From the remote control screen's bird's-eye view, an elliptical-shaped small island was slowly moving across the fog sea.

Zhou Yi zoomed in, and it became clear that along the edge of the island there were structures resembling tentacles. On closer inspection, they turned out to be Sheng Snakes working hard to push the Floating Island in the Dead Sea.

The small island moved through the cloud sea like a large tadpole, steadily advancing forward.

The Sheng Snakes cooperated with each other and exhibited an astonishing strength.

"This is a video recording from two days ago."

Red Kestrel's voice came through the remote control, "The Dead Sea is not very peaceful during winter, but even a sea lord wouldn't want to provoke a few hundred C-grade Sheng Snakes."

"Doctor Da Vinci said that the community of Sheng Snakes on the island is matrilineal, and they long for a stable and favorable breeding environment. Hence, they are unified in their opinion about relocating to the safe Jade City, with only 5 Sheng Snakes leaving."

"After the Light Burst disaster, the remaining Sheng Snakes became more united. They indicated that they would protect Maria Hospital as before, and they would hunt in the Dead Sea for Light Seeds to maintain the hospital, allowing them to receive timely medical treatment and care during childbearing."

"As for our company associated with Da Vinci, the Sheng Snakes hold us in great respect and hope to maintain friendly relations with us. If there is any need, they will help without hesitation."

The community of Sheng Snakes was not part of the Wasteland Development Company, rather they were considered a powerful neighbor.

Suddenly, Zhou Yi remembered to inquire if Qian Su had made any progress introducing retired enhancers.

At a glance, he saw the silver and black truck "Mission" parked in the community, meaning Qian Su had already returned.

Zhou Yi made his way to apartment 101 in building number 2.

There was a sign hanging on the door with a wrench symbol drawn on it.

He knocked on the door.

Someone from inside said to wait a moment.

After about twenty seconds, the door opened.

Qian Su, wearing a woolen hat and a dirty mechanic's uniform with a towel draped over her neck, said, "Mr. Zhou, what brings you here? My place is a bit of a mess, please come in."

This was Zhou Yi's first time visiting her home.

A scent of oil, glue, and paint filled the room, like a home-based workshop.

Against one wall in the living room were cabinets with many paper-wrapped goods, a large central table covered with assorted parts, and bottles and jars piled up in the corner... Although there was a variety of items, they were all sorted categorically and orderly.

Finding a place to stand was a bit of a challenge, though.

The young lady fetched a chair for him to sit on and said, "I was thinking of opening a shop here before, but considering the practical situation, I've changed my mind."

"The entrance control in Jade City is very strict, and outsiders can't get in unless accompanied by someone from the company for temporary registration. So I thought it would be best to make this place a repair and pick-up point. If needed, I can go out to meet customers..."

"I've been talking all about myself. What can I do for you?"

Zhou Yi inquired about the situation with the Elder Council.

That brought a bitter look to Qian Su's face, "Just like Uncle Zheng said, people of the Elder Council have all read his letter, but in the end, they all said they'd consider it, which actually means they've refused."

Having received a definite answer, Zhou Yi felt relieved.

The plan to introduce retired enhancers was officially declared a failure.

This shortcut was still not open.

Yet, another mainstream path was making solid progress.

A large number of Scavengers were continuously arriving from the Sand Port Region. Due to a housing shortage, they were all living in tents outside.

With the allocation for the four-story apartment buildings filled up, the only expansion possibility in Jade City was now the 33-story high-rises, with building number 5 being the first standard high-rise under construction, which had slowed down the entire building process.

Zhou Yi had also launched phase two of the dam construction project in Jade City. After depleting nearly half of the saved housing stock, the Guangtai Dam was further extended to the south, ready to accommodate 1000 people working simultaneously.

From a high-altitude view, the Dead Sea Dam looked like a half-circular road wrapping around the edge of Jade City.

Most of the new population had become Guangtai workers, with salaries uniformly paid in copper. Salary distribution was managed by the warehouse supervisor Gong, while Yuan Tong handled personnel and specific collection operations.

Thanks to Qian Su's connections, a large number of copper ingots were exchanged, so paying salaries was not an issue.

On payday of the first month, the workers swarmed to Chicken Head Town to eat, drink, and be merry.

Gradually, merchants from Chicken Head Town and other places also came to do business.

They led camels or carried goods themselves, some hawking their wares along the road on the dam, others setting up stalls outside the control wall.

The most popular were the food stalls selling mushroom soup, Chicken Head soup, and bean puree.

The workers had money in their pockets and would always buy a steaming bowl to eat after coming back from work. Now, with hundreds of workers eating a good amount every day, they were single-handedly supporting a bunch of small traders on the outside. These traders synced their work and rest with the laborers, which brought life to the winter in Jade City.

The hardest working one was Cao Dayuan, who was in charge of the order among the residents of Jade City. He had too many places to patrol on his own.

The residents of Jade City cherished their hard-earned lives and were all very well-behaved. The small traders coming from outside, however, were each trying to test the limits of the curfew until two of them got blasted into pieces by the curfew enforcement, which made them quiet down and behave.

The row of stalls outside Jade City now reminded Zhou Yi of the snack streets outside his school.

A settlement needs to have a lot of people.

When the population grows, there will be various needs for clothing, food, shelter, and transportation, and all walks of life can prosper.

All sorts of thoughts floated through Zhou Yi's mind.

A sentence from Qian Su pulled him back, "Mr. Zhou, have you seen Jacob?"

Zhou Yi said, "I didn't see him."

"Huh, huh."

Qian Su was somewhat surprised, "But I clearly brought it back with me, Jacob lives in the room 702 of building 3. When it came, it was so happy and told me it was very much looking forward to asking you about the Dead Sea and Aliens."

Zhou Yi said, "Let's go have a look."

He and Qian Su made their way to the door outside the 7th floor of building 3.

Qian Su knocked on the door.

The door opened from the inside.

Inside was a thin young man, who paused for a moment, "Who are you?"

Zhou Yi asked, "Is Jacob here?"

"Jacob? ...It's working," the young man said, shaking his head involuntarily when talking about his roommate. "The Bone Man is too intense, working day and night without rest. It's earning double, that kid's too harsh."

Zhou Yi was confused.

Because making money was too important, had it completely forgotten about discussing the Dead Sea and Aliens?

What a workaholic deity.

Zhou Yi said, "Does it really need the money?"

"We're all short on cash."

The young man scratched his chest, "But we want to earn money to eat and dress well, and to find a woman or something. Jacob is different, it wants to buy a ship."

"Hearing that you can earn 6000 here in a month, that kid went crazy, working like a beast, not spending a dime, saving it all. It just received its first payment and went back to work again."

Suddenly, the young man's face changed, and his eyes widened, "You... you...""Are you... the chairman?"

Zhou Yi nodded, "Anything else?"

"Yes, yes..." The young man became a bit nervous and stammered, "That is, Jacob said it wants to buy an enhanced ship, then go to sea to treasure hunt."

"Is that all?"

"That's what it said."

The young man seemed to realize that Zhou Yi wasn't satisfied, and furrowed his brows to remember, then suddenly exclaimed, "Oh, there's more, there's more. Jacob said about treasure hunting, about the weapons left by the Sea God, the Divine Era Weapons. That thing is calling out to it, telling it to go there."

Zhou Yi also became curious.

Sea God Weapon? What was that?

The young man scratched his head, "But Jacob talks all over the place, it said about going to buy a ship to hunt for treasure, about getting the Sea God Weapon, and also said it wants to earn more money to enjoy itself at the Bone-man Bar, and also said it's planning to get surgery on its own brain, to patch up the gap and get an enhanced body... I don't know which one is true with what it says. But for sure, it's short of money, working hard to earn it, very capable at working."

Zhou Yi pondered for a moment, "Hmm, what's your name?"

"I'm Yan Wei, just call me Ah Wei, Chairman."

"Ah Wei, tell me about you and Jacob."

"Alright..."

The young man narrated.

Zhou Yi listened patiently and finally said, "When Jacob comes back, tell it to find me."

"Yes, yes!"