Wasteland Development Diary

One day, Kestrel flew over in a hurry and said, "Zhou, have you seen the latest news?"

"What's up?"

"The 138 Mech-City Alliance has issued a joint statement demanding that no city shall harbor or conceal members of the Mech-Knight Order. If any related dangerous individuals are found, they should be reported to them immediately, and they will pay a considerable reward."

"Two human cities have already been confirmed to have sheltered and concealed carriers of the Sunday Virus, and they have been jointly sanctioned by the Mech-Cities."

"They have been placed on a trade blacklist, their rating has been downgraded by one level, and they have been subjected to a 10-year technology blockade. During this period, these two cities will not be able to obtain any technical support or services from the Mech-Cities."

Zhou Yi opened his tablet and found that the Recursive City page was now accessible.

After clicking on it, there were two prominent announcements on the homepage.

The first was the 'Public Wanted Order for the Mech-Knight Order'.

The text read:

"In order to severely crack down on crimes that disrupt order based on relevant general agreements, and to effectively safeguard the city's property security and legitimate rights and interests, the Security Department of the 138 Mech-Cities has issued a joint A-level wanted order for the main members of the Mech-Knight Order..."

At the top of the wanted list were [Lao Tzu] and [Zhuang Tzu].

Below that was a list of many names.

The entire list was very long. Zhou Yi glanced at it roughly and saw that there were at least two or three hundred people, including New Humans, Mech-Lives, Bone Men, and Photonians. The list was still being updated.

703's name was not on it.

The end of the text stated that a Light Seed reward would be given for capturing and transferring these people to the Mech-Cities, with amounts ranging from 5,000 to tens of thousands.

[Lao Tzu] and [Zhuang Tzu] each had a bounty of 5 million Light Seeds.

The amount indicated that the Mech-Knight Order had caused them a great deal of trouble.

Zhou Yi then looked at the second announcement.

'Announcement of New Agreement 412.39 to the Mech-City General Agreement'

The content was still directed at the Mech-Knight Order.

"The Mech-Knight Order is a dangerous terrorist organization that causes continuous harm and loss to cities and society, deprives a large number of Mech-Lives of their labor rights, dilutes their value, and further affects the good reputation of the entire Mech-Life group."

"All products produced by the Mech-Knight Order are defined as dangerous goods, and the import of related products is prohibited."

"It is recommended that all cities participate in the pursuit and capture of this organization."

...

After reading it line by line.

Zhou Yi summarized the central idea.

The core of Agreement 412.39 was to implement comprehensive sanctions and crackdowns on the Mech-Knight Order, prohibit any cities, organizations from cooperating with them, and encourage more human cities and Photonian cities to participate in their encirclement and suppression.

If this agreement was violated, even human cities or Photonian cities would be sanctioned by all the Mech-Cities.

"Mech-City" and "Hardware City," two human cities, became the first units to be sanctioned for cooperating with the Mech-Knight Order.

Mech-City's credit rating dropped from D to E, and Hardware City's credit rating dropped to -B. The Mech-Cities' general accounts were frozen, and they could not deposit or withdraw money.

Kestrel said from the side, "Zhou, all the cities are hunting down and capturing the Mech-Knight Order... Keeping 703 will cause the company to become enemies with all the Mech-Cities."

"Can you accept this result?"

Zhou Yi stood by the floor-to-ceiling window and opened a can of Coke.

He said slowly, "New things will eventually replace old things. What the Mech-Cities fear is that the old order will be replaced and they will lose the power to rule every Mech-Life."

"But think about it, if all Mech-Lives oppose Sunday and think that the Mech-Knight Order is a dangerous criminal, if the Knight Order does not receive any external support, can 703 and the others hide safely?"

"The Mech-Cities, which monopolize high-end technology, have all kinds of efficient and powerful equipment, but they cannot locate the Mech-Knight Order. This is not just a technical problem."

Kestrel was silent.

"More and more spreaders are appearing because more and more Mech-Lives are voting with their actions to join the Mech-Knight Order's actions and oppose endless work and exploitation."

"A large number of Semi-Awakened will be restored and become a new generation of Mech-Lives. They are not bound by past agreements and are the future that has already been born."

"I'm not sure how this will end up, but I won't give up on millions of Semi-Awakened. There will still be individuals like Zhanjiang Bay No. 1 among them, with unlimited possibilities."

"The Mech-Cities don't want them, but the company does."

Zhou Yi said in a deep voice, "In addition to the relationship of interests, I also recognize that the right to strive for vacation is a reasonable demand for Mech-Lives. The rules and agreements of Mech-Society should be formulated by every Mech-Life, not manipulated behind the scenes by those invisible forces."

"..."

Kestrel's electronic eyes flickered slightly: "Zhou, are you prepared to be technologically blockaded and economically sanctioned by the Mech-Cities?"

"Of course not."

Zhou Yi said, "But many things have to take the first step."

"Although the company has multiple collaborations with the Mech-Cities, I have always avoided over-reliance on them. The company can develop faster and better by cooperating with the Mech-Cities, of course, but we can still develop without their support."

"We must adhere to independence and autonomy and not be subject to long-arm jurisdiction. This is a basic prerequisite for long-term development."

"This was the attitude we had when facing Bai Li Gong and Mieding Gong, and it will remain the same when facing the Mech-Cities."

"Understood."

Kestrel said, "From my functional perspective, I hope to be able to rescue more Semi-Awakened."

"However, this will inevitably lead to a large amount of economic losses and the severing of cooperation with the Mech-Cities. You must be mentally prepared."

"Yes, I know."

Zhou Yi nodded.

Wasteland Development Company was not established to make money.

Making money is to be able to develop and transform this world.

After two years of exploration, various departments have reported that the growth of both New Humans and Mech-Lives is significant after they live together.

The company will introduce more Mech-Life employees.

Rather than recruiting from other cities, it is more reliable and convenient for the company to treat the Semi-Awakened and train the required Mech-Lives themselves.

Zhou Yi thought to himself.

Anyway, since it has been decided to protect 703 and use the Time Anchor.

Then just come out and support the Mech-Knight Order.

Zhou Yi called 703 over.

"This is the situation... I want you to continue to repair Semi-Awakened Lives."

703 was a little incredulous: "Are you saying that the Knight Order should send Semi-Awakened Lives here for repair?"

"Yes."

The robot dog hesitated instead: "But this will cause the company to be targeted by the Mech-Cities, which will bring great trouble."

"There is no airtight wall. It's only a matter of time before they find out. They may even already know."

Zhou Yi said, "Since the Time Anchor has been proven effective, my investment has not been in vain. What you need to do now is to introduce some talented new employees from the repaired Semi-Awakened for the company, which can be regarded as reducing the company's losses."

"Chairman, why are you taking such a big risk to support us?"

703 was puzzled.

"I think you are doing the right thing."

Zhou Yi said bluntly: "Although doing the right thing is often difficult. Most people know which way is right and which way is wrong, but the right path is too difficult to walk, so many people eventually give up. I am a relatively stubborn person. If I believe something is right, I will always insist on doing it."

703's single eye shone brightly: "Just like liberating all mankind! No wonder you can understand us!!"

"Okay, stop talking about that and repair more Semi-Awakened."

"Yes!"

About a month later, a transport ship sent several Semi-Awakened to the trestle in Yalong Bay to be repaired by 703.

Zhou Yi also asked Blackwater Ghost to cooperate with it.

"Chairman, the repair success rate is very high!"

703 came over to report the good news: "Three out of four Semi-Awakened were successfully repaired, and one was sent back because the main program itself was seriously damaged, waiting for further repairs from the Knight Order."

"In order to supplement the company's relatively weak programming field, the ones I applied for are all Semi-Awakened related to programming."

"Their talents are higher than mine. They were all excellent Mech-Programmers."

Zhou Yi looked at the three Mech-Lives behind 703.

They are respectively.

The [Ubtech] robot "Walker" whose head is a display screen.

A six-axis robotic arm [Elephant] myCobot 280.

And a smart balance car [Ninebot] LC2.

For ease of calling, 703 called them Walker, Elephant, and Ninebot.

Gong Zheng also vacated a container room for the four of them, so that they could work in it specifically.

The three new employees all said in unison to Zhou Yi: "Hello, Chairman."

A pair of smiling eyes appeared on the screen of the robot Walker.

Elephant waved its robotic arm, as if to say hello.

The balance car spun around wildly in place, showing off its balance and handling.

Zhou Yi said with a smile: "You have just awakened and participated in the work. Are you used to it?"

"Used to it."

"Very good."

"Like it."

Their answers were all very positive.

703 ran to the three new people and introduced them one by one: "Chairman, Walker has industrial-grade computing power, and the calculation speed is three times that of mine."

"It has 36 high-performance servo joints and comprehensive perception systems such as force, vision, hearing, and spatial perception, which can realize stable and fast walking and flexible and precise operation."

"Walker's ability is [Human-Machine Modality], which can obtain a lot of information in human interaction and update real-time data... It can be applied to manufacturing various tools and commodities."

Walker pointed to himself with his thumb: "That's right, Chairman, this is my skill."

Then 703 raised its forelimb and pointed to the small robotic arm next to it: "Although Elephant is not an industrial-grade machine, it is no problem to use it to make ordinary tools or high-precision models. With it, the program simulation can be further applied to physical manufacturing."

"Its abilities are [Design and Development] and [Practical Teaching]."

Zhou Yi was a little surprised: "Elephant, are you a teaching machine?"

"Chairman, I belong to the entry-level light and small robotic arm, and I cannot grab objects that are too heavy. There are indeed teaching programs." The robotic arm said, rotating its flexible body.

"Very good, then you can cooperate more with Mushroom Forest. Diamond is teaching programming languages."

"Yes, Chairman."

Finally, it was the balance car.

703 said, "Chairman, Ninebot's two abilities are [Precision Sensing] and [Balance Algorithm]. The former ability can identify obstacles, slopes, etc. to adjust the instantaneous power for easy passage, and the latter continuously accumulates driving data to calibrate the speed and make the body balanced and stable. Although it is small in size, they are all very advanced abilities."

"These abilities can be applied to the modification and optimization of vehicles."

Ninebot's attitude was very humble: "Chairman, I need a lot of driving data to improve the balance. Currently, I can only achieve basic balance, and the dynamic balance is not satisfactory enough."

"Take your time."

Zhou Yi felt relieved.

The company finally has a technical team.

He looked at 703 again: "By the way, the company's cattle herding tribe, are those horned cattle also Semi-Awakened? Haven't they been repaired yet?"

"This... there is no problem technically."

"Then the cattle herding tribe is opposed to it?"

The robot dog stammered and said: "The cattle herding tribe is worried that if the horned cattle have self-awareness, they will not listen to their commands, and they have always opposed me from repairing them."

Zhou Yi said: "I will handle it."