Wasteland Development Diary

Less than two hours after the special envoy team left, a series of notifications popped up on Zhou Yi's tablet.

First was Energy Storage City.

The local government announced the cessation of purchasing light slag sand from Wasteland Development Company and officially banned the sale of technology and goods to them, with courier cooperation also suspended indefinitely.

Next was Coral Mouth.

Jin Yi from the Programming Department sent a voice message: "I'm very sorry, Mr. Zhou, Wasteland Development Company has been placed on the sanctions list. According to the latest Agreement No. 412.39 and related regulations, we must inform you that Coral Mouth's cooperation with Wasteland Development Company must be suspended indefinitely."

"Due to the higher priority of the superior agreement taking effect, force majeure has been formed. Agreements related to Emerald Soup, Flame Cup, and other related items are void, and the production, manufacturing, and sales of related goods are terminated. Only after the subsequent relevant agreements are lifted or your company is removed from the list can the previous electronic agreements continue to be in effect."

"During this period, Coral Mouth will ban the sale of technology and goods to your company, and courier cooperation will also be terminated immediately."

"Due to the same reason, Wasteland Development Company's credit rating has been downgraded to C+."

The third was Mass Production City, with essentially the same message as Coral Mouth.

Not long after.

Notice also came from Holy Mountain.

"According to the latest Agreement No. 412.39 and related regulations… the development and patent agreement for Sage Mushrooms will have to be temporarily terminated until your company is removed from the sanctions list."

"Maria Hospital has been removed from the Holy Mountain designated medical institution list."

"Wasteland Development Company's Mechanical City accounts have been frozen."

Although Zhou Yi had expected it, hearing these announcements of suspension and sanctions still made him feel a heavy pressure.

Many Mechanical Cities appear neutral, but they also have their own positions and the power to influence the Wasteland world.

Heaven symbolizes military hegemony, while Mechanical Society controls technological hegemony.

Both have the shadows of Celestials behind them.

Unlike the previous Mechanical Cities, Recursive City delivered the notification in person.

Approximately 13 hours later, Kart Sigma from the Programming Department sped to Emerald City for a visit.

"Mr. Zhou, we regret to inform you…"

It was still the same official sanctions speech.

Sigma added: "However, although the general agreement prohibits Mechanical Cities from cooperating with your company, there is still one of our core agents that your company can consider trading with."

"They are called [Spring and Autumn Merchant Group], a merchant group mainly composed of humans and bone people, who purchase goods past their warranty period or defective products from various Mechanical Cities, including Mechanical Light Imprints."

"Some of these light imprints may expire or be damaged due to being stored for too long, but they can be used with slight repairs, and their accuracy and effect are still stronger than artisan light imprints. The biggest drawback is that the quality assurance and after-sales service are not provided by Mechanical Cities, but by the Spring and Autumn Merchant Group."

Zhou Yi immediately understood: "You invested in the Spring and Autumn Merchant Group?"

"Yes, Mr. Zhou."

Sigma was quite frank: "Recursive City is a shareholder of the Spring and Autumn Merchant Group, holding 41% of their internal shares. However, the Spring and Autumn Merchant Group is not a subordinate organization of Recursive City, and does not violate relevant regulations. They can carry out various cooperations with your company."

"Please rest assured that the Spring and Autumn Merchant Group is an absolutely trustworthy group, and they usually only cooperate with organizations with very high credit."

Zhou Yi understood the implication.

Recursive City's shareholding ratio was very subtle, obviously to avoid risks.

The fact that the Spring and Autumn Merchant Group can obtain flawed products and light imprints without after-sales service from Mechanical Cities is likely due to Recursive City's efforts behind the scenes—they are a small emerging city with a service industry as its pillar, and are more daring to operate and more willing to cater to changes than those big cities.

This merchant group can basically be seen as a smaller version of Recursive City.

Through this holding joint venture method, they can also bypass the supervision and constraints of Mechanical Society.

It was indeed a clever move.

Zhou Yi solemnly said: "I will remember Recursive City's support for the company."

Sigma emitted a burst of synthesized laughter: "If you don't mind, the Spring and Autumn Merchant Group can set up a dedicated office on your side for direct connection."

Zhou Yi nodded in agreement.

During the period of sanctions and blockade, having one more path means one more choice.

Sigma continued: "Although Recursive City is a small city with little influence, we will do our best to fight for the partners we recognize."

"According to the evaluation of our city's Programming Department, the sanctions against your company are irrational, and we are very optimistic about your company's future development. However, the general agreement is the superior rule, and we cannot override it, nor do we have the power to veto it."

"This visit is to express these contents to you. Then I will take my leave."

"Take care."

Zhou Yi watched the kart drive into the Dead Sea.

Among the many Mechanical Cities, only Recursive City, under pressure, was trying to maintain relations and show goodwill, and even released a hidden proxy.

Large and medium-sized Mechanical Cities such as Coral Mouth and Energy Storage City do not lack partners, so they do not care.

Zhou Yi said to Red Falcon: "Summon the heads of each department for a meeting."

…

Half an hour later.

Inside Emerald City 3101, the company's core employees had solemn expressions.

"The current situation is like this."

Zhou Yi sat on the sofa and said calmly: "In short, the company has now lost the support of Mechanical Cities, so our previous cooperation with them will be suspended, and subsequent transactions in technology and services will not be possible."

"Next, we need to rely on ourselves."

"So now I need to determine what actual difficulties you are facing, and then I will find ways to solve them."

Zheng Tao spoke first.

"In terms of agriculture, disconnecting from Mechanical Cities has little impact. The crops we grow are common types. We can already self-produce and breed seeds, and we also have natural fertilizers made from manure. Agricultural equipment and seeds can also be purchased from human cities or Photon cities."

"Agricultural Machinery Brothers and Yanmar should not be affected, they like the company environment very much. It's just that I'm not sure if the three new employees, the Leiwo team, will waver due to external sanctions and have thoughts of leaving."

Zhou Yi said: "Talk to them later. If they are okay, that's the best. If they really don't want to stay, give them some severance pay and process their resignation."

"Yes."

Next was Yuan Tong.

He had a bitter face: "Chairman, the large amount of light slag sand produced by our dam is now cut off from Energy Storage City's purchase, and we must find a buyer."

"The quality of our light slag sand is not bad, but considering that the company is on the sanctions list, many cities are likely to take the opportunity to suppress prices, and our losses may be great."

Zhou Yi pondered for a moment: "The dam will continue as usual, I will find a new partner."

"Yes, Chairman."

Qian Su was almost crying: "Chairman, we are facing a level of destruction."

"The biggest customer of the courier center is the four Mechanical Cities. Now that the company is sanctioned and blocked, our main source of income has been directly cut off."

"The remaining orders are just small-piece freight between human cities. Relying on this little income… it will be difficult to even break even this year."

The Mechanical City sanctions cut off a major artery, causing the company's fastest-growing department to almost shut down directly.

Zhou Yi thought for a long time: "Then take this opportunity to transform."

"The biggest advantage of Wasteland Express itself is that our Bone Fish couriers can pass through the Dead Sea and deliver goods to the door faster than other ships."

"Now that we have lost the mid-to-high-end market of Mechanical Cities, we will focus on small-piece freight in ordinary cities."

"Our core competitiveness is still there."

He looked at the iron-headed girl next to him: "In terms of pricing, valuables will still be charged as before, and ordinary items will be benchmarked against the cost of ship transportation, and adjusted according to the actual situation."

"Before, it was because we ate the dividends of Mechanical Cities, but now we are just returning to the normal profits of the courier industry itself."

"Cheer up!"

Qian Su took two deep breaths and adjusted her emotions slightly: "Looking at it from another perspective, this is not entirely a bad thing for the courier center."

"Two problems have actually been exposed before. One is that we are too dependent on Mechanical City orders, which leads to their excessive power and too much influence on us. The sooner we decouple, the easier it will be; the second is that Mechanical Cities occupy almost 90% of our transportation capacity resources."

"Organizations of enhanced individuals such as the Knights, Alchemists, Craftsmen's Guild, and Archery Society have also always wanted us to help them transport things, but the prices they offer are very low. Their branches in various cities often have mutual transfers of documents, materials, and equipment. But we didn't have enough manpower at the time, but now we can focus on doing this."

"It's just that this transformation will be more painful. The freight per order that the enhanced individual organization can provide used to be between 1000 mushrooms and 5000 mushrooms. So it would be good if this year's revenue is one-thousandth of the previous one…"

Zhou Yi encouraged her: "Don't have a psychological burden on the numbers, just proceed step by step."

"Yes, Chairman. I will look for other profit points and strive to gradually balance expenses."

Qian Su adjusted quickly and had already accepted the challenges of the new year.

As for the hospital, Feng Ying attended the meeting on behalf of Director Da Vinci as usual.

Wearing a signal receiver, she said to Zhou Yi: "Chairman, there is no impact on the hospital. We mainly receive patients with ordinary diseases."

"Only we are willing to take the risk of performing high-risk surgeries here, and it has little to do with equipment and environment."

"In addition, Director Da Vinci strongly supports your decision."

Feng Ying said: "The director believes that semi-civilized bodies should not be abandoned, but should be regarded as brain-dead forms of mechanical life, and we should try to help them in every possible way."

"It requests to set up a semi-civilized body department in our hospital in the future to conduct a comprehensive physical examination of semi-civilized bodies first, and then install time anchors. Program repair and operation, observation and synchronization are all carried out in the hospital and short-term observation is done to ensure the complete awakening and repair of the semi-civilized bodies."

Zhou Yi looked at 703 next to him: "What do you think?"

"With the guidance of professional mechanical doctors, it is of course the best thing, which is more helpful for the repair and awakening of semi-civilized bodies, and is something we can't ask for."

The robot dog was very happy.

"Then let's do it. Set up a semi-civilized body department. If there is a need for repair and awakening of semi-civilized bodies from the outside world, Maria Hospital will officially provide related services."

Feng Ying nodded: "Yes, the hospital will definitely do a good job in related preparations."

Zhou Yi added: "Today I will announce one more thing. The company officially establishes a programming department, including 703, Walker, Little Elephant and Nine, and 703 will serve as the director."

This meeting lasted a long time.

Faced with the blockade and sanctions of Mechanical Cities, the problems that the company has to deal with are much more than they seem, which has caused a series of huge chain reactions.

Wasteland Development Company is recognized by all parties based on the credit rating of Mechanical Cities, and now many things have become unknown.

…

After the meeting.

703 found Zhou Yi alone.

"Chairman, I'm very sorry for bringing you and the company huge troubles and losses. If I had surrendered myself at the beginning, perhaps these problems would not have been caused."

The robot dog said in a low voice.

"Don't have any psychological burden, this is the choice I made."

Zhou Yi felt a burst of relief in his heart.

The pressure is greatest when it is undecided.

After the sanctions are launched, the die is cast, and you only need to consider how to respond and transform.

"Now you lead the programming department and help the company do a good job in program development and testing, which is the best return for me."

Zhou Yi touched the other party's dog head: "I am very optimistic about you."

"Thank you, Chairman."

703's one eye flashed: "I will not let you down."

"In the past in Energy Storage City, I introduced two partners to join the Mechanical Knights. They all have their own talents, and I would like to recommend them to you."

Zhou Yi nodded: "Let them come over, I'll take a look."

"Okay!"