Chapter 210: Beginning the Salvage (Second Update)

Wang Qiqi took the recommendations from Jing Shu and her group, beginning his tough journey toward gaining the position of distribution director. Although Jing Shu believed Wang Qiqi’s chances of success were slim, given his lack of resources, she could still offer assistance at key moments.

After all, having someone trustworthy in that role would be far better than having anyone else. Especially in the future, when migration and disaster relief would inevitably involve resource allocation. If Wang Qiqi were the director, their group's position would be much more favorable.

Thinking about it this way, investing in Wang Qiqi seemed like a wise decision.

Among the items Wang Qiqi brought, the steel cutter was the only thing Jing Shu could use immediately. The rest of the equipment was handed over to Grandpa Jing.

Jing Shu planned to use the cutter to craft versatile weapons from the steel she had traded from Su Mali. Soon, instead of throwing rocks, she would be launching massive steel arrows—a thought that made her quite excited.

Meanwhile, in their old chat group, Wu Youai posted an announcement:

"@everyone, the government will begin salvage operations tomorrow. Anyone can sign up to participate. Transportation is free, but renting a life vest costs 1 virtual coin. The surface of Wucheng's flooded areas is full of valuable items, all exchangeable for virtual coins. This is your chance to earn some, so if you're interested, sign up quickly! Life vests are limited. It’s a good way to make some money without losing out."

"What? We have to pay? What if we're good swimmers? Can we go without a vest?"

Wu Youai: "Yes, you can swim, but it’s at your own risk. If you have a flotation device, like an inflatable ring, feel free to bring it."

*LessMilkIMom*: "I’ll rent an inflatable ring for 0.5 virtual coins. Who wants one?"

Wu Youai: "Also, big data has been updated with a list of salvaged items and their corresponding virtual coin values. You can exchange based on the official price list, but don’t bring back garbage expecting to get a payout—you’ll just be laughed at."

…

That night, Jing Shu cleared out space in her underground storage, putting away items she wouldn’t need immediately. She buried all the giant stones in the backyard and stored the steel in the villa’s back garden. This freed up about half of her space, and she hoped tomorrow’s salvage would be fruitful.

On January 8th, at 4 a.m., Jing Shu was woken up by her mother to get ready for work. They drove off in the Shark submarine. Since her deal with Chen Nan had switched to RV modification materials, the luxury car was no longer available. Their family’s energy car couldn’t be risked, but they had scheduled a meeting with Wu Youai for the next day to discuss it.

Great, another day with just a few hours of sleep.

"Dear mom, dear mom, dear mom!" Jing Shu muttered as she hit the gas and drove out of the Banana Community. The underground garage was now crowded with people, so they couldn’t use it anymore.

Jing Shu quickly munched on a wrap stuffed with lettuce, grilled sausage, chicken fillet, fish steak, beef sauce, and duck egg, washing it down with some fresh milk. Breakfast had to be simple today.

The floodwaters in the development zone had receded somewhat. Where power poles were previously submerged, they were now visible, but the floodwaters in the urban area showed no signs of receding, quashing any hope people had of returning home soon.

After settling the population, the Wucheng government had begun encouraging everyone to join the salvage operation in the urban center.

Starting today, everyone became busier than ever. While disasters hit fast, recovery and rebuilding were slow and difficult.

At the Agricultural Management Division, things were as bad as ever. After using rainwater for irrigation, all the vegetables were infested with worm eggs. Some people were manually trying to remove them, but it wasn’t effective.

Jing Shu immediately got to work, extracting the old worms from the rainwater, soaking them in saltwater, and then releasing them into the vegetable field. She spent half the day working, and by the end, she was dizzy and felt like she was hallucinating. The sensation reminded her of overplaying with her magic cube.

Lately, Jing Shu had noticed something strange about the cube, ever since it reset itself. She couldn’t quite pinpoint the problem, but she suspected she’d get answers once it upgraded again. The anticipation of unlocking its secrets only made her more eager for the upgrade, but the technology just wasn’t there yet.

Seeing Jing Shu’s exhaustion, her mother felt terrible and insisted that she shouldn’t do such hard work again, saying they could have others handle it.

"Good thing it was you doing this. Anyone else would have taken at least ten days to finish, by which time the crops would have been ruined."

"Alright, mom, these vegetables are almost ripe, so stop watering them. Otherwise, the eggs will return. The solution should be ready for the next batch."

"This method is too much trouble. If we have to do this every time, it’ll waste a lot of time."

Jing Shu’s goal wasn’t to make things easier but to push people to find ways to mass-produce crops cheaply. Once her mother filtered the water and grew the crops using simple methods, it would boost her career significantly.

In a few days, the timing would be just right.

"Where are you rushing off to without finishing your meal?"

"I’m going out for a bit."

"It’s so dark outside, and there’s water everywhere. Where are you going?"

…

Rain poured down over Wucheng as the government dispatched salvage ships to the city center to recover various materials. Jing Shu couldn’t let the opportunity pass—her magic cube space needed to be filled.

If she waited too long, all the valuable items would be gone.

Before the flood, these areas were heavily guarded. Now that the floodwaters had claimed everything, it was all unowned. Well, in a sense.

The tallest buildings in Wucheng’s center were still submerged, their tips barely visible. Helicopters hovered overhead, shining floodlights across the water.

Dozens of salvage boats crisscrossed the water’s surface, manned by newly recruited government salvage workers. Each of them was highly skilled in water, having passed rigorous tests, and was equipped with professional gear.

Some salvage boats were advanced, using computer-controlled hooks, while others were more basic, relying on manual labor to pull in objects. There were even boats where workers did it the old-fashioned way, diving in with nothing but ropes to tie objects for retrieval.

In the post-apocalyptic world, human labor was cheap. Since food was always distributed to the population, the government decided to allocate it to those who contributed value.

Thus, many of the workers relied on diving to salvage anything they could. Items that were worthless before the apocalypse had suddenly become essential in this new world.