Chapter 43

Su Jing sat at the solid wood table in the villa's living room, her fingertips tracing the virtual icon for the "breeding area" on the system panel—

In the 30-cubic-meter space, hay was spread evenly, the automatic feeder had a light green standby light, and the temperature regulator next to the fence showed "25℃", which was just right for the animals to live in.

She recalled that in the previous cybernetic instance, the natives survived on synthetic food, which tasted bad and lacked nutrition. Now that there was a breeding area, she had to introduce live animals as soon as possible so that chickens could lay eggs, lambs could produce milk, and animal protein could be supplemented in the extreme apocalypse, making the food reserves more comprehensive.

She picked up her phone and opened the anonymous shopping app she had previously used to buy medical supplies—the account was still "路人甲123" and it was linked to a virtual payment account. The delivery address she filled in was still Warehouse No. 12, Area A, Suburban Logistics Park (the warehouse where she previously received solar panels and medicines; the surveillance system was connected to her phone, and she could view it in real time).

Enter "live chicks" in the search bar, prioritize sellers with "same-city cold chain transportation" and "survival rate of over 95%", and finally choose a shop that says "white-feathered broiler chicks, 1 day old, cold-resistant, suitable for raising in enclosures", and place an order for 100 chicks directly, with the note "packed in 5 cages to avoid crushing, and I will call you after delivery, no signature required".

Next, I searched for "live lambs" and selected "Small-tailed Han sheep lambs, 2 months old, weaned, with strong disease resistance". I ordered 20 lambs and noted that they would be packed in 4 enclosures, with 1 week's worth of feed included, same-city cold chain, warehouse pickup.

She used virtual currency to pay, avoiding leaving any trace of real payment. After her phone screen displayed a message saying "Payment successful, delivery expected within 3 hours," she closed the app, got up, and walked to the monitoring screen.

In the live feed of the warehouse, only a few cardboard boxes previously used for receiving supplies were placed in the center of the empty space. The surveillance cameras around the warehouse cover the entire area without any blind spots, so there is no need to worry about being followed when picking up goods.

While waiting, Su Jing walked into the space breeding area—as her consciousness sank in, she could clearly hear the faint sound of hay, the pipes of the automatic feeder were still empty, the temperature regulator was stable at 25℃, and the drainage outlets on the ground were unobstructed and would not accumulate water.

She used her technological prowess to scan the feeder's circuitry—no malfunctions, the motor was running normally, and all that was needed was to add feed for it to automatically feed the chicks and lambs at set times. "It's perfect to use the sweet grass roots from the planting area as feed; it's not wasteful and it helps the chicks and lambs adapt to the food in the space."

As she pondered this, her attention turned to the planting area: the 30 cubic meters of giant wheat had just sprouted tiny green shoots, and the 20 cubic meters of sweet grass roots had grown tender stems 5 centimeters long, with emerald green leaves and a faint fragrance, just the right amount to harvest for feeding.

She used her consciousness to select 10 kilograms of sweet grass roots. The system automatically popped up a prompt asking "Do you want to harvest and process them into feed?" After clicking "Yes," the sweet grass roots were instantly harvested. Through the space's built-in "shredding" function, they were cut into small pieces 2 centimeters long and fell into the feed trough in the breeding area, emitting a fresh grassy smell.

At 3 p.m., my phone rang with a call from an unknown number. It was a deliveryman from the cold chain logistics company: "Hello, the live animals you ordered have arrived at the entrance of warehouse number 12 in area A of the logistics park. There are a total of 9 cages. Please pick them up as soon as possible to avoid stress to the animals."

Su Jing hung up the phone, changed into a dark windbreaker, put on a baseball cap and a mask, and drove to the warehouse—still taking a detour, first driving towards the city for 20 minutes, then turning around to go to the warehouse, making sure there were no cars following in the rearview mirror.

At the warehouse entrance, nine white plastic cages were neatly arranged under the surveillance camera: five small cages contained chicks, 20 chicks in each cage. Their yellow downy feathers looked like little balls of fluff, and they huddled together, chirping and chattering. Their round eyes were bright and clever.

Four large cages contained lambs with fluffy white wool, each about half a meter tall. When they saw someone approaching, they would timidly hide in the corner of the cage, occasionally letting out a soft "baa". The deliveryman had already left, leaving only a "Live Experience Receipt" which stated "100 chicks and 20 lambs, all alive".

Su Jing opened each cage to check—the chicks had dry feathers, no missing feathers or injuries, and the lambs had bright eyes with no signs of runny noses or diarrhea. After confirming that they were all healthy, she closed the car door and focused her mind: "Put all the cages into the space breeding area, automatically release them into the enclosure, and close the cage doors."

The next second, the nine cages disappeared instantly, and her consciousness sank into the space—in the breeding area, after the chicks were released, they were stunned for a few seconds, and then scattered and ran away. Some pecked at the sweet grass roots in the feed trough, while others circled around the fence curiously.

The lambs slowly walked out of their cages, lowered their heads to graze on the dry grass on the ground, and occasionally looked up at their surroundings, no longer as timid as before.

The automatic feeder detected a live animal entering and the screen displayed "120 live animals detected. Automatic feeding mode has been activated. There is sufficient feed available. Next feeding time: 9:00 AM the next day".

Just as Su Jing was about to exit the space, a system notification suddenly sounded: [Live animals have successfully moved into the breeding area. Please note the following:]

1. Feeding frequency: Feed once a day. You can use sweet grass roots grown in your space, giant wheat (after it matures), or external feed. Fasting for more than 24 hours will lead to a decline in the health of the animal.

2. Growth cycle: Chicks are expected to start laying eggs in 7 days, with each chick laying one egg per day. The eggs can be eaten directly or used to hatch new chicks. Lambs are expected to reach adulthood in 3 months and can produce milk (approximately 2 liters per day).

3. Environmental Maintenance: The temperature in the breeding area needs to be maintained between 15-30℃. The system has automatic temperature control enabled. Manure needs to be cleaned once a week to prevent bacterial growth.

Looking at the prompts, she felt much more at ease—she would have eggs in 7 days, goat milk in 3 months, and with the giant wheat and sweetgrass roots in the planting area, the food chain in the apocalypse would be basically closed, and she wouldn't have to worry about running out of food anymore.

She scanned the chicks with her consciousness and saw that several of the bolder ones were already pecking at the sweet grass roots, eating with relish. The lambs also began to approach the feed trough on their own. She couldn't help but feel a warmth in her heart: these little lives were not only food reserves, but also a glimmer of hope in the apocalypse.

After exiting the space, Su Jing drove back to the villa. On the way, she thought of the technological supplies piled up in the space—a 10-star flying car, 10,000 energy crystals, 50 laser guns, and an electromagnetic shielding sticker. "I earned quite a few points from selling giant plants before. Now that technological supplies are even scarcer, listing them will definitely attract more dungeon participants to buy them, accumulating more points for future use." She gripped the steering wheel, already calculating the pricing in her mind: 100 points for each energy crystal and 1,000 points for each laser gun. This way, it wouldn't be too expensive and no one would buy it, while still ensuring a profit, and reserving points for possible future dungeons or equipment upgrades.