Jun Bao shrugged. "You have no idea how enthusiastic those people are. Just because 1,000 pounds of rotten corpse insects can be exchanged for one Insect Cake, everyone went crazy, wanting to exchange more and store up food. Now, who would complain about having too many Insect Cakes? As a result, your factory often runs out of stock. Then, others perceive a food shortage, so everyone starts digging for rotten corpse insects..."
Jing Shu was speechless. So, is this a chain reaction? No, no, the point is, are these enthusiastic people going to dig Wu City hollow? Exactly how many rotten corpse insects have they stored up? The key question is, how much do I owe?
Jun Bao rapped the table again. "It’s also fine if you don’t want to repay the money. I know you don’t have any. Alternatively, consider those rotten corpse insects as collected by . When you need them in the future, I can sell them back to you. Or, you have another option: the money for these rotten corpse insects could be paid from Wu City’s public account. Wu City can help you out, but for this new Dark Creature you’re developing... can Wu City get a stake in it?"
Jing Shu was caught in a dilemma.
Rotten corpse insects wouldn’t be scarce in the future; they were everywhere, ready to be collected anyti. However, the crucial factors were ti, cost, and manpower.
Currently, in the apocalypse, manpower was at its cheapest, and food was at its most valuable. Thus, 1,000 pounds of insects could only be exchanged for one Insect Cake.
After a while, once mass production of gigantified at began and everyone had enough to eat, manpower would beco sowhat more expensive. No one would work so hard just for a bite to eat, unless what was offered was a bit tastier.
It’s said that water flows downwards and people strive upwards. Eventually, people would most desire real food—like rice, noodles, and potatoes—natural foods, not tasteless synthetic ones.
So, if Jing Shu couldn’t pay now and tried to buy these rotten corpse insects later, she’d be at a disadvantage. Moreover, no matter how good their relationship, Jing Shu wanted to keep these resources firmly in her own hands.
But the second option... Jing Shu was also a bit conflicted. With the Wucheng Town Governnt involved, their shared interests would an she wouldn’t have to fear those with powerful backgrounds or connections. More importantly, she would indeed need the Township Governnt’s approval in the future to handle certain official matters.
The question is, how big a stake should they take? Giving too much would sting, and giving too little would feel a bit awkward.
Seeing Jing Shu’s struggle, Jun Bao smiled. "Wu City won’t take advantage of you. Besides, if you succeed in cultivating it, it’s more a matter of ’honor.’ It will set an example for the entire country, and Wu City needs that kind of prestige. Therefore, Wu City will only take a 10% stake and can also offer you technical and strategic support. Furthermore, the Township Governnt will cover the costs for all subsequently acquired rotten corpse insects. There are many benefits."
"What if it fails?"
"Failure is out of the question. Didn’t you bring back good news this ti? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have rushed to get the factory set up. If you were only sowhat confident before, now it’s a certainty." Jun Bao smiled. Jing Shu didn’t fight battles she wasn’t sure of winning, and neither did he.
If he had taken on the rotten corpse insect matter before Jing Shu left, he would have demanded a much larger stake, as Wu City would have had to bear a significant risk of failure.
But now that she had shouldered the risk and returned successfully, his involvent was rely to get a small cut by joining in, mainly to deepen their cooperative relationship.
"Alright, then it’s settled."
Collaborating with Jun Bao was quite agreeable. In her past life, he was a tyrant who made a terrible impression—ruthless in his thods, appearing to be a refined gentleman on the surface but actually black-hearted to the core. Yet, it had to be said that he knew when to advance and when to retreat, and he understood people’s hearts. No one could navigate such things better than him.
Jing Shu only believed in friendships built on perpetual mutual interest.
"We need to speed up the tunnel digging," Jun Bao said.
Jing Shu nodded. She wanted to speed things up as well. The insects were already working around the clock. She didn’t want to take the sa dangerous old routes during the migration as in her past life. If they could use safe places like tunnels, that would be for the best.
"To give you a heads-up, there’s an eighty percent chance we’ll be migrating in two months."
Jing Shu was slightly surprised and asked, "Is it decided? How is the Underground City coming along?"
"It’s not decided yet," Jun Bao replied. "The higher-ups haven’t approved the docunts. They say to hold on a bit longer. In the past, a disaster would typically pass within a year; often, if one persisted for half a year, it would then pass. A mass migration would an too many deaths on the road. So people will stay to continue building the Underground City and guard the supplies. The crucial point is that the Underground City can only house tens of thousands of people."
Jing Shu nodded. Establishing a city underground, complete with life support systems, sewage networks, and countless other considerations, required ticulous planning. It was indeed a monuntal task, not sothing that could be accomplished overnight.
As for holding on? Temperatures were already plumting past minus seventy degrees and still falling—truly a deadly, bone-chilling cold.
"I understand. I’ll start preparing," Jing Shu said, appreciative of the warning, even though she’d known about it for N years.
"Don’t spread the word yet. Next month, we’ll mass-produce gigantified food. First, we’ll calm the public’s anxieties, then let them experience the true power of nature. They should be willing to leave by then."
First, offer them a bit of hope, so they don’t beco completely numb and resigned to death in their despair.
First, unite the people. With high morale, the group will be easier to lead.
Jing Shu returned ho, and that evening, her family had a small eting.
"In two months, there’s a strong likelihood we’ll migrate. The official orders haven’t been issued yet. The route is the one where I’m in charge of digging the tunnel. It follows the pre-apocalypse highway and will have service stations every few dozen kiloters," she finally revealed.
Her family mbers were all surprised, so finding it incredible.
"Migrating? My goodness, we’ve been living well here, and we have food. Why migrate? No matter how cold it gets outside, we keep the furnace and the air conditioner running at ho, so it’s manageable. If we migrate, what will happen to us on the road?" Grandma Jing’s face was the most grim; in tis of disaster, migration was what she dreaded most.
Wandering, holess, hurrying along unsafe roads day after day—anything could happen... It was too perilous!
Third Aunt said exasperatedly, "Besides our family, who else has a furnace? Everyone else huddles around that garbage incinerator for warmth. It’s already freezing out there, and who knows how much colder it will get."
Mrs. Jing frowned. "No wonder... The higher-ups have been making new moves recently, scrambling to collect grain. Commander Niu even quietly told to make extra preparations and store more dry rations."
Mr. Jing asked, "Where are we migrating to? Are we not coming back? What about Wu City itself... and our villa? We have so many things to take, like furniture and daily necessities. We might not even be able to take all our clothes; we’ll have to prioritize carrying all the food!"
Mr. Jing pointed at the Dostic Poultry in the yard. "We have to take all the live ones. They’re our breeding stock—we can’t slaughter them. They’re our hope for the future."
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