Wasteland Hideout: Upgrading from the Sewers

Chapter 87: Solving the Problem of Refugees, Professor Dale, and the Cultivation of Mealworms

"Damn it, why are you taking so long to bring an old man? What are you dawdling for?"

"Fine, someone go check..."

But as soon as the words were spoken, a round object was tossed from the corridor into the room, followed by a heavy 'BANG' sound.

The door was slammed shut.

"What's going on..." voices began in the room.

After an explosion sounded, the voices immediately vanished.

When the door was pushed open again and Yu Yuan entered the room, he saw the scavengers lying on the ground.

Some were clutching their heads and foaming at the mouth, others had rolled back their eyes completely, while two were still able to groan weakly.

But Yu Yuan methodically executed each one with headshots.

When everything was over, Yu Yuan counted the bodies - including the scavengers he had killed with crossbow bolts, there were eleven in total.He found the pistol that the scavenger leader had dropped on the floor, then returned to the corridor.

The old man was still clutching his head, groaning in pain. Although most of the flashbang's explosive noise had been blocked by the closed door,

he had been caught off guard and suffered significant effects, which was exactly what Yu Yuan had intended.

"Can you hear me?"

Yu Yuan maintained a safe distance, prodding the old man with his AK-12.

The man looked at Yu Yuan, his condition clearly not great, though he didn't seem seriously injured. He just looked at Yu Yuan with confusion.

"I said, can you hear what I'm saying?"

"I can... hear some... but... can't make it out clearly..."

the old man said haltingly.

Hearing this, Yu Yuan directly reached behind his back and took the "Agricultural Knowledge News" from his Magician's Ring, holding it in front of the old man while pointing his flashlight at the article.

"Is this you?"

The old man followed Yu Yuan's finger. When he saw the article, Yu Yuan could clearly notice his body trembling slightly. He took the newspaper, his right hand stroking the article.

Yu Yuan didn't rush him, just watched quietly, always maintaining over a meter of distance with the muzzle pre-aimed at the other.

It was clear the old man was reading the article, studying it very carefully.

After a long while.

He finally looked up at Yu Yuan, his expression filled with emotion.

"I never thought I'd see this article again. Everything feels like a dream!"

Clearly he had confirmed his identity - he was Professor Dale mentioned in the article about mealworm cultivation.

Having confirmed the other's identity, Yu Yuan's gaze toward him changed slightly.

Seeming to notice Yu Yuan's look, Dale gave a bitter smile, took a security razor blade from his sleeve and threw it on the ground. The sharp blade gleamed with cold light under the flashlight's beam.

"I was planning to find an opportunity to escape!"

Without waiting for Yu Yuan to speak, Dale proactively removed his clothing for Yu Yuan to inspect.

Only after confirming Dale had no weapons on him did Yu Yuan put away his weapon.

"Professor Dale, from what I heard of your conversation earlier, it seems you're still cultivating and researching mealworms?"

"Yes, to be honest, it's precisely because of the mealworms that I've managed to survive until now!"

Yu Yuan grew somewhat interested. Having finally found a normal person, he naturally had questions he wanted answered.

"Speaking of which, what exactly happened to this city? Why did it become like this?"

Dale shook his head slightly upon hearing this.

"I don't know. I was conducting critical research in the laboratory when I suddenly heard explosions, shouts, and gunfire outside. Chaos was everywhere, and I didn't dare go out."

Dale seemed to sink into memories.

"Originally I thought the military and police would quickly restore order. I kept hiding in the laboratory, but even after a week, there was no sign of order being restored. Instead, there were constant sounds of fighting every day. People had gone crazy, looting everywhere, killing everywhere.

Seeing the situation was bad, I took advantage of the darkness, carrying supplies and hiding everywhere, until I finally found this place."

"Later I found a way back to the laboratory. It had already been searched by others, but since I had taken all the food from the laboratory earlier, and they didn't care about the experimental equipment, materials, and mealworms, I had the chance to bring them all out..."

Yu Yuan listened to Dale's account, analyzing the information within.

"Professor Dale, you're saying that from the very beginning, extremely intense fighting broke out in the city. Do you know which factions were fighting?"

Dale shook his head, sighing deeply.

"I don't know. I only know the fighting was extremely intense - machine guns and even rocket launchers were used."

"About how many factions were there?"

"Probably... I only know there were many! I don't know the specifics..."

Yu Yuan pondered Dale's words.

What could have happened to trigger such fighting?

But clearly he couldn't get much more from Dale, so Yu Yuan asked the question he cared about most.

"Professor Dale, do you still have any mealworms now?"

"None left. They ate all the larvae." Dale pointed to the scattered golden insects on the floor.

"No, I mean mealworms that can be cultivated and bred, like eggs?"

Dale visibly froze upon hearing this.

"What do you mean?"

"I think the article you published makes a lot of sense, especially in the current environment. Mealworms are definitely a recyclable food source for farming. So I'd like to cultivate some too, and also consult with you about how to cultivate mealworms."

Hearing Yu Yuan's words, Dale's eyes filled with suspicion.

"You're saying you want to cultivate mealworms yourself? You're not taking me with you?"

Yu Yuan shook his head.

"I have no interest in you. I'm only interested in mealworms and their cultivation methods. Teach me how to breed mealworms, and consider it payment for me saving you. How about that?"

A thoughtful look flashed in Dale's eyes.

"It's that simple?"

"It's that simple!"

This was the truth. Yu Yuan had no interest in Dale - bringing him back to the shelter would just be an unstable factor.

Hearing Yu Yuan's words, Dale instead relaxed, his smile becoming much more genuine.

"Well then, I'll teach you how to cultivate mealworms right away. However, there really are no larvae left, and the next batch of larvae will take about three more days to hatch."

"That's fine. You can first teach me how to hatch larvae - that's part of cultivating mealworms too, isn't it..."

"This..." Dale glanced at the blood-stained room, then nodded.

He led Yu Yuan to another room in the corridor.

These rooms were originally equipment rooms and maintenance tool rooms of the subway station, but Dale had converted them into mealworm cultivation areas and simple shelters.

Dale brought Yu Yuan to several cultivation boxes, looking at his work with a smile.

"Cultivating mealworms is actually quite simple...."