Wasteland Development Diary

Hearing about bubble fish, Zhou Yi immediately thought of spaghetti code.

This creature's excrement is sent to the surface via bubbles, capable of creating floating islands.

They spew bubbles everywhere in the Dead Sea, able to hide themselves inside, making it difficult even for skilled hunters like Ridge Hunters to distinguish them.

Zhou Yi asked Xie Xun to find Xie Si.

Xie Si was a bit shorter than Xie Xun, wearing a red construction safety helmet and a reflective vest over his raincoat armor, giving off a very civil engineering vibe.

Zhou Yi sized him up: "Is that outfit for reflection?"

Xie Si adjusted his helmet with his claws: "Yes, Chairman. This helmet and the clothes on my body reflect light when illuminated, making me visible from far away in the Dead Sea. I found them in the Dead Sea; they're very useful."

"Bubble fish are very sensitive to light. Wearing something like this helps them find me."

Zhou Yi asked, "Can you summon them?"

"I wouldn't say summon, but I can get their help."

Xie Si fiddled with his safety helmet, looking a bit nervous: "I studied aquaculture platforms. I helped out at the aquaculture platform for a while before."

"Later, when I returned to the scavenging team and had some free time, I encountered bubble fish. I tried feeding them white shells, and they liked them. I used a brush to remove the fragments stuck on their scales. They can usually squeeze them out themselves, but it takes a long time and can be uncomfortable."

"After getting familiar with them, I discovered they really like shiny things, so I changed into this outfit and fixed some rhombus stones on my backpack, making it look sparkly. They became very close to me."

This scavenger said, "Bubble fish are different from bone fish; they're actually quite smart. Seeing that our scavenging team has many items that are difficult to transport, they voluntarily spit out bubbles. These bubbles encase our things, making the heavy objects float. Then they push the bubbles, helping us send them back."

Then Xie Si entered the Dead Sea to give a live demonstration.

Reaching a spot on the seabed away from the shore, Xie Si took out a pile of rhombus stones from his backpack and arranged them in a circular shape, like a summoning circle, then stood inside.

In the Dead Sea's mist, death rays flickered, and under the light of the rhombus stones, Xie Si's reflective gear shone brightly.

Before long, two fish-like creatures swam over, circling Xie Si, appearing very familiar with him.

Zhou Yi observed the bubble fish from a short distance.

Bubble fish have scales and a fish shape, with fins and a tail, a little bigger than the palm of a hand, belonging to the small Light-Na species.

Their bodies emit a psychedelic luster, like gasoline under sunlight.

Zhou Yi saw Xie Si feed each of the two bubble fish a piece of white shell.

They spat out bubbles to hit the white shells, the bubbles bursting open, and the shells were cracked open by this weak force. Then they ate the meat inside.

Next, Xie Si patted a half-person-high rock.

The bubble fish swam around the rock once, and one of them spat out a bubble. This bubble was completely transparent and reflective, growing larger like an inflating balloon.

Once its volume was sufficient, the bubble fish gently blew, and the bubble covered the entire rock, then slowly floated up, very light and graceful.

Xie Si then took out a rhombus lamp, pointing forward to lead the way.

The bubble fish gently nudged, and the bubble floated forward at a constant speed.

Xie Si said, "Chairman, like this, our transportation capacity is greatly improved. Bubble fish are our partners in the Dead Sea."

"Now we can transport a lot of things home at once, thanks to their help. They may look inconspicuous, but they are very capable."

Zhou Yi nodded.

Every life form in the wasteland world has potential for deep exploration and development.

"You've done a great job, Xie Si. Get along well with them, and we need to strengthen our cooperation. Is there any help you need?"

Xie Si scratched his shell with his claw: "Chairman, I need more shells to feed them."

"No problem, I'll tell Zheng Tao to allocate you a little more quota."

"That would be great! Thank you, Chairman!"

"You've found a good cooperative group for us. What reward do you want?"

Zhou Yi said, "You can ask for anything."

The other party hesitated for a moment: "Um... is beer okay?"

"Yes, it is."

Zhou Yi laughed: "Go find Gong Zheng later and get a case of beer from him. But remember not to drink too much, and don't drink while working."

"Okay, okay! I will definitely keep your instructions in mind!"

Xie Si happily swayed from side to side.

Zhou Yi then looked at the captain Xie Xun next to him: "The scavenging team has been established and running for some time now. During this time, you have explored city ruins and found a lot of precious metals and commonly used materials. You've done a great job."

"As an independently operating department of the company, it's time for you to formally set your salaries. The scavenging team members will all refer to the Iron Horse Copper Bull's salary, 1 Light-Na per month, and the same for A Jin."

Xie Xun's eyes lit up instantly: "Yes, Chairman! We will do our best to continue to mine the various resources of the seabed!"

……

The growth of the Warrior Crab group was visible to the naked eye.

As the most intelligent weapon masters among them, the scavenging team showed a good momentum. They began to spontaneously imitate and learn, and put it into exploration and practice.

Apart from communicating by tapping their shells, the weapon masters were no different from humans in other aspects.

The only problem was that most Warrior Crabs had evolved into hammer soldiers and double-sword wielders, and the probability of transforming into weapon masters was still very low.

As for the hammer soldiers and double-sword wielders, they remained the same, because they had weak autonomy and still needed Zhou Yi to issue instructions.

He turned his attention back to the Courier Center and the Great Buddha.

Now, the former had become the company's number one money-making industry, with strong growth momentum.

The latter was able to attract various life forms—currently, mostly local residents of Sandport. They often went to the Great Buddha on Sitting Coast to admire and view it, walking around the glowing Great Buddha. The Leshan Giant Buddha seemed to have returned to being a famous scenic spot attracting tourists.

One day, Zhou Yi was eating watermelon and flipping through the manga "Doraemon" when Red Falcon suddenly broadcast a news flash.

"Coral Mouth has completed data updating. The company has reached A in the industry rating, officially obtaining a Light-Na credit line of 100,000, and can obtain this loan at a low interest rate at any time. Coral Mouth has sent an invitation, hoping to cooperate with us in this field, and they will also provide corresponding complete supporting services."

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Zhou Yi immediately perked up: "The courier industry has finally been upgraded!"

"No, Zhou, this time it's the company's food industry rating that's A."

"Food?"

Zhou Yi was a little surprised: "Are sweet potato jerky and fried chicken that strong?"

He swiped the remote control screen and entered the company page.

The company was now a dynamic ring chart.

The center of it showed a comprehensive credit rating of B.

The ring chart consisted of four parts.

The first part was [Service Cooperation], accounting for 38.5%, the second was [Small Package Delivery], accounting for 27.1%, the third was [Environment], accounting for 21.1%, and the last part was [Food], accounting for 13.3%.

Each of these four parts had explanations and ratings.

The credit rating was the result of comprehensively weighting these parts.

[Service Cooperation] specifically referred to the degree of cooperation with the Mechanical City. Zhou Yi had previously relied on this item to be included in the credit system, and the project's current rating was B.

[Small Package Delivery] only had one item, "Wasteland Express", also rated B.

[Environment] was a more complex comprehensive assessment, including stability, safety, and biodiversity, among other factors, and was rated C.

[Food], however, was rated A.

The details included sweet potato jerky, watermelon, and fried melon seeds, but they only accounted for 1.1% combined. The item with a weight of up to 98.9% was something called Emerald Soup.

Various foods had corresponding evaluations.

Sweet potato jerky and fried melon seeds were both evaluated as—ordinary foods.

Watermelon was evaluated as—good fruit.

But the description of Emerald Soup was completely different.

—A new type of high-quality food that is affordable, easy to store, and replenishes energy, with a strong regional flavor, is an outstanding crystallization of human wisdom…

It single-handedly raised the company's [Food] rating to A.

Zhou Yi looked a little dazed: "What is Emerald Soup?"

Red Falcon also had no idea.

Zhou Yi called in agricultural consultant Zheng Tao.

"Emerald Soup is a newly emerging local food."

Zheng Tao said with a smile: "It was made by a young man named Qin Shu in Building 3. He grinds various materials into powder, opens it with hot water, and adds a little mushroom or bone, which will be very delicious. I have tasted it, it is more delicious than chicken head soup and chicken bone soup, and it heats up very quickly, but it is still not comparable to those foods from the Shindai period."

"Recently, Emerald Soup has been very popular. I heard that it has been sold to Coral Mouth and is now in short supply."

Zhou Yi frowned.

Relying only on grinding powder and boiling soup to get an A-level rating?

I'm afraid it's not that simple.

Mechanical City is not easy to fool. They have complex review processes and identification systems.

Emerald Soup must have something special.

Zhou Yi immediately said: "Take me to see that inventor."