The winter contingency meeting was still in progress, and Zhou Yi allowed everyone to discuss freely while he focused his attention on the remote control's screen.

From a bird's-eye view, the lens of the Red Kestrel zoomed in on Jade City.

According to Zhou Yi's requirements, Jade City did not waste resources on rebuilding the 32nd and 33rd floors but only repaired the damaged part of the 31st floor, making it the official top floor. The container rooms on the other side of the top floor were added with an external wall, completely integrating into the building.

At this moment, a faint green light enveloped the building's exterior.

Jade City was announcing message after message.

"Residential management functions have all been restored."

"Owner and resident registration is being synchronized in real-time."

"The access control system has been activated, and unregistered individuals will be prohibited from entering and expelled."

"Each residential unit now has water and heating, with full coverage of the drainage and water supply pipelines, and the separation of rainwater and sewage has been completed."

"The waterproof layer and fire isolation belts have been repaired."

...

With the formal management of Jade City, the container rooms were also considered official residential housing, and maintenance fees were charged referencing unit 3101. Every employee of the company needed to complete registration.

Zhou Yi immediately took his employees to register one by one.

At this time, the sandstone exterior walls of the lower floors had also undergone a transformation, becoming a combination of earthen and metal fences, with one entrance and one exit on each side of the wall. One was a fan-shaped metal gate made from old building materials, and the other was a completely unsealed fire escape at the back.

The updated perimeter wall had an improved appearance, but its actual effectiveness still needed to be tested.

Zhou Yi grabbed a Bone Fish and threw it at the wall where, mid-flight, it was repelled by a ring of white ripples and landed on the ground, still twitching.

Jade City emitted a sound only Zhou Yi could hear, "Private residential area, access for non-owners and non-residents is prohibited, warning issued once."

He picked up the Bone Fish and threw it repeatedly. On the third attempt, the intensity of the ripples suddenly increased, pulverizing the Bone Fish.

Zhou Yi was very pleased with this.

"Very good. To ensure everyone's residential safety, it's necessary to increase the strength," assessed Red Kestrel.

The destructive power of the access control system had reached the level of a C-grade weapon.

With the new security system in place, Zhou Yi removed the samurai crabs and let them roam freely in the nearby sea area.

He explained the situation of the access control to his employees.

Registered residents (i.e., company employees) could bring in visitors for temporary registration, and Jade City would allow the outsiders to enter this one time, although it would also be recorded.

The employees were very excited about this.

Although the Samurai Crab Army was great, the absolute defense of their place of residence gave a greater sense of security.

Especially for the former pirate leader, Yuan Tong. Every day, he prowled around the exterior wall, observing with his remaining right eye, tapping and testing stealthily with a small hammer, trying to understand the principles behind it.

He even suggested, "Chairman, if you could clone the access control's power as a Light Imprint, you'd have a strategic weapon! Whether installed on high-rise buildings, near the seaside, or on ships, it would possess immense deterrent power!"

"Is there a way to unfold the Light Imprint within? Although I can't make Light Imprints, during my years at the shipyard, cloning Light Imprints was the craft of us artisans. As long as we have an original template, we could attempt to mimic it."

Yuan Tong was eager to try.

Unfortunately, there was no template.

To analyze and clone the structure of the Guangna Species required high-end Light Imprint Skill and a complete set of corresponding equipment. Wasteland Development Company simply did not have the capability to undertake R&D based on the Guangna Species.

And the ability of an architectural life-form had never been heard to be cloned before.

...

However, compared to Jade City's new skills, all of the aforementioned changes seemed trivial.

Jade City described its capability in simple terms.

"After numerous trials, I have confirmed this ability. I can now consume energy and corresponding materials to expand my chassis."

Zhou Yi was a bit confused when he first heard this.

He was uncertain, "Expansion? You mean continue adding more layers upward?"

"No, Commissioner. The height limit is fixed, the top is the 33rd floor, which is also the limit that my structural integrity can bear. Expansion does not mean vertical but horizontal."

Jade City explained, "Originally, Jade City had 12 units, including 8 high-rises up to the 33rd floor, 4 mid-rise buildings up to the 11th floor, and one two-level underground parking garage. These are the final volumes that I can expand to."

"After the expansion, each unit will be a part of my chassis; they are the 12 extensions of my body to the outside world."

"A Jade City with 12 unit buildings will be the true complete form."

Zhou Yi paused for a moment, then rejoiced.

If the complete form of the twelve-unit Jade City were unfolded, it would be an offensive and defensive integrated seaside fortress. Even if faced with an all-out assault from the Seventh Fleet, it would be possible to stand ground against them.

He immediately asked, "How much raw material and energy consumption does expansion require?"

"The raw materials are the same as those used for repairs; as long as there is a sufficient quantity, we can process some natural materials on-site to carry out the expansion."

Jade City said, "The energy consumption for expansion is very high, using my body's energy as a reference. Constructing a mid-rise building consumes about 3 times the full energy capacity, while constructing a high-rise building consumes about 10 times the full energy capacity."

Zhou Yi did the math.

With the three Light Blockers charging at the same time, and on the premise of maintaining Jade City's main body without consuming energy, they could achieve a 3% charge each day. Building an 11-story mid-rise would take 100 days, while constructing a 33-story high-rise with an elevator would take close to 1 year.

The premise is that all three chargers operate at full power every day and do not suffer any damage.

Zhou Yi contemplated for a moment and then made a decision, "Let's expand with a mid-rise first."

"Yes, Commissioner."

Having been given authorization, Jade City began construction on an adjacent empty lot.

The ground collapsed like high-temperature melted fat.

Steel rods were pulled from the material area, intertwining with each other in an orderly fashion, slowly rising like some kind of special plant, forming a geometrically beautiful framework.

The surrounding sand seemed to be pressed and smoothed by an invisible hand, slowly undulating and adjusting, creating a series of square trenches. The entire area was enveloped in a faint white light rising from the ground.

Like the information age, the construction still produced various noises and kicked up a lot of dust.

In the past, Zhou Yi would walk around construction sites to avoid inhaling a nose full of dust.

But in this Wasteland Era, the noisy construction site conveyed a sense of vigorous vitality, bringing slow but visible changes.

Standing on the rooftop, Zhou Yi looked down at the construction site and a thought occurred to him.

I should bring over more building sentients.

Put them together, and maybe I could patch together a small city.

Now we need more Light Blockers to speed up building.

Let the posterity of the Wasteland Era witness the power of real estate!

Zhou Yi immediately flipped open his notebook and wrote down his latest plan.

— Gather and recruit more building sentients.

He started to miss the weapon merchant Qian Su.

It's been a month, why hasn't she come yet? She couldn't have run into a Pillage Group and been robbed, could she?

Logically, she had a C-grade strength partner, 'Mission', along with a container of weapons, and as a Heavenly Country Citizen and an Honorary Knight, there probably wasn't anyone foolish enough to trouble her.

Zhou Yi sincerely hoped that the young merchant would arrive safely with her goods.

As soon as he caught her, he would definitely buy in bulk, taking all her stock! And then send her out to resupply!

...

Sand Port.

Inside a luxury restaurant.

The young girl covered her mouth and giggled, "You're quite the joker. My body has been altered so much that I can no longer have children. My soft-looking body is actually filled with hard and crunchy metal inside; it's quite scary once the clothes come off..."

The chubby customer across, puffing on his smoke, shook his head and lifted his glass, "Miss Qian Su, you don't know. Nowadays, many people like high-strength bodies that can be switched to any type they want. The original fragile and delicate flesh is simply too easy to damage. A body made of prosthetics is the one that can endure all sorts of pleasures and allow complete freedom, heh heh..."

Qian Su showed a curious expression, "So, Boss Sha, you have many customers and orders in this regard? Any chance you could introduce me?"

"That's easy, Miss Qian Su, you're so adorable, everyone would certainly want to meet you."

A sly glint flashed in Boss Sha's eyes, "But to meet those clients, you'd have to go to gatherings with special rules. Could you, a noble Heavenly Country Citizen, accept that?"

Qian Su cursed in her mind.

She smiled and poured the man another drink, "That sounds like a highly confidential private place. I'm too clumsy for that, my mind doesn't always work so well, I just know how to laboriously deliver goods, that's the life of a small business owner for me."

"I'm sorry."

Qian Su bowed her head, turning to the side, covering her mouth as she sneezed.

Twice in a row.

The indoor air certainly wasn't great – a mix of smoke, alcohol fumes, bad breath, sweat, various fragrances, and the smells of food. But she was already used to these kinds of environments.

Was someone talking about her?

Probably not.

Her family had died long ago, after all.

Qian Su pulled her thoughts back together, returning to her sunny and warm smile.

"Here's to you, Boss Sha, another round of Bamboo Wine from Liang Mountain – only a connoisseur like you truly appreciates it."

"Ha ha ha, indeed it's fine wine. I'll buy a few bottles later."