Bang!
The sound of a gunshot startled Jing Shu. "What's happening down there? Why's there gunfire?" she muttered, pacing back and forth. From what she could tell through the faint connection with Xiao Dou, the shot hadn't hit her, but the hen was terrified. Everyone around her wanted to eat her!
"No, this won't do. It's too dangerous to leave her down there alone," Jing Shu said. "Besides, I have to check on the seeds myself."
If it were her past life, and a chicken suddenly appeared in front of her after days of hunger, she would've thrown herself at it without hesitation, not even leaving the feathers behind. Now, with both the ship's crew and the starving villagers who'd been swept into this area, things were even worse. In their state, no one cared what they were eating anymore.
"Got the rescue plan ready?" Jing Shu asked.
Yang Yang rubbed his frostbitten nose and sighed. "We've got two plans. Let's start with Plan A. The framework will take about two or three days to set up. Damn this mountain range, it's freezing here." He was trembling all over. The temperature had already dropped below minus twenty degrees.
Jing Shu chuckled, wrapped tight in her heavy coat. "Serves you right for dressing like it's autumn. Who's to blame if you freeze?"
Thankfully, the underground plates were still shifting, releasing a bit of heat. Otherwise, this whole place would've been an icy wasteland by now.
"Alright," she said. "You handle the rescue plan. I'm heading down. There are only two bone umbrellas, so stay up here. Things look bad down there, and my chicken might not have been washed away, but she's about to be eaten instead."
Xiao Dou had already served as a test subject for the bone umbrella, and the flight test had gone perfectly. Jing Shu wasn't worried anymore.
Jun Bao, covered in grime, pulled out an energy bar from his pocket. "If you're going down, at least trade me for some of your food. I can't eat anything else."
"Fine," Jing Shu said. "You guys paid your share, so I'll make sure you've got enough to eat for the next two days."
She left behind some cooked food she didn't like much, plus a few packs of beef jerky and spicy rabbit jerky. Since no one else had the tools to start a fire, the others could only gnaw on cold, rock-hard rations while she was gone.
Even so, in the apocalypse, this was already luxury food. But after the last few days of good eating, everyone had grown picky.
Hao Yunlai looked disappointed. "Wait for me, Jing Shu. I'll find a way down soon. You won't be in danger with me there."
He stared at the cold food left behind, frowning. "What's so good about these twisted breadsticks and dry veggies? These emotionless ice-cold things..." He missed his morning cup of milk tea, a sunny-side-up egg, maybe a warm pancake stuffed with egg and ham. His favorite ham had been taken, so what was even the point of staying? Life had lost its flavor.
Lǚ Liu spoke up. "Then send down some extra compressed biscuits. We don't know when we'll be able to deliver supplies again."
"Got it." Jing Shu nodded and packed her big case, adding her tent and personal supplies too.
Soon, she was fully geared up.
"That's so heavy. Can you even carry it?"
"Is it safe? It's a long way down, you know."
Jing Shu patted the bone umbrella and grinned. "Grandpa made it from the special materials Wu You'ai sent. I've practiced a few times. Don't worry."
Amid a chorus of reluctant goodbyes—mostly aimed at the food—Jing Shu spread the bone umbrella and jumped off the cliff. It worked just like a parachute, except it could bounce upward like a spring if it hit support, which made it perfect for this environment.
A huge floodlight followed her descent, as if lighting her way. She didn't need it, though. She maneuvered easily, twisting midair and landing with a perfect roll... right through the roof of a brick house.
Thud! Boom!
The impact was heavy, the house cracked open, and smoke billowed everywhere. Coughing hard, Jing Shu clutched her big case while her backpack spilled open. Several compressed biscuits rolled out and landed near a stunned man's feet.
He bent down, sniffed one, and his eyes lit up. "Food! It's food!"
He tore the wrapper with trembling hands and stuffed the biscuit into his mouth. Crumbs covered his face, but he didn't care. A single biscuit was enough for a whole meal, yet he was trying to swallow it in one go.
The noise drew others over.
"Er Gazi, did the rescue team drop food again? Damn it, they hogged that old hen last time. This time we're not letting them—Er Gazi? Holy shit, it really is food!"
"Mmph... mmph!"
"What is it? What kind of food?"
A mob of starving, crazed people surged in, eyes glowing green. Most were men, with only a few women among them. Jing Shu glanced around quickly—no children at all.
"Er Gazi, give me some! You can't eat it all yourself!"
The crowd lunged, tackling Er Gazi and tearing at him for the biscuits. More people rushed in when they heard the commotion. No one could tell who was grabbing what anymore.
Pinned under the mob, Er Gazi shouted desperately, "The rescue team dropped food! Someone fell down too! She's got food on her!"
That single cry turned the crowd's frenzy toward a new target.
"Where's the person?!"
"Find her! Don't let her escape!"
"She's got food—lots of it!"
The whole valley went mad again. Those who'd managed to grab a few crumbs were even worse, their hunger reignited by the taste. The biscuits were milky and slightly sweet. Just one bite filled their mouths with flavor, but instead of calming their hunger, it made them even hungrier.
"She must've gone to Wang Dan!"
"Let's go! The supplies came from above, and we're starving to death! We can't let those bastards hog everything again!"
"Wait, think before you rush in! If they don't know who we are, they won't give us anything. I've got a plan—two, actually!"
Everyone in the valley now knew that another person had come from above, bringing plenty of food. No one could sit still anymore. They began plotting how to seize it.
Meanwhile, Jing Shu, after several twists and turns, slipped through the chaos, using the darkness to hide until she finally found Xiao Dou. Of course, she knew exactly where her chicken would be.
To her surprise, Xiao Dou was lounging comfortably on a cushion. Someone had even poured her muddy water and offered her a plate of wet dirt as "food." Another person was giving her a massage.
A voice said, "Captain, do we really have to follow what the loudspeaker said? Take good care of the chicken, let her lay eggs for us? But... it's just a chicken. How many eggs can it even lay?"