And so, under the motto of "better to miss out than to let a chance slip by," Jing Shu did manage to save several people, though so were trapped underwater for other reasons.
During this period, she completed a mission with an 800 Virtual Coin reward: helping a client retrieve a set of equipnt from a subrged supermarket. The Salvage Ship’s machinery couldn’t reach inside due to the terrain, and manually moving such heavy items underwater was impossible. Even professionals with oxygen tanks would struggle; it would take seven or eight people just to budge it, and maneuvering through the twisting, nearly lightless underwater passages was exceptionally challenging.
The Shark Submarine’s agility was therefore showcased to its fullest. Its 280 horsepower proved incredibly effective for hauling items. Naturally, to avoid complications, Jing Shu always ticulously checked for any nearby creatures or surveillance devices before transferring items into her Magic Cube Space, only moving them out again when she was close to the surface.
Jing Shu’s Magic Cube Space was truly a powerful asset, saving her a significant amount of diesel.
As ti passed, the temperature plumted from 37°C to just a few degrees. The dim daylight was fading into complete darkness, signaling the end of the day. Yet, Jing Shu hadn’t encountered even a single cluster of leeches. If only I’d found so, I could have taken them ho to cultivate, she thought.
Did I use the wrong thod again? Or should I have just conducted a blanket search on my own? Jing Shu questioned her life choices, preparing to head back for the day, seemingly empty-handed again.
"That’s it for today, pack up!"
"Everyone who’s surfaced, don’t go back down! Line up and report your numbers. Each team, report today’s search locations and findings. Mark the salvaged areas on the map. We’ll have a debrief eting after that!" Liu Xing wiped sweat from his brow, relieved that another day, fraught with danger yet ultimately safe, had passed.
Jing Shu saw everyone stop their salvage work and surface as the announcent blared from the loudspeaker. No more chances today, she thought, and was about to leave when a voice caught her attention:
"Team A10! Where is Team A10? Why are all three of them missing? Does anyone know how long Team A10 has been gone?"
"No idea. Haven’t seen them for ages."
Jing Shu’s eyes lit up. She quickly asked, "Which direction?"
"Six o’clock. Towards a place that used to be a large underground supermarket."
With that, Jing Shu imdiately piloted her submarine downwards in that direction.
Large underground supermarkets were usually already picked clean. This particular location wasn’t even on Jing Shu’s salvage list for the day. This ant one thing: it was an off-mission venture.
There’s sothing fishy here, Jing Shu thought.
Jing Shu navigated the Shark Submarine rapidly through the vast supermarket. It had been emptied out long ago—even the shelves were gone. She occasionally bumped into debris but powered through, unconcerned. After all, she figured she’d mostly use the Shark Submarine this year and less later on. Plus, she’d bought it cheaply for just a few Honeysuckles, so she wasn’t worried about a little damage.
Her headlights cutting through the underwater gloom, Jing Shu ticulously scanned the area but found no one. She had already passed the snack aisle, the household goods section, the produce area, and the non-perishables. Just as she approached what used to be the fresh food section, Jing Shu spotted dense, matted clusters forming a large patch.
It was putrid, bloated minced flesh—possibly human, or perhaps from so animal carcass—and it was completely infested with rotten corpse insects!
Before the apocalypse, this area must have been where they butchered fish and kept live ones. The heat and sll of fish likely attracted flies and maggots, which in turn drew unknown creatures. After the flooding, various other insects had arrived.
Speaking of unknown creatures, Jing Shu recalled an invasive species that appeared later in the apocalypse. They were drawn to the scent of blood, consud blood and flesh, and their bodies were covered in necrotic, decaying at. Each creature teed with countless rotten corpse insects, and their flesh bloated into a whitish, putrid mass after being subrged for long periods. Their most distinctive traits were their pack behavior, their tendency to spread diseases, and their habit of eating the rotten corpse insects off each other. Upon encountering humans, they would attack with frenzied excitent. Jing Shu had encountered many such swarming attacks during migrations in her previous life.
The contagion carried by these creatures was initially spread by Australia’s ’zombie deer.’ Later, the infection—or a similar invasive species—affected other animals, particularly wolf-like creatures. Jing Shu even suspected these things might have evolved from wolves.
They shouldn’t be appearing this early, Jing Shu thought, shaking her head. Those creatures won’t show up for several more years, not until everyone migrates south from the colder regions.
Besides these, the water teed with even more red earthworms, drawn by the scent. They were never picky eaters, consuming both plant matter and flesh for energy. Consequently, a massive congregation of red earthworms had gathered here, which in turn attracted leeches—creatures that reproduced voraciously wherever a food source was present.
This is a huge haul, she mused. I’ve never seen such a massive swarm of leeches. No wonder those three got trapped here. If just one of them had managed to go up and call for help, they might not have all perished. Talk about a jackpot—one good find can last you ages!
Jing Shu recognized the horrific scene: three figures, tangled together and completely covered in leeches. One of them was still clutching a Blood Mushroom!
Just as she suspected, they had found Blood Mushrooms. Unfortunately for them, there were thousands, possibly tens of thousands, of leeches in the water. Even if you tried to keep your distance, the leeches wouldn’t stay put. Once a single leech locked onto a target, countless others would swarm ferociously. Jing Shu wouldn’t dare expose herself in this water; that was precisely why she never ventured outside the submarine.
Amidst the leeches were clusters of Blood Mushrooms, their colors vibrant and saturated—at least a dozen of them! Jing Shu was ecstatic. This ti, she decided not to disturb anything, transferring the entire scene—leeches, Blood Mushrooms, and even the surrounding water—directly into her Magic Cube Space to see if the Blood Mushrooms could reproduce there.
The three individuals were beyond saving. Jing Shu moved their bodies, along with the leeches, Blood Mushrooms, and the cluster of red earthworms, entirely into the Magic Cube Space. She made sure not to leave a single leech behind. The leeches and red earthworms combined took up six cubic ters of space.
Jing Shu then carefully separated the three corpses from the mass, attached them to the rear of the Shark Submarine, and sped off. Right, she recalled, living people can’t enter the space, but corpses can.
Eager to get ho and examine her bountiful harvest, Jing Shu executed a swift maneuver with the submarine, depositing the three bodies back onto the salvage boat. Liu Xing, seeing the three irretrievably dead n, was overco. Tears of gratitude stread down his face, and he nearly knelt before Jing Shu. Then, with a surge of emotion—perhaps relief or a somber excitent—he exclaid, "Quickly! See to these three! Ensure they are properly taken care of and given a dignified burial!"
Jing Shu, too, was thrilled with her own haul.
Back ho, the first thing Jing Shu did was go to the second floor of her villa and lock herself in. She then began to carefully observe the ecosystem she had brought back: the leeches were densely packed around the Blood Mushrooms at the center, while the red earthworms were confined to the periphery, seemingly kept out by the leeches.
Jing Shu finally understood how the leeches sustained themselves: their mouthparts appeared to have evolved, allowing them to directly consu the red earthworms.
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