Chapter 59 Under the Dunes <TOC> Chapter 61 Listing Comment
Translator: SumTLMan
An electronic encyclopedia popped up on the remote controller screen.
Sand Rats are a small, brown-yellow rodent species, with flat claws at their fingertips, short necks, and slender mouths.
The description was scanty, just a few words.
……
[Sand Rat]
Habits: Social, adept at digging and collecting.
……
Red Falcon said: “According to the species definition, Light Absorber species must have Light Absorber organs, capable of collecting Dead Light and converting it into energy. Sand Rats do not possess this characteristic; they are just common small animals.”
Zhou Yi ordered: “Retrieve all records related to Sand Rats from Recursion City’s database.”
“Retrieved.”
Lines of text appeared on the screen.
—Basic Guidelines for Sand Rat Breeding—, —Common Methods to Prevent Sand Rat Transmitted Diseases—, —Ethical Standards for Using Sand Rats in Live Experiments—, —Treatment Procedures for Sand Rat Hoarding Disorder—……
In the records, Sand Rats were either used as experimental subjects, live feeds for other creatures, or merely footnotes in regional ecological surveys.
This species seemed unremarkable.
Zhou Yi patiently read through the relevant information and discovered an inconsistency.
Sand Rats live socially and dig underground, but only construct nests at the animal level, usually built near water sources or human settlements, away from dangerous predators.
Building underground nests in sand dunes occupied by Stinging Antlions is against their nature.
Using chicken feathers and bones to ensure nest safety, leveraging Stinging Antlions to deter potential predators, and constructing functionally defined and clearly planned complex underground city-like nests must require clear directives and intelligence.
It seemed that among this group of Sand Rats, perhaps a mutated leader with considerable intelligence had emerged.
Just as Zhou Yi was pondering this, A Jin, who was working on the excavation, made another discovery.
“Chairman, there’s another layer below; it’s actually a double-layered nest!”
Zhou Yi turned his gaze.
Under the drone camera, a deeper layer showed an intersecting structure with the upper layer.
In the deep storage room, A Jin found some seeds.
He picked up one of the round seeds, examined it, and said: “These are acorns from Sand Oaks. Some have already sprouted buds. Strange, they aren’t eating these seeds; they’re just storing them for winter.”
“This is a seed of Stinging Grass; there are many of these in the Oasis Zone.” A Jin grabbed a handful of something resembling peeled cucumber seeds and said: “But these grass seeds are dry and hard, with no edible parts. What are they collecting these for?”
Zhou Yi had a vague suspicion.
He instructed the Red Falcon to raise the viewpoint, instantly revealing that the Sand Rats’ underground city in the dunes formed a strip-like band, one end extending deep into the dunes, the other connecting to the Oasis area.
Zhou Yi immediately ordered: “Continue digging, follow these underground tunnels, and find the endpoints at both ends.”
Thus, the vigorous late-night excavation project commenced.
The Ridge Spine Hunter hovered high in the sky, glowing all over, acting as artificial suns for illumination. Below, the excavation was carried out by Hammerhead Soldiers, while A Jin conducted field surveys to identify various items inside.
As the excavation work progressed, the astonishing appearance of the Sand Rats’ underground kingdom began to surface.
Their underground tunnels extended west to Death Dunes, east to the Oasis Zone reaching beneath Grub Grain Town’s caves, and further east to the beach area near Dead Sea, less than 1000 meters from Jade Emerald City.
Going north delved into the Claw Boar group’s territory, and south approached Mushroom Forest.
The Grub Grain Town area had a vast underground kingdom spanning east, south, west, and north. Sand Rats could safely enter these regions through underground tunnels at any time, conducting observations and collecting resources in different areas.
They stored large quantities of dry grass, branches, feces, and seeds, building a magnificent underground city with extensive networks, a natural marvel.
These seemingly inconspicuous and weak creatures had control over the surrounding land that exceeded any other group.
Even Red Falcon said: “The situation here is very abnormal, very abnormal!”
“The grass seeds and tree species they store highly overlap with the ecology of the Oasis area. Near the underground tunnels, there are the most numerous and densest saplings and Stinging Grass, all growing outward from the tunnel-covered zone… These Sand Rats are continuously planting trees and creating grasslands, or rather, they are maintaining or even creating the Oasis Zone.”
“With the labor force of Sand Rats, to build such a complex and interconnected vast underground tunnel system and maintain its continuous expansion is almost impossible. Assuming 20,000 Sand Rats dig and build tirelessly, it would take at least 40 years of high-intensity work to achieve.”
“Sand Rats have a lifespan of less than 2 years, that’s 20 generations, totaling nearly 4 million Sand Rats’ lifetime labor accumulation.”
“Considering the scale of the underground nests, construction standards, and the significance of their social behaviors, this is already a city-state, even a special underground kingdom.”
“This has never been recorded in the database.”
4 million Sand Rats.
They are also planting trees and grass, transforming the environment.
Zhou Yi felt a bit numb.
His own judgment of Sand Rats had been too conservative.
According to Red Falcon’s assessment, this group of Sand Rats must have clear divisions of labor, a relatively clear social order, dedicated food suppliers, and specialized diggers and transport workers to mobilize a large workforce for long-term continuous operations.
They have now disappeared without a trace.
“The underground city has discovered Sand Rats’ flat-claw footprints.”
Red Falcon continued: “All the footprints are moving in the same direction; they are orderly retreating westward toward the dunes, not far from Chicken Head Town. I suspect that as winter approaches, they are migrating to the Chicken Head Town area to avoid attacks from the Light Absorber species here. That area belongs to Sand Port’s jurisdiction, has protective forces, and is relatively safe.”
“An evacuation of this scale would require a considerable amount of time, so it must have been planned in advance. There are no signs of disturbance or modification in the nest’s reserves.”
Zhou Yi had various thoughts flashing through his mind.
Sand Rats themselves are weak and common, not easily noticeable, and have deeply cultivated the Grub Grain Town area for at least decades. They are the true old-timers, with ears and eyes everywhere.
They have long maintained a low-profile underground life, with no conflict of interest with the company. It might be possible to try communicating with them to see if they can be appeased.
Zhou Yi instructed the Red Falcon to mark the underground city on the map, and also directed A Jin to have the Warrior Crabs cover the excavated underground nests with sand, restoring them as much as possible, and leaving a considerable number of dry mushrooms as compensation for the damaged partial fortifications.
This underground kingdom is a marvel built by Sand Rats; it’s a pity to damage it.
However, A Jin was somewhat indignant: “Chairman, you don’t know, it’s these Sand Rats that often steal our stuff! Everyone in Grub Grain Town has been stolen from by them. They dig holes everywhere; no wonder we always can’t find their old nests!”
“When we catch these Sand Rats, they will deliberately crawl into small holes to be caught by us, covering for other Sand Rats. They are very cunning.”
Zhou Yi told him: “A Jin, remember, you are an employee of the Wasteland Development Company. The company aims to develop this land to maximize the use of existing resources to generate more profits and value, not simply and brutally expel the indigenous inhabitants, engaging in plunder and exploitation.”
A Jin bowed his head and remained silent.
Life for the new humans is tough; hating Sand Rats who steal their property is normal.
Zhou Yi changed the angle again: “A Jin, suppose we expel the Sand Rats and Claw Boars that pose a threat to humans, what would happen here?”
“Without Sand Rats, no one would plant trees and grass, the Oasis would become smaller and smaller. Because the people of Grub Grain Town are used to habitually collecting branches and wood, gathering dry grass, until the fuel becomes less and less, and eventually, winters become colder and harder to endure, with the possibility of people dying each winter.”
“Without Claw Boars, there would be no feces from them, our Monster Lure Mushrooms couldn’t be cultivated, losing important economic crops. And the people living here would lose the main source of feces production, mushroom yields would greatly decrease, and hunger would become more severe.”
“Eventually, Grub Grain Town would decline faster than now. Because the people of Grub Grain Town survive here closely related to various surrounding creatures, they cannot live alone on this not-so-fertile land.”
He was not only persuading A Jin but also trying to make the company’s new human employees understand the importance of sustainable development for long-term stability.
The voice transmitted by the Red Falcon made A Jin’s eyes look somewhat confused.
The young man was in a daze for a while, then his eyes regained their sparkle.
“Chairman, I understand.”
“Like our scavengers, if no one leaves anything behind, there’s nothing to scavenge! We must allow others and monsters to exist; only then can our company obtain more things!”
Zhou Yi said: “Exactly.”
It’s easy to dig up, but restoring takes more time.
The underground city’s restoration work continued until daylight.
New humans are diurnal, staying hidden during the day and active at night. Even after joining the company, they still maintained ancient traditions.
But today, A Jin was still working during the day, busily working with the Warrior Crabs.
It was noon.
Zhou Yi went to the kitchen to cook a portion of white rice, then unpacked a bag of braised chicken legs, a bag of dried beef, and a bag of spicy kelp strands, preparing to start his meal.
At this moment, a horn sounded outside.
He walked to the window to look.
A silver-black heavy truck had stopped outside the gate wall of Jade Emerald City, and Qian Su, wearing a felt hat, was waving to greet.