The spider assault vehicle flicked its mechanical leg, and a sandbag weighing tens of kilograms was immediately stuffed into the jumping worm's mouth.
Jiang Ye's heart leaped into his throat, and he clenched his fists, shouting in his mind:
Don't spit it out! Don't spit it out! Don't spit it out!
The jumping worm, having just been fed a large sack, was utterly bewildered. Its entire body's wriggling paused for a moment. This reaction was somewhat like a human; being unexpectedly stuffed with something in the mouth, one would surely be stunned. However, immediately after, it realized what was in its mouth.
The rows of teeth in its mouth began to move rhythmically, crushing the sandbag and sucking it towards its esophagus!
In just one minute, tens of kilograms of sand were completely consumed.
A cheer erupted from the scene, and many soldiers applauded. Jiang Ye also smiled, his lips pressed together. The atmosphere was like that of a patient who had previously been unable to eat, but now began to drink soup, with the doctors and nurses present cheering joyfully.
Che Zhen came over to report, "Commander, it ate. Should we continue feeding it?"
"Continue, feed it until it stops eating. Record the number of sandbags and see how much it can consume," Jiang Ye said.
Che Zhen ran over and was about to give the order when someone exclaimed in surprise, "It's pooping! It's pooping!"
Jiang Ye's eyes widened. "So soon?"
"Let me see!" he shouted.
Several soldiers immediately brought over the jumping worm's excrement for Jiang Ye to examine. They were still large, dark yellow chunks, each the size of a human head.
"Report, Commander! This poop is still warm!" the soldier said happily.
Jiang Ye reached out and touched it. The heat was astonishing, as if it had just been taken out of a steamer. Although it was so hot, it hadn't softened and remained hard. It seemed this jumping worm was a constipated species.
"Is this jumping worm a straight shooter? It eats and then poops, and it hasn't even been a minute. Jiang Ye instructed, "After feeding it another sack of sand, you'll time it and see how long it takes to excrete."
"Yes!" the soldier saluted.
At the jumping worm's head, the spider assault vehicle picked up another sack of sand and gently tossed it into the mouth full of sharp teeth.
This time, the jumping worm didn't even hesitate. It directly crushed the sack's skin and began to suck!
This creature had a strong suction, and the noise was like a sandstorm. Tens of kilograms of sand were all in its stomach in the blink of an eye.
Jiang Ye silently counted the seconds.
As he reached the 48-second mark, a subordinate rushed over, holding a steaming pile of excrement.
"Report! It took a total of 45 seconds to excrete!" the subordinate said.
Jiang Ye marveled, "This creature's digestive system is amazing! To grow this large by eating sand, and digest it so quickly!"
"Come, prepare more sandbags. Feed it continuously and time it for half an hour," Jiang Ye waved his hand. "During this time, throw all the excreted waste into the trading post to sell, and tally up how much money is made in half an hour."
All the soldiers got busy, filling empty sacks with sand and piling them up a few meters away from the jumping worm's mouth.
Perhaps it smelled the scent, or perhaps it had gained strength after eating two sacks of yellow sand, the jumping worm began to wriggle restlessly. Its massive, heavy body plowed deep marks into the ground. Fortunately, over twenty spider assault vehicles were constantly pinning it down, preventing it from breaking free.
Soon, a large number of sandbags were ready.
Three spider assault vehicles moved to the front of the jumping worm, picked up the sandbags, and continuously threw them into its mouth!
The jumping worm became excited. Its long teeth chewed rapidly, and it sucked continuously. Even from a distance, Jiang Ye could sense the airflow, truly a "vacuum cleaner" in every sense of the word.
While sucking in air, the jumping worm's tail end was also constantly expelling air, with considerable force, like a rocket exhaust, kicking up a lot of dust.
A sentry soldier standing near the tail was caught off guard and was blown several meters away by the wind. He got up and fled in terror.
"This is no different from an engine!" Jiang Ye was shocked.
Soon, the jumping worm shook its backside and expelled large chunks of amber-colored feces.
Half an hour passed unnoticed, and the spiders stopped feeding.
The long-waiting soldiers swarmed forward, picking up the feces scattered on the ground. They collected them for sale.
Jiang Ye waited calmly, estimating the amount of money in his mind.
Thirty thousand? Fifty thousand? Eighty thousand?
If half an hour could yield thirty to fifty thousand yuan in feces, it would be quite considerable.
Soon, Che Zhen ran over with a flushed face, "Report! The feces have all been sold! Guess how much it sold for?"
"Guess what, just tell me!"
"Ninety-five thousand yuan!" Che Zhen said with the tone of someone who had won the lottery.
Jiang Ye could no longer remain calm and gasped!
Ninety-five thousand yuan in half an hour.
One hour would be one hundred and ninety thousand yuan!
If it were fed continuously for 24 hours a day, one jumping worm could generate a profit of a full 4.56 million yuan!
"Holy cow! This is more profitable than a factory!" Jiang Ye muttered.
"Should we catch more jumping worms?" Che Zhen volunteered, "With the experience from the last capture, I'm confident we can catch more alive."
"Don't rush to catch them. If we catch them, will we always rely on spiders to pin them down?" Jiang Ye pointed to the twenty spider assault vehicles beside the jumping worm. "I'll first think of a way to see if we can build a farm or something similar."
Jiang Ye turned to leave, but was called back after taking two steps.
"Commander! Are we still killing jumping worms tomorrow?" Che Zhen asked.
"Let them live for now. Take good care of this live one, feed it heavily, and record its feeding and defecation patterns. I'll review it later," Jiang Ye said.
Getting into a spider assault vehicle, Jiang Ye returned to the nearest military base.
The rotorcraft that had been brought last time was still parked in a corner of the base, polished to a shine, like new.
Jiang Ye directly boarded the rotorcraft, started it up, and took off. He flew over the vast wilderness, crossed the shale mountains, and landed near the brightly lit Binhai City.
It was past three in the morning, and most residents were asleep. The lights mainly came from shop signs and the lights of restaurants and pubs.
After getting off the aircraft, he headed straight for the White Ant Real Estate building.
However, the building's doors were locked, indicating it wasn't open 24 hours.
Jiang Ye had no choice but to return to the base vehicle and send a message to Xu Yan on the base panel.
Jiang Ye: Have you heard of jumping worms? Can we build a base for farming jumping worms? If you have a plan, send it to me as soon as possible, the sooner the better.
As soon as the message was sent, a reply arrived.
Xu Yan: Hello, this is Xu Yan from White Ant Real Estate. I am currently on sick leave. Please leave me a message, and I will reply as soon as possible.
Judging by the speed of the reply, it was definitely an automatic response.
He had seen her a few hours ago, and her complexion was passable. He hadn't expected her condition to worsen so quickly and for her to take leave.
Jiang Ye silently prayed for Xu Yan's speedy recovery and turned to go upstairs.
"Who's there!" The sound of a pistol's safety being disengaged.
Jiang Ye jolted and stopped, looking up in surprise. Tian Rao was lying on the bed, holding a small handgun, aiming it at her own head.
"Oh, you're back," she said, her vision clearing. The gun barrel lowered.
"Aren't you going to disarm and surrender?" Jiang Ye asked.
Tian Rao turned off the pistol's safety, unloaded the magazine, and then pulled the slide back, ejecting a bullet from the chamber. She placed them all aside.
She pointed the empty gun at Jiang Ye, "You scoundrel who breaks in at midnight! I order you to disarm completely and surrender immediately! Otherwise, I'll shoot you!"
Jiang Ye laughed. With a flick, he drew out his leather belt, cracked it in the air, and with a tiger leap, lunged forward.