You gotta say, this whole thing was something else. A big guy suddenly pulled something out of his pocket, tossed it down, and tried to run. Jing Shu definitely yanked Tank back before asking what was going on. It turned out both of them had always benefited from Jing Shu's kindness and felt guilty they hadn't been able to repay her in any way.
After all, Jing Shu had everything, so what could they possibly give?
As luck would have it, while letting the geese out for a walk, they noticed a little duckling had sneaked in. Don't let Xiao Guagua's size fool you. They'd found it three months ago, but it never grew. At first, Tank thought it was malnourished, so he took care of it meticulously, but it stayed tiny. It ate a lot, pooped a lot, but just wouldn't grow.
That's when Tank started getting suspicious. He secretly gathered info and, based on big data, carefully observed Xiao Guagua's physiology. That's how he confirmed it was a mutated male goose, though its breed was still unclear. Xiao Guagua was too small, and the features that would normally develop hadn't appeared yet, so identifying it precisely was tricky.
By now, the rules of the apocalypse for evaluating Darklife were clear:
-Darklife adapt to all the harsh conditions of the apocalypse and survive well.
-Darklife can find food in any environment, and their bodies contain Dark Matter.
-Darklife have unique traits.
That last point covered a lot. For example, when Tank talked about Xiao Guagua's traits, he hesitated and finally just said, "Anyway, this goose, after raising it with my sister for so long, we both agree it's not an ordinary goose. People who like it really like it, like my sister. People who don't… well…"
Tank gritted his teeth, remembering all the chaos from before. He couldn't bring himself to cover his face, but he added, "Those who don't like it probably hate it to death. Oh, and this male goose can help us herd the geese too. The dozens of geese at the Food Regulation Bureau all listen to it. Maybe it's a king among geese. I hope once you get it, you'll raise it well, and it'll become a useful goose like Xiao Dou."
Only someone like Mirror could raise a Xiao Dou. This mutated goose had been wasted in their hands, and there wasn't a better way to thank Mirror. Hopefully, this mutated goose would be helpful to Mirror in the future.
Jing Shu could only accept the tiny male goose that looked like a duck.
Tsk tsk. Da Hua and Gou Dan were now plump and strong, their wings stretching over a meter. So handsome. And then there was Xiao Guagua, barely the size of a palm.
If she accidentally sat on it, it would probably be squashed.
"All right, all right, Xiao Dou, go play with Wanzi. I need to study this little thing for a bit," Jing Shu said, giving them some beef jerky to distract them.
The plane slowly descended, the engines roaring loudly. The lights dimmed, warm air blew from the AC, and Jing Shu squinted as she picked up Xiao Guagua. It wasn't shy at all, quacking affectionately and pecking at her black gloves.
The soft mutant vampire leech got nibbled by Xiao Guagua. It was probably asleep and didn't expect a bit of its flesh to be taken. Furious, it immediately snapped, ready to engulf Xiao Guagua.
Luckily, Jing Shu reacted instantly, forcing the leech back into glove form and shoving Xiao Guagua into the Cube Space at the last second. That saved the little duck from any harm. Inside, Xiao Guagua stretched comfortably and fell asleep. Jing Shu was speechless.
The entire trip back to Wu City went smoothly, without a single bump. Jing Shu had been on edge the whole way, suspicious of everyone, since half the supplies on the plane were hers and she couldn't put them in the Cube Space.
Of course, she also nearly fully studied Xiao Guagua during the trip. She said "nearly" because she still wasn't sure if Xiao Guagua had any real intelligence.
Even though feeding it Spirit Spring allowed her to fully control Xiao Guagua, she noticed it was different from other pets. Its mind was a blank slate, completely empty. No desires, no thoughts.
For comparison, pets like Xiao Dou and white ants were very intelligent. They had lots of thoughts and desires, and after feeding Spirit Spring and using the Cube Space, Jing Shu could clearly sense what they were thinking and wanting to express. Even pets without much self-awareness would still show basic hostility or goodwill.
Xiao Guagua, though, was impressive. She couldn't sense anything at all. It was like a machine without emotions. And its abilities? A complete mush, sticky and gooey.
Even though it was a mutated male goose, its usefulness was unknown. Most importantly, unlike Xiao Dou, it couldn't lay eggs.
What could a male goose do? If only it could lay eggs, Jing Shu sighed in regret.
Her desire to raise this mutated male goose had dropped a little, but still, Xiao Guagua was a mutant, evolved to survive the apocalypse. This was her second Darklife after the mutated dinosaur chicken she had bred using crimson energy, excluding the defective second-generation dinosaur chickens.
Her attention quickly shifted to other parts of the Cube Space.
Jing Shu's days were busy, with a huge workload. As the space upgraded, she had more fields, more animals, more marine products. Even without feeding Spirit Spring, she had to slaughter a batch every month or two.
In her past life, she had dreamed of counting money until her hands cramped. Now, she was wasting time on chores.
If only the space had an intelligent creature to help harvest crops, feed pigs and sheep, and organize everything. She remembered how Thailand used to train monkeys to pick coconuts and wished she could train one to help with farming.
But maybe monkeys were extinct?
Meanwhile, the bamboo rats and various feed bugs were already being fed Spirit Spring. Jing Shu didn't have much time left. After these peaceful five years in the apocalypse, she'd be running everywhere again.
In her past life, she'd learned to be cautious. Supplies weren't a problem as long as they were enough. Eggs weren't kept in one basket, and the key cards weren't all in one place.
You never knew what would hit first: accident or tomorrow.
Finally, Wu City.
"Welcome home."