novelraw Chapter 757: It Suddenly Lost Its Appeal
Chapter 757: It Suddenly Lost Its Appeal
The woman in the professional attire originally displayed some disdain, intending to belittle the usefulness of a mere few pounds of Mugwort, wondering why she was putting on such airs. But then, upon hearing it again—tons? Did she hear tons? She stuttered, "Tons? Did you say tons? Not just a few pounds or ounces?"
A ton is two thousand times a pound. Even though the woman was a clerk who handled large volumes of materials in Xinlan, in this apocalyptic world, materials discussed by the ton were scarce.
Unfortunately, Jing Shu ignored her and did not respond, as Elder Zhang had excitedly rushed over, pushing aside the woman who was in the way, and eagerly discussing the acquisition of Mugwort with Jing Shu. "Ah, girl, you truly are our lucky star! Having so much Mugwort really solves our urgent problem!"
Hearing about the massive amount of Mugwort and now having a bit of a defense tactic, just as everyone was catching their breath, the injured person lying on the ground suddenly trembled violently, rolled his eyes back, and stopped breathing.
Elder Zhang’s assistant stepped forward to check and said, "It must be the insects that penetrated his viscera... they devoured his heart."
Elder Zhang frowned, squatted down to examine the body, and shook his head. "He suddenly stopped breathing. It must’ve been an insect that burrowed into his brain to cause this."
The atmosphere turned cold again.
"Elder Zhang, what should we do with the body? We can’t cremate it now, and body bags aren’t strong enough. If we leave it as is, any missed insects might crawl out, or Mother Worms might lay eggs and hatch more insects..."
At this, many people Qiqi took a step back.
"With the insects inside being so hard to find, it might be best to just bury it right here to avoid harming us all," a stout man in the crowd suggested quietly.
To bury on the spot meant to simply drop the body and let more insects devour it.
Jun Bao walked up coldly, glaring at the clueless stout man. "My soldiers, however many come, must leave in the same number. Even if their bodies are eaten, their skeletons must be brought back."
Everyone felt a chill run down their spines.
Jing Shu didn’t know if the tyrant was indeed a good person, but she understood that this was to stabilize the troops’ morale.
Jun Bao then asked Old Doctor Zhang, "Is there any way to prevent this?"
"Put the bodies in my sealed lab. I need to conduct a study anyway—dissect them, extract all the insects, and then preserve them. With Jing Shu’s Mugwort, the situation should improve a bit."
Jun Bao then urgently brought in airtight protective suits. "There are only one thousand suits, but you are the elite of the elite, so they will be prioritized for you."
The people present donned their protective suits and instantly felt much safer.
Inside her protective suit, Jing Shu secretly wore a leather raincoat and smeared herself with Wind Oil Essence, an insect repellent. She would have worn a bulletproof vest too if it weren’t for the fear of overheating. Jing Shu never took her safety lightly.
Mugwort was quickly distributed to each vehicle and station. Everyone had to put down their tasks, first make the Mugwort Pillars needed for their vehicles, and then thoroughly fumigate the vehicles inside and out before they could rest easy.
The command center mandated that fumigation must occur every three hours.
Even the elite in the command vehicle had to make their own Mugwort Pillars, each sitting at the conference table, diligently rolling their Mugwort Pillars.
"Jing Shu, it’s dangerous outside. It’s better for everyone to stay together and look out for each other. If you’re feeling carsick, you can lie down in my resting room."
Given such a privilege, no one else said much. Most had accepted reality and recognized that the status of someone who could provide several tons of medicinal materials wasn’t ordinary in the eyes of those in power.
Since Jun Bao had said this, what could Jing Shu do but agree? She ended her brief, comfortable life in the Hulk RV. When she returned, she carried a massive black box, with the fat chicken following behind her. Both human and chicken underwent strict inspection and Mugwort fumigation. Actually, there was no need to worry because the Hulk provided a seamless connection; when its giant mouth appeared at the doorway, no one thought any insects could have gotten through. The arrival of the fat chicken still nearly astonished the elites present, but being well-mannered, although their mouths gaped enough to fit an egg, they said nothing.
Jun Bao explained, "This is Jing Shu’s grandmother’s layer hen that she brought along, afraid that Jing Shu might go hungry."
"I’ve never seen such a big chicken."
"Bigger than a turkey."
"As robust as a calf. I wonder what it’s been eating to grow so big."
"How many eggs can it lay?"
The door to the rest area closed, and no one paid any more attention to the people inside, because it was dinnertime: a special dish of potato pancakes, cauliflower soup made from freeze-dried cauliflower soaked in cold water, and a dry, hard rice ball, which, after soaking in water, could at least pass for rice porridge.
This was already top-notch food, a special provision.
The group wasn’t exactly dripping with grease as they ate, but they were extremely satisfied, especially since they couldn’t just open doors freely anymore, the cooking teams had stopped working, and even hot water was no longer supplied.
As everyone was enjoying their meal, a rich aroma wafted out.
"Do you smell lamb soup?"
"HISS... it smells so good! Is it my imagination?"
Then, an increasingly rich aroma drifted out from the rest area. One person, Hao Yunlai, still groggy from sleep, gave his portion to Wanzi.
Jun Bao moved his index finger, then waved his hand, passing his food to his assistant, and said casually, "You guys go ahead." Then, with his hands behind his back, he took a couple of steps and entered the rest area.
The moment the rest area door opened, everyone saw a huge pot steaming with white vapor. Those with keen ears could hear the faint GLUG-GLUG of it boiling. This was followed by a large slice of marbled meat being swished in the pot; when lifted out, it was already a fragrantly oily, perfectly cooked thin slice.
It was dipped in some unknown sauce, seemingly containing sesame seeds, chopped scallions, and sesame oil.
The shuan-cooked meat, generously coated in sauce, was casually popped into mouths, where the fat and Shou Rou mingled, bursting with juices...
Hao Yunlai, holding his meal, twitched his nose. Suddenly waking from his drowsy sleep, he handed his portion to Wanzi and hurried to the rest area.
Finally, he even closed the door behind him.
The sound of swallowing saliva echoed repeatedly. Someone sniffed vigorously; someone else smacked their lips, seemingly still savoring the taste of the scene they had just witnessed.
The food that had just been considered top-tier suddenly lost its appeal.
Even the cauliflower rice porridge seemed tasteless now.
In their minds, there was only one thought: even if they couldn’t eat the meat, just a sip of that soup would be a divine treat.
「Inside the rest area.」
Hao Yunlai, who had been chosen as their ’big shot’ leader, smiled shyly and said, "Mirror, you’re as meticulous as ever."
How could she not be meticulous? At that moment, Jing Shu was holding a tray of flourishing spring onions, cutting fresh scallions for them on the spot, and then pulling some sprouts from a potted coriander plant.
This ready supply of spring onions, garlic, and coriander was even more complete than in the past.
"Old rules," Jing Shu said. She enthusiastically prepared dipping sauces for the two and ladled out fragrant lamb soup. "It’s not a free meal, but this time I’m not asking for Virtual Coins."