Hei Mao raised the bamboo in his hand high, then removed the red cotton rope tied around it.
Instantly, the bamboo began to expand at a speed visible to the naked eye. In the blink of an eye, it grew ten times its original size in three dimensions, becoming over thirty meters long and as thick as a large bowl. In terms of volume, it had increased a thousandfold.
The bamboo expanded so much that its balance seemed precarious, swaying back and forth in Hei Mao's grasp.
Hei Mao spoke gently to the bamboo, "King of the Mystical Purple Bamboo Forest, guide me to the path of the Minrou Caves."
The bamboo continued to expand!
Its length reached three hundred meters, and its thickness was comparable to a fuel tanker!
Another thousandfold increase in volume, making it a hundred thousand times larger than before!
"Everyone, please step back a bit and be careful of dirt and gravel splashing on you."
The bamboo could no longer sustain itself and fell straight down, its direction precisely towards the Minrou Caves hundreds of kilometers away!
At this moment, the bamboo underwent another transformation. Its thickness remained unchanged, but its length… increased another thousandfold!
From three hundred meters long, it surged to three hundred kilometers!
Viewed from an extreme distance, it looked like a slender strand of emerald hair!
Immediately after, this slender strand of hair crashed down with a roar, directly hitting the Minrou Caves, its landing point precise to the millimeter.
And most importantly!
This King of the Purple Bamboo Forest possessed ultimate power. All mountains and hills along its path were smashed open, clearing the way through them!
Spanning across gorges and waterways, it sometimes acted like a bridge, spanning over water!
This powerful force spanning three hundred kilometers destroyed an immeasurable number of mountain peaks and layers of earth. The immense power generated vibrations that even Zhang Wei and others far away could clearly feel.
However, the vibration was remarkably controlled. Apart from the impact points, no other disasters like earthquakes were triggered.
Even the nearest refugees were unharmed by this event.
They only felt the deafening roar!
"This… a miracle!"
"Can humans truly achieve something like this?"
Countless refugees knelt on the ground, worshipping Hei Mao. Their previous complaints vanished. How could these refugees dare to question someone so powerful…
Old Man Dou Li trembled, his lips quivering, "I never imagined… Mr. Hei Mao… you possessed such capabilities!"
"With this bamboo road, we no longer need to take detours. This will save a tremendous amount of time, and our dry rations should be enough to reach our destination!"
Old Man Dou Li's words invigorated countless people present.
They wouldn't die.
They didn't have to abandon their women and children.
Many were moved to tears of joy.
But Hei Mao said, "Dry rations won't suffice. There are still many children in the group, and this is a critical time for their growth."
"We are already grateful to reach our destination. How could we dare to trouble you further?"
"It's no trouble at all. In fact, it's already prepared."
Hei Mao tapped the bamboo, and two cracks split open along the left and right sides of the bamboo tube!
*Bang~*
With a muffled sound, the upper section of a bamboo segment exploded, releasing a burst of fragrant aroma and heat!
This is!
"Bamboo-tube rice!"
The main ingredients were fragrant rice and glutinous rice, with green peas. The side dishes included cured sausage, shiitake mushrooms, corn, carrots, and pork. The seasonings used were a special soy sauce and salt, with a small amount of oyster sauce for flavor.
The taste was perfectly balanced!
Hei Mao explained, "Each bamboo segment is about thirty meters long. The bamboo segments also have excellent heat-retaining properties. You can eat as you walk, and it will guarantee that you have hot bamboo-tube rice until you reach your destination."
"This bamboo was originally uniform in thickness, but the part exposed to the fire becomes very brittle and will crack with slight force."
"The part not exposed to the flames is quite tough, capable of withstanding thousands of tons without deforming. When you want to eat, just tap the sides of the bamboo segment, and the outer shell will shatter, making it very convenient."
"And the bamboo below can serve as a road and a bridge."
So thoughtful!
It truly achieved the goal of both filling stomachs and guiding the way, eliminating any possibility of getting lost!
Eating as they walked, every meal was the freshest food…
This wasn't fleeing disaster; it was practically a picnic!
"Amazing!"
At this moment, Zhang Wei and Old Mo also arrived overhead and couldn't help but applaud Hei Mao's masterpiece.
"Zhang Wei, tell me honestly, facing these fellows, do you feel any fear?"
"Fear? Heh heh, that's not quite it. At most, it's a bit of pressure."
As he spoke, Zhang Wei's voice trembled slightly with excitement.
After so long in this world, he was finally about to contend with the top chefs here. Nurtured by so many delicious ingredients, Zhang Wei's culinary vision and skills were far beyond what they were before crossing over, more than a hundred times better.
Facing so many powerful chefs, Zhang Wei felt only excitement!
Only through culinary duels could sparks of progress be ignited!
"By the way, Old Mo, speaking of which, you should tell me now. Why have you been helping me so much? Don't give me moral obligations or the fate of humanity. Give me something practical."