Someone immediately asked, "One bug in exchange for some food?"
"Yeah, as long as it's not one I've already collected. To keep things fair, whoever got to the base first gets priority to trade with me."
The group chat was instantly flooded with messages about those two topics. Jing Shu didn't bother scrolling anymore. Instead, she sent a private message to Su Mali. "Are they seriously collecting or just pretending? Feels like they're bending the rules just to sneak more food to those classmates."
Su Mali quickly replied with a crying-laughing emoji, showing how helpless she felt. "You don't know, the higher-ups ordered it. They want to do genetic recombination, modify these bugs, and turn them into new food sources.
But right now only silkworm pupae, cicadas, and stick insects have protein and fat that fit human needs. If nothing else works, they're even planning to mass-breed cockroaches and compress them into protein bars, but it's not going well. Some people found that slowly mutating bugs carry a substance called dark matter, and it's packed with protein. That's why they're trying to get more samples for research."
That jogged Jing Shu's memory. Right, these experiments had already started. Good thing research had begun years earlier, or else when the extreme cold hit and crops couldn't grow, they never would've managed to produce those genetically modified food sources.
Cockroaches compressed into protein food… Jing Shu had never heard of that before. Wait, wait… holy shit, could it be that the fried protein food she ate in her last life, the one cooked in corpse oil, was actually this stuff? The thought nearly made her puke.
She hurriedly shoved a few marinated eggs into her mouth to calm her stomach, then mixed chili sauce with all the marinated beef and ate an entire bowl before she finally felt better.
Damn it, just how many things had the government been hiding from ordinary people? Jing Shu didn't dare dwell on it, didn't want to either. After talking over a few details with Su Mali, she focused on practicing with her Rubik's Cube.
The news broadcast another grim report. A worldwide catastrophic earthquake, likely not a coincidence, wouldn't stop anytime soon. In fact, it might last as long as heavy rainstorms.
"The Earth's orbit has shifted, its gravity's off, which disrupted its rotation and revolution. That caused seasonal chaos. Based on the data, these quakes aren't from external influences, they're probably Earth's way of self-adjusting. Before, Earth's rotation cycle was too fast, now it's too slow. The clash between the two forces forms a whirlpool of energy. We call this the Tornado Quake.
In simple terms, once Earth finishes its self-adjustment, the apocalypse will be over. So please, hang in there a little longer."
The poor newscasters always had to spin every disaster into a story about the end of the apocalypse being right around the corner. Even Jing Shu almost believed them.
Rumble!
The ground started violently shaking again. The thunder and lightning outside hadn't weakened with time, if anything, they were only getting stronger.
The people taking refuge in the wetland park couldn't sit still anymore. Some tried to leave, only to be buried alive on the way back. That terrified others into returning. Rumors spread like wildfire, until it turned into "step outside and hundreds of people will be buried alive by the quake."
Jing Shu already knew what was going on. The Banana Community might not collapse, but if she dared to suggest going back, her family would drown her in spit. That was the painful part. She knew it wouldn't collapse, but she couldn't go back. She had to put on an act, pretending to be scared, because she couldn't exactly reveal she could foresee the future.
So, on the third morning, when she tried to head out, she hit a huge roadblock. After scarfing down over twenty pork-and-noodle buns and promising over and over that Su Mali's bodyguards would protect them, she finally got into Su Mali's extended business car and went to Xishan.
Before leaving, Grandpa Jing insisted she carry a black backpack. He'd designed it based on her ideas in just the last two days. In danger, the pack would deploy long, thin claws that latched onto the surroundings like a spiderweb, then catapult her out to safety.
"Well? What do you think?" Grandpa Jing asked, face full of expectation.
Jing Shu wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Grandpa, it's a great gadget, but honestly, I'm probably the only one who can use it. Who else can carry something that weighs dozens of kilos?"
Grandpa Jing muttered, "That's just for testing. Once it works, I'll rebuild it with aluminum alloy, make it a lot lighter."
Su Mali stared enviously at the bulky black backpack. She even said if they perfected it, she'd buy one herself.
When they arrived, more than twenty people were already waiting at the Xishan base entrance. Pretty much all of Jing Shu's surviving high school classmates were there.
It was freezing, so everyone was either breathing into their hands, stomping their feet, or jogging in place. Compared to last year's gathering, by this second day of 2025, they all looked much thinner, already sliding toward skin-and-bones, just like in her past life.
As always, Su Mali was dressed in the latest high-tech insulated bubble dress, complete with hat and gloves. Fully equipped, adorable, and luxurious, she radiated energy. She looked like a pink little princess ready for spring.
By contrast, Jing Shu was plain. A pre-apocalypse white down jacket with black leggings. For warmth, she'd layered autumn pants and wool pants underneath. Back before the world ended, this outfit would've made her look neat and tidy. But now, in the third year of the apocalypse, after droughts, floods, and quakes, wearing a spotless white down jacket was basically a sign of family wealth.
"You're finally here!"
"They made it!"
Classmates in all kinds of mismatched outfits ran up to greet them. A few were still neat and clean, which was no small feat.
But before they could chat for even a minute, Jing Shu's phone rang. It was Yang Yang!
The cheerful reunion scene instantly froze. The noise died down as everyone instinctively turned to her. Nobody dared say a word, almost like they were afraid to disturb the boss while she took a call.
Jing Shu frowned and picked up, a bad feeling stirring in her gut.
"Hello?"
"Get ready. We're about to pull off something big."
On the other end, Yang Yang's voice came low, restrained, but buzzing with barely contained excitement. He sounded like a caged beast snarling, desperate to break free, growling under his breath so he wouldn't alert the enemy.
He was doing everything he could to keep from exploding with emotion.