Wasteland Development Diary

Zhou Yi told Jacob to slow down for a moment.

After resting for half an hour, the Bone Man finally returned to normal slightly.

It told Zhou Yi, "Chairman, bones are the carrier of a Bone Man's life. Our memories and experiences are stored in all of our bones, but the most important part is recorded within the skull."

"Other bones are easier to repair, and can even be replaced, but if the skull is severely damaged, the Bone Man is prone to death."

"What's recorded on the skull must be a Bone Man's most crucial secret."

After a brief explanation, Jacob looked at the skull in his hand: "When I had memories, I lived inside the Poseidon. There were a total of four Bone Men inside: me, Nino, Theo, and Conner."

"Our names came from the Poseidon. It gave us some names, and we chose the ones we wanted."

"There were also some other skeletons inside the Poseidon, but I don't know if they were the remains of dead Bone Men or humans."

The Bone Man seemed a little tired and sat down on a step inside the tunnel.

Zhou Yi ordered the Red Falcon to take off silently and enter the interior of the Poseidon through the opened hatch.

He himself sat next to Jacob, waiting for what would come next.

The Bone Man held the skull in one hand and scratched the gap in his head repaired with plaster with the other: "Inside the Poseidon, we didn't keep track of time; we were mostly sleeping. When we woke up, we would chat, then continue sleeping or move around a little."

"None of us felt anything was wrong, nor did we think about the bigger world outside."

"One day, Theo suddenly made a discovery. There was a pile of skeletons scattered under a shelf baffle. While Theo was sorting through the bone fragments, he saw a drawing made with scratches on the back of the baffle, depicting the internal structure of the Poseidon."

Jacob murmured, "The picture also marked many arrows, telling us how to get out."

"Drawings like this were in many hidden places, left by the original owners of those skeletons before they died."

"The Poseidon would periodically be in a non-responsive state. Later I learned that it was during the winter. It probably entered hibernation in winter to reduce consumption."

"The drawing told us that this was the best time to escape, as long as we manually opened the top sealed hatch."

Zhou Yi couldn't help but ask, "If the people in the past knew how to leave, why didn't they leave and instead died inside?"

"They didn't write it down."

Jacob looked at his knees: "But Theo found the reason. He said that normal Bone Men should have two arms and two legs, but I, Nino, Theo, and Conner were all incomplete, making it difficult to move around."

"Conner had a skull, sternum, and a right hand."

"Nino had two leg bones, but his spine was broken, and he could only barely fix his skull to his tailbone."

"Theo had two intact arms, but no legs."

"I was the most severely incomplete, with only a skull left."

Zhou Yi frowned as he listened.

This Poseidon was strange.

"We collected all the remains, including ourselves. There should have been at least 17 skeletons inside the Poseidon. Through the screening and comparison of these skeletons, we discovered something."

The Bone Man continued, "Some of the scattered bones there could connect to our bodies and fit very well. But our hands and feet, cervical vertebrae and sternum, skull and spine were all mixed up…"

"In other words, we used to be members of those skeletons. But after becoming Bone Men, our bodies were crossed with each other. Theo's hands might be Nino's, Nino's leg bones might be Conner's, and my sternum might be on any of them."

"In this strange situation, everyone sought my opinion. I only had a skull left, but because I had less burden, all my energy was used for my brain to function."

"I initially thought that Bone Men were like this. But according to the 'Dead Sea Illustrated Handbook' and the records about Bone Men that I found in Recursive City, that's not the case. Bone Men must preserve the relative integrity of their physiological structure to awaken under the effect of Dead Light. It's impossible for us to naturally form and awaken with such extensive damage."

"Inside the Poseidon, our bone structure was deliberately disrupted by external forces, making us confused and sluggish. An invisible hand was manipulating our bones, scattering us so that we couldn't think or remember what had happened."

Jacob opened his five finger bones, slowly opened and clenched them again: "Am I still me now? Have I only retained the skull part, and is the memory in this body ambiguous or real? I can't tell, Chairman, I really can't tell."

Zhou Yi was speechless for a moment.

Strictly speaking, his situation was even more serious than its.

But unlike Jacob, Zhou Yi wouldn't dwell on things. What had happened couldn't be changed, and what mattered was how to proceed next.

He told the Bone Man, "Existence is meaning. Life in the world is not meant to exist alone; we have exchange and connection with the surrounding environment. If you can't tell the difference, there's no need to."

Jacob fell into deep thought.

After waiting a while.

The Bone Man spoke again: "I told everyone that we might be those skeletons, and everyone thought it made sense. But why the past us—or rather, the previous Bone Men—wanted us to escape, no one knew. But once this idea was born, it could no longer be stopped."

"We noticed more and more suspicious things."

"Every window of the Poseidon was completely sealed with light soot, and the exhaust and drainage holes inside were also blocked, cutting off all contact with the outside world."

"Then there were many abrasions and scratches on our bones, but the Poseidon was very stable, and there were hardly any bumps. Otherwise, with our incomplete bodies, we wouldn't be able to walk around."

"Especially everyone's skulls were severely worn, and the memories inside were completely cleared, and we would also have some vague sense of familiarity. For example, when Theo saw the baffle, he said he seemed to remember something there, which is why he discovered the painting below…"

"Also, the Poseidon never told us what the situation was outside. It wouldn't talk about the outside, as if it didn't exist."

The Bone Men's suspicion of the Poseidon continued to accumulate.

After long-term thinking, Jacob came to a conclusion.

They were the Poseidon's pets.

Kept in a confined environment, mainly to provide the Poseidon with entertainment. Once something occurred that it disliked, they would suffer the same fate as the previous Bone Men.

The Poseidon would re-scatter them, clear their previous memories, and restart the pet game in this black box.

Zhou Yi, on the other hand, was a little puzzled by this.

Mechanical and electrical life has innate functions and principles of order. What was the purpose of the Poseidon doing this? Was it for entertainment? Or some kind of experiment?

"I don't know."

Jacob shook his head: "We were just very scared at the time, because this constant cycle of torment was even more terrifying than death itself. So we decided to escape."

"In another winter when the Poseidon was hibernating, we assembled legs and bodies and escaped according to the clues left by the previous Bone Men."

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"I was the first to come out. As soon as I climbed to the outside exit, I felt weak all over. I don't know what happened, but a piece of my skull broke off and fell inside, splitting into two… because we all had very little energy, and we could only carry out basic movements with the supply of the Poseidon."

"After coming out, I ran all the way outside instinctively. At that time, the Poseidon had already entered the tunnel of Yalong Bay, looking like it was swallowed and eaten."

The Bone Man muttered to himself, "Later, I walked into the seabed of the Dead Sea and found a docked cargo ship near a small island. I lay on the bottom of the ship and followed them all the way, but the ship broke apart after encountering rapids, and I ended up in the Sand Port area."

"Chairman, I haven't told anyone about these situations before; this is the first time I've said them now."

Zhou Yi verified this through Yalong Bay.

"Indeed, a Bone Man came out of the submarine. He was very flustered and weak, but I couldn't identify the Bone Man and wasn't sure if it was this one. But the one at that time did have a piece missing from his skull."

The submarine base gave an eyewitness testimony: "That was also the first time the Poseidon entered the cave, and since then it has not responded and has remained there to this day."

As the understanding of the Poseidon increased, the mysteries surrounding it not only did not dissipate, but became even more incomprehensible.

Zhou Yi suddenly felt a little uneasy.

It had been quite a while since the Red Falcon entered the submarine, but no news had been sent back.

Zhou Yi took out the remote control he carried with him and manually operated it.

It showed.

[No signal, Red Falcon failed to respond, please perform manual recovery.]

The last time there was a response failure was due to energy issues.

Zhou Yi's heart sank.

Something happened.

Rescue must be carried out as soon as possible, or there will be changes.

Unlike Bone Men who can recover after being broken, the Red Falcon is a non-combat member, and its body is very fragile.

After learning this, Jacob waved his arms anxiously: "Chairman, you must not go in; it's very dangerous inside. I suspect that I was actually deliberately released by it to lure more people in! I am the bait!"

Zhou Yi said, "I know what I'm doing. You retreat to the safe area of Emerald City first."

He first found the Saint Petersburg and said that if he didn't come out in an hour, please destroy the Poseidon with artillery fire.

"Don't worry, friend! Saint Petersburg will rescue you then," the submarine said, indicating that it had everything covered.

Zhou Yi also requested Yalong Bay to first disconnect all assistance and maintenance to the Poseidon.

A moment later.

The walls of the tunnel where the Poseidon was located returned to darkness, with only a faint light still shining at the top.

Then Zhou Yi summoned the entire Samurai Crab sequence, including all members such as advanced Weapon Masters, Hammerhead Soldiers, and Dual-Blade Hands, who quickly assembled in the cave.

His order was simple.

If he didn't come out after an hour, wait for the Saint Petersburg to blast open the Poseidon and then dismantle this mechanical and electrical submarine.

Finally, Zhou Yi climbed onto the dark submarine. At this time, Jacob still ran over and said bravely, "Chairman, I, I'll go too. I'm familiar with the inside! Maybe I can help!"

Zhou Yi nodded, "Then come on."

For safety's sake, he gave the Bone Man an energy input to facilitate synchronized consciousness dialogue.

Then he and Jacob, one in front and one behind, crawled into the hatch.