Chapter 49

The moment Su Jing's fingertip touched the agricultural robot's control panel, a light green "Global Channel News" notification popped up at the edge of the system panel.

Hint—She was standing on the edge of a field in the “planting area” of the space. Two silver-gray agricultural robots had already extended their mechanical arms, and the harvesting blades at the front of them gleamed coldly. The golden giant barley swayed gently in the breeze, and the awns on the ears of wheat were clearly visible. The air was filled with the unique fragrance of ripe grain.

She raised her hand and opened the channel. Chen Yang, whose name was "Sharp Blade (China)," instantly filled the screen with his message. The text was filled with obvious excitement, followed by a "flame" emoji: "Brothers! Big news! The country has equipped us dungeon participants with new laser guns! I just received a notice that I'll go to the suburban shelter to pick them up tomorrow! The person in charge said that these laser guns were bought from 'Number One Store Under Heaven,' and their power is even stronger than the ones we saw in the Cyber ​​dungeon. They can penetrate 5 centimeters of steel plates!"

Less than 10 seconds after the message was sent, Zhao Yue, whose username was "Flying Swallow (China)," replied with a "cheerful" emoji: "Really? I just received a text message too! It says that not only are there laser guns, but also 20 energy crystals! Finally, I don't have to be afraid of mechanical guards anymore! The days of being chased in the industrial zone are finally over!"

The channel instantly exploded with chatter, the light blue "China" logo chat box flashing across the screen:

"I received the notification too! The shelter also said they'll be sending out energy crystal supplies later. Is this to prepare for the dungeon in advance?"

- "Is 'Number One Store Under Heaven' really that amazing? Even the official government buys weapons from there? I couldn't even get any Sweet Grass Roots before, who exactly is the store owner?"

"Some people said before that the shop owner was from China, and now it seems to be true! Otherwise, how could the official channels get priority access to the goods?"

"I'm so envious! I'm still using a regular pistol, and shooting at the mechanical guards is like tickling them. When will it be our turn to get equipment?"

Su Jing leaned against a metal support beside the field ridge, her fingertips tracing the screen, not typing, just silently watching. She recalled her anonymous transaction with Lao Zhou three days ago—10 laser guns in exchange for 2000 grams of gold, which had already been distributed to the dungeon participants through official channels. She didn't want to reveal her identity as the owner of "The World's Number One Shop," firstly to avoid attracting the covetousness of other countries, such as Jack, who had repeatedly harassed her with private messages; secondly, since the official procurement had chosen to be discreet, they clearly didn't want the outside world to know the source of the supplies, so there was no need for her to go through the trouble.

"Buzz—" The robotic arm of the agricultural robot began to operate, the harvesting blades at the front spinning rapidly, emitting a soft "shh" sound. The golden wheat stalks were precisely cut and neatly fell onto the conveyor belt, transported to the threshing unit behind. Su Jing walked closer to take a closer look: the robot's robotic arm was as flexible as a human arm, able to avoid the awns on the wheat ears and only harvest the mature stalks; in the threshing unit, the wheat grains and husks were quickly separated, the clean wheat grains falling into the collection box below, while the husks were compressed into blocks and automatically transported to the "fuel area"—these husks, once dried, could be used as fuel, perfect for the villa's fireplace, with nothing wasted.

"Master, the first batch of giant wheat in the planting area has been harvested, totaling 800 kilograms. 720 kilograms of wheat grains have been threshed. Do you wish to grind them into flour immediately?" The agricultural robot's electronic voice sounded, and its robotic arm pointed to the collection box, which was filled with golden wheat grains, plump and gleaming with a natural luster.

"Grind into powder, using the fine powder mode. After grinding, pack into vacuum bags, 5 kilograms per bag," Su Jing instructed, turning to walk towards the "breeding area"—where a domestic robot was squatting beside the egg-laying nest, carefully placing the light brown eggs into transparent preservation boxes, the lids labeled "2025.10.12 (laying date)." The 100 chicks had become accustomed to the robot's presence; some even dared to jump onto the robot's mechanical arm, pecking at the sweet grass root fragments stuck to it.

"Master, we collected 52 eggs today, 2 more than yesterday. They've been stored on the third shelf of the cold storage, maintained at a constant 2°C, and will last for 30 days. The lambs' feed has been added; each lamb gained 0.5 kg today and is expected to reach adult weight in a month." The housekeeping robot's voice was gentler than the agricultural robot's. It even took a small dish of scrambled eggs from its storage compartment and placed it on a metal plate beside it. "Made with eggs and cooking oil from our space. Would you like a taste, Master?"

Su Jing picked up her fork and took a bite—the egg was tender and smooth, with a subtle eggy aroma, richer than regular eggs, clearly an advantage of space-farmed eggs. She nodded, about to praise it, when the global channel notification sounded again. This time it was a comment from the red "Hunter (US)" Jack, laced with obvious sourness: "What a crappy laser gun! I tried to buy one from 'Number One Shop in the World,' and they wanted ten times the price! The Chinese government must have given them a kickback, otherwise why would they give you priority?"

The deep blue "Black Bear (Russian Bear Country)" Ivan immediately replied, followed by a "sneer" emoji: "Jack, if you can't negotiate the price yourself, don't blame others. I bought the laser gun from the shopkeeper last month for five times the price, in exchange for frozen meat. Now all my men are equipped with it. If you're willing to offer ten times the supplies, maybe the shopkeeper will sell it to you."

"You!" Jack's reply was filled with anger, but he didn't pursue the matter further—clearly, he knew he couldn't provide ten times the supplies; after losing two members of his team, their reserves were already severely depleted. Users from other countries in the channel also began to discuss the matter. Emily from the EU only posted, "We have received the first batch of energy crystals, thank you to our partners," without mentioning "Number One Store in the World," obviously not wanting to reveal their procurement channels.

Su Jing turned off the channel and walked to the "livelihood area" of the space—on the shelves here, freshly ground Giant wheat flour was neatly bagged and stacked, each bag weighing 5 kilograms, exuding a faint wheat aroma; in the refrigerated area next to it, eggs were divided into small boxes, 10 eggs per box, stored separately from the fresh meat and seafood that had been stockpiled before; the housekeeping robot was still busy in the kitchen area, making beef noodles with the braised beef and noodles in the space, and the rich aroma permeated the space.

She took out her phone and opened her anonymous email account—there was an unread email from "Old Zhou" sent in the early hours of this morning. The email contained only one sentence: "Supplies have been distributed. Thank you for your support. Subsequent warnings will be released as planned. Please be prepared." Su Jing understood. The "warning" Old Zhou mentioned was the doomsday alert she had been waiting for. The predicted "30 days until the end of the world" was getting closer and closer.

The robotic arms of the agricultural robots continued to harvest the remaining giant wheat, with wheat stalks continuously entering the threshing device on the conveyor belt, and the collection bins becoming increasingly full of wheat grains; the housekeeping robot packed the prepared beef noodles into insulated boxes and placed them in the "ready-to-eat area" for Su Jing to take at any time; the lambs in the breeding area heard the robot's footsteps and came over to wait to be fed sweet grass root crumbs—the entire space was filled with a busy yet orderly atmosphere, in stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of the global channel.