That was right; what looked like the highest point of the mountain wasn't just a cave entrance. It was actually the main gate to the Biotech R&D Company's laboratory. It looked primitive, with barely a hint of modern technology visible on the surface, but this was exactly the "laboratory" Jun Bao had mentioned. In the future, this place would become one of the biggest players in developing post-apocalyptic food, reshaping how humanity ate in the end times.
Jing Shu clicked her tongue softly. Who would have thought something this shabby could hold such weight?
From the top, the cave plunged deep into a hollow darkness, with layer after layer of recessed platforms spiraling down along the rugged stone walls. The air was damp and carried a heavy, earthy scent.
"Miss Jing, take a look. There are fourteen levels in total," Song Bin said, his voice echoing slightly in the vast space. "It isn't that big, but each floor has its own space for different kinds of experiments. The facilities are complete, too. Its biggest feature is that it has a relatively full ecological cycle. Resources can be reused, and energy can sustain itself. That's what makes it different from those other money-burning, resource-hungry labs in the apocalypse."
He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. To be honest, it was just a fancy way of saying they were poor. Without strong backing, survival came first and research second. With the Jun family's power, they could have built a real, high-end laboratory. But this one belonged to Young Master Jun himself, or rather, it was co-owned with someone else.
Thinking about that "someone," Song Bin's face twisted into a look of discomfort. Today's visit might not go smoothly. He had heard rumors they had argued over shares before, and now Jun Shao was openly offering so many of them to a newcomer.
"The biogas from waste solves the power issue and doubles as fertilizer. The first floor is a vegetable garden. Let's go take a look." He sounded like a real estate agent trying to show off a prime piece of property.
But this time, the laboratory would soon include Jing Shu's shares. That made it her property too, and she had every reason to inspect it carefully.
The iron cage of the hand-cranked lift groaned and swayed as it lowered them toward the first floor. It wasn't powered by electricity, saving every drop of energy for the experiments. The contraption ran purely on leverage and human effort. Song Bin's heart pounded against his ribs, and his knuckles were white as he gripped the railing. If something snapped, the lift would drop straight to the bottom, and he would be splattered beyond saving. He wondered why they couldn't spend a little extra to make the descent safer.
"Vegetable garden?" Jing Shu stepped off the rattling lift and stared at the walls, which were crawling with all kinds of terrifying mushrooms.
The garden around them was filled with strange plants that didn't require sunlight. Some possessed black, spiky leaves that seemed to absorb the dim light, while others bore long purple fruits that hung like bruised fingers. Some produced black, knotted clusters with tiny lumps all over them, with each lump sprouting a single long hair that shivered in the draft.
Even worse, a patch of blinding white covered one entire wall. These looked like gigantic spores, pulsing and squirming like living worms in a rhythmic, unsettling motion. Every time muddy water dripped down from the ceiling, they would twitch and rise upright all at once. If someone bit into one, Jing Shu wouldn't even doubt it would spurt white fluid.
She reached out and grabbed one of the white spores. It struggled in her grip, its dark roots clinging stubbornly to the rough wall. She tugged at it with interest, but Song Bin panicked at the sight. He wondered if she wasn't afraid at all.
"These are vegetables?" Jing Shu had lived long enough to see many strange things, but these creepy organisms were something else entirely.
Song Bin forced a smile, then quickly shook his head as if trying to clear his mind. Covering his mouth to block out the smell, he pulled her toward the next level. Everyone down here was nuts anyway, actually enjoying this disgusting stuff. "The second floor is for livestock. All the manure gets sent to the biogas system."
There weren't many animals on the second level, and the ones that remained didn't look normal either. On one platform stood five or six chickens. Or perhaps they were chickens. Some had six wings that fluttered uselessly, some had four legs that clicked against the stone, and one possessed two distinct bodies joined at the chest. The most outrageous one was a hermaphrodite chicken, snuggling with itself—or perhaps another part of itself. Jing Shu couldn't even tell how many actual birds were in the pen.
She thought that she should have brought Xiao Dou here to see what real mutation looked like. Someone always found a crazier way to exist.
There was also a boar and a sow in a separate enclosure. They didn't look normal either, though both were so skinny their ribs showed clearly through their sparse hair. When they reached the floor, a few people were gathered around the pigs, sighing in disappointment.
"Failed again."
"Damn it, what went wrong? The genetic sequence and chromosomes are all correct, the embryos too!"
"I'm telling you, it's the sow's fault."
"Stop wasting time with excuses. Just mess with the sequence already. If the chromosomes go haywire, we will at least know what comes out of it. Worst case, we end up with three-headed, six-armed freaks like those chickens. That isn't too bad, right?"
"Once we use that stuff, there's no going back."
Their argument grew heated fast, their voices echoing off the cave walls. Song Bin looked like he wanted to cry. He had to run into a bunch of lunatics first thing today.
"Yo, Song Bin is here. Got some news for us?"
Finally, someone noticed the newcomers. Jing Shu's brow furrowed. If this place became part of her assets, she would have to invest in better security. In the apocalypse, being unsafe meant being dead.
Song Bin forced a polite smile. "Brother Zhuzi, I brought Miss Jing, who is signing the contract today. Young Master Jun should have told you already, right? It's about the share transfer. Miss Jing is providing the laboratory's energy supply."
He quickly added, "This is Jun Shao's partner, Xie Zhuzhu, the director here. He handles all lab operations. Don't be fooled by his age; he is one of the youngest scientists in China."
What kind of scientist he actually was, Song Bin didn't dare say. He really couldn't.
Xie Zhuzhu didn't even look up. He was crouched beside the sow, gently patting the animal's flank while checking her condition. Hearing the commotion, he waved an impatient hand. "No time, no time. We will talk in a few days. Until I fix this problem, I'm not doing anything else. I don't care who shows up."
That was just how stubborn he was.
Song Bin froze. He realized that Jing Shu only had three days before heading back to Wu City.
Jing Shu raised an eyebrow. She wondered what kind of mess she had walked into this time. She had better things to do than wait for a stubborn scientist. She marched straight toward him, causing Song Bin to tremble. He wondered if she was really going to use force, knowing that it couldn't end well.
But then, Jing Shu pushed through the crowd and crouched beside him.
===
"Shao" (少) is short for 少爷 (shàoyé).
少爷 (shàoyé) literally means "young master." It's a term used to address the young son of a wealthy or influential family, similar to "Young Master" or "Heir" in English.
少 (shào) is the abbreviated form. When attached to a surname or, in this case, what seems to be part of a name/clan title "Jun," it becomes "Jun Shao"—a casual yet respectful way to say "Young Master Jun."