Wasteland Development Diary.

Chapter 60 Underground Kingdom
An electronic illustrated guide pops up on the remote control screen.

The gerbil is a small brown-yellow rodent with flat claws on the tips of its fingers, a short neck and a long, narrow snout.

The introduction is just a few words.

……

Gerbil

Habits: Living in groups, good at digging holes and collecting.

……

Kestrel said: "According to the species definition, the photon species must have photon organs that can collect dead light and convert it into energy. The gerbil does not have this feature, it is just a common small animal."

Zhou Yi ordered: "Retrieve records related to gerbils from the database of Recursive City."

"It has been retrieved."

Lines of text appear on the screen.

"Basic knowledge on raising gerbils", "Common methods to prevent gerbils from transmitting diseases", "Ethical guidelines for using gerbils in live experiments", "Treatment process for gerbil hoarding disorder"...

The gerbils recorded were either used as experimental subjects, or were fed to other creatures alive, or were simply an inconspicuous footnote in regional ecological surveys.

There doesn't seem to be anything unusual about this species.

Zhou Yi patiently read the relevant information and found an inconsistency.

Gerbils live in groups and burrow underground, but their nests are limited to animal-level nests, usually built near water or humans, away from dangerous predators.

Building underground nests in the sand dunes where spiny ant lions live is unnatural behavior.

Using chicken feathers and bones to ensure the safety of the nest, relying on spiny ant lions to deter potential natural enemies, and building a complex underground nest with clear functions and clear planning must have been done with clear guidance and wisdom.

It seems that among this group of gerbils, perhaps a leader with extraordinary intelligence was born through mutation.

Just as Zhou Yi was thinking about this, A Jin, who was doing excavation work, made another discovery.

"Chairman, there is another layer underneath. It's actually a double-layered nest!"

Zhou Yi turned his gaze away.

From the drone camera, you can clearly see that the deeper layer forms a crisscross structure with the upper layer.

In the deep storage room, Ajin found some seeds.

He picked up one of the round seeds, identified it and said, "These are acorns from sand oaks. Some of them have sprouted. It's strange that they don't eat these seeds. Are they just storing them for the winter?"

"This is the seed of the thorn grass. There are a lot of these in the oasis." Ah Jin grabbed a handful of what looked like peeled cucumber seeds and said, "But this kind of grass seed is dry and hard, and there is nothing to eat. Why do they collect it?"

Zhou Yi had a vague guess.

He asked the Red Falcon to raise the viewing angle, and immediately saw that the gerbil underground city in the sand dunes appeared as a strip, with one end extending deep into the sand dunes and the other end connecting to the oasis area.

Zhou Yi immediately ordered: "Keep digging, dig along these underground passages and find the end points at both ends."

Thus, the vigorous late-night excavation project began.

The Ridgehunter hung high in the air, glowing all over, acting as an artificial sun for lighting. The excavation below was carried out by the Hammerhead Soldiers, while Ajin conducted on-site surveys and identified the various items inside.

As the excavation work continued to go deeper, the shocking appearance of the gerbils' underground kingdom emerged from the sand.

Their underground tunnels extend west to the Death Dunes, east to the oasis belt and reach the underground cave under the town of Changu, and then east all the way to the beach area near the Dead Sea. The closest point is less than 1000 meters away from the Emerald City.

Go north to the area ruled by the clawed pig group, and go south to the mushroom forest.

There is a huge underground kingdom in the area of Shangu Town that spans the east, south, west and north. The gerbils can enter these areas safely at any time through underground tunnels to observe different areas and collect supplies.

They store large amounts of hay, branches, feces and seeds, and build magnificent underground cities with interconnected routes, which are truly a wonder of nature.

This seemingly insignificant and weak creature has far more control over the nearby land than any other group.

Even Red Falcon said: "The situation here is very abnormal, very abnormal!"

"The grass seeds and tree species they store are highly consistent with the ecology of the oasis area. The underground passage has the largest number and highest density of saplings and thorny grass, all growing in all directions with the passage coverage area as the core... This group of gerbils is continuously planting trees and creating grasslands, or in other words, they are maintaining or even creating the oasis belt."

"It is almost impossible to build such a complex and interconnected underground passage system and keep it expanding with the labor of gerbils. Assuming that there are 2 gerbils digging and building without sleep, it would take at least 40 years of high-intensity work to achieve this."

"Gerbils only live for less than two years, so that's 2 generations, which would require the lifetime labor of nearly 20 million gerbils."

"Based on the scale of the underground nest, the building regulations, and the significance of the group's behavior, this is already a city-state. It can even be called a special underground country." "This is something that has never been seen in the database."

400 million gerbils.

They also plant trees and grass to transform the environment.

Zhou Yi felt a little tingling on his scalp.

I was too conservative in my judgment of gerbils.

According to the Kestrel's judgment, this group of gerbils must have a clear division of labor, a relatively clear social order, dedicated food suppliers, and full-time diggers and porters, in order to mobilize a large number of labor forces for long-term continuous operations.

They are now gone without a trace.

"Flat-clawed footprints of gerbils were found in the dungeon."

Hong Jian continued, "All the footprints are in the same direction. They evacuated in an orderly manner to the west of the sand dunes. Not far away is Jitou Town. I suspect that because winter is coming, they migrated to the Jitou Town area to avoid attacks by the light species here. That area belongs to the jurisdiction of Shagang, has protection forces, and is relatively safe."

"An evacuation of this scale would take a considerable amount of time, so it must have been planned in advance. The reserves in the nest have not been moved, and there are no signs of damage or modification."

All kinds of thoughts flashed through Zhou Yi's mind.

Gerbils are weak and common, and not easy to attract attention. In addition, they have been deeply rooted in the Canggu Town area for at least decades. They are the real local tyrants, and their ears and eyes are everywhere.

They have been keeping a low profile underground for a long time and have no conflicts of interest with the company. We can try to communicate with them and see if we can recruit them.

Zhou Yi asked the Red Falcon to mark the map of the underground city, and ordered Ajin and the warrior crabs to cover the dug underground nests with sand and restore them as much as possible. He also left a large number of dried mushrooms as compensation for the damaged local fortifications.

This underground kingdom is a wonder created by gerbils, and it would be a pity to destroy it.

Ah Jin was a little indignant: "Chairman, you don't know, it's these gerbils that often steal our things! Everyone in Changgu Town has been stolen by them. It turns out that they dig holes everywhere. No wonder we can never find their nests!"

"When we find these gerbils, they will hide in some small holes and deliberately let us catch them to cover other gerbils. They are very cunning."

Zhou Yi told him: "Ajin, remember, you are an employee of the Wasteland Development Company. The company wants to develop this land to maximize the use of existing resources to generate more income and value, rather than simply and crudely expelling the indigenous people here and plundering and exploiting them."

Ajin lowered his head and said nothing.

It is normal for the new humans to have a hard life and hate the gerbils for stealing their property.

Zhou Yi changed his perspective and said, "Ah Jin, suppose we expel the gerbils and clawed pigs that are a threat to humans, what will happen here?"

"Without gerbils, no one will plant trees and grass, and the oasis will get smaller and smaller. Because the people of Shangu Town are only used to picking up branches and wood and collecting hay, until the fuel becomes less and less, and eventually the winter becomes colder and more difficult to survive, and people may die every winter."

"Without the clawed pigs, there will be no feces. We can't grow the monster mushrooms, and we will lose an important cash crop. And the people living here will lose the main source of feces, and the mushroom production will be greatly reduced, and hunger will become more and more serious."

"Eventually, Shangu Town will decline faster than it is now. Because the people of Shangu Town can survive here because they are closely related to the various creatures around them. They cannot live alone on this not-so-fertile land."

He was not only trying to convince Ajin, but also to make the company's new employees understand the importance of sustainable development to long-term stability.

The voice transmitted by the Red Falcon made Ajin look a little confused.

The boy was in a trance for a while, and then his eyes regained their spirit.

"Chairman, I understand."

"For us scavengers, if no one else leaves anything behind, there will be nothing to pick up! We must allow other people and monsters to exist so that our company can get more things!"

Zhou Yi said: "That's the truth."

Digging it up is easy, but repairing it takes more time.

The dungeon restoration work continued into the day.

The new generation’s habit is to stay indoors during the day and be active at night. Even after coming to the company, they still maintain the ancient traditions.

But today Ajin was still working during the day, and he was busy with the warrior crabs.

It's noon.

Zhou Yi went to the kitchen to cook a portion of white rice, and then opened a bag of braised chicken legs, a bag of beef jerky, and a bag of spicy kelp shreds, and prepared to start eating.

At this moment, a whistle sounded outside.

He went to the window and looked out.

A silver and black heavy truck was parked outside the gate wall of Emerald City. Qiansu, wearing a felt hat, was waving and greeting.

(End of this chapter)