Everyone was busy turning in the leftover supplies from their missions, and in return, each of them got a generous amount of contribution points. Jing Shu felt like she'd hit the jackpot. Not only did she manage to haul back a mountain of loot, but she'd also earned a solid chunk of points. She was practically glowing with joy. The others weren't any less excited, their smiles said it all—the haul this time was no joke.
"Welcome aboard."
The same flight attendant from before greeted them warmly. Her smile hadn't changed, but everything else had. After months of blood, smoke, and danger, the team members who'd once been strangers were now close comrades. Still, their return came at a heavy cost. Three teammates were carried onto the plane on stretchers—one barely alive, and an entire squad had been wiped out, with only Priest surviving. No one could've imagined the mission would turn out so brutal.
Monk wasn't there to help with the luggage this time. Both of his hands had been destroyed, and he was still unconscious, covered in burns. If it weren't for Jing Shu's medicine keeping him alive, he'd already be gone.
Everyone carried their salvaged loot from America onto the private jet. The first time they'd met, Jing Shu and her group had sat in the front cabin while Zhen Nantian's group stayed in the back. Now, the wounded were arranged to rest in the rear, and everyone else gathered up front.
As the team's doctor, Jing Shu still had to feed medicine to the three injured ones. Their conditions weren't stable, so full treatment would have to wait until they reached the capital.
When the luxurious plane finally lifted off, Jing Shu and the others were officially on their way home. It wasn't that they didn't want to stay in America—it was that they didn't dare.
Yang Yang took out his little notebook, tallying up the results. Their first mission had involved smuggling dozens of cargo ships' worth of supplies to China, all successfully delivered. The higher-ups were so pleased that they gave everyone an extra 3,000 contribution points each.
Resting her chin on one hand, Jing Shu opened her Rubik's Cube Space in its second form and began sorting through the loot from that first mission. During their mercenary task outside the black market, she'd managed to sneak away with a ton of diamond ore. Once back home, she could either have it processed or sell it later when new energy sources became valuable.
She'd also made a small fortune betting in the arena where Xiao Dou had fought. All those black-market coins were exchanged into survival goods, already shipped back to China. Her parents had confirmed that everything was stored safely with the Second Squad's Li Yutian. Even though she'd burned through a lot of contribution points, those goods were all legal, meaning she could use them openly without worrying about exposure.
During the smuggling job, she'd killed Peggy and claimed both of her giant snakes, plus her private vault full of alcohol, luxury food, and a whole stockpile of weapons. Jing Shu had already sorted the guns and planned to distribute some to her family once she got home.
Peggy's weapons had been a huge help afterward too—her RPG alone had taken down an armed helicopter, and the rest of the arsenal had been put to good use.
Oh, right. She'd also "accidentally" lifted a few American specialties from that luxury cruise ship.
The ship's cold storage was now a treasure trove in her Cube Space—olive oil, foie gras, butter, cheese, expensive caviar, tons of tuna, crates of Iberian ham, boxes of lychee meat, top-grade Kobe beef, turkey, ice cream by the case, layered cakes, puddings, and other desserts. Just that alone took up more than thirty cubic meters. Her inventory had expanded so much that half the stuff, she hadn't even tasted before.
And once she did? Jing Shu realized she couldn't resist those delicacies. Every country really had its own charm. She was already daydreaming about going to Turkey someday, just to eat kebabs.
Cough cough.
Later, when she passed through the aquaculture zone, she even managed to snatch up massive live Boston lobsters, sea urchins, and king crabs. Honestly, that was her biggest win this time.
Because unlike other items, these living creatures could breed indefinitely inside her Cube Space. In this dying world, species were disappearing fast. Jing Shu was doing her best to collect as many types as possible—after all, eating the same thing over and over would get boring.
It was a pity about the armed helicopter that got shot down later. That thing was worth tens of millions of dollars. If her Cube Space had been bigger, she would've snuck the entire chopper inside. One day, she swore, she'd have her own gunship as a personal ride.
She jotted that down neatly on her planning list.
Then there was that withered tree in the mountains—the one that almost killed everyone but produced the crimson liquid. Jing Shu had gathered a lot of it. When she found something similar in Job Spus's manor, she suspected it might be connected to the same fourth-dimensional tree. She planned to cultivate it and find out more. Anything from the fourth dimension fascinated her.
She'd also obtained the Sulfuric Acid Ant Queen in those mountains, naming her No. 3, officially her newest pet. Along with the queen came hundreds of thousands of Sulfuric Acid Ants, massively strengthening her combat power. The ants' potential was huge too—the sulfuric acid they produced could be refined into an industrial chain, basically printing money. Unfortunately, she'd lost some during the explosion at the Rhine Manor.
"The second mission was also a big success. Qian Duoduo got the equipment, and we even got some oil vouchers as a bonus," Yang Yang reported while flipping through his notebook, calculating everyone's expenses and contribution balances.
Jing Shu started sorting through her loot from the second mission as well.
That task had been Qian Duoduo's private commission. They'd gone to Austin City and tricked Dr. B out of a pile of supplies while acquiring vegetable dehydration technology. Because of radiation issues, they'd only taken the rare ores. Jing Shu's share came to about 100 tons, which was already incredible. The best part was that it was all legal and usable, and since rare ores would become scarcer as mining tech vanished in the apocalypse, this stash could be traded for nearly anything.
She'd also brought back coffee seeds from Austin Castle. After planting them inside her Rubik's Cube Space, the trees were nearly mature now. It was the world's most expensive Geisha coffee—bright with citrus, lemon, and strawberry notes, tasting more like juice than coffee, with a lingering floral aroma.
Of course, Jing Shu totally didn't plant six cubic meters of it just because she liked the taste. Definitely not.
It was obviously because the beans could resist the spread of the new zombie virus that'd appear in two years, slow flesh decay, and counteract certain biohazards. That was the real reason. Obviously.
The biggest gain from that second mission, though, was forty thousand packets of seeds. Those were her personal property. She divided them into three parts—one to trade for contribution points, one to sell to Wu City (still negotiating the price), and one to keep for herself. All of them were legitimate goods and highly valuable.
She also took note of Zhen Nantian's power, realizing it seemed connected to dimensional energy. Jing Shu quickly scribbled that down in her notes too.