Chapter 558: Chapter 558

Could the third form of the Magic Cube Space be for better practice of the Magic Cube? Jing Shu couldn’t help but wonder. Indeed, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.

Inside the space, Jing Shu felt no fatigue. Instead, she was full of energy, a warm sensation coursing through her body. In a nutshell, she felt invigorated.

Jing Shu first sorted out the materials for the 10-tier Magic Cube and familiarized herself with them before starting to apply the formulas. Several hours passed in a flash before she realized, Wasn’t I supposed to be sleeping? Why did I start practicing the Magic Cube? Does this even count as sleeping? Read full story at 𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅•𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾•𝗇𝖾𝗍

Jing Shu opened her eyes, blinking at the tent. She rolled her eyes; she didn’t feel as sleepy anymore.

However, when Jing Shu fell asleep again, she found herself back in the Magic Cube Space. This plunged her into endless self-doubt: Am I actually sleeping, or am I awake...?

Fortunately, this question didn’t trouble her for long. After many days of arduous travel, they finally arrived at Wu City!

Jing Shu felt a pressing sense of anxiety and exhaustion. She had only gone out to find Seeds, yet so many things had happened. Still, no matter how arduous the process, a good outcome made it all worthwhile. Finding the Seeds was the best possible result.

Moreover, this trip yielded two significant gains. The first was finding Xiao Wei, the insect woman, who would become a stable food source. This wasn’t merely about making a greater contribution to society. More importantly, having additional food meant Wu City wouldn’t suffer the same starvation it had in her previous life. Consequently, those in power wouldn’t target the fabulously wealthy Qian Duoduo. With someone influential like him to take the brunt of things, she would be safe.

The second gain was that her Magic Cube Space had finally upgraded again. This provided her with an additional 200 cubic meters to store supplies. By the time of next year’s migration, she would be able to prepare even more resources. This undoubtedly increased Jing Shu’s sense of security and her quality of life in the apocalypse.

Jing Shu needed to carefully plan what to store in this new space. She had to consider how to maximize its use while also preparing for various problems they might encounter during the migration. Her top priority was safety, but she also aimed to maintain a certain level of refinement and style in her life.

Speaking of Xiao Wei, she had already sent the first batch of insects with Little Red and Jing Shu’s team. They were now waiting in an abandoned village on the outskirts of Wu City. Jing Shu had already contacted Qian Duoduo’s side. Once they reached an agreement, production could officially begin.

As for the Seed team, they would have to wait until the rescue team reached Wu City. Then, people from Gashan Gou Village needed to be assigned, the Seeds handed over to the Wu City authorities, and prices negotiated with the government. Only after all that would the payment for the Seeds reach Jing Shu’s pocket. To be honest, these hundreds of thousands of diverse Seeds were incredibly precious to Huaxia now, especially since the apocalypse had already wiped out many agricultural crops.

In a few more years, even the most common Domestic Poultry—chickens, ducks, and fish—would face extinction. Only new species that had adapted to the apocalypse law, like the Dinosaur Chicken, would survive in this new world.

With those matters underway, there wasn’t much else for Jing Shu to do. She could simply head home and wait for news.

Jing Shu didn’t have a clear memory of what happened around this time in her past life. The only event that stood out was the mudslide in the fourth year. Comparatively, it had been a milder disaster, with fewer terrifying incidents. However, Jing Shu of this life felt differently. The mud was already up to her knees. Previously, one could at least drive, but now, she feared vehicles would be useless in Wu City, making travel a huge problem.

If the outskirts were already this bad, one could only imagine the state of the city proper, flooded with mud. The mud was cold and icy, and if left unattended, it would form large, hard clumps that stuck to everything.

The minibus had just entered Wu City when it was stopped by an expressway tollgate. Due to the earthquake and various other reasons, only a few expressway routes into Wu City remained open. Everyone entering the city had to use these main roads.

The minibus gradually came to a stop. Jing Shu, her head throbbing, heard a commotion outside. She got up from her tent and asked Hao Yunlai, "What’s going on out there?"

Hao Yunlai was also groggy. Having been little more than a passenger who mostly slept through the journey, he was just as confused. He scratched his head. "I don’t know. Should we go take a look?"

When Jing Shu alighted from the minibus, she saw that the normally quiet suburban toll station now had extremely long queues at all four entry lanes into Wu City. It was very noisy.

Some people, burdened with luggage and wearing thick padded coats, waited in the mud. Others had pitched tents on the nearby hillsides. Jing Shu’s vision was unaffected by the darkness. She could even see an area on a mountainside that had been leveled by an excavator. Several rows of prefabricated panel houses had already been erected there, apparently in preparation for people to settle in.

"What’s going on? Why are there suddenly so many people here in Wu City?" Jing Shu frowned. "This isn’t good. Each person is another mouth to feed, another burden on Wu City."

She then entered the toll station building and saw Xiao Zhao, a member of the rescue team, arguing with the people inside.

"Xiao Zhao, what’s the situation?" Jing Shu asked, then joked, "Wasn’t this toll station abandoned? Why is it manned again? Don’t tell me they’re charging for entry into Wu City now?" She glanced at two young men dressed in black greatcoats.

Xiao Zhao replied with a pained expression, "They’re not charging, no. But the surrounding smaller cities—Wuchang, Xinlan, and Xidu—have all been inundated by mudslides. The Imperial Capital wants Wu City to take in the displaced residents from these disaster areas. The Wu City government says they have to be processed one by one. We can’t just let everyone flood in at once, right?

So, now the major entry points into the city are only letting in a small number of people each day to await arrangements. Plus, everyone has to undergo an assessment via big data to prove they are useful and capable individuals. If you pass, you get an ’entrance permit’ and priority entry. Otherwise, you just have to wait."

Jing Shu blinked. So many places have been flooded by mudslides, she thought. She hadn’t paid much attention to this in her past life, only vaguely recalling that a large influx of people had been forcibly relocated into the city at some point.

"Then what does that have to do with us?" Jing Shu asked, looking at the two emotionless, by-the-book officials. "Why can’t we go in? We’re locals who were away on business. And you’re part of an official government rescue team. Can’t even official personnel enter?"

Xiao Zhao looked like he was about to cry. "He says that excuse doesn’t work anymore. Everyone claims to be a local, so how can they tell who actually is? He said we need to get proof from our community administrator, then approval from the local director, and finally..."