Tang Mo often helped out in Professor Tian’s laboratory during regular semesters, conducting research alongside many of the graduate students he supervised. However, this time she returned to the school under the guise of attending a summer camp, which had nothing to do with Professor Tian, so she hadn’t visited the lab since.
Professor Tian was a top expert in biological sciences. After the onset of the famine era, he primarily studied soil, and six months later began researching post-apocalyptic creatures and plants. If Tang Mo remembered correctly, in later years Professor Tian became a five-star protected figure in the Alliance because he developed energy bars using exotic beast meat as the main ingredient, effectively solving the nationwide famine problem.
In her previous life, Tang Mo had also received an invitation from Professor Tian. Back then, she survived at school only under his care, mistakenly thinking he pitied her. Although she was very interested in the experiments, her pride led her to decline.
“All right, report to the lab on time tomorrow,” Tang Mo said with a bright smile.
Professor Tian was highly accomplished in science, and his research had consistently spanned the apocalypse, bringing humanity many valuable assets. Even just participating and learning some knowledge would be a tremendous honor for Tang Mo—of course, she wanted to join.
After arranging the schedule with the professor, she arrived at the laboratory punctually the next morning.
Professor Tian’s lab at T University was the most well-equipped on campus. Aside from the professor himself, there were six students present; with Tang Mo joining today, there were seven in total.
Four of them were male graduate students under Professor Tian. Apart from Tang Mo, the two female students were undergraduates from the College of Biological Sciences.
Glancing around, Tang Mo didn’t recognize the male students, but she knew the female ones. One was her roommate, Song Qing, who ranked second in the entire college. Tang Mo wasn’t surprised to see her there. The other was Wen Qing, who would later become a famous “goddess-level” figure at school.
Objectively speaking, Wen Qing’s appearance scored only about six out of ten. Even the usually plain and untidy Song Qing outshone her, let alone comparing her to the exquisitely featured Tang Mo. Wen Qing’s rise to fame was simple—she was a spatial-type superhuman. Of course, she could only store objects. In the current school, that wasn’t particularly unusual.
The key was that Wen Qing’s space contained a farm and a small stream, producing food and water. In the current “waiting-for-death” situation, what could be more precious than these two resources?
However, with her own jade pendant space, Tang Mo couldn’t help but suspect that Wen Qing’s ability might not be a spatial superpower at all, but rather possession of a spatial artifact like her own. At least in all the years to come, she hadn’t heard of any spatial-type superhuman whose space could actually grow crops.
“This is Tang Mo. From today onward, she’ll be conducting experiments with everyone,” Professor Tian introduced.
“Hello everyone, I look forward to working with you,” Tang Mo said with a polite, cheerful smile.
Song Qing was momentarily surprised to see Tang Mo, then nodded in relief. In her eyes, Tang Mo had been lying in bed behind the curtains every day—too lazy—and now it was really good to see her in the lab. Song Qing worried over Tang Mo like a mother.
The male students, seeing a pretty junior sister arrive, were visibly excited. Although Tang Mo wore simple sportswear with a backpack and short, neat hair, true beauty could not be hidden by clothing.
“Hello, junior sister, I’m Hu Qi,” said the tallest male, dressed most stylishly, first among the seniors to greet her. His playful and cheerful demeanor was evident, and Tang Mo could tell from his logos that he was definitely a wealthy second-generation student.
“Zhao Tianyi.”
“Zhao Tianci.”
The next two to introduce themselves were twin brothers, both chubby and amusing in appearance.
“Hello, junior sister, I’m Li Guodong,” the last male, dressed very plainly, introduced himself. His words carried some awkwardness, suggesting he rarely spoke with girls.
Tang Mo nodded to each and greeted them politely.
However, Wen Qing’s attitude was cold; she simply stated her name and turned away. She had previously considered herself the prettiest girl in the lab, and the male students treated her well. Now that Tang Mo had arrived and the seniors were being attentive, Wen Qing felt uncomfortable.
“What’s the point of being pretty if you’re still going to starve? Let’s see if you’re still smiling in a few days,” she thought, touching the bracelet on her wrist. If it weren’t for the fact that the timing for her plan wasn’t ideal, she would have made Tang Mo pay.
Tang Mo didn’t bother with her and changed her clothes before beginning to familiarize herself with the experiments.
Professor Tian’s lab was currently conducting soil analysis, collecting and testing soil samples every three days. They had discovered that in the early stages of the apocalypse, the soil’s molecular structure had changed, making it unable to provide nutrients for plant growth and even damaging the root structures.
The most frightening part was that the soil’s molecular structure hadn’t stabilized on the first day of the apocalypse but continued to move, divide, and change. No one knew what it would eventually become. Professor Tian had been studying ways to alter the structure to restore the land to a cultivable state.
Moreover, he had a bold idea: the rapid division of molecular structures in the soil might not necessarily be a bad thing. If properly harnessed, perhaps one day it could even become the best nutrient for plants.
Tang Mo’s professional knowledge was solid, and she quickly understood Professor Tian’s intentions, diving right into the experiments. She wasn’t sure if artificial intervention in soil fission could accelerate plant growth, but this research might be closely related to the legendary gene medicine that rapidly increased human attribute growth in the future. Could it be that Professor Tian was involved in researching gene medicine too?
Due to the harsh environment, even during lunch breaks, everyone collected their allocated rations and water and ate separately. Nearly three months had passed since the start of the famine era. The school was nearly out of supplies—white flour and pickled vegetables were gone. Only rice remained, with each student receiving half a bowl of thin porridge per day.
Porridge required a lot of water, so the daily water ration had been reduced from half a bottle to a quarter bottle. Such days wouldn’t last long.
Song Qing sat in a small equipment room in the lab, sipping rice soup from her bowl.
“I’ve been looking for you. Your nap spot is really hidden,” Tang Mo said, pushing the door open and looking around. “There’s even a small bed—quite comfortable.”
“I don’t nap. You can sleep here later,” Song Qing said. She knew Tang Mo often woke up late and didn’t want her to be unaccustomed to waking early. Tang Mo trained for nearly four hours every night and then slept during the day, forming a habit of sleeping in.
“Here, I saved you half. It’s wasteful for me to eat it all alone.” Tang Mo handed her half of a flaky pastry.
Song Qing didn’t refuse and took a bite. Sharing a dorm, she naturally knew Tang Mo had stored far more food than anyone imagined, so she wasn’t polite.
When the soft bread melted in her mouth, she felt something was off. Bread now had to be several months old; even if not expired, it wouldn’t taste this fresh. The bread she had just eaten seemed freshly baked, its freshness causing her mouth to water.
She quickly concealed the surprise in her eyes. Song Qing was perceptive—if others didn’t volunteer information, she wouldn’t pry into their secrets.