I Am Cultivating in the Apocalypse

Chapter 667: Without Food

"I’m fine." All I wanted was to get some good rest. Who knew that upgrading the space wouldn’t give me a break? It felt like after I gave the last command, I was completely drained.

"Sister Jing, where did you go? We looked everywhere and couldn’t find you!" Li Chenglong complained a little, yet his tone also carried concern. It was so dangerous; why didn’t she know how to take care of herself?

Jing Shu remained silent.

"I knew it, Sister Jing! You must have been up to something big. Maybe all the monsters retreated because of you," Li Chenglong said as he helped Jing Shu sit on the ground. He then switched to "loudspeaker mode," announcing to his uncle that Jing Shu had been found. Soon after, Jun Jia arrived with a large group of people.

Seeing Jing Shu was all right, Li Chenglong also felt relieved. My Turtle Snake Wine is secured now, he thought. Otherwise, this chronic rheumatism could kill me.

Gold Dominator, still carrying the two pigs, was trembling uncontrollably. He grunted, "Look how scared you got. You’re not much better off than me."

Gold Dominator never forgot about the Jinhua Sows he carried, especially if one was the last of its kind. He’d even decided that in a dire situation, he’d eat them. He was practically salivating at the sight of the two pigs now.

"It’s good that you’re okay," Jun Jia said, noticing the blood covering Jing Shu. "Chenglong, take the patrol team and check the surroundings. Once it’s confirmed safe, we’ll go down." Then he asked, "What happened earlier when we couldn’t find you?"

After resting for a moment, Jing Shu took a sip of the hot water Liu had handed her—her "special" supply—and then called everyone to follow her to the hot pot restaurant where they had been earlier.

Jun Jia assigned some temporary tasks: Dr. Zhang was to lead a team to check if the injured could be treated, and Wang Miao would lead another to take stock of the current situation. After every battle, things were chaotic, with many small matters to address. However, the most pressing concern for everyone now was whether the monsters would return.

The hall was a mess. Many people, understandably, had been so scared they’d wet their pants. Not to mention, quite a few had been constipated for weeks, wanting to relieve themselves but unable to. The fright had just made them lose control. A warm stream ran down their legs; it had been a long time since they’d felt such warmth, albeit a bit sticky.

The hall reeked of an indescribable odor.

Jing Shu quickened her pace.

Liu followed, head held high, unfazed by the strange looks he received after handing Jing Shu the water. He was proud; he’d never forget his leader’s hot water bottle, no matter where they went. He just knew it: the boss, with her black box, must have been attending to important business.

Everyone stared in surprise at the storage room, which had a large, forcibly created hole in its wall.

"This is it." Jing Shu kicked aside a pile of rotten mermaid skeletons blocking the large hole in front of what looked like a secret safe.

Gold Dominator felt a chill run down his spine. The others quietly swallowed, a sense of awe washing over them. It looked like Jing Shu had killed a significant number of monsters.

Once inside, they couldn’t help but gasp. The secret storage room was small, barely fitting the few of them standing, and supplies were piled high everywhere. But the supplies were now in a sorry state. Rice and flour were scattered everywhere. Sausages and smoked ducks hanging from hooks were embedded with many small Shi Zi and stone flakes, and everything was spattered with bloodstains.

This itself wasn’t devastating. It seemed as if a shockwave had ravaged the place; most of the supplies had been shattered by the force.

Jing Shu figured Da Ji’s explosion must have destroyed some supplies. Then came the insect’s screech, so powerful it nearly ruptured her eardrums. That must have been the shockwave that did the rest of the damage.

The others weren’t Jing Shu, and their focus was different. When Jing Shu first saw the storage room, she had been a little surprised by the sheer amount of food and meat. However, most of it was common stuff, things she could already produce in her space.

If it hadn’t been contaminated, I might have considered taking it into my space, Jing Shu thought. But now it’s stained with blood and riddled with countless small Shi Zi. What’s more, it’s all mixed with Da Ji’s remains. The very idea is disgusting. Who knows what problems eating it might cause? She immediately lost interest.

However, the storage room also contained some weapons. Amidst the chaos, Jing Shu had already stashed them into her space, a considerable bounty. I’ll take a good look when I get back and see what kinds there are, she planned. In the apocalypse, these weapons are almost top-notch treasures. The main problem is the lack of ammunition.

"My God, so much food!"

"This is Boss Lu’s storage room, right?"

Jing Shu nodded.

Jun Jia clenched his teeth. He had been wanting to ask, "Where is Boss Lu?"

Jing Shu pointed to the ground.

Only then did the others look over and realize Li Yuetian was standing on a shriveled husk of skin and some clothes.

Jun Jia staggered back, landing his backside on a bag of rice and flour. He yelped as something sharp pricked him.

Without changing his expression, Li Yuetian kicked the remains aside. Disgusting, he thought.

Jing Shu explained, "He was drained dry by a powerful monster."

Nobody asked where the powerful monster had gone. After all, only Jing Shu had emerged. Seeing the gruesome scene, everyone couldn’t help but regard Jing Shu with newfound respect. Her black box is like a treasure chest, with many compartments and all sorts of supplies. And she herself is even more mysterious—not only immensely strong but also possessing unexpected abilities.

"Sausage!" Gold Dominator dropped the cage—he couldn’t care less how powerful Jing Shu was right now—grabbed a sausage, and started gnawing on it. He immediately yelped, a tooth snapping, and blood gushed from his mouth. "PTOOEY! PTOOEY! PTOOEY! Why are there so many sharp Shi Zi in this?!"

Jing Shu didn’t have the heart to tell him they were fragments from Da Ji’s remains.

Just then, Li Chenglong rushed over. "Uncle, they’re all gone! Vanished without a trace! But the second floor... all the food on the second floor has been eaten! Nothing’s left! What are we going to do?"

"All of it?"

"All of it! Including Sister Jing’s two truckloads of Insect Cake! Even the tables, chairs, kitchenware, and the clay stoves we built—all gone! There’s just a pile of droppings left!" Li Chenglong was near tears.

They were trapped on this isolated outpost, relying on Jing Shu’s two truckloads of Insect Cake to survive. As long as they had food, they could keep living. Now, they had nothing.

Jun Jia pointed to the storage room. Any hope he’d felt was instantly doused with cold water. He asked, "With what’s in this room, how long can the survivors last?"

This time, the casualties had been severe. It was unlike the last attack, where Jing Shu had blocked most of the monsters, with only a few dozen reaching the upper floors and scattering across the seven levels.

Li Yuetian surveyed the remaining supplies and said, "Even with 1,500 people, if we ration carefully, this food will only last three or four days."

The supplies here were varied, mostly personal stashes with limited quantities of each item. Some were filling, others merely snacks.

Liu spoke up hesitantly, "I had the driver and a few others move out dozens of boxes of Insect Cakes earlier, but with so many people, it’s only enough for one day..."

Jing Shu was powerless this time. The rotten mermaids had eaten all the Insect Cakes from her truck, and she couldn’t conjure up any more food.

"Let’s distribute the spoils of war first," someone declared. "We have to survive!"