Wasteland Development Diary

Two black thorns chased each other, flashing wildly in the Dead Sea.

Nigel watched with wide eyes, "A black thorn with self-awareness is so strong."

Zhou Yi didn't see anything, so he asked why.

The Mud Tree Man raised his hand and pointed forward, "Look, although they are flashing, they have been near us and haven't moved away. This shows that the awakened black thorn deliberately blocked the way, preventing the black thorns here from escaping."

"After awakening, the black thorn's strength has increased. Mud Tree Men can't achieve this level of perfect control."

They only chatted for a couple of sentences.

The outcome over there was already decided.

Or, to be precise, both sides had exhausted their energy and deactivated their light core bodies.

The black thorn on our side pinned the target black thorn to the ground with long thorns, subduing it.

Zhou Yi walked over and found that the second black thorn was still struggling, but its movements were weak, clearly having run out of energy.

Nigel wrapped vines around the black thorn and placed it on the recovery platform.

Entering the earth platform, the black thorn seemed to have some kind of switch pressed inside its body, becoming still and motionless.

Nigel finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He opened the black thorn's outer shell, first letting the vines wrapped around his body drill in to scout the way.

A minute later.

Nigel turned his head and said, "There are no dangers inside, let's go in and take a look."

Zhou Yi followed him into the fruit shell.

Inside, it was still the same glowing, petal-shaped fleshy inner wall.

But in the center of the flesh, two white, wing-like flowers grew, a total of two. Around it grew strands of purple whiskers, and below it was a long branch with small and slender leaves.

The upper half of this flower was no different from other flowers seen daily, slightly larger than a normal human hand.

Below was a thick, soft tuber, with dense and long roots that were firmly rooted in the flesh of the fruit shell's inner wall.

Zhou Yi activated his 【Alert】 perspective, but couldn't see anything.

The Mud Tree Man next to him seemed to understand something.

"So it's a 【Life-Extending Flower】."

He introduced it to Zhou Yi, "This is a very special symbiotic plant."

"A symbiotic plant is a plant partner that Mud Tree Men need to choose and implant into their bodies to live together."

"Some symbiotic plants can fight and explore. The 【Adventure Vine】 on my body is one of these."

As he spoke, Nigel tugged at the vines on his body.

"Some are good at protecting or healing. The 【Life-Extending Flower】 belongs to this category."

The Mud Tree Man pointed to the white flower and said, "When it's young, it needs the blood of the Mud Tree Man to provide nutrients."

"The flower is like its brain, which can control its own growth and capture and absorb various energies from the surroundings. When it doesn't need to absorb the partner's blood, it enters maturity."

"Then it becomes useful."

"When the partner's life weakens, their body becomes sick, or even necrotic, the Life-Extending Flower takes over some of their physiological functions. It can help the partner absorb energy, obtain water from the air, assist with breathing, and even create blood."

"With it, the partner's lifespan can be greatly extended. This is also a symbiotic plant that only the Tree Department's Mud Tree Men can configure, because they need to accumulate experience and technology for a long time. Their bodies are not as good as ours in the Mud Department, so they need health and longevity even more to cultivate better plants."

Nigel finally concluded, "So it's called the Life-Extending Flower."

Zhou Yi listened in amazement.

He never expected that the legendary life-extending plants of the past would become a reality in the Mud Tree civilization.

He thought about it.

If this kind of life-extending artifact were brought back to Maria Hospital, the hospital would have an absolute competitive advantage. To save their lives, people would be willing to spend a lot of money to extend their lives a little longer.

Zhou Yi asked, "Can it be transplanted?"

"Yes. After it enters maturity, its vitality is very strong. As long as you don't damage the flower, it's very docile. After all, it has to serve the natural scientists of the Tree Department."

"If you want it, you can take it."

Nigel looked at Zhou Yi, "But it's useless now."

Zhou Yi didn't understand, "Why do you say that?"

"Every Life-Extending Flower is a custom plant. It has to go through a long period of symbiosis with the partner, gradually adapting to their body, and then slowly modifying the corresponding organs."

"Inside its thick root, the partner's mirrored organs will grow. This is the key to the Life-Extending Flower extending life."

The Mud Tree Man pointed to the white flower and said, "Although the shape is different, the function is the same. I don't know the specifics, because this is what the Tree Department is good at."

"I only know that if you want the Life-Extending Flower to take effect, you must bind it with the partner from childhood and fuse them together for a long time so that it can eventually develop into a structure that matches the partner. If you change it to another individual, it will be completely useless."

Zhou Yi thought it was a pity.

So it's one person, one flower. This thing can't be used just by taking it.

He can only take it back to Da Vinci for medical research.

He then focused on another question, "Since the Life-Extending Flower is a symbiotic plant, that means there is another Mud Tree Man from the Tree Department here, right? Why didn't I see him? Where is he?"

"He's here."

Nigel said, "He was just eaten by the Life-Extending Flower."

"Ah?"

Zhou Yi was shocked, "Isn't this thing for extending life? How could it eat its partner?"

"There's a limit to extending life."

Nigel looked at the magical white flower, "The Life-Extending Flower can forcibly extend the life cycle. The only thing it can't replace is the head. The Life-Extending Flower can't create an identical head to replace the partner. If the head breaks down and dies, it can't do anything."

"Also, if it suddenly suffers a strong external force, causing the partner to die suddenly, it can't do anything. In the end, it's just a plant tool that can help normal Mud Tree Men survive for a while longer, extending the Tree Department's Mud Tree Men's lifespan by about 1/3 compared to normal."

"But it can't bring the dead back to life, nor is it a tool for eternal life."

"If the partner dies, it can't activate no matter what, and will eventually choose to absorb and eat it to maintain its own survival."

The Mud Tree Man pointed to the plant, "Look, there should have only been one flower on it, because the Life-Extending Flower only has one brain through natural growth. But now there are two, because it ate the partner, so it underwent secondary development."

Zhou Yi felt relieved.

As long as it's not the type that actively devours its master, it's fine.

The Life-Extending Flower and the partner have a symbiotic relationship. If one party dies unexpectedly or irreparably, then this relationship is completely over.

Nigel checked the four walls inside the fruit shell, "I didn't find any other mud slabs or seeds here. In theory, the Tree Department would definitely carry a large number of seeds... If there aren't any, there's only one possibility: they were eaten by the Life-Extending Flower to replenish nutrients."

He squatted down and poked at the root area of the flower, "It's deeply rooted. This flower is plundering the black thorn's flesh energy. No wonder this black thorn is so strange."

The Mud Tree Man skillfully dug out the roots one by one and pulled them out, eventually pulling out the entire Life-Extending Flower, leaving behind deep and dense small holes.

He skillfully wrapped the roots into a pile, then came out, found a lump of mud in the pit, and smeared it on.

"That way, there won't be any problems. You can take it back. If you plant it in the soil and it can get sunlight, it can maintain its growth. But it's useless now. In our place, this kind of thing is mainly used as a commemorative grave at this stage."

Zhou Yi signaled, and Yuan Xiao took the flower.

Nigel said, "I'll take a test flight to see if there are any other problems."

The new black thorn slowly flew up and circled around a couple of times.

The Mud Tree Man came down from it and said with a relaxed expression, "There is some internal damage, but the main body is fine. As long as it undergoes a period of repair, it will naturally heal. Black thorns are still very tough."

"For Mud Department explorers, we can't do anything without black thorns, just like birds without wings, or plants without mud and light."

"You help me, I'll help you."

"I'll join that company you mentioned."

Zhou Yi extended his left hand and shook the other party's exaggeratedly large hand.

"Welcome."

…

After returning to Sandport, the first thing the Mud Tree Man did was plant a tree.

"The Sky-Piercing Tree needs to be planted in a specific way, especially in the early stages."

He came all the way to the Dead Sea outside of Wyvern Bay and found the seed guarded by the Samurai Crab.

"This location isn't a problem. The Sky-Piercing Tree needs to grow in the Dead Sea, as long as it can soak in the energy."

"But it needs special mud."

"I found suitable mud in the place where I did the survey before. Ordinary soil won't do. Soil and mud are different. Soil is dry and can be used to plant some plants, but without mud, the soil can't play its role."

Nigel described the mud he was talking about.

"Mud is sticky and viscous, somewhat like resin. Unprocessed mud can drive away birds and insects. After processing, it becomes a good nutrient, with a large amount of high-quality energy deposited inside."

Zhou Yi and he discussed and verified carefully before realizing.

The mud mentioned by the Mud Tree civilization refers to Light Amber.

It appeared within the territory of Duke Mieding because there was a Light Amber mine there, and he went there for Light Amber.

Fortunately, this is not a problem.

There is another Light Amber mine next to Shell City.

Zhou Yi immediately contacted Duke Beidu and said he would purchase goods from him.

Duke Beidu said readily, "Mr. Zhou, you also have half of the mining rights. Just take it at cost price."

So box after box of Light Amber was sent to Wyvern Bay.

The Mud Tree Man first built an earth platform with mud, then dug a very deep hole inside, and then injected the Light Amber as mud.

First, let the mud fully wrap the seeds.

Next, Nigel would eat the soil every day—chewing the mud and soil used to plant the tree to identify whether the nutrients were sufficient and whether they were being steadily absorbed by the tree species.

On the seventh day, the tree species broke ground and grew rapidly at an incredible speed.

Nigel showed a painful expression, "Failed... My luck is still not good enough."

"Didn't it grow out?" Zhou Yi asked, puzzled.

"No."

The Mud Tree Man shook his head, "This is not a Sky-Piercing Tree, but a Coiling Tree. The Coiling Tree is the ancestral form of the Sky-Piercing Tree and can't compare to it."

"The Sky-Piercing Tree can support the sky world on the Dead Sea, allowing thousands of people to live on the tree. The Coiling Tree is much worse. It will grow in a coiling manner, but its strength is not enough, and it doesn't grow high enough... The only use is that it can bear Ash-Absorbing Fruit."

"Ash-Absorbing Fruit? Can it be eaten?"

"Yes, Mud Tree Men have eaten it since they were young. It's a common small fruit that everyone eats. The taste is okay, the yield is very high, and it can replenish physical strength and fill the stomach."

Nigel was a little disappointed, "This location may not be very good. I have to try another place."

Zhou Yi's eyes lit up.

This is a tree that can grow in the Dead Sea, can produce fruits from another world, and the yield is good. It can further expand the company's crop categories.

Good stuff!