Chapter 250: Cotton Bug Mycelium

Before the apocalypse, this place was a farm. Now, it was occupied by a swarm of bugs.

Amidst the bug swarm that blotted out the sun like a dark cloud, a few small white dots were particularly eye-catching.

Moira Lynch had discovered this place by chance.

Ever since the last incident concluded, Moira hadn’t recalled the Golden Celestial Eyes she had sent out.

Usually, Patience, Moon Wheel, or Calming Bell would control these Golden Celestial Eyes using her spiritual power.

In fact, it was actually Calming Bell that had found this area.

Within the dense, black mass of bugs, a few small white things stood out conspicuously.

They were like lotus flowers blooming in a muddy pond.

Moira held a sprayer, liberally dousing the area with insecticide water as if it were free.

She didn’t let the dead bugs go to waste, either, collecting all their carcasses in her dimension to feed her chickens, ducks, and geese.

Compared to feed, the poultry were clearly more interested in the bugs.

This was especially true for the chickens, ducks, and geese brought back from the farm. Being larger, they were faster and more aggressive when it came to snatching food.

Caelus’s native poultry couldn’t compete at all. Fortunately, there weren’t many of the farm birds, and there was plenty of food to go around.

Moira continued spraying the insecticide water as she slowly approached the small white dots.

In truth, her spiritual power scan had already told her what those white dots were.

They were several sheep with unusually fluffy wool.

When she got closer, she saw that her guess was correct. They really were sheep.

The sheep didn’t seem to have noticed Moira; they had been standing perfectly still this whole time.

It seemed they hadn’t moved an inch since the Golden Celestial Eye first spotted them.

’Wait, these sheep don’t seem to be alive.’

"Patience, scan this."

Patience was swift and quickly provided an answer.

[Mianyang Mushroom Silk: A type of parasitic fungus. Once it infects a host, the creature’s body will begin to secrete white mycelial threads until it is completely dead.

Because the appearance of a creature parasitized by Mianyang Mushroom Silk resembles a sheep after death, it earned its name.

The threads of Mianyang Mushroom Silk are extremely tough and can withstand the pulling force of tens of millions of tons without breaking.]

After hearing Patience’s explanation, Moira immediately took a few steps back with Black Wolf.

"Patience, this Mianyang Mushroom Silk won’t parasitize me and Black Wolf, will it?"

Parasites were the hardest things to guard against.

[No. Mianyang Mushroom Silk only likes to parasitize herbivores. Humans are omnivores and Black Wolf is a carnivore. Neither of you is on its list of hosts.]

Hearing this, Moira breathed a sigh of relief. ’Good thing I like eating meat.’

With a wave of her hand, she collected all the Mianyang Mushroom Silk into her dimension.

Moira planned to use the Mianyang Mushroom Silk to weave a rope, just in case.

She had seen tutorials online for weaving rope, and it looked quite simple.

After storing the Mianyang Mushroom Silk, Moira looked at the surrounding bug swarm, which hadn’t diminished in the slightest. ’Since I’m already here,’ she thought, ’I can’t just leave with a bit of mushroom silk, can I?’

All these bugs would be perfect food for the chickens, ducks, and geese in her dimension. This way, she could save a lot of grain and time each day.

No sooner said than done.

Moira took out a high-pressure water gun she had modified from her dimension. The other end of the hose was connected to her dimension’s interior.

She flipped the switch, and a powerful jet of water shot out, instantly hitting the swarm. The next second, countless bugs rained from the sky, RATTLING as they fell.

Moira controlled the high-pressure water gun, chasing the swarm wherever it flew. In no time at all, the bug carcasses on the ground had piled up into a mountain.

Looking at the mass of bugs, Moira nodded. "This should be enough to last them for a while."

She put away the high-pressure water gun and then gathered all the bug carcasses from the ground.

After Moira’s cleanup, the number of bugs at the farm was reduced by at least half, making the place feel much cleaner instantly.

She had used up a lot of insecticide water this time. Before heading back, she decided to find a water source to replenish what she had used.

Ever since the extreme heat passed, potable water sources were still scarce, but water itself could be found everywhere.

And sure enough, before they had walked very far, Moira and Black Wolf found a small, fast-flowing stream.

The water in the stream was crystal clear, and you could see everything at the bottom distinctly.

However, this clarity was merely superficial.

If anyone actually drank this water, they would be vomiting and suffering from diarrhea within half an hour. Sometimes, hatched bugs would even crawl out of their mouths. The lucky ones might spend ten days to half a month in a hospital; the unlucky ones would report directly to The Netherworld.

As for getting treated by someone with a Healing Talent, that was simply impossible.

Those people were swamped with work every day.

Besides, the base had repeatedly warned everyone not to drink water from the outside, not even if it was boiled, because some bug eggs were resistant to high temperatures.

Even with such reminders, some people refused to believe it. In that case, the base could only say that they respected everyone’s personal decisions.

Moira went to the stream’s edge and began collecting water.

Since the process would take a while, Moira started to survey her surroundings.

After about ten minutes, she had finally collected enough. Moira stood up, ready to leave, when her sharp eyes suddenly caught a flash of something in the water. It looked like a fish.

A fish actually appeared.

Moira immediately unleashed her spiritual power and began to search for the fish’s trail.

Within the inescapable net woven by her spiritual power, it took only a moment for her to find the fleeing fish.

With a single thought, the fish was pulled into her dimension.

She then took the fish out of her dimension.

Suddenly out of the water, the fish thrashed violently in her hand as if startled.

Moira’s spiritual power wrapped tightly around it, leaving it no chance of escape.

Moira examined the fish in front of her again and again.

Its appearance was somewhat like a carp, but it had no scales. Instead, its entire body was covered in a layer of mucus, making it somewhat similar to a catfish. It was white all over, with a few barbels under its mouth.

She hefted it in her hand. It weighed a little over three jin. Its belly was large, giving the impression that it was particularly fat.

"Patience, scan it."

[No record of this species exists in the interstellar database. Based on Caelus’s aquatic life data, it is presumed to be a mutated variant of carp. Non-toxic and edible.]

’Who cares what kind of mutation it is? As long as it’s edible, that’s all that matters.’

Right now, everyone at the base was focused on the bugs; it was unlikely anyone had discovered this type of fish yet.

If Moira brought it back, it would probably cause quite a stir.

’After all, who would want to eat bugs when they could have meat?’