I Am Cultivating in the Apocalypse

Chapter 744: Origin of the Black Liquid

"Some of you go check the toilets again, and look in other areas to see what’s there. Anything useful or edible, scavenge it all."

"In short, leave nothing behind."

"You guys, tidy up the warehouse. We’ll still need to station a team up there, and this afternoon the Ministry of Agriculture and the breeding farm will need to set things up too."

The uncle nudged the man from Family Number 2, saying, "This is what they call real plucking. Don’t let anything slip by."

"’Alas~’ Sanliang sighed deeply, then said with difficulty, ’All the supplies are gone, the replenishments completely lost, not a hair left. The people behind us, they’ll have to go hungry for the next two days.’"

Without food, there’s no strength, which means they can’t travel the twenty-plus kilometers a day. Not to mention, everyone’s already hungry from traveling for a full day. If they’re forced to march tomorrow, I’m afraid many will collapse.

Keep in mind, the food at a supply station isn’t just for one department. In a few days, the third and fourth batches of people on foot will be passing through here. Each department’s supplies are carefully allocated and calculated; once they’re gone, they’re truly gone.

"Captain, the next supply stop is the city of Xinlan. Should we report to the higher-ups and arrange for a shipment from Xinlan?"

Sanliang asked irritably, "Public expense or private expense? Are we just buying for the Food Department, or for the other departments and the civilians behind us too? Behind us, there’s a main force of millions of people. How many tons of food would that be a day? See? It’s about as much as what’s piled up in this warehouse. That’s definitely not feasible. And as the Food Department leading the way, we can’t just ignore the people behind us either. This is tricky."

The soldier scratched his head. "We should report this to Minister Su. We can’t solve such thorny issues."

Jing Shu sighed. So, these headaches still fall to Mom to handle. It’s not that these issues are hard to resolve, but they involve a lot of messy disputes. If handled well, it’s considered part of one’s duty; if not, one faces widespread criticism. It requires coordinating with too many parties.

However, the mood quickly improved because they found two modified tanks, as well as a small amount of weapons and supplies inside them.

"Though they’re old models discarded by the Old Russians, they’ve been well maintained and are fully functional. They’re classified as medium tanks, equipped with coaxial machine guns and a medium-caliber cannon..."

"Quick, take us to see them!" Jing Shu urged, her eyes lighting up with curiosity; she had absolutely no resistance to such powerful weapons.

To Sanliang’s surprise, Miss Jing Shu, despite her bulky attire from wearing so many layers, boarded the tank with a couple of swift, easy movements—even faster than his well-trained soldiers.

The space inside the tank was bigger than expected. One could even stand on the turret to control the machine gun’s rotation and firing. Jing Shu pulled the machine gun back and forth, relishing the kind of RAT-TAT-TAT action usually only seen in movies.

After satisfying her curiosity and learning about the tanks, Sanliang’s mood also improved considerably. "Those sons of bitches had some decent equipment. There must be some power behind them. We must be careful in the future. This time, it was only because they encountered the Dark Creatures that they met their end here. Regardless, with two more tanks, our safety on the road has greatly increased. But we owe our survival this time to Miss Jing Shu...

"The spoils of war are supposed to be handed over, but I suggest we report that Miss Jing Shu should have the right to use the tanks in the future. What do you all think?"

"I have no objection," Jing Shu was the first to speak. Firstly, an ordinary person couldn’t possibly be allowed to own such restricted weaponry. Secondly, even if they gave me a tank, I couldn’t afford to maintain it. The upkeep alone would be incredibly troublesome and expensive. Having usage rights and being able to mobilize it is already quite good.

"No objections here."

"We owe it all to Miss Jing Shu this time..."

Being called ’Miss Jing Shu’ left and right by all these tall, muscular young men—her ’big brothers’—sounded surprisingly pleasant. How annoying, I’m actually feeling a little shy.

Jing Shu smiled and nodded, appearing as serene as a gentle breeze and light clouds, though inwardly she was so delighted she felt like she could float.

Everyone returned the way they came. With the Hulk and the tanks clearing the path, their pace was much faster. Everyone was still worried: what if those Dark Creatures Sanliang had mentioned turned back and charged towards the tens of thousands of ordinary civilians? Fortunately, everything remained peaceful for now.

There was another reason for their rush.

Sanliang whispered, "Xinlan’s reinforcements have arrived. The first thing they’ll definitely do is try to snatch these tanks from us, and we might not be able to stop them. Let’s scram! If we run into anyone from Xinlan, no showing off, understand? Keep a low profile."

If the tanks were really stolen, there would be nowhere to cry. Although everyone belonged to the same system, they weren’t based in the same place; they could only be considered ’colleagues from different areas.’

They said to keep a low profile, but when the tanks rolled into the tunnel rendezvous point, they were still greeted with gasps and exclamations.

Sanliang gathered everyone to roughly explain what had happened, warned everyone not to leave the group on their own, and announced they were starting the journey anew. The main group walking behind them wasn’t far off.

The tutor, always interested in new things, accompanied Wu You’ai to drive the tanks. All Jing Shu could do was pray that the tutor’s skills were good enough; the curves at Liudao Bay were treacherous, and she hoped they wouldn’t drive the newly acquired tanks into a ditch.

"Don’t worry, I’m an experienced driver."

"In what way?" Wu You’ai interjected.

"What do you think?" the tutor countered, his tone full of meaning.

Jing Shu slipped away, carrying the fat chicken. The chicken looked innocently aggrieved, I haven’t done anything wrong lately! Apart from eating a bit more each day and occasionally—really, just occasionally—stealing meat from the baskets outside the vehicles...

Everyone was on edge during the journey, fearing an encounter with the Dark Creatures Sanliang had mentioned, only to find nothing, not even a trace. Little did they know that Jing Shu had already dispatched dozens of her ’little brothers’ into the surrounding area, eagerly waiting for that black liquid to reappear.

Hearing about the day’s events, Grandma Jing and Mr. Jing were quite alarmed. Jing Shu provided a lot of comforting reassurance and even explained things in the Jing family’s group chat to calm them down.

Jing Shu soon figured out the matter of the black liquid. As it turned out, its appearance today was even somewhat related to her.

Back when the Hulks were still developing—mutually devouring their own kind to strengthen their group—Jing Shu had, by a stroke of luck, stumbled into the Five-dimensional space. There, she inadvertently disturbed the Hulks’ ancestral grounds and absorbed their entire lineage—elders, descendants, and all their energy—into her own space. This, in turn, led to the explosive upgrade of her Magic Cube Space and the allegiance of her ’little brothers.’

Without the Five-dimensional power, the entities that should have evolved into the evil, indestructible creatures universally feared in her previous life were instead collected by Jing Shu. The remaining undeveloped ’saplings,’ suffering from this malnourishment, evolved into creatures adapted to a dark, liquid form.

Their characteristics were the same as in her previous life: they ate anything and everything. The drawback was that, lacking Five-dimensional power, they couldn’t coalesce or freely undergo merging to form large-scale giant creatures. Furthermore, without engaging in mutual consumption, they ended up as the numerous small liquid entities seen today.