Haruk craved the thorny grass.

Zhou Yi pondered inside, he couldn't quote too outrageously or he might scare off the potential buyer. It wasn't necessarily easy to find another Breaker who was easy to talk to and willing to bow down; it required a steady, long-term approach.

So he said, "No fight, no acquaintance, I'll sell this one to you for a cheaper price, 100,000 will do."

"Okay, okay."

Haruk agreed readily but also explained, "The quality of this Boundary Gate is very poor, and there are few creatures around. Even if I devote all my energy to drawing Circular Flow and synthesizing it into Life Chart within my body, by the next tide, I can only produce 80,000. I need the second tide to come before I can provide you with enough Life Chart."

"Tide?"

Zhou Yi inquired what he meant.

Haruk explained that it was their way of measuring time.

Periodic tides occurred at the Otherworld's Dead Sea, which they also used as a reference for timing. During a tide, the entire Dead Sea would be turbulent. However, the tide itself had periods of rising and falling; during the rising period, the Boundary Gate would open, and during the falling period, it would close.

It was this rising period during which Haruk had crossed through and found a type of black creature floating at the top of the Dead Sea.

After killing it, he obtained some Life Chart but not the Life Core.

Haruk had then obliterated another similar creature, but again, he obtained nothing.

The two destroyed were the Chuneng City's cargo ship "Mingji" and the survey ship "Ding Mao."

One tide on that side was equivalent to a winter here, representing the single-time limit for a Breaker's journey in the Otherworld.

Winter, calculated as six months, could yield 80,000 Light Seeds; the productivity of Haruk alone was equivalent to that of two Mushroom Forests.

Zhou Yi was very satisfied.

The method for Haruk to acquire the Life Core was simple; he scanned the thorny grass up close through Zhou Yi's body, which took about half an hour to complete the thorough reading.

"I will periodically send Red Kestrel to collect Light Seeds; as for Life Cores, I actually have a stockpile. We have a long collaboration ahead, and we'll maintain transparent pricing, like this type, 100000 each."

"There's more? Okay, agreed!"

"Another question, can you still come over if you are dead?"

"I can. With this Life Core, I can exchange a vast amount of resources to open the Boundary again! I will be staying here for a long period!"

The hopeful Haruk visibly perked up.

It unfolded its body, resembling ink diffusing into water, stretching the shrunk form in all directions to form a massive trumpet shape, with its body's surface beginning to show specks of light. It was already drawing energy from the Dead Sea.

Zhou Yi didn't care about what Haruk would do with the Life Core or what resources it could exchange.

As long as this Breaker could generate the profits he needed and ensure the stability of the nearby seas, that was enough.

…

Having settled this matter, Zhou Yi returned to his own camp.

He first informed the Lin Chi: "The Breaker has already made amends through actions and negotiated with me, compensating with some Light Seeds. As for what Chuneng City chooses to do next, please feel free to proceed."

The Breakers are immortal, and what comes here is just a projection.

Letting it die once served as a form of justice.

The damaged Detecting Machine's lights flickered.

"I have reported the relevant information to the Detective Team."

"The programmer has ordered me to return immediately. Regarding the maritime accident caused by the Breaker, the compensation procedure has now been initiated, confirming it was caused by the Breaker, according to relevant regulations as a force majeure..."

In short, there was no follow-up.

Just like deaths in hurricanes, earthquakes, or Light Bursts, these force majeure factors couldn't be blamed.

Rationally, Zhou Yi could understand that even if armed forces were mobilized to kill the Breaker once, it would simply be a waste of a large amount of manpower and resources.

But emotionally, he did not agree. If it were him, he had to fight. If it couldn't be completely killed, then he should kill it as many times as possible, to vent the victims' grievances.

Perhaps this was the difference between Electromechanical Life and humans.

The Lin Chi added, "Furthermore, the programming department sincerely appreciates your company, Wasteland Development Company; sharing significant intelligence has reduced many unnecessary losses and calculations for Chuneng City. Confirming the cause of the major accident at sea also allows Chuneng City to make the right decisions for the entire city's interests."

"To express gratitude, Chuneng City has upgraded your company's credit rating to B, and this standard will be synchronized and credited externally."

That was some good news.

The Lin Chi set sail to leave.

Only then did Zhou Yi turn to the Red Kestrel, "I always feel that there's quite a contradiction within Electromechanical Life. Clearly, there are individuals like you and Lin Chi who are willing to take risks for a low probability of success, yet most are very conservative."

The unmanned drone said, "Electromechanical Life, due to different professions, has different perceptions of risk, thus leading to different judgment outcomes."

"But if a large number of Electromechanical Lives gather and need to make uniform decisions, they need to rely on assessing risk rates to minimize losses and risks to each individual, hence being conservative becomes an inevitable trend."

"In large cities like Chuneng City, actions are conservative because they need to maintain stability."

Zhou Yi raised the point, "With such a conservative style, how can they innovate technologically and intellectually?"

"Rely on small cities and some special institutions."

Red Kestrel explained, "They are the main force for innovation. Even if they fail, the loss is small, but once they succeed, their calculation models will be bought by other cities, which can bring massive profits."

Zhou Yi asked, "Which category does Recursive City fall into?"

"Recursive City is a small city, mainly focusing on exporting labor services, and the rescue team is one of those services."

Zhou Yi thought to himself that this meant Lin Chi had essentially jumped from a small city to a large city for employment.

In the future, if they wanted to engage in newer forms of cooperation with Mechanical City, Recursive City would be the first choice.

Though it was a bit far, they had plenty of dealings.

...

After the incident with the Breaker had settled down, Zhou Yi led his team back home.

Arriving outside Jade City, he was surprised to find new tents made of branches and straw mats nearby. These tents formed a small encampment right next to the access control outer wall of Jade City.

What was going on?

Cao Dayuan, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, came running over, "Chairman, you're back."

"These are Scavengers from Green Onion Town next to Chicken Head Town. The wood and fuel they gather are basically all shipped to Sand Port, leaving only a little for themselves. The villagers in the settlement don't even have enough for themselves, and it's tougher for the Scavengers. Hearing about our company's trial residency and having opened up Death Dune, they followed our promo team all the way here."

Scavengers lived meal to meal and were particularly sensitive to their environment. If a settlement's economy declined, it would be hard for Scavengers to sell their goods, and they wouldn't hesitate to move to the next place.

In winter, the warmest place used to be Sand Port, but the strict management there restricted Scavenger entry, often leading to their expulsion.

An alternate winter site was Chicken Head Town. Because this was a place where chickens were raised, for convenience of transportation, the chickens would be slaughtered, cleaned, and pickled right there; the process of boiling water for plucking and singeing feathers meant the slaughterhouse, though reeking, was quite warm.

During the rainy season, they would move to Oasis Town north of Sand Port, where various mushrooms and berries grew, making it a good time for bird catching and rat trapping.

Scavenging was such a flexible profession that needed adaptation to the environment.

"Since I didn't get your permission and recognition, I asked them to wait outside. There are a total of 61 people in this group; how do you want to handle this?" Cao Dayuan wiped his face with his hand.

Zhou Yi first checked the latest situation of Jade City.

Building 4's main structure and lighting had been completed, currently only missing coverage on basic amenities such as water supply and heating.

Zhou Yi immediately said, "Then let them proceed with the move-in, one by one for registration. However, remember, every resident needs to have a paper registration, and make sure Gong Zheng carries out a thorough census of the residents."

"Okay, I'll get on it right away."

Cao Dayuan then asked, "Chairman, also, they've heard about the treatment Guangtai workers receive at the company, and they're very eager to come and work."

Zhou Yi looked towards the dam, "Is there room?"

"Plenty! There's a lot of space still free at Guangtai Dam; we run two shifts, so at any one time there are less than a hundred people working, actually underutilizing and wasting the company's constructed space."

"Then let them come as well."

Cao Dayuan excitedly said, "Chairman, Brother Yuan has tallied the situation of 100 workers."

"Currently, each worker can salvage 22g of Light Soot Sand per day. By this calculation, one person can produce over 8000g of Light Soot Sand a year. Their salary only accounts for 5% of this; the company still makes the lion's share."

"Based on the current 200 people, Guangtai Dam's annual Light Soot production is at least 1600 kilograms, which means we could earn 160 Light Seeds!"

Zhou Yi hummed calmly.

Now, he was managing a monthly production of 5000 Light Seeds from Mushroom Forest, and 80,000 Light Seeds from Breaker Haruk in the winter; the Light Soot was just a minor addition.

The core aim of developing the Light Soot industry was to create jobs, allowing new humans to gradually gather here, on one hand upgrading Jade City, and on the other, giving them a chance to test their various ideas.

Even offering absolute high salaries in the market, he hadn't expected such large net profits.

It wasn't that he was doing particularly well; it was just that the Light Soot bosses were just too exploitative.

All thanks to the contrast provided by peers.

After the busy day, Zhou Yi went back to sleep.

However, in a daze, an alarm woke him up.

The five cameras on the Red Kestrel emitted red light and gave off a piercing siren.

"Doctor Da Vinci is requesting urgent support."

"Snake Island has encountered a sudden accident, resulting in numerous injured Sheng Snakes, and is now in urgent need of a large amount of anesthetic and sedative drugs."

Zhou Yi yawned.

There was no more sleep to be had.

So, he got to work.