He returned from the world of BGM.

Zhou Yi glanced toward Jiong not far away.

The Condenser floated at the position of the Buddha's head, then in the next second, it teleported next to Zhou Yi.

"I, Light Absorption Monster, find."

"Mm."

After a brief exchange at the same frequency of consciousness with Zhou Yi, the Condenser used light to create a thumbs-up gesture and then vanished.

Lord Sha Hai, who had approached at some point, was gaping, his eyes wide.

"This, this... The Condenser is actually greeting people?"

"It is called Jiong and has joined our Wasteland Development Company as an employee," Zhou Yi introduced. "In the future, it will often be seen around the Big Buddha, mainly to gather Light Absorption Monsters and prevent them from falling into danger. Don't mind it, it will not cause any adverse effects on the residents or the order here."

"I see... Alright."

Lord Sha Hai seemed somewhat bewildered.

Suddenly shivering, he snapped back to reality and added, "I've heard rumors that the appearance of a Condenser signifies a Death Light outbreak... Is our area about to experience a Light Burst?"

Zhou Yi counter-asked, "Does a Light Burst occur on land?"

"It seems not."

"Then there's no need for concern."

Lord Sha Hai turned his gaze toward the meditating stone Buddha. "What is the Big Buddha doing? Before, it was walking around the Sand Port Region, why is it now sitting down?"

"It's cultivating."

Zhou Yi left it at that.

It was attracting other lives from the Dead Sea.

The Leshan Buddha sensed that deep in the direction of the Dead Sea, there were many unfamiliar life forms. It was calling them, moving from threat and hostility to mutual friendliness, to complete its cultivation.

Many of the Red Monsters and Illusion Fish from United City were attracted in such a manner.

The Condenser was the first individual to be drawn.

Only Jiong itself wasn't aware of being pulled by the gravitational force of the Big Buddha.

Lord Sha Hai appeared to want to say more but ultimately stayed silent, just staring blankly at the glowing stone Buddha, lost in thought.

…

In the following period of time, Zhou Yi mainly focused on two matters.

One was the progress of the delivery center, and the second was the situation with the Condenser.

The delivery center had added two more Bone Fish deliverymen, making a total of 8. Assisted by the Sheng Snakes, and despite the numerous orders, the deliverymen reduced the delivery time of each order by increasing their speed.

Protected by Light Soot Sand-crafted delivery uniforms and with regular check-ups by the physical therapists An Hong and Chen Shi, the Bone Fish maintained a good working condition.

With a sufficient supply of specially made fish food, their body lengths reached just over three meters, comparable to a small car, and then they stopped growing.

The Bone Laboratory conducted observations and experiments on this.

Bi Qi, the Octopus Brother, said, "I've compared and radiated their bones, finding their bone density continually increasing. They have passed the initial period of growing in size, and are now in a phase of enhancing their skeletal quality and strength."

"It's a very natural transition. Skeletons won't multiply and enlarge indefinitely since they are merely the framework of life structures. As long as they can adequately support the good operation of the entire life form, their mission is complete."

"Bone Fish in the wild are usually larger, as they lack sufficient bones and energy. So they rely heavily on increasing their size for self-preservation. When in danger, they will abandon parts of their bodies or even their Light Seeds to get a chance to escape. Because the wild environment is hazardous, they find it difficult to enter the stage of strengthening their skeletons."

"I'm quite interested to see in which direction the Bone Fish at the delivery center will evolve further. I will continue to monitor their skeletal development."

Chen Shi, the physical therapist, mentioned a particular case.

"Director, they are secretly hoarding things."

"I don't know what they are up to, but I've seen Bone Fish deliverymen collecting items and showing off to each other a few times."

The high-altitude cameras of the Red Kestrel recorded this scene.

The deliverymen had a schedule of working four days with one day off, and on their day of rest, they would play in the Dead Sea near the Breeding Platform.

Under the camera, Bone Fish number 001 Hercules, number 002 Fast Feet, and number 004 were in a small pit at the bottom of the Dead Sea, each spitting out something from their mouths.

Hercules had a damaged small mechanical arm, appearing to be a device used in factories.

Fast Feet showed off a pile of glass beads, which it floated with energy, sparkling in the Death Light.

Quick Feet took out an unbranded bottle of white liquor.

They displayed their items and then looked them over.

In the end, Hercules exchanged the mechanical arm for Quick Feet's bottle of liquor, and each swallowed their desired item, completing the trade.

Zhou Yi watched with some astonishment.

The Bone Fish deliverymen not only had the habit of collecting items but also engaged in barter.

The items they collected were quite special.

Bone Fish needed bones and Light Seeds, so neither mechanical arms, glass beads, nor liquor had practical value for them.

That is to say, they were collecting items based on personal preferences.

Whether this behavior was imitation of other company employees or spontaneous inclination, it was a phenomenon never seen before.

The Bone Fish deliverymen were undergoing some sort of inexplicable change in consciousness.

Zhou Yi was unsure what effect this change would bring.

He discussed the matter with Qian Su.

The young director was quite optimistic and proactive: "Director, this is a good thing. Vanity is a driving force for progress."

"As long as they develop a clear sense of property, they will have a stronger desire to acquire more wealth."

"I wish they would come to me now and demand a raise. That way, it'd be easier to make demands of them."

In any case, the Bone Fish were changing.

What Zhou Yi could do was to enhance their observation and provide timely guidance as much as possible.

Qian Su also promised to keep an eye on this.

"I also want to train them to be well-behaved and honest employees. If they become thieves who steal from customers, the loss for the delivery center would be enormous."

"Rest assured, Director, I'll watch them."

…

The Condenser, on the other hand, was doing the same thing day after day.

It found Light Absorption Monsters from various places, created bridges of light, and guided them to the Big Buddha.

The reason had long been explained to Zhou Yi by Jiong.

Light Absorption Monsters could rapidly absorb Dead Light Energy. However, their capacity was limited, and after absorption, they would expel it.

The excess energy was of no use to the other Guangna Species, but the Condenser could capture and absorb it.

Thus, the more Light Absorption Monsters, the more energy the Condenser could obtain through them.

"Light Absorption Monster, Outer Sea, few."

"Inner Sea, short."

Zhou Yi could understand the previous sentence from Jiong.

The harsh environment of the Outer Sea, where large atmospheric creatures roam, is too dangerous for the fragile Light Absorption Monster, which shatters easily upon contact, making it difficult for them to persist.

But how should he interpret the 'short' of the Inner Sea?

"Mountain."

"Inner Sea, mountain, none."

"Outer Sea, mountain, yes."

"Mountain, advance in rank."

"Must, mountain."

Zhou Yi confirmed over and over until he finally understood.

The mountain described by the Condenser was not a conventional peak, but rather a peculiar energy phenomenon.

In Jiong's experienced constructed consciousness, the Fog Mountain he had climbed and raced over was exactly that kind of thing. The mist was merely the outer layer wrapping the mountain, necessary for various beings to achieve further evolution.

Zhou Yi called on Xiao Fu to join the conversation.

The Reverse Flow decisively stated, "That would be Firewood Mound."

"According to the definition from Electromechanical Life, B-ranked beings correspond to the Species Rank, and A-ranked represent the Embryo Stage. Beings of the Species Rank that can utilize the Firewood Mound can quickly advance into the Embryo Stage."

"No wonder the Inner Sea is populated by beings of not very high strength; those with greater strength are likely mostly in the Outer Sea, where Firewood Mound still exists."

Zhou Yi sorted through his thoughts.

The Inner Sea was safe, and with the Heavenly People monopolizing the Firewood Mound, it locked the upper limit. The beings here typically could only reach the level of B-ranked, unable to advance further.

The Outer Sea was dangerous but contained Firewood Mound, allowing breakthrough beyond the A-ranked upper limit.

It made sense then that Skywalker roamed the Outer Sea.

However, upon closer consideration, the Heavenly People only moved mountains from the Inner Sea but took no action in the Outer Sea.

Perhaps only by going to the Outer Sea could he figure out the specific reasons.

After about a week of busyness, Jiong told Zhou Yi, "I, fuse, go."

Fuse?

Zhou Yi tentatively asked, "You mean... find a mate?"

"Don't understand."

"Fuse."

It emphasized, "Stronger."

Although Zhou Yi didn't know what their fusion entailed, he still expressed his support.

Jiong made a glowing thumbs-up gesture and disappeared on the spot.

Half an hour later,

it reappeared in the original spot, its light dim.

"Fuse, fail."

"Request, reject."

"Lost the fight."

Through its clipped description, Zhou Yi came to understand that Condensers didn't differentiate by gender; they increased their strength through fusion.

Jiong had discovered another Condenser early on, but the other was much stronger and had attracted a large number of Light Absorption Monsters.

To match the other, Jiong collected Light Absorption Monsters onto the Big Buddha's body. With the Big Buddha there, the Light Absorption Monsters wouldn't be destroyed by the Dead Sea environment or the Guangna Species, ensuring long-term stability.

After gathering nearly 3000 Light Absorption Monsters, Jiong sought to fuse.

But the other had many more Light Absorption Monsters.

It was rejected.

So Jiong took another approach, combat fusion.

The winner would decide.

And then it was soundly beaten.

The other looked down on it, unwilling to fuse with a being of such low caliber, considering the potential too low.

But Jiong wasn't discouraged, or rather, Condensers lacked such emotions.

"Continue, strive."

"Will win."

Jiong's spirit was always positive.

Zhou Yi greatly admired this trait.

Suddenly, he thought of the Condenser from Mei State Prison and introduced this new colleague to it.

But there was one problem.

It was in prison.

Jiong said, "Impossible."

"Condenser, not, confined."

"We are free, by nature."

Zhou Yi reached out to United City through Red Kestrel, inquiring about the condenser imprisoned there.

Kunming Station replied, "It's not a prisoner in the jail. It voluntarily stays in the prison, using reflections to train itself. However, because we cannot communicate with it, we don't know the specific reasons."

So it wasn't.

Zhou Yi conveyed this situation to Jiong, along with a general description of the area.

Jiong was immediately excited.

"I, go fuse."

It disappeared again from the spot.

An hour later, Jiong returned in the shape of a dim long cross star; a tip of its star shape on its head had been knocked off.

"Lost the fight."

"Fusion, so hard."

Jiong's attempts at fusion weren't going well, with its combat capabilities being somewhat lackluster.

It was once a formidable A-ranked life form, but now it had been thrashed by two B-ranked of its kind.

But now it was an employee of the company.

Zhou Yi needed to come up with a solution.

Zhou Yi racked his brains.

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