"There's no forever friends in this world, no forever enemies, only forever interests. As long as we tie our interests together, we're forever friends. You don't have to worry about your identities being exposed, because if you get exposed, I lose out too," Jing Shu said, flashing her white teeth in a smile. "See? Simple, isn't it?"
"But… do we even have the same interests?" Wen Jun thought carefully, and it didn't seem like they did.
"Of course we do. Think about it. What do you need most right now? Daily necessities, salt, vitamins, bedding, warm clothes? And if you could occasionally get vegetables, white rice, maybe some milk or eggs, wouldn't that be perfect?" Jing Shu asked, narrowing her eyes.
Xiao Wei nodded. "I want to eat. It's been a long time since I had anything. In the village, aside from bugs, there's nothing else to eat." A bit of biscuit crumb still clung to her lips.
"Huh? You don't eat?" Jing Shu exclaimed.
"Yeah. The gastropod queen feeds herself, eating the soil. I share nutrients with her as one body, so I don't need food. But if there's actual food, I'd like to eat too."
Wen Jun raised an eyebrow. "Of course we want those things, but what do you want in exchange?" He was starting to guess.
Jun Bao silently thought it was a shame he'd been a step too slow. He squinted, curling the corners of his mouth slightly, but the result would be the same. Eventually, the supplies would make it back to Wu City, feeding more people.
"Obviously, I want a lot of gastropods. You said they mature in batches every month, and the queen is always eating, always laying eggs. There must be plenty by now, right? With just a few people in your village, how much could you possibly consume? Isn't it a waste? Why not trade all that tough bug meat for real food? Want some eggs? Want rice?"
Xiao Wei swallowed, nodding firmly. Ever since she became a bug, she had an insatiable craving for food.
"Then it's settled. We trade, help each other, and we have no reason to expose you, right? Otherwise, we'd just be hurting our own interests," Jing Shu said with a smile. Finally, she eased a little of Duoduo's financial burden. If the tyrant came starving, he couldn't justify exploiting people.
"Wait, Tyrant…" Jing Shu thought. "Could there really be a connection? No way. Jun Bao, so weak and gentle, talkative, meddling, kind, optimistic—how could he possibly be that cruel Tyrant, cold and merciless, who killed hundreds of thousands?
Age, personality, family background—none matched. In the previous life, the Tyrant would have assumed power by now, after Jin Tianci died. In this life, due to her butterfly effect, the Tyrant probably wouldn't rise.
But… it just didn't fit."
Jing Shu hadn't dug too deep when she was interrupted.
"Wait!" Wen Jun said anxiously. "Who knows if you say yes now, then go back and send people to destroy us, take Xiao Wei and make her endlessly lay eggs to breed the gastropods? You could get everything without paying a price…" The more he thought about it, the more cautious he became.
Jing Shu rolled her eyes. "Are you stupid? If we really did that and wiped you out, wouldn't Xiao Wei just commit suicide? If she kills herself, no more eggs, no more bugs. Then what would we gain?" She was already planning. If the Tyrant wanted to exploit her later, she'd just use Xiao Wei as leverage.
"Right." Wen Jun smiled, as if he'd really found a mutually beneficial plan. "But how many gastropods do you need? We never wanted to breed too many, so every day's eggs go into the incubation room and are frozen. We only hatch a small fraction for daily use."
"Can you take us to the tunnels and the incubation room? That way I can figure out how much bug meat you can provide and how many supplies we give you. Oh, and I want to see that black pool Xiao Wei mentioned. Is that okay?" Jing Shu asked, glancing at Xiao Wei's massive lower body, which might make movement hard—probably like a queen ant, immobile.
"Sure, sure. I'll take you to see the tunnels. Even the villagers don't dare to go," Xiao Wei said, snapping her fingers. Four huge gastropods with massive pincers lifted her up from four sides.
Her upper body stayed steady; she was already used to it.
Here, Xiao Wei was the real queen.
Wen Jun followed with a flashlight, Jing Shu and Jun Bao close behind, laying Yang Yang gently on the ground and covering him with a blanket.
There were different types of gastropods. Some fought to protect the queen, some fed her (if food ran out, they'd feed themselves, often transmitting sperm while feeding), some foraged, and some dug tunnels. Each looked different.
The fighters had huge pincers and immense strength. The transmitters had specialized mouthparts. The diggers had digger-like jaws, massive bodies, and great endurance.
The tunnels were like a giant maze, bugs running back and forth, each with their role, all serving the queen.
Wen Jun said, "Right now we have 30 fighters, over 80 transmitters, 300 foragers, around 30 diggers, and 50 immature ones. The short-lived ones last only a couple of months; the longer-lived haven't died yet."
He glanced at Xiao Wei, worried. "Not sure how long the queen will live."
She waved a hand, turning to comfort him. "A queen ant can live twenty years." Then she counted on her fingers. "As for the bug meat, it's tender, grows fast, and has lots of meat. All 36 legs can be eaten. Without the shell, one weighs around 400 kilograms. Oh, do you want it shelled?"
"No need, we want them alive," Jing Shu said. The shells could be eaten too. Food was precious. Smash the shell and meat, mix with a bit of salt and flour, make meatballs—it's another meal. Smart thinking.
Jing Shu looked at the bugs shuttling underground. They seemed cute.
"By the way, if you let them breed freely, how many can you raise in a month?"
Xiao Wei first took them to the incubation room connected to the village pavilion.
"Normally, 450 per month, but now we have 2,500 eggs in the room. Bugs eat a lot, and mud pits are limited. So at most, we can raise 1,000 mature ones per month."
Jing Shu quickly calculated. That number exceeded her expectations—perfect.