Wasteland Development Diary

Standing on the deck of the warship, Zhou Yi gazed at the distant Sandport City.

Camels moved in and out of the city, serving as the primary mode of transportation. They carried goods from cargo ships to the city, with some goods sold within the city and others transported along Emerald Avenue to the Emerald City area, where they were sold to the workers there.

Many workers were waiting for buses at the Emerald Avenue port station.

Vehicles and camels moved in parallel along this long avenue, with some pedestrians mixed among them.

Although it was daytime, the local New Humans were no longer as fearful. While many still lived nocturnally, more and more people were joining the new order, working during the day and resting at night.

Both Building 5, which patrolled Emerald Avenue, and the Leshan Giant Buddha, sitting in meditation outside Sandport City and radiating Buddha's light, gave them more confidence and a sense of security.

The development changes in the Sandport area were visible to the naked eye.

Beside him, Sandsea Duke smiled and said, "Mr. Zhou, our area is now a vibrant scene of all things competing. Without internal strife, Sandport City, Steel炼 City, and Shell City can complement each other, which was unimaginable before, thanks to your company's mediation and collaboration."

Zhou Yi also said politely, "It's mainly due to the proper management of the various territorial lords."

The warship beneath his feet suddenly spoke, "Mr. Zhou, we have a proposal."

This warship was the current ruler of Shell City, formerly one of Hundred Li Duke's deputies, Bei Du Duke.

Bei Du Duke's ship was long and narrow, with six secondary cannons and one main cannon, a professional combat unit.

"Sandport City, Steel炼 City, and Shell City want to form an alliance, and sincerely invite Wasteland Development Company to join."

Bei Du Duke said, "This alliance will be a solid community of interests, eliminating tariffs between each other, focusing on external import and export, to ensure our competitiveness and interests. Any external affairs will be handled in the form of an alliance."

"Not bad."

Steel炼 Duke also echoed, "Mechanical and Electrical Cities will form various forms of alliances, such as technology alliances, agricultural alliances, medical alliances, or military alliances, and so on. We can also emulate this, which is a good thing in the long run."

It was a mobile crushing station, docked on the deck of Bei Du Duke.

Zhou Yi smiled slightly, "Why don't you all speak more plainly? Have you encountered any trouble?"

The deck suddenly became quiet.

Finally, Sandsea Duke took the lead, "The trouble comes from Over頂 Duke."

"Its ultimatum has been sent to Bei Du Duke, Steel煉 Duke, and me, demanding that we formally surrender before winter arrives and merge the areas we manage into its territory."

"Mr. Zhou should know that Over頂 Duke is located north of Shell City, and Hundred Li Duke faced great pressure from that side in the past. It is eagerly annexing everywhere. Its move against the Sandport area is also because once Over頂 Duke eliminates the Heavenly Kingdom rebels in the northeast, it will inevitably turn outward to further expand, and Hundred Li Duke will bear the brunt."

Zhou Yi immediately inquired about Hundred Li Duke.

It was indeed the case.

This Over頂 Duke ruled the Shuanghe area, with all cities concentrated on a medium-sized landmass. It possessed 7 cities centered on 'SH City,' with 25 towns and 6 ports under its jurisdiction, with a population of over 600,000, a veritable overlord.

In addition, Over頂 Duke was also the overseas governor appointed by the Black Emperor.

"Overseas governors nominally defend overseas territories for the Heavenly Kingdom, but are actually completely autonomous. They only need to offer a batch of resources each year to represent their submission to the Heavenly Kingdom."

Hundred Li Duke introduced, "Each governor is extremely powerful. It would cost the Heavenly Kingdom a huge price to eliminate or annex them. Both sides took a step back, and the governor system was created."

"Over頂 Duke is a top-tier territorial lord, but never appears in public, using a puppet form instead."

"There are two rumors about this. The first is that it was seriously injured in a great battle with the Heavenly Kingdom army and is still recuperating. The second is that its main body is already in the outer sea, so it focuses on the sky and only occasionally pays attention to the ground and inner sea."

"Over頂 Duke's style is to destroy first and then rebuild. Its army is particularly good at aerial attacks and ground operations after landing."

Hundred Li Duke also gave a suggestion, "The straight-line distance between the Shuanghe area and Shell City is 840 kilometers, which is not close, so deploying defenses at sea can effectively cut off and block."

Zhou Yi asked it, "What about the Heavenly Kingdom rebels?"

The territorial lord replied, "The Heavenly Kingdom relies on high-speed expansion and annexation to eliminate and expel many territorial lords and various forces, thus possessing a vast territory. Rebellions often occur in the outer areas controlled by the Heavenly Kingdom."

"Some of these rebels are trying to reclaim their territories, some are seeking revenge, and some are coerced. The rebels will attack weak cities, plundering various resources and populations."

"Rebels are constantly emerging in various places, and their numbers are increasing. The Black Emperor has also changed direction, focusing on the management and consolidation of existing territories, no longer engaging in southward and northward wars, but adopting the governor system to gain control and influence over a larger area. Even so, rebels are still constantly appearing everywhere."

Hundred Li Duke said, "Overseas governors must also participate in the suppression and elimination of rebels. Previously, there was a rebel force entrenched in the northeast, and they were mainly engaged in maritime plunder and destruction."

"Last winter, the main force of this rebel army was defeated by Over頂 Duke and no longer poses a threat. Therefore, Over頂 Duke's next target is Shell City, which is closest to the Shuanghe area, and then all the way south... It will conquer in the name of the Heavenly Kingdom, which is called 'Honor War'."

Honor Wars represent the Heavenly Kingdom's external annexation and are launched uniformly in winter.

Unlike ordinary invasions, this is a legitimate war recognized by the Heavenly Kingdom. If overseas governors launch wars in other ways, they will be regarded as rebellions and will be suppressed and eliminated by the Heavenly Kingdom.

Honor Wars have a clear deadline.

After the war begins, there are only 3-5 years, with a maximum extension of 10 years. If the war still cannot be won by the 10-year deadline, the Heavenly Kingdom will forcibly intervene to cease the war.

Zhou Yi understood after a little thought, "The Heavenly Kingdom forcibly sets a deadline to limit the power of the governors, right?"

"Yes."

Hundred Li Duke said, "Early governors waged wars everywhere, causing a lot of trouble for the Heavenly Kingdom, once causing rebels to be everywhere and the reputation of the Heavenly Kingdom to become worse and worse."

"Honor Wars are both a restriction on overseas governors and a clear screening mechanism."

"If they can withstand the governor's annexation and offensive, it means they are excellent in strength, and the Heavenly Kingdom will come to recruit them. Some governors are produced in this way. If a governor launches an Honor War and ultimately fails, the result is purely a loss of a large number of light seeds and resources, and they will be very cautious about launching a second war against the same target."

Zhou Yi frowned.

Over頂 Duke is backed by the Heavenly Kingdom, and he has finally encountered this behemoth.

The Heavenly Kingdom is forcing all forces to express their position through the governors.

Either be one of us or be an enemy.

Zhou Yi suddenly thought. No, there is a group that is not like this.

"Have Mechanical and Electrical Cities ever been subjected to Honor Wars?"

"They are very special."

Hundred Li Duke said, "It is rumored that Mechanical and Electrical Cities have some kind of agreement with the Black Emperor, and they maintain neutrality and independence, but I don't know the specific situation."

Zhou Yi also synchronized his consciousness with Red Falcon, asking for the reason.

"Mechanical and Electrical Cities have their own camp."

The drone replied, "Although the current 138 Mechanical and Electrical Cities are operating independently, they all represent the Mechanical and Electrical civilization society, have the same program form and order consciousness, and are one on the level of life order. However, the specific agreement requires the permission of the program department to know."

"Zhou, the Sandport area cannot become a Mechanical and Electrical City. The main ethnic group here is not Mechanical and Electrical life, and the operation of the entire society is not dominated by programs. The two most basic thresholds are not met."

Zhou Yi thought it was a pity.

Compared to joining the Heavenly Kingdom camp, Mechanical and Electrical Cities are obviously a better choice.

Since it won't work, then start your own business.

Zhou Yi decided not to think so much and first consider how to deal with the Honor War in winter.

...

Zhou Yi looked at the three territorial lords, "I am more curious, why don't the three of you choose to rely on Over頂 Duke, but want to fight this Honor War together?"

Sandsea Duke's eyes were firm, "The reason is simple, surrender and escape are only because there is no choice. Over頂 Duke will transfer us to the Shuanghe area and send someone else to rule here, which is a consistent style. But if your company is willing to join the alliance, with you, Mr. Zhou, this battle can be fought, and the outcome is still unknown."

"Not bad."

"Our ideas are consistent."

The three territorial lords had great confidence in Zhou Yi.

Even he himself didn't dare to say that he could withstand Over頂 Duke.

Zhou Yi smiled, "Wasteland Development Company joins."

Sandsea Duke wiped the sweat from his forehead with his claws, and his tall body also relaxed, "That's great. If you don't join, we will really have to surrender."

"Because the three of us combined can't beat Over頂 Duke. If you don't participate, this alliance is useless, it's better to surrender or pack up your property and run away as soon as possible."

Zhou Yi: "..."

Bei Du Duke, in the body of a warship, also said, "I simulated 256 times with the program, and the average win rate against Over頂 Duke with the combined forces of Sandsea Duke, Steel煉 Duke, and me is only about 12.1%."

"After the war begins, with the massive consumption of resources and the continuous loss of soldiers, this win rate will become lower and lower. Therefore, Steel煉 Duke and I will choose to surrender or take some soldiers and people to start over in another place."

"But if you join, the win rate will reach 48.12%, which is worth fighting."

Zhou Yi almost forgot that these two territorial lords are also Mechanical and Electrical life.

They are true data parties and will choose the way with the least losses if the data is not good.

In short, surrender directly or give up.

He asked curiously, "How did you calculate this win rate?"

"You hold 6 seats in Emerald City, Yalong Bay, Maria Hospital, Leshan Giant Buddha, a total of 9 Aliens. Except for the hospital and the Buddha, the other 7 Aliens have been proven to be able to participate in combat."

"They provide extremely high win rate variables."

"As long as they enter our land battlefield and cooperate with our ground construction combat members, the enemy will not be able to limit the impact of the Alien warriors, and they will have to pay a heavy price to land."

"In addition, the existence of the spotlight is enough to deter Over頂 Duke without dead ends."

"As long as they cannot break through our coast and cities, even with a large number of air raids, we can transfer residents to the underground. After switching to a protracted war, we have the depth of three regions. As long as the rear can replenish the necessary materials to the front, it is enough to hold on."

"There are many natural turbulent areas next to Shell City, and there are only a few Dead Sea routes that can be attacked. Sea defense is my professional field, and I will try my best to break through Over頂 Duke's blockade."

Zhou Yi thought that's how it is.

Combatable building life has a very high combat power in the assessment system of Mechanical and Electrical life.

Sandsea Duke rubbed his claws and said, "Mr. Zhou, then you can take a name. Everyone will take you as the head, and the alliance must have a name."

Zhou Yi thought for a moment, "We oppose war and take business development as the core concept... let's call it the Development Alliance."

"Good! This name is good."

On this ordinary day, the Development Alliance was officially established, and the urban iron triangle with Wasteland Development Company as the absolute core was also determined.