Wasteland Development Diary

Looking out from the 31st floor, Zhou Yi could see that this main island had many rocky hills and mounds, but the slopes were relatively gentle, so the Emerald City could move around at a slow pace without much difficulty.

The land was covered with trees, dense weeds, and many small animals.

As the Emerald City moved slowly, many birds circled around it, not afraid of this massive outsider.

Zhou Yi noticed a large object moving on the horizon ahead.

A kestrel was focusing on filming it from high altitude.

The camera showed a stone giant with clear features, its head covered with a large number of snail-shell-like hair curls, a square face, and long, wide earlobes. Its eyes were slightly lowered, its expression solemn, and there was a small dot between its eyebrows.

The stone giant walked slowly from afar, using a human-like bipedal gait, leaving wide footprints on the ground.

Zhou Yi felt a strange sense of wonder.

It was actually a walking Buddha statue.

Behind the Buddha, there were two Dharma protectors, one on the left and one on the right.

The protectors were much shorter than the Buddha, but they still towered over the surrounding trees. They wore pointed high crowns and were clad in skirt armor, with equally solemn square faces and broad noses.

Many birds circled around the Buddha, seemingly attracted to it.

The camera continued to zoom in, and Zhou Yi also saw traces of humans.

Several black spiders were perched on the shoulders and back of the stone Buddha, with metallic octopods and square mechanical bodies. The spiders had control rooms on their backs, where people controlled their movements.

A total of 8 mechanical spiders were firmly fixed on the Buddha's body.

They fixed a columnar device on the surface of the Buddha statue, using it as a node, and wrapped the Buddha's shoulders and chest with crisscrossing iron chains, as if putting a strange iron-thread kasaya on the Buddha.

The mechanical spiders also sprayed a kind of black oil, using limbs with brushes to evenly smear the oil on the Buddha's body surface.

Zhou Yi immediately realized.

Those chains were obviously light inhibitors.

The wax-like black oil was light-blocking oil.

The combination of the two could affect the ability of architectural life to absorb dead light from nature, and even block the operation of local organisms, making them exclusive weapons against architectural life.

At this moment, two mechanical spiders were also using their claws to outline a kind of silver graffiti on the surface of the Buddha, shaped like some kind of electroplated tattoo, which reminded Zhou Yi of the light ridges and light walls inside the enhanced ship.

He asked Qin Xie, who came over to look at the screen, "Are they installing light seals?"

"Yes."

Qin Xie stared carefully at the spiders on the screen: "These are the Mechanical Knight's 'Spider Vehicles,' they can operate in various complex terrains. The Mechanical Knights control them, and they should be fixing advanced light seals on the surface of this large alien. This level of complexity and coverage should be B-grade intensity, either [Stasis] or [Forbidden Altar]."

He pointed to the chain kasaya on the Buddha: "This is a large light inhibitor that has been specifically modified to carry and connect the light seal structure. These chain structures have basically been laid out..."

Suddenly, strips of flame ignited on the Buddha's body. These fires all came from the iron chains on its body, which were united with the silver light seals, causing the light seals to flash one by one.

This made the stone Buddha's pace become heavier and slower.

But it still walked forward with its arms hanging down naturally, completely unaware.

The two Dharma protectors also followed without any movement.

"It seems to be [Stasis]."

Qin Xie murmured: "[Forbidden Altar] is good, but it consumes too much energy and needs to be deployed in a fixed area. [Stasis] can seal the body, and the consumption is less..."

He explained a little.

[Forbidden Altar] can be simply understood as a sealing skill, which prevents the sealed person from using their own active skills, and is more like an instantaneous effect.

[Stasis], as the name suggests, can make light-absorbing species and aliens, whose energy relies on dead light, difficult to move, but it takes time and space to gradually take effect, eventually making the target approach a standstill.

"Doing this kind of advanced light seal project requires an extremely stable environment... It seems that this alien has a good temper, or it doesn't realize the risks it faces."

Zhou Yi silently remembered.

The distance between the Emerald City and the stone Buddha was getting closer and closer.

The stone Buddha had wide eyebrows and kind eyes, with a smile on its lips.

It was almost level with the Emerald City, with broad shoulders and long arms, and clear toes and fingers on its hands and feet. The two protectors next to it were also sixteen or seventeen meters tall.

This appearance was really familiar.

Where had he seen it before...

Zhou Yi's eyes suddenly widened.

Holy crap.

It's the Leshan Giant Buddha!

He had visited and taken photos in person, and had walked down the crowded and steep mountain road next to the Buddha to see the stone carvings.

He never thought he would see it again in this way in the wasteland era.

Zhou Yi immediately made up his mind.

He had to help.

This was truly one of his own.

He controlled the Emerald City to slide on the ground, quickly arriving in front of the Buddha.

The stone Buddha finally stopped.

Its eternally unchanging eyes met Zhou Yi's behind the French window, and the Buddha stood quietly.

This made the Mechanical Knights a little flustered. They drove the Spider Vehicles behind the Buddha to hide, not knowing what was going on.

"I'm going out to take a look at the situation," Zhou Yi said to Qin Xie, and pushed the door open.

He rode the Spine Hunter and flew to the opposite Buddha, landing on its shoulder.

Under his feet was slippery light-blocking oil, and next to him was a crisscrossing iron chain network.

Zhou Yi glanced behind him.

The Spider Vehicles were cautiously lying on the back of the Buddha, without rashly approaching or taking any action.

Zhou Yi placed his hand on the Buddha's wide earlobe.

Energy input.

Consciousness synchronization activated.

...

"Buddha, are you okay? Do you need help?"

A moment later.

A heavy voice came from within his mind: "I am fine. You are the first external consciousness I have encountered besides myself. Who are you?"

Zhou Yi said: "I saw you before you became an architectural life."

"Oh?"

The other party was a little surprised: "You saw an earlier version of me?"

"Yes."

"What was I like then?"

"Not much different from your current appearance, just sitting on the side of the mountain, unable to move. Many people would come to admire you, because you represent a milestone of prehistoric humans..."

Zhou Yi got a little carried away as he spoke.

"So that's what I was like in the past."

The Buddha said slowly: "No wonder I always remember that I have many names, Lingyun Giant Statue, Jiuding Giant Statue, Jiading Giant Buddha... but Leshan Giant Buddha is the clearest."

"So these were all my names in different eras. Those prehistoric humans who created me were truly incredible lives. I really want to go back to that era and see other Buddhas."

Zhou Yi cut to the chase: "Your current situation is very risky. The Mechanical Knights are on your body... You'd better keep your distance from them to avoid being trapped by them."

After listening, the Buddha said: "I understand. However, this is my practice."

"Practice?"

Zhou Yi was puzzled.

"Yes."

The Buddha said: "Since I woke up, I have found that I can attract many lives. They always come to me. If they stay with me continuously, even the most ferocious creatures will be friendly to me."

"Not long ago, there was also a group of people walking around on my body, and even drilling into my ears and nose, seemingly looking for something. In the end, they were also very nice to me and gave me light seeds."

"As long as I am patient and tolerant, they will be kind to me."

Zhou Yi was stunned for a moment.

The Leshan Giant Buddha's ability was truly heaven-defying.

Was it really putting down the butcher knife and becoming a Buddha on the spot?

The Buddha lectured: "This ability does not make them lose their ability to attack, it just makes them friendly to me. It takes time to exert influence and appease them."

"Furthermore, by contacting and influencing other angry and violent lives, I myself become more complete. This ability was very weak at first... After years of accumulation, it is now far beyond what it used to be."

"Zhou Yi Buddha, thank you for your concern, but I'm fine."

This title made Zhou Yi a little dumbfounded.

In the Leshan Giant Buddha's cognition, every life is a Buddha.

It believes that it is influencing others to be good, and others are also making its consciousness clearer and smarter. This is practice.

Zhou Yi was relieved.

He immediately turned on the invitation mode, promising not to affect its practice, and would vigorously help it further guide people to goodness.

"We have a larger population over there, which is more conducive to your practice, and we will also visit other lands, so you can go with us then..."

In the wasteland era, key cultural relics like the Leshan Giant Buddha must be well protected.

After listening, the Buddha said: "Zhou Yi Buddha, but I cannot leave here, because I still have many parts on the mountain cliffs in the center of the island. I am only practicing through walking, and I must eventually return to where I came from."

Zhou Yi said: "This is not a problem, we can help you move. Our company has an architectural life that can cross the sea... As long as you are not a mountain, we should be able to carry you."

"There is such a magical kind."

The Buddha said in surprise: "My knowledge is indeed very short, and I need more practice to improve."

"Then I'll trouble you, Zhou Yi Buddha."

Zhou Yi was overjoyed.

Just finding the Leshan Giant Buddha was worth the long journey.

"There's one more thing. Have you seen a flying star? It looks like..."

After Zhou Yi inquired, he got a lot of information from the Buddha.

"Then see you later."

"Okay."

He rode the Spine Hunter all the way back.

The Emerald City started again.

The Buddha slowly raised its long arms and made a respectful gesture with its hands together.

Zhou Yi operated the Emerald City to clasp its fists in return.

The two giants brushed past each other and continued their respective journeys.