Wasteland Development Diary

After nearly four months of intense activity, winter was gradually entering its final stretch.

Buildings 2, 3, and the newly constructed Building 4 in Emerald City were fully occupied, mostly by light dust workers, with a small number of merchants also choosing to settle down to cater to the workers' needs.

Construction of Building 5 continued steadily, with dust constantly swirling around the construction site.

A new order was established and stabilized in the Moth Valley region, and Zhou Yi returned to his familiar rhythm of life.

He spent his days scavenging in the Dead Sea, directing the samurai crabs to carry building materials ashore, and punctually clocked out to rest after dark.

Winter is often said to be a season of danger and upheaval, but in Emerald City, it was a scene of bustling peace and prosperity.

Unbeknownst to him, another month had passed.

During this time, one major event and several minor ones occurred.

The minor events included:

First, the Mushroom Forest's explosive mushroom production remained stable, yielding a consistent 5,000 units of light seeds.

Second, the Boundary Breaker, Haruk, made the first installment payment of 20,000 light seeds.

Third, the Sage Mushroom's first patent royalty was confirmed through the machine terminal account, with an initial monthly income of 1,277 light seeds.

The major event was that the floating island, pushed all the way from the Dead Sea by the Victory Snakes, finally reached the Dead Sea coast where Emerald City was located.

Zhou Yi informed all residents through the Kestrel: "From today onwards, Snake Island will be officially integrated with Emerald City. The Victory Snakes on the island are friendly, and we hope everyone will get along with them."

"The Maria Hospital on the island will also be open to Emerald City residents. Dr. Da Vinci and others will be stationed there long-term. Residents can enter for treatment by scanning their faces, and it will be free internally this winter."

Because the company had made announcements and informed everyone in advance, the residents were surprised and curious about the flying island, but there wasn't much panic. However, the strange appearance and large number of Victory Snakes still made many people feel pressured, and they kept their distance from Snake Island.

It wasn't until the third day after Snake Island merged into Emerald City that a patient finally went to see a doctor.

Zhou Yi knew this person; it was Awei, Jacob's roommate.

In winter, Awei was prone to itching all over his body. He couldn't help but scratch, which caused his body to swell and turn red. He would feel better for a while in the snow, but the itching would return when he went back inside. Unable to bear it any longer, he ran all the way to see a doctor.

Da Vinci told him, "This is an allergic reaction, but the allergen cannot be determined for now. I'll prescribe some anti-allergy medication for you, which should provide some relief after application. Remember not to scratch when it itches to avoid further aggravation."

Following Awei, Jacob also came to Maria Hospital, wanting to repair his skull.

Da Vinci offered two options.

Prioritizing strength and impact resistance, copper could be used for the repair, but the weight of the copper would cause a local imbalance in the skull's weight, which would have some impact on daily activities.

Focusing on aesthetics, plaster could be used for repair, but the disadvantage is that it would be easily broken and damaged.

The Bone Man ultimately chose plaster. There was still a slight color difference on his head, but at least he didn't have to rely on bandages to cover the large hole in the back of his head anymore.

With someone taking the lead, the residents of Emerald City followed suit. Some people didn't even know if they were sick, but they figured they would get a check-up since it was free anyway.

As a result of the physical examinations, it was discovered that there were quite a few people in sub-health states.

Most of the residents here were scavengers who had lived hard lives in the past, suffering from long-term malnutrition and various chronic diseases. Their advantage was their youth and strong resistance, as older and weaker scavengers were prone to dying in the winter.

These former wanderers had a vague understanding of their health conditions for the first time.

A few days later.

Zheng Tao, Maria Hospital's first critically ill patient, was finally able to get out of bed and walk.

Although this gray-haired old man was physically weak, his overall mental state was very good. He was no longer the silent, elderly figure he had been before, but had become talkative and cheerful.

"Mr. Zhou, without your great rescue, there's no way my terminal illness could have been cured."

He held Zhou Yi's hands with sincerity and earnestness, saying, "I know that the failure rate for surgeries like mine, with severe blood death disease, is too high. Even Holy Mountain would take a conservative approach and not perform surgery."

"You brought in Dr. Da Vinci, coordinated with the special environment of Maria Hospital, and used the latest rare drugs to perform this high-difficulty surgery for me... You saved my life."

"As long as it's within my ability, just ask."

Zhou Yi smiled and said, "Then I will. Our Wasteland Development Company is newly established, and we lack talent in all industries. Especially someone like you, a Strengthener with rich experience in farm management and market operation, and a good reputation."

"I would like to invite you to be our company's agricultural advisor, to help guide our agricultural development and operation."

Zheng Tao readily nodded, "Since Mr. Zhou thinks highly of this old man, then I will definitely contribute everything I know."

Zhou Yi was in a great mood.

He had finally recruited his first Strengthener talent.

After accepting the position of agricultural advisor, Zheng Tao immediately restrained his smile, "Let me ask a question first. What requirements does the chairman have for the company's agricultural direction?"

Zhou Yi thought for a moment, "Well... let's start with self-sufficiency, meeting internal needs."

Zheng Tao confirmed again, "You mean, the company is developing agriculture so that it can easily eat all kinds of food?"

"That's also important... but there's another more important purpose."

Zhou Yi's expression also became serious, "If we want to build a settlement, attract and retain population, we must have a sufficient supply of food. We must produce our own grain to avoid being strangled by the outside world."

"You're right."

Zheng Tao's gaze softened slightly, "There's an old saying among grain merchants, 'Whoever controls the grain, controls the hearts of the people.'"

"There are two ways to interpret this saying."

"The first is that whoever owns the grain can make others gravitate towards him."

"The second is that if a person possesses and sells high-quality grain, it will be difficult for people to escape his influence."

"When I was young, I believed the first saying."

Zheng Tao looked out the window, gently rubbing his hands.

"At that time, I thought that for most people, quantity should be the most important thing. Enough grain would ensure that people would not go hungry, and there was no problem with that. Wherever grain was produced, it would be attractive to people."

"After I had been to many towns and cities, I slowly discovered that the reality was not quite what I thought. The reality is that even if there is already enough grain—even the cheapest dried mushrooms—it cannot reach most people."

"The grain problem is not just a matter of crop yield, but also a more complex distribution problem. This problem cannot be solved at present, and hunger will definitely exist for a long time."

"It's like a rich man who owns a lot of gold but is unwilling to share it with everyone. Then what's the difference between him and a pauper to others?"

Zheng Tao looked at Zhou Yi, "I know that the company's farm has been reclaimed, and sweet potatoes and peanuts are both good grains, but they are not grains produced in Sandport."

"The greatest role of grain is to fill the stomach and save lives, but to sell well, it must be delicious. Although this is somewhat counterintuitive, in this world, deliciousness is the most important criterion for evaluating a grain. There are many people who can't sell cheap grain, but delicious and unique grain doesn't have to worry about buyers in various cities."

This new agricultural advisor said softly, "Developing the agricultural field requires both feet to be indispensable. Sufficient grain reserves to ensure that there is no famine, and high-quality grain used for external export to continuously output influence, the quantity should be small and refined."

"Of course, I'm talking about under normal order. If it's a time of war and famine, then that's another matter, but that's no longer a simple grain problem, but a complex problem of rights and calculations."

Zhou Yi chatted with Zheng Tao for a while, and felt that he really had something, and he knew all kinds of grains like the back of his hand.

He proposed: "I want to process a simple food... This thing can be transported over long distances, and can be eaten as soon as you get it, and it can be stored for a long time as long as it is in a dry environment."

Zheng Tao suggested, "Let me see the actual product and the production process."

So Zhou Yi immediately started Emerald City, using the power of the building's life to steam a pile of sweet potato chips until they were cooked, and then Zhou Yi sliced them, and then Emerald City further ventilated and dried them.

After working for two hours.

Zheng Tao picked up a strip of sweet potato chip, observed it, and put it in his mouth.

He closed his eyes and chewed slowly, with heat slowly rising from his head.

A dozen seconds later, Zheng Tao opened his eyes.

"Good, good."

He picked up another piece of sweet potato chip, his face full of joy, "My 'Food Tongue' is specially used to taste grain, and its 'taste' can accurately judge the taste."

"It likes this very much, it's very sweet, and it maintains the taste while having a flexible chewing sensation, it will be very popular."

"In the past, I only knew that sweet potatoes were dried and ground into powder, but I didn't expect there was such a method. It's really ingenious."

"Selling sweet potato chips is more competitive than selling sweet potatoes, and it is more beneficial to build the company's reputation. There are currently no sweet potato chips on the market, and it is better to seize the Sandport market as soon as possible, and the sweet potato planting area needs to be expanded as soon as possible..."

The two discussed many details until the sun went down before Zhou Yi left the hospital.

However, just downstairs in the apartment building, a Weapon Master took the initiative to find him.

"Leader, please give me a name."

This upright-walking Black Warrior sent an unprecedented request through the consciousness channel, "I want a name, I ask you for instructions."

A Jin stood with it.

Zhou Yi hadn't seen this kid for a while.

He looked at the boy, "What are you doing here?"

A Jin raised his head and puffed out his chest, "Chairman, this Weapon Master is my friend. But it's afraid to talk to you, so I'm here to cheer it on."

Zhou Yi looked puzzled, "What's going on?"

The boy pointed to the Weapon Master next to him and said, "Chairman, I use a translator to chat with it, and I became friends with it. It's very smart, and it quickly learned to use the translator to ask us for advice."

"It learns to drill holes with Nemo, and learns to salvage light dust sand with the workers. It can also roast sweet potatoes and cook mushroom soup like a stall vendor... It's very powerful, and it learns faster than me."

Zhou Yi looked at the side in astonishment.

The Weapon Master stood honestly in place, like a student waiting for the teacher to speak, looking unremarkable.

This time, the Samurai Crab family really produced an intelligence-type member.