Trash in the Apocalypse

Chapter 346: Insect Problems

Small parties could be seen entering and exiting the bridge connecting the capital and the stronghold. These small parties were survivor citizens of Black Haven doing hunting and scavenging quests. The most lucrative job on the mission board was hunting followed by scavenging and those jobs can always be packaged together for a huge profit.

Every survivor needs to scavenge and search for materials they need and they always need to fight for them. Fighting has become essential if you want to get anything done. Even the farmers started to become wary of nature after the usually disregarded small insects became troublesome.

Recently, all kinds of bugs started to annoy the farmers. Small bugs started to appear and delayed their work, causing them to think of ways to stop them. Normally, farmers could ignore them when they were small, but with their sudden growth, farmers have to clear their surroundings before working. For example, a farmer got attacked by a five-inches tall mantis after he cleared a section of the farming field. The mantis thought it was getting attacked and started fighting back, only running away when it knew it couldn't win the battle.

Still, they were only smaller threats since newly hatched snakes have become so big they're about the size of an average man's arm. 

Without the greater threat of carriers and the beneficial foods known as monsters, small critters don't have anything to fear anymore and insects don't have anything to prey upon.

Reports about mosquito attacks became more frequent as days passed. Together with all the other problems, farmers were forced to rally towards the Labor Union and request for help.

Dyna massaged Bernard's forehead as the man leaned back on his swivel chair with a hanging shoulder. He kept his eyes closed as he enjoyed the soothing physical activity he was under. In front of him, a load of paperwork was on the table and one couldn't tell if the left pile or the right pile was the finished work since they had basically the same height.

"The first time after I visit your office, you look like your about to blow your head off." Dyna chuckled as she continued massaging his head. She continued, "How's it going? Is it that bad?"

Bernard finally opened his eyes. "I can't think of how to solve the farm problems. I tried sending agents to clear the threats, but they can't do anything about the insects. At most, the farmers don't have to worry about snakes after the gents successfully cleared the farm fields of snake nests."

As the person in charge of Human Resource, he was the person approached by the Labor Union about the farmers' problems. The Labor Union was something he made for citizens to apply for work and he was directly connected with its management. Even if he wanted to shove all responsibilities to the current Union Head, he still needs to do something to solve the situation since everyone was on the same board. Rice grains have slowly run out and even the inner circle could only cook a kilo of rice in a single day. It was a serious problem for a community that heavily relies on rice for daily meals!

"Why are you sending agents to kill insects? Shouldn't you be using pesticides or something? I'm pretty sure that people don't organize manhunts when dealing with insects even before the apocalypse." said Dyna.

"But don't you think it wouldn't work? The insects probably got enhanced bodies too. They might just get agitated if we spray them with pesticide."

"Well... I don't think I can really give any other suggestions. Why not ask for help?"

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"And who can I ask? The farmers don't want to deal with this matter and they're already the 'expert' on this field." Bernard answered almost half giving up. 

Dyna nodded. "Those old dudes might be the expert in terms of farming knowledge, but that's also the reason why they don't want to deal with this problem. If the insects were regular insects who don't fight back. they would probably happily deal with it. Since that wasn't the case, then we could just look for outsider's help."

Bernard stared filled with curiosity. "So who do we ask? Do you know some people?"

"I don't know anyone specifically, but Black Haven has a lot of people now, right? We're almost reaching twenty thousand people and the numbers are still increasing. There should at least be one person with a crazy idea to help solve the situation. It's better to let other people solve the problems for you. Problems that can be solved with money, shouldn't make you frown. Go post a job on the mission board."

"That... seems a great idea. Thank you, honey!"

Bernard caressed the wrinkled hand massaging his forehead, then started fiddling with his account card. 

With his admin privileges, he easily posted the mission with golden frames at the top of the mission board. Everyone browsing missions, no matter what page they were on, could see the resplendent striking job post. 

While writing the job post, Bernard started thinking of how he could attract a lot of people with a huge desire to improve and to help. He tried his best to cater the post to young and adventurous individuals.

[Insect Problems by Bernard]

[Our farmers encountered their most difficult adversary and we need your help! Insect swarms have appeared all over our farming fields and we can't deal with them every time they come back. We need a permanent solution!

Every unique suggestion would be paid 100CP. The suggestion that helps get rid of the problem would receive 5,000CP.

The post didn't take time to gain popularity and the effects were immediate. Survivors were even surprised to learn that a comment section has been added as one of the features of the mission board. 

Comments started to fill in and the top liked comment under the job post was an astronaut meme. "There's a comment section? Always has been."

After searching for the mission board updates in the territory forum, they found out that the feature has been out for two days. Not many people read updates and the few people who did, don't think that commenting would help when accepting jobs. 

This was the first time that commenting about a job post has become useful, which caused the current situation. 

As for how Bernard knew about the feature? He was one of those people who read updates in the forums! It was only natural, right? He was someone from the inside and supporting each other spiritually should be as natural as breathing air.

As comments started to pile in, Bernard had a tough time keeping up every time the page reloaded. 

Submitting an idea was easy and on top of that, you could earn CP for every unique idea! Who wouldn't be attracted to such free money?

Roby, who usually spends time running errands for everyone, was racking his brain for ideas. He was one of the first few who noticed the job post since he had nothing to do. Ever since getting sponsored, he didn't have to work as hard as before and could take some breaks. 

Even old people were glued to their account cards, suggesting various ideas on how to solve the problem.

Bernard could only laugh watching the event unfold.

Dyna continued to seep her tea by his side as she watched the situation on her own account card. "Wanna eat dinner? Mike has probably finished cooking."

With an awkward grin, Bernard accepted the offer. "Let's go! Eating hot food is always better for our health. Just let me send an SOS before we go."

Bernard opened a group chat and sent a message. It was a private group with skilled individuals he hired in the past few weeks. He explained the situation and asked for help with data checking, together with all the requirements he needs.

After that, he stood up and did a few stretches before linking arms with Dyna. "Do you want to stop by somewhere today?"

Dyna shook her head and slightly leaned on him. "We started training new teachers today and it was exhausting. I'm a bit tired today and all I want is to lie down and get some massage."

Bernard smiled. "Alright, I'll give you a massage later."

As for the job post, ideas kept coming nonstop and every time the page refreshed hundreds of comments were added.

The most common suggestion was using pesticides. It was the simplest and tested solution when dealing with insects. The next was to kill them manually, followed by hunting them with electronic bug swatters, which then resulted in people getting back ideas of killing them by scent sprays and repellant. In the end, the old people came in and suggested smoking them out with incense using stronger materials.

Some suggestions were unrealistic and outright crazy. To cite an example, someone suggested using fishing nets to capture them since the insects have become larger. The idea was too impractical since insects could run away before they could even close the net and it requires too much manpower. The other one suggested they should try to talk with them and negotiate their terms to leave the farmlands alone. It was probably a troll comment, but every unique idea gets paid for.

When the survivors learned that they could just spout nonsense, everyone started to hop on board. A few minutes later, the comment section was turned off and no one was able to comment anymore. Still, a lot of people earned free money in a short amount of time.