Wasteland Development Diary

After being captured by the Sea Hunter, the Electro-Mouse was taken to Emerald City.

The Spine Hunter commented, "Chairman, this guy's body is weak. He relies on mobilizing the sand rats. He must have some kind of precise command skill or the ability to modify the sand rats."

Zhou Yi praised, "Well done, carry on with your work."

"Yes."

The Spine Hunter returned to the sky.

Zhou Yi focused his attention on the captive before him.

This Electro-Mouse was about the size of a palm. Underneath its white plastic shell, its eyes were two LED bulbs, and its four legs and tail were crafted delicately. In the past, it would have been a cheap toy.

It lay motionless on the table.

Zhou Yi pulled out a chair and sat down in front of the Electro-Mouse. "Let's chat?"

No response.

"Do you have a voice module?"

No response.

Zhou Yi poked it with his finger.

No response.

Zhou Yi picked it up, feeling that the mechanical mouse weighed about 200 grams. It was stiff all over, as if it had crashed or broken down.

"Kestrel, scan its information and activate [Bird's Eye View]."

The drone remained hovering, its five cameras slowly adjusting their angles.

"No registration information found for this electro-mechanical lifeform. It is not a city citizen."

"Based on its structural appearance, it belongs to the small bionic category. Specific skills and body structure require comprehensive testing to confirm."

"This lifeform is not emitting any signals and appears to have entered a hibernation mode."

The query yielded no results.

Zhou Yi directly input energy.

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10-

10

……

After inputting 80 points of energy, the eyes of the Electro-Mouse in his hand began to flicker slowly. It twisted its spine and tail, emitting a series of clicking sounds.

Zhou Yi sent a message via telepathic frequency: "Can you hear my voice?"

"Hello, thank you very much for the energy recharge. I can hear you."

The other party gave a polite response.

Zhou Yi asked, "Were you out of energy before?"

"No, I entered a hibernation state to reduce consumption. May I ask, have you seen the sand rats beside me? How are they now?"

It was very concerned about the small animals.

"The sand rats are fine. The sulfur dust explosion you designed eliminated a significant number of Claw Swine. That group shouldn't bother them."

"Hopefully."

Zhou Yi interlaced his fingers, placed his elbows on the table, and looked at the white mouse with interest. "How did you end up with the sand rats? Why didn't you look for other electro-mechanical lifeforms?"

"That's a long story."

The mechanical mouse said, "My full name is NeRmo D017, you can call me Nemo. My job is pipeline inspection and repair. I am an underground pipe worker. Click."

"When I first gained consciousness, I was in the area between the Dead Sea and the current Oasis Belt. At that time, it was very desolate, with very few animals… Click. Later, I surveyed the entire area and discovered that there had been a volcanic eruption. The nearby creatures either died or migrated away."

"After many long rainy seasons, the area regained its vitality. A large amount of vegetation grew again, nourished by the volcanic ash, and it grew particularly lush."

"Animals gradually migrated here from various places, and it gradually took on a new appearance… Click, click…"

The clicking noise persisted when it spoke, causing Zhou Yi to frown.

"What's with that sound?"

"There is a slight malfunction in my body structure, which is affecting my consciousness," Nemo suddenly said. "Um, do you have any oil? Any kind of oil will do. My body lacks lubricant. The volcanic area is too dry."

"I only have vegetable oil here."

"That's fine too."

Zhou Yi went to the kitchen, dipped some oil with a cotton swab, and following the mechanical mouse's instructions, opened the dirty plastic shell and applied it to the rusted metal skeletal structure connections.

Then he removed the two small stones stuck inside and cleaned the dust and rat fur from within.

The Electro-Mouse moved its spine again, swaying its body from side to side. This time it was very smooth, and it no longer made the previous clicking sound.

"Thank you for your care. Let me continue."

Nemo said, "Various animals came to this land, but I was worried about another volcanic eruption, so I started building emergency tunnels underground to ensure safe evacuation in case of an eruption. The ground would definitely be very chaotic at that time."

"My job is underground pipe worker, so building underground tunnels is not difficult for me. I dug into the ground and used stones, dry grass, and some clay to build the pipes, trying to ensure waterproofing, moisture resistance, and impact resistance. Unfortunately, my body strength is too weak, so the entire project progressed very slowly."

"At that time, I discovered that sand rats also had similar behaviors to me. They also dug holes and tunnels. So I started trying to contact them, hoping to work with them. This way, I could give them professional guidance, and their labor would compensate for my individual limitations."

"It took a long time to get used to each other, because I didn't have a time recording module, so I could only calculate using seasons."

It said, "After 22 winters, I integrated into their group. After another 10 winters, because I could survive continuously and was the longest-lived individual, watching the other young rats grow up, I became the leader of the rat pack."

"Then the underground project could officially begin."

"Originally, I planned to build around the volcano, because the inside of the volcano has high-quality volcanic rock that has been purified by high temperatures, which is breathable, warm, light, and strong."

"But then something big happened. A huge lifeform crawled out of the soil, which I later learned was called the Dead Sea Alien. It first wandered around, then went to the mushroom forest in the southwest. The sand rats were very panicked, so I had to take them away and hide in the northern area."

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Nemo witnessed the awakening of Emerald City.

But Emerald City said, "I didn't notice the sand rats."

To it, the sand rats were too small and not a priority. At that time, Emerald City was hungry and went to the mushroom forest to obtain energy, and then it was adsorbed by the impurities and mushrooms in the Dead Light Deposition Zone and fell into a slumber.

Since it was that era.

Zhou Yi immediately asked, "Have you seen the Angel of Death? The human who looks like a white-clothed girl in the mushroom forest?"

"I have seen the ruler of the mushroom forest you mentioned from a distance."

Nemo's LED eyes emitted a faint light. "She is a very special and powerful lifeform, born from a large stone growing on the surface of the alien… The sand rats at the time all knew."

Could the birth of the Angel of Death be related to Emerald City in some way?

Zhou Yi stroked his chin.

In the future, if there is a chance, I can try something in this direction.

"However, our focus is still underground, so we only observe the external environment and do not approach those dangerous lifeforms."

Nemo pulled the topic back.

"To cope with the new environment, I improved the plan and added storage rooms, rest rooms, excretion areas, nurseries, safety passages, trap houses, and other structures to the underground tunnels."

"The entire group has also been further divided by me into breeding rats that are specifically responsible for reproduction, nurturing rats that are responsible for taking care of offspring, foraging rats that are responsible for finding food and water, soldier rats that are specifically responsible for fighting and self-sacrificing to cover the group's retreat, building rats that build nests and tunnels, and scout rats that constantly observe the outside world, among other professional divisions of labor."

"I led the sand rats and, through the efforts of three generations of sand rats over seven winters, built the underground pipes and residences in the northern region. Then we returned to the oasis under the volcano and spent another 14 winters completing the underground construction of the oasis area."

"Then we pushed the tunnels in all directions, creating a vast underground pipe system covering the oasis, the northern forest, the eastern beach, the southern mushroom forest, and west to Chicken Head Town."

"The entire project took a total of 127 winters, involving more than 60 generations of sand rats, and the amount of labor consumed is incalculable. Because of the success of this huge project, this place has become the sand rat center of the entire region, including Sandport. Even though the environment continues to deteriorate, there are still 300,000 permanent underground sand rats."

The light in the Electro-Mouse's small eyes suddenly intensified, seemingly proud of this.

It was the earliest pioneer here.

Zhou Yi was amazed, but also somewhat puzzled. "Can this place really support 300,000 sand rats?"

Sand rats are small, but they consume food every day.

"Yes."

Nemo said without hesitation, "Sand rats are omnivorous creatures. Underground insects and grass roots, ground leaves, tree fruits, rotten bones and meat, aquatic plants by the water, and small fish and shrimp in the water can all be eaten."

"However, after humans discovered this place, a large number of trees were cut down for firewood, and wild berries were picked clean, resulting in a significant reduction in environmental resources. Although I am teaching the sand rats to plant grass and trees, the planting speed cannot keep up with the speed of human destruction…"

"Finally, I came up with a way to stop more humans from coming here."

"I started raising an insect with the sand rats. Its body will grow larger and larger, eventually transforming into a highly aggressive monster, the Antlion Assassin. In the past, we would eat their larvae to prevent them from growing up and becoming a threat, but now we need their power."

"By raising Antlion Assassins and placing them on the road to the west, we can reduce the number of humans approaching this side. Antlion Assassins are irritable and hunt various creatures, which has greatly curbed the number of humans entering here."

Zhou Yi scratched his head.

He was still being conservative.

So, the Antlion Assassin was a biological weapon raised by Nemo to deal with the new humans.