Wasteland Development Diary

"The Reverse Flow used the power of the Circular Flow to encapsulate and compress the target life, linking it to its own body. It was then able to access the information of the Fire Seed Life."

At this point, Xiao Fu was a bit panicked, speaking rapidly, "However, the precondition is that the Fire Seed Life itself is willing. If the consciousness of the other party resists, then the connection cannot be completed through the Conscious Key."

"The Conscious Key is the medium for the connection of different consciousnesses. If either side is not aligned—if not completely connected—then it cannot take effect."

Zhou Yi looked down at the black and white structure beneath his feet, reminiscent of piano keys.

The Reverse Flow had also explained the differences between the two colors.

Black represented consciousness output, white represented consciousness input, and input and output constituted a basic loop.

Xiao Fu said, "If someone's consciousness wealth—if you can call it the accumulated amount of consciousness information—far exceeds that of their peers, the Reverse Flows focus on such individuals. Sometimes, although they can't obtain the other party's consent, they would still transform them and then try to persuade them slowly..."

Zhou Yi scoffed, "What a way to slowly persuade, it seems there are quite a few cases like Red Kestrel."

The Reverse Flow didn't dare to contradict and merely strived to articulate its perspective, "From the scale of the individual, this indeed is a violent act that forcibly constrains free will, but on the civilizational scale, all individuals are the basic units of civilization. The Reverse Flows drift and survive on the scale of civilization, collecting as many high-quality civilized units as possible to preserve fragments of civilization."

"They lose only their freedom, but what they gain is the eternal continuity together with civilization."

That phrase sounded somewhat familiar.

Although the Reverse Flow was trying to beautify and downplay the entire so-called collection process, its core was still the rule of the strong over the weak.

Zhou Yi stepped forward and slapped the Reverse Flow hard, silencing it.

"That's what I'm also doing. On the scale of civilization, every Reverse Flow is a base-stone for me to transform this world. So, you'd better listen closely and move wherever I tell you to."

The other nodded, "Of course."

"So you want to completely transform this Circular Flow world, meaning that your abilities and significance are above ours."

"That's excellent!"

"It seems you are of a higher tier than us. We collect and perpetuate civilization, but you are here to directly reconstruct and rebuild on-site. I am honored to participate in a larger and grander process."

This gave Zhou Yi a pause.

He wasn't sure whether the Reverse Flow was consistent in its words and actions or just bending with the situation.

Xiao Fu spoke again, "Although we coexist within one body, my authority is less than yours, and I cannot bypass you to connect to this body. You can directly block me or temporarily shut off my Conscious Key connection. When needed, you can directly call upon me, which is more valuable than destroying me, as I can play the unique role of a Reverse Flow."

Zhou Yi tried it and indeed found it to be just as Xiao Fu had said.

Although he couldn't control Xiao Fu's every move, he could read a vast amount of information from it.

It was like opening a secondary account.

Zhou Yi finally relaxed.

When the Conscious Key was connected, information transferred between the two consciousnesses at an extremely fast rate, except for a small part of individual self-memories that were not accessible, all other information was crystal clear.

"That is the Life Core."

Xiao Fu further explained the situation, "The 'Life Core' is a component of the 'Memory Core'; it records the unique life information of the individual, and it is indestructible, forming the basis of self. If forcibly dismantled and read, the consciousness will lose its self-structure and completely become a scattered stream of information."

In other words, the Life Core is every individual's self-marker, containing private information.

The Breaker aimed to collect this as well.

Zhou Yi understood.

Even if sharing an account or co-renting a room, one still needed some private space.

What Zhou Yi cared about was that after searching through a vast amount of information from the Reverse Flow, he discovered that over 90% of recorded content either described drifting in the Circular Flow or a hibernation state akin to a black screen...very little useful information.

He frowned, "What about the collection of Sparks and the continuation of civilizations? I haven't seen a single one."

"I've succeeded before, and the Life Core has basic records, but I was later besieged by some high-intensity lives…"

Xiao Fu explained, "So I had to give up the previous body and re-enter the Circular Flow. The records of the Fire Seed Life were lost with the body…"

Zhou Yi once again read with the Conscious Key.

He indeed found related records, albeit few.

But due to the abrupt beginning and end, a lot of information was lost.

The enemies were marked as 'Heavenly People,' totaling three.

From the looks of it, two of them were humans.

The first was shrouded from head to toe in a layer of white cloth, with two round eyes and a mouth with a protruding tongue painted on it, resembling the classic ghost costume of Halloween.

The second man had extensive black tattoos all over his body and a fierce appearance.

Finally, there was a fat panda, wearing a farmer's hat and walking upright.

The record only captured the brief moments of their appearances.

Afterward, Xiao Fu found himself drifting in the Dead Sea once again.

Finding the Sea God came after this point.

"When the Reverse Flow disconnects the Conscious Key from the body, it erases all previous traces thoroughly to avoid being further tracked. So, I have no knowledge of what happened before or the Sparks I collected."

Xiao Fu said, "However, after experiencing such a danger, I've become even more cautious. At least the Heavenly People are paying attention to me. Even after finding the Sea God, I rarely leave the safety zone. In the end, I chose one of the local life forms here, Bone Man."

Bone Man bodies were fragile, and their consciousness was easily tampered with. They possessed intelligence and cognition that were not too bad, so they were chosen by the Reverse Flow as spokespersons.

If it came down to it, the information recorded in their skulls could be erased, allowing them to start anew.

But the number of times consciousness could be modified was also limited.

Most of the Bone Men aboard the Sea God died due to repeated modifications.

The Reverse Flow tried to indoctrinate them in a closed environment, making the Bone Men serve itself. Initially, the Bone Men would remain stable and obedient until they became familiar with their surroundings and gradually began to question and explore.

Eventually, the Bone Men would attempt to escape.

After numerous failures, the Reverse Flow shifted its approach. It started using the Bone Men as bait for the outside, providing them with opportunities to escape by pretending to hibernate, creating gaps, or even simulating internal malfunctions.

However, these baits would be modified to some extent, hiding key parts, just like Jacob's skull, which was intentionally left behind.

The Bone Men who left would spread the legend of the Sea God, thereby attracting new life forms, which was convenient for the Reverse Flow to screen for potential Sparks.

Yalong Bay Base was a natural harbor it happened upon.

Once he understood the mechanism, Xiao Fu created a non-responsive state for the Sea God and long-term occupied a cave storehouse within Yalong Bay.

"This architectural life is a collective of consciousnesses, composed of many incomplete ones, yet lacks an absolute core. It has a strong instinct to dock and adhere."

The Reverse Flow said, "If I rashly attempt to convert and connect, my Life Core could easily be disturbed and become scatterbrained... They are a very dangerous group."

Zhou Yi's communication with Jade City, Maria, and Yalong Bay was limited to consciousness synchronization, which was not as thorough as the Reverse Flow's approach.

Compared to the mad exchange of information produced by the Conscious Key connection, consciousness synchronization was much slower but also safer.

Making friends is something that should be done gradually.

Zhou Yi then examined his newly acquired panel.

...

[Body 2]

Life Value: 102507

Defense: 0

Energy: 4033

...

Not to mention anything else, in a critical moment, Xiao Fu could serve as a meat shield.

After all, with a Life Value of 100,000 points, he could take some damage.

What Zhou Yi found strange was, "Where are your skills? Why is there no information displayed?"

The Reverse Flow explained, "This requires the construction of an operational environment and the installation of specific energy structures to unfold. I had already completed the construction and installation on the previous Sea God, but unfortunately, I can't go back. For this new body, I have to start all over again..."

"To create a [Light Wheel Well] is to distinguish the Sparks, and only by installing a [Circumference Light Device], can the target life be encapsulated and transformed into a Fire Seed Life."

Zhou Yi was shocked.

He had thought these were inherent skills, not realizing they were Circular Flow technological devices.

Zhou Yi then thought, "Does that mean the Sea God still possesses these two devices and they are still effective?"

Xiao Fu said, "Yes, but we need to operate them. Because this is Reverse Flow's proprietary technology, only the Reverse Flow can use this system."

Then there was no problem.

Next was the practical operation section.