Wasteland Development Diary

Zhou Yi remembered that when the two elders, Liu and Chen, showed him the plankton heart, they said that the longer the heart was cultivated, the stronger it would become as the plankton grew, and it could be upgraded on its own.

However, the company's main direction was to promote the low-cost mass production of plankton hearts for external distribution.

They hadn't paid much attention to individual evolution and upgrades.

Nor had he heard of anyone cultivating their plankton heart very well, achieving extraordinary abilities or characteristics.

Zhou Yi asked Chen Ruixiang, "How did you manage to enhance and upgrade it?"

"Let Chen Ji tell you about that."

The old man passed the opportunity to present to the young boy beside him.

Chen Ji looked to be about twelve or thirteen years old, still a child. He wore a company-produced 'Turbine' linen short-sleeved shirt, his hair was cut into a buzz cut, and there was some sweat on his forehead.

Receiving the old engineer's recommendation, he wasn't shy and immediately explained calmly.

"Chairman, the enhancement and upgrading of plankton hearts has been ongoing. It's just that each heart has a different growth rate, and because it hasn't reached a qualitative change, it's not noticeable in terms of appearance or actual use."

"It's easy to overlook the fact that they are a special type of photon-nano life and will continue to grow."

Chen Ji took out a flashlight and shone it on the 1st generation plankton heart on the table.

Under the light, a large number of light spots appeared inside the heart. Half of them emitted white light, and the other half emitted green light, all moving irregularly within the container.

"This is a multi-band dead light reflection lamp. When it shines on them, you can see the dead light reaction of the plankton. The green fluorescence indicates that that portion of the plankton has broken through the E-level dead light density and reached D-level."

The boy said, "2 billion is the minimum number of plankton needed to constitute the heart device, relying on a large number to complete the qualitative change. The strength of a basic plankton heart is D-level."

"According to the experimental standards of Teacher Liu and Teacher Chen, the evolution of more than half of the plankton is enough to produce an effect one level higher."

"That is to say, about 1 billion of the plankton inside have completed further growth. To confirm the effect, I asked Teacher Liu and Teacher Chen to conduct tests."

"After a series of performance tests and comparisons with biological data, it proves that the strength and performance of this heart have indeed reached the C-level standard. Its effectiveness is about 4 Float."

Zhou Yi raised his eyebrows.

The 2nd generation plankton heart is 1.55 Float.

The 1st generation heart that has completed its first evolution is 2.5 times stronger.

This is based on ensuring the same volume and weight, and purely increasing the multiple of effectiveness.

Zhou Yi asked, "According to this principle, can the 2nd generation plankton heart also complete the upgrade of its internal plankton?"

Chen Ji nodded: "Yes, Chairman."

"Adopting a hybrid approach will further accelerate the upgrade process."

Zhou Yi keenly realized: "You mean that the evolution of plankton is related to the type of food ingested?"

"Yes."

The boy pointed to the plankton heart next to him and said, "I work as a programmer assistant in the programming department. At that time, this heart was used for kinetic energy conversion experiments. Later, due to an experimental accident, its external transmission components were damaged. But because everyone was too busy, they forgot to send it back for repair."

"Later, I applied to use it for experiments."

"After getting approval from Department 703, I adopted another experimental method, which is to treat it not as a mechanical device, but as a special organism."

"Even grubs can be cultivated to become stronger, becoming a higher-level form like armored grubs. I thought that although plankton is a simple life form, it can use dead light, and is inherently stronger, so it should be able to do the same."

With this in mind, Chen Ji began his experimental journey.

The earliest things he fed were still oil and sugar, which were confirmed to be high-quality plankton rations.

Later, Chen Ji thought that since humans can eat it, plankton can eat it, so why not try more varieties.

So he fed the plankton whatever he ate himself.

Biscuits, noodles, fish, sweet potatoes, peanuts, radishes, cabbage, sweet and sour fruits... were all fed into the cavity of the plankton heart, and then devoured by those invisible tiny lives.

"For almost two months, there was no change. So I went to another friend for help."

Speaking of this, Chen Ji scratched his head, a little embarrassed.

"That friend is called Black Hand Mushroom 102, but now it is White Smoke Mushroom, and its official name has also been changed to White Twelve. He is Mr. Sun Chonglai's research assistant. He is very talented and insightful in the field of biology, has solid theoretical knowledge, and has also participated in many biological experiments."

Zhou Yi remembered this person.

Mushroom Forest Elementary School was still in the internal trial operation stage, and three students received high praise from Diamond and Sun Chonglai, namely Black Hand Mushroom 102, Chen Ji, and Beta.

Zhou Yi had seen the latter two, but he had never met Black Hand Mushroom 102.

Chen Ji continued, "White Twelve told me that if I was going to start from a biological point of view, it would be best to refer to the cultivation of photon-nano species."

"The company's cultivation of Bone Fish couriers is the easiest to replicate. Although Zhanjiang Bay on the other side is very powerful, its internal mechanisms are complex and not suitable for imitation."

"White Twelve recommended me to Teacher Sun Chonglai and asked me to ask Teacher Sun for help and resources."

The boy said, "Teacher Sun affirmed me and taught me hand-in-hand. Finally, through controlled experiments, we found that photon-nano mushrooms and plankton are very similar."

"Mushroom cultivation requires soil, fertilizer, and spores to achieve a suitable growing environment."

"We then discovered that plankton are very sensitive to light and like plenty of sunshine. We asked Electric Cat to build artificial sun lamps to irradiate the heart where the plankton are located for a long time. When the light intensity reaches above 5000 lux, they become very active."

"In addition, their favorite temperature is 15-25°C. Too high or too low will make them become inert."

"Using air pumps or stirrers to maintain the flow of airflow inside, preventing sedimentation and hypoxia, this is also imitating the gas flow environment of the Dead Sea."

"Regularly supplementing nutrient salts and baits containing phosphorus and potassium has also proven to be an effective means of supply."

"After five months of testing, we have explored effective methods to allow these plankton to grow faster than in the wild and enter the next stage."

After speaking in one breath, Chen Ji relaxed slightly: "We have screened and found the most important influencing factors, which are light, temperature, flow, and nutrients. As long as these indicators are met, the plankton can be further grown at a faster rate by feeding them a sugar-oil mixture, and a single unit can break through from E-level to D-level, thereby allowing the entire plankton heart to break through to C-level."

Zhou Yi listened carefully.

He asked the points he was most concerned about: "According to your current technology, how long does it take to upgrade a plankton heart to D-level? What is the cost? Are there any other environmental impacts?"

"Chairman, it takes about 1 to 2 months for a plankton heart to evolve from E to D relatively quickly, but further progress will be very slow. The cost is about 1.7 million Gu, which is 1.7 Light Seeds. Of course, if it evolves naturally, these costs are not needed, but it will take much longer."

"There are no other environmental impacts. As long as there is a dedicated cultivation room, use refrigeration boxes and flame cups to ensure the temperature is within the specified range, and it is ventilated."

Chen Ji thought for a while: "One more thing is that food feeding can be more diversified."

"This point and evolution temporarily lack data support. However, I found in the cultivation process that when I feed different types of food, it will stimulate different plankton inside."

"For example, Class A plankton are very excited about sweet potatoes, Class B are most active with moisture-rich fruits and vegetables, Class C like meat... Sugar and oil are their common recipes."

"After all, plankton is just our general term for a large group of microscopic life living in the Dead Sea. The internal classification has not been clarified. Different categories inside have different food needs. Therefore, diversified feeding can activate different categories inside."

"It's just that this is a long-term observation work, and effective data conclusions cannot be drawn in a short period of time. It may take one or two years, or even several years, to draw more reliable data and results."

Zhou Yi listened with a smile: "This idea is very good, you have to continue to dig deeper in this direction."

"Plankton heart is an important part of the new energy and Electric Cat system, and plankton is the basic unit of the heart. Doing a good job in basic theory and experiments is crucial for the development of this field."

"Yes, Chairman!"

Receiving recognition, the boy looked happy. Zhou Yi immediately awarded him a 100 Light Seed reward, which finally made the boy unable to hold back his smile. He kept stroking the Light Nano Box, finally restoring the straightforward simplicity that a child of his age should have.

This latest winner was also announced throughout the company.

Chen Ji is the first student to win an award, and the first high-level talent independently cultivated by the company.

Although still in elementary school... but heroes don't ask what grade they are in.

The elementary school of Wasteland Development Company is about applying what you learn, conducting research and experiments while learning. This is the self-standard that elementary school students in the wasteland era should have!

Zhou Yi added: "The research on plankton must continue. You must continue to promote this project. If you need people, you can ask various departments to help coordinate. In terms of scientific research funding, I will allocate 1000 Light Seeds to you first. But remember one thing, you must also complete your studies and not fail any subjects. You must graduate well. What grade are you in now?"

"Chairman, including the previous internal test pilot, I am now in the third grade."

"Third grade, there are still three years before graduation. You can't neglect your studies. Master the necessary basic knowledge so that you can better turn the ideas in your head into reality. Study hard and make progress every day!"

Chen Ji stood up straight: "Yes, Chairman!"

Zhou Yi used [Panoramic Reading] to look at the two plankton hearts.

They both received the same evaluation.

[Primitive biological tool.]

The Rock Core Clan has a low opinion of things below the Photon Core Body.

......

Chen Ji, the elementary school student who received the award, left happily with the plankton heart.

The remaining old engineer Chen Ruixiang put away his smile at this time: "Chairman, there is one more thing this time."

"We have now confirmed."

"The mechanical and electrical city clusters on the side of the Legalist Front have created plankton hearts. They completed the process from learning, research and development, testing to mass production in only three months, which is very amazing."

"We have obtained samples made by them through various channels. Although they do not reach the state of the first generation complete body, their effectiveness has reached 0.8 [Float]."

"This model, named D-1 level [Modified Plankton Heart], has been mass-produced in multiple mechanical and electrical cities and is being installed on mechanical and electrical life in the cities one after another..."

Zhou Yi thought to himself that it was really fast.

The Legalist Front has been silent for so long, it seems that they are concentrating their efforts on technical tackling and replication.

Now that they have obtained new energy technology, it seems that their subsequent actions have already begun.