I Am Cultivating in the Apocalypse

Chapter 673: Back to Wu City

Boss Lu left behind many things, but there were even more people in the building. Even with rationing and adding Bone Powder, their supplies still hit rock bottom in a matter of days.

When old rotten mermaids died, their corpses sank into the ground and swiftly transformed into White Energy. Consuming this White Energy, in turn, would hatch new rotten mermaids. It was an endless cycle of life and death.

This land, it truly was a treasure!

Based on her recent mapping, Jing Shu had a general understanding of this Mudstone Flow Sea area. Huaxia had never possessed such terrain before, so it must have emerged after tectonic shifts. However, whether it originated from a specific location or appeared out of thin air was impossible to determine.

And so, Jing Shu devised a plan to have people salvage the bones from underground as well.

She couldn’t make promises about other things, but at least the Bone Powder was undeniably filling.

As everyone spoke of their arrow-like eagerness to return home, Jing Shu’s longing to quickly reach Wu City intensified. Knowing their approximate location, their progress sped up considerably.

During the general meeting, everyone was excited. After Jun Jia implemented several measures, joy filled every face.

Jing Shu casually asked, "Now that it looks like we might return to Wu City soon, will the auction that’s been delayed for three months still proceed?"

Upon hearing this, Jun Jia shook his head like a rattle drum. "No, no. The necessary handovers were completed at the time. Subsequent damage assessments and subsidies will be handled accordingly. Let’s leave any further matters to... Jun Bao." He clearly no longer wanted to be in charge.

"Oh? Then..." Jing Shu touched her chin, asking nonchalantly, "Does that mean the building isn’t getting auctioned after all?"

Jun Jia gave a wry smile. "The building is in such a state, and we don’t even know where it might drift. If it ends up outside Wu City, it’ll be completely worthless. If, by some miracle, it drifts into Wu City’s residential area, it could only be sold at a steep discount. Perhaps we should ask Qian Duoduo if they need it..." His words may have been casual, but Jing Shu took careful note.

Even though the building was now just an empty shell, filthy with excrement, it was still an edifice capable of sheltering thousands from the wind and rain of the apocalypse. With a thorough cleaning, it could become a decent shelter.

Is it just a matter of waiting to see where the building drifts?

Jing Shu fell silent, a plan already forming in her mind. That day, she didn’t hesitate to use a significant amount of the milky Spiritual Spring to accelerate the breeding of more rotten mermaids.

It’s a pity I’m still short of some Virtual Coins.

Jing Shu was also reluctant to trade all her red worm cakes for the building. After all, with the migration imminent, food supplies like Insect Cakes were of paramount importance.

「After another three days.」

Everyone’s diet had transitioned to solely Bone Powder mush, which was, at least, still filling.

For those who were extremely hungry, the fragrant Bone Powder mush might have chewed like sand, but they could just swallow it down directly.

The only downside was that eating too much of it caused internal heat; bowel movements became like small, dry pellets, uncomfortably irritating one’s rear. These were truly harsh times—either you starved, or if you ate your fill, your backside ached.

Just as Jing Shu was still pondering her dilemma, a series of RUMBLES suddenly echoed from the sky, accompanied by the familiar BLARE of a horn.

"The rescue team is here!"

"They’ve finally found us!"

"We’re saved!"

The people inside the building erupted in cheers. At that moment, they cared little about the potential danger of monsters swarming outside; everyone rushed out to see the helicopter.

The helicopter landed steadily on the building’s periphery. Three people disembarked, their excitement palpable. Their three-month search had nearly driven them to despair, but the one in charge had provided a substantial amount of oil from their private reserves. An untold amount of this fuel had been burned daily, dispatching all of Wu City’s aircraft in an exhaustive carpet search.

It had to be said, while they hadn’t accomplished much else these past few months, they had managed to redraw the map of Wu City and, in doing so, made many other chilling discoveries.

Ultimately, they had found everything *except* for the massive building itself.

Jun Jia had everyone make way and welcomed the newcomers into the conference room. There, he gave the crowd a pep talk, a dose of Chicken Blood, and sternly warned that anyone causing trouble now would be left behind. This managed to calm the boisterous, excited people.

In the conference room, after the rescue team briefly inquired about the situation, they began discussing the evacuation plan. Jing Shu, however, frowned in confusion.

She wasn’t sure if it was a coincidence, but right after she had guided the building out of the Mud Sea, it suddenly felt as if she had crossed some invisible ’boundary,’ and everything had surfaced.

Team leader Liu Ge said, "I’ve already sent the coordinates. They’ll rush here immediately once they get the news. We’re only about eighty kilometers from Wu City... What are your orders for our next steps?"

Jun Jia frowned. "There are 1,600 people in this building. A large plane is too big to land, and the helicopter is too small—it can only carry a few people at a time. Take Gold Dominator back first. Then, dispatch a transport team to bring some food. Finally, depending on where the building comes to a stop, we’ll organize the main rescue operation."

"It’s strange, speaking of which," Liu Ge added. "We thoroughly searched the direction you came from, yet we never once encountered you."

"Let’s not dwell on that now. We need to act quickly," Jun Jia urged. Having faced life and death, he was more eager than ever to go home and enjoy a milk tea, not wanting to stay here a moment longer.

Gold Dominator, holding onto a sow, looked at Jing Shu. "You come with me." Although he couldn’t stand her, this woman had an undeniable knack for raising pigs. The sow had piglets, a matter not to be taken lightly. Crucially, for some unknown reason, the sow was especially attached to Jing Shu; with her around, it remained calm and quiet.

Jing Shu, unaware that Gold Dominator saw her as some kind of pig midwife, was somewhat touched. "You all go first. The principal from our school is still here; it wouldn’t look good if I left before them." Jing Shu actually wanted to leave. However, she was the one controlling the building, and it needed to be moved through official channels. Otherwise, wouldn’t it be far more convenient to secretly claim it and just dump it in the wilderness somewhere?

Now, Jing Shu had even finalized her plans for where to situate the building.

"Then I won’t leave either! It would look bad if people found out I left early, Uncle. I’ll stay with you a bit longer," Gold Dominator pouted. Anyway, they were safe now that the rescue team had arrived; there wasn’t much to worry about.

Jun Jia then said to the rescue team leader, "Captain Li, please go ahead. Brief my brother-in-law on the situation so they won’t worry. Then, coordinate the follow-up rescue efforts and accommodation arrangements... Also, notify the families of those on the list." These tasks had to be done. The casualties had been horrific—nearly half of them lost—an undeniably brutal toll.

Jing Shu also felt a pang of melancholy; her rotten mermaids couldn’t be revealed openly and would have to be brought along secretly.

The helicopter departed again with a loud WHIRR. Everyone knew it was going for reinforcements and supplies. Sure enough, a short while later, several more helicopters arrived. From then on, the powerful THROBBING sound from outside never ceased...

Powerful searchlights illuminated the exterior, making it as bright as day. As the surrounding scenery slowly grew familiar, everyone was overjoyed.

Only Gold Dominator, puzzled, asked Jun Jia,

"Uncle, do you think there’s something wrong with this building? A few months ago, it drifted away from Wu City, all the way to that godforsaken place where birds don’t shit and turtles don’t lay eggs. I thought we were all doomed, especially with so many monsters breaking in... Who knew that just as we were about to die, the monsters would recede like the tide? And then the building just floated and floated, right back to where it started?

"What was the point of this huge detour? What did we even accomplish? Did we just go on a trip with it?"