Six coconut trees filled up six one-cubic-meter plots entirely, and Jing Shu had wanted to plant strawberries or something similar around the edges, but there simply was no space left. Jing Shu waited every day for them to bear fruit, but even after the trees had shot up to twenty-five meters tall, there was still no sign of coconuts.
Fortunately, each cubic-meter farmland block inside the Cube Space could extend infinitely in all directions, allowing crops to grow, though it could not be used for storage. When Jing Shu's spiritual sense touched anything outside the farmland, it was blocked, like the fog of war in a game map, invisible and untouchable.
Her long-awaited coconut milk remained only a dream, but corn had been harvested several times. She planned to "accidentally remember" that she had harvested a large batch of corn months ago and had meant to use it for a cooking livestream. Then she would drag sack after sack of corn from the basement. Making corn juice would be perfect.
Life was like a play, and everything depended on acting skills.
Perhaps it was because she had exerted herself so much the previous night, but she ate an unusually large supper. A few days ago, she had cleared the villa's fish pond, cooking the fish into grilled fish, fried fish, and spicy poached fish.
Tonight, she devoured a pot of white jade fish slices in a spicy broth with green peppers. The soup was too good to waste, so she added shrimp paste, beef meatballs, beef slices, and vegetables to dip into it. Slurp. Delicious.
As she ate, Jing Shu reflected on the fight, summarizing her tactics and lessons to improve further.
Because the enemies carried weapons and there were many of them, she had avoided close combat and given them no time to react, using massive stones to kill instantly. It felt satisfying, but one conical stone had shattered. Crafting a new conical stone was no easy task.
"At a distance of seven to eight meters, I cannot fully unleash the power of the stones. Next time, at such close range, I should use ten crossbows firing simultaneously under my control in the Cube Space. For fifteen meters and beyond, use stones. If I am in danger but cannot expose the Cube Space's secret, then I will use the other weapon."
Jing Shu practiced manipulating the Cube Space for two hours that night. She made great progress, especially after the adrenaline rush earlier that had left her hyper-focused. She slipped into a state of complete absorption during her training.
"In a few months at most, I will definitely upgrade the Cube Space to Level 6!"
When her mastery of the Cube Space reached a certain point, she could feel the breakthrough coming. It was like the instinctive understanding of intimacy—one might not know how at first, but when it happened, the body simply knew what to do. It was part of human instinct.
At four in the morning, Jing Shu was fully armed, carrying the broken iron rod, accompanied by Xiao Dou, the mother frog, over a hundred small frogs, their containers, and ropes, escorting Su Lanzhi to work.
Yesterday had been the first day of construction on the artificial sun in Wu City. Enormous power and resources had been poured into the project, with thousands of workers hired and reports that many official guards had been stationed there.
Starting that day, salaries in all official units in Wu City were halved and paid in rice, flour, water, or even vegetables. One month later, this system would be extended to all corporate entities, lasting until sunlight returned.
This sparked envy and resentment among many and drew even more dissatisfaction.
Jing An drove, Su Lanzhi cracked apricot kernels, and Jing Shu scrolled through posts in the back seat. Xiao Dou sat quietly at her feet, looking pitifully at its owner. Every time it dared poop itself in the car, it would be beaten, forcing this poor chicken with its fast metabolism to hold it in.
As in her previous life, the Zhetian Gang had sent more than a hundred armed members to raid several hundred homes in Huasheng Community yesterday. They moved in groups of ten, pried open doors, killed, looted, and quickly retreated.
With so few survivors, there were hardly any leads. The group scattered after their crimes, and in an era without surveillance, they presented enormous challenges to the government's armed forces.
"That man has finally reappeared. Who would have thought a single man could plunge the entire country into chaos and slaughter? Maybe he was just exploiting human nature."
Soon, strange new organizations would sprout up across the nation, all claiming the apocalypse had arrived, spreading rumors that incited fear and unrest. In plain terms, controlling public opinion would become essential.
And then came those who hated society, those who always wanted to break the law but never dared, those who had already engaged in criminal behavior—they all became utterly unrestrained.
In a functioning society with order, such things would not have happened.
Jing Shu only learned much later that this had been a coordinated plot by three factions.
Simply put, foreign powers were jealous. Why should they live every day like a gunfight scene or a sci-fi disaster film, their presidents being replaced one after another, their protests stretching for miles, while China remained calm and stable, constantly being praised?
Why should their death rate reach ten percent while China's was only five? No, they had to stir up trouble.
They bribed countless people. They set an example by staging a big, shocking attack to set the tone: "Look, we did it and nothing happened. Why don't you do it too?"
This fully unleashed the darkness that had been festering in countless hearts. And so began this half-year of inhuman cruelty. Even without that man, perhaps it would have erupted anyway.
Jing Shu sighed. Even with her rebirth and all this knowledge, she could not change much. That man was playing with human nature. All she could do was protect her family and ensure their survival in the increasingly brutal apocalypse.
After Su Lanzhi arrived at work, she immediately dove into her tasks, while Jing Shu took the frogs through greenhouse after greenhouse, clearing out pests.
That morning, Director Niu Mou arrived with two full buses of leaders and their families.
It looked like a sightseeing tour. Why else bring family members? Before Jing Shu could figure it out, Director Niu spoke first.
"Thank you to all the families for your support. Today, we are here to tour the development zone's vegetables. In fifteen days, these vegetables will be supplied to all official employees in Wu City. Please rest assured, these crops are grown by us personally.
Also, see these little bug-eating frogs? This is part of the development zone's contracted pest-control project. If you need it, you can buy a pair to raise at home. Ever since I brought one home, I have not seen a single bug."