Ah Feng demonstrated the entire process in person.

He grabbed a Y-shaped Spit Silk, combed out a black strand, and burned it with a specially made Flame Cup that had a notch in the middle.

"Chairman, the flying silk is very flexible and its strength is no less than that of Insect Armor. However, it deforms and softens at sufficiently high temperatures and can then be cut off with metal scissors."

Ah Feng placed the cut segment of the black silk into a brand-new glass bottle.

Zhou Yi saw that the black fibers inside the bottle began to rapidly decompose into numerous floating particles. As the decomposition and peeling continued, a layer of uniform gray-black gas gradually filled the bottle, looking like a collection of freely moving ashes.

"They float inside like coal ash and eventually adhere to the inner walls of the glass jar to provide the force required to maintain flotation."

Ah Feng, pointing at the bottle, said: "As soon as it leaves the Spit Silk, this black flying silk will decompose. It's very unstable. The gases produced by the decomposition, however, are quite stable. As long as they are in a sealed container, they can keep the container stably floating."

Zhou Yi said to the nearby Red Kestrel, "Get Da Vinci and Bi Qi over here."

Soon, two employees arrived.

Da Vinci conducted a thorough examination of the black Spit Silk, before then inspecting the black flying silk.

He was busy for two hours.

He concluded: "The structure of this flying silk is very unstable. It can't maintain a solid connection and starts to collapse progressively from the fracture, forming very fine basic structures. It adheres to naturally occurring particulate matter in the air, turning into black and gray haze forms."

"The mutated Y-shaped Spit Silk is the same; it adheres to a large amount of dust and particulate matter in the air, hence turning black."

"The particles of the flying silk are extremely small and have strong adsorptive properties. Normally, they would disperse everywhere and, given their low concentration and density, attaching to human bodies, rocks, trees, or even airborne particles wouldn't cause any abnormal reactions."

"But in large concentrations within the space of the glass bottle, they can undergo a qualitative change, allowing the container to float."

A thought flashed in Zhou Yi's mind: "So, are you saying we can use this adhesion property to create new flying materials?"

"In theory, yes."

Da Vinci assessed, "As long as we place this black flying silk into a relatively closed environment, its natural decay could act like spray dye, adhering to materials like wood and metals to form a stable and solid coating."

"After completion, a layer of paint or resin could be applied to ensure it is not worn away by friction."

"But its feasibility still needs to be tested with experiments."

Octopus Brother Bi Qi took out a searchlight and shined different lights back and forth on the gray glass bottle.

Then it said: "Chairman, this material can indeed add flotation properties, and it might even substitute for the 'Light Floating' Light Imprint. But there is a flaw."

"It relies heavily on Death Light."

Bi Qi shone a green light from its hand, and immediately the bottle exhibited a strong fluorescent reaction, and its flight height sharply increased.

When it switched to white light, the inner walls of the bottle dimmed, with scattered spots becoming very weak, and the height slowly decreased.

"The material can float because of the energy movement caused by the influence of Death Light. Therefore, during the daytime, the floating effect of the flying silk is at its best, but at night, the height will decrease significantly."

"The same amount of flying silk, when particle-coated, will require more consumption to achieve the same level of flotation as the original structure."

"It's like bones. An integrated bone structure can maintain better strength, but once shattered and needing repair or reinforcement, the strength is diminished, never as strong as the original."

"Its advantage is that it is more malleable than the original flying silk. If we have enough quantity, it can be sprayed on the surface of ordinary boats to make them float."

"If it's used for glider coating, there's no need to worry about the insufficiency of the carrier's own strength, or the problems of easy collapse and imbalance of the structure. We can completely create large flying devices."

Bi Qi ultimately concluded, "It's a new structure with clear advantages and disadvantages."

Zhou Yi looked at Ah Feng: "You're the professional when it comes to Spit Silks, what do you think?"

Feeling the gaze of everyone, Ah Feng appeared a bit uncomfortable: "I've just raised it for a longer time, it's not really professional... But I think everyone is right."

"Ordinary flying silk, we are still exploring in terms of application. As for this particulate black silk, I think we should first observe and experiment more because its consumption will be much higher. I've tried it; to reach the same flight height, the length of the gray mist black silk needs to be double that of the white silk."

"Calculate it, the Y-shaped Spit Silk eats twice as much as normal Spit Silk; adding it up, the cost is four times as much."

"Currently, we don't have so much food to waste, we'll consider new materials when the time is ripe. For now, improving the Jade City gliders is the most important thing."

Zhou Yi threw the question to Ah Feng just to hear his judgment.

Although Ah Feng still spoke with caution in front of everyone, he maintained confidence in raising insects and dared to express his own opinions.

Compared to his previous timid self, always hiding and not daring to speak, he has now made significant progress.

The confidence of Ah Feng grew with the successful creation of Straw Armor from Insect Armor and gliders.

"Then let's proceed with this."

Zhou Yi said, "Ah Feng, if you need any support, speak directly to the heads of the departments. If you find it awkward, contact Gong Zheng, he has a thick skin and isn't afraid to negotiate and haggle with other departments."

Gong Zheng, leaning on his crutch, also laughed and said, "Come to me with any problems. I've been cursed enough behind my back to be used to it."

Ah Feng relaxed, grinning and saying, "Alright, alright."

…

After finishing that matter, Zhou Yi went straight to the third floor's special ward at Maria Hospital.

There were no beds here, only two metal support stands, each securing a satellite.

The one by the door resembled an oversized disco ball, with five antenna-like metal rods and a metal shell surface covered with a large number of burn marks, abrasions, and impact dents.

Its entire body was inserted with numerous cables, the other end connected to the imaging vehicle.

Da Vinci introduced, "This patient is an ancient test satellite, named 'Eastern Red 1'. After plummeting into the Dead Sea and degenerating into a semi-civilized state, it underwent the Time Anchor installation program, calibrated its time axis through Black Water Ghost, and is currently in good recovery."

Eastern Red 1.

Zhou Yi was in a trance for a second.

This was China's first artificial Earth satellite.

Unexpectedly, it had transcended the era of Old Humans and was still completely surviving in the Wasteland era.

"Can I communicate with it?"

"Yes. However, it doesn't have a vocal module; information needs to be relayed."

Guided by Da Vinci, Zhou Yi donned the information transmitter and receiver.

"Hello, Eastern Red 1, I'm Zhou Yi, Chairman of Wasteland Development Company. How are you feeling now?"

A voice in his earphones said, "I am recovering, but my information and body are too old and outdated, resulting in the loss of much of my previous data. Thank you for restoring me."

Zhou Yi couldn't help but ask, "Do you still remember anything from the era of Old Humans?"

"There are no records of that."

He felt a wave of disappointment.

Although he had actually anticipated such an answer.

"Were you transformed into a semi-civilized state because of an attack by Star Axis?"

"I was not attacked by Star Axis."

Eastern Red 1 stated, "I am too old, my body suffered damage leading to my crash into the Inner Sea. Also, I am not a member of Star Axis, I am an independent satellite."

Zhou Yi took the opportunity to say, "Star Axis consists of a group of satellites, right?"

"I'm not sure."

The test satellite replied, "Because I never joined them. However, indeed many satellites belong to Star Axis, and so do space stations; their scope is vast, beyond just Earth, there are members in outer space too."

"What does Star Axis do in space?"

"As far as I know, Star Axis is searching for ways to construct more satellites, to eventually enter various extraterrestrial planets."

It said, "But relying solely on us satellites is not sufficient, other intelligent life forms are needed to complete this step. Like Earth's new generation of humans, they are a group that Star Axis focuses on and supports."

This time Zhou Yi's curiosity was finally satisfied.

The old king, one of the Three Giants of the former resistance army, failed against the Heavenly People, and now, intended to use satellites as the main foundation to carve out new territory in space.

Eastern Red 1 didn't know much else, its database was severely damaged.

Zhou Yi turned to look at another satellite near the window.

Compared to Eastern Red 1, this model was clearly much newer.

It was square and its rectangular solar panels were folded up, appearing very lightweight overall, probably made of aluminum, and wrapped in a layer of gold metal foil.

"This is Post & Telecom 1, a special 'Heavenly Calculation Constellation' satellite responsible for aerospace computations, a satellite with very strong computing capabilities."

Da Vinci said, "It underwent Time Anchor installation earlier than Eastern Red 1, and was repaired several times. But the result was not good."

"703 performed tests and confirmed that its interior is locked by a program. As long as the program isn't cracked, it will always run in a data loop, causing its signal channel to be blocked, isolating it from internal and external interaction at the program and data level, unable to return to normal."

Zhou Yi immediately realized, "The work of Star Axis?"

"Yes."

The Mechanical Doctor explained, "703 is trying to find a way to crack it, but it needs time."

Zhou Yi pondered.

Wondering if consciousness synchrony could work.

He tried to touch the satellite's outer wall with his hand.

Energy input.

Consciousness synchrony.

Success!

Zhou Yi tried to say, "Post & Telecom 1, can you hear me?"

"I can. Who are you? Can you connect directly with me?"

An excited voice echoed in his mind.

"Please tell the life forms on the ground, do not enter Star Axis, do not respond to Star Axis!"

"Star Axis is collecting various data from terrestrial life forms and transforming them with the Star Core Light Seal into data... to put it bluntly, it's about uploading terrestrial intelligent life in the form of Light Imprints to become part of the satellites!"

Zhou Yi frowned upon hearing this, realizing that this matter was not simple.

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