Wasteland Development Diary

The next day, a small reinforced ship sailed into Yalong Bay.

An armored warrior stepped off the ship, a small monkey perched on his shoulder.

The visitor identified himself as Shang Fulin, the manager of the Chunqiu Trading Company.

Red Falcon led him into Emerald City.

"First time meeting you, Mr. Zhou, it's an honor to be in this magical place and have the opportunity to cooperate with your company."

Shang Fulin spoke with gentleness and propriety.

He was entirely encased in black-brown, hard armor, standing about two meters tall, his steps heavy as he walked, with two metal boxes fixed to his back.

Under Zhou Yi's [Alert] vision, he could see faint white light beneath the armor layer.

"Are you an Enhancer or a Light-Na species?"

"I am a Bone Man."

Shang Fulin explained, "I suffered severe injuries in the past, my entire skeleton shattered. I was fortunate to survive the surgery. The doctor designed this special auxiliary exoskeleton to hold my bones in place, allowing me to move around."

Zhou Yi was surprised, "That doctor is truly amazing."

"Yes, I am very grateful as well."

Shang Fulin then pointed to the little monkey on his shoulder, "This is my partner and assistant, Ye Zi. As you can see, it is a Red Fur Demon."

"Although this group is inherently irritable and combative, they are not stupid. I adopted Ye Zi when it was young. It usually helps me with manual labor and can also scare away the thieves from the looting gangs."

The little monkey-shaped Red Fur Demon stared blankly at Zhou Yi.

"Ye Zi, greet him."

Shang Fulin called out.

Then the little monkey jumped off his shoulder and danced a savage dance on the spot, gesticulating wildly.

"Nice to meet you, I am assistant Ye Zi."

The pronunciation came through a signal transceiver it wore, presumably using a translator.

To this little monster who greeted him with a dance, Zhou Yi responded with a smile, "Hello, nice to meet you too."

"Looks like this assistant is very enthusiastic."

"Actually, no."

Shang Fulin said, "This guy is very shrewd and has high standards. If it thinks someone is not good enough, it will pretend to be stupid and not speak. But when it saw you from afar, it told me that you are a very powerful character, giving it a strong sense of oppression."

"Its dance is also expressing its respect."

The Red Fur Demon had climbed back onto Shang Fulin's shoulder and was secretly looking at Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi was taken aback.

This monkey really knows how to size people up.

"Mr. Zhou, let me introduce our trading company."

Shang Fulin said, "The Chunqiu Trading Company is not large, but it has many channels and suppliers, mainly dealing in various electromechanical city commodities. This includes various equipment and facilities, electromechanical light imprints, electromechanical life maintenance and repair, electromechanical stack erection services, and other technical service support."

"For special VIP customers, we also supply imitation electromechanical light imprints. Of course, although that's what they're called, the precision itself is very high. It's just that these imitations cannot provide the warranty from the electromechanical cities, and after-sales service will be handled by our trading company."

"However, the number of these imitations is not large. When there is stock, we will notify our VIP customers."

"Because of shareholder authorization, your company is already our VIP customer. Not only do you enjoy this service, but we will also be stationed here in Emerald City. Ye Zi and I will be here for a long time, contacting the trading company for orders according to your needs. In addition, we are also very interested in purchasing many of your company's goods."

Zhou Yi understood immediately.

The so-called imitations are actually flawed products that have flowed out from the electromechanical cities, but saying it that way avoids accountability.

And there was a very important point.

The company was now disconnected from the network, and electromechanical employee stack services were completely unusable. Logging into the pages of several cities with the controller was directly prohibited.

Zhou Yi asked, "Do you build your own stack services, or do you transfer them from other cities?"

"You know your stuff."

Shang Fulin immediately said, "Our stack service is to access the database built by the Chunqiu Trading Company. It is updated regularly, and the main data source is Recursive City, a legal mirror there."

"The database contains various basic data from the five major centers, including Snow County, Holy Mountain, and Mirror City. You can access and query them, the update is just a week slower, but everything else is the same."

"The shareholders have authorized a free stack service port for you here."

Zhou Yi was relieved.

That was no problem, the employees could all connect to the network.

Recursive City had indeed invested quite a bit in the company.

Zhou Yi had Red Falcon, Da Vinci, and other electromechanical employees connect to the Chunqiu Trading Company's stack. Being disconnected from the network had a huge impact on electromechanical life.

"We have long heard of Wasteland Express."

Shang Fulin changed the subject, "On behalf of the trading company, I hope to facilitate a courier partnership with your company. Although the trading company has its own flying electromechanical transport, they are too few in number and costly. Many customers complain about the price."

"Our Chunqiu Trading Company has always been known for being cheap and affordable, so we have been trying to reduce this expense so that customers can accept the transportation costs."

Zhou Yi immediately had Red Falcon call Qian Su.

After the Iron-Headed Girl arrived, she began to discuss the matter with Shang Fulin.

...

On the other side.

Ye Zi transformed into a giant ape and began building a house on the spot. It moved some wooden planks from the transport ship and skillfully assembled them into a small shop.

The shop mainly sold goods through pre-orders. Many wooden signs hung on the wall, writing various electromechanical city commodities.

Antifreeze oil, coolant, light blockers, refined light amber, light soot cables, lightning rods, thermometers, enhanced controllers, enhanced vehicles... a wide variety, in large quantities.

Shang Fulin, who was stationed here, gradually became familiar to everyone.

Two days later, Qian Su also reported on the initial cooperation with the Chunqiu Trading Company.

"Chairman, their trading company mainly delivers for some confidential customers. The other party receives the goods through a pick-up code, and the transported goods also need to be kept confidential. In fact, the requirements for transportation are very high. Not only do they need to be delivered immediately, but they must also be delivered to the designated recipient."

"But we can do it."

"In the cities where the courier service is rolled out, the courier centers have hired staff, who will deliver the last leg of the journey and connect according to the code."

"Each order can give us between 100,000 Mushroom Coins and 5 Light Seeds, which is ten times lower than before, but this is already the highest price currently."

Qian Su calculated the costs, "According to the current order volume, Chunqiu Trading Company will give us 10-20 orders per month, which we will deliver to the corresponding cities. If the subsequent cooperation is good, the order volume will increase."

Zhou Yi told her to go ahead and do it without worry.

Later that day, Qin Xie from the Dead Sea Knights also contacted Zhou Yi.

"You're playing really big this time."

"I was still wondering if there would be any changes, whether you could reach an agreement or something, and cancel the sanctions. Now it seems that you are determined to go head-to-head?"

Zhou Yi said, "The company is only defending its legitimate rights. External interference in internal affairs is a red line that cannot be compromised."

"The principle is correct."

Qin Xie sighed, "But sometimes, one has to bow one's head under the eaves. Only you are willing to fight for right and wrong, even at the cost of a large loss of Light Seeds."

"If you need help, just ask."

"Okay."

Zhou Yi appreciated the sentiment.

...

A day later.

Zhou Yi also received a message from the United City.

"The electromechanical cities have imposed sanctions on Wasteland Development Company. We have repeatedly confirmed this news."

"From an economic point of view, even you will be greatly affected."

Kunming Station said, "What exactly is going on?"

Zhou Yi briefly explained the situation.

After listening, there was a moment of silence, "Are you saying... the 'Time Anchor' that you funded the electromechanical knights to produce can repair semi-awakened bodies? What is the success rate?"

"The current repair rate is over 95%."

"No wonder you are at odds with the electromechanical cities. Semi-awakened bodies are a group that they have difficulty controlling, but the number of this group is very large. If they are repaired, it will be a new force that will change the entire electromechanical society..."

"The most important thing in this world is people and land."

Kunming Station suddenly became excited, "In fact, we also have a strong need here."

"You know, I am a satellite ground station. In fact, I receive more than just three satellites. There are also two satellites in the United City. However, because they fell into the Dead Sea, they were attacked by the Star Hub in terms of programs and data, causing them to become semi-awakened. We have tried many methods, but we cannot repair them."

"Can they be sent to you and have you try using the Time Anchor?"

Zhou Yi readily agreed, "No problem, send them over. But I don't guarantee it will work."

"Then I will arrange it immediately, and they will be sent to you by business jet."

Kunming Station sighed, "Your company is always ahead of the curve. If we didn't have to rely on a large number of loans from the electromechanical cities, I would also like to emulate you and directly contact the electromechanical knights... Unfortunately, the actual situation does not allow it."

"In fact, we in the United City have also had this consideration, and we will eventually have to take this path, gradually weakening and reducing the impact of the electromechanical cities on us. Otherwise, the United City will eventually be indirectly controlled by the electromechanical cities."

"The good news is that it seems that we can cross the river by feeling your company, and we can avoid many detours in the future."

Zhou Yi didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

He didn't want to be the one to stick his neck out, but the electromechanical city's special envoy had come to his door to enforce the law across borders, so he had no choice but to confront him head-on.

Autonomy could never be given up.

"We can't publicly support you here, but if the company is short of funds, we can provide assistance here. If you need it, please don't hesitate to ask. We are very willing to provide interest-free loans," Kunming Station said.

Zhou Yi also said, "Okay. I'll borrow money from your United City if I can't hold on anymore."

"We don't have anything else, but we have a lot of Light Seeds, please rest assured."

That night, a small plane landed on the coast of Yalong Bay, and two semi-awakened satellites were sent to Maria Hospital by the programming department to begin inspection and diagnosis.

Two days later.

A person whom he hadn't seen for a long time came to the company's residence.

"Long time no see, Mr. Zhou."

The person stopped his blue and white sidecar motorcycle. He was wearing a close-fitting black suit underneath, and a sleeveless robe on the outside.

Zhou Yi shook his hand warmly.

"Long time no see, Cui Mao, you haven't been here for nearly two years, have you?"

"Due to my duties, I dare not leave my jurisdiction casually."

Cui Mao still had that calm and steady demeanor. He revealed a hint of a smile, "Furthermore, there is really nothing to bother you with. Mr. Zhou, you are also busy, not disturbing you is the best thing."

"We already know about the electromechanical city's sanctions against the company. I have received authorization from headquarters. Jincheng, where the Tianjin Knights are located, hopes to purchase your Light Soot Sand for a long time. The price can't be too high, it's still the standard price of 4 Copper/5g."

"But we will buy as much as you have. The goods will be transported by our transport ships."

Zhou Yi was greatly surprised, "Why would the Tianjin Knights..."

"You once helped us, and you are our friend. The Ninth Squadron encountered danger in the United City, and fortunately you helped to save Captain Yao Yuan's life. The Tianjin Knights have always repaid kindness."

The other party said with a smile.

Although the company was being completely suppressed and sanctioned by the electromechanical cities, there were also many friends who extended a helping hand in times of crisis.

Zhou Yi couldn't help but feel a burst of joy in his heart, "Good, good!"