Wasteland Development Diary

"The Cave People can absorb string light?"

Zhou Yi's expression also became serious: "Is this a coincidence or...?"

"It's not a coincidence."

Dong said, "After returning to Jupiter, the Cave People recorded the state of the string light's arrival. Every time the string light flashes, the Cave People exposed to the natural outside world become uncontrollable and move towards the bottom of Jupiter. But those within the Usurper Worm, Evil Brain, and Black Thorn experience very little interference."

"We've tested it over there as well; Jupiter's organisms are similarly affected by the string light, becoming irritable, and in severe cases, completely losing memory and cognition, acting only on instinct. This effect is even more severe than what Ni Ge described, likely due to increased frequency and intensity of the string light."

Zhou Yi asked, "What's at the bottom of Jupiter?"

"According to the longitudinal team's investigation, in the high-density geological layers beneath Jupiter's Circular Flow, there are large numbers of Cave People corpses... On this aspect, the Evil Brain recorded the consciousness. Please take a look."

Dong transmitted a piece of information.

Upon opening it, Zhou Yi immediately entered a dark world dotted with star-like points of light.

The stars formed a wide, band-like galaxy, interweaving and flowing together.

The unique aspect was that these points of light had a slightly eerie purple hue.

Dong's voice came to his ears: "Mr. Zhou, those points of light, each one is a Working Layer composed of gathered Cave People corpses."

"Creating a Working Layer requires connecting a large number of similar corpses, and in Jupiter's geological layers, there exist trillions of such Working Layers."

"More than half of these Working Layers are still operational."

Zhou Yi was stunned: "Are there still Cave People inside?"

"No. The past Cave People have gone extinct."

Dong's voice was indifferent: "They have all become Working Layers. Working Layers have strong extensibility, allowing them to be massively interconnected, further improving production efficiency... These Working Layers are spread throughout the deep underground of Jupiter."

"Relying on a part of the Cave People's team risking their lives to infiltrate and read, we discovered that those Working Layers are about to completely envelop this planet."

"Eventually, they deeply connect with the self-rotation machines—cosmic tools fixed on Jupiter—powered by the rotation provided by the Heavenly People."

"These workbenches consuming Cave People create a special tool, the String Emitter. The String Emitters form a network through the workbenches, not only amplifying the string light but also utilizing information within the string light to activate Jupiter."

Under Dong's magnification markers, Zhou Yi saw those String Emitters.

They looked like jet stream splatter beams (of course, the threads were made of Cave People corpses), emitting a dim light.

Dong said, "Having received the string light instructions, the entire group terminated all previous actions at the moment of receiving the command, and all Cave People became expendable materials, used to produce a large number of String Emitters... This is the reason for the extinction of the ancient Cave People."

Zhou Yi felt a chill in his heart: "The Cave People... were also vassals of the String Civilization?"

"Unfortunately, that's indeed the case."

Dong's voice held a trace of melancholy: "Mr. Zhou, it is only in this era that we understand the reason behind it. In those Working Layers, there is no related record at all."

"The past Cave People always thought of themselves as independent life and intelligent civilization, yet they never knew they were not a natural masterpiece, but rather manipulated by an invisible thread on this peculiar Jupiter."

"We thought we were exploring the world autonomously, developing ourselves, but the truth is, we are biological tools tethered to Jupiter, always ready to respond to the String Civilization's directives that created us. The fate of the Cave People tribe is nothing but a meticulously designed result."

Zhou Yi sorted out his thoughts.

Once he initially figured out Jupiter's positioning, he vaguely speculated that there must be some kind of relationship between the Cave People and the String Civilization.

Not to mention anything else.

The Transformer, one of the two major vassals of the String Civilization, had a crucial component in its physiological structure, using Cave People corpses to construct memory brains as one of the basic units.

The Transformer needed the Cave People's Ancestral Land—Intelligence Core—to expand their group, and only Jupiter and Jupiter's moon produced it.

Yet, the authority over Jupiter was firmly controlled by the String Civilization.

The Transformer and the Cave People could not communicate or cooperate because there was no overlapping field of life between them.

The Transformer needed Cave People corpses, while the Cave People used the Heavenly People's parts on Jupiter as a rotation machine, using it to polish Solid Cloud Elixir, Corridor Palace, and this series of tools.

In each other's eyes, they were merely tools and materials.

The Transformer was further isolated and forbidden from setting foot on Jupiter.

Evidently, the String Civilization designed this entire system.

Zhou Yi said, "So, the strong reactions of the Cave People to string light, being guided to consume themselves in Jupiter's strata to manufacture String Emitters, are also because of this reason?"

"Yes."

Dong seemed a bit low-spirited: "Though the facts are difficult to accept, that's the situation. The Cave People are not some remarkable great micro-civilization, just miniature puppets manipulated by the String Civilization... "

Zhou Yi remained silent.

After a long pause.

He said, "Why hasn't Jupiter been activated then?"

Zhou Yi asked, "Since everything is designed so perfectly and precisely, logically, String Emitters should have been used to activate Jupiter, the megastructure, by issuing commands to you. But that's not the case."

"This proves that the String Civilization is not omnipotent. Speaking of which, if it truly had the capability of being flawless in strategy, it would have foreseen the Transformer's rebellion in advance, and wouldn't even provoke the Time Master."

"Eh, eh eh... You're right."

Dong was taken aback: "It's strange indeed why Jupiter hasn't been activated. Under normal circumstances, it should be... because there are so many Working Layers, spread across Jupiter's surface. This is the result obtained after the Evil Brain's scanning. We can feel the reaction to the string light."