I Am Cultivating in the Apocalypse

Chapter 682: Bone Powder Factory

Especially fragrant and equally delicious!

After some thought, Liu said, "Its bones can be ground into powder and used as satiating food, or as a spice to enhance the flavor of other foods. Of course, they also have a strategic significance: they can rapidly heal external wounds and form a kind of petrified skin on the surface."

The eyes of the others inexplicably lit up.

In the apocalypse, food is more precious than anything else. Anything that can be used as food has great potential for development, let alone just a pile of animal bones.

Jing Shu clearly saw the originally worried expressions turn into pairs of eager eyes, like a pack of wolves eyeing their prey.

"Shall we go test it then?"

"Go, go quickly." Jing Shu knew that unless these people conducted the experiments themselves, they wouldn’t be convinced.

People quickly fetched milling tools and brought over pots; some even brought mixed grain porridge and Insect Cakes.

Jing Shu nodded, feeling much reassured as she watched these veteran employees. After all, having worked in the factory for so many years, they quickly understood the benefits these bones represented.

The white bones were quickly tested by everyone in batches. First, they cooked a large pot of Bone Powder porridge, with each person tasting just a mouthful.

The Bone Powder was ground as fine as soy milk this time; the grit was very small, and one wouldn’t feel the sandy texture unless it was chewed carefully. The texture was much thicker than soy milk but more aromatic, and it was thinner than rice porridge. Just a single white bone could make a pot of porridge.

"A skeleton can barely make enough thick porridge for 100 people. The feeling of fullness isn’t as strong as that from an Insect Cake; I estimate you’d feel hungry again after urinating, probably in about two hours."

Then they added Bone Powder to several large pots of mixed grain porridge in different proportions.

"According to this ratio, the new porridge made of five parts mixed grains and one part Bone Powder tastes the best, and it also gives a stronger sense of fullness. The key is it could save a lot of grain."

They also incorporated Bone Powder into the Insect Cakes in various proportions.

"Just one-tenth Bone Powder is enough to make Insect Cakes taste much better, almost as good as steamed buns!"

All eyes turned to the bones with even more eagerness, as if they had discovered a treasure trove in a new world. Although this treasure had no direct relation to them and belonged to the boss, Jing Shu, the taste was genuinely good. At the very least, it meant they could improve their diet in the future, right?

Moreover, the better the Insect Cake Factory did, the better off they would be.

"Goodness, the boss spent 8 million on this building, and it came with so many treasures. It’s so worth it, not a loss at all."

"Boss, why don’t we skip cleaning today? Let’s just dig out all the white bones underneath the building and tally them up. If there’s a lot, we can add it to the Insect Cakes according to the ratios. If there’s not much, we’ll treat it as a rare commodity."

White bones couldn’t be made into a standalone food like Insect Cakes; there was too much grit. Although it tasted good, who swallows star anise or cinnamon directly? But when mixed with other foods, it not only made them taste better but could also save a good deal of other grains and increase the feeling of fullness.

Jing Shu quickly curbed their fervent enthusiasm. This was a serious matter, she thought, a meticulously planned move to legitimize the rotten mermaids.

"Previously, we were attacked by these monsters—tens of thousands of them swarmed us. Afterwards, they left without a trace. I suspect that the space beneath this building is their graveyard, their main camp. We must be careful not to dig them all out, in case more monsters appear.

You all should also be cautious these days; you never know when another creature might emerge."

Everyone shivered at the thought and quickly dismissed the idea. Even Jing Shu’s Uncle decided to arrange for more patrols.

"Each day, we will excavate one hundred skeletons of white bones to be ground into powder. Incorporate this into the Insect Cakes at a 10:1 ratio. This batch of special Insect Cakes will be called Mermaid Insect Cakes and will sell for twice the price of the ordinary kind. If we can’t sell all of it, we’ll store it without dropping the price. We’ll continue this until we’ve dug up all the white bones, then we’ll stop selling this product."

The Insect Cake Factory currently produced several types of cakes. The most sold were the ordinary kind and the cheapest kind mixed with soil, the Earth Worm Cake.

"Of course, we can also dig up an extra one or two skeletons every day for everyone to use as seasoning. Consider this my treat. Liu, charge this to my personal account."

That’s the downside of expanding the factory, Jing Shu thought. Everything extra must be accounted for and recorded.

"Furthermore, each day we will dig up an extra twenty skeletons of white bones. Grind them into powder and sell it in portions of the same size as the Insect Cakes, at 1.5 Virtual Coins per portion. We’ll market it as both a seasoning and as Type A healing patches. I’ll send you the details about its functions and usage later."

"Next, we’ll add twenty more Bone Diggers and twenty more grinding powder people, and then increase..."

Her Uncle seemed a bit confused and asked, "This Type A healing patch sells for 1.5 Virtual Coins. Does that mean there’s also a Type B healing patch? How much would that one sell for, and where is it now?"

Jing Shu laughed. "If you have a severe wound, just using this ground Bone Powder mixed with my Type B Healing Medicine will speed up your recovery. The only downside is that it might petrify the skin. I’m still considering the Type B healing patch; I at least need to report it to the Medicine Association first. For now, you can start selling the Type A."

Jing Shu controlled the technology, and all the mermaid saliva was with her. The entire Merfolk species was here, so she had no fear of her technology leaking. It was just like when she started the factory; she always had contingency plans.

To others, the healing properties were considered nice to have but not essential. They were certainly not as important as the ability to satisfy hunger, especially in the apocalypse where external injuries were rare. People mostly suffered from various diseases and chronic illnesses, and severe external injuries almost always led to death anyway.

But at least it offered an additional safeguard.

The Bone Powder grinding workshop was set up inside the building, along with the processing facilities for the Mermaid Insect Cakes. The building became a division of the Insect Cake Factory: the Mud Mermaid Bone Powder Factory, commonly referred to as the Bone Powder Factory.

Sanitation still had to be maintained. To be transferred to work at the Bone Powder Factory, these employees were incredibly eager. They knew full well that the Bone Powder Factory required a new core workforce and staff, and they intuitively felt that the compensation there might be even better than at the Insect Cake Factory!

Importantly, if these workers moved to the Bone Powder Factory, they would effectively be promoted.

And Liu became the factory manager of the Bone Powder Factory branch, also handling its finances, as the finances of the two factories weren’t separate.

Jing Shu, of course, was not idle either. Since the upgrade of her space, the rotten mermaids she had been breeding there had matured batch after batch. Jing Shu had already sent several groups of these rotten mermaids along with Little Worm Girl’s insects to dig tunnels beneath the ground.

Beneath the Bone Powder Factory Building lay a dense mass of wild rotten mermaids. Since they weren’t born in her space, they couldn’t form a strong psychic connection or contract with Jing Shu and couldn’t be commanded from afar, so they were left to dig tunnels under Wu City.

Those that were dying would consciously dig a hole beneath the building and wait to die there.

Yet no new wild rotten mermaids were born.