Wasteland Development Diary

The Red Falcon was flying through heavy snow.

Upon reaching the hilly area where Mao Gu Town was located, Zhou Yi saw that the Spine Hunter had switched to its light orb form, diving towards a steep, conical hill behind Mao Gu Town.

The drone followed closely behind.

This mountain was like a giant stone笋 that had been hollowed out, with a crater at the top. The Sea Hunter illuminated the area below from the air, providing a clear view.

Inside the crater were more than a dozen Claw Boars, still frantically digging and pawing at something. As soon as the Spine Hunter descended, they scattered and fled for their lives.

Facing the Red Falcon, the Sea Hunter's spherical body displayed two red, eye-like lights: "Chairman, I knew it! These wild critters are the culprits. I sensed their presence from afar."

"I don't know if there's something wrong with their brains, digging around here. Some have even dug deep underground."

Zhou Yi noticed that the crater was full of dug-out burrows and small pits.

A box appeared on the screen, scanning the surrounding environment.

The Red Falcon concluded: "This is a dormant volcano. The volcanic cone is severely eroded, with irregular traces of lava flows, volcanic ash, and other remnants. I've seen quite a few dormant volcanoes during my time in the rescue team."

"From the current external condition, it's unlikely to erupt again in the short term, but over a longer period, there's still a certain geological risk."

Zhou Yi called Gong Zheng over and asked if he knew about this mountain.

Gong Zheng carefully observed the crater on the screen before saying, "That's 'Ash Mountain' behind Mao Gu Town, where they get soil ash."

"I heard that when people in town first started growing mushrooms, they would go to Ash Mountain to find some soil ash and sprinkle it in the mushroom caves to help the mushrooms grow better and more abundantly."

"But Ash Mountain is high, and the terrain is steep. The road is difficult to navigate at night, and you could easily fall and die. Even if you make it back safely, it'll be dawn, which is very dangerous. Plus, Claw Boars roam there, so no one has gone there for a long time."

"I don't know if it's a volcano, but in winter, the people of Mao Gu Town do hear sounds coming from underground or the mountain, like something is hitting the mountain or knocking on rocks. But it's never been as loud or lasted as long as this time."

His words further confirmed the Red Falcon's judgment.

Volcanic ash is a natural fertilizer that can improve soil and increase fertility, which helps plant growth and development.

Now, it was necessary to figure out what the Claw Boar group was digging for on the dormant volcano.

Zhou Yi summoned Nightclaw.

The local Claw Boar blurted out, "Master, they're looking for food."

"Winter is here, and there's not enough sunlight, so they need to find food to replenish their supplies. There's not enough to eat in the north, so they come here to hunt. That mountain is home to Sand Rats. They often burrow in that mountain to get through the winter. I used to go there to catch Sand Rats to eat."

Zhou Yi was astonished.

He had searched high and low without success. It turned out that the Sand Rats were hidden in the mountain behind Mao Gu Town.

He had forgotten to ask Nightclaw about the situation. Sand Rats were on the Claw Boars' diet and they understood these animals.

Nightclaw wasn't surprised to hear about the underground Sand Rat kingdom.

It said, "Master, Sand Rats are the species that have been here the longest. Before the Claw Boars migrated here, they lived here all the time, digging burrows everywhere. It's normal."

"These guys are actually very cunning. They hide in mountain caves in the winter. If we want to catch them, we have to dig burrows. Then they hide further inside. In the end, those burrows that we painstakingly dug out with our claws become the foundation for them to dig further inside. These guys are using us to dig the mountain."

Zhou Yi frowned, "What are they digging the mountain for?"

"I don't know, probably to get through the winter."

Nightclaw's small eyes looked at the dormant volcano on the screen: "That mountain is the biggest in that area. The deeper you go, the warmer it gets. They probably want us to dig a big hole for them so they don't freeze to death. The rocks there are very hard, and it's hard for us to dig. Our claws often get blunt."

It raised the scythe-like claw on its right front leg. There was a notch in it: "See, this leftmost claw was broken off by digging."

"But there's no choice. We have to eat when we're hungry in the winter. Although we dig burrows, we can also eat some Sand Rats. Speaking of which, those Sand Rats are basically very old and are deliberately thrown out to die."

"That way, we have something to eat, and they can reduce their consumption. Besides, those were Sand Rats that were going to die soon anyway, so both sides can accept it."

As for why the rat-digging operation was particularly large this year and the Claw Boars were relentlessly pursuing the Sand Rats, Nightclaw didn't know.

It said it would go and find out.

About an hour later, Nightclaw returned panting, covered in heat.

"Master, Master, I found out!"

Zhou Yi corrected, "Call me Chairman. You're also a company employee."

"Yes! Yes!"

Nightclaw corrected its address: "Chairman, I found a Claw Boar I know and learned from it that a big event happened this winter."

"For the first time in history, the Sand Rats launched an attack on the Claw Boar group."

Zhou Yi looked puzzled.

Sand Rats attacking Claw Boars?

Ordinary small animals actively attacking E-class Photonoids?

How could they fight?

"Explain clearly."

"It's like this."

Nightclaw calmed its breathing a little: "About a month ago, a strange thing happened in the area occupied by the Northern Claw Boars. A Claw Boar tribe experienced severe vomiting, convulsions, and coma. No one knew what was going on."

"The leader discovered that the ones with physiological abnormalities were all adults who had licked the cubs. Claw Boar cubs sleep in burrows lined with dry grass for a long time every day. Adult Claw Boars lick their bodies to check on their condition. The fur on the cubs' bodies had a toxin that poisoned the adult Claw Boars."

"After investigation, it was found that these toxins were secretly applied by the Sand Rats. They would approach the sleeping cubs by digging underground when the adults were not around, and then apply poison to their fur with rotten leaves and soil. The smell was masked, making it difficult to detect."

"It was the toxin of the Giant Mushroom, which the Sand Rats collected from the mushroom forest."

"This large-scale poisoning severely impacted that tribe. They found it difficult to hunt, their territory shrank, and two members died from excessive poisoning."

"Then this tribe launched a frantic retaliation against the Sand Rats, not only in the north, but also in the oasis belt, outside the mushroom forest, and in Mao Gu Town. They are killing Sand Rats everywhere. But the Sand Rats are very smart and have all hidden. So this tribe launched a continuous and uninterrupted attack on that Rat-Hiding Mountain. This time, they want to completely kill the Rat King of this group of Sand Rats."

Zhou Yi thought this was how it was.

He raised a question: "You said that the Sand Rats only poisoned this tribe?"

"Yes."

"Why them in particular?"

"This tribe is particularly cruel. They twist off the heads of Sand Rats and pile them up. The Sand Rats try to retrieve these corpses. Those heads and corpses are the bait they use, killing a large number of Sand Rats in this way... They did it first. Later, this led to the Sand Rats' retaliation and counterattack."

Nightclaw's small eyes also had some complexity: "Actually, there's no need for this. Everyone is just trying to fill their stomachs."

Zhou Yi immediately thought.

This time, the Sand Rats collectively moved out of the underground city to avoid retaliation from the Claw Boar tribe.

At this moment, the remote control screen suddenly lit up with a ball of light.

Continuous explosions occurred in the crater of the dormant volcano.

Large amounts of smoke and dust were ejected upwards in bursts, like gaseous fountains.

The strong light dissipated, and the dust gradually settled.

The camera became clear again.

The ground inside was littered with the incomplete corpses of Claw Boars, most of which were charred black and lifeless.

The Red Falcon's box flashed and captured everywhere: "The number of Claw Boar deaths is over 28. A large amount of sulfur and dust was found at the scene. It should be that the dust was ignited and caused the explosion."

"There are multiple detonation pits at the scene. This was not an accidental accident, but a deliberately designed explosion environment, specifically waiting for the Claw Boar group to dig into the underground and then detonate it. There is a considerable amount of sulfur present here, as long as a pit-like underground confined environment is formed, dust can be used to cause a violent explosion."

"Comprehensive deduction, it should be a trap created by the Sand Rat group."

Nightclaw was dumbfounded: "So many died... This tribe is basically impossible to exist. The remaining members will either migrate or be merged by other tribes. This, the Sand Rats can actually destroy a tribe... This is something I've never heard of."

At the same time.

The Sea Hunter on the other end of the screen suddenly had a great burst of light in its eyes: "Found you!"

It switched to the combat prism form, releasing a strong light, cutting a deep crack in the dormant volcano.

The Spine Hunter immediately drilled inside.

When it came out, it grabbed a small white mouse with its sharp claws.

Sand Rats drilled out of the underground cracks and pits, but they were all running around anxiously on the ground, unable to save their leader.

Through the Red Falcon's lens, Zhou Yi saw that the white mouse's shell was made of thin white plastic, with red, black, and yellow wires in its chest cavity. The simple mechanical devices in its limbs and body were also clear at a glance.

Another electromechanical life.

It was the commander-in-chief who led the Sand Rats to attack the Claw Boar tribe.

Zhou Yi pondered.

The birth of the underground Sand Rat kingdom was probably inseparable from it.