Chapter 141

Chapter 141

Ji Xinghai discovered the wonders of coordinate space, not for sightseeing or to experience the diversity of resource spaces, but to exploit them.

Mom and Dad took him to a farm; they must love orchards.

Mom and Dad took him to hot springs and skiing; they must love snow-capped mountains.

Mom and Dad took him to the beach to collect shells and enjoy the sea; they must love the beach.

The standard was 'what my parents like.'

Of course, Ji Xinghai wasn't foolish. He had eaten his fill, but he hadn't yet broken through. He was still just a fragile mortal, not ready to face an entity as formidable as the Hungry Academy head-on.

So after kidnapping three resource spaces, he temporarily halted his activities.

He went to sleep, but the outside world was still in celebration.

The three resource spaces translated into three 'one-day travel vouchers' on the supplementary volume of the Taotie Food Canon. Each person could only use one voucher per day, and only the first thousand registrants each day could use them directly. There were also requirements such as no waste, no pollution, and additional charges for some facilities.

But this was travel!

This was travel!

Since the era of great pollution began, people barely had enough to eat, let alone indulge in tourism, a shared pleasure of mind and body. Even the wealthy in the Federation's Eden couldn't enjoy the joy of travel.

The whole world was polluted, the sky gray, the air foul—travel was out of the question.

But now, how was it?

A one-day trip to a natural ski resort with hot springs.

A one-day trip to the seaside to pick up shells, watch the sunrise, and see the sunset.

A one-day trip to an orchard to enjoy the joy of harvest with a small basket.

"Only a thousand spots per day, three tourist sites, that's only a million people a year. We have so many people in JiuZhou; I need to set an alarm to grab tickets!"

"Don't worry, the tickets are free, but many activities inside cost money, items containing energy. Most people can't afford it."

"Well, if you don't want to pay, just enjoy the scenery and appreciate the natural beauty."

"I have a question: we can enter these three spaces, and Brother Hai, as the owner, can enter them too. So, could we meet him inside?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

Indeed, this was a significant issue.

If they could meet, wouldn't it provide a way to contact Ji Xinghai without time or space constraints? And it would be on his turf, absolutely safe.

The government and ordinary people of JiuZhou were deeply moved, and Ji Xinghai's fans were ecstatic.

How to join the JiuZhou registry once again became a hot search term.

But their excitement was useless; Ji Xinghai slept soundly like a pink pig. Meanwhile, other students started having trouble at night.

Ji Xinghai had consumed the insect nests, so no more insects entered the students' rooms, but the previous hidden dangers remained. As expected, they exploded at night.

Students from the Hungry Academy might fare better. They treated Ji Xinghai's words as gospel, spreading the news about the insect infestation to every peer. Within half a day, two-thirds of the students knew about it.

They used various methods to clear their homes of insects and eggs, cooked the infested food to kill the insects, and covered the plants in their fields with pots and protective covers to survive the insect plague.

Despite all these preparations, the insect plague still erupted.

In the soil, water, and corners, viewers saw tiny egg particles swell and burst, releasing tiny larvae that devoured everything in sight, defecating and molting. In mere minutes, they grew into adults, some flying, some not.

After eating their fill, these adult insects laid new eggs, starting another cycle of hatching.

The damned trio of the Hungry Academy once again compressed the insect reproduction cycle, turning two insects into an army within an hour.

Ji Xinghai had done relatively well in prevention, but he was still awakened by the rustling sounds of insects around midnight. It was already past twelve, technically the eighth day.

Swatting away a jumping spider on his nose, he didn't bother getting up. With the Taotie Food Canon refreshing, he retrieved the insect nest and let them fight among themselves.

"If you can't solve them, I will." After all, only one could survive; they would figure it out.

The insects in the nest: ...

In less than ten minutes, the insects in Ji Xinghai's room were completely eradicated. The last time, there were a few survivors after the scorpion invasion, but this time, not a single egg was left. Being of the same species, they understood their enemies as well as themselves, making it easy to find and eliminate them.

The insects in the room: Why be so hasty?

Other students weren't as lucky. They were awakened by insect bites, unable to apply medicine fast enough, seeing insects everywhere in their field of vision.

Mosquitoes, spiders, flies, cockroaches, spiders... Students with arachnophobia were foaming at the mouth, while those without were developing psychological trauma.

Some students had placed pets in their homes early, but the insects were too numerous. The pets obtained through various means couldn't keep up, and some insects even jumped onto their predators to show off.

"Damn!" Students cursed, hurriedly applying medicine and changing into the most protective clothing. They lit incense, sprayed repellents and pesticides, and then began frantically catching insects.

These were the lucky ones who had prepared early. What about those who hadn't?

When they woke up, their planting areas, stored food in cellars and balconies, water in tanks, and wooden items were all infested.

Many things had been eaten, leaving only piles of black droppings and molted skins. The tanks were filled with wriggling larvae, and the remaining food was crawling with insects.

The students were almost driven mad; their mental states plummeted, and the despair of having no food intensified the negative energy. Finally, some chose to burn themselves along with the bugs, while others opened the gates in the middle of the night, and some completely broke down.

"Even if the food is gone, they could still open the resource gate the next day to search for more. Why did they break down? After so many games, they still can't handle this pressure?"

Uncle Ji, who was getting ready for work early in the morning, took one last look at the live streams. Besides his own child's stream, he also checked others, only to witness three black screens within a few short minutes.

He felt somewhat worried about the ordinary people far away, as another large-scale anomaly was about to occur.

"The endless journey brings a terrible sense of fatigue, and those bugs that bite them release neurotoxins, causing hallucinations. We can't blame these kids; they've already done well. If given the chance, who wouldn't want to be strong enough to be a hero?"

Unlike Uncle Ji, who had a smooth academic career and became a professor, Aunt Ji started from the bottom and rose through the ranks due to her exceptional crime-solving abilities. She had encountered countless harsh realities of society, making her more empathetic towards the random students inside.

Many students lacked the ability and psychological resilience to become heroes, yet they were forced into such terrifying games, leading to inevitable breakdowns.

Did the students make a mistake? Did the ordinary people who were affected make a mistake?

Neither did. The fault lies with the Hungry Academy, which placed the wrong people in the wrong positions.

Although she was very worried about Ji Xinghai inside, she was somewhat relieved that their child was randomly selected rather than a young person completely unable to handle such pressure.

Entrusting the fate of countless people to someone without any ability would be a disastrous calamity.

The people of JiuZhou do not resent the random students who occasionally bring anomalies; it's the fines and imprisonment that have instilled discipline. To say they accept it calmly would be a comforting lie.

So this couple has always been conflicted.

Emotionally, they felt heartbroken; rationally, they felt relieved.

Sometimes, they wished they could replace their son and enter this nightmare world, bearing all the resentment themselves. But they knew that entering would just add another mediocre student, unlike Ji Xinghai, who is irreplaceable and destined to shine in this era.

"I should go now." Uncle Ji hugged his wife and walked out of the house with high spirits.

The environment is terrible, but hope is as precious as gold.

With their son working so hard, they, as parents, must set a good example. When he comes out, he should see parents who provide safety and happiness, parents he can be proud of.

In the morning, the students who had battled bugs all night looked at the ruined plants, stored food, and household items with tears in their eyes.

They could now drink soup mixed with beetle corpses and eat dry bread without flinching, casually crushing cockroaches crawling on the ground.

"After six o'clock, the bugs' reproduction rate returns to normal. It seems the scenario isn't trying to wipe us out completely," thought the optimistic students, eating with renewed vigor—eat more, as leaving it behind would only feed the bugs.

After cleaning up, they kept the edible bugs and burned the rest. They paid special attention to cleaning the undersides of the remaining leaves and clearing the fallen leaves, unsure how many small bugs might be hiding there.

By the time they finished, it was already eight or nine o'clock, reducing their exploration time in the resource space by a couple of hours (most students value this time and enter the resource space at six).

"God, please give us more food." The starving students couldn't help but pray to an intangible existence.

However, the intangible existence did not respond. Instead, the Academy responded with action—dream on.

The bug disaster was designed to deplete the students' resources; why would it provide them with a resource-rich space? So the students became furious when they opened the resource gate.

"A magic library?" Magic is great, but not needed now.

"A musical instrument encyclopedia?" Instruments are nice, but don't show up again.

"Forensic entomology?"

Ah! Ah—

Ji Xinghai was startled by the sudden groundhog-like rage, looking around before spotting a崩溃的学生，似乎是本院的。

The student also saw Ji Xinghai studying the bugs beside the corpse, as well as the roasted corn in his hand.

"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle." His stomach provided timely accompaniment.

“…” It's so awkward.

"Here, try the corn I just picked." Ji Xinghai naturally handed over another roasted cob. "What a coincidence, you're here to study bugs too?"

The student, as if seeing his own mother, burst into tears. "Thank you, Boss."

After saying this, she took the corn and ate it while crying.

两米高的黑皮大汉，吃得像没妈的孩子，简直不忍直视。Ji Xinghai看了半晌，忍不住递给他一块烤芝麻薄饼：“慢点吃，别噎着。”他没有多余的水壶。

The big man was even more moved, and despite his large stature, he managed to reveal a pitiful, pleading look in his eyes.

Ji Xinghai glanced at his greasy head and silently took a step back. "Did you run into some bugs?"

There’s no need to ask; just look at his clothes, riddled with holes from the bugs, and his hair and skin, similarly ravaged.

"It's best to disinfect the wound; many insects carry toxins."

“已经擦过酒精，谢谢。”黑皮大汉啃了几口玉米，忽然想起什么，“Ji，我打开的资源门里有一扇是借阅室，自称魔法借阅室，里面有很多书。”

Ji Xinghai扭头看过来，而大汉自顾自地说着：“我高中毕业就没碰过书了，也不知道里面都是什么，你有兴趣吗？可以从我的房间过。”

“……”在这个副本里还是第一次被邀请进入别人房间。听说未经同意进入别人的房间会损失惨重，但不知道是怎么个惨重法。而邀请别人进入又有引狼入室的风险。大汉飞快补充了一句：“我邀请你作为客人进来。”

“好。”

“呔！”场外虚空一声怒吼，“这个学员真讨厌，有他什么事？我的借阅室！”

“厚厚厚，原本是2比1，看来一会儿要2比2平了。”

“不会这么简单的，魔法图书馆喜欢博学的人，科技文明的暴力狂可不在它的选择范围内。带走它？想太多了。”

副本内。

Ji Xinghai entered someone else's house for the first time. The spacious multi-functional cottage housed a bedroom, storage room, kitchen, dining area, and living room, along with a narrow planting area and a similarly small balcony.

The house was still littered with uncleaned insect carcasses and生活垃圾, with live insects crawling around, seemingly feasting on their dead.

The dark-skinned man’s face was flushed red, and he awkwardly rubbed his hair. "I left in a hurry."

"Here, take this insect repellent." Ji Xinghai tossed him a small bottle of repellent. "I have a few more bottles; I’ll give you two later. The insect infestation won’t end anytime soon."

The man hadn’t expected such an unexpected surprise; he hadn’t invited Ji Xinghai in with that intention.

Now even random students like them knew about Ji Xinghai’s mission, a mission he alone had a chance to accomplish. Whether out of admiration or for the common good of humanity, he should offer assistance.

Just as the man was about to express his gratitude, Ji Xinghai pushed open the door he mentioned. Bright lights and a spiral staircase appeared before him. Ascending the spiral staircase led to a half-suspended level lined with bookshelves, where an elderly man with elf-like ears held a quill and looked at him.

"Welcome, traveler. Would you like to apply for a library card?"