Wasteland Development Diary

In the campfire, the branches crackled as they burned.

The firelight elongated Zhou Yi's shadow.

He flipped open a black-covered journal to the latest page, where various plans were listed.

— Gather juvenile samurai crabs (crossed out)

— Fatten the first samurai crab (crossed out)

— Train samurai crabs (crossed out)

— Search the surrounding environment for raw materials to make basic weapons (crossed out)

…

The latest entry had not yet been crossed out.

— Return to live on land and make contact with new human society.

Going back to the surface wasn't difficult for Zhou Yi.

The challenge was finding a place near abundant Dead Sea resources.

For most land life forms, the Dead Sea was a forbidden zone, even the Guangna Species from the land seldom entered the Dead Sea.

In the Dead Sea, immense amounts of Death Light mingled with the air, creating continuously branching streams of light particles that were difficult to predict. They created high-pressure fields, Death Light bursts, and surges of rapids.

In high-pressure areas, all movement slowed,, and being in these areas not only made movement difficult but also permanently decreased one's defense values. The longer one stayed, the greater the damage to their systems.

Light Bursts appeared like high-intensity flash bangs, their high-energy radiation indiscriminately damaging everything around, causing life values to decay regardless of defenses. Zhou Yi strove to increase his health bar mainly to withstand Light Bursts and ensure he wasn't instantly evaporated.

Rapids surged like flashes of lightning. If one did not dodge in time and got caught, their system's energy would be drained; if they couldn't escape quickly, they'd eventually be exhausted and left adrift like flotsam.

Interestingly, these forces had no effect on inanimate objects covered with a light film.

Land creatures had no experience dealing with such calamities.

Only the Guangna Species that lived in the Dead Sea could adapt to such extreme conditions.

Moreover, the Dead Sea was home to a diverse and potent community of Guangna Species, predominantly found in its upper-middle layers. Seemingly frail lifeforms could also pose significant threats, with the Jumping Snake being a prime example.

Species entering the Dead Sea from the land had a very high mortality rate.

Yet, Guangna Species in the Dead Sea grew faster as the concentration of Death Light here far exceeded that on land, creating a region of fierce competition and rapid turnover of old and new.

For Zhou Yi, the most crucial aspect was the human civilization remains in the Dead Sea.

Various resources were preserved inside these towering buildings.

Thanks to the special action of the Dead Sea's light film, tools and even packaged foods remained usable. Removing the outer light film reestablished their contact with the external environment, allowing the materials to resume movement.

This ocean area held numerous city buildings, each a mine ready for extraction at any moment.

This was why Zhou Yi considered settling nearby.

Though the Dead Sea was dangerous, he had years of experience living there. It was the current state of the land's new humans that made him feel unfamiliar and curious.

…

In the darkness, a light caught Zhou Yi's attention.

The light approached steadily, gradually revealing a figure of a young man in a duckbill cap holding a glowing stick.

It was Ajin.

"Master, I'm here," Ajin called.

Zhou Yi looked at the stick in his hand.

It was a smoothly polished branch with several glowing insects tied at the end.

When asked by Zhou Yi, Ajin explained, "Master, people around here use either Poly Light Lamps or glow sticks when going out at night."

"Poly Light Lamps are made from Poly Light Stones, which form along the shore of the Dead Sea. They absorb light during the day and emit light at night. Poly Light Lamps are heavy, expensive, and rare. We've collected all we could find; the rest are in the dangerous parts of the Dead Sea."

"Glow sticks, like the one I'm holding, use fireflies for illumination. During the day, they rest, and at night you just feed them a bit of leaves, and they light up."

So it was biological lighting.

Zhou Yi was vaguely familiar with Poly Light Stones. Their light wasn't very bright but it was soft and stable.

He asked further, "Don't you use torches?"

"Master, we are very short on fuel here," Ajin shook his head.

"Mao Valley Town is bordered by a desert to the west, leaving just this Oasis Side. We rely on branches, leaves, and dried grass from the oasis for fire. We have to be economical. Using torches is too wasteful. Burning through a thick log in one night is more than anyone can afford."

Zhou Yi nodded, "How's your foot injury?"

"Much better,"

Ajin pointed at his freshly bandaged right leg, "It's just a bit swollen and warm, but pain from injuries is normal. I just need to wash it more with water. It'll get better as the leg adapts."

Swelling and warmth?

Zhou Yi frowned, "Let me see the wound."

The youth didn't understand but still unwrapped the cloth on his leg, revealing a swollen and congested wound with a lot of pus.

It was an abscess caused by an inflammatory response, and it was likely already infected.

Zhou Yi seriously warned him, "This hasn't gotten better. If the wound further deteriorates and worsens, you could potentially lose this leg."

Ajin was stunned, with a look of fear on his face, "But, but... Mr. Gong said this was a normal recovery... Is my leg really at risk, Master?"

Zhou Yi opened his backpack, first pulling out a bottle of iodine to disinfect the wound, then unpacked a bundle of cotton cloth for dressing. Lastly, he found a box of amoxicillin capsules and had Ajin take two with water.

"Come see me tomorrow at this time, and I'll check the wound again to see if it has improved."

Ajin finally snapped out of it, "Okay, okay, Master, you really are a doctor!!"

Initially, Zhou Yi wanted Ajin to rest and recover at home, but Ajin insisted it wouldn't be a problem and volunteered eagerly to take him to Mao Valley Town.

The two walked the entire way, escorted by a team of samurai crabs through the Oasis to the town located in the hills.

Along the way, Zhou Yi learned about the local customs and conditions from Ajin.

The entrance to Mao Valley Town was a cave on the mountain.

By the entrance of the cave, some stone mills were piled up, and the outer wall had been painted with markings resembling fish or insects' bloodstains.

After entering the cave, Zhou Yi and his companion walked downward, soon arriving at a three-way split where people were sporadically entering and exiting, holding glow sticks.

"This is our burrow,"

said Ajin, holding a glow stick.

Zhou Yi looked back at the cave entrance, "With no defensive structures or covers, and no sentries or patrols, aren't you worried about monsters breaking in?"

"The burrow is too narrow for clawed pigs to squeeze through. During the day, the monsters go out to absorb light, so they really don't have time to burrow underground and waste time,"

Ajin explained, "If there's any danger, we would simply run out through a different, safer exit."

Mao Valley Town was much more primitive than Zhou Yi had anticipated.

The locals mostly just glanced at the foreigner Zhou Yi, showing curiosity yet a bit of restraint, before quickly walking away.

The residents were mostly teenagers, with hardly anyone in their twenties or thirties seen.

"Master, evening time is precious, everyone goes out to collect things. Mainly branches, leaves, and some dry grass which are not only fuel but also keep the burrow warm and safe. If we're lucky, we might even find dry dung, rotting meat, and bones."

Back at his hometown, Ajin talked quite a lot.

He lived in the 11th hole on the left; the previous ten holes were empty, holding nothing but some stones.

"This is my burrow,"

Ajin lifted the grass curtain that served as a door and installed the glow stick on a tree branch frame on the cave wall.

Inside, the stone walls were covered with overlapping, interwoven branches, and the floor was covered with a thick layer of dry grass, resembling a large bird's nest.

On the wall of branches on one side of the cave hung tools—a wooden hook shaped like a claw, ropes twisted from dry grass, a stone hammer with a wooden handle, a backpack, several tattered, patched pockets, as well as some bone needles and thread. Below, branches and dry wood were piled up.

A campfire was cornered off in a separate area of the cave, surrounded by a circle of mud walls with an exhaust hole connected to the outside above.

Despite all these efforts at insulation, the cave was still chilly.

Zhou Yi now understood that in such an environment, a large amount of firewood was indeed necessary.

"Master, what do you think? Sleeping here isn't a problem; I can set up a burrow just like this one for you, even better and softer!"

Ajin volunteered eagerly.

Zhou Yi twitched his face and completely abandoned the idea of settling in Mao Valley Town.

This was simply a replica of cave dwellers' life.

It was still not as good as the smog and light-polluted apartments by the Dead Sea...

Forget it.

He had to build his own place.

Do it yourself, full cloth, full food!