Wasteland Development Diary

With the Red Kestrel, the view immediately broadened.

Zhou Yi could clearly see the nearby terrain and the various creatures active on the surface.

By this time, it was already night, and the Guangna Species were mostly resting, conserving their energy for the next day's exertion. The animals that were active outside consisted mainly of snakes, rats, and nocturnal birds.

But just as Ajin had described, the guarding clawed pigs were still patrolling everywhere, defending and marking their tribe's territory.

Zhou Yi noticed one that was on its own.

This clawed pig approached the Mushroom Forest and skillfully moved between two giant mushrooms, identifying its surroundings before diving in.

Clearly, this wasn't its first visit.

Even a Guangna Body would be affected by the paralyzing toxins of the Mushroom Forest, not to mention the deadly explosive mushrooms inside.

Zhou Yi became interested and immediately ordered, "Activate 'Bird's Eye View' and see what it's doing."

On the electronic screen, the image zoomed in. The claw beard continued to move, agilely navigating around the towering giant mushrooms, quite familiar with the terrain.

Above this monster's head, its thoughts appeared.

—The poison fog here is getting thicker, I need to be quick.

—While the leader has just been injured, relying on the power of these mushrooms, now is the best chance to take over as leader.

The clawed pig ran to a giant mushroom.

The display could only show it rooting around, seemingly eating something, then quickly running out.

When it returned, it was in a very good mood.

—I feel stronger than ever right now!

—These mushrooms are treasures that boosted me to peak condition, although it only lasts a day or two, it's enough.

—I'll give it my all to become the new leader! Do it!

…

The image was quite blurred.

Zhou Yi asked, "Red Kestrel, can you safely enter the Mushroom Forest?"

"Yes."

A synthesized voice came from the remote controller, "The poison fog here has negligible effects on electromechanical life."

"Go inside and find what the clawed pig was eating earlier."

Its altitude quickly decreased.

Unfortunately, the remote controller screen was still pitch black.

Later, Zhou Yi found out that the 'Bird's Eye View' function of the Red Kestrel was meant for evaluating active life forms and did not possess high-definition image capturing capabilities in dark environments.

Only in daylight, could it provide high-resolution imaging.

A few minutes later, the Red Kestrel returned to Zhou Yi's side.

From the underside of the drone, two mechanical claws had captured two mud-covered mushrooms, survivors from the clawed pig's feasting.

The mushrooms were the size of a fist, grey-brown in color, covered with grass stems and bits of rock and sand, resembling a pile of dirt clumps or dung balls.

They were not particularly fragrant or distinctive.

Zhou Yi squeezed one, it felt like dirt, and it deformed under slight pressure and was difficult to restore.

He asked the Red Kestrel, "What is this?"

"No related information stored," the drone answered.

There was another way to find out the origin of these things.

Zhou Yi directed the Red Kestrel and a squad of samurai crabs, starting their first joint aerial-ground operation.

Forty minutes later.

The exhausted, burly clawed pig was tied up by the samurai crab squad and dragged over from the ground.

It had several wounds on its body, bleeding, but they were not fatal; it was just exhausted.

The clawed pig looked fierce, baring its teeth and struggling, but its snout and mouth were wrapped in ropes, making it difficult to speak.

Zhou Yi ordered, "Pin it down."

Six samurai crabs pressed the clawed pig firmly to the ground.

Only then did Zhou Yi place his hand on the back of this four-legged monster.

He directed energy out from his body, slowly entering the other's through the coarse, hard black hair.

The fierce face of the clawed pig suddenly stiffened, looking puzzled.

"Now, we can communicate."

Zhou Yi spoke softly, "I need to understand some things from you. If you cooperate well, I'll let you go after we're done. If your responses satisfy me, I'll also provide a corresponding reward."

This was the experience he had gained from raising crabs.

He would input energy into the Guangna Body, and during this process, he would briefly connect with the recipient in a special way, allowing them to communicate through consciousness. If this process was repeated over a long term, it could develop into a long-term association where consciousness tended towards the same frequency, as with Zhou Yi and his samurai crabs.

However, long-term energy supply was itself a heavy consumption, and currently, the only ones Zhou Yi could trust were still the samurai crab group.

Red Kestrel was a different case, as it came with a human voice module, so there was no need to worry about communication issues.

"Speak, or I'll have to kill you."

Zhou Yi issued his ultimatum.

Clawed pig slightly retracted its fangs and said somewhat cautiously, "This power and technique of manipulating energy... you are very strong, I am willing to cooperate with the powerful."

That was right.

Zhou Yi raised the mud-ball-like plant in his hand, "Tell me about this mushroom."

Clawed pig licked its short snout with its tongue, "I don't know what it is. Previously, we counter-hunted a hunting group with an enhancer, and we cornered the seven people into the Mushroom Forest."

"The leader ordered a blockade of the vicinity, forcing them to die here. I noticed one short individual, who although completely drained of strength, and his weapons and backpack were knocked off by us, sneaked out at night lively and suddenly returned to an excellent condition."

"I and a few brothers severely injured him again, and he fled back into the Mushroom Forest. Eventually, we heard an explosion from inside, and I was the only one brave enough to go in and saw that the short man had been blown to pieces."

"But it was then, I found this strange mushroom not far from his corpse, and part of it was picked away. The guy's metal hand was still left on one piece of mushroom, I suspected his recovery had something to do with picking that mushroom. So, I tried taking a few bites and found indeed the mushroom was decent and could restore power."

It smacked its lips, "I then urinated to mark the location of those mushrooms. And I would periodically check on them."

"Later I understood, the larger the mushrooms grew, the stronger the power they contained, so I had to wait for them to grow bigger; they had the function to collect energy. It's just that the mushrooms grow very slowly, I waited several days, they only grew a little, so I couldn't help eating them."

The blasted hunting party?

Zhou Yi immediately thought, "Was it from 5 days ago?"

Clawed pig confirmed.

That was the seven-person hunting group Ajin mentioned that stepped on the explosive mushrooms, seemingly driven to extinction by the clawed pig group.

"Untie."

Zhou Yi commanded, and the samurai crabs dispersed and released him.

Clawed pig slowly stood up, seemingly realizing the person in front was not easy to deal with, still maintaining a humble demeanor, even retracting its scythe-like claws.

Zhou Yi transferred a total of 100 points of energy to it, then he began to feel energy leaking out; the energy storage limit of the clawed pig was roughly this amount.

He asked, "You want to compete for leadership?"

Clawed pig was astonished, "You, how do you know..."

"What will happen if you fail the contest?"

"Expelled."

Clawed pig explained, "I am male, and after reaching adulthood, I would either compete one-on-one for leadership or be expelled to establish a new tribe on my own. The leader is old and injured, this time I have a chance."

Zhou Yi pondered briefly, "Your reply satisfies me. If you are expelled with nowhere to go, you can come work for me, and I'll provide compensation."

He pondered.

After all, this guy was a local, and having this local creature would facilitate understanding the local monster community ecology and social conditions.

Being able to discover mushrooms indicated that this guy was not stupid and had good insight.

To his surprise, clawed pig hesitated for a moment, then immediately lay down on the ground, "I am willing to follow a powerful being like you right now! Whatever you ask me to do, I'll do it!"

Zhou Yi was startled.

You gave up a bit too quickly.

"You're not going for leadership?"

Clawed pig sniffed, "The leader has always been crafty, probably pretending to be weak by faking his injury. I feel it's difficult for me to win if I challenge... I might even get seriously injured and might not even survive if expelled."

It tried to form a friendly smile, "Following a powerful being who can freely manipulate energy is much more promising than being a leader of a small group! Having a Monster Army and yet valuing an ordinary E-grade Guangna Species like me, following you is the right path, and I'm obviously making the correct choice!"

"..."

Alright.

Zhou Yi thought for a moment, "Then you will be responsible for guarding and cultivating this mud-ball mushroom, first transplant it back to the Mushroom Forest, and don't damage it. Always keep an eye on them and standby nearby the Mushroom Forest, I will contact you."

"Yes, Master!"

"What is your name?"

Clawed pig lowered its head, "I am called Ye Zhao."

Dawn was approaching.

Zhou Yi suddenly remembered something.

The field coordinated combat hunting needed another trial.

He asked Ye Zhao, "Are there any Guangna Species nearby that prefer to prowl alone?"

"Yes."

Ye Zhao said, "Antlions, they all fight solo but are very strong, just at the west side of the Mushroom Forest."