zhou Yi looked at it, the more he thought of something: "Is it the larva of a spike antlion?"

"Accurately speaking, the spike antlion is one of the evolutionary directions of the winter mole cricket."

Iron Horse explained, "In the winter mole cricket stage, it only appears and feeds in winter. When the climate is warm, it falls into dormancy instead. The shell on their body has a good absorption of death light, so it can maintain life by absorbing external energy."

"If it can continue to grow and molt, and finally complete its evolution, it can grow into a mature spike antlion."

Zhou Yi finally understood where the spike antlions came from.

The relationship between winter mole crickets and spike antlions made him realize that the creatures of the wasteland era had undergone considerable mutations, and past experience could no longer be directly used to judge the natural environment and species habits.

He still needed to see and learn more and use practice to correct his outdated common sense.

Iron Horse showed another insect specimen.

The dung-eating grub looked like a white worm with brown spots on its body, which was quite ordinary in appearance.

"This type of grub itself cannot be said to be a pest, because it feeds on feces. Even after evolving into a mature dung beetle, this eating habit remains unchanged. For farmland, they can decompose feces and allow plants to absorb it better, which is conventionally a beneficial insect."

"Unfortunately, the problem now is that there are too many grubs. They are no longer just decomposing feces, but are devouring and digesting a large amount of feces. In the past, they lived in the northern region and the oasis belt. The north is the territory of the Claw Pig groups. They hunt animals in the northern forests and produce a lot of feces. There are also some animals in the oasis belt that defecate..."

Iron Horse said somewhat dejectedly, "Now they are attracted to the feces and fertilizers in the farmland and eat the fertilizers as well. I released insect repellent waves on them, but the effect was worse than expected."

It complained, "Whether it's winter mole crickets or dung-eating grubs, they were originally the target of gerbil hunting, so their numbers shouldn't be that high. Now that the gerbils have suddenly disappeared, the ecosystem has become unbalanced, and crops have been affected as a result."

The gerbils that disappeared from the underground kingdom.

In a roundabout way, it affected the output in the field.

Zhou Yi had no idea either, so he first focused on solving the immediate problem: "So, there is currently a fertilizer shortage?"

"Actually, what we had before was barely enough... If you're willing to invest a little more and increase the amount of fertilizer, it will definitely make these crops grow better."

Iron Horse said hesitantly.

Zhou Yi asked, "How much do you need? Give me a number."

"If possible, we need to increase the fertilizer by 30%, which is an expense of 3 Light Seeds."

Zhou Yi was stunned to hear that.

Just that much?

"Then increase it by 100% for me."

Iron Horse quickly said, "More isn't necessarily better. The fertilizer ratio needs to be controlled within a certain range for optimal results. If the budget is sufficient, then increasing the fertilizer by 50% should be very sufficient."

"Just do as you say."

Zhou Yi now had money in his pocket and became generous: "Is there anything else you need? As long as it benefits the output of this farmland, you can ask."

The farm machinery thought for a while: "For these two pieces of land planting sweet potatoes and peanuts, the current resource allocation is already sufficient. If we carry out a large-scale extermination of local insects and birds, causing further imbalance in the ecological chain, it will cause even bigger problems. As agricultural practitioners, we usually choose the most stable approach."

Although there were problems with insect pests and increased expenses, Iron Horse also gave a piece of good news.

"Overall, the growth of both sweet potatoes and peanuts is good."

"In about 60 days, it will be time for the crops in the field to mature and be harvested."

Zhou Yi transferred a sum of fertilizer money to it and learned in detail about the farmland situation in the past two months.

Iron Horse suddenly said, "Brother, after this job is over, I want to go back for an inspection. I don't know if you can agree? The time I spend will be made up for by extending the service period afterward."

Zhou Yi was curious: "What's wrong?"

"I've been feeling a little problem with my machine recently. Normally, it takes a month."

Iron Horse said, "During this month, Copper Bull will be responsible for maintaining this place. The month of harvest is usually uneventful. Just add nitrogen fertilizer for reinforcement after harvesting."

"Of course, if you don't agree, I won't leave here. We can't change the service content without the employer's consent."

Zhou Yi said, "No problem, you go for an inspection first. You can ask if you need help."

Before, Iron Horse didn't think it was a big deal even if it was almost torn to pieces, but this time it wanted to go back for a physical examination, so the situation might not be simple.

But these were all private matters of the Farm Machinery Brothers.

He was remotely checking the farm through the Red Falcon when there was a knock on the door.

Zhou Yi opened the door and found Gong Zheng, leaning on a crutch, with some snow on his hat and shoulders.

He said with a grave expression, "Chairman, the earthquake in Mao Gu Town lasted for almost a day yesterday. The residents of the town were frightened and ran out one after another. Thirteen people suffered frostbite and fall injuries to varying degrees. Because it's too cold, two people have already fallen into a coma."

"Cao Dayuan found me and requested that they be allowed to temporarily live next to the company to take refuge. Because Emerald City itself releases heat to the outside world, even leaning against the wall outside is warmer than in Mao Gu Town."

"What do you think..."

Zhou Yi thought for a while: "They can come, and give them some of the blankets we have in stock to keep them warm first, but pay attention to maintaining order among the crowd."

"Yes, Chairman."

"Also, what's going on with that earthquake?"

Gong Zheng smiled bitterly: "There have been earthquakes before in winter, but never as serious as this time. The townspeople are scared and dare not go to see what's wrong with that mountain."

Zhou Yi found Hunter Sea, who was responsible for patrolling, and asked it to investigate the situation.

Hunter Spine immediately said, "Chairman, don't worry, I'll take care of the earthquake!"

But after sending it out, Zhou Yi felt that this kid was a bit unreliable, so he simply directed the Red Falcon to fly over there as well.