The two transport ships were, of course, dispatched by Duke Destructive, with the old acquaintance earth official Lin Qin leading the team.

"This mechanical octopus introduced to Zhou Yi, "Mr. Zhou, the Tamed Bull Tribe has arrived, please inspect the shipment."

It sounded as though he was describing merchandise.

But in the eyes of Duke Destructive, the population was indeed just a numeric resource.

Zhou Yi looked behind Lin Qin.

The Bone People of the Tamed Bull Tribe wore the uniform tribal attire, donning coconut-shell hats with two pieces of wood fashioned like curved horns nailed to the sides, becoming Cow Horn Helmets.

They wore wide skirts and shirts made from coconut shell fibers and stood silently with large and small bags on their backs.

Lin Qin lifted a tentacle, pointing to a Bone Man at the front.

"This is the tribe chief, Niu Zhen."

Unlike the other tribesmen, Niu Zhen's helmet was made of copper, and he also carried a large wheeled toolbox.

"Chief Niu."

Zhou Yi extended his hand: "Welcome to the Wasteland Development Company."

The Bone-man Tribe Chief hurriedly wiped his hand on his shirt and then cautiously shook Zhou Yi's hand with both of his, bowing his head low.

"The Tamed Bull Tribe is honored, very honored."

"Well then, Mr. Zhou, I shall take my leave now and report back."

With that said, Lin Qin left.

The two transport ships slowly turned their bow and set sail to depart.

Zhou Yi's attention was on the mechanical beasts being led by the Bone People.

They had two curved horns, simply wrapped in layers of coconut fiber.

The mechanical bulls generally had a body length between 2 to 2.5 meters, and shoulder heights of 1.4 to 1.8 meters. They varied in size, looking very different from the previously shown diagrams.

The actual Hooked Horned Bulls were pieced together from scraps of broken copper and iron, completely resembling oversize handicrafts made from junk, each in their own state of disrepair.

They weren't bound by ropes, were fitted with coconut shell mats on their backs, and had various bags and parcels hanging from their bodies.

Zhou Yi noticed that each Hooked Horned Bull was motionless.

"What's going on? Have they all been shut down?"

Tribe Chief Niu Zhen approached one of the Hooked Horned Bulls and said, "Yes, Chairman sir, we temporarily shut them down to let the Hooked Horned Bulls rest."

"You see, their horns are the switches."

He pointed to the horns, demonstrating with his hands, "Now, when the horns point downwards towards the ground, they are in sleep mode and won't move. If you point their horns upwards, towards the sky, they'll start to be active."

As he spoke, Niu Zhen twisted one of the mechanical bull's left horns upwards.

The mechanical lifeform shook a bit, and then clattering sounds came from within its body, like gears biting into each other non-stop, or as if some loose part was rattling inside the frame.

Its square head twisted left and right before its four legs slowly began to stroll.

Niu Zhen fed it a piece of iron sheet.

The Hooked Horned Bull swallowed it in one gulp.

Just like a successful coin insertion, it then nudged its head towards Niu Zhen.

"Chairman sir, if you want it to help out, you can feed it iron or copper. You can sit on top of it or let it help carry things."

"If there's no feeding, it won't move. Metal is an important food for Hooked Horned Bulls."

"Another thing is, if it's a stranger, even with feeding, it might still injure them with a charge. Taming them is a matter of skill."

Niu Zhen skillfully climbed onto the bull's back and sat on the coconut mat.

It rode the bull up and down the coast, making rounds.

After two rounds, Niu Zhen got off the bull's back and turned its left horn downwards again.

Thus, the mechanical bull became stationary again.

The Bone-man Tribe Chief continued, "Chairman sir, it has two horns. Usually, we keep one horn pointing down to avoid it getting overly excited. This is essentially to keep it stable."

"Both horns make it faster but also more likely to lose control. It's not something you do unless you're an expert."

"Don't let their appearance fool you. Even though they seem docile, the rider still needs to adapt one-on-one. Otherwise, they won't carry anything or recognize the rider."

"A Hooked Horned Bull can run at 15 kilometers per hour with one horn active, and 30 kilometers per hour with both horns active. They can carry up to 400 jin (200 kilograms), but the heavier the load, the slower they move."

Zhou Yi mounted a Hooked Horned Bull to experience it himself.

His first impression was that it was indeed slow, perhaps even slower than riding a bicycle.

His second feeling was that it was more stable than expected.

His third feeling was that these electromechanical lifeforms, though semi-civilized, had a very stable temper and didn't run wild. You feed them what they eat, and they'll take you where you want to go; they could indeed be used as long-term transport vehicles.

After dismounting, Zhou Yi continued to have an in-depth discussion with Niu Zhen.

"You say, you want to breed them on a large scale? That might take some time."

"They will absorb Death Light on their own during the day, but they require large amounts of metal, consuming iron and copper at a ratio of roughly 7:3."

Niu Zhen explained, "Under normal circumstances, an adult Hooked Horned Bull can give birth to a calf once a year, but if it doesn't get enough Death Light, the young will die. If we invest in Light Seeds and Energy Packs, the gestation period can be reduced to half a year, or even three months."

"Besides, the calves are not much different from the adults. As long as there are ample materials and energy, they can also reproduce."

Zhou Yi looked at the Hooked Horned Bulls, each with a unique appearance.

"Can each of them replicate itself?"

"Yes, Chairman."

Niu Zhen touched the coppery skin of the Hooked Horned Bull: "However, to birth a young one, a significant amount of metal is needed as the main structure."

"To give birth to a young one, at least 280 pounds of iron and 120 pounds of copper are needed, which, after converting the costs, is about 280,000 Mushrooms."

"To keep the bulls, we must continue feeding them iron and copper, because every time they set out, even if they're very familiar with the route, we need to feed them at least 1 iron to get them to move once. They aren't bright, they just like to eat and sleep. However, when their horns are activated, they become more active and much more aggressive."

Zhou Yi calculated the costs.

The lowest-income Guangtai workers in the company, under the augmentation of the Desperate Machine, now have an average monthly salary of over 13,000 Mushrooms, amounting to about 156,000 Mushrooms a year.

With some savings, it would only take two years to afford such a vehicle.

Based on what Zhou Yi knew, even the cheapest used enhanced car made by a Craftsmen Light Seal would cost 5 Light Seeds, which is 5 million Mushrooms.

This doesn't even take into account the more expensive maintenance costs.

The price advantage of the Hooked Horned Bull is quite obvious.

What Zhou Yi cared more about was, "Can ordinary people use them for a long time too?"

"Yes, Chairman."

Niu Zhen nodded firmly, "It just… requires training. We need to teach them how to adjust the horns, how to assess the condition of the Hooked Horned Bull's rope ladders, and also how to perform simple repairs and maintenance on them. The basic stuff and riding can be learned in about a month."

Zhou Yi was curious, "Do Hooked Horned Bulls replicate themselves spontaneously?"

"Under natural conditions, they don't self-replicate; it's not a matter of eating more to produce offspring. They need a certain amount of cultivation and domestication to activate this instinct."

The Bone-man Tribe Chief explained, "We need to keep their horns in an active state while controlling their excitement levels, and also give them some thrashing and internal competition. Then they will give birth in the summer when the light is strongest and Dead Light Energy is most abundant."

"Do they give birth by… directly delivering the calves?"

Zhou Yi was particularly interested in this.

"Not like that."

Niu Zhen waved his hands and patted an Iron Beast beside him, "Their replication is quite simple, actually. First, they form the limbs inside using metal, and then expel them."

"Next comes the body. But the bodies produced are usually flattened or wrinkled. After expelling them, we need to further assemble their bodies and limbs, and the last to come out is the head."

"Our tribe is skilled at this. Since we first encountered a Hooked Horned Bull, we've gradually domesticated them."

Zhou Yi suddenly understood.

They are constructed in parts and then need to be assembled and adjusted.

"Is the very first bull still around?"

"No. Duke Destructive took it away a long time ago for research. I heard that it's been damaged."

Niu Zhen said, "After that, our bulls were used for military assaults, carrying explosives for suicide attacks..."

Through his explanation, Zhou Yi learned that Duke Destructive indeed had the idea of mass-producing Hooked Horned Bulls.

But in the end, it was abandoned due to the slow movement speed of the Hooked Horned Bulls, difficulty in raising them like regular livestock, the need to learn distinctive mounting techniques, and the long cultivation cycle.

For the Shuanghe Region, where Track Knights operate railway vehicles, Hooked Horned Bulls have no competitive edge in the civilian sector.

Hence, the compensation this time was to offload this white elephant as settlement.

Yet, Zhou Yi felt that this mechanical life had great potential.

With enough initial investment, the Hooked Horned Bull numbers could quadruple in a year, quickly increasing their population.

Feeding them copper and iron to ride them, learning to control this type of mechanical vehicle—Zhou Yi felt this was normal, considering that in his era driving a car also required learning at a driving school.

However, due to their limited number, they couldn't yet be supplied directly to the public.

Zhou Yi pondered for a moment, "Niu Zhen, tell me, if your tribe's people were to ride the bulls as taxis operated by the company in the Jade City area, starting at a fare of 2 iron, could it work?"

"Taxis?"

The Bone-man Tribe Chief was stunned, "You mean letting them carry people and heavy loads?"

"Yes. You would manage them, which ensures safety. Meanwhile, it could put these Hooked Horned Bulls to work and create a revenue stream for you. As the bull numbers grow, we could later expand the operation to other cities."

"We can do it!"

Niu Zhen instantly grasped the idea, "If we were to ride the Hooked Horned Bulls, we could activate both horns and increase their speed to 30 kilometers per hour! Plus, we'd make some money too."

Done deal.

Zhou Yi felt a sense of relief, "I'll have Gong Zheng discuss the specifics of this taxi operation with you, and also, tidy up and settle down in the Mushroom House district for now. Your tribe will continue to raise the bulls, this won't change."

"Thank you, Chairman, for showing us the way as soon as you arrived!"

Niu Zhen, leading the Bone People of his tribe, each mounted on a bull, followed Gong Zheng towards their new home.

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