Chapter 278: Increasing the Difficulty of Upgrading the Rubik’s Cube Space

Besides changes to the farmland, Jing Shu also used 8 cubic meters of space to raise fish. She planned to breed a large batch to make finished products like grilled, fried, steamed, and braised fish to keep in the space for late-night snacks. After the upgrade, whether it was an illusion or not, her appetite seemed to have increased a bit. She got hungry easily, and when hungry, she became irritable.

Last year, she spent time drying various vegetables, and the space wasn’t big enough to raise more fish. This year, with more time and space, she decided to make more cooked food for convenience, so she could eat anytime without the hassle of cooking.

She also used 24 cubic meters to raise poultry, doubling the number. Jing Shu planned to slaughter a batch in about half a year and make cooked food, preparing early for the fifth-year migration. After the fifth year, traveling would leave little time for cooking.

The main task for the second half of this year was to prepare various cooked foods and store them in the space, ensuring Jing Shu, the big eater, could always eat well. She also planned to pickle as much as possible for long-term storage, so later no one would be surprised when taking them out.

For example, making canned fruit and vacuum-packed cooked corn. When many people came, these could be taken out without raising suspicion, even claimed as expired pre-apocalypse food.

After the apocalypse, a pack of vacuum-packed corn was as precious as an ’82 Lafite wine. These expired pre-apocalypse foods were rare and highly valued.

So Jing Shu’s space now consisted of:

1 cubic meter of spirit spring + 24 cubic meters of farmland + 8 cubic meters of fish + 24 cubic meters of poultry + 286 cubic meters of supplies.

The 286 cubic meters weren’t fully used yet; over 80 cubic meters remained. Besides bulky items like gasoline, diesel, TNT, mineral water, basement rice, flour, oil, a few hammer-shaped giant stones, reusable conical steel, and 8 cubic meters of nuts, the rest were mostly various foods, each occupying 1-3 cubic meters.

When Jing Shu used up most of the space, she planned to reorganize it. As the space grew, she sometimes wished for a “tidy up” function like in games, to neatly arrange all supplies without her having to spend so much effort. Although the space was 360° with no blind spots and had x-ray vision, looking at all the cubic grids made her eyes dizzy.

Jing Shu’s Rubik’s Cube Space was currently level 7. The challenge in her hands was the level 8 cube. Previously, the level 6 space gained a “second form,” a virtual-reality overlap that made managing the space more intuitive and convenient—even slaughtering pigs and cows could be done easily by overlapping the second form with reality.

The current level 7 space added the “illusion” ability, which could directly control and influence creatures within the second form’s range, and also affect people there, though the effect on humans was minor. Still, it gave Jing Shu an extra means of control, self-protection, reconnaissance, and tracking.

When practicing the level 7 cube, Jing Shu often experienced illusions, always waking up at 4 a.m. to deal with things.

Jing Shu guessed that upgrading the Rubik’s Cube Space now required more than just restoring it to its original state. New elements were added to interfere and slow down the restoration, greatly increasing the difficulty of upgrading. But the rewards were richer, accompanied by new abilities.

So after studying the upgraded space, Jing Shu ate a pot of porridge and a pile of crayfish, then continued practicing the level 8 cube.

She didn’t know what challenges awaited this time or what new abilities would emerge after the next upgrade. But time was running out. She wanted to upgrade the space again before going to the U.S. next year.

That way, she could “take” more things back and not make the trip in vain. Jing Shu was full of motivation.

Time flew by, and it was already late April. The temperature dropped from 36°C to 29°C. In two months, the temperature would plunge sharply, and it wouldn’t be warm spring rain but deadly cold rain.

Thousands of silkworm eggs had been laid in the space. Next month, the silkworm population would double. The silkworms in the villa’s yard also laid over a thousand eggs. Jing Nai and Zi Jin were busy. Jing Ye made over ten racks piled in the bedroom to hold silkworms. If there wasn’t enough space later, they’d use the living room, but it was already partly occupied by garlic, scallions, and mushrooms, so it would get crowded.

More than a month had passed since the last incident. The bombing of West Mountain was never known to the public, only circulating in certain circles. Qian Duoduo was busy building a new “one-stop base.” He contacted Jing Shu several times, inviting her to visit in a few months and promising surprises, even saying he’d gift her anything she liked.

Jing Shu really didn’t know what the one-stop base was for, since in her past life she was at the bottom and unaware of such circles.

Su Xiangnan was more straightforward.

No matter how many times Qian Duoduo contacted Jing Shu, Su Xiangnan always contacted her one more time, claiming he wasn’t as stingy as Qian Duoduo. Jing Shu was helpless and said Qian Duoduo was preparing a surprise, and Su Xiangnan wasn’t stingy either. He asked Jing Shu to wait a bit longer; he had a surprise too.

Jing Shu was a bit hopeful but also anxious and worried.

Because Lin Yi was not executed but protected. Jing Shu was stunned when she heard this.

“Why? This kind of person should be killed quickly. Did he hypnotize your leaders’ leaders?”

Yang Yang said helplessly, “After the U.S. government learned he was caught, they sent assassins trying to kill Lin Yi. Because Lin Yi knows secrets of great value, before scientists fully study them, he won’t be executed but will be strictly protected.”

So Jing Shu didn’t know when Lin Yi would die. Not dying made her uneasy. Now she could only keep an eye on him. Fortunately, his abilities were known, and measures were taken to prevent his escape.

In the past month, some small events happened. For example, Wu You’ai finally arrested the father and son who forcibly occupied Zhang Bingbing’s property and sent them to labor reform. It was said they were beaten badly within days.

The heavy rain continued, floods hadn’t receded, but the city’s salvageable items were all taken. The rest were unusable after months underwater.

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