Chapter 442: Chapter 442
"Although people had sensed something was off with the city walls for some time, the issue couldn’t be detected due to the new materials used by Doctor B. Moreover, on the very first day Doctor B disappeared, the city’s upper echelon was quite anxious. This was because Doctor B’s leadership was crucial for matters concerning both the Concentrating Stone and the Life Water.
It wasn’t until two days later that the Austin City high-ups finally conducted a thorough investigation, and the truth came to light. It turned out that all of it was a scheme by Doctor B and Tis. We were also involved in digging tunnels and secretly transporting materials away. How else could millions of pounds of supplies vanish in the blink of an eye?
So, it was only natural that they included all of us in the bounty, and it was normal to be considered accomplices. Of course, the bounty amount was also boosted by contributions from the Big Boss of the Underground Black Market Slave Masters. That boss looked furious. First, all his food was stolen, followed by his most precious minerals. He swore to find us, chop us up, and feed us to his pets.
The Austin incident had such a significant impact that, understandably, Doctor B and Tis were the priorities. However, we had a ’prior record,’ so it has become very difficult to enter the United States again since our fingerprints and faces had already been recorded."
With the course of events clear, everyone fell into silence. Only Jing Shu was looking at the news, where her photo from the video footage and other details could be seen.
The photo showed her wearing a bulky cotton coat and a green helmet. Though she looked like an older woman, her features were still pure and beautiful, and the bare-faced Jing Shu inadvertently turned the wanted picture into what seemed like a portrait.
Forget that Jing Shu in her previous life loved beauty. After wasting ten years in the apocalypse—suffering rheumatism in the second year, scars from frostbite in the fifth year, and being gaunt from years of malnutrition—she had long ceased to care about her appearance. Little did she expect that the beauty she coveted so much in her past life would be unintentionally restored to her after rebirth.
Life, indeed, was full of the unexpected, which is why Jing Shu sometimes dreamt that her Magic Cube Space filled with supplies had disappeared. Jing Shu would wake up in fright and would often ponder this problem. Though it was very unlikely that the Magic Cube Space would vanish, she, to be safe, would not put all her eggs in one basket. She was determined to stash an additional portion of the Magic Cube Space’s supplies in the villa, another in her secret storage, and even bury some in the soil on the hillside behind. She intended to actively upgrade the Magic Cube Space to ensure better survival in the apocalypse while also not becoming overly dependent on it. Gaining it is my fortune, losing it is my fate; she resolved to maintain a healthy mindset to face the unknowns of life ahead.
Jing Shu returned to her senses, looking at the document. It bore the English line: "Issued By Intelligence Agency of United States of America."
The translated version of the bounty notice roughly read: The most update n0vels are published on 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢·𝔫𝔢𝔱
"Issued by the Intelligence Agency of the United States of America.
[Code Name Doctor B, ringleader of a fraud syndicate, inventor of a new type of Concentrating Stone with radiation values exceeding 300, causing the death of hundreds of thousands in Austin City. He then concocted the ’Water of Life’ scam, swindling the good and honest citizens of Austin out of millions of pounds of food and millions of pounds of rare minerals, and also stealing Austin City’s latest dehydrated vegetable technology.]
[Code Name C Lady...]
Soon, Jing Shu finally found the description pertaining to herself:
[Code Name J: Used her innocent appearance to blend in with the good and honest citizens, enticing them to invest. She also made multiple false testimonies during the verification of the ’Water of Life,’ providing cover for Doctor B. Many of the good citizens claimed that they would have never been deceived if not for Code Name J, who, in partnership with Doctor B, used a cave on the outskirts to secretly transport away all the supplies and the rare minerals, playing a decisive role in the entire scam.
Note: Without J, that damn Doctor B would definitely not have been able to transport so much material away, and he also despicably and brutally slaughtered the brave warriors present. Therefore, J is categorized as an A-class bounty, with the reward amount doubled!]
Innocent appearance? Huh?
Jing Shu propped her chin, genuinely surprised by the high regard the United States Government placed on her, not to mention the increased bounty—it was truly a gesture of elevation for which she was grateful.
"It seems that the United States is indeed not a good place to go to anymore."
Unless one changes their face and swaps their fingerprints and iris, but who can be sure whether the rich resources of the United States will still be available in a year or two? The United States is just barely clinging to life as it is.
As for returning to the United States, no one else offered an opinion. There were other regions rich in resources they could go to instead. For instance, with the increasing scarcity of oil, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to head to an oil-rich country and bring back some petroleum. This was especially true since after the fifth year of the ice age, anyone who couldn’t burn fuel for warmth would freeze to death!
Besides, they had acquired all the special products they could find in Miguo; it was time to procure some from other places.
And in the dead of winter, no one can survive at negative 70 degrees Celsius!
The cargo ship, numbered 808, moved slowly towards its destination. After reaching it, Jing Shu and the others would take Qian Duoduo’s luxurious private plane back to Huaxia Imperial City, while the cargo ships would continue to transport goods by sea, returning to Huaxia only after more than ten days.
Jing Shu set Yang Yang’s broken bones and even generously d some black Wanzi rolled with Spiritual Spring, considering she had accidentally injured Yang Yang.
As for Monkey’s injuries, they were more severe, with both legs being crushed. Jing Shu could only flatten some of the rolled Wanzi and apply them to his legs, along with some orally administered Wanzi rolled with Spiritual Spring. Whether he could fully recover was uncertain.
As for Hao Yunlai, he was truly knocked out cold. Given that Hao Yunlai had paid a heavy price to save Jing Shu and the others, she gave him a drop of the highly effective Spiritual Spring and some black Wanzi for free. Not only did he not show signs of waking, but he even started to snore.
Knowing that Jing Shu had woken up after being fed a drop of Spiritual Spring before, it could only indicate that his current condition was quite serious. This kind of sleep was extremely abnormal, potentially leading to him sleeping to death.
Jing Shu’s Spiritual Spring had a great restorative effect on life force, particularly on cuts and similar wounds. However, in Hao Yunlai’s case, he had no other injuries apart from some external damage to his thigh. With all his vital signs normal, the Spiritual Spring didn’t seem to have much of an effect.
"Let’s wait until we return to the country to assess Hao Yunlai’s condition. Have someone from the Imperial Capital take a look at him. If there’s really no solution, I’ll take the risk and try something else," Jing Shu said. Her mind inexplicably recalled the time she entered the mountains and touched the entrance to the fourth dimension, almost bursting apart due to lack of a fulcrum. That scar hurt so fiercely that the pain was gut-wrenching, a memory vivid and fresh. Even though the red liquid from the fourth dimension used ’time’ to rewind the injury, the physical memory remained. For over ten days, she lived in agony.