Wasteland Development Diary.

Chapter 258 New Materials

Half an hour later, two job seekers came to Room 3101.

Zhou Yi looked at the Seahorse Archer who was holding a strange flower pot and asked, "Are you the gardener?"

"Yes, Mr. Zhou."

Hippocampus Sagittarius wore the transceiver of the translator, and the synthesized voice it produced sounded a little nervous.

All the seahorse shooters Zhou Yi had seen in the past were battlefield shooters. He only knew that they liked to live alone, walked slowly, but the high-speed light guns they shot out of their mouths were fierce and accurate.

Seahorse Sagittarius do not speak, relying on vision and touch to communicate. Their body colors change constantly to convey information, and their sense of touch is also very keen.

The gardener said, "Sir, my name is Dali. I am from Shell City and was originally a city defense soldier. I served in Shell City for seven years and participated in the battle to capture your city and the War of Honor that just ended."

"But I don't like wars and fighting. I would rather be a pure gardener. I spend all my time planting and cultivating various flowers and plants, but I can't find a place to display this hobby, so I have been in Shell City all the time."

"During the War of Honor, I suffered a bone injury, my shooting accuracy deteriorated a lot, and I was completely tired of fighting, so I applied for retirement."

"Not long ago, I heard that there is a gardening craze here and your company is planting and cultivating plants everywhere, so I want to come and try it out."

Gong Zheng next to him whispered, "Chairman, we have confirmed with Bedougong that Dali is indeed a veteran there and a brave soldier who was wounded on the battlefield."

Zhou Yi looked at the Seahorse Shooter: "What are you good at growing?"

Seahorse Sagittarius carefully placed the flower pot he was holding on the ground.

"Mr. Zhou, this is what I have been growing. It is called bitter root because it tastes extremely bitter and does not fill the stomach, so it cannot be used as food. However, it grows very large and fast, and can adapt to various harsh environments."

Zhou Yi looked at the flowerpot.

In the soil inside, there is a twisted and raised tuber.

It is dark brown all over, with a thick layer of dust on the surface. If you don't look closely, you might think it is a stone.

Red Falcon scanned it and then spoke through consciousness synchronization.

"These are tree roots that have been mutated by the radiation from the Dead Sea, just like the trees in the northern forest near the Dead Sea. If trees are immersed in the Dead Sea, the trees and their roots will quickly decompose. But if they are kept at a certain distance from the Dead Sea, the trees can still survive continuous radiation, but their shapes will become strange and it will be difficult for them to grow new leaves."

Zhou Yi asked: "Can I touch it?"

"of course can."

He tried to touch the bitter root with his hand. It felt very tough, like old bark, but hollow inside, like a hardened version of an old loofah.

From the perspective of [Alert], there is nothing unusual about this bitter root.

"What special purpose does it have?"

The Seahorse Archer was stunned for a moment: "It actually has no special use. It can only grow near the Dead Sea and grows fast. It can be planted everywhere along the coast. I have mastered the method of planting it."

"Oh, by the way, the bitter root has a special effect after it is ignited."

It tore off a small piece of skin from the bitter root.

"Excuse me, is there a fire?"

Zhou Yi took out a box of matches and lit the fire.

Dali brought the bitterroot bark closer, and flames suddenly rose on the bark. However, the flames themselves did not bring high temperatures, but instead quickly lowered the surrounding temperature.

It burned up quickly, leaving only a little residue in Dali's claws.

Zhou Yi frowned: "After it was ignited, it continued to absorb heat?"

“It’s amazing!”

Dali finally looked happy at this time: "Not only that, if you ignite the bitter root fully and thoroughly, you will eventually get this."

Seahorse Archer dug a small stone out of the pot containing the bitterroot.

Black, like charcoal.

But it was smoother and finer than the charcoal Zhou Yi had in mind, less loose and porous, and more solid and heavy.

He took it in his hand and weighed it; it was quite heavy.

Hong Shun immediately said, "This is 'Carbon Soot', a special processed product of soot sand containing specific elements. It has excellent properties such as high toughness, high wear resistance, and corrosion resistance, so the price is relatively high."

“What’s the market price?”

"The average price of carbon soot in major electromechanical cities is 52 copper/5g, which is about 10 times that of ordinary soot sand."

This is not bad.

Processed products have a much higher trading value than raw materials.

Zhou Yi looked at Dali: "Are you sure that the bitter root can burn out carbon soot?"

"Sir, during the post-disaster reconstruction, many trees near the Dead Sea were destroyed by the thunder beasts' air raids, which also caused a fire. I found a lot of this carbon soot there. Because I have been cultivating and observing the bitter roots."

Seahorse Archer explained: "Earlier, I planted bitter roots to make them cool. Sometimes in the summer, it was too hot to bear, and burning the bitter roots could cool me down. Later, I discovered that it has many magical properties."

“For example, along the coast where there are many bitterroots, visibility is high, and they will absorb the death haze into the interior.”

Dali pinched the plant in the pot with his claws. "I have cut open many bitter roots and found that the impurities inside will be shaken off, leaving only some carbon soot sand, which is then adsorbed on the surface and inside of the bitter roots. So after a big fire, carbon soot can be produced, but growing this thing is not as easy as it seems..."

"Although it grows fast, it is still a plant, so it takes at least a year to grow up. If it grows slower, it will take 1-2 years to be burned into shape. Then it needs to be fertilized and cultivated on a large scale."

"It's impossible for the sea lords to wait for such a slow and meticulous work. But the company has already spent a lot of resources to grow crops, spent two years waiting, and finally got the fertile land."

It said, "That's why I came here, wanting to try my luck with you. I think bitterroot is a very useful plant. If you have the patience to plant it on a large scale, after a few years, it can not only absorb and reduce the dead light haze on the coast, but can also be burned into carbon soot."

This boy is really good at talking.

Zhou Yi slammed the table and said, "I've invested in this project."

"Really? Are you willing to let me join the company and plant bitter roots?" The other party couldn't help but confirm again.

"Of course. I mean what I say."

Zhou Yi said: "This is a very useful plant. At the Guangxu Dam, efforts are being made to reduce haze pollution. We can plant more bitter roots there and then gradually expand their planting area to protect everyone's work safety."

“Do you have any salary requirements?”

Dali said: "I am not a combat unit now... I just want to get 2 light seeds a year."

"no problem."

After a brief thought, Zhou Yi said, "Dali, I will give you 100 light seeds for the special cultivation of bitter roots. Considering that your cultivation needs to be close to the Dead Sea, go to the mushroom forest and work with Sun Chonglai. It is cultivating mushrooms, you can discuss and try more."

"Yes! Thank you, thank you, Chairman!"

After getting the start-up capital, Hippocampus Sagittarius happily took up his post, holding a flower pot.

…Zhou Yi turned his attention to the second job applicant.

It is a four-legged robot dog with a gray and white body and slender limbs. From top to bottom, the head is equipped with a front camera, a light, and a small rotating black radar.

What Zhou Yi was more concerned about was that there was a small spherical stone fixed on the metal cassock on its back. He didn't know whether it was a special prop or something else.

There is a white [Go2] model logo and the English word "Unitree" on the back of the robot dog.

Zhou Yi knew this company, it was called Uniview Technologies, and it specialized in robots and robot dogs.

He once thought about buying a robot dog, but he was short of money and robots from the old human era were not cheap.

"Hello, Mr. Zhou. I am 2 of the robot dog Go703-AIR. Just call me 703."

Its voice is a very standard robot voice.

Zhou Yi moved a small stool, sat in front of the robot dog and said, "Are you a programmer?"

"Mr. Zhou, I am a self-taught programmer."

"So what is your job?"

"I was a surveyor in the Mineral Resources Department of Energy Storage City. However, due to my weakening of my own functions, my function rating was reduced to E, and I became a temporary surveyor, which is equivalent to a semi-unemployed state."

703 said: "In fact, I had expected this day, because entering the Dead Sea for exploration would cause great losses. My model and body are not superior. After being attacked by the Light Nano Species several times and recovering from the injuries, I found that my related functions were weakening."

"When working outside for a long time, it is inevitable that the machine body will be damaged."

"I have been learning programming and have passed the Zen test to enter the Wisdom Cloud for further study. Unfortunately, it is not easy to change careers. I lack sufficient experience, so I was rejected by all parties and could not become a formal electromechanical programmer."

"I heard that the Wasteland Development Company was hiring in Energy Storage City, so I came all the way here to try my luck."

Red Falcon confirmed 703's identity through the Energy Storage City.

Zhou Yi looked at the robot dog and said, "To be honest, I don't know much about the profession of electromechanical programmer. What do they usually do? Do they write programs, and then maintain and optimize them?"

"What you're describing is essentially what a mechatronics programmer does."

703 said: "The number of programs in each electromechanical city is increasing, and they need to be continuously optimized and updated, so programmers are needed."

"But programming is too important for most electromechanical lives, so the selection of programmers is very strict. It's hard for people like me who change careers and change careers to get opportunities."

Zhou Yi thought that this was not a problem for the company.

Wasteland Development Corporation has no such baggage.

He crossed his fingers and asked, "Do you have any outstanding programs or works?"

“I made a little program.”

703 said: "As long as you have a reinforced controller, you can use it."

At Zhou Yi's signal, assistant Gong Zheng handed his equipment to the robot dog.

703 squatted on the ground, turned his front limbs, pulled out a data cable from the side of his body, and inserted it into the rear interface of the controller.

A new icon appeared on the glass screen that looked like a magnifying glass.

As 703 watched, a new program opened and a simple page that looked like a TXT document appeared.

The robot dog looked at Zhou Yi and said, "Mr. Zhou, this is a small program I wrote. Its function is to recognize and translate the Dead Sea Scrolls. However, it can only recognize Chinese in the God Age language, and there is still a certain error."

Zhou Yi understood: "Use electronic eyes or cameras to scan, and then use this program to translate?"

"Yes, that's it."

Then Zhou Yi handed it a copy of Doraemon.

The robot dog began to scan and translate, and while broadcasting the voice, it also generated two common languages of this era.

"Give me back the comics quickly, I haven't read them yet."

"What should I do? I lost my comic book."

"Oh my goodness, I really can't do anything with you... "Substitute stickers"!"

……

The translation is very accurate.

"Very good." Zhou Yi was a little surprised: "Such a program has not been promoted and recognized?"

“This is actually of little use.”

703 said: "Since most electromechanical life forms understand Chinese, it is of no use at all. However, it can be used in human cities, but because this program requires a matching enhanced controller and a scanning device, the cost is actually quite high."

"So the actual application scope is much narrower than I expected," said the robot dog.

"This happens to come in handy in our company."

Zhou Yi smiled and said, "The literacy rate of the human employees in the company is low. If they are equipped with your translation program, they will be able to read the Dead Sea Scrolls we have collected more easily. Even if they can't read, it won't affect their listening."

"703, the Wasteland Development Company welcomes your joining. I hope you can use your program to make knowledge easier to spread and allow people here to have more information."

"The average programmer's annual salary is 100 yuan. Is there any problem with setting your salary based on this?"

Zhou Yi stretched out his hand.

The robot dog stretched out its paw and shook hands with him.

"No problem! Thank you so much for believing in my abilities."

703 said: "I will definitely do my best to contribute my strength to the company."

Zhou Yi thought for a moment and said, "You are the only electromechanical programmer in the company right now. You should follow Gong Zheng and install the translation program on each of our enhanced controllers."

"There's a mechanical and electrical teacher named Diamond over at the Mushroom Forest. He's also teaching various programming languages. When you have time, you can go over there and exchange experiences with him, and teach the black hand mushrooms there. He can mainly train people to help you and share your work."

The parties then signed an electronic agreement.

703 suddenly said, "Chairman, the "Sunday" virus program has been spreading in various cities recently. The Energy Storage City where I work has also been infected and attacked on a large scale. Should the company also take some preventive measures? There are also electromechanical professionals in the company."

"I heard about this before in Recursion City."

Zhou Yi also followed suit and said, "What kind of virus is this? Is it just to implant the tendency of working six and resting one? There should be some deeper purpose of interest, right? How much do you know about it?"

703 hesitated.

"The organization that developed this program is called the Mechatronic Knights..."

(End of this chapter)