Chapter 545: Chapter 545

The sound of a gunshot startled Jing Shu. "What happened down there? Why was there a gunshot?"

Jing Shu paced back and forth anxiously. She only roughly knew that fat chicken hadn’t been hit and wasn’t the target. However, from the information fat chicken relayed, it seemed terrified, and everyone around wanted to eat it!

No, it’s still dangerous to leave fat chicken down there by itself. Moreover, I still need to go down and check on the Seeds.

If this were the apocalypse, I’d be desperate to eat a chicken if one was right in front of me, not even sparing the feathers. Let alone now, with not just people from the fleet but also those from the villages swept up in all this—these starving, crazed people wouldn’t care what it is.

"Is the rescue plan ready?" asked Jing Shu.

Yang Yang blew out a breath, covering his frostbitten nose. "There are two rescue plans. Let’s start with Plan A. It should take two to three days to set up the base frame. This damn mountain range is really cold at its end." Shivering from the cold, the weather was indeed getting colder.

Jing Shu, wrapped tightly, snickered. This guy is dressed like it’s autumn in temperatures below minus twenty degrees Celsius. Who else would freeze to death if not him? The tectonic plates are still moving and generating heat, which is why it hasn’t frozen over. Otherwise, this place would be a vast glacier.

"Alright, you guys handle the rescue plan then. I need to go down for a while. With only these two Bone Umbrellas here, you should stay up. The situation below doesn’t look good. My chicken wasn’t swept away by the waves, but now it’s at risk of being eaten..."

The fat chicken had acted as a test subject, and its trial flight was very successful, so Jing Shu was no longer concerned.

Jun Bao showed an expression that indicated he wasn’t surprised. He pulled out an energy bar from a pocket so caked in mud it was impossible to tell if it was gray or black. "You’re going down? Trade me some of your food. I can’t stomach anything else."

"Alright. After all, you guys have paid ’money,’ so I need to ensure you have something to eat for these two days." Jing Shu nodded, leaving behind the cooked foods she didn’t particularly like, including some beef jerky and spicy dried rabbit. Since Jing Shu was the only one with fire-starting supplies, they would only be able to eat cold, hard-to-chew food if she wasn’t around.

Although these foods were considered rare delicacies in the apocalypse, these past few days had spoiled them...

Hao Yunlai looked disappointed. "Wait for me, Jing Shu. I will find a way to get down and join you soon. With me here, you won’t be in danger."

What’s so tasty about these twisted fried dough and dried vegetables? These cold foods have no soul! I’d much rather have a cup of hot milk tea with a sunnyside-up egg every morning, or a warm, gooey meat and egg pancake roll. Besides, they took away my favorite ham. What’s the point of me staying here? My life has lost all meaning.

Lu Liu said, "Then let’s bring more Compressed Biscuits down for the people below. Who knows how long it will be before we can send food down again."

Jing Shu acknowledged with an "Oh," brought her large suitcase, and also packed personal items like her tent.

Soon, Jing Shu was fully geared up.

"It’s so heavy, can you manage it?"

"Will it work? Shouldn’t you avoid taking risks? It’s so high up."

Jing Shu patted the specially made Bone Umbrella. "My grandfather made this with the special materials Qian Duoduo sent. I’ve practiced with it a few times, so don’t worry."

Amidst a chorus of reluctant goodbyes—mostly to the gourmet food—Jing Shu opened her Bone Umbrella and jumped off the cliff. It was similar to a parachute, except if it found a point of support, it would spring back up like a coil, making it the best tool for this environment.

Spotlights shone on Jing Shu, as if to light her path, though it was unnecessary. Jing Shu skillfully controlled her direction and, with a perfect spin, executed a somersault landing... THUD! She crashed into a brick house. Because of the heavy load she carried, CRASH! She smashed a large hole in the building.

"COUGH, COUGH." Jing Shu, choking on the surrounding dust, clutched her large box tightly. Items spilled from her backpack, and some Compressed Biscuits scattered at the feet of a man in the room, who looked startled and unsure. He picked one up, sniffed it, and his face immediately lit up with excitement. "It’s food! It’s food!"

He frantically tore open the packaging and wolfed down the biscuit, his mouth full of crumbs. A single Compressed Biscuit was a full portion for an adult; how could he possibly devour it in just a few bites?

The people who had just come over to see what the noise was about sensed something was off.

"Ergazi, did the rescue team from above send down some food again? Damn, the old hen last time was hogged by them. This time, we must... Ergazi? Damn, it really is food!" ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✶𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲✶𝗻𝗲𝘁

"It’s food, what sort of food?"

A group of ravenous, desperate people, their eyes gleaming with a feral green light, rushed over. Most were men, with very few women. Jing Shu glanced around casually—she didn’t see any children!

"Ergazi, give me some, you can’t eat it all by yourself!"

The people who rushed in seemed to have lost all reason as they charged toward Ergazi. Soon, he was swallowed by the crowd. When others heard there was food, they too surged forward. It was chaotic; it was impossible to see who was grabbing what. Ergazi, trapped in the throng, shouted, "The team from above sent down food! Someone just fell—that person has food on them!"

The crowd, their eyes still gleaming with that green light, instantly shifted their target. But where was the person they were looking for?

"Where is she? What person?!"

"Don’t let her get away!"

"She has a lot of food on her!"

The entire population of Ga Mountain Valley descended into madness again, especially those who had just snatched the Compressed Biscuits from the ground. Once they got a taste, they couldn’t control themselves any longer! The Compressed Biscuits, with their milky flavor and hint of sweetness, required only a bite to chew on for a long, long time. The taste of the chewed biscuit lingered in their mouths, making their stomachs churn with even greater hunger!

"She must have gone to Wang Dan’s place!"

"Let’s go find her! Supplies from above are hard to come by. We’re starving! How can we let those people hog it all?"

"Wait, if you just rush up there blindly, how can they possibly give us food? I have two plans..."

The people of Ga Mountain Valley knew someone else had arrived from above, and that she had brought a lot of food. Now they truly couldn’t sit still any longer and began discussing how to get their hands on the supplies.

「Meanwhile, on Jing Shu’s side,」 after a series of twists and turns, she had managed to squeeze through the crowd. Using the darkness as cover, she finally succeeded in reuniting with fat chicken. As its owner, of course, she knew where to find it.

She found fat chicken comfortably nestled on a rush mat. Someone had thoughtfully poured muddy water for it and even placed a plate of mud nearby as food. There was even a person massaging the chicken!

A voice was heard saying, "Captain, do we really have to do as the loudspeaker said? To take good care of this chicken and let it lay eggs for us to eat? But it’s just one chicken. How many eggs can it possibly lay?"