I Am Cultivating in the Apocalypse

Chapter 742: The Origination of a King

My goodness, those dozens of Hulks following right beside the RV... Lian Sanliang now looked at Jing Shu with different eyes. Strong people are respected.

Sanliang, with twenty-five people and Jing Shu, as well as several Hulks, quickly rushed toward the service station. Behind them, all kinds of busy preparations began. Just as the commander said, they started to cook feces.

A strange stench began to spread, carried by the tunnel and the wind; no one knew how far it would drift. That uniquely pungent experience... At first, everyone wasn’t used to it, and the whole tunnel filled with sounds of "RETCH! RETCH!"

"Increase the heat! Keep boiling! Once it’s done, put it at the traps on high ground! Wait for orders, and only pour when I say so!"

"Throw up. Just throw up until you’re used to it." And sure enough, in a little while, everyone got used to it. Isn’t that amazing?

「...」

The Liudao Bay Service Station was so named because it backed onto a mountain with six bends. Each bend was a naturally treacherous curve, difficult to assault but easy to defend, and infamous for accidents before the apocalypse.

The group stopped here and emerged from the Hulks’ bodies. It had to be admitted, the Hulks were proving very convenient.

The snow kept getting heavier. With each step, one sank up to the knees, and every subsequent step was arduous. The biting cold wind felt like knives scraping against the face. Despite being wrapped in layers, Jing Shu could still feel the chill outside.

"My goodness, Captain, what kind of vehicle made these tracks?"

The snow kept falling, threatening to cover the tracks completely. One could only vaguely make out that something had passed through here an hour or two before, leaving deeply pressed tracks. No, it was as if a road had been carved out!

"It’s not wheels, more like tracks. Could the other side have Tan Kes?" a man wondered aloud. "This is bad; their Combat Power is quite high."

"So, do we still go, or wait for reinforcements?"

"Go," Sanliang decided. "We need to understand the situation."

"I’ll have two Hulks scout ahead," Jing Shu offered. "If they encounter danger or anything happens, we’ll be informed promptly."

"That would be wonderful, Miss Jing Shu. We’re lucky to have you today," Sanliang replied.

Navigating Liudao Bay was indeed difficult. Snow lay on top of ice, and even the Hulks moved sluggishly. If one of them overturned, it could very likely plummet into a deep abyss.

"What I’m most afraid of is the other party setting up a hidden sentry at the entrance," Sanliang mused. "There’s only one way in and out of Liudao Bay—easy to defend but hard to attack. I really can’t figure out how the original people at the station got wiped out, unless fighter jets were involved."

"There are no sentries at the entrance. Nothing at all. It’s completely empty," Jing Shu reported after a while, her expression somewhat strange.

"Nothing? Absolutely nothing?" Sanliang asked, surprised.

Jing Shu nodded. She found it strange too.

Originally, there had been a security checkpoint at the entrance, but now it was a mess. The lights flickered on and off like in a haunted house. Eerily, there was nothing there—no people, no supplies. Only a simple barricade lay haphazardly, along with scattered chairs, tables, and a burnt-out stove.

"This doesn’t really look like an invasion; there’s no blood..." Sanliang muttered. "But it’s so strange. Unless everyone’s dead, it would be impossible for this place to fall. Perhaps they all just disappeared?"

"Let’s not worry about that for now," he continued. "The bandits might be in the supplies warehouse, possibly moving supplies or planning to take over the mountain and rule as kings. That could be why no one’s here. We should remain cautious."

Jing Shu had already sent her snakes spreading out in all directions to assess the situation.

The group continued forward. As soon as they passed Liudao Bay, their entire field of view immediately widened.

Finally, they arrived at the repaired Liudao Bay Service Station. It was quite simple: just a single-story building covering thousands of square meters. Before the apocalypse, it had housed a large rest hall, a restaurant, restrooms, and a gas station.

Aside from its red pavilion, the gas station was now empty. The main hall had been converted into a warehouse, but not much else had changed. It was approachable from all directions and had no main door.

The group crawled through the snow, slowly approaching, making soft SQUEAKS that seemed particularly grating in the tranquil environment.

"The lights in the warehouse are on!" one of the men whispered.

"Look, there’s indeed a Tan Ke over there! No, two Tan Kes!" another exclaimed quietly.

"Let’s observe from outside for a while. See if the bandits inside transport any supplies."

"Strange, didn’t these people leave a lookout? They should have," Sanliang murmured.

As Sanliang was quietly discussing plans with a few others, Jing Shu sensed that most of the snakes she had released had been wiped out, severing her connection to them. Danger was imminent! This wasn’t a threat from human weapons; in the current apocalypse, hardly anyone could detect snakes and bugs in the dark. The danger had to come from other life forms! And it was heading straight for them!

Jing Shu suddenly stood up and shouted, "Get into the Hulks, quick!"

As she spoke, several Hulks also abruptly stood up, their wide mouths gaping open.

"What’s going on? What happened?"

"Have we been found?"

"Get in what?"

"Hurry and get inside! It’s dangerous out here!" Jing Shu was the first to jump into Xiao Lu’s body.

"Get in first, talk later!" Sanliang reacted with lightning speed, diving in behind Jing Shu without a second word.

Just then, the warehouse door emitted a heavy THUD and was blasted away. The men scrambling to get inside the Hulks saw a mass of black creatures swarm out of the dimly lit warehouse. Terrified, they scrambled straight into the nearest Hulk’s body.

Jing Shu commanded the Hulks to retreat, as she didn’t know what these things were. From a distance, they looked like masses of rolling slime, somewhat resembling the Hulks.

However, while the Hulks had distinct shapes and physical forms—composed of countless smaller slime bodies—these creatures were just amorphous black blobs. They rolled in like a wave, but upon closer inspection, they were individual entities, each about the size of a fist and not particularly large.

Yet, all the snakes and bugs Jing Shu had released had been devoured by these creatures, vanishing without a struggle.

Could these things even be called life forms?

As Jing Shu was pondering this, the black slime surged over like a flood.

A chill went down Jing Shu’s spine. Just as she was about to unleash a powerful attack, the Hulks suddenly sent back waves of pleasure. Xiao Lu, in particular, excitedly communicated to Jing Shu, "Yummy! So nourishing! Offspring, more offspring!"

Following that, the Hulks pounced, tumbling into the flood of black slime. Soon, high-pitched sounds of agony, undetectable to the average human ear, rang out in the Hertz frequency range.

The creatures that had surged forward like a tide now frantically scattered, fleeing for their lives. The Hulks, as if charged with Chicken Blood, excitedly pursued them, their own slime bodies instantly splitting into tens of thousands of smaller entities to give chase.

Jing Shu blinked. So, what exactly just happened here?