Chapter 209: Chapter 209
Liu Xing yelled into the megaphone, "Young hero, please halt! And the shark, please stop!"
Jing Shu said sarcastically, "Private Salvage Ships aren’t allowed here. Should I stay and get caught?"
Liu Xing slammed the megaphone he was holding against the head of the man who had just spoken. "Just ignore him! I’m in charge here. Although there are classified documents inside that we feared might leak, now everything’s flooded. Given the state of the world, we can’t be bothered with secrets anymore. From now on, you can salvage whatever you want here. You can take the goods or exchange them with me for Virtual Coins, and we’ll settle it on the spot."
Jing Shu raised an eyebrow. "So, what was that you yelled at me just now?"
"I wanted Xiao Wang to show you if we can pull out the people trapped below," Liu Xing said, sweat beading on his forehead. If several people died on the first day of work, it might scare the others off, and it would also look bad.
Jing Shu frowned. So, they were entangled below. In most cases, that meant they couldn’t be rescued, but it was unclear what had trapped them.
"Alright, saving people is crucial. Let’s hurry," Jing Shu said without another word and followed Xiao Wang.
The people on the boat were panicked, discussing what was happening.
Jing Shu followed Xiao Wang to the top floor of the government building, broke open the glass, and drove the Shark Submarine inside, quickly reaching the location.
With the headlights on, Jing Shu saw a dense mass in the corner entangling three people. Only one of them twitched occasionally, while the other two were motionless.
Xiao Wang pointed at the spot but didn’t dare to get too close. He looped a rope around them. Jing Shu turned the Shark Submarine and opened the throttle fully, pulling the entangled people to the surface in one go.
It happened very quickly; the entire process took just over a minute.
The Shark Submarine sped across the water’s surface and soared high. With a SNAP, the taut rope flung the three people onto the boat. This sequence of actions elicited gasps from everyone present.
A bright light shone on the three, and people gasped. The Shark Submarine had pulled out even half of what was entangling them. Finger-thick, blood-red worms writhed, and their bodies were covered in leeches.
They looked like walking leech-men, each leech so engorged with blood it looked ready to burst.
Some leeches, dislodged by inertia, flew off, causing another round of screams.
As for what was entangling them, it was, of course, clumps of red earthworms.
A dreadful thing had indeed happened. This was why, in her previous life, she hadn’t salvaged materials. When salvaging in the water, the last thing one wanted to encounter were clusters of leeches, red earthworms, and the like. The worst luck was to encounter red earthworms and leeches fighting and then get too close—the consequences were predictable. A single red earthworm’s strength was negligible, but thousands, even millions, of them were more terrifying than seaweed.
"Quick, Doctor, Doctor! See if there’s still hope!" Liu Xing stamped his foot; this incident happening on the first day was a disaster.
The Doctor ran over in a sealed raincoat and examined them. "This one, this one can be saved! A few of you, bring some salt! Sprinkle it over his body, and don’t try to pull the leeches off forcefully!"
"Don’t waste these leeches! They’re treasures! Collect them all!" the Doctor said, aghast, as he saw people about to throw the leeches away.
Two of them were deader than dead, all their blood sucked dry. The third person was temporarily saved, but it was uncertain if he would survive. After all, with the state of medical care, any follow-up treatment would be so dire it was almost like being dead anyway.
"This... this is way too dangerous! I quit! If I die, what will happen to my child?"
"I’m not doing this either! There are so many of those things underwater; it’s terrifying!"
Liu Xing, holding a megaphone, shouted, "Listen up, everyone! Today, I’ll throw in an extra free meal of rice for all of you. This salvage work will only last a few more days. You won’t find such good work again after this is over! I promise you, this is an isolated incident. It won’t happen again!"
Liu Xing gritted his teeth. From now on, if someone disappeared, it was better not to go looking for them. It was just trouble and an added burden. Dying underwater was better than being brought to the surface; at least it wouldn’t cause panic.
In the end, for the sake of an extra meal of plain rice, everyone reminded themselves to be extremely careful. The salvage continued!
Jing Shu turned and re-entered the government building, returning to the spot where the leeches had appeared. After a thorough search, she indeed found several blood-red mushrooms in a corner.
In her past life, she had heard that wherever leeches and red earthworms fought, these strange mushrooms would inevitably appear. They were called Blood Mushrooms and were said to be a mutated and evolved species of Huaxia’s early red mushrooms. Red mushrooms were renowned as the ’King of Mushrooms.’ Their nutritional value was clear, and they were particularly beneficial for women, with effects like cancer prevention, nourishing and replenishing blood. Unfortunately, they couldn’t be artificially cultivated. These Blood Mushrooms, which grew in water, possessed even greater medicinal properties in addition to the benefits mentioned. They were rumored to prolong life. In her previous life, during the apocalypse, it was the greatest supplement. In the second year of the apocalypse, it was classified as a rare species, and it became extinct a few years after the floodwaters receded. Anyone lucky enough to find these uncultivable, wild Blood Mushrooms would experience a meteoric rise, like a carp leaping over the dragon gate.
Jing Shu wanted to try cultivating these legendary, supposedly uncultivable Blood Mushrooms in her space. However, mushroom cultivation wasn’t like growing plants from Seeds. The cultivation methods Jing Shu knew of involved spore separation and test-tube cultivation. Her current situation didn’t allow for such methods, and besides, she didn’t understand the process either. Another method was asexual reproduction: cutting off a part and then... encouraging it to grow quickly with tender loving care. No matter, it was worth a try! If she succeeded, this would be a fantastic way to get rich.
Of course, Jing Shu decided to save one for Yang Yang’s grandfather. Who wouldn’t want something that could prolong life? Although it was quite precious, with her Shark Submarine, Jing Shu figured she could get many more in the future.
"Hmm, looks like I’ll have to save people more often," Jing Shu thought. She suddenly decided she could stay in this area for the next few days. If anyone went missing, she would go down and rescue them. Who knew, she might find another nest of Blood Mushrooms. This was called casting a wide net. If she were to search place by place, in a city as large as Wu City, it would take forever.
As for these incredibly magical, rumored Blood Mushrooms, Jing Shu would get to enjoy them in this life. An old hen stewed with Blood Mushrooms—that would surely be very nutritious, right?
Liu Xing pleaded, "I’m begging you, stop saving people!"
Jing Shu replied, "No. You wish."
The government building complex was enormous, comprising three structures. Jing Shu had only searched a few floors and hadn’t found anything else of significance. The only other thing worth mentioning was a safe she found containing several kilograms of gold bars. Even though gold wasn’t worth much in the apocalypse. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on novel✦fire.net
For Jing Shu, who had never seen so much gold in her entire life, it was a dazzling sight.
Whoever hid gold bars inside the government building truly understood the saying: the more dangerous the place, the safer it is. Brilliant!
Jing Shu planned to go back and ask Mr. Jing to make some jewelry for her. She wanted to experience what it felt like to be rich, too.
Seeing that it was getting late, Jing Shu collected Mrs. Jing and headed home. Tonight, I can finally get a really good sleep, right? she thought.