Spring temperatures rose day by day, and by the end of this second month, even light clothing felt oppressively hot in the sun.

Thankfully, a downpour mitigated the extreme high temperatures slightly.

But the temperature still hovered between 26 and 28 degrees Celsius, heralding an aggressive summer ahead.

Meteorological satellites had issued early warnings.

The Program Department also compared the last 20 years of temperature data and provided a simulated estimate, reminding all regions of the Development Alliance that this summer would bring extremely high temperatures, and rainfall might be below the average. It called for early water conservation, preferably by constructing Dead Sea Channels, to ensure a sufficient supply of water for daily use.

Near Jade City, with its well-developed infrastructure, this was not a concern. At the beginning of the year, Gongsun Bao had just specially constructed a third Dead Sea Channel for the rice paddies.

Afterward, he was invited by Lord Sand Sea to construct the fourth Dead Sea Channel for Sand Port City—to resolve their water supply and irrigation issues. Gongsun Bao further established a supporting clean water reservoir, separating drinking and irrigation water.

Zhou Yi was most satisfied that the rice cultivation, which the Agricultural Machinery Brothers had begun preparing for since last year, had finally become large-scale rice fields this spring. Blocks of lush green seedlings were a comforting sight.

If all went well, rice could be harvested in July and August, and they could taste the new rice grown by the company.

Zhou Yi had waited five full years for this day.

He felt emotional.

Having a bowl of rice was proving harder than dealing with Duke Destructive.

On this day, Zhou Yi was strolling through the rice paddies.

The fields gave him a sense of calm and peace, a symbol of the Sand Port people's transformation of nature, and it was a place Zhou Yi now enjoyed visiting.

Red Kestrel flew in hurriedly.

"Zhou, Recursive City sends the latest news; Shangyang has completed the reorganization and integration of Mechanical City, officially establishing the Legal Front, and through legal review, enacted the 'Resource Concentration and Allocation Act.'"

The Legal Front was a coalition of many operators of Mechanical City who governed by law.

Different cities adjusted policies and regulations under the law, but the fundamental system was consistent.

Rather than calling it a special form of government, it was closer to a special programmed ideology.

"Currently, the Legal Front totals 106 Mechanical Cities, all of which have completed the necessary physical equipment construction and installation."

The drone reported with a serious tone: "The 32 Mechanical Cities that did not join were either swallowed by other forces or remained independent, all mid-to-small-sized cities."

"The most important is the 'Resource Concentration and Allocation Act,' which involves resource control and distribution methods across cities, with many specific policy details."

"I've summarized it."

"This act mainly consists of five parts."

"First, unify control over all industries' production and distribution to avoid the fluctuations and uncertainties of the market economy."

"Second, control the prices of goods and wages of workers to ensure the progress of various industries and social stability."

"Third, establish a job allocation system to ensure stable employment for residents of Mechanical City and reduce the waste of labor."

"Fourth, prioritize military and agriculture. Military industries will be mass-produced and undergo continuous research and development, driving the turnover of civilian goods. Agriculture will be fully urban collective, unifying the promotion of agricultural production, distribution, and exports."

"Fifth, promote labor competition among cities, with rewards ranging from 100 Light Seeds to 10,000 Light Seeds to enhance worker productivity."

Red Kestrel said with some concern: "The trial of the resource act has been very effective."

"During the one-week internal trial, 11 economically distressed cities stopped their losses, and over 100 unemployed or job-seeking Mechanical Lifeforms were reabsorbed into cities for redistribution and reemployment."

"The change this time is unprecedented… especially the focus on military and agricultural sectors will not just be an industrial shift, but will ultimately lead to further external expansion and military threats."

Zhou Yi took some time to digest this information.

The reforms Shangyang made to Mechanical City, from these specific measures, resembled that of a planned economy.

But considering the special nature of Mechanical City, and that the real rulers are now legal programs, it's akin to the city's operation being entirely entrusted to AI, relying on the data centers of Mechanical City to make decisions and take action.

This path might be the most suitable for them.

The emphasized development of military and agriculture, the former boosts their inherent strengths, and the latter complements the weaknesses they previously displayed.

The war is not over; it has just transformed.

Zhou Yi couldn't help but recall the Warlord's warning.

—Mechanical Cities have never been defeated.

They tend to be overlooked, but they are actually the core C-position of the former resistance.

What the company defeated was merely the general protocol form.

Zhou Yi asked, "What moves has the Legal Front made externally?"

"They've purchased seven Human Cities from nearby sea lords, all adjacent to Mechanical Cities."

"Human Cities?"

"Yes."

Red Kestrel said, "Those cities have a lot of barren land, now transformed into military factories and farms. They need land and are still buying continuously."

Zhou Yi stroked his chin.

The Legal Front, now holding the Light Seed savings of hundreds of Mechanical Cities, are bona fide financial giants. Just throwing money around is enough to purchase the land they want.

In the past, the main issue was mutual checks and balances between cities, internal conflicts of interest; now, by switching directly to a planned group structure, the lethality displayed will far exceed the past.

Zhou Yi said, "What's Heavenly Kingdom's stance on this?"

Red Kestrel said, "There are no public moves yet. According to some information from the Guangna Species, the Heavenly Kingdom is mobilizing its defenses, sending more troops and strengthening military preparedness in areas adjacent to Mechanical City."

The response of the Heavenly Kingdom explained everything.

Zhou Yi knew in his heart that a new round of challenges, or even war, was likely not far off.

The company must accelerate the advancement of its industries during this last period of stability.

...

By the end of this spring, Zhou Yi still had not waited for the return of the revived Land God.

The suspended layers had been constructed batch after batch, looking like giant black Ganoderma that had grown from the Dead Sea, encircling most of the Sand Port Region.

Bone Man Wu Yi, after repeated attempts, found a viable way to connect them—the Wuhu Elevated Bridge.

By extending this Building Life toward the sides of the suspended layers, it provided circular pathways suitable for vehicles on the suspended lands above the sea, allowing vehicles to enter each suspended layer of farmland to transport crops and fertilizer.

The benefit of this method was that the elevated bridge itself was strong and stable, allowing for the connection of various suspended layers with a relatively light weight. There was no need to calculate complicated construction methods.

Zhou Yi did not wait for Land God, but he received another piece of good news.

"Chairman, we've made it!"

703 rushed over excitedly, saying, "The Program Department has created the Electric Cat Transcoder!! We can now read information from the electric cats!"

Zhou Yi's gaze sharpened: "Confirmed?"

"Confirmed! The accuracy is very high!"

The robot dog, along with the mechanical programmers Walker and Sai Nuojie, immediately demonstrated this process to Zhou Yi.

They connected a wire to a copper coil of a cat house, the other end of the wire passed through a device that looked like an adapter, then connected to an oscilloscope, and finally to an enhanced controller.

703 raised its mechanical claw and activated the cat house.

An electric cat sprang out, zipping back and forth along the wire, sparking arcs of electricity.

The robot dog explained, "Chairman, this is our Program Department's working electric cat, Flash Spirit 2, we call it 'Biting Cat.'"

"Although it likes to bite, it does not hurt much. However, it can cause slight electrical signal interference to our mechanical life. It's actually its way of showing friendliness and wanting to play."

It approached the Biting Cat, lifted its metal forelimb, and the Biting Cat zapped it with an electric arc, causing the robot dog's body to stiffen for two seconds.

"…Just like this."

After 703 recovered, it pointed to the set up: "The electric signals emitted by the Biting Cat enter the oscilloscope through the transcoder, turning into recognizable signal waveforms. Then, through an improved program in the enhanced controller, we interpret the signals."

"Walker."

The humanoid robot Walker lifted the controller in its hand, turning the screen towards Zhou Yi, "Chairman, please look."

On the glass screen, an image of a simplified electric cat head appeared, with a speech bubble emerging from it.

[Want to play with me? Come and play!]

"Then."

703 plugged its own connection wire into it.

Below the dialogue box of the cat head, a new square appeared.

Text began to pop up.

[Biting Cat, running back and forth.]

Then the electric cat began shuttling back and forth nearby, turning into streaks of electricity.

[Biting Cat, rolling around.]

The electric cat started rolling on the ground, like a spinning ball of lightning.

[Biting Cat, return to the cat house.]

It suddenly dived back into the miniature glass house of the electric ball.

Zhou Yi looked on in shock, "Has the company's program development capability already reached this level?"

The corresponding follow-up was a bit too fast.

"Thanks to Recursive City, the data center there is very impressive."

703 said happily, "The hardest decoding, compiling, and algorithms were all figured out by them. We just found an idea and conducted the final physical test."

"Actually, electric signal technology has a lot of data left over from the times of the Old Humans, as well as a complex and vast program library. We obtained many usable parts from them, otherwise, it wouldn't be this fast starting from scratch."

Zhou Yi nodded.

Indeed.

Speaking of the field of electricity and the utilization of electric signals, the people of the Wasteland age have to study diligently and explore the technology of the Old Humans as a shortcut.

"With the Electric Cat Transcoder, we can chat and converse directly with the electric cats, and the transmission and reception of electric signals are very fast, almost without delay. Although there are some subtle parts that might have loss and errors when translating codes, the basic information transfer is not a problem."

703 continued, "The electric cats trained by the Electricity Department are already at baseline intelligence. Through chatting and conversation, they grow very fast."

"They will become important partners for our various departments!"

"Once the network of heaven and earth is established, the electric cats will be the best postmen, guardians, and intelligence agents for the company!"

Zhou Yi immediately said, "Start mass-producing the Electric Cat Transcoder, fit one for every department in the company, and... get me one too."

"Yes, Chairman!"

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