That day's call was a total mess. The speaker rattled with the chaotic noise of a whole crowd talking at once, their voices overlapping in a jumble of static and excitement. As soon as Jing Shu finished speaking, a new voice cut through the din, clear and distinct. She recognized it immediately; it was Jun Bao. Compared to the high-pitched, frantic chatter of the others, his delivery was steady and almost entirely detached.
"Later on, Song Bin will take you to the Biotech R&D Company to sign the contract," he said, the sound of papers rustling faintly in the background. "I will need you to handle something else too. Oh, and although we are still following the previous agreement, there will be a small change regarding the ownership shares."
Jing Shu raised an eyebrow at the phone. What was Jun Bao getting at? He probably didn't even realize the weight of his own words yet. This small laboratory, which had already swallowed up countless materials and funds, would eventually change the course of history. In five years, it would develop the new types of food required to feed survivors during the apocalypse. That contribution would be monumental. Though the taste might be awful, it would truly save millions of people, just as it had saved her in her previous life.
What she hadn't expected was that something she could only dream of in that past life—actually getting a share in that very lab—was falling into her hands this time. Of course, that was only if she invested.
But she didn't really care about the specific numbers she would receive. When he mentioned the changes, she simply replied, "Alright, no problem."
Jun Bao's voice came through the receiver again, as steady as ever. "Wu City took first place in the competition and will soon receive the incomplete crimson energy. The experiment happens to need a large amount of it, so the Wu City government will take 15% of the shares since they will be the main supplier of the energy. As for your reward for leading the Medicinal Herb Association to victory, we will settle that once you are back. Don't worry, you won't be shortchanged."
He then explained why Wu City received 15% while she only received 5%, even though they were both energy suppliers. It wasn't about favoritism. The black energy was easier to extract and could be found within the mountains, while the crimson energy was far more precious and complicated. It possessed countless unstable factors, yet it was hailed as the symbol of a new post-apocalyptic energy. Whether humanity could step into the next era depended entirely on it.
Jing Shu rolled her eyes. Honestly, she had plenty of that crimson energy stored inside her Cube Space. In fact, she had once possessed a large crimson crystal, but it had been absorbed when she upgraded the space. From what she could tell, that energy was likely a product of the fourth-dimensional realm. Beyond that, she didn't know much.
Still, the crimson energy really was impressive. It could trigger atavism, such as turning an ordinary chicken into a dinosaur-like monster. The only problem was that the success rate remained under one percent. To truly understand and harness it, they would have to pay a heavy price in testing. Even Hao Yunlai had suffered side effects after using the energy. It seemed to be a form of degeneration. Humans were supposed to evolve, yet that crimson energy seemed to reverse the process instead.
After hanging up, Jing Shu quietly ate a small meal. She frowned as she thought, the cool air of the room settling around her. She suddenly remembered what Minister Zhao had said during the medicine trial; he mentioned that Yunzhou's Medicinal Herb Association had used over a hundred times the proper dosage, and one of the children had suffered extreme side effects. The child's body had started growing hair all over. At the time, she hadn't thought much of it, but now that she recalled the details, it seemed like another form of regression.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, a scream tore through the air in the distance. A burst of shouting and chaos followed the sound, echoing through the night.
Jing Shu immediately headed toward the noise. The closer she got, the louder the commotion became. Her night vision caught sight of a shadow darting around frantically. As luck would have it, the figure came crashing straight toward her.
A group of over a dozen people carrying sticks and nets came running from the other direction, their footsteps heavy on the ground. Leading them was a bald man covered in blood. He was gasping for air as he yelled.
"Throw the net! I don't believe a little brat can break free! Once you catch her, beat her to death if you have to! We will just report it as an accident later! Damn nuisance, wasting our resources dragging her around!"
Jing Shu's brow furrowed. In a flash of movement, she reached out and grabbed the shadow's collar, yanking the figure up effortlessly. With a quick sidestep, she dodged the incoming net with its barbed edges. In the blink of an eye, she was already standing calmly on the other side of the path.
"Grr! Hiss!"
The figure in her grasp struggled wildly, but the resistance was useless. When the child finally lifted her head and glared at Jing Shu, the sight stunned her. It was a malnourished girl whose eyes were vacant, as if she had lost all sense of reason.
The test subject from the Yunzhou Medicinal Herb Association? What were the odds? And these people... were they from that association too? Judging from the men's clothes, none of them looked like pharmacists. They looked more like hired hands.
"She caught her!"
"She really caught her!"
The bald man with blood smeared across his face approached, his expression twisted into a grimace. He glanced at Jing Shu and immediately realized she wasn't someone ordinary. Lowering his volume, he spoke with a forced politeness. "Thanks for catching her, you have really helped us out. We are from the Yunzhou Medicinal Herb Association logistics team. That girl is an extremely dangerous individual. Look, she is the one who injured me. Could you hand her back to us?"
Jing Shu took a step back, her grip on the girl firm. "But I just heard you say you would kill her. And if that net had landed, she would be dead or crippled by now."
The bald man forced a laugh, the sound harsh in the quiet air. "Ah, that... we didn't have a choice, you see. She is fast, and if she escaped, we would be held responsible."
"You mean, if she escaped and someone found out what you did, it would expose you. It's easier to kill her yourselves, right? After all, your superiors told you to take good care of her, and inspectors come by regularly."
Her words were steady, but the girl in her grip suddenly went stiff.
Jing Shu raised a brow. "Still have some consciousness left, huh?"
The bald man's expression changed instantly. His eyes flicked over her warily, and for the first time, he realized this woman wasn't just anyone. The woman's aura was something he had only seen once before.
Behind him, a few of his men whispered nervously. "Boss, what now?"
"She knows too much. Should we—?"
The bald man shot them a vicious glare. "You idiots couldn't even catch a kid. She caught her with one hand, what does that tell you? If you want to die, go ahead, but don't drag me down with you."
A shiver ran through him as he finally understood who she reminded him of. Last year, two mysterious figures had protected the Yunzhou Medicinal Herb Association from an attack. They had wiped out an entire team effortlessly. And this woman looked exactly like one of them.