I Am Cultivating in the Apocalypse

Chapter 766: New Pet, Chongchong

"CLUCK CLUCK!" After spitting out the object, the fat chicken immediately felt much better. It tilted its head, looking at what Jing Shu held in her hand. What is this thing? It almost killed me! I couldn’t swallow it or excrete it, and I even laid fewer eggs! If Grandma Jing finds out I’m not laying anymore, won’t I be turned into soup?!

This was an ordinary, unremarkable tick, no different from the many ticks fluttering in the air, even seemingly molded from the same form as other ticks. It was really just an ordinary tick.

Hardly! If it were really an ordinary Tick, could it stay in the fat chicken’s stomach for three days without being digested? The fat chicken digests everything it eats. It has eaten so many Ticks before, crunching them up in seconds, completely digested in just tens of seconds, Jing Shu thought, frowning as she held the Tick in her hand. She meticulously examined it again and again, even replicating a few other ticks for comparison, but found nothing noteworthy.

It seems that aside from not being digestible by the fat chicken, it’s just like the others... Huh? Jing Shu noticed the special Tick lazily lying in her grip. It shook off the mucus from the fat chicken’s mouth before finally settling down comfortably. Since I can’t escape, I might as well lie down comfortably, it seemed to think.

Unlike other ticks, it didn’t fear her scent or frantically struggle and resist.

The fat chicken jumped up, trying multiple times to peck the detestable Tick to death, but Jing Shu grabbed its neck, its destiny held in her hand. The fat chicken felt wronged. I want revenge! I need to wash away this shame! it fumed.

Could this be the egg-laying queen among the Ticks? Jing Shu wondered. No, that doesn’t seem right. It’s too underwhelming, isn’t it? So ordinary?

Jing Shu pondered this. The endless Ticks in the sky, though replicated, mostly reproduced by laying eggs. This implied an insect queen was present, laying eggs that then hatched. Even Xiao Wei, the half-human insect queen from the realm of Dark Creatures, had to constantly consume a large amount of food. She ceaselessly laid eggs to hatch batch after batch of insects.

To sustain such an immense swarm of insects, an incredible number of eggs would need to be laid and hatched daily.

So, it made sense for ants to have an Ant Queen, Bees to have a Queen Bee, and Ticks to have an insect queen, right?

But the problem was, this time, even after they had emptied the energy pool and with such a huge crystal right there, no special insect had been found. Logically, the egg-laying queen should have been the likeliest to appear. Shouldn’t she be found cuddling the crystal, sleeping soundly, surrounded by a retinue of loyal followers protecting her?

The sight of the empty crystal had left Jing Shu quite disappointed.

Jing Shu pinched the leisurely Tick in her hand and fed it a bit of purple liquid to see its reaction. This seemingly ordinary Tick, like the others, loved the purple energy. It happily extended its mouthparts to suck the energy in.

One second, two seconds, three seconds... Just as Jing Shu was beginning to suspect this was indeed just an ordinary Tick, its body, from mouthparts to abdomen, suddenly split apart! From within, countless identical Ticks burst forth. Whether these new Ticks were replicated or born, a huge swarm suddenly materialized in mere seconds.

Jing Shu’s jaw practically dropped.

"What the heck?"

"It split open?"

As soon as the Ticks emerged, they fluttered about. The fat chicken, tears of remorse welling in its eyes, flapped its plump body with surprising agility. It swiftly nipped these Ticks in the bud, preventing them from escaping and causing a major catastrophe. Each time one flew out, the fat chicken pecked it down. When it came to insects, the fat chicken was their natural predator.

After about thirty seconds, the Tick in Jing Shu’s hand finally calmed. Its ravaged mouthparts healed completely, and it looked as if nothing had happened, returning to its ordinary appearance.

Neither egg-born nor live-born... This is just absurd...

But this conversion rate is ridiculously high! Just a tiny bit of energy made it so potent... If it were soaked in an energy pool, how many Ticks would be produced instantly?

The small amount of purple energy used earlier could only replicate ordinary Ticks by the dozens. But this Tick in her hand... Good heavens! Jing Shu inwardly exclaimed. It had directly produced hundreds! That was far more than using energy for replication! No wonder that sea of Ticks that appeared a few years ago reached such a massive scale! It must have been due to this kind of special insect instantly replicating.

So, what did this imply?

Looking at the Tick in her hand, Jing Shu suddenly felt an affectionate bond; this ugly insect now seemed somewhat adorable. I just realized, I’m still missing a pet like you, she thought. I’ve decided! From today on, your name will be Chongchong. Just plain, ordinary Chongchong. With nurturing from the Spiritual Spring, I believe you’ll definitely replicate even more raw materials in the future...

Chongchong: Do as you please. I’m just going to lie here.

Fat Chicken: I want to eat this detestable creature!

Jing Shu could almost see countless little coins waving at her.

This is ten times more energy-efficient than the government’s methods! The thought alone is exhilarating!

Even an endless supply of purple energy would eventually be depleted, becoming a non-renewable resource like oil. Jing Shu had originally been worried about how quickly the factory would consume New Energy.

But now, with Chongchong, she could not only save resources but also continuously produce more Ticks. The scarcer resources became in the future, the higher Chongchong’s value would soar.

Therefore, Jing Shu planned to give Chongchong Level 2 nurturing. Only the mental control established through the Spiritual Spring was truly reliable and stable. She would consider increasing it later depending on the circumstances, as she was already consuming a large amount of spiritual spring water daily. Although the space had been upgraded and the Spiritual Spring had grown, the demands on it were significant. Breeding red earthworms, nurturing the few numbered pets in the space, and providing spiritual spring water to enhance her family’s and her own physique were all essential expenditures that couldn’t be reduced.

Thus, after these few years, the amount of spiritual spring water in the space remained relatively unchanged, with growth and consumption more or less balanced.

The red earthworm factory was currently Jing Shu’s most stable and largest source of income, followed by the Furball Clothing Factory and the Hulk Bus Factory. The Mutant Tick Factory had the potential to elevate Jing Shu’s wealth and status to new heights. It would involve many interests and relationships, currently including powers from Xinlan and Sichuan.

The Tick Factory might also introduce a completely new sensory experience to the world, possibly even setting a future trend. Therefore, Jing Shu was very focused on it, deeply curious about what other developments could emerge from Ticks.

Jing Shu then stationed her large contingent in the small city of One Flower. Hao Yunlai, shedding his usual laziness, diligently helped Jing Shu tan the surplus animal hides and process the leather. Little Wanzi, sitting by the warm stove, already knew how to sew leather gloves!

Having work to do and food to eat was deeply satisfying.

These tasks were originally handled by Mr. Jing, while Grandma Jing would sew rabbit-fur gloves, cowhide shoes, and sheepskin leg protectors for the family each year.

But alas, the space produced items too abundantly and too quickly. If Jing Shu took out significantly more than what her own cattle and sheep could account for, her secret would surely be exposed. Thus, things had always piled up in the space. Now that the space had been upgraded, Jing Shu also needed to properly organize everything within it.