Chapter 90 Shadow Ducks

Chapter 90 Shadow Ducks

The shadow ducks were raised by Qin Mu by the seaside. Zhou Yun decided to skip the sugar factory and the pharmaceutical factory for now. The three of them took a car directly to the seaside to see the duck shed.

Qin Mu got creative and used some unfinished beachfront villas to raise ducks, drawing seawater into the swimming pool of the villa and releasing a large number of shadow-type sea snails and crabs for breeding.

In the rough houses of the villa, duck sheds were set up, and the ducks were wandering in groups in the courtyard. Usually, they were fed with collected shadow insects and shrimps, or shadow snails, shrimps, and crabs were dried, ground, and mixed with corn to make feed.

Qin Mu pushed open the rusty cast iron carved gate, and an old lady inside heard the sound and came out. Qin Mu waved his hand to signal her not to bother and to go about her own business. He then locked the door and led Zhou Yun and Zhu Zhuan inside, with Comet following behind, sniffing around curiously.

Qin Mu introduced: "Shadow-type animals and plants are very cheap; one Crystal Core can buy a kilogram, mostly shadow-type earthworms, snails, and sand crabs. I posted a task at the Beiming task center and also collected a lot of shadow-type Crystal Cores, all very cheap."

"Inspired by General Ren's pig farm, after returning from Central Base, I brought a batch of mother ducks about to lay eggs here to raise. After feeding for a month, I started to sense a bit of shadow-type energy in the eggs, although very weak."

"I picked out all the duck eggs with shadow energy reactions one by one and set them aside. I originally thought that even if this batch of duck eggs did not hatch into shadow-type ducks, at least they would be shadow-affinity, and as they continued to be fed and laid eggs, the probability should increase."

He opened a cardboard box specially for storing duck eggs to show Zhou Yun: "A thousand mother ducks can lay at least five to six hundred eggs a day, and about fifty of them are shadow-affinity. In just about a month, I've collected over a thousand shadow eggs."

Zhou Yun was very satisfied: "Even if it's a ten-to-one ratio, it's very high. Go ahead and get an incubator, hatch these shadow eggs, and produce a batch of shadow-affinity ducks. Continue collecting shadow-affinity eggs here and keep hatching."

Zhu Zhuan said: "Even if there are shadow-type ducks among them, the probability is very low. It takes at least twenty days to hatch, and then a duck needs to be raised for four to five months before it can lay eggs again. The locust plague is getting worse by the day, and by the time we slowly cultivate shadow-type ducks, there will only be a few, which won't help Team Guan."

Qin Mu glanced at Zhu Zhuan, who, seeing his look, did not continue. Qin Mu said: "The Gong family used to have many duck farms. I'll talk to City Lord Gong and borrow some incubators; he will definitely lend them."

Zhou Yun said: "Why not also borrow some duck-raising technicians from him, find more guards, speed up the incubation process, expand the scale of duck raising, and need more manpower. Since we're not raising them for eating, we can use some hormones appropriately to quickly fatten the ducks."

Qin Mu was startled: "Isn't confidentiality needed?"

Zhou Yun said: "He only needs to know that the results can be sold. Besides, your duck farm is by the seaside, with either zombies or wild beasts, making it hard to manage. He must have known already, so to avoid others coveting it, it's better to hang the Gong family's name on it early, and the Gong family will also put in some effort." The necessary leverage should be used, as long as the key technology is kept here.

Qin Mu nodded: "Alright."

Zhou Yun solved a major concern in his heart and had a topic to report to his teacher, feeling relaxed: "Let's go back to the herb garden; it's getting late. Go treat Shen Lan and Xiao Hua, calm their minds, and have a good sleep."

They returned to the herb garden, and Zhou Yun got out of the car first and went to the detention area.

Zhu Zhuan then asked Qin Mu: "Why didn't you let me speak earlier? Did Team Guan and Dr. Zhou have a fight?"

Qin Mu laughed: "How could they fight? Both of them are the type to take responsibility on themselves; how could they fight? You honor students really don't get people."

Zhu Zhuan was unconvinced: "Then why did you give me that look earlier?"

Qin Mu said: "I was just telling you that Dr. Zhou definitely isn't slowly naturally breeding shadow ducks, so you don't need to ask."

Zhu Zhuan was shocked: "What?" He recalled: "You mean, he has a way to stimulate these shadow-affinity ducks into shadow-type ducks?"

Qin Mu said: "Otherwise, why would he make the affinity test paper?" He looked at Zhu Zhuan somewhat teasingly: "Didn't the honor student think this thing is quite useless at this stage?"

Zhu Zhuan: "..."

Qin Mu said: "Dr. Zhou asked you to keep it confidential, right? Didn't he also test your affinity, and it's a rare light-type affinity?"

Zhu Zhuan suddenly looked at him: "Could it be... humans too?" He thought Dr. Zhou was just doing research for fun.

Qin Mu said: "Didn't Shen Lan and the others tell you? They were artificially stimulated psychics."

Zhu Zhuan's eyes showed surprise again: "I didn't ask; they seemed to have some psychological and physical issues. I was afraid to touch on their painful memories. Did Xiao Sheng tell you?"

Qin Mu nodded: "The drug lord captured countless people for experiments. Without the test paper to measure affinity, it was like a blind cat catching a dead mouse. Many, many people died, and those who survived were probably just lucky to have affinity, but were also controlled by drugs. When Shen Lan and the others rebelled and imprisoned the drug lord, they killed a batch of psychics, so only these few remained, and I heard the side effects after stimulating psychics were severe."

Zhu Zhuan's initial excitement subsided: "There are side effects?"

Qin Mu said, "Yes. So I guess Dr. Zhou might be planning to experiment on animals. These ducks are perfect for the experiment."

Zhu Zhuan was full of anticipation: "I hope it will be useful."

In the special detention area, Zhou Yun asked about the conditions of Shen Lan and Hua Rou, knowing they had been controlled and no longer randomly using their psychics. Hua Rou had thrown several tantrums, while Shen Lan had been keeping his eyes open, not speaking or sleeping.

Qi Shuhong said, "Yao Lao personally gave them acupuncture, and they seemed better after that. He also prescribed medicine, which they had just taken. Now, Yao Lao, Taoist Master Yunyin, and Zen Master Xinhai have gone for a walk in the herb garden after dinner."

Zhou Yun nodded: "Good, I'll go in and check their pulses."

Qi Shuhong then took the keys and let him in.

Zhou Yun went in quickly, seemingly just to check their pulses, but when he came out, he was covered in a strange herbal fragrance, similar to the ginseng honey pills they had been taking.

She asked with a smile, "Didn't Dr. Zhou say he went out to check on the business? Why do you smell like medicine? Did you go make some medicine?"

Zhou Yun nodded: "Yes, I checked the pharmaceutical production area."

Qi Shuhong saw him off and then checked on Shen Lan and Hua Rou, who were both asleep. She was a bit surprised but didn't think much of it, assuming the medicine they took in the evening had taken effect.

========

Zhenbei Base.

As the golden sunset cast its glow, a military "Sea Knight" helicopter slowly landed in the center of the helipad, the rotor's airflow brushing over the ground.

This helicopter, known for its considerable load capacity, is a very powerful transport helicopter capable of carrying weapons and equipment, executing combat missions with a large amount of gear, and landing in complex terrains, though it consumes a lot of energy. Before the apocalypse, only a few army groups could afford such helicopters.

Commander Peng Zheyin, along with his soldiers, stood on the helipad, looking enviously at the "Sea Knight," cursing the alliance for only giving orders without providing food or solutions, and not even giving any good equipment. Even if they did, the base couldn't afford it in its current state. He felt even more bitter.

As the helicopter stabilized, he approached, facing Guan Yuanfeng who descended from it, and immediately launched into a tirade: "Guan Yuanfeng, my base is surrounded by zombies, plagued by locusts, with no harvest, and we're short on food! Your coming here is useless! I can't spare a single soldier! I have to prioritize the people of my base!"

His face was grim, his voice like thunder: "You can go see the situation in the city, corpses everywhere!"

Guan Yuanfeng, in a neat uniform, descended from the helicopter, his posture upright, his face stern, looking at Peng Zheyin: "Commander Peng, the special forces are here to support you, not to punish you."

His tone was calm, but his facial lines were hard, unsmiling, his aura sharp, making it impossible to ignore his reputation as the top psychic fighter from Central Base.

Peng Zheyin's expression softened slightly: "Support my ass, how are you going to support? Can you conjure food?"

Guan Yuanfeng asked, "What's the current situation?"

Peng Zheyin said irritably, "The zombie horde surrounds the base, the roads are full of mutated beasts, we can't leave the city, all our food is gone, forget this winter, there's no food in the city now! The output from the greenhouse isn't enough for three days!"

"The mutated locust swarm has an extremely high reproductive rate. Experts predict the locust plague could persist for several months to half a year. If we can't find a way to completely eradicate them, they might eat their way from north to south, base by base."

He pointed to the sky above, where the entire base was covered with wire mesh nets: "We've had fire psychics try to drive them away, but it's been ineffective."

He led the way to the conference room: "Let's sit first. I was saying, if you, Guan Yuanfeng, dared to come here and start blaming me, I would immediately hand over the base command to you! I'm through! Do as you please! From last year to this year, I haven't had a single day of peace!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly stopped. Guan Yuanfeng turned to speak but saw Peng Zheyin standing there, pale, holding his head, seemingly feeling dizzy. The long hours of standing and intense activity had clearly pushed his stamina to the limit, and his tall frame collapsed backward. Guan Yuanfeng, caught off guard, quickly stepped forward to catch him.

His adjutant and orderly panicked: "Commander Peng!"

Guan Yuanfeng caught him, bent down, and carried him on his back: "Where's the medical room?"

The adjutant hurriedly said, "Downstairs on the first floor!"

He carried Peng Zheyin to the medical room.

The military doctor rushed over: "Low blood sugar again! Start with an IV of glucose, and find something to eat—egg custard, noodle soup, milk, anything will do!"

His adjutant, tears welling up, said: "The grain grown by the military camp has been given to the refugees. The general sets the example, cutting back on his own meals. Last night, he just led a team to kill mutant beasts. Recently, he’s been harvesting grain day and night, anxious and irritable, angry every day. He’s also a psychic; he can’t keep pushing himself like this."

Guan Yuanfeng turned to Jiang Rongqian: "Go and bring a box of the brown sugar and duck eggs we brought. First, make a brown sugar duck egg soup for General Peng, add a spoonful of honey, and then cook some fish noodles for him."

Jiang Rongqian nodded and dashed off, the adjutant quickly sending an orderly after him.

His phone buzzed; he pulled it out to see a message from Zhou Yun: "Have you arrived safely? No need to call if busy, just reply with a message to confirm your safety."

He glanced at the military doctor and nurses busy giving Peng Zeyi an IV. Peng Zeyi was still out cold, so it looked like the meeting wouldn’t start anytime soon.

He took out his phone and dialed, walking to the edge of the playground, where the flower beds lay bare, nothing but yellow soil.

Zhou Yun had already picked up, his voice cheerful: "Arrived? Smooth journey?"

Guan Yuanfeng said: "Yes, arrived."

Zhou Yun picked up on his somber tone: "Bad situation?"

Guan Yuanfeng said: "Not good. From the helicopter, we saw swarms of locusts, dark as storm clouds, flying past."

Zhou Yun, in his previous life, only knew that within two or three years after the apocalypse, the population had drastically reduced to a shocking number. As one decreased, the dead turned into zombies, and the hordes grew stronger, more organized. Ordinary people outside the bases could hardly survive.

He asked Guan Yuanfeng: "What about Zhenbei Base? How is the situation there?"

Guan Yuanfeng said: "Not good either. Mutant beasts and zombies have blocked the main roads outside the city, and food is severely scarce. They’re barely holding on themselves, let alone helping other bases. Just now, the base commander fainted before the meeting could start."

Zhou Yun said: "Ah, the commander seems under a lot of pressure?"

Guan Yuanfeng nodded: "Should be. The base commander, Old Peng, has a fiery temper but a strong sense of responsibility. He’s also a wind psychic, a psychic himself, but hasn’t eaten much, plus over-fatigue and anxiety. Thanks to the brown sugar and sea duck eggs you sent up."

Zhou Yun said: "So what are you planning to do now?"

Guan Yuanfeng said: "Wait for the hundred-man assault team from Central Base’s special forces to arrive and join us. Tomorrow, I’ll first lead a team to clear out the nearby mutant beasts and zombies. Then, we’ll go to relieve Qingyang City and consider further steps slowly."

"The real issue is the locust plague—it’s unstoppable, and this is just a band-aid fix. Also, food is a big problem. Winter comes quickly in the north, and this season’s grain is all gone. If we replant now, it’ll be eaten by locusts immediately."

Zhou Yun said: "Organize wood psychics to quickly supplement planting in the city’s greenhouses?"

Guan Yuanfeng said: "The yield is too low. The abilities of wood psychics are limited, and the population is too large."

Zhou Yun thought for a moment and said: "First, have them set up anti-locust nets at the planting base and replant a batch of grain, especially potatoes and sweet potatoes. Didn’t you bring a batch? First, sprout them, then cut them into pieces for seeds."

"I’ll organize some wood psychics to go over."

"As for the locust plague, I’m trying to breed a batch of shadow-attribute ducks. Hold on for two more months."