Wasteland Development Diary

The true value of many things can only be seen clearly after the passage of time.

Governor Shahaigong had always wanted to request a Jadeite City, which could effectively deter the wavering factions within the city who each had their own agendas, but Zhou Yi had not agreed to it.

Unexpectedly, a large Buddha statue was placed outside the city.

This stone Buddha looked solemn and magnificent, but it possessed neither the martial power to destroy powerful enemies with a wave of its hand nor the practical value of a residence, making it seem quite useless.

However, as time went on, Governor Shahaigong gradually discovered something.

The Buddha had a magical ability to attract various residents to it, especially those with resentment and murderous intent in their hearts.

These individuals would involuntarily come to the Buddha's side, including criminals who had fled from other cities and local residents planning crimes—many of whom were under the surveillance of Mayor Chen Jiadong.

Once they reached the Buddha, they gradually calmed down and became more peaceful, significantly reducing their impulsive behaviors.

According to Mayor Chen Jiadong's statistics.

"Last year, the average cost of crime in our city was 2221 Gu, with the average cost of violent crime exceeding 2000 Gu, and the average cost of property crime being 198 Gu. Among them, violent crime accounted for 15% of the total number of crimes, causing the largest financial loss to our city."

"Since the Buddha came to Shagang City, the average cost of crime in our city has dropped to 88 Gu per month, which translates to an annual average cost of 1056 Gu, a decrease of 50% compared to before. In the past six months, the number of violent crimes has been less than 10% of last year's."

"In short, our city's crime rate has decreased by 50%, and public security has greatly improved."

"While there are positive effects from the continuous economic development, the reduction in violent crime cannot be separated from the Buddha's influence. Many arrested criminals believe that they should repent more by the Buddha's side and not act willfully."

Chen Jiadong continued, "We have identified 7 internal spies from the Extinction Society among the people who frequently gather around the Buddha, including a merchant, a craftsman, a scavenger, a boatman, and a farmer from the agricultural corps. They have been continuously providing various intelligence about Shagang City to the outside world."

"They go to the Buddha to seek comfort and inner peace."

"Now, citizens are accustomed to taking walks and praying near the Buddha. It is very safe there, and they can also see the Buddha's light."

The Leshan Buddha, merely by sitting there, could influence and radiate its effect to Shagang City, reducing the crime rate and boosting public confidence.

Governor Shahaigong was now completely convinced.

No wonder Zhou Yi arranged for a stone Buddha to be placed here.

Compared to a Jadeite City that deters petty criminals, the Buddha fundamentally reduces security risks.

Especially after the war began, Beike City and Ganglian City were heavily bombed, and the sea was blockaded and its activity range compressed by the Extinction Society's fleet, the rear Shagang area was also not peaceful.

Infiltration, subversion, and turning people were the silent wars in Shagang City without gunfire.

Immigrants arriving by boat included spies sent by the Extinction Society.

Some of the merchants who had been wavering before had turned into surrenderers, and had long been connected to the more powerful Extinction Society's army, acting as internal collaborators here.

A few human soldiers were also turned by the enemy to provide assistance at critical moments.

Chen Jiadong's 'Drum Snail' heard many such secret deals.

Governor Shahaigong's strategy was to execute those in extremely bad situations directly, and throw the others into prison—after all, labor was precious, and these people had to continue building new prison caves.

But it was clear that it was impossible to catch them all.

As long as this war was not over, the Extinction Society would continue to turn people and plant agents.

In the end, most lives have a characteristic of admiring the strong, and they will always tend to see the stronger side as just.

Only by defeating the opponent can this problem be fundamentally solved.

As long as they won.

All problems could be solved easily.

...

But now, this security Buddha had encountered a problem.

Its Buddha's light was rapidly dissipating, a large number of light-eating monsters were flying into the Dead Sea, and the light on the two guardians was also disappearing. This situation was very strange.

Governor Shahaigong looked at the distant, dim Buddha and asked Chen Guodong beside him, "How is the bridge from the company progressing?"

Chen Guodong lowered his head and said, "The bridge extends from Jadeite City towards the farmland. Two days ago, I went to discuss refugee issues and asked Cao Dayuan."

"Cao Dayuan said that the bridge is for vehicles. The first phase of the plan is to connect to Jitou Town, and the second phase is to reach our Shagang City from Jitou Town."

Governor Shahaigong tugged at his whiskers with his claws as he listened: "With the Jadeite Avenue, why spend a lot of resources to build a land bridge? But if Mr. Zhou is personally handling this matter, it should be anything but simple. I'll take a trip to the company. You handle things here."

"Yes, sir."

Governor Shahaigong had now recovered his health. He jumped into the Dead Sea and quickly headed towards his destination.

Soon.

Yalong Bay, on the trestle bridge.

Governor Shahaigong returned to his upright land form, then walked through this coastal building, and saw from afar, behind the Jadeite City building complex, a tall and wide bridge extending outward from outside the residential area.

When he arrived outside the overpass, he found Zhou Yi eating a steaming pot of food under the bridge, with Cao Dayuan, Gong Zheng, Zheng Tao, and Yuan Tong beside him.

They were chatting about something.

Governor Shahaigong suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

To go over would mean intruding on what might be internal company discussions, but to wait would be a little awkward.

Zhou Yi noticed him at a glance.

He stood up and said with an enthusiastic smile, "Governor Shahaigong, come and have hotpot together. Come, come, just one more set of chopsticks."

So Governor Shahaigong nodded and joined them.

Zhou Yi gave him a bowl and a long fork: "You can choose your own dipping sauce. Whether you like it strong or light, the hotpot itself tastes good even without the sauce."

Governor Shahaigong imitated the others, using the fork to pick out a piece of bone-in meat from the big pot, stirred it in the red dipping sauce, and took a big bite.

He swallowed it in a few bites, and tears streamed down his face. He felt like his mouth was on fire, and his vision became blurred.

It's over.

There's poison in it!

Governor Shahaigong began to cough violently.

Zhou Yi immediately handed him a can of drink: "Have some sour plum juice, it relieves the spiciness."

After gulping down the drink for a while, Governor Shahaigong came back to life, but his butt still burned painfully.

"What is this food... it's too terrible."

He looked at the bright red soup pot with oily bubbles, his voice hoarse.

"That's how hotpot is, actually this is mild spicy."

Zhou Yi said with a smile: "You can eat the white pot, which is next to it."

Under his guidance, Governor Shahaigong noticed that there was another pot next to it, with a much clearer soup, stewing mushrooms and bones.

He tried to pick up a piece of bone-in meat with a fork, dipped it in salt and spice powder, and tasted a little.

This is not bad!

So everyone ate hotpot together, discussing this ancient cuisine from the Age of Gods.

After eating for a while, Governor Shahaigong suddenly remembered that he had come to discuss serious matters, and immediately stated his purpose.

Zhou Yi was scalding a slice of meat, saying with his mouth full: "The roads constructed by the dam itself have many defects. For example, they are too close to the Dead Sea, the load-bearing capacity is further increased, the houses are prone to damage and instability, and there is also the problem of narrow roads."

"When the transportation volume increases, specialized road traffic is still needed."

He explained: "The Wuhu Overpass is a construction lifeform. As you can see, it has self-repair and extension capabilities. It is a professional transportation functionary."

"It can boost various vehicles, allowing their speed to be within a certain range... Even the slowest car can accelerate to 50 kilometers per hour through its characteristics."

Governor Shahaigong asked, "Does it work for all cars?"

"It works for all, theoretically even a camel-drawn cart, but that would break the camel. Sustained speed of 50 kilometers per hour also requires the wheels, so it is best to choose reinforced cars. Reinforced cars in human cities are not a problem."

Governor Shahaigong finally heard the key point, and his eyes suddenly widened: "Energy, basically no energy is needed!"

"That's right."

Zhou Yi smiled: "Think about it, if reinforced cars consume almost no energy packs on this road... isn't that still quite attractive?"

That's too attractive!

Governor Shahaigong's mind calculated rapidly.

Even the territorial lords know that buying a car is cheap, but maintaining it is difficult.

Taking a small reinforced car as an example, like a small boat, the energy consumption is 1 energy pack/12 hours. It is convenient, but the continuous cost is very high.

Therefore, the vehicle reserves of various cities are very small.

On the same length of road, if the road conditions are not good, the energy pack consumption will be even greater.

The cheapest small reinforced car made by the craftsman's light seal is also around 10 light seeds.

That is to say, if a car runs for 6 hours a day, it will consume the cost of a car in 200 days.

In addition, reinforced cars must also be driven out regularly, otherwise there will be problems with light seal aging and maladjustment.

Running on the overpass between Shagang City and Jadeite City, this expense can be almost completely avoided.

The transportation cost can save 10 light seeds per car per year!

The car can run as it pleases, without spending any money!

This means that the transportation cost of all goods circulating in the Shagang area can be almost zero.

Governor Shahaigong's breathing became rapid for a moment.

"Mr. Zhou, how long will it take to repair the overpass?"

Zhou Yi gnawed on a chicken bone, saying vaguely: "According to the current progress, it will be connected to Jitou Town within a month. To continue extending it to Shagang City, it will take about two and a half months."

"Can it be faster? The sooner this facility is completed, the greater the advantage."

The other party said helplessly: "Construction lifeforms also need time to repair and expand, this is already the fastest."

Governor Shahaigong also came back to his senses.

Indeed.

If it were to build a road, it might not be possible to repair the road from Jitou Town to Jadeite City in one or two years.

The construction and expansion of the overpass is already lightning fast.

Governor Shahaigong asked, "Then shall I start purchasing reinforced cars now?"

"Yes, I will also order some vehicles here."

Zhou Yi nodded: "But it should not be too much, it should still be based on the actual situation, after all, there are only 40,000 people in our area."

"Understood."

Governor Shahaigong could not help but smile: "In fact, the population of the Shagang area is currently increasing significantly. According to the latest statistics from Shagang City, the residents in this area have exceeded 47,000... but the frontline battles are still very difficult."

"Old Sha, this war is about logistics supply, it cannot be ended in a short period of time. We must ensure that Beike City and Ganglian City have sufficient basic supplies. The better we develop, the more stable the frontline soldiers will be, the more confident they will be, and the more they will dare to fight."

Governor Shahaigong also deeply agreed.

Zhou Yi was about to say something when suddenly a strange look appeared on his face.

"I'll go take care of something first, you guys eat slowly."

The Ridge Hunter quickly landed, and Zhou Yi took off into the air.

Governor Shahaigong just remembered that he had forgotten to mention the Buddha's abnormality.

He felt a burst of annoyance in his heart, and could only eat hotpot while waiting for Zhou Yi's return.