Post-apocalyptic World: Stockpile Ten Billion Supplies at the Beginning

Chapter 161

Chen Luo recognized this little black creature.

Commonly known as a dung beetle, it feeds on feces.

This is actually a good thing, an insect that helps improve the environment.

If its not a beneficial insect, what else could it be?

In the post-apocalyptic world, with the significant reduction in the human population, zombies dont excrete much, and there are fewer animals around.

This leads to a lack of food for these beetles. While Chen Luo hasnt moved the entire population here, there are still many people inside, and theres an outer wall.

So, these beetles have to dig tunnels and come to steal excrement to eat.

They go through a lot of trouble just for a bite to eat.

Its not easy for them, you know? All this trouble just for a bite of feces.

But it still ended up getting hit.

Looking back at Chen Luo, Xia Haoran appeared puzzled. Whats the use of keeping this weird bug that attacks people?

This half-meter-tall dung beetle looks like a monster; it must have mutated to get so large.

How much feces must it eat daily?

It even brought a bunch of sidekicks along for the theft.

Chen Luo looked at Rice. Can you translate for this species?

Rice, gazing at the dung beetle, felt disgusted and scared. Huddled in Chen Luos arms, Rice replied.

I can only understand what dogs say.

I cant do it.

Chen Luos lips twitched. He had no idea what she meant and decided to not force her. She had a habit of making startling remarks that could frighten people. He was sure the second sentence was learned from watching some random TV show.

And what did she mean by I can only understand what dogs say? Cant she understand what Im saying?

Rice couldnt understand, but there were those who could.

Mengyin had heard there was a big bug and was quite curious. She ran over to take a look.

Hearing the dung beetle saying it came to steal some dung and would get beaten, everyone burst into laughter on the spot.

Chen Luo looked at Mengyin, his eyes lighting up. Some in the Nature department could communicate with animals. Could Mengyin have that ability?

Chen Luo asked, Can you communicate with it?

Mengyin was momentarily puzzled. Yeah, how could she understand a bugs speech?

Chen Luo tempted her, If you can communicate with it, tonight Ill give you whatever food you want.

Mengyin was thrilled at the prospect of this offer.

Mengyin tried to infuse her Nature-based ability into her voice and spoke to the dung beetle, saying, We wont harm you.

The dung beetle was still agitated and said, Aba aba, you just hit me earlier and now you say you wont harm me. Are you blind? Just wait.

Mengyin looked at Chen Luo and acted as a translator.

Chen Luo chuckled and said, It seems it doesnt recognize you. You came here to eat dung, didnt you?

The dung beetle responded, Yes, yes, I came here to eat some dung.

Chen Luo: It was an accidental injury, dont worry. Youre welcome to come here anytime, and we wont harm you.

Dung beetle: I wont be coming.

Chen Luo: We can provide for you.

Dung beetle: Provide for me? I eat over 200 pounds a day.

Chen Luo: Wow, thats quite an appetite. Dont worry, well make sure you have enough, at least enough for you to eat.

Dung beetle: Deal.

Despite the unconventional conversation, it didnt affect Mengyins appetite. Over these days, she occasionally had a good meal, mostly thanks to Xiaoyu. After all, she hadnt succeeded in growing her own crops yet.

Mengyin looked at Chen Luo with eager eyes.

Chen Luo smiled and said, Youve made a contribution. What would you like to eat?

Mengyin didnt hesitate and immediately replied, I want fried chicken, roast duck, and a large 2.5-liter bottle of Coca-Cola, enough for me and Xiaoyu.

Well, good chicken is quite tempting for kids.

Chen Luo said, Alright, well have it for dinner.

In the meantime, you can try planting some crops with one of the older sisters I brought here.

Mengyin eagerly agreed.

In Chen Luos group, there were over thirty Level 4 mutants, but there wasnt a single Level 4 natural element user among them.

Having a low ratio of natural element users was one thing, but nurturing them to grow was even more challenging than other elements.

In the future, out of over a hundred King-level mutants, there was only one natural element user, and they were a shapeshifter.

Mengyins promotion to Level 4 should be happening soon, probably within the next couple of days.

Chen Luo gathered all the natural element users. Their combat abilities were weak, but their greatest value lay in their ability to cultivate crops.

Li Cheng, one of the villagers they had rescued, was also brought to the meeting.

Ouyang Lu brought a large pot filled with soil. She explained, Before the apocalypse, I loved gardening and planting flowers. About a month into the apocalypse, I tried growing some vegetables, but I didnt see any signs of success.

I tried transplanting them into pots and using my natural element ability, which had some effect, but they died the next day, Ouyang Lu explained.

Chen Luo nodded, understanding the difficulty. Planting directly in the ground wasnt feasible due to soil contamination, so they would have to use potted plants to isolate the soil. They needed to expose the plants to sunlight during the day and protect them at night.

Mengyin prepared different types of potato seeds, hoping to see which one would grow better.

Li Cheng, who was experienced in farming, planted the potatoes in the pots and added a bit of wood ash as fertilizer.

Ouyang Lu began infusing the soil with her natural element ability to neutralize any viruses within it.

This didnt mean everything was okay; they would need to continue infusing the soil with their abilities each day to maintain its condition. The soil could easily become re-contaminated when exposed to the environment.

So, planting was a challenging endeavor. They couldnt use their abilities to force the seeds to mature and bear fruit. Doing so would result in the seeds dying, similar to overfeeding someone by giving them a ton of rice and causing them to become overwhelmed.

They could accelerate growth, but they needed to control the process carefully.

In the future, as the level of infection deepened, farming would become increasingly challenging. A natural-type individual could barely sustain ten to a few dozen people.

As the infection progressed, lower-level natural types would struggle to grow crops. In a group of a hundred people, there would typically be only two or three natural types, which was insufficient to support a large population.

Currently, they were growing vegetables, but in the future, they would need to cultivate rice and wheat. Exceptional seeds could resist viruses, allowing them to conserve their abilities and yield more significant harvests.

Mengyin excelled in improving seeds, which was why Chen Luo valued her. He shared his farming experience with her without holding anything back, leaving Ouyang Lu baffled.

Whos the natural type here? You seem to be better at farming than I am.

A normal potato takes about ninety days to grow, but with the help of a natural type, it could be ready in just a month and a half. Ouyang Lu, who could summon plant sprites, could significantly shorten this period. However, she could only summon them briefly, and the plant sprites didnt seem eager to engage in such work; they required some coaxing.

Ouyang Lu summoned a plant sprite, and Chen Luo could sense spatial fluctuations. The plant sprite spat onto the soil.

Chen Luo:

Is this the way to improve the soil? He wondered if slaughtering and burying the plant sprite might yield better results. However, he was concerned that this might lead to an issue similar to a summoner encountering a bug, potentially resulting in Ouyang Lus harm.

A thought crossed Chen Luos mind. Since Mengyin had the ability to communicate with living beings, why not try it with the plant sprite?

Chen didnt have high expectations because in his previous life, there were natural types capable of communication, but they hadnt achieved significant results.

As expected, the plant sprite seemed to understand Mengyins words, responding with chirps and sounds, yet Mengyin couldnt comprehend it at all.

Chen Luo shook his head.

Five different potato seeds had been planted, and it would take at least half a month to determine which one performed slightly better, after which Mengyin would continue to improve them.