Song Bin covered his face with his palms, let out a helpless breath, and shook his head. "Oh heavens, what was Miss Jing up to this time? Why did she always do things no one else would even think of?"
Then again, he quickly realized it made sense. She was simply that kind of person. Back when she had insisted on going to the crematorium, he hadn't understood her actions either, but she had somehow turned that grim task into a massive success. There was no point in doubting her now. Whatever she did, she always had her reasons, and she must have already planned something deep and thorough for this situation too. To him, That's the undeniable mark of a true powerhouse. At this point, Jing Shu had reached legendary status in his heart, and he found himself admiring her blindly.
Truthfully, however, Jing Shu didn't have any grand plan at all. She squatted down near the pen, her curiosity piqued by the struggle. Even though her schedule was packed, she had always been interested in livestock that still held production value after the apocalypse. She really wanted to know what these researchers were doing to the boar and the sow that made the animals so violent.
Still, she knew she couldn't just ask outright. Psychology suggested that you couldn't break through a person's guard by confronting them directly; you had to go about it subtly. In simpler terms, she would go along with what they wanted first.
"What is wrong with this pig?" she asked, her voice calm against the backdrop of the sow's squeals.
Someone among the researchers muttered under his breath that even if they told her, she wouldn't understand.
Normally, Xie Zhuzhu wouldn't care about explaining complex science to outsiders. But the moment he heard someone mention the pigs, his frustration poured out like floodwater breaking a dam. He sighed heavily, his shoulders slumped. "Since the apocalypse, natural breeding is no longer possible. We can only rely on artificial insemination. T
he implanted embryos take at first, and we even inject high doses of oxytocin to help the process along. But it keeps failing anyway. All the data looks normal, and we have ruled out every variable we can, so by probability, it shouldn't fail. That means something is wrong somewhere in the process. And this sow still hasn't gone into heat, so she can't secrete prolactin, which lowers the conception rate even more."
The man with glasses beside him adjusted his frames. "Should we recheck the whole process?"
"Are you stupid?" Xie Zhuzhu snapped, his voice cracking with exhaustion. "That would take months! We don't have that kind of time."
Jing Shu rested her chin in her hand, watching the agitated sow. "So everything is normal on paper, but the embryos never take. Why not try using a different sow?"
Xie Zhuzhu stroked the flank of the thrashing animal and shook his head. "This pair is the last with natural Anti-Dark Matter resistance in their system. Before we start gene mutation trials, I have to keep them as seed stock for the next phase. Otherwise, pure natural breeds with Anti-Dark Matter will go extinct."
If that happened, their research would hit a dead end.
Jing Shu looked from the pigs to the deformed chickens nearby. She wondered if he was talking about the same kind of mutation she was thinking of.
Xie Zhuzhu continued to mutter to himself, almost forgetting she was there. "In the apocalypse, ordinary livestock must have their genes altered to adapt and reproduce. If they don't evolve, nature will eliminate them. These pigs are the best candidates for mutation. Ordinary ones can't survive heavy hormone treatment."
Jing Shu's mouth slowly dropped open. even after living through so many years of the apocalypse, seeing the harsh reality of it this directly still stunned her. If the animals didn't evolve, they would be wiped out. in the end, only the fittest would survive.
Just then, Xie Zhuzhu must have touched a sensitive spot, because the sow suddenly went berserk. It let out a piercing scream and thrashed violently, kicking out with such force that he was sent flying backward. Everyone around them panicked and scrambled away, though they still had the sense to grab the scientist and drag him to safety.
With one eye already starting to swell and turn black from the fall, he didn't even care about the pain. Propped up by his colleagues, he struggled to get back to the pig, shouting over the noise. "It's rejecting the implant! It's an immune reaction!"
The team froze. They all knew what that meant for the animal.
"There's no saving it," Xie Zhuzhu said through gritted teeth, his face pale. "Just sedate her and prep for genetic mutation surgery." He hated giving up. This was a crucial step toward developing large-scale mutated livestock, and he didn't want to lose this specific specimen. Their biggest goal now was achieving gigantism in food species, but that required countless experimental trials. If this one failed, there would be no turning back.
Jing Shu on the other hand, had no idea what any of the genetic jargon meant. She wasn't an expert in a laboratory setting, not by a long shot. Everything she had achieved so far was thanks to her Spirit Spring and her experience slaughtering over a hundred mutant black pigs. When it came to pigs, she was confident she could handle any of them.
While the sow was thrashing and squealing in a cloud of dust, Jing Shu stepped forward and grabbed its hoof with practiced precision. She pressed down hard with both hands and forced the massive animal onto the ground.
"Holy shit!"
"Damn, she is strong!"
"What the hell was that move?"
Under the stunned gazes of the researchers, Jing Shu pinned the raging sow as if it were a small pet. The pig kept struggling, its muscles bunching under its skin, but her grip was unyielding. Her hands were as steady as iron clamps. From what she had heard, this sow was a rare natural carrier of Anti-Dark Matter, and they wanted it to reproduce before it underwent mutation. basically, they just needed it to breed. That was easy enough.
Back when she had tried to get the animals in her Rubik's Cube Space to reproduce, she had done plenty of research. Those methods involved some rather private details that shouldn't be mentioned in public, but the results spoke for themselves. Besides, this sow would soon be part of her own assets.
Seeing the animal up close, she pulled out a handmade herbal pill, a special aphrodisiac she had developed for livestock. It contained the leftover residue from medicine refined in her space and a small amount of diluted Spirit Spring. She had originally made it to help boost the breeding rates of her own animals. The drug alone was mild, but with the Spirit Spring added, it became incredibly potent.
She popped the black pill into the sow's mouth before anyone could stop her.
"What did you just feed it?"
"What are you doing?!"
The researchers rushed forward, but the sow, which had been screaming a second ago, suddenly started snorting softly. The tension left its body. Jing Shu released her grip, and the sow immediately waddled over to the boar in the corner. Then, in front of the wide-eyed crowd, the pair started doing what pigs do best.
"You... you... what did you feed her?"
"What exactly did you just do?"
They were asking the same questions as before, but the tone had completely changed. Shock had been replaced by utter disbelief.
Jing Shu just waved her hand casually, standing up and brushing the dust off her clothes. "I have raised a lot of pigs before. It's all about technique. Sometimes the data doesn't mean everything."
Xie Zhuzhu's eyes lit up with a frantic energy. "Even if the embryo implantation failed, natural breeding is the best possible outcome! This sow hasn't gone into heat for two years, and now she finally did. it's a great sign. Wait, you are Jing Shu, right? The one Jun Bao mentioned? You are here to sign the contract, yeah? Hurry up and sign it. I have got a ton of things I need to ask you!"