Chapter 396: Chapter 396

What secrets do they hold! In this apocalypse, how many more secrets were there that she was unaware of? In her previous life, she had nothing and wasted her time obliviously. But in this life, with the Magic Cube Space in her hand, a rare treasure, Jing Shu finally felt more confident. Besides, things that can’t be explained by science are only unexplained because our understanding has yet to reach that level of acceptance.

Jing Shu believed that even the Magic Cube Space could be explained scientifically, and so could these dead trees.

The thought had just begun and was unstoppable. Jing Shu closed her eyes and meditated for a while before she finally made up her mind.

"We’ll rest here for eight hours tonight!" she declared. "I’ll investigate the roots of these dead trees to find out the cause and a way to escape these mountains. Continuing is not a solution."

She possessed the Magic Cube Space and feared nothing. However, the openly declared food supplies from her three pieces of luggage were nearly depleted. All the meat was gone, and the remaining provisions would soon be consumed as well. Furthermore, her teammates would perish if they continued . Jing Shu did not want to walk out of the mountains alone to undertake the mission in the United States. After all, her primary objective was to gather supplies, not to complete some trivial assignment.

As Jing Shu spoke, she took out the food from her luggage and began to replenish her energy. What followed would require intense concentration, and she needed to maintain sufficient strength.

Little Black lay on the ground breathlessly, his lips pale and dark circles under his eyes. He continuously cursed, "Damn it, I haven’t taken a shit in five days! Where did all the food I ate go?"

Snake Spirit pointed at the Tai Ban Snake. "Let my Tai Ban follow you. It’s still in good shape and might protect you if danger arises."

Jing Shu shook her head. "No need. You guys get some rest. We truly haven’t rested well from traveling these past few days. Maybe you’ll feel better tomorrow."

"It’s useless. I can feel it—it’s the rapid loss of life force. Look, the cart made of dead wood seems even more decayed, and our weapons are rusting. I’ve always wondered if time flows differently here than in the outside world, but it still feels absurd."

"Whatever it is, the answer will be revealed soon," Jing Shu said in a grave tone.

Fat Chicken also realized the tension of the situation. She obediently lay down at Jing Shu’s feet with her chicken nest in her mouth, discontented with the Ant Queen sprawling nearby, vying for affection. So, Fat Chicken grabbed the Ant Queen and tossed her into the ant colony. Follow current novels on 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵✶𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮✶𝓷𝓮𝓽

After Jing Shu had eaten and drunk her fill, she went to the base of a dead tree and sat down cross-legged.

She began to unleash all the elite-level cannibal insects to rapidly gnaw at the tree roots. These were cannibal insects that Jing Shu had carefully cultivated, feeding them daily with diluted Spiritual Spring water. Her control over them was unlimited by distance or time, and they could even serve as Jing Shu’s eyes.

Jing Shu also tied neatly processed strands of silk to the insects. The silk was the lightest and the longest she had synthesized, originally intended for stealing items from a long distance when she arrived in the United States. She never expected to use it at such a critical juncture today.

Firstly, having a physical connection enhanced her control over the insects. Secondly, and most importantly, the mechanism of Jing Shu’s Magic Cube Space required a medium for her to touch any treasures underground before she could collect them. With the silk as this medium, she could bring anything it touched into the space.

Beneath the dead tree lay hundreds, even thousands, of root branches. Jing Shu did not overlook a single one, commanding all the cannibal insects to devour them completely. It was as if she suddenly possessed hundreds of eyes, with innumerable pieces of information flooding into her mind, making her feel as if her head were about to explode from being overstuffed.

These specially cultivated cannibal insects devoured at a speed several times faster than normal ones. Soon, they had spread out along hundreds of root branches, leading to hundreds of different locations. Likely due to the nourishment of the Spiritual Spring water, these insects no longer perished suddenly.

Jing Shu gradually adapted to the overwhelming influx of information exploding into her mind. As the insects frenziedly gnawed away, a vast map began to form in her head.

Some insects reached the end of a root and found nothing. Some twisted and turned, encountering another dead tree. Others continued to burrow deeper underground.

Several hours passed. The cannibal insects had yet to reach the ultimate source, but a colossal map had coalesced in Jing Shu’s mind. It was as if a monstrous entity lay deep underground, extending thousands of tendrils. These tendrils surfaced and grew into individual dead trees. These dead trees, in turn, continued to develop more tendrils, which then grew into more dead trees, slowly expanding their territory.

Is this how the dead tree monstrously expands its territory and devours other lifeforms?

Upon realizing that the countless dead trees outside were merely offshoots of that subterranean monster, Jing Shu was shocked. What kind of incredible plant could spread so many tendrils underground? After all these days, having cut down hundreds, even thousands, of its offshoots, I still haven’t finished? I’ve only touched a minuscule fraction of its network?

The only certainty, which allowed Jing Shu to breathe a sigh of relief, was that these offshoots truly seemed to be plants. They did not fight back or resist and possessed no lethality.

But what shocked Jing Shu even more was that these dead trees contained a sac for storing liquid, much like an IV bag, filled with a red fluid. Countless smaller roots acted like IV tubes, slowly circulating this fluid, drop by drop, until it was eventually transported into the body of that bizarre plant at the subterranean core.

So the question arises: where did this red fluid come from, and what is its purpose? It’s terrifying to consider... what if this fluid is derived from the life force and energy collected from all living organisms in the outside world? What if these dead trees, like signal towers, possess the ability to collect life force? No, that’s wrong! These past few days, I’ve chopped down all the dead trees I could find, extracted their sap, and burned them directly. Yet, my teammates’ conditions have noticeably worsened day by day. So, the function of the dead trees must only be to store this red fluid!

After understanding the nature of these offshoots, Jing Shu directed the cannibal insects to burrow straight underground toward the central entity. The journey was remarkably smooth, encountering no obstacles. However... it was incredibly, exceedingly long.

The dozen or so rolls of silk Jing Shu had brought were almost at their end. If this continued, she would have to produce more silk in the Magic Cube Space to act as a medium. Her control over the cannibal insects had also weakened by about a third.

「The mountains were once again bathed in dim light.」

This day should have brought the sunrise, illuminating the earth. However, in the apocalypse, it merely emitted a dim glow. Only a reddish light could be seen behind the clouds. Numerous dust particles formed thick clouds that robustly blocked the sun. The stubborn sun could only manage to refract a faint glimmer of light.

Tan Ke paced back and forth several times. Lingling watched Jing Shu continually from a distance. Snake Spirit’s Tai Ban also slithered by a few times. But no one dared to disturb Jing Shu; they could only watch from afar.