Chapter 212: Gift for Yang Yang’s Grandpa’s Birthday Found (Requesting Monthly Votes)

Liu Xing shouted through his megaphone, "Hey, stop! Stop that shark!"

Jing Shu sarcastically replied, "You don’t allow private salvage boats in here. You want me to stop and get caught?"

Liu Xing immediately turned around and hit the man who had spoken earlier on the head with his megaphone. "Just ignore him. I’m the supervisor here. We’re worried about leaking confidential files, but now, with everything submerged and the state of the world, who cares? You’re free to salvage here. Whatever you find, you can either keep or exchange for virtual coins at my station. We settle on the spot."

Jing Shu raised an eyebrow. "So why were you calling me?"

"We need you to help pull out the people trapped below. It’s a mess. If we lose a few on the first day, it'll scare everyone away. Plus, it looks bad," Liu Xing said, wiping the sweat from his brow.

Jing Shu frowned. People trapped underwater usually didn’t stand much chance of survival, but she had no idea what had ensnared them.

"Alright, saving lives comes first. Let’s go," Jing Shu said without hesitation, following Xiao Wang.

On the salvage boat, people were nervously whispering about what had happened.

Jing Shu followed Xiao Wang to the top floor of the government building, broke through the glass, and piloted the Shark submarine inside. Before long, they reached the site.

With the submarine’s floodlights on, Jing Shu saw a mass of tangled debris in the corner, ensnaring three people. One of them was still twitching occasionally, but the other two were completely motionless.

Xiao Wang pointed at the area, unwilling to get any closer. He attached the rope to the mass, and Jing Shu revved up the submarine, yanking the entangled people to the surface in one go.

The whole process took just over a minute, incredibly fast.

The Shark submarine shot out of the water, dragging the rope with it. The three people were flung onto the boat with a thud. The spectators gasped at the sight.

In the strong lights, everyone could see that the three individuals were covered in blood-red worms, which wriggled as they contracted and expanded, slithering over their bodies.

The scene was horrifying—a walking mass of leeches, their bloated bodies clearly having drunk an alarming amount of blood.

Some leeches, flung off by the force, sent people screaming.

The tangled mess turned out to be clumps of red threadworms.

A terrifying situation, and this was exactly why Jing Shu had avoided salvage operations in her previous life. Salvaging in floodwaters was dangerous—running into leeches or red threadworms was a nightmare. The worst-case scenario was getting caught in a fight between leeches and threadworms. If you got too close, you could imagine the consequences. A single threadworm posed no threat, but in large numbers, they were far worse than seaweed.

"Quick! Doctor! Is there any chance they can be saved?" Liu Xing stomped his feet in frustration. A disaster like this on the first day was a nightmare.

The doctor rushed over, wearing a sealed raincoat. After a quick examination, he said, "This one can still be saved. Get some salt—sprinkle it over him. Don’t try to pull the leeches off!"

"And don’t throw away those leeches!" the doctor shouted as someone moved to dispose of them. "They’re valuable. Collect them!"

Two of the men were beyond saving, their blood completely drained by the leeches. The third was saved for the moment, but whether he would survive was uncertain. The chances were slim given the poor medical conditions.

"This... this is way too dangerous. I’m quitting. If I die, what happens to my kid?"

"I’m quitting too. With all this down there, it’s too terrifying."

Liu Xing grabbed the megaphone and shouted, "Listen to me, everyone! Today, I’m giving everyone an extra meal of rice for free. This job will only last a few days, and when it’s done, you won’t find work this good again. I promise you, this was just an isolated incident. It won’t happen again!"

Gritting his teeth, Liu Xing decided that if anyone went missing in the future, it was better not to look for them. Otherwise, it would just cause more panic. Better to let them stay down there.

For the sake of a free rice meal, the workers reluctantly decided to carry on, reminding themselves to be more cautious.

Jing Shu turned and re-entered the government building, returning to the spot where the leeches had appeared. After a thorough search, she discovered several blood-red mushrooms growing in the corner.

In her previous life, Jing Shu had heard rumors about these so-called "blood mushrooms." They were said to grow wherever leeches and red threadworms clashed.

Blood mushrooms were considered an evolved species of the famed red mushroom, known as the "king of mushrooms" in Huaxia for its incredible nutritional value and health benefits, especially for women. It was prized for its cancer-fighting and blood-enriching properties, though it couldn’t be cultivated artificially.

The blood mushroom, on the other hand, was even more potent, with medicinal properties that were said to extend life. In the post-apocalyptic world, this mushroom became one of the most sought-after supplements, and by the second year, it was classified as a rare item. After the floodwaters receded, it eventually became extinct.

Anyone lucky enough to find and harvest wild blood mushrooms was considered to have struck gold.

Jing Shu decided to try cultivating these mushrooms in her space, even though they were notoriously difficult to grow. Cultivating mushrooms wasn’t the same as planting seeds, and the conditions she knew of involved either spore separation and lab cultivation—techniques that were out of reach—or a method of sterile reproduction involving careful "nurturing."

Well, it was worth a shot. If it worked, she’d have a goldmine.

Of course, Jing Shu planned to save one mushroom for Yang Yang’s grandfather. Longevity mushrooms were always a prized gift, and even though it was rare, she felt she could easily collect more using her Shark submarine in the future.

"Looks like I’ll be doing a lot more rescue missions," Jing Shu mused. Her new plan was to hang around the salvage area, watching for opportunities to save people. Maybe she’d get lucky and find more blood mushrooms. After all, Wucheng was too large to explore thoroughly on her own.

With the highly sought-after blood mushrooms, Jing Shu could now indulge in a nutritious dish—chicken stewed with blood mushrooms. It would be incredibly nourishing.

Days later, Liu Xing would beg her, "Please, no more rescuing people!"

Jing Shu would respond, "No, you want this."

The government building was enormous, with three towers. Jing Shu had only searched a few floors and hadn’t found much else of interest. The one exception was a safe she discovered, which contained several kilograms of gold bars. Although gold wasn’t worth much in the post-apocalyptic world, seeing that much gold still made Jing Shu’s eyes sparkle.

Hiding gold in the government building—whoever did it clearly believed in the principle that the most dangerous places are often the safest. Impressive.

Jing Shu thought about having Grandpa Jing make her some jewelry from the gold. It would be nice to feel like a rich person, at least once.

As the day drew to a close, Jing Shu answered her mother’s call and headed home, thinking, *Finally, I’ll get a good night’s sleep.*

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––– Side Note –––

Three more updates coming tomorrow!