Chapter 109: "Male Corpse Bugs as Mobile Rations":

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If, while you’re asleep, the first corpse bug lays eggs and starts feeding on your flesh, and you don’t wake up, within minutes, more flies will arrive to lay eggs. In less than two hours, your body will be swarming with corpse bugs. Their saliva contains a numbing agent, so people who are sleeping deeply won’t notice a thing.

The evolution of species is indeed an incredible thing. The original corpse bugs were only the size of a pinhead, but now they’ve grown much larger. Eventually, they will become quite plump, and due to the scarcity of food, they’ll eat anything with energy.

Previously, corpse bugs only laid eggs on corpses, but now they lay eggs on living people. A female corpse fly, now about the size of a mosquito, can lay thousands of eggs on a person. These eggs hatch into tiny larvae that grow to the size of a pinhead overnight.

Jing Shu knew all too well about these corpse bugs; they were her nightmare. In just three days, corpse bugs mature, with the females becoming flies that seek new hosts to lay eggs on.

The male corpse bugs, however, grow larger and larger. In times of abundance, they store energy for the species. When food becomes scarce, they are used as rations. These males never transform into flies, and by the fifth year of the apocalypse, they were what Jing Shu mostly ate.

This species' strength comes from their ruthlessness toward themselves.

A few days ago, when Shangguan Jun was torturing an old lady from the neighborhood, he dunked her into a pool of water contaminated with corpse bugs. The long, wriggling bugs were males, constantly feeding to serve as mobile rations for the species, ready to sacrifice themselves when needed.

In her previous life, Jing Shu had to remain vigilant every time she slept, fearing she’d be bitten or have eggs laid on her.

Wang Qiqi posted in the group chat: “@everyone, Aunt Liu from Building 3 was unfortunate enough to have corpse fly eggs laid on her last night. By the time she was found today, her body was completely covered in corpse bugs, leaving only bones. Please, everyone, be on high alert when you sleep.”

Wang Cuihua sent a voice message: “I set up a mosquito net in my house, but it’s useless. This morning, I woke up with my face covered in bites. Does anyone have extra gauze? I need to add another layer.”

User FatGirl25: “I traded all my cloth for work points. I wish I’d kept some!”

Wang Qiqi followed up: “There’s still no news about the five people who went missing from the neighborhood a few days ago. They’re probably dead by now. After seven days, I’ll file a death report, and we can inherit their belongings from any houses without relatives. As usual, I’ll take three times the share.”

No one opposed Wang Qiqi anymore since he had successfully led the neighborhood to food and water.

User Wind3: “Great, I can finally find some dishes. My dishes were crawling with maggots today. If they weren’t white, I’d have thought they were corpse bugs.”

News outlets were also covering the growing danger of corpse bugs, and the science channel finally had a triumphant moment. “See? Corpse bugs are going to rule the world. They’re on their way to becoming the top of the food chain. At this rate, in three months, all other life forms and resources will be consumed by corpse bugs.”

Jing Shu’s villa wasn’t immune; many corpse bugs had found their way inside.

Luckily, the villa had frogs and The Fat Chicken, and Jing Shu had placed several frogs in Grandma Jing’s house as well. After Wu Youai left, Third Aunt Jing also moved into the villa for a few days. Everyone felt it was too unsafe outside. The villa was now under constant surveillance, with patrol cars and armed police on duty 24/7 until Shangguan Jun and his boss were caught.

Jing Shu continued to send boiled water to the officers outside. It was enough to show a little kindness without being over-generous.

Jing Shu’s father had recently brought home some poultry from a farm because the infestation had gotten out of hand. Dozens of animals had died after corpse flies laid eggs on them. Some of the more careless workers allowed the bugs to infest the pigs and cows, which were completely devoured.

The infection spread rapidly to the rest of the farm animals.

So, it was safer to bring them home. The conditions were better, and most importantly, there were fewer corpse bugs.

Each dead animal had a tag, and whoever was responsible for the animal’s care had to take the blame. Some well-connected people had been removed from their positions, and their sponsors were also punished.

That’s right—getting into a farm or agricultural base required a sponsor. If you made a mistake and couldn’t pay the compensation, your sponsor would be held accountable.

“Dad, we need to get some weatherstripping and sealants. We need to ensure that the tempered glass has no gaps, and that the doors and windows are fully sealed. Otherwise, all these crops will be ruined.” Jing Shu pointed to the cucumber plants in the yard. There were places the frogs couldn’t reach, and those areas were vulnerable. If eggs were laid on the plants, it would be disastrous. Plus, they needed to prepare for next year’s floods—Jing Shu didn’t want red worms coming in.

“Alright, leave it to me. I’ll figure out a way to get some.” Jing Shu’s father thought for a moment. It seemed like he’d have to make a deal with Old Liu, although he really didn’t want to reconnect with a colleague he hadn’t spoken to in over twenty years. He had already seen through their true nature.

It looked like they’d have to spray mosquito repellent all over the villa. Even if it wasted some, it was worth it. After the supply ran out, they could always grow some herbs to make more.

Jing Shu’s mother had been under a lot of stress lately. The mushrooms being cultivated in Wucheng’s other twelve districts had mostly been devoured by corpse bugs! She was terrified that her district’s crops would also be eaten.

Fortunately, Jing Shu had placed hundreds of frogs in her mother’s farm. With the constant air conditioning and good water supply, the crops remained unharmed.

Every day, Wucheng consumed more mushrooms than any other food. Even though they didn’t taste great, they were cheap in terms of work points. With no other options, people had no choice but to eat mushroom rice.

However, mushrooms were prone to mold, which happened to be one of the corpse bugs’ favorite foods. Despite all precautions, over half of the mushrooms had been eaten. This meant that in the coming days, the entire city’s food supply would be in jeopardy!

Few people still had food reserves. If the city’s food supply was cut off for a few days, many more people would die.

That day, Jing Shu was summoned by Minister Niu Moo to reserve almost all of her second batch of frogs, and he even wanted to reserve the third batch.

The second batch had about 1,000 frogs. Jing Shu left 200 for her mother’s farm and gave the rest to Niu Moo, in exchange for 500 work points, 300 kilowatt-hours of electricity, and 200 bottles of mineral water, along with Minister Niu Moo’s favor.

Due to the current water shortage, even Minister Niu Moo wasn’t as generous as before. He couldn’t offer two bottles of water per frog, so he gathered other things. The 300 kilowatt-hours of electricity, combined with solar power, would provide enough for Jing Shu’s household for several months, saving them from using gasoline to generate electricity.

Jing Shu didn’t care too much about the number of water bottles. She was mainly thinking ahead—if she ever needed to explain the source of all her water, she could say she got it from trading with Minister Niu Moo. Otherwise, hiding hundreds of boxes of water in her study would raise suspicions.

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*Author’s note*: Thanks to WJ King of the Underworld and Shuishui Tea for your tips!