This place was completely beyond the Shadow of the city. It was an utterly desolate area, a true no-man’s land, where not even plants had ever existed, let alone buildings.
With Jing Shu’s night vision ability, she could see that the area was covered in deep snow. Since it had never been managed, the snow had piled up several ters high. Fortunately, the extre cold had turned the underlying snow into icy granules. Only the top layer, over a ter thick, would CRUNCH CRUNCH underfoot.
The giant insects struggled with every step, hindered by the snow’s resistance and the heavy loads they carried. No other form of transportation was useful here; only these primitive giant insects could traverse the snowy terrain.
"This place is so primitive," Xiao Wei said, surprised, as the bright beam of her flashlight cut through the darkness. "It feels like it’s never been developed."
A mber of her tribe nearby said, "You can’t see a thing out here; it’s easy to get lost in a place like this... Let’s leave markers along the way."
Xiao Wei nodded. "I’ll leave an insect every kiloter as a signal. That way, I can sense our direction more clearly, and we won’t get lost."
Jing Shu also quietly left so rotten rmaids behind. Additionally, she sent out other rmaids to spread out from her position to search for the ’Hulk’. This way, no matter what dangers or unknown situations arose, she’d have so peace of mind.
This place was obviously even colder than Wu City. Jing Shu and the others had brought windproof, long-haired tented insect cars. Xiao Wei’s was an especially super-luxurious large insect car, comparable in size to a small house. Five or six people could sit inside without feeling crowded. Dressed in thick long-haired clothes, they sat on thick, soft blankets, warming themselves by a small stove. Jing Shu heated milk tea, fried pancakes, fish fillets, and sausages, then added homade salad dressing. And just like that, the morning al was over.
Xiao Wei had a huge pancake, with layer upon layer of filling. Although Jing Shu’s was simpler, she ate quickly, usually finishing one in two bites. When traveling, they kept als simple and weren’t picky.
After breakfast, they would set a pot on the fixed stove. They’d add pork stomach and chicken, along with various dried mushrooms and other ingredients they had brought, like dried abalone, squid, and shrimp. After stewing for a few hours, it would be noon. They would then place frozen pancakes on the lid of the pot to steam-bake them with the heat from below. When the pancakes turned golden brown with a SIZZLE, they could take one and have a simple al with the rich, savory stew inside the pot.
With so many insects, they could carry plenty of ingredients without it being a burden. Even if they got lost in this ’boundary,’ no one would be afraid, as they had all sorts of daily necessities, all earned by Xiao Wei herself. Xiao Wei was now quite wealthy. The supplies exchanged for her many insects were enough for her tribe to live luxuriously in the apocalypse.
They proceeded in this manner, leaving insect markers at intervals while maintaining a straight path.
Gradually, Jing Shu started to notice green sli. At first, it was sparse, but soon it appeared in ever-increasing patches, to the point where they frequently stepped in it as they walked.
"Is this sli our target for this trip? It looks so disgusting, and once it sticks, you can’t get it off."
"I see the sli has corroded the feet of so insects. Could this sli also be corrosive?"
Jing Shu nodded knowingly. If I’m not mistaken, this sli is probably Hulk feces? It’s certainly disgusting enough. It looks like if we want to breed so many Hulks in the future, we’ll have to find a special pit for their feces. Otherwise, with so many Hulks, the amount of sli they produce would be overwhelming. If they just defecated anywhere, all of Wu City would be in a terrible state. Hulk feces can’t even be used as fertilizer; at least rotten rmaid feces can be used in a biogas pit. Ugh, these things are such a headache.
Jing Shu began to notice fist-sized ’Hulks’ rolling in the snow. They were also searching for others of their kind to ’rge’ with, completing their process of self-strengthening. As for how these Dark Creatures reproduced, I have no idea, Jing Shu thought. How do bacteria reproduce? They say it’s through replication—one becos two, two beco four. They also seem to have a common signal network; if one bacterium develops drug resistance, it shares this information with others. The connections between them are truly mysterious.
One day, a group of fist-sized ’Hulks’ were ’slaughtering’ and rging in a snow pit, fusing together. Jing Shu watched with excitent. In the end, the victor was King, and a Hulk the size of a fat chicken was born. Although it still had a long way to go to beco a ’giant,’ I’m confident that with my guidance, it won’t be a problem, Jing Shu thought. So, Jing Shu caught this Hulk and brought it back to her tent. She then sent it into her space for ’thorough’ research.
"Our luck is good! Let’s keep moving!" Jing Shu exclaid.
The next day, at the sa ti, Jing Shu witnessed another Hulk slaughtering event and captured another Hulk the size of a fat chicken. Jing Shu put it in her space with Little One and nad it Xiao Two.
"You two look exactly identical!" Jing Shu remarked to them. She then mused, Do all Hulks look the sa? As far as I know, no two creatures in the world are perfectly identical. Even eggs aren’t exactly the sa, let alone living beings.
The large contingent continued their imposing advance.
On the third day, at the sa ti, she again encountered a cluster of fist-sized Hulks. Jing Shu furrowed her brow. Sothing feels a bit off... These Hulks then rged to produce another large one. After Jing Shu captured it, she nad it Xiao San and put it into her space. She observed that all three looked exactly the sa. But when I watched them rge, they clearly didn’t all look the sa, did they? The shapes of the individual slis weren’t quite the sa either. How could they end up looking completely identical in size and placent after rging?
"Xiao Wei, are your insects all normal?" Jing Shu asked.
"The insects I’ve placed are all normal," Xiao Wei replied.
Jing Shu nodded and said no more. The reports from the rotten rmaids she had stationed, as well as those patrolling the area, all indicated that everything was safe and normal. Yet, Jing Shu faintly felt uneasy.
On the fifth day, at the sa place and the sa ti, she encountered the sa Hulks again. Jing Shu captured the fourth one. By this point, everyone sensed that sothing was very wrong.
"Could it be that we are just going in circles? Have we been in the sa spot for so many days?"
"But the insects are positioned correctly every kiloter," Xiao Wei stated confidently. "I’ve released 330 insects in total. According to their signals and orientation, every one is correct. We are definitely moving forward in a straight line."
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