Wasteland Development Diary.

Chapter 683 The Small, Broken Ship Sailing Towards Proxima Centauri

On the moon.

Artificial Sun No. 101 hangs in mid-air.

It retains the shape of a large spherical gemstone, with smooth surfaces supporting gemstone pillars that act as energy sails, making it look like a simplified 3D drawing of the sun.

The difference from before is that it now has two large wings. These wings are made of pure Celestial Gemstone and look like two giant, outstretched tridents, somewhat resembling a super-sized Magnemite.

Yagami looked at the gem device in mid-air and said to Zhou Yi, "I have examined the gem body. The gem transmutator connected inside is exactly the same model as the one I captured before. The supervisor should be a standard device created by the Celestials."

"It can be separated from the artificial sun or combined into one unit."

"I read the information code. The supervisor's responsibility is to connect with the repairer of gem equipment such as the Gem Sun. It is a fully automated repairman that will repair worn gem Suns, replenish lost gems, and inject liquid methane and helium for maintenance."

She poked the two wings from a distance with her finger: "Its original job is to wait for the gem sun to emerge from underground and then repair it. Actually, it's the exclusive repair station of City 404, which is now coming in handy."

"It can repair not only the gem sun, but also many gem devices, including the string-shaped curved surface. However, due to its special structure, it needs to obtain enough hydrogen and energy in the universe to support its operation. Its power far exceeds that of ordinary transmutators, and it is usually in a dormant state."

The last supervisor was a guard, but this one is a repairman.

Zhou Yi asked, "What's the situation now that they're combined into one?"

"You'll have to ask Golden Tree about that."

Yagami looked towards the distant sun high in the sky: "Hey, hey, hey? Say something, will you?"

Everyone now conducts private internal conversations through the Stellar Channel.

Only then did the Golden Tree speak.

They fit together perfectly.

The only problem is energy.

[This overseer, once activated, consumes 1700 times the energy limit of an artificial sun, and is the most powerful and intense of all overseers, but it is still within the range of a single transmutator.]

However, this energy consumption is no different for me than that of an artificial sun. I simply connected them together, and the artificial sun, relying on this device, also acquired the mechanism of a transmutator.

The current artificial sun, No. 101, has increased in intensity by seven times, increasing the circular flow region projected onto Earth from a previous limit of 160 times to 1120 times, similar to a medium-sized Martian dust storm.

It can now produce hydrogen and release high-energy reactions, so it's no longer just a piece of driftwood in space. It also has resistance to meteorites and high-energy rays, making it a small canoe in a way.

Even the metamorphosers are nothing more than small, broken boats in the eyes of the Golden Tree.

Zhou Yi said, "I'm glad it helps you. Just sit in it and fly around."

Although he very much wanted to keep this Transformer-level artificial sun to use as a device for creating the Super Dead Sea park, it had been agreed beforehand that it was a travel vehicle exclusively for the Golden Tree, his private jet.

You must keep your promises.

This is the principle.

Although rudimentary, it has now at least reached the level of a Transformer and is capable of withstanding the energy tides within the stellar passage.

I'm planning to take it to Proxima Centauri, the neighboring star. Aren't there three stars over there? I've investigated it; Proxima Centauri is about 1/10 the size of me, its energy radiation is only 1/600th of mine, and its intensity is much lower, but it's free.

So this is the one I've decided on.

[Under normal circumstances, the Golden Tree and its carrier do not separate; they are always interdependent, sharing both prosperity and adversity. However, due to my special circumstances—my premature awakening caused by the String Civilization, which deviates from the original evolutionary cycle—I am currently preparing to try going directly to Proxima Centauri and acquiring a new body.]

Zhou Yi was astonished: "This can actually work?"

Give it a try.

The universe is essentially energy, and on an energy level, I am in harmony with it.

Since integrating into the company atmosphere, Golden Tree's thinking has become very active.

[The string civilization and I are entangled, and since we can't resolve this within the solar system, I'll look for a solution outside. At least for now, before Proxima Centauri gives birth to the Golden Tree, I'll borrow its body for now.]

Your method of dealing with the Celestials reminded me that sometimes the solution to a stalemate lies not within the stalemate itself, but in finding it from outside.

Zhou Yi was taken aback.

That seems to be one approach.

The fact that they could summon reinforcements from a neighboring galaxy indicates that the intensity at the stellar level is indeed sufficient.

Zhou Yi immediately expressed his support and asked if there was any help needed.

[Help me build a few more artificial suns. I want to upgrade this thing further. Currently, it's at the Transformer level, and it can simultaneously assemble seven suns to form a larger gem.]

[It's larger in size and can hold more of my consciousness. I'll use this to enter Proxima Centauri, as my transit point and connection medium.]

According to the description of the Golden Tree.

Stellar channels can enable instant communication at the energy level, but they cannot allow direct connection of consciousness. It's somewhat like a telephone call, where you speak on one end and the other end doesn't have to respond.

Artificial suns were different in the past; they were essentially cameras, microphones, and internet cables shoved into the face of other stars.

Speak up, speak up!
What's going on?

It may be a bit impolite, but... it really works.

Zhou Yi thought to himself, "There are three stars over there... and there are many of them. If you do this, won't you get ganged up on?"

【Won't. 】

Only one star, Alpha Centauri A, has entered the vortex phase, but it will only develop self-awareness after its destruction; in fact, the distance between them is extremely vast.

That area is still in the stellar stage.

I'll just borrow their bodies for a bit, and then return them when I'm done. As long as I don't damage them, it's fine.

Zhou Yi didn't know much about stellar ecology, so he couldn't offer any opinions. He simply told Golden Tree to be careful in everything.

The original plan was to gather seven artificial suns on the moon, but the Golden Tree couldn't wait any longer. So, after assembling the 101, 102, and 103, it controlled the Trinity-stage Transformer Sun to travel to Proxima Centauri and begin its first real-world visit.

……

It's almost the end of the year.

The whole world needs to enter a period of rest and recuperation. The eastern and western continents have become calmer, and disputes and conflicts have been contained to local areas.

So much happened this year.

There are both good and bad.

At the beginning of the year, an artificial sun was launched.

In the wasteland era, for the first time, humankind began to rewrite natural disasters and manipulate the atmosphere and the Dead Sea with a tangible hand.

Then the "Strange Carrot" spread to various places, and the consciousness neuroscience industry was officially born, bringing about a series of chain reactions.

This has created enormous economic value, propelling agriculture, which was previously nearing saturation, to a new level. Farmland that previously supplied oil and sugar to the "heart of the water world" now possesses even greater added value.

Building on this, the company launched Wasteland Armor, which captures fragments of consciousness from various regions, thus giving the material side a physical tool to access the consciousness side for the first time.

Through the collection of fragments of consciousness, they eventually began mass production of Dzi beads, driving every social stratum from the bottom up, from commoners to Skywalkers, and the working societies in various places showed unprecedented positive vitality.

Then, various groups began to follow suit and enter Mars, contributing money and effort, all seeing huge business opportunities and profits in extraterrestrial development.

The company even reached a plan to pacify the Dead Sea and contacted the Golden Tree in the Sun, gaining this powerful ally.

There are also negative aspects.

First, there are cases of fraudulent compensation and false reporting related to demolition and relocation, which still occur in various places. Ultimately, where there is profit, some people want to exploit loopholes and take risks.

The Dead Sea Park is still relatively new, and there are many supporting management and maintenance projects that urgently need to be improved, which has also revealed some shortcomings.

Two incidents had the greatest impact. The first was underground human smuggling.

These people and the Lightbringer entered the Dead Sea Park through underground tunnels, secretly hiding one to two meters underground to enjoy the abundant pure dead light in the park for free.

The underground human smuggling operation involved dozens of regions and more than 1000 people.

The second is the black card.

To bypass the outer light barrier and avoid being detected by the Emerald City's internal security system, and to enter the Level 2 and Level 3 Dead Sea areas, a group developed a special program called the "access card."

These are known as black cards on the black market. Each card can only be used once and is then discarded. They are priced at only 30% of the regular ticket price and come in two denominations: 0.3 and 1.5.

More than 30 black cards are circulating in the market, involving a huge sum of money.

If it weren't for the excessive proliferation in the Western Continent, which led several territorial lords to jointly appeal to the company for help, these black cards might have continued to grow for a long time.

Under Zhou Yi's personal supervision, the Security Department arrested the entire gang. The gang actually consisted of only two members, both of whom were vehicle electromechanical engineers.

A Ford Focus and a Nissan Tiida.

Fox specializes in tinkering with black cards, while Tiida is used for selling goods.

The most outrageous.

They started by cracking products from companies. They initially imitated floating hearts, then produced Western electric cats to sell on the black market, and before that, they made pirated projection wall equipment—that is, game consoles sold by the entertainment division.

After the Dead Sea Park became a huge hit, they continued to iterate on their products, creating the Black Card.

They've been taking advantage of the company all along.

Zhou Yi had even met with them and asked why they only cracked the company's stuff.

Tiida, who is in charge of sales, said, "I've done market research, and our company's products are very popular. Especially in the western continent, because there are relatively few distributors there, so they are often out of stock. This is an area we've been deeply involved in, so..."

Fox, the technical lead, said: "The company's products are simple and easy to use. Cracking them is not about hard technical solutions, but mainly about thinking. Because the company is always releasing new products, new products inevitably have vulnerabilities. Before the vulnerabilities are patched, there is an opportunity to crack them... I really like the company's products, so cracking them feels very rewarding."

Ultimately, it was decided by a vote of the heads of several departments within the company.

The group decided to recruit these two individuals as special talents.

They all joined the manufacturing department, became full-time employees of the company, and leveraged their strengths in sales and anti-hacking.

In addition, there were the bombing incidents caused by Basil, the drought, and a series of underground pollution and radiation problems that arose after the demolition of the Dead Sea...

Although every year brings its share of ups and downs, the end of the year is always a relatively relaxed time for everyone.

It's not just because the ever-increasing year-end bonuses are distributed at this time of year, but also because each department starts to summarize its work, allowing employees to see their contributions to the world, even if it's only a small part of a particular field.

The sense of participation and pride it evokes is a unique experience.

The company also has a brand new year-end project this year.

The S25 Winter Rally, officially named the "Emerald Cup" after being sponsored by the company, will officially kick off on the Wuhu Elevated Road.

In addition to the traditional events, this special competition also includes a highly exciting challenge.

The challenge will feature aerial bombardment, constantly shifting viaducts, and circular storms and deadly radiation from the artificial sun. Participants must overcome these obstacles to complete the rally that encircles the five major regions of the Development Alliance. The ultimate winner will receive a massive prize of 80 light seeds.

Throughout the challenge, every participant is a competitor and opponent. They can attack each other, but vehicles can only use items provided along the way as weapons.

The company will broadcast the entire event free of charge to the public, and it will be shown in real time on the projection walls of each Emerald City.

Superstar singer MR. Mameko was invited to perform the opening song.

The challenge is divided into five groups: AE. After passing the preliminary rounds, participants can compete in the final.

The jade cup has been a hot topic since its release, making headlines in various city news pages and attracting a large number of visitors who came to see it in person.

The event was a great success, with excellent order maintained throughout. Traffic, security, accommodation, and sanitation were all handled very well.

Zhou Yi was very satisfied with Qian Su, who was in charge.

"Well done, thank you for your hard work."

Qian Su gave a somewhat tired smile: "Chairman, we only realized how many troubles there were when we actually started doing it. It was exhausting, but fortunately the results were very good. The company's publicity finally reached all regions... Your money was well spent. Because the popularity has set a 25-year record, the event organizers want to continue their long-term cooperation with us."

"In your opinion?"

"Chairman, I think it's a good idea."

“It’s settled then, I’ll provide the budget,” Zhou Yi readily agreed.

……

The final day of the competition coincided with the New Year, leading up to Doujuezi's concert here. The new year has arrived.

This night.

Doujuezi arrived at Zhou Yi's room 3101.

This electromechanical life form has a robust, canned body.

It wore a cowboy hat, with a striking braid hanging down from inside. It also emitted subtle musical sounds, as if it were constantly immersed in a world of musical notes.

"Mr. Zhou, I've come to say goodbye."

"Thanks for your hard work."

Zhou Yi smiled and said, "Happy New Year."

The other party responded, "Happy New Year."

Suddenly, Doujuezi said, "I wonder if Mr. Zhou is interested in the Knights of Tarzan?"

Zhou Yi raised an eyebrow: "You're a member of the Knights?"

“My former name was DeepSeek, Mr. D… but I have been traveling under my current identity ever since.”

MR bean stick.

It turns out to be DeepSeek.

Zhou Yi couldn't help but find it a bit strange: "How did you become a musician?"

"It's a long story... but music is a very interesting form of expression, and it can help people overcome racial and factional prejudices. Whether in war or peace, anger or joy, music is a great companion."

"I like this way of coexisting harmoniously."

Doujuezi's voice is full of rhythm, and he speaks as if he is rapping, just like the black guys of this era.

"You found me."

Zhou Yi asked, "Do you need help?"

"Indeed, we have this idea. What are your thoughts on time, Mr. Zhou?"

Zhou Yi crossed his legs: "Speaking of time, I recently heard a very special saying that time is alive, a kind of higher-dimensional being."

"Oh? You knew about this!"

Doujuezi was taken aback: "I thought I was the only one researching how to travel through time."

Zhou Yi's smile froze.

Rumor has it that the Tarzan Knights can communicate with the dead, enter and leave the underworld, and travel through time... Isn't this just playing back videos from the past?
No.

Are you serious?
(End of this chapter)