Chapter 234 | Chapter 235 | Chapter 236
Chapter 234: Old-Style Egg Cakes, Jiangjiang’s New Shell!
Dusk Manor covered an enormous area, and Huang Zhenggang’s group was still hard at work building walls to block the floodwaters.
After surviving the life-and-death ordeal inside the Breeding Farm, Su Ning converted that lingering sense of danger into appetite and began making food.
This time, what she planned to make was something incredibly simple—old-style egg cakes.
The Meat-Meat Chicken eggs inside her planting space had already piled up to overflowing, so naturally she needed to use some of them up.
As for an oven, Su Ning already had a clever solution.
The various ores she had scavenged from the Cosmic Mine finally came in handy.
Among them was a heat-generating ore. Su Ning stacked them together into a bear-shaped furnace, which perfectly served as an oven.
All she needed to do now was prepare the ingredients for the old-style egg cakes.
Before long, Su Ning had followed the recipe and finished preparing everything.
The only thing missing was a mold.
Fortunately, she happened to find disposable cups inside Dusk Manor and used them as molds instead.
After some time, fragrant, mouthwatering old-style egg cakes finally came fresh out of the oven.
Su Ning impatiently picked one up and took a bite.
The surface was crisp and delicate like a thin layer of pastry, while the inside was soft as clouds. The rich texture exploded across her taste buds like a feast of flavor—it was absolutely delicious.
Even though the preparation process was simple, it didn’t diminish the taste in the slightest.
No wonder these cakes had always remained so popular.
Su Ning was extremely satisfied with the results.
Carrying the egg cakes, she invited Lin Lele and the others over to try them.
“Wow! Ningning, is this cake? So this tiny little egg cake is the delicious thing you were talking about making?”
Lin Lele was excited.
Before the natural disasters, she had been a girl absolutely obsessed with desserts and snacks.
Although old-style egg cakes hadn’t really been her first choice in the past, seeing them now still made her incredibly happy.
Nan Sheng and Xie Linjia were equally excited.
“Mmm, this is so good. I never thought there’d come a day when we could eat something like this again,” Nan Sheng said without any restraint, immediately grabbing another one after finishing the first.
Su Ning had also added Jade Honey, making the sweetness even more intoxicating.
“This is seriously delicious!” Xie Linjia ate happily as well.
Su Ning smiled as she watched them, unable to stop herself from thinking—
If the disasters had never happened, perhaps her dream would have been to travel the world as a foodie, tasting delicacies from every corner of the globe.
Yet even within her own country, she hadn’t managed to finish exploring the cuisine of even a single region.
Huang Zhenggang was also drawn over by the girls’ noisy excitement.
“What’s going on here?”
He had been inspecting the accumulated water beneath Dusk Manor. Seeing that the flooding wasn’t as severe as expected had eased his worries somewhat.
Still, he didn’t dare relax too much.
The rain had only just begun. Although Dusk Manor stood on high ground, nobody knew how unpredictable this disaster might become.
Yet the moment he returned, he found Su Ning and the other girls happily eating little cakes together.
How long had it been since he last saw smiles like these?
“You girls sure are cheerful. We’re practically exhausted over here,” Gao Peng panted heavily, his face smeared with dirt like a little tabby cat.
Seeing this, Lin Lele immediately stuffed a cake into his mouth.
“Alright, stop complaining. This is your reward.”
Bao Song silently felt like he’d been force-fed dog food before even getting to eat cake.
The group gathered together eating cakes while discussing various matters.
Some chatted and laughed merrily.
Meanwhile, Fifth Shelter was an entirely different scene.
Du Yichen received news of his subordinate’s death.
“Trash! Completely useless trash! You couldn’t even capture one person and instead caused me such a huge mess!”
One of his men said:
“Boss, Ma Feng is using Ma Tong’s death and his identity as Ma Tong’s older brother to target us. He’s clearly helping Gu Cheng’an suppress us—this is a warning shot! Are we really supposed to swallow this insult?”
Du Yichen sneered.
“Swallow it? Since Gu Cheng’an wants to kill a chicken to warn the monkeys, then I’d like to see exactly what methods he has.”
Soon after, internal conflict erupted within Fifth Shelter as well.
Of course, Su Ning had absolutely no idea that the spark igniting all this chaos was the death of Ma Tong at her hands.
And even if she knew, she wouldn’t care in the slightest.
Eliminating scum was everyone’s responsibility.
At this moment, Su Ning returned to her room once more.
Rain still poured endlessly outside.
With Xie Linjia continuously bringing back Water Moss from the Dark Forest, Huang Zhenggang wasn’t overly worried about the flooding.
Moreover, the flood disaster hadn’t yet reached its most terrifying stage, so there was no urgent need to panic.
Everyone could finally rest for a while.
Except for Gao Peng and Lin Lele, that energetic little couple who seemed to have endless stamina. Supposedly they were outside keeping watch, but in reality they were flirting and chatting nonstop.
The others all busied themselves with things they wanted to do.
Naturally, Su Ning wanted to check the harvest she had obtained from the Breeding Farm.
Entering her space, she immediately saw a corpse with its head separated from its body.
When she had been teleported back, someone’s corpse had been brought into the space along with her.
The body belonged to Kuroshit.
Su Ning had originally considered throwing the corpse into Huahua’s mouth to condense the [Transfer] skill.
She was extremely tempted by that ability.
However, Jiangjiang voiced another opinion.
It wanted a new shell.
Su Ning: …
Honestly speaking, the Rat King shell was already very powerful, but it attracted far too much attention. Unless they were inside caves or similar environments, Su Ning usually avoided summoning Jiangjiang.
Jiangjiang was jealous.
Not just jealous of Honghong, but also of Youyou.
Jiangjiang: “I’m such a powerful corpse-controller existence! Why am I only allowed to sleep inside the space? I want to go out and fight ten people!”
To put it simply—
Jiangjiang was bored out of its mind.
Left with no choice, Su Ning handed the corpse over to Jiangjiang.
Jiangjiang happily obtained a brand-new shell.
And an extremely powerful one at that.
It crawled out from the Rat King shell, and its true body entered Kuroshit’s corpse.
Very soon, Jiangjiang appeared before Su Ning carrying its own detached head in its arms.
Su Ning found the sight way too creepy, so she had Number Five use weaving abilities together with Silk Spider threads to stitch Jiangjiang’s head back on.
“I-I-I’m called Jiangjiang!”
Su Ning looked shocked.
“You can talk now?”
Jiangjiang replied:
“M-Master, I can control all the abilities of the corpse. Now that this is a human body, of course I can speak. Before, I was inside the Rat King’s body, so I couldn’t talk.”
After its head was stitched back on, Jiangjiang immediately ran off to show off in front of Youyou and Honghong.
Previously, those two had always flaunted the fact that they got to fight alongside Master outside.
But now Jiangjiang had become human and could even talk.
Time to annoy those two little things to death.
Honghong: “My strength is powerful. Master trusts me.”
Jiangjiang: “Hehe. Go ahead and attack me. I can transfer damage now, and I’ll redirect it all back onto you.”
Honghong: …
Youyou rolled its eyes.
“So what if you became human? Can you sleep together with Master? Master holds me while sleeping. Did I brag about that?”
Jiangjiang: “Hah, isn’t it just sleeping with Master? I’m human now too, so of course I can sleep with her!”
Aolaini immediately interrupted:
“You really shouldn’t say things like that. Even though you have a human body now, you still don’t understand human hearts. Talking carelessly about sleeping together can get people killed.”
Su Ning ignored all the little rivalries between them and instead turned her gaze toward the Charcoal Pigs inside Space Number Two, as well as the fertilizers and feed she had obtained.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 235: Mutated Carrots? Unknown Energy Rainwater!
This time, Su Ning’s harvest had been immense. Killing Kuroshit had unexpectedly earned her the identity of an Administrator—a blessing that had practically fallen from the heavens.
Of course, it might also be a sweet burden, since Su Ning would now have to shoulder the responsibilities that came with the position.
“Whatever. I’ll deal with it later.”
The Authority of [Seal] was frighteningly powerful.
Not only could it seal players’ skills and abilities, it could even suppress certain special items.
“The potential of this Authority still needs to be explored further.”
If she wanted to fully understand an ability, naturally the best way was through combat testing.
Still, that would have to wait until a suitable opportunity appeared in the future.
At the moment, the Charcoal Pigs were being raised in an enclosed area. Faced with this unfamiliar environment, they looked somewhat confused and uneasy.
But the instant Su Ning scattered a handful of feed, they buried their heads and started eating immediately, forgetting everything else.
Su Ning was incredibly envious of this carefree mentality.
Every day consisted of doing nothing—eat, sleep, sleep, eat.
What a comfortable life.
Charcoal Pigs: “Safe? Really? Maybe wipe the drool off your mouth first.”
Looking at the various creatures inside Space Number Two, Su Ning felt a sense of accomplishment.
These were all trophies of her glorious victories.
There were creatures that swam in water and creatures that ran on land.
The only thing missing now was something that could fly.
As for the flying Jade Bees, Su Ning had long since forgotten about them.
After finishing up, Su Ning prepared to leave the space.
Since she was now living together with Lin Lele and the others, she couldn’t just stay hidden inside her space forever.
Although Lin Lele and the others didn’t mind, if things continued like this for too long, it would eventually become awkward.
Human nature simply couldn’t withstand endless testing, and Su Ning didn’t want to end up becoming enemies with these people.
At this moment, Lin Lele was using her hair to push several tables together into one huge platform, while Xie Linjia and Nan Sheng spread a large sheet of plastic over the top.
“What are you guys doing?” Su Ning asked in confusion.
Lin Lele replied excitedly:
“Just now, when Boss Huang was inspecting Dusk Manor, he found a bunch of plants growing around the hotel area in the back. We got curious and dug them up, and it turned out they were carrots!”
Su Ning was stunned.
“Carrots?”
“Yep! Carrots! And not just any carrots—giant carrots!” Huang Zhenggang, Gao Peng, and Bao Song walked over with delighted expressions, each carrying an enormous carrot.
Su Ning was shocked by the clearly abnormal carrots before her.
But what surprised her even more was the fact that crops could actually grow from the soil now.
She wasn’t the only one shocked.
Huang Zhenggang and the others were equally dumbfounded.
That was precisely one of the reasons why they had dug up the carrots.
“This is unbelievable. Back inside the shelter, no matter what methods we tried, no vegetables or plants would sprout at all. Yet now we’ve discovered these carrots.”
Gao Peng said in disbelief:
“Could the world actually be recovering? Has the mysterious radiation preventing crops from growing finally disappeared?”
The others were also flushed with excitement.
If vegetables and grains could truly be grown from the land again in the future, then they would no longer need to risk their lives inside survival dungeons just to gather supplies.
All they would need to do was stay alive.
However, Su Ning didn’t think this was a good sign at all.
Because whenever something abnormal happened, there was always something sinister behind it.
She activated her Scavenger Eye and carefully inspected the massive carrot before her.
A string of strange data immediately appeared.
[Mutated Plant: Mutated Carrot!]
Description: A carrot that mutated after absorbing mysterious energy rainwater. Consuming it will cause diarrhea and therefore it is not edible!
After seeing the bizarre information, Su Ning immediately grabbed a disposable cup nearby and hurried outside to collect some rainwater for inspection.
[Unknown Energy Rainwater]
Effect: Capable of accelerating plant growth and causing strange mutations in plants rooted in the soil. It has no effect on living creatures themselves.
However, all mutated crops and plants produced through this rainwater are inedible. Even consuming a tiny amount will cause diarrhea.
Eating too much will result in physical pain.
Excessive consumption may even lead to death!
Su Ning stared solemnly at the cup of water.
After noticing Su Ning’s strange expression, Huang Zhenggang and the others immediately became nervous.
Although they didn’t know why Su Ning’s face changed the instant she examined the giant carrot, they understood one thing clearly—
Whatever was sitting on the table had definitely caused it.
“Su Ning, what happened? Is there something wrong with these carrots?”
Huang Zhenggang asked seriously.
Meanwhile, Gao Peng—who had already taken a bite—suddenly changed expression.
“Ptooey! Ptooey!”
He immediately started forcing his fingers down his throat, trying desperately to vomit out the mouthful of carrot he had swallowed.
Su Ning felt helpless.
Gao Peng had been too impatient and had directly washed the carrot before taking a bite.
Still, eating one bite wasn’t a huge problem.
Based on the Scavenger Eye’s description, at worst it would just cause diarrhea.
What Su Ning completely failed to anticipate, however, was just how horrifying “diarrhea” could become later on.
Su Ning explained:
“Yeah, there’s definitely a problem. It’s still technically a carrot, but it has mutated and can no longer be eaten.”
Lin Lele immediately worried about Gao Peng.
“He only took one bite. Will he be okay?”
“At worst, he’ll get diarrhea.”
Hearing this, Lin Lele finally relaxed.
“Thank goodness. Let him suffer a little stomach trouble so he learns not to shove random things into his mouth before checking them first!”
Meanwhile, Huang Zhenggang stared at the cup of rainwater in Su Ning’s hand.
He quickly realized something.
“Could this rain be the cause?”
Su Ning nodded.
“From now on, any plants or crops growing from the soil may become completely inedible.”
“What?!” Lin Lele cried out miserably.
They had originally thought crops growing from the land again was a sign that things were improving.
Who could have imagined reality would immediately hit them with such a brutal blow?
“This rain is clearly abnormal.”
“Owww—!”
Just as everyone was discussing the rainwater, Gao Peng suddenly clutched his stomach as though something inside was violently twisting his intestines.
And a certain area of his body was rapidly becoming impossible to control.
“Forget talking for now—I think it’s coming! I need to go deal with this first!”
With a pale face, Gao Peng rushed out the door at top speed.
Everyone: …
“Well, there goes all our excitement,” Bao Song sighed while staring at the giant carrots on the table.
He himself was a genuine farmer through and through.
At first, seeing crops growing from the soil again had made him unbelievably happy.
Now hearing that everything grown from the land was inedible felt like someone carving flesh directly from his heart.
“This isn’t the important issue right now. I wonder how the people in the other shelters are doing. Will they know about this situation?” Xie Linjia still retained her kindhearted nature and hoped others would learn the truth.
Otherwise they might foolishly bite into the crops raw just like Gao Peng.
While everyone was talking, Nan Sheng had been checking the communication channel.
“You don’t need to worry. Mu Feiyu from Fifth Shelter already discovered something strange about the plants and announced publicly that the rainwater is the cause. He warned everyone—players and ordinary people alike—not to casually eat anything growing from the soil.”
Su Ning also opened the communication channel.
The entire channel was filled with endless wailing and complaints.
[Seriously? We thought this was finally a ray of hope, but it turned out to be a trap instead!]
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 236: A Pregnant Woman, Giving Birth!
In the communication channel, Su Ning and the others noticed that players from their world had started endlessly complaining.
Of course, since they could browse information from other parallel worlds, Su Ning decisively adjusted the settings to display only messages from players in their own world.
[Attention! If you see plants growing vigorously in the rain, absolutely do NOT eat them casually, or you might lose your life. The consequences will be unimaginable!]
[What kind of death are we talking about? Those ordinary people who aren’t players are already starving because of the lack of supplies. They’re outside the shelters’ management zones, so they definitely don’t know the secrets hidden in this rainwater and the plants growing from it. If they accidentally eat them, it’ll be a complete disaster.]
[Forget it, one of my friends couldn’t resist and took a bite of fruit that grew outside. He’s still trapped in the bathroom and can’t come out. Not only does he have nonstop diarrhea, but he’s already completely collapsed!]
[It’s just diarrhea. How bad could it be? Everyone’s had diarrhea before.]
[Mu Feiyu from the Fifth Shelter has an appraisal skill. What he says is definitely true. These things absolutely cannot be eaten. Someone in our shelter couldn’t resist, and now they’ve literally died from diarrhea!]
[Huh?! It’s that terrifying?!]
It wasn’t just Su Ning who saw these messages—Lin Lele and the others read them too.
“Oh no… Gao Peng won’t be in danger, right?” Bao Song said worriedly.
At this point, Gao Peng had already started showing symptoms of diarrhea. Could something even more horrifying happen afterward?
Nan Sheng anxiously said, “When he comes out, I’m definitely giving him a full checkup!”
Perhaps because he had only taken a single bite, Gao Peng emerged looking as though all the strength had been drained from his body, weak as a puddle of mud.
Nan Sheng immediately used her healing ability to ease his suffering.
“Looks like these things really can’t be eaten,” Huang Zhenggang sighed regretfully as he stared at the carrots.
“Luckily we found out early. Otherwise we’d all end up squatting in the toilet just like Gao Peng, maybe even worse.”
After understanding the situation, everyone gradually dispersed.
Lin Lele stayed by Gao Peng’s side to take care of him, cursing him while simultaneously worrying about him.
“Let’s see if you dare shove random things into your mouth again in the future. How old are you already? Are you still a child?”
Gao Peng: “Stop scolding me already! I’ve already been punished enough!”
Over the following days, Su Ning and the others busied themselves around Dusk Manor, continuously reinforcing waterproof walls around the outer perimeter.
Xie Linjia happily munched on freshly baked flatbread.
“This is really thanks to Xiao Ning! Xiao Ning, from now on, this big sister is sticking with you forever!”
“Count me in too! I want to follow Xiao Ning as well!” Lin Lele immediately chimed in.
Huang Zhenggang wore an aggrieved expression, as though he had suffered some tremendous injustice.
“What? Have I ever let you go hungry or thirsty? Yet you heartless people are abandoning our team just to follow Su Ning!”
Su Ning merely smiled and didn’t take it seriously.
Bao Song took a huge bite of flatbread and mumbled unclearly:
“Boss Huang, you’ve treated us well, but honestly, your cooking really can’t compare to Su Ning’s. To be honest, I want to follow her too.”
Huang Zhenggang wasn’t upset by his teammates’ remarks.
In fact, deep down, he genuinely hoped the team would grow closer to Su Ning.
Su Ning was incredibly powerful. Honestly speaking, she had never shown any desire to become the leader, but if she ever gave the word, Huang Zhenggang would definitely follow her without hesitation.
While everyone worked, Su Ning naturally took on the role of the team’s cook.
A week had passed since they arrived at Dusk Manor.
Outside, the heavy rain had continued nonstop, and flooding had already begun.
Nan Sheng looked at the gloomy sky and sighed.
“How much longer is this rain going to continue? Even though the floodwaters still haven’t reached Dusk Manor, if this keeps going, it definitely won’t be a good thing.”
Meanwhile, Gao Peng looked toward the surroundings of the manor with concern.
“And because of this rain, so many plants have suddenly started growing from the ground. It’s honestly hard to tell whether this rain is a rain of revival or a rain of poison.”
Gao Peng was now deeply traumatized by mutated plants.
The mutated carrots had left an unbearable shadow in his heart. If Nan Sheng hadn’t treated him, the consequences would’ve been unimaginable.
Xie Linjia also sighed regretfully.
“As long as plants or crops get contaminated by this rainwater, they mutate. If the rain doesn’t stop, nobody will dare grow anything.”
“But not all mutations caused by the rain are bad ones.”
The water moss she brought out had actually mutated as well—but in a positive direction.
Each clump of water moss had grown enormous, and its water absorption capacity had become astonishingly powerful.
Fortunately, water moss wasn’t an edible crop, otherwise Xie Linjia would probably regret things to death.
This discovery was undoubtedly excellent news.
Meanwhile, the others weren’t idle either.
Huang Zhenggang and the rest were training and improving their abilities.
While Gao Peng practiced archery, he suddenly heard someone crying for help.
“Help!”
Gao Peng froze in shock.
Because of the heavy rain and flooding, Dusk Manor had practically become an isolated island.
Where exactly was this cry for help coming from?
“Help!!”
Soon, the cry sounded again, and only then did Gao Peng realize he hadn’t imagined it.
Su Ning’s hearing was exceptionally sharp, so she had heard it as well.
She walked directly to the edge of Dusk Manor and saw endless floodwaters below.
At that moment, a lone figure was being swept toward them by the current from afar.
If nobody rescued the person, they would inevitably be washed away somewhere else.
“There really is someone!”
Lin Lele immediately controlled her hair and pulled the person up.
Only then did everyone discover in shock that the person was actually a pregnant woman.
Perhaps due to overwhelming fear, the woman tightly clutched her stomach and cried out in pain:
“I think I’m about to give birth!”
Li Yun had never imagined even in her wildest dreams that one day she would be abandoned by her in-laws.
And the one who pushed her away had actually been her own sister-in-law.
Looking at her massively swollen belly, she cried bitterly in agony.
As a doctor, Nan Sheng immediately made a decision.
“Hurry! Prepare a room for delivery!”
Su Ning, Lin Lele, and the three men instantly panicked.
After all, this was their first time facing such a situation.
Since Xie Linjia had prior experience, she immediately began helping Nan Sheng prepare everything.
“What are you all standing there for? Hurry and get things ready!”
Only then did Su Ning and Lin Lele snap back to reality.
“What do we need to prepare?” Lin Lele asked Su Ning.
Actually, Su Ning didn’t really know either.
But she had read novels before, so she vaguely remembered that hot water, clean towels, scissors, and disinfectants were all necessary.
As Su Ning listed the items, the men finally came to their senses and hurriedly started preparing everything.
Soon, agonized screams rang out from inside the room.
Even Su Ning felt nervous listening to them.
“Is giving birth really this terrifying?”
Lin Lele shook her head.
“How would I know? I’ve never given birth either!”
Their conversation immediately left the three remaining men staring blankly at each other.
Inside the room, the childbirth process was intense and dangerous.
It continued for a very long time.
Finally—
The cry of a newborn baby echoed through the room.
“The baby’s born!” Lin Lele shouted excitedly.
Everyone outside finally let out a collective sigh of relief.
Inside the room, Xie Linjia gently held a wrinkled, reddish newborn baby in her arms.
Looking at the newborn infant reminded her of her own son, whom she had also given birth to during the apocalypse.
“Look, your son has been born already. Don’t worry. Get some rest now.”
Li Yun finally relaxed, and only then did she drift into unconscious sleep.
(End of Chapter)
