Wasteland Development Diary.

Chapter 44: The Traces of the Ridgehunter
Cui Mao and Zhou Yi chatted until almost dawn, then they rode away on their motorcycles with their guards.

In front of the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Zhou Yi faced the Dead Sea.

The rising sun illuminated the edge of the continuous fog area, and the occasional flickering dead lights began to become active.

This gaseous area composed of light and fog reminded him of the vast clouds seen from the airplane.

It's time for the Guangna species to appear again.

Zhou Yi unscrewed open a can of latte, drank it, and sorted out the information Cui Mao gave him in his mind.

The open and covert struggles between the Kingdom of Heaven and Xingshu have penetrated into many industries in various cities.

This initially reminded Zhou Yi of the US-Soviet rivalry during the Cold War.

But according to Cui Mao's description, it is completely different.

"The Black Emperor is trying to reconnect the entire world from the cut of the Dead Sea and establish a new order with the Kingdom of Heaven as the core. Under this order, all cities and lords who join, whether human or light species, abide by basic legal constraints and fulfill corresponding obligations."

"The new order will stabilize the situation in various places, free all forces from the pressure and anxiety of disorder, and reduce simple and crude wars by strengthening trade and culture. This will reconnect the scattered settlements and enable them to find a stable place to survive under this framework."

"The goal of the Kingdom of Heaven is to lead the world to a united order."

Xingshu, however, has a completely different internal logic.

Cui Mao said: "Unlike the Kingdom of Heaven, the territory of Xingshu is not in our world, but in the stars outside the world."

"What Xingshu advocates is absolute elitism."

"The eyes of the outside world watch everyone who joins the Star Hub, record and evaluate their words, deeds, behaviors, wisdom and talents, and find those with special talents, giving them goals and tasks. If a person can achieve them within a specified period of time, he or she may be selected by the Star Hub and become a Star Hub elect."

"The elect are protected by the Star Hub at all times. If they are threatened with death or in danger, they will be shrouded by the Eye of the World Outside, making it difficult for them to be hurt. The elect can also enter the Star Hub territory outside the world. It is said that the Star Hub is made up of stars, and every elect can have his or her own star..."

The Kingdom of Heaven wants to become the dominant civilization in the wasteland era, and Xingshu is the one that picks the best from everyone and makes the most of them.

The contradiction between the two is fundamental and difficult to reconcile.

Both sides are further consolidating their own territories and trying to attack and weaken the other side.

Qian Su and Ji Chang are a microcosm of the confrontation between the two major forces.

"To be honest, we really want to obtain evidence of Ji Chang's crime."

"Once we have direct witnesses and physical evidence, we can issue a formal warrant for his arrest, seal off his properties in the Tianjin Knights' jurisdiction, and arrest the relevant personnel."

Cui Mao said seriously: "If, I mean if, if Mr. Zhou catches his people, please hand them over to us. This will be a bigger blow to Ji Chang."

He gave a prop that looked like a firework and said that he would be able to see it after it was released and would come immediately.

Zhou Yi said it depends on luck.

My own combat style has always been to destroy the enemy's manpower as much as possible, and it is not easy to leave any survivors.

These are habits developed by the Dead Sea environment.

……

This was the most intense battle we have ever experienced.

He also received Qian Su and Cui Mao.

Zhou Yi, however, was not sleepy at all.

After drinking coffee, he ordered his bike to head to the Dead Sea again, quickly reaching the nearest nameless old neighborhood.

The last time I came here, I mainly collected some furniture such as sofas, bed frames, mattresses, tables and chairs, and moved them to the box-style room on the top floor of Emerald City to improve everyone's office environment.

This time the target is food.

Zhou Yi walked into the nearest building, No. 101. The security door here was chiseled open by the warrior crabs, and it could be opened with a slight pull. The reason why it was closed before leaving was to prevent the bone fish from getting in and destroying the items inside.

The room is about 120 to 130 square meters and is equipped with all the necessary home appliances including TV, refrigerator, washing machine, air conditioner, etc.

There is also a family photo of three people in the photo frame on the TV cabinet.

Zhou Yi clasped his hands together in front of the photo and said silently, "Excuse me, could you please lend me your things?"

Then he opened the refrigerator and found two bottles of Fanta soda and a bottle of rice wine, both unopened.

I also found a pack of dried noodles and a bag of rice.

In the past, Zhou Yi had no way to deal with dry grains. The water in the Dead Sea was polluted by dead light and even glowed, which made it look unedible. Making a fire to cook would easily attract the attention of the light species, so he mainly ate canned and packaged foods.

Now I can get some back to try.

Zhou Yi stuffed the food into a prepared bag and tied it to the back of a warrior crab.

The Red Falcon suddenly warned: "There is a living creature approaching." Zhou Yi immediately ordered the warrior crabs to form a battle formation and ambush indoors.

He looked at the remote in his hand.

On the screen, there is a red dot approaching the green dot it represents.

The camera zoomed in and it turned out to be a long-necked crocodile.

New red dots appeared again.

There were four long-necked crocodiles gathered outside the community, all coming from the north.

Zhou Yi felt it was strange.

This type of C-level monster is a solitary creature, so why did it start forming gangs?

Zhou Yi observed for a while and found that the four long-necked crocodiles were just taking a break. Two of them were injured, and the wounds on their bodies could be clearly seen.

Injured, from the North...

Zhou Yi immediately thought of the long-necked crocodile he had killed before, which also met these two characteristics.

"Red Falcon, expand the surveillance range."

The drone's camera zoomed up.

More red dots suddenly appeared at the far end of the remote control screen, five of them scattered here and there, all of them were long-necked crocodiles, all coming from the north.

Zhou Yi asked: "Do long-necked crocodiles have the habit of migrating and giving birth?"

"This species does not have migratory or herd-like characteristics."

Hong Shun replied: "After comparing the wound marks, the shape and texture of the scars on this batch of long-necked crocodiles are highly similar to the wounds caused by the B-level creature "Spine Hunter"."

"The long-necked crocodile itself is one of the prey of the spine hunters. From this, it can be inferred that the spine hunters must have hunted the long-necked crocodiles in the north, causing them to flee here."

Zhou Yi frowned.

If this monster chases us, it will be another trouble.

This was the first time Zhou Yi heard this name.

Although he is a veteran of the seabed, the monsters that appear on the seabed are basically low-level monsters such as warrior crabs and bone fish. Long-necked crocodiles are rarely seen. The Dead Sea area further up is where high-level monsters appear.

"Give me information on the Ridgehunter."

After a while.

An electronic image popped up on the screen.

The spinehunter looks like a large white flower, with flexible, petal-like feet that slowly contract and relax, propelling the body to swim.

Next to it is the text rating.

……

【Spine Hunter】

Strength: B
Skill: B
Vitality: C
Grade: B
Habits: Living alone, with high intelligence, outstanding explosive power and speed, and strong ability to adapt to survival.

……

Zhou Yi was alert.

This flower-shaped monster is also a violent hunter.

Kestrel added: "The spine hunter is very aggressive. They are a rare species that will hunt even if it is not for food."

"Their skill is [Light Prism Exoskeleton], which focuses and refracts the death light through the exoskeleton of their body, and has both offensive and defensive capabilities. It is also for this reason that the habit of the spine hunters is to hunt during the day and rest at night."

"The long-necked crocodile is on their prey list. But judging from the situation here, this spine hunter is either not mature or is relatively weak or injured, and has failed many times in hunting long-necked crocodiles."

Zhou Yi suddenly realized: "Why is this data description so similar to the format of the Dead Sea Atlas?"

Therefore, the [Value] column is missing.

The Red Falcon replied: "Because the Dead Sea Atlas was originally based on the data produced by electromechanical life, and the modifications were made on this basis."

Zhou Yixin said that was a good idea and it would be more convenient to use the electronic version.

After a careful scan by the Red Falcon, no trace of the spine hunters was found within the search range. The long-necked crocodiles took a short rest and then left.

After confirming that it was safe, Zhou Yi began to instruct the warrior crabs to carry large and small bags and move to the Emerald City.

(End of this chapter)