Chapter 119: "New Space Function—Breeding Poisonous Bees":

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"Grandma, it's not about running away. People are just temporarily avoiding the harsh environment. You know the saying, 'Where there’s life, there’s hope.' As long as we survive, when the conditions improve, people will return. No one truly wants to leave their home behind!"

Jing Shu continued, "Besides, you could think of it as a trip. You’ve always wanted to visit Sichuan, right? We can go together when the time comes."

Her grandmother nodded. "Alright, when you put it that way, I can accept it. But this place is so safe, I don’t want to go anywhere. I’m not up for the hassle."

"What about if there’s an earthquake or flood? Wouldn’t you run?"

"Of course, I'd run! I’m not stupid."

Well, at least she wasn’t entirely against the idea. Once the RV arrived and was made comfortable, Jing Shu planned to keep bringing up the idea of road trips to Sichuan. When the inevitable earthquake hit, they could move with ease. By then, migrating would be a breeze.

Jing Shu realized that when trying to convince someone, it wasn’t about rejecting their ideas. It was better to agree with them and subtly steer them towards the desired outcome. People naturally resist when they feel pressured.

As for her grandfather? Once she convinced her grandmother, the rest of the family would follow suit.

That evening, Jing Shu bundled up in a down jacket and took her The Fat Chicken for a walk. Recently, the chicken had been acting strange, with its appetite declining sharply. She decided to take it for some fresh air and keep an eye on it for a few more days. Hopefully, it wasn’t nearing the end of its life from drinking too much of the spiritual water. But its lively demeanor suggested otherwise.

The night was bitterly cold. The The Fat Chicken, immune to both heat and cold, was enviable.

Thinking about the strange weather, Jing Shu wondered if the Earth’s atmosphere had thinned after so much dust had settled. During the day, the lack of dust particles and the proximity to the sun made temperatures soar. At night, with no heat source, the ground temperature plummeted to just a few degrees Celsius. Among all the theories she had heard, the idea that the Earth's orbit had shifted slightly closer to the sun due to a stellar explosion seemed the most plausible.

The dustfall had significantly decreased. Now, only about a centimeter of dust accumulated each day. It was stabilizing, and the amount of dust would continue to lessen. However, the months-long dustfall had already caused some regions to accumulate up to two meters of dust. Roads were buried, and small rivers and springs had dried up. Who knew how many plants had been wiped out or how much water had been wasted?

This dustfall was likely one of the main reasons for future environmental changes and desertification.

Despite all the destruction, there was still a glimmer of hope. Some speculated that when the dustfall ended, it would signify the return of the sun. As the dust thinned, people clung to the hope of a brighter future.

After her walk with the chicken, Jing Shu checked the villa’s traps to ensure they were functioning properly, then locked the doors. She confirmed the air conditioning in the chicken coop was maintaining the right temperature and that all the animals were healthy.

She headed to the greenhouse, where the bees had built a new hive and had multiplied to over a hundred. She checked for any signs of corpse-eating insects or maggots.

Recently, Jing Shu seemed to have discovered a new function of the magical cube space.

It appeared that after animals had spent a certain amount of time in the space and had consumed enough spiritual water, she could sense their emotions and guide their actions.

When she first fed Spirit Water to Number One and a group of chickens, only Number One developed intelligence. The other chickens showed no response, leading Jing Shu to believe that only large quantities of Spirit Water could awaken intelligence.

The second unusual occurrence was when she placed the bees in the greenhouse. Despite their usual aggression, they did not attack her, recognizing her as their master. However, at that time, she couldn’t control their movements.

The third instance occurred recently, after she frequently activated the cube space’s second form. Spending so much time with the animals in the space, she found she could now guide the bees to fly in and out of the hive. The bees seemed to understand her intentions.

However, the bees she had moved to the greenhouse three months ago showed no such connection. Jing Shu couldn’t guide them or communicate with them, although they still didn’t attack her.

She conducted experiments by releasing batches of bees from the space. After a day outside, she could no longer guide them or sense their presence.

Conversely, when she brought the greenhouse bees back into the space after ten days, there was still no connection. It seemed she could no longer bond with them.

This led Jing Shu to realize how difficult it was to guide the bees.

If this was a result of the cube space’s second form, it had only affected the bees. The other animals—chickens, ducks, pigs, cows, sheep, rabbits, and quails—had no such connection, nor could she guide them.

One possible explanation was that the other animals didn’t stay in the space as long. They were raised, butchered, and eaten in quick cycles, whereas the bees had been in the space much longer.

Bees typically have a lifespan of about three months, but these bees, possibly due to the spiritual water, were still alive and had even produced a new queen. The colony had doubled in size.

Jing Shu hypothesized that in order to form a connection and guide animals, they had to remain in the space for at least six months, consume spiritual water daily (even in small amounts), and not be outside the space for more than a day. If they stayed outside longer than a day, the connection would be lost and would likely need to be rebuilt.

Jing Shu dubbed this phenomenon the "cube space fusion ability," a mysterious power that allowed different species to fully merge with her and the space.

She even considered using the bees as a weapon. If she were ever bound or if her family were threatened, releasing a swarm of bees could be an effective strategy.

In the future, when laws were re-established and killing became illegal, using bees to deliver a deadly sting would be a discreet and effective method, bypassing legal repercussions.

However, a single bee sting wasn’t lethal, and each bee could only sting once. Jing Shu thought about breeding killer bees or perhaps soaking the bees’ stingers in poison. Alternatively, she could enhance the bees with more spiritual water to create a deadly swarm of combat bees.

"Maybe I should ask Wu Youai’s mentor if they have any killer bees. After six months of the apocalypse, many species are probably extinct. And even if I start breeding now, it’ll take at least half a year with daily spiritual water feedings... For now, I’ll focus on strengthening the bees in the space."

Jing Shu ultimately decided to start experimenting with a batch of bees, using deadly poison to see if they could survive with the protection of spiritual water and still deliver a lethal sting.

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*Author's Note*: Thank you to *sdtwk* and *靜之初* for your support! If anyone has a booklist, please add this one to your list!