CHAPTER 658: WHITE ENERGY

"Otherwise, why would we endure such cold weather, spending so much time and so many tools, just to come here and get nothing for our pains?"

Jing Shu had been anxious a few days ago. Being trapped on such a vast, deserted island was daunting. What if I can never return? But ever since she discovered this wonderful thing, Jing Shu had actually stopped worrying.

She even began to treat it as a daily job, one to be completed diligently. If not for her inherent laziness and fear of arousing suspicion, Jing Shu would have gladly stayed in the small earthen hut twenty-four hours a day.

Few things could capture Jing Shu’s interest now.

Unexpectedly, the white dots in the Mudstone Flow Sea turned out to be a special type of energy body.

Jing Shu had previously scoured for black energy and red energy. Each demonstrated different purposes and abilities, belonging to a type of Dimension Energy, and each possessed strong regional specificity, rarity, and uniqueness.

Jing Shu found it quite regrettable that she hadn’t encountered anything like those energies again outside of those specific regions.

Therefore, Jing Shu named this elusive Dimension Energy: White Energy. They varied in size. Each newly born white dot was guarded by a rotten mermaid until it matured, after which the rotten mermaid would consume it.

The Magic Cube Space’s ability to upgrade was largely thanks to finding such energies. Naturally, this White Energy also presented an opportunity for it to upgrade.

What was bothersome was the new requirement for the Magic Cube Space to upgrade. Not only did she have to meet the stringent condition of restoring it within a set time, but she also had to infuse it with a type of Dimension Energy.

The appearance of White Energy was therefore like a timely rain.

So, Jing Shu was naturally no longer in a hurry. It would be best to collect enough energy to allow the Magic Cube Space to upgrade.

"It’s a pity, the process is too slow," she said.

Relying on her own snail-like collection speed, progress was too slow. It was nowhere near as fast as that time in the United States when she had directly absorbed crystallized energy into her space.

"Rome wasn’t built in a day; we can only proceed slowly," she mused aloud.

After all, with milk tea to drink and beef jerky to eat, and occasionally indulging in braised lion’s head meatballs and spicy crayfish, life was quite comfortable.

If conditions allowed, Jing Shu really wanted to set up a spit to roast a suckling pig or a whole lamb. She had a new batch of piglets in her space, and lamb was readily available. Besides, in this cold weather, cooking a pot of turnip and lamb stew and sipping the hot broth would be excellent.

Slowly simmering it over a low heat, letting it bubble away, would be perfect right now. Unfortunately, the enticing aroma could drift for hundreds of meters, growing more fragrant as it spread, and Jing Shu didn’t dare risk it.

"Alas," Jing Shu sighed. "In this confined place with no freedom, getting a good meal is so difficult."

Through a few days of exploration, Jing Shu had already discovered some clues about White Energy’s uses. If red energy had an effect related to the ancestral gene, then White Energy possessed Healing abilities.

But it wasn’t merely for healing.

Well, after studying these energies, Jing Shu found they had both beneficial and negative aspects.

The negative effect was that it caused the consumer’s body to become extremely stiff, essentially petrifying them.

A chicken in Jing Shu’s space had been petrified, which made her sad for a long time. Isn’t Beggar’s Chicken tasty? Or is Dapan Chicken not delicious? What a complete waste of a chicken.

The petrified chicken was useless, like a plain white stone sculpture that would chip if tapped.

The fat black creature in the space ate just as much as before. However, a boar Jing Shu was about to slaughter, having not consumed many White Energy Points, was now completely stiff. It had to hop when it walked, just like a Zombie. Jing Shu even wondered if she had inadvertently invented a new creature: the hopping Zombie pig.

Can it still be slaughtered and eaten? Jing Shu planned to wait a bit longer.

For now, it seemed White Energy had no other use besides upgrading the space. However, this single purpose was enough to make Jing Shu willingly stay here and collect it.

However, the rotten mermaids in the Mudstone Flow Sea ate the White Energy happily. They were neither petrified nor stiff. Instead, they were invulnerable to physical attacks, like creatures made of mud, yet very sensitive to electricity, as if made of water. Crucially, they had also developed some kind of bleeding ’BUFF’ ability.

Jing Shu gazed at the perpetually flowing Mudstone Flow Sea, lost in thought. Is the rotten mermaids’ resistance to petrification related to the mud in this area?

Suddenly, Jing Shu sat upright.

She opened her eyes wide, as if she had seen something incredible in this dark world.

"Impossible!" Jing Shu exclaimed.

The long row of rebar was quite a sight. These wires extended deep into the Mudstone Flow Sea, forming a giant net that acted like Jing Shu’s eyes, allowing her to sense the world below.

There was a moderate number of White Energy Points. Each was closely guarded by a menacing rotten mermaid. However, ever since Jing Shu learned how to conduct electricity down into the depths, she had always been able to snatch the energy from right under their noses.

But today, the area beneath the building was densely packed with White Energy Points. In Jing Shu’s sensory perception, the space was almost entirely dominated by White Energy.

Jing Shu didn’t even need to exert much effort; simply dropping some wires down was enough to reach these White Energy Points.

So many of them.

Yet, Jing Shu could not feel happy; her face turned unusually grim.

This was so much White Energy—more than all she had seen in many days combined! It meant the surroundings were teeming with countless rotten mermaids!

Have we drifted into the rotten mermaids’ main nest? Jing Shu could hardly imagine the scene if all the rotten mermaids were to swarm ashore at this moment. Without a doubt, it would lead to total annihilation for everyone here.

Fortunately, at this moment, the rotten mermaids seemed more interested in the White Energy Points.

No, this is far too dangerous compared to before, Jing Shu worried, even as she carefully harvested the nearly mature White Energy Points. She would electrocute a rotten mermaid and then snatch the White Energy from its mouth.

According to Jing Shu’s observations, when not threatened, the rotten mermaids would only consume a White Energy Point every few days. This coincided exactly with the time it took for White Energy to regenerate from below.

They continued this cycle endlessly.

Jing Shu moved quickly. The sudden disappearance of the White Energy confused the rotten mermaids. With their low intelligence, once they recovered from being stunned and found the White Energy gone, they would simply swim off to find new sources.

Jing Shu had planned to capture a few live rotten mermaids to study in her space. Theoretically, she should have been able to transfer them directly into her space, but all her attempts had failed. The space strongly repelled some kind of energy they possessed. Could it be due to dimensional reasons? Jing Shu speculated.

"Sister Jing Shu, my uncle is calling for you! Hurry and come with me!" Li Chenglong’s voice rang out. He could be seen running from afar, clearly in a rush.

Jing Shu frowned. She didn’t want to leave; the Magic Cube Space needed to be upgraded as soon as possible.

"What’s the matter?"