I Am Cultivating in the Apocalypse

Chapter 694: Mutation Rotten Corpse Insects Strike Back

To travel day and night without anyone catching a cold, the queen’s tent needed to be large and warm. It also had to be equipped with everything necessary. Moreover, many Insect eggs were hatching; these were all valuable assets that had to be taken along.

There was a type of large cylinder worm, open at both its mouth and rear, that proved very helpful this time. Although they were slow, they were second to none at clearing snow and obstacles.

The key was their carrying capacity; the Insect Clan relied on them for almost everything. In the end, even the houses were dismantled, including windows and doors. Truly, like plucking a feather from a passing goose, nothing was left behind, not even a speck of dust.

「Three days later」, a well-prepared group of people and insects finally set off in a grand procession. Thanks to Jing Shu having already cleared a path, the return journey was a breeze.

After so much breeding, although a batch was traded away every month, under Jing Shu’s requirements, their numbers had now surged to over ten thousand.

These are all mobile food supplies, Jing Shu thought. Xiao Wei is much more impressive than Zhang Lang. Roaches breed quickly and prolifically, but they can’t compare to these insects. Their growth cycle is fast, and a single adult can weigh several hundred kilograms!

Little did she know that Zhang Lang’s breeding operation was also fast and quite valuable. He could produce hundreds of thousands of eggs at a time, ready for consumption in four or five days, and these roaches were much larger than average.

Xiao Wei was still somewhat anxious, so Jing Shu would comfort her from time to time. The best method was to offer her some tasty food. Xiao Wei was a girl easily contented; as long as she had something delicious, she would immediately perk up.

Considering all these mobile food supplies, Jing Shu felt she had to treat Xiao Wei well. Whatever Jing Shu’s group ate, she would send a portion to Xiao Wei and take the opportunity to discuss housing arrangements with her.

"You should live near the Wu City Railway Station," Jing Shu suggested. "The tunnel digging will start from there, so living nearby will be convenient. The old station can be renovated a bit, and some underground dwellings can be dug for habitation."

"Whatever you need, digging tunnels will also be convenient. I’ve already scouted a good location for you."

Xiao Wei nodded. "I’ll listen to your arrangements."

With Xiao Wei’s agreement, everything became much simpler. It all came down to the major issues of living environment, water supply, and food.

There were no other dangers on the road. With Jing Shu around, any problem could be quickly resolved, as she had plenty of experience.

「Finally, after a week」, they arrived at Wu City Railway Station. It was completely covered by heavy snow and, having endured earthquakes and floods, was in a terrible state of disrepair.

Xiao Wei’s insects immediately began excavating their nests. With their queen present, the division of labor was clear: some dug nests, others foraged for food, some protected the queen, and caretakers placed the Insect eggs in warm hatching chambers.

Jing Shu didn’t need to worry about a thing; everything was perfectly under control, she thought. Oh, right. Speaking of compensation for digging the tunnel, Jing Shu had also discussed it with Xiao Wei.

"It won’t be much trouble; the insects are idle anyway..."

"If compensation is truly necessary... this dreadful weather is getting colder. We need those long-haired materials you mentioned to make more daily necessities."

"Oh, and if you could give us some tasty food, that would be even better!"

See? The requests of Xiao Wei’s people were so simple and down-to-earth. Jing Shu agreed.

Compared to the food Jun Bao had to provide as payment for so many people building roads, Jing Shu only needed to cover meals for a few dozen individuals and supply some long-haired materials, which were basically costless. It was a negligible expense.

The food, naturally, wouldn’t come from her own supplies but would be provided by the cooperative project with West Mountain. Starting with the next trade, West Mountain would provide double the amount of food and resources.

Jun Bao had already urged Jing Shu several times. Seeing that Xiao Wei’s group had finished digging the insect nests and arranging housing for her people, Jing Shu led her own group to start the first excavation.

The rotten mermaids were mainly responsible for starting the holes. With their invulnerable bodies, they easily loosened the soil first. Then, the insects took over the excavation, and finally, the cylinder worms transported the large amounts of soil out.

This time, Jing Shu employed a new technique. Every mile, an exit was dug, which made reinforcing the tunnel convenient and less prone to collapse. Then, they would continue digging the tunnel in one-hundred-meter sections.

This method increased the digging speed; after all, for every mile, they saved one hundred meters of digging. Time was money now. With such a long tunnel, who knew how much could be completed during the migration? They could only try their best to dig as much as possible.

The sections dug earlier weren’t wasted either. According to Jun Bao’s tunnel specifications, they just needed to be widened, a task that progressed quickly.

After digging for several kilometers this way, Jing Shu finally notified Jun Bao’s team that they could begin construction work on the tunnel from their end.

「Another month passed in the midst of this busy work.」

Only after Jing Shu had completely arranged everything did she drag her exhausted body back home. Coincidentally, the New Year was approaching again.

The apocalypse had finally entered its fifth year, which was being called the most tragic one yet.

The entire world was also slowly but surely entering a world of ice and snow. Depending on the latitude, in some places, the heavy snow turned to ice, while in others, it melted as soon as it fell. But in Wu City, the heavy snow fell without stopping.

Wu City used to have four main roads, where snow was cleared daily to keep traffic routes open. After all, people still commuted to work, transported food, and had various other reasons to go outside.

As the snow fell relentlessly, only one main road remained open in Wu City, making transportation extremely inconvenient!

The landscape was a vista of silver-gray, burying most of the buildings.

Jing Shu grabbed a handful of snow, formed it into a snowball, and hurled it at the fat chicken, which was pecking for food with its rear end in the air.

The snowball burst with a PUFF, scattering everywhere.

The fat chicken CLUCKED angrily, so startled that it accidentally dropped an egg into a snowdrift, where it vanished in an instant.

"CLUCK CLUCK! My egg is gone!"

The fat chicken turned and burrowed into the snowdrift, which was almost as tall as a person, searching for its egg.

Jing Shu shrugged. She hadn’t done it on purpose and hadn’t expected the fat chicken to lay an egg out of fright. But an egg was an egg and shouldn’t be wasted, so Jing Shu ran over to see where it had fallen.

"COO COO?" the fat chicken clucked.

Jing Shu promptly took out a shovel and cleared away the snow. She then saw a dense mass of long black worms that had already devoured the egg.

The fat chicken grew even angrier and CLUCKED furiously. It pecked at the long worms and swallowed them. Despite the large pile of worms, the fat chicken finished them all in a few minutes.

Just when the fat chicken thought it had eaten them all, more emerged from the surroundings.

"The mutated rotten corpse insects have returned!" Jing Shu said gravely.

In the first year, the rotten corpse insects ate anything, consuming many people’s food supplies. They developed even faster than maggots, though their adult forms were particularly small. They had many natural predators, such as frogs and birds, but their greatest enemy was maggots. Wherever there were rotten corpse insects, there were maggots.

However, the rotten corpse insects from the sea had no natural predators. After four years of mutation, they had surged back. Not only had they grown larger, but with the land now so cold and other animals extinct, they had virtually no predators at all!