The next morning, Bone Man Sun Chonglai came running to make his report.

"Chairman, the Mushroom Forest was in good shape last month, and two Black Hand Mushrooms were born, with the edible mushrooms steadily increasing in production."

"Although we still do not know what is in the dung of the clawed pig group that causes the mycelium of the cave mushrooms to mutate, we have confirmed that Monster Attraction Mushrooms prefer a low-temperature environment."

The bone man, wearing earmuffs, said happily, "This winter, they grew very quickly, and their numbers have already surpassed 7,000 blossoms, which are fully mature mushrooms for the winter season."

He took out a sample from the box he was carrying.

The originally clustered, slender Monster Attraction Mushrooms had now grown dense and much wider, their round caps turning a pretty pink.

Zhou Yi felt a surge of happiness.

The Mushroom Forest was making good progress.

"But now there's a new problem."

Sun Chonglai said, "The youngsters from the Black Hand Mushroom discovered that Monster Attraction Mushrooms are extremely dependent on the dung of clawed pigs and require this specific fertilizer to grow; otherwise, they will gradually revert to cave mushrooms."

"We suspect that Monster Attraction Mushrooms are a parasitic hybrid resulting from cave mushrooms and another type of mycelium through the feces of the clawed pigs."

Like mules born from horses and donkeys.

Zhou Yi understood, "Do you need more dung from the clawed pigs?"

"That's not a big issue. Because the region in the north where the clawed pigs live generates a large amount of natural dung, and right now Nemo's sand rats are helping us collect everywhere; not a single piece of feces can escape their pursuit."

The bone man adjusted his hat with his hand bone, "The real challenge is that Monster Attraction Mushrooms enter full maturity and wilt within a few days. We've collected the mushrooms and taken them to Jade City for drying, only to find that after losing their moisture, their effectiveness is greatly diminished, maybe to as little as one-tenth."

"We have yet to find a method to lock in the effects of Monster Attraction Mushrooms, so we can only let them grow in the soil. Gong Zheng says this involves the field of herbs, and none of the methods he knows are applicable."

The bone man's jawbones moved up and down, "Chairman, could you please have Doctor Da Vinci take a look? Because the timeliness of this thing is really too strong."

Zhou Yi felt a headache.

Da Vinci was still treating diseases and leveling up on Snake Island.

But considering the great value of Monster Attraction Mushrooms, he still said, "I'll have him come back from Snake Island and take a look at your place."

"Great, great, that's fantastic."

The bone man seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, emotionally stating, "Such a precious species; it would be a pity to waste this winter's maturation period."

With Sun Chonglai's arrival, a new batch of explosive mushrooms also arrived, and Jade City converted them into just over 5,000 Light Seeds.

The sediment layer beneath the Mushroom Forest was still producing steadily.

...

Zhou Yi left Jade City and arrived at the beach beside the Dead Sea.

A small, enhanced ship was stranded on the ground.

At this moment, the one-eyed Yuan Tong was teaching maritime operations.

"Remember, if you fall into the Dead Sea, there's no saving you."

"But as long as you operate correctly, you will be fine; this is also from my more than a decade of experience at sea."

He raised a grass rope in his hand, "First of all, you need two sturdy ropes. If you don't have a strong enough belt buckle, just tie it around your waist like this."

Yuan Tong skillfully wrapped the rope around his waist and tied the other end to the base of the deck's mast.

He continued, "Two ropes—if one breaks, the other can still save your life. Always remember, don't be lazy and just tie one. This is to ensure that if you accidentally slip off the deck or over the rail, you will be caught."

"Then there's the use of the sifting net; this is very simple..."

Zhou Yi watched from a distance for a while.

Yuan Tong, with his technical background, had tight control over the operational procedures.

Like each rope being marked with measurements and distances, having a trailing length only three to four arms' lengths behind you after tying it on—neither too long nor too short.

The use of the sifting net had to follow the same direction for dredging and also met precise timing requirements.

He even marked positions on the deck with charcoal, allowing the novices to stand at specific spots without interfering with each other, maximizing the use of space on board.

Yuan Tong even shared basic knowledge about the Dead Sea; he truly intended to teach the townspeople.

There were many people learning the skills, standing around the ship in a circle, bombarding him with common newbie questions.

What they were most interested in was the salary.

"Is it really 6,000 mushrooms a month?"

"If it's said to be 6,000, it's 6,000. The amount Chairman Zhou says is the amount you'll get. Our Wasteland Development Company isn't short of that."

"Can we get mushrooms each day we work?"

"We only offer long-term employment, day and night shifts, and the entire salvage operation requires training and a certain level of experience to be done properly."

"I'm in!"

"We agreed on 6,000, right? I can start working today!"

...

Unemployed young people swarmed to sign up.

Before long, Yuan Tong started the hands-on training with the novices, steering a boat to the Dead Sea to collect Light Soot Sand.

A competitive salary is the best catalyst, instantly motivating everyone.

The habit of only coming out at night was also changed in the face of new demands.

During the winter days, more and more new humans dared to leave their houses.

Zhou Yi looked up at the sky.

At this time, the sky was bright, with no snow, just the usual biting cold wind.

It had been a whole day since Red Kestrel had left, without any news.

—My signal will be disconnected for a while, but it's nothing serious. Wait for my message.

Had it not been for the drone's message yesterday, Zhou Yi would have wondered if it had encountered danger.

As evening approached, a message finally came from Red Kestrel.

Text popped up on the remote controller.

—Chuneng City has recently activated a shielding system, causing Electromechanical Life without a local Light Stack server port to experience signal disruption and difficulty in sending and receiving messages.

—After identity verification, registration can be completed. I came here on behalf of the company, so the initial procedures were quite complicated, requiring letters to be sent from here to Recursive City for confirmation and to obtain local credit synchronization.

—I have consulted with the mineral department of Chuneng City, and they are willing to purchase our Light Soot Sand. As long as we reach 1 ton per transaction, they will dispatch a transport officer to purchase and transport the materials.

—The purchase price is divided into two grades, one for fine sand and the other for coarse sand. Our situation is coarse sand, priced at 5 copper/5g.

Zhou Yi remembered.

Yuan Tong had mentioned that the Light Soot Sand they sold to the cities was priced at 4 copper; it seemed that Mechanical City offered a higher purchase price.

—The price of Energy Packs is the same, 10 Light Seeds each. According to the continuous operation of two ships, we need to purchase enough for 4 winter months, which is 120 Energy Packs, amounting to 12 Light Seeds. I've asked a friend to help bring them back.

—He used to be in the rescue team and later transferred to Chuneng City, now working in Survey.

Zhou Yi was somewhat surprised.

Red Kestrel had connections there.

At dawn, the drone returned leisurely.

Arriving along with Red Kestrel was a black aircraft.

The aircraft's shape was like a stretched version of the letter 'V', reminding Zhou Yi of the famous B-2 Stealth Bomber. It was two sizes larger than Red Kestrel, and its cockpit looked like it could fit a person.

Red Kestrel introduced it, "This is the 'Linchi', a member of the Chuneng City Detective Team."

The large-bodied Linchi emitted a loud and clear voice, "Hello, Chairman Zhou, nice to meet you for the first time. Since you are the Red Kestrel Captain's cooperator, you are also a friend. Welcome to visit Chuneng City."

Red Kestrel corrected, "I've been removed from the rescue team roster; I shouldn't be referred to by that title."

Linchi said, "It's just a personal title, it doesn't violate any regulations."

Only then did Zhou Yi realize.

Red Kestrel used to be the Captain of a rescue team—was it the superior of this Linchi?

The problem was, Red Kestrel was very small in size, giving the impression of a mere ordinary member or minor soldier.

In terms of appearance, Linchi seemed more like the boss.

Logically speaking, a stronger body was necessary for more effective rescues.

Could it be... Red Kestrel used to have a much stronger body?

Zhou Yi asked a question.

"No, Red Kestrel Captain has always been this body."

Linchi explained, "In the rescue team, hierarchy is based on mission achievements."

"What's the use of strong professional evaluations if one doesn't dare to risk high failure rates and damage to save victims?"

Zhou Yi felt that made sense.

"Let's continue this conversation later; for now, let's deal with official business."

Linchi said, "Chairman Zhou, I need to first survey the environment and production here."