Wasteland Development Diary

The two transport ships were naturally sent by Extinction Public Faction, led by an old acquaintance, the Earth Official Ringo.

This mechanical octopus introduced to Zhou Yi, "Mr. Zhou, the Cattle Taming Tribe has been delivered, please inspect them."

It sounded like he was describing merchandise.

However, in the eyes of Extinction Public, population is indeed just a resource number.

Zhou Yi looked behind Ringo.

The Cattle Taming Tribe bone people wore uniform tribal attire, coconut shell hats with two pieces of wood shaped like curved horns nailed to either side, turning them into horned helmets.

They wore wide skirts made of coconut shell fiber, carrying large and small bags, standing silently.

Ringo raised a tentacle, pointing to the leading bone person.

"This is the tribe's chief, Niu Zhen."

Different from the other tribesmen, Niu Zhen's helmet was made of copper, and he also carried a large toolbox with wheels.

"Chief Niu."

Zhou Yi extended his hand to him: "Welcome to join the Wasteland Development Company."

The bone person chief hurriedly wiped his hands on his skirt, then carefully shook Zhou Yi's hand with both hands, burying his head low.

"The Cattle Taming Tribe is honored, very honored."

"Well then, Mr. Zhou, I'll take my leave first and return to report."

Ringo finished speaking and left.

The two transport ships slowly turned their bows and set sail.

Zhou Yi's attention was on the mechanical beasts led by the bone people.

They had two curved horns, simply wrapped in layers of coconut shell fiber.

The mechanical cows generally ranged from 2 meters to 2.5 meters in length, with a shoulder height of 1.4 meters to 1.8 meters, varying in size, a far cry from the previous display pictures.

The real horned cattle were pieced together from scraps of copper and iron, a large handmade model made of waste products, each with its own flaws.

They were not bound by ropes, their backs were covered with a layer of coconut shell cushions, and they also carried some bags and packages.

Zhou Yi noticed that the horned cattle were all motionless at the moment.

"What's going on? Are they all turned off?"

Chief Niu Zhen walked to a horned cow and said, "Yes, Chairman, we have temporarily turned them off to let the horned cows rest first."

"You see, their horns are the switches."

He pointed to the horns, gesturing: "Now, when the horns point downwards to the ground, it's sleep mode, they won't move. If you turn the horns upwards, pointing to the sky, they will become active."

As he spoke, Niu Zhen twisted the left horn of this mechanical cow upwards.

Then, the mechanical creature shook, and a clattering sound came from its body, like gears constantly meshing together, or like some parts were loose and rattling.

It twisted its square head left and right, and then its four feet slowly paced.

Niu Zhen took out a piece of sheet metal and fed it.

The horned cow swallowed it in one gulp.

Just like a successful coin insertion, it nudged its head towards Niu Zhen.

"Chairman, if you want it to help, just feed it iron or copper like this, you can sit on it, or you can have it help carry things."

"If you don't feed it, it won't move. Metal is the horned cow's important food."

"Also, if it's a stranger, even if you feed it, it might injure you. Taming them is a technical skill."

Niu Zhen skillfully climbed onto the cow's back and sat on the coconut shell cushion.

He rode the cow back and forth along the coast.

After circling twice, Niu Zhen got off the cow's back and turned its left horn downwards again.

Then, the mechanical cow stood still again.

The bone person chief also said, "Chairman, it has two horns, usually we keep one horn pointing down to prevent it from getting too excited. This is equivalent to keeping it stable."

"Although the speed of two horns is faster, it's also easy to lose control. Generally, inexperienced people don't do this."

"Don't look at their appearance, they look honest, but riders still need to adapt to them one-on-one, otherwise they won't carry things and won't recognize you."

"When the horned cow runs, the single horn opening speed is 15 kilometers per hour, and the double horn full opening is 30 kilometers per hour. They can carry 400 pounds of weight, but the heavier they carry, the slower they walk."

Zhou Yi straddled the horned cow and experienced it himself.

His first impression was that it was indeed slow, perhaps not even as good as riding a bicycle.

The second feeling was that it was more stable than expected.

The third feeling was that this kind of electromechanical life, although semi-civilized, had a very stable mood and didn't run around. If you feed it, it will take you wherever you want to go. It can indeed be used as a vehicle for a long time.

After getting off the cow's back, Zhou Yi had an in-depth discussion with Niu Zhen.

"You said you want to breed them on a large scale? This may take a lot of time."

"They will absorb the dead light during the day by themselves, but they need a lot of metal, eating an equal proportion of iron and copper, the ratio is about 7:3."

Niu Zhen explained: "Under normal circumstances, an adult horned cow can give birth to one calf a year, but if the dead light irradiation is insufficient, the calf will die. If you invest light seeds and energy packs, you can shorten the pregnancy to half a year, or even three months."

"Also, the calf is actually not much different from the adult, as long as the materials and energy are sufficient, it can also produce offspring."

Zhou Yi looked at the horned cows, each with a different appearance.

"Can each of them replicate themselves?"

"Yes, Chairman."

Niu Zhen touched the copper skin on the surface of the horned cow: "However, the born juvenile body itself needs a lot of metal as the main structure."

"To give birth to a juvenile body, you need to feed at least 280 pounds of iron and 120 pounds of copper, which costs about 280,000 Gu."

"Raising cattle also requires continuous feeding of iron and copper, because every time you go out, even if you are very familiar with them, you have to feed at least 1 iron before they are willing to act once. Their brains are not smart, they just like to eat and sleep, but if you turn on the double horns, they will become very active and much more belligerent."

Zhou Yi calculated the cost.

The lowest-income light sludge worker, with the blessing of the desperate machine, now has an average monthly salary of more than 13,000 Gu, and an annual salary of about 156,000 Gu.

Saving a little, you can buy this vehicle in two years.

According to Zhou Yi's knowledge, even the cheapest second-hand reinforced car built by the craftsman light seal costs 5 light seeds, which is 5 million Gu.

This does not even consider the more expensive car maintenance costs.

The price advantage of horned cattle is obvious.

Zhou Yi was more concerned about: "Can ordinary people use them for a long time?"

"Yes, Chairman."

Niu Zhen nodded to assure: "It's just... it takes training, you need to teach them how to adjust the horns, how to judge the physical condition of the horned cow, and how to do simple repairs and maintenance on the cow. About a month to learn the basics and riding."

Zhou Yi was curious: "Will the horned cow spontaneously replicate itself?"

"In the natural state, they will not self-replicate, it's not that eating more will produce cubs. They need to be cultivated and tamed to activate this instinct."

The bone person chief said: "Keep them in the active state of double horns, but control them so that they are not too excited, and give them some pats and internal competition. Then they will give birth in the summer when the light is the most abundant and the dead light energy is the most abundant."

"The process of their giving birth is... directly giving birth to the calf?"

Zhou Yi was very interested in this.

"It's not like this."

Niu Zhen waved his hands, he patted the iron-skinned beast next to him: "Their replication is actually very simple, that is, first use metal to transform the limbs from the body, and then excrete them."

"Then it's the body. However, the produced body is usually flattened or wrinkled, and after it comes out, we need to further assemble its body and limbs, and finally the head comes out."

"Our tribe is good at doing this, starting from the first horned cow we encountered, we gradually tamed them."

Zhou Yi suddenly understood.

It turned out that they were made in batches, and then they needed to be assembled and debugged.

"Is the first cow still there?"

"It's not there. It was taken away by Lord Extinction Public a long time ago, saying it was for research. I heard it was damaged."

Niu Zhen said: "Later, our cows were used for military assaults, carrying explosives for suicide bombings, etc...."

After he explained, Zhou Yi learned that Extinction Public had indeed thought about mass-producing horned cattle before.

But in the end, it gave up because the horned cattle moved slowly, were not as easy to raise as ordinary livestock, had to learn unique driving methods, and had a long breeding cycle.

For the Double River area, which has orbital knights operating orbital vehicles, horned cattle have no competitiveness in the civilian field.

So this time, it used this dispensable thing to pay off the debt.

Zhou Yi felt that this kind of electromechanical life had potential.

As long as the initial investment is sufficient, the horned cattle can quadruple in a year, and the number can increase quickly.

Feeding copper and iron can ride the cow, learning to drive this electromechanical vehicle, Zhou Yi felt normal, he had to go to driving school to learn to drive in his era.

However, due to the insufficient number, it cannot be directly supplied to the outside world at present.

Zhou Yi thought for a while: "Niu Zhen, you said, if people from your tribe ride cows in the Emerald City area as taxis operated by the company, with a starting price of 2 iron, can it be done?"

"Taxi?"

The bone person chief was stunned: "You mean, let them carry people and carry heavy objects?"

"Yes. You drive them, and safety is also guaranteed. At the same time, these horned cows can work and earn you income. As the number of cows increases, you can expand the scale and develop to other cities."

"It can be done!"

Niu Zhen immediately understood: "We can drive the horned cows, we can open the double horns, and the speed can be increased to 30 kilometers per hour! We can also earn some money."

Done.

Zhou Yi felt relaxed: "I will let Gong Zheng talk to you in detail about the operating model of this taxi, and you should clean up and settle in the Mushroom House area first. Your tribe will continue to raise cattle, this will not change."

"Thank you, Chairman, you have pointed out the way for us as soon as you came!"

Niu Zhen led the bone people of the tribe, riding cows one by one, and walked towards the new residence under the leadership of Gong Zheng.