Chapter 300: These Heinous People Deserve the Death Penalty

It’s true what they say—when something doesn’t concern you, you just hang back. Originally, the zombie deer infestation in Australia caused an invasive species problem. After the red worms there got infected with the virus, within just half a year, the infection spread wildly, causing red worms worldwide to become infected.

At that time, China had no energy to worry about infected red worms that posed no direct threat; the various waterborne insects in Jiangnan were already deadly enough.

All of China urgently started producing anti-parasitic medicine, barely saving the endangered population. Because of this, the topics for 26 national herbal medicine association competitions were all changed.

But this also gave Jing Shu a lucky break. By successfully cultivating tobacco, the Wucheng association jumped into the national top ten, skipping the preliminary round. This was all thanks to Jing Shu’s tobacco planting.

So the Australian news hadn’t drawn much attention until today, when the virus spread to China.

“Oh dear, you all need to disinfect yourselves. Don’t bring red worms in! I saw several outside that looked like zombies from a movie. Are they hopeless?” Granny Jing sprayed disinfectant vigorously on Jing Lai and Wu You’ai, who were returning from work.

Jing Shu sighed, “Granny, that’s just chunks of flesh dying, rotting, turning green and stiff—like zombies. The dead flesh infects the surrounding healthy flesh. It’s not zombies, but in late stages, the disease does damage the brain, leaving only instincts.”

Actually, this zombie disease was minor compared to other disasters in the previous life. People were just scared. In late stages, the whole body is covered in dead flesh, oozing pus and stinking, hanging like tumors. The worst Jing Shu saw lived about a year with their entire body rotting, dragging those tumors when walking—extremely disgusting.

Fortunately, those infected don’t feel pain. The disease has a built-in anesthetic. To be frank, it was once studied for extracting anesthetics, though Jing Shu didn’t know if it was used clinically.

Ignoring appearances, Jing Shu’s father was reapplying lime powder to the villa’s low walls. Despite continuous rain, dehumidifiers, moisture absorbers, and dryers, the villa was still damp. At night, they had to turn on the boiler to heat the floor.

Wu You’ai and Jing Lai quickly disinfected and dried their raincoats. Wu You’ai said, “20% of people in Australia have died. Once infected, the flesh keeps rotting. Even if you cut off the bad flesh, the virus remains inside and causes other parts to rot. There’s no medical care now. Granny, stop spraying. Though transmitted by red worms, it’s not easily contagious.”

The family entered the dining room for dinner. Jing Shu had been eating too much barbecue lately and felt overheated, so Granny Jing made fish soup, cold bitter melon salad, and some light home-style dishes. The staple was still roujiamo (meat sandwich): meat stewed for hours, chopped with fat and lean mixed, soaked in sauce, stuffed into fragrant baked bread with some Qin pepper—delicious!

Jing Shu took two bites of roujiamo, sipped fresh crucian carp tofu soup, and exhaled slowly. This was the life she wanted.

Granny Jing asked, “How did those people in the community get infected?”

“Don’t mention it. After red worms went extinct, their price skyrocketed. Before, red worms were a staple for ordinary people, enough to fill their stomachs. Now it’s just mushroom soup, not enough to eat. So some started selling red worms, smashing the stinky, virus-infected worms into cakes, five for one virtual coin. Some people ate these daily and got the zombie disease. But people’s immunity is strong; only a few got sick.”

“Eating them every day?” Granny Jing exclaimed.

“Yes. Red worms died out a month or so ago, but people started eating them then. Now the disease is breaking out.” Wu You’ai ate his roujiamo, mixing pickles, sweet radish, and fried shredded potatoes inside, enjoying the strong flavor.

Jing Shu felt lucky. In her previous life, she had bought one once—a cake dipped in mushroom soup. It was awful but filling. She was grateful she hadn’t been infected, though she worried for months after learning about it.

People in the apocalypse weren’t picky. It was cold during the day, and if they didn’t eat enough at night, they’d freeze to death. Since red worms disappeared in two months, those used to eating them were unaccustomed when the canteen stopped supplying them. The canteen still sold red worm cakes for 0.5 virtual coins.

Since even live red worms died from the virus, some people started scooping dead worms from the ground to sell. Especially in deserted places, dead worms floated on water surfaces. One scoop could fill a bag, selling for 0.2 virtual coins per cake. Many bought them.

“These heartless people! How many have they harmed? What about those selling these cakes?” Granny Jing bit into her roujiamo, turning anger into strength.

Wu You’ai shrugged, “It’s a huge gang, over 300 people. Today, the second squad basically caught them all. Some hunted worms, some sold, some cooked. Granny, not many can still cook with firewood. The boss sold hundreds of thousands of cakes, earning 80,000 virtual coins. His men also got a lot.”

“These black-hearted people should all be sentenced to death,” Grandpa Jing said.

Wu You’ai mumbled with food in his mouth, “They’re preparing for the death penalty, but the gang is causing trouble, claiming ignorance of the virus and innocence. They say they wouldn’t do it if they knew it was contagious. So the case is under review. Apocalypse law still has intentional and unintentional injury.”

The family happily discussed recent big events. Jing Shu spoke little but ate a lot. Suddenly, her phone rang. It was Su Mary.

“Jing Shu, where are you?”

“At home, why?”

“Great! I’m hosting today’s auction at Xishan base, heading back now. If you’re free, help me go to the second squad at the gate.”

Su Mary’s helpless voice came through the phone.

“What’s wrong?”

“Several classmates called me, saying they’re in trouble and asking me to help them as classmates. I don’t know what’s going on. Last time they mentioned a money-making thing and wanted me to join, but I didn’t make it. I already broke my promise once.”

(End of chapter)