Wasteland Development Diary

Every evening, Ah Feng would stroll along the coast.

Emerald Avenue was crowded.

The outer coast was quieter.

There, he could watch the sunset and feel the breeze. Although the Dead Sea, like a vast fog, was not far away, he wasn't afraid.

Because Ah Feng had absolute confidence in the company. No monster dared to poke its head out of the mist and approach the Emerald City area. Past attempts had been blasted into dust by Building 5. Now, even the Light Nascites knew better.

He liked to wander on this avenue, the magnificent and dangerous Dead Sea seeming to hold the secrets of all things.

Walking along the shore made it easier to get closer to the answer.

It was here that Ah Feng met Zhua Ma.

Zhua Ma was a 15-year-old youth with a full beard.

His reason was: "It makes me look more dignified. When I don't have a beard, everyone says I'm some kid, and I get looked down upon easily."

Zhua Ma worked in the delivery team next to Emerald City, specializing in raising and training sentinel birds.

Ah Feng was a bug-raiser for the Wasteland Development Company. He and Zhua Ma got along very well, often exchanging tips on how to feed their charges and how to tell the health of the creatures they raised through their droppings, smells, and subtle behaviors.

One day, Zhua Ma showed Ah Feng something.

It was a triangular object made of burlap and thin wooden strips. Zhua Ma held it with a string, using the wind to fly it into the air, where it flew very high.

"What's this?" Ah Feng asked.

"Cloth bird."

Zhua Ma said triumphantly, "I made it out of cloth based on birds."

Ah Feng sincerely admired it: "Impressive."

"Just kidding. I didn't invent this. It's a toy from the Age of Gods. Legend has it that based on this cloth bird, the gods and humans of the Age of Gods created all kinds of flying things, like the mechanical lifeforms' airplanes. The prototype seems to be this thing."

"I just improved it a bit and made one that looks like a Thunder Beast."

Zhua Ma pulled the string in his hand and let out a little more line, letting the cloth bird fly even higher.

"I sometimes think that if a cloth bird had real wings, it could fly in the sky forever. Then, if we could send people into the air, they could fly everywhere. We wouldn't have to be afraid of the Dead Sea or anything."

"I'm telling you, I actually built a large cloth bird before, but the bigger it is, the harder it is to fly. It's too heavy. I even broke my leg and had to stay home for two months to recover."

Zhua Ma rolled up his trouser leg, showing the old scars on his knee and calf.

This reminded Ah Feng of something.

However, internal company matters could not be disclosed.

So Ah Feng asked him, "Do you want to work with me?"

Zhua Ma was immediately excited: "Does the company need another bug-raiser? I can do it!"

In the Sandport area, being a company employee was a golden ticket.

High salary, good benefits, and plenty of vacation time with five days on and two days off.

Ah Feng said, "I'll apply and see if it's possible."

"I'm counting on you, bro!"

It was spring, and the chairman was away on business, so Ah Feng found Gong Zheng, who was in charge of internal company affairs.

"You want to find an assistant?"

Gong Zheng was surprised: "Great. The chairman asked about you before and was worried that you were too busy and working too hard alone. How many people do you want?"

Ah Feng told him about Zhua Ma.

"I'll check this person first."

A day later, Gong Zheng replied to him: "There's no problem with the person. Ah Feng, as long as Zhua Ma is willing, he's your assistant."

"What's the salary?"

"We can't set the salary until the chairman returns. But we can refer to the average salary of Light Nascites workers. I'll pay him according to that standard first, and we'll adjust it after the chairman confirms it, okay?"

Gong Zheng also said, "I can't decide on your part. You're a core senior employee. The chairman will set it with you when he returns."

Ah Feng nodded in agreement.

He himself didn't care much about the salary. Anyway, the company took care of his food, clothing, housing, and transportation. If he needed to buy insect feed or equipment, he could just ask for it. Raising insects was a pleasure for Ah Feng.

But he knew that for most people, salary was the most important thing.

So he wanted to get a clear number for Zhua Ma.

It came out to about 12,000 Gu per month.

Hearing this news, Zhua Ma excitedly hugged Ah Feng: "Brother Feng, you're my big brother!! I'll follow you from now on!"

Then, Ah Feng dared to tell him about the Silkspinner.

"You mean, you want to use that flying silk to build a cloth bird that can carry people?"

Zhua Ma, with his full beard, looked shocked.

"But... Brother Feng, I was actually joking. It doesn't seem possible at all. The silk is so thin, and people are so heavy. If I fall again, I'll probably lose my leg."

He looked distressed.

But Ah Feng insisted: "I think your idea is very good. Try it first. Don't give up before you even try."

"Okay..."

Seeing the magical creature Silkspinner and the silk threads floating in the insect-raising house, Zhua Ma was amazed.

He tried to wrap the flying silk around the cloth bird, and then the cloth bird floated directly into the air, leaving him stunned.

Zhua Ma began to draw dimensions on the burlap and make wooden strips for the frame.

The cloth bird modification was much more complicated than Ah Feng had thought.

Zhua Ma explained to his big brother: "If it's going to carry people, it has to be big. Even if it can fly, we have to consider the problem of controlling the flight direction, so we need to rely on the rudder and vertical tail at the back for manual control."

"Then there's the landing problem. We need to install a drag plate and make a parachute out of burlap... But the characteristics of the flying silk make this method very difficult, so we have to think of another way."

"Theoretically, this flying silk and the sail can solve the flight problem, but we also have to consider how to fix it to ensure the uniformity of the flight force."

Although Zhua Ma said it was impossible, his hands didn't stop at all. He was busy drawing, cutting cloth, and making frames every day, paying great attention to every detail.

Ah Feng saw all of this and thought to himself that Zhua Ma was indeed a genius.

He hadn't misjudged him.

The newest novel is first published on Liu 9 Shu Ba!!

Zhua Ma was busy making the artificial bird, while Ah Feng repeatedly tested the performance of the flying silk.

In the past year, he had mainly observed and raised the Silkspinner, confirming various habits of this ancient creature.

Now, the size and load-bearing ratio of the flying silk needed to be accurate, and the flight buoyancy also had to be precisely quantified, because every centimeter of flying silk was precious.

Throughout the spring, Ah Feng and Zhua Ma were busy making preliminary preparations.

The cloth bird's solo test flights were all successful.

But there were always various obstacles when carrying people or objects.

The flying silk winding methods had various defects, and it was difficult to control the cloth bird after loading it. Low-altitude flight was okay, but once it was slightly higher off the ground, it would shake and lose balance.

Ah Feng and Zhua Ma were exhausted every day trying to solve the constant stream of new problems.

In the summer, the company's programmer team, led by Institute 703, was formed, and they quickly solved this series of problems through program simulation.

After simulating tens of thousands of times, the mechanical and electrical programmer Walker gave the optimal size and plan.

"For the flying silk fixation, a plain weave method is stable enough."

"Based on the weight of the test pilot Zhua Ma, the effective weaving area of the wing cloth is determined to be 20.352 square meters. If the height needs to be reduced, this size can be further reduced."

"Here are the specific parameters..."

With the help of the programmers, the first manned cloth bird—or rather, cloth glider—was finally born.

On the day of the test flight, Ah Feng was originally going to fly, but Zhua Ma said: "Brother Feng, of course I have to do this kind of thing. At least I've flown before and know how to fall with lighter injuries. You still have to believe in experience for this kind of thing."

He secured himself to the glider and took a deep breath: "Big brother, I'm going."

Zhua Ma released the weight-fixing device and jumped off the hillside, controlling the cloth glider.

Ah Feng saw that he flew up immediately.

Although the triangular glider was only ten meters off the ground, it was indeed soaring like a bird. At first, the glider was a bit wobbly, but it soon became smooth and skilled.

As in the program simulation, the aircraft floated at a stable altitude, and the direction of travel was controlled by Zhua Ma, who maneuvered it in circles using a sail-like structure.

There was also a long safety rope at the bottom of the glider, the other end of which was tied to a large rock.

By reeling in the safety rope, Ah Feng pulled Zhua Ma back to the hillside little by little.

The bearded youth's hair was blown into a mess, but his eyes were as bright as rhombus stones: "Brother Feng, it flew, it flew, I really flew! It's so awesome!!"

He laughed happily.

"One more time, one more time."

"..."

Ah Feng and Zhua Ma repeatedly conducted flight tests together, correcting various problems during the flight.

Due to the flying and levitating ability of the flying silk, the glider only needed to consider direction and speed. Theoretically, within a certain altitude range, the higher the flight altitude, the smaller the resistance.

But the higher the altitude, the greater the problem, which was that maneuverability and control would become weaker, making it more difficult to control.

The mechanical and electrical programmer Walker's suggestion was: "The altitude is best between 100 meters and 500 meters, which can balance obstacle avoidance and maneuverability. Because the strength of the burlap material is insufficient, do not exceed 800 meters."

Another issue was the safety problem that Ah Feng was most concerned about.

But Walker said there was no need to worry.

"The flying silk, as a flying material, is a natural levitation tool in itself. As long as the weaving structure is slightly modified... like this."

A special weaving design appeared on the mechanical and electrical programmer's screen.

"Even if the glider loses balance, the flying silk itself is connected to the pilot, which can maintain levitation and wait for rescue."

Zhua Ma watched and exclaimed: "Programmers are really amazing... If we were to think of this kind of thing, it might take us many years of testing to get it right."

"The perfection of applied technology can be achieved as long as time and computing power are accumulated. Your creativity is the most core competitiveness."

Walker said: "Cloth gliders are cheap to build. As long as there is a sufficient amount of flying silk, a large number of cheap aircraft can be built. Once it can be popularized, this technology will also develop rapidly."

In subsequent test flights, Ah Feng and Zhua Ma became more and more skilled in their operations, and even circled over the Dead Sea several times.

The latest flight even completed a full glide around the Sandport area.

Only then did Ah Feng run all the way to 3101 to report the good news to Chairman Zhou Yi.