Wasteland Development Diary.

Chapter 692 Marked Currency
The closed beta test of New World has been going on for over a year.

As the Dead Sea was cleared out, old human cities buried in dust gradually reappeared in the world, and thanks to the dead light membrane, they were all very well preserved.

Based on these readily available and detailed templates, the subsequent city scanning and replication process became much faster.

It is worth mentioning that the rulers conducted surveys of nearby cities and many of them moved their settlements there.

Because the old human cities—even small towns—had a high degree of urban planning. Roads, drainage, garbage disposal, and power grids were all readily available and usable, unlike the rudimentary infrastructure of the wasteland era.

Most importantly, the city is well-developed, so you can move in with just your belongings; every household even has furniture.

A large number of new humans immediately and happily began their relocation.

Having acquired the cities of the ancient humans, these regions, which were among the first to complete large-scale relocations, immediately exhibited an astonishing rate of development.

Because the power grid was already in place, they were able to connect to the power grid system to the greatest extent possible.

The surrounding roads allow various vehicles to quickly transport people and goods.

Existing water supply networks, drainage and flood control systems, and sewage treatment pipelines and supporting equipment can be reused with only simple replacements. This makes urban water use extremely convenient, saves a significant amount of time, and maximizes the efficient use of water resources…

These numerous conveniences immediately made these areas stand out from their surroundings, and the city's living standards outpaced those of other areas of the same level, quickly attracting a large influx of people.

Having tasted the benefits, all sides flocked to move into the old human cities, and there were even cases where several regions shared a single large city.

Only a very few wasteland cities with extremely high levels of development simply treated the old human cities as satellite cities, relocating some residents there while maintaining their original locations, without any main body of migration.

The relocation efforts for the large-scale cleanup of the Dead Sea were primarily concentrated in the Eastern Continent. This was where the company's headquarters were located, and with strong support from various regions, the relocation work was easier to coordinate. However, the Western Continent, once again, lagged behind due to its conservative approach.

Seeing that the Eastern Continent was making a fortune, the governors and territorial sea lords all rushed over, requesting to also carry out demolition and relocation.

However, all of this had already been handed over to Cao Dayuan, the director of the demolition office. Zhou Yi's main task was to do the final review and signature.

Based on these circumstances...

More than two-thirds of the Asian continent from the old human era has been restored to the light of day, so the new world took the lead in using the China region where the company is located as a template to complete a panoramic replica.

Mr. Crab (Dragon), who had been away promoting the company for a long time, rushed back to the company on this day and came to 3101.

"Chairman, this is a great opportunity! This is a huge chance to siphon off consciousness!"

It said excitedly, "Chairman, the conceptual life forms have a very high opinion of the new world. They are gradually moving from the consciousness side to live in the new world for a long time."

"According to my investigation, at least one-fifth of the conceptual life forms have entered the new world, totaling more than 1000."

Zhou Yidao: "So, the total number of conceptual life forms is 5000?"

"According to the data from the Dream Demon, there are approximately 5000 to 8000 active conceptual life forms in the world, that is, conceptual consciousnesses that are used very frequently in this world."

Mr. Krabs said, "The conscious meaning inherent in these concepts of life itself supports 99% of the daily thinking and communication of humans and the Light-Bearing species."

"The conceptual life forms that are eliminated and forgotten will eventually decompose in slumber or merge into other conceptual life forms and be replaced by the new ones."

Zhou Yi understood.

Conceptual life—the name itself points out the origin and characteristics of this special kind of life.

They are consciousness entities formed by material life to describe the world, which can be simply understood as specific words, or even memes.

Old concepts are constantly being changed, forgotten, or even disappear, while new concepts are constantly being generated, but only a portion of the core concepts remain active in the world.

Like hot pot, it was extremely popular in the old days.

However, it went into hibernation during the wasteland era and remained dormant for a long time.

Zhou Yi had previously planned to look for it, but Ye Shen said it was very weak and in a long-term slumber. This was actually a euphemism for extinction, but conceptual life itself is special; given the right environment, they can be reborn.

Only time-honored legends like Vulcan, Fear, and Death remain, undeterred by the changing generations and the comings and goings of newcomers.

Bringing his thoughts back, Zhou Yi asked again, "It's good that the concept life is going on vacation to the new world. It seems you've done a lot of publicity."

"This is my job."

Mr. Krabs modestly replied, "However, Chairman, they are not just here for a vacation, but to live here long-term. They initially came here because there is no Great Holy Spirit to bind them, so they are not subject to interference and can directly contact every consciousness to spread their mark and expand their influence and concepts."

"But now, it's mainly because the tagging market is very prosperous."

"Marketing?"

Zhou Yi was puzzled: "Marks can be bought and sold now?"

“It won’t work with the Holy Spirit.”

Mr. Krabs explained, "Because the mark is essentially an altar of consciousness for a conceptual life form. Take Vulcan as an example: if someone puts a fragment of their consciousness into its mark, they can obtain a fragment of consciousness about fire."

"However, in the new world, a special new type of human-like conceptual life appeared, and their style was very flexible and varied. In order to compete with traditional conceptual life for the spread of markers, they came up with many methods."

"One way to completely change the existing landscape is to monetize tokens. Please take a look."

Mr. Krabs showed off two gleaming gold coins.

They are all formed from fragments of consciousness.

Zhou Yi took it and looked at it.

One of the gold coins features a samurai crab engraved on the obverse and the words "Wasteland Development Company" engraved on the reverse.

"This is tokenized currency, now also called 'new currency,' representing the currency of the new world."

“A new coin is a kind of conceptual holding of a conceptual life.”

“Each new coin is a token, because they are formed by resetting and compressing tokens to achieve this form. This is mainly to make it easier for residents of the new world to understand and carry, as the vast majority of them are accustomed to using common currency.”

Mr. Krabs explained it this way.

Zhou Yi glanced at another new coin. The obverse of this coin featured a small clay figure in relief, while the reverse bore the characters for "land".

"The new currency for the Earth God?"

"Yes."

"It seems the front is the conceptual image, and the back is the official name?"

"Yes."

Zhou Yi, filled with curiosity, held the marked gold coin in his hand and asked, "How do you trade with this?"

Mr. Krabs waved his crab claws, gesturing as he explained, "Exchange. New currencies are obtained through exchange; some appreciate in value, while others depreciate."

“Like now, I’m issuing a new coin on behalf of the company. The company is still in a period of rapid growth, so everyone is naturally optimistic about it and expects it to appreciate in value over the long term. That’s why everyone wants to hoard our new coin. Or rather, Crab Coin.” “Besides that, the Earth God’s Earth Coin is also growing rapidly.”

"However, on the other hand, some new coins are also depreciating. For example, [War], [Plague] and [Famine] were once famous concept life forms and belonged to the strong field. However, due to changes and stability in the overall environment, they are now weak and their occurrence rate has decreased, so the new coins issued for them continue to fall."

"Based on the current exchange rate, using the Crab Coin represented by the company as the benchmark, the exchange ratio between the Crab Coin and War is 1:7, the exchange ratio with Famine is 1:157, and the exchange ratio with Plague is 1:18."

Depend on.

It turns out everyone's gotten into cryptocurrency trading.

Zhou Yi then thought about it again.

These currencies are backed by a conceptual lifeline; the more holders there are, the stronger the concept becomes. They won't disappear or be delisted; rather, they resemble a combination of digital currency, stocks, and sovereign currency.

It's quite suitable for the new world.

Mr. Krabs added, "The exchange rate is mainly determined by people's optimism about the future and whether there is speculation, among other complex factors."

"It's like a new war currency. Since war has never disappeared in history, many people are optimistic about this currency and are willing to hold it for the long term, so the price is relatively stable."

"The company has drastically reduced food prices, and large tracts of land are regenerating from the Dead Sea, so everyone thinks that famine will become less and less frequent in the future, so they are selling off or unwilling to buy. This has caused the market price to continue to decline."

"As for the plague, the A2 virus incident occurred more than a year ago. In addition, various pathogens in nature are rapidly iterating and evolving, so there is a high probability that new viruses will emerge in the future, whether they are man-made or naturally occurring. Therefore, the decline will be limited."

Zhou Yi asked, "Who came up with the new currency?"

"It's Yan Wei, the deputy director of the Lunar Affairs Department."

"Awei?"

"It's him."

Zhou Yi was somewhat familiar with this person.

Awei is Jacob's roommate. He was initially a light source worker, then was selected by Qian Su to work at the express delivery center, and later joined the Lunar Affairs Department as Jacob's deputy.

After the New World Project underwent internal testing, Awei was among the first batch of new humans to enter it.

He was also the first new human to create conceptual markers. This showed everyone that in the realm of consciousness, any conscious being could become a conceptual life form.

Now, Awei has even developed a concept-marked currency, which has directly changed the current state of conceptual life in the new world and reshaped the monetary system in the world of consciousness.

Mr. Crab continued, "The reason why Ah Wei promoted the new coin is because it competes with the traditional concept of life, and the existing track is completely unworkable."

“Conceptual life forms have a broad public understanding and a long history, making them inherently easy to gain recognition. They are highly powerful, all being A-level or even light core bodies. After a large number of conceptual life forms entered the field, the marks of new humans like Awei were basically ignored.”

"That's why he came up with this idea: to monetize the markers to make them easier to use and trade. Compared to traditional altars and landmark markers, this method is more expensive to build, but it's much easier to spread and allows the markers to be moved and circulated."

"As a result, the concept of life [money] learned from it immediately and began issuing its own new currency in large quantities, with excellent results... Before we could even react, the entire monetization process was already unstoppable..."

"However, we also evaluated Awei's new currency strategy beforehand. We believe that this is beneficial to the company, to the large base of both new and old users, and can force conceptual entities to change accordingly. They will no longer be high above others, like gods waiting to be worshipped and prayed to, but will actively approach and seek out their audience."

"That is indeed the case."

The company spokesperson said, "The new currency in the new world is driving the entire new world to evolve rapidly. This is because the new currency can not only be traded with each other, but can also be exchanged for Light Seeds."

"Taking Crab Coin as an example, 1 Crab Coin is currently worth about 5.2 Light Coins and is still appreciating in value."

"The New World has officially converted Lightseed into legal tender, which can be traded and redeemed with various new currencies."

Mr. Crab explained with gestures: "The people from Tianjin were the first group of new humans to enter this world. They earned their first fortune by participating in various kinds of labor in the new world, which led to the creation of many millionaires. Some people also quickly discovered the value of the new currency and bought various conceptual currencies. They could live a life of comfort just by enjoying the growth dividends."

"The nightmares also joined in. They initially resisted because the Great Holy Spirit was their own territory. But the new world was unstoppable, so they wisely chose to follow, and the Weavers bought a lot of new currency in the market as reserves."

Zhou Yi nodded in agreement.

Once a major trend takes shape, no one can stop it; it's either get on board or be left behind.

Based on these favorable developments and premises.

Zhou Yicai ultimately decided to allow everyone on Wasteland Earth to enter the new world. The more people enter, the stronger the attraction to conceptual life forms, and the more beneficial it will be to the further evolution of the new world.

However, the number of evil brain motors is limited, and management still requires continuous exploration and experience.

Therefore, the program will be opened to certain regions first, with the first batch being the five regions of the development alliance, and then gradually distributed to other regions in batches.

The rapid development of the new world and the monetization of tokens have also brought new hidden dangers.

Jue Mingzi suggested: "Mr. Zhou, the sudden wealth and opportunities in the new world may cause some people to become overly obsessed with or even completely detach themselves from the material side and devote themselves to the consciousness side."

"As a result, fewer and fewer people may participate in basic labor such as agriculture, industry, and services. Although everyone's wealth will increase in the short term, the new world will expand and develop rapidly, and the wealth obtained from there can be used for consumption on Earth... but in the long run, it may create systemic risks."

"This will lead to the hollowing out of industries, with most people unwilling to engage in traditional labor and instead entering the new world to mine and trade new currencies."

As an old human, Zhou Yi is not too familiar with him.

Because the financial industry is profitable, generates quick returns, and requires little manpower, many developed countries and cities invest the vast majority of their money in finance. This has led to a rapid decline in the manufacturing and service sectors, ultimately resulting in a complete reliance on imports for all goods.

However, this is also a law of social development.

People always yearn for fields where they can make money quickly and in large amounts.

Zhou Yi said, "It seems you've found a solution?"

"After mobilizing a large amount of computing power, 703 and I conducted world-class simulations and calculations. Currently, there are two ways to alleviate and adjust the situation."

Jue Mingzi proposed a solution: "The first step is to gradually replace production positions with electromechanical life. Given the current capacity and efficiency of electromechanical life, this is achievable. As land becomes more abundant, costs can be further reduced."

"The second is to establish a detailed tax and transfer payment system. The taxes and profits from the new world will be used to support industrial production on Earth, ensuring the continued profitability of the manufacturing sector and thereby increasing incomes in these areas. The details are as follows..."

Zhou Yi thought it was feasible after listening to it.

"That's it."

The tenth year, summer.

The new world has officially opened to the world.

The quotas are allocated entirely randomly, in batches, and everyone in the allocated area can try their luck by participating in a lottery through the "Evil Brain Motor" lottery.

Those who secure a spot will enter a new world where there is a severe shortage of natural labor, and they can freely choose from a wide range of jobs. If they can quickly accumulate wealth, buy promising new currencies, and hold onto them, then financial freedom is not far away.

Thus, a saying became widely circulated that year.

"There are three opportunities in a person's life that can directly change their destiny. The first is being born into a good family, the second is finding a strong partner, and the third is winning a lottery at the wasteland development company."

(End of this chapter)