I Am Cultivating in the Apocalypse

Chapter 711: Hulk Bus Trial Operation

At 5 meters, the Hulk King’s ordinary size wasn’t much to speak of; usually, it preferred to lie flat on the ground like a pool of still green water, pretending to be a salted fish—a spread of green slime with little presence.

This intelligent being was definitely the laziest pet among the many Jing Shu had, which might explain the old saying, "To each their own, I guess." Xiao Lu... was the new name Jing Shu had given it, devoid of any desires or ambitions.

Jing Shu still couldn’t believe that under the onslaught of green energy and Spiritual Spring, she had managed to breed such a creature whose ultimate wish was to lie down and remain motionless.

A Hulk King that could have devoured its entire race to grow as big as a mountain and become a legend ended up not even as large as a regular Hulk... Such a disgrace.

Though Xiao Lu was incredibly lazy and reluctant to move, there was one good thing about it: its brain system was highly active, and it enjoyed ’communicating’ with its kind—even if Jing Shu couldn’t understand a thing they were saying.

Well then, Jing Shu’s purpose in cultivating Xiao Lu was to use it as a bridge for communication. With this creature around, coordinating everything became its job.

The next step was figuring out how to operate this model. For this, Jing Shu sought help from the Township Government again, which provided support for tech development and mini-program creation, as well as network support such as access and positioning. A full 5G network was not possible; signals might drop once one left the city. Although a 2E network was slower, it was still a network, after all.

「A month before the migration, the Hulk Bus finally entered its trial operation phase!」

Even though it was far from the transportation Jing Shu had envisioned, it was unquestionably a groundbreaking success. Over the past month, countless people had been mocking Jing Shu! Everyone wanted to see what kind of Dark Creature Jing Shu, who had spent a fortune just gathering rotten corpse insects, could come up with.

In the beginning, when the name Hulk quietly began to circulate, many of Wu City’s upper echelons were very curious.

"Hulk? What’s the value of this kind of Dark Creature? Is it meant to be used as food?"

"No way, what else can it do?"

"Ah, that girl Jing Shu actually wants to work on transportation... That’s way too difficult in the apocalypse, and it’s not even valuable; it’s bound to be a loss."

"The key point is, Dark Creatures can’t be tamed. Is the Hulk tamed? The costs are so high. Just the rotten corpse insects cost who knows how many coins. How can a transportation vehicle recoup the investment?"

"Who has money for transportation vehicles? Which wealthy family doesn’t have a car?"

"But now the roads are difficult to navigate. The whole of Wu City has only one main road. Got a car? Heh. You still can’t get out."

In short, the vast majority were skeptical, mainly because the investment cost was too high.

「That is, until a mini-program appeared on the Wucheng Town Government’s big data homepage called ’Hulk Bus’.」

The advertising line went like this: "Hulk Bus picks you up for work, takes you home after work, and there’s a Township Government subsidy!"

What really attracted a lot of official employees were the last few words: "Township Government subsidy!"

Getting to work now was a struggle; most official employees relied on sleds. Even at Jingshu’s affluent house, they also drove on the main road before switching to a snow vehicle made by Mr. Jing.

Wu City had already allocated tens of thousands of people to clear the snow off the roads daily, but the snow never seemed to stop falling. They had to clear the snow not just from the roads but also around the houses, or the houses would get buried—an immense project.

Car or no car, in this apocalyptic world, traveling without transportation was extremely difficult—unless you were a ruler who could simply hop on a plane and reach your destination in minutes.

So a lot of people clicked on this mini-program and then received a voucher worth 20 Virtual Coins, good for 20 rides!

Then a few images appeared, along with several routes and a description:

First off, this is not a traditional means of transportation, but a kind of organism. You won’t be riding in the traditional sense; you will be ’swallowed’ by it.

Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid! If anything happens because of this organism, you’ll be compensated ten thousandfold! The Township Government guarantees it!

The Hulk is a new type of Dark Creature that has been tamed by the Wucheng Town Government and relevant professionals into a controllable means of transport. Despite their huge size, they are the Samoyeds of the Dark Creature world—gentle and obedient.

We have set up platforms in 30 locations across Wu City, with a service every five minutes, and every three minutes during the morning and evening rush hours.

You can wait for the Hulk at designated spots. Before boarding, scan your face, and upon hearing a BEEP indicating a successful payment, you can enjoy your pleasant journey.

Since we are currently in the trial operation phase, only the following 30 locations are open: Ministry of Agriculture, Township Government Hall, Breeding Grounds, Food Factory, Insect Cake Factory...

The price is also very reasonable. A ride on the Hulk Bus, regardless of the number of stops, costs only 3 Virtual Coins per person. Now, with the Township Government’s subsidy, it costs only 2 Virtual Coins per person. Don’t miss this opportunity; it won’t come again!

Announcement: The Hulk will soon introduce Hulk Taxi and Hulk Private Services, so stay tuned!

When the price of 3 Virtual Coins was first announced, some people felt it was a bit steep, considering it could buy a luxury Insect Cake. But then, the Township Government offered a 20 Virtual Coin voucher...

This voucher would expire if not used, and failing to use it was like losing 20 Virtual Coins. But if you did use it, you might end up spending 40 Virtual Coins, so people were a bit conflicted.

To use it or not, it felt like a bit of a loss either way.

「As soon as the Hulk Bus was launched, chat groups became abuzz with conversation, including Jing Shu’s university groups, high school groups, and Banana District community groups.」

"It conveniently passes by my workplace from my residential complex! That’s amazing! And 2 Virtual Coins are still within an acceptable range."

"Ordinary people might still be reluctant to spend that much."

"Heh, those who can afford to go out to work will definitely find it useful. Those who aren’t official employees, naturally, don’t even have shifts to go to."

"Right, haven’t you noticed? This is servicing the official employees, mainly targeting places like the power grid, Township Government, and Food Factory—well-off people who don’t have private cars. The targeting is very precise."

"I’m just curious and want to spend 2 Virtual Coins to take a full ride to experience it... How exactly do you ride such an organism? Swallowed? Will you actually get eaten?"

"At least it probably won’t be cold."

"We’ll know if we go have a look tomorrow."

「On the first day of the Hulk Bus operation, many people came to observe.」

Upon seeing the creature, which was composed entirely of green mucus, everyone was quite shocked.

It was different from what everyone had imagined. The Hulk wasn’t tall, only about one and a half meters, but it was quite long. It indeed somewhat resembled the buses of yore, except now it was just a mass of liquid. Inside their bellies, however, was a long row of compartments made from long-haired balls.

The Hulks opened their mouths, and whoever wanted to get in had to be scanned by a device beneath their mouths. After hearing a BEEP, they were allowed to enter.