Chapter 1000: Don't Get Into a Fight with Ji Li

The third Calamity Rain of this year is forecast to begin on August 29, lasting no less than 50 hours.

The Magnetic Perception evolved employees of the Safe Zone Planting Center, the Ninth Center, and the Planting Management Department have already begun pre-disaster inspections of their respective areas, removing any plants that have developed aggressive Calamity-evolved magnetic fields.

The four Magnetic Perception evolvers at the Ninth Center shoulder the task of inspecting dangerous Calamity-evolved plants in the territories of the Ninth Center, Northern Zone One, and Northern Zone Three. According to the established work plan, the four of them will split into two groups today to inspect the farmland within Northern Zone One and Northern Zone Three.

At this critical moment, Zhao Baolin has lost another Magnetic Perception evolver assigned to his department, and he still has the nerve to brazenly come snatch people from me?

Who the hell gave you the courage?

Xia Qing replied calmly, "Lü Ziqiang is a Grade-A position employee of the Ninth Center. I need to report to…"

"Director Xia may be young, but her memory isn't great. The Ninth Planting Center falls under the Planting Management Department's jurisdiction." And I, Zhao Baolin, am the Minister of the Territory Management Department!

You're older, and your memory's even worse.

Xia Qing's voice also turned cold. "The Ninth Planting Center does indeed fall under the Planting Management Department, but Lord Seven holds decision-making authority over all affairs of this Center. I am only authorized to manage its daily operations; major matters require seeking instructions from Lord Seven."

The anxious Zhao Baolin hadn't expected Xia Qing's temper to be this hard, so he had to soften his tone. "It's not even half past seven yet; Lord Seven probably hasn't gotten up. This little matter isn't worth troubling him. I'm just borrowing Lü Ziqiang for a few days. The third Calamity Rain is coming soon. The Safe Zone Planting Center has nearly 5,000 mu of farmland that needs inspection, while the Ninth Center only has a little over 300 mu. For the sake of food security, we should of course start from the big picture and rationally allocate scarce talent. Xia, isn't that right?"

The Safe Zone Planting Center does have more than ten times the farmland of the Ninth Center, but its number of employees, security personnel, and equipment are also more than ten times stronger than the Ninth Center's!

Xia Qing replied calmly, "I understand what you mean. For the sake of the big picture, I'll contact Lord Seven right away. Please wait a moment."

Zhao Baolin was so angry he slammed down the phone. "Damn it!"

After hanging up on Zhao Baolin, Xia Qing immediately called Yan Yue, the office director of the Ninth Center, and issued three orders: "The Safe Zone Planting Center's Magnetic Perception evolver Ma Xiaoyin went missing last night. Cancel the Magnetic Perception team's mission to inspect Northern Zone Three today; instead, all four of them will carry out their mission within the territory of Northern Zone One."

"Notify the Security Department to strengthen patrols and gate checks, double the personnel protecting Magnetic Perception team members. No one may, under any pretext, take Magnetic Perception team members out of the Northern Zone One territory."

"Contact the Hazard Inspection Team and ask them to coordinate with each territory to cooperate with our work. Territories that refuse to cooperate will be blacklisted directly, and we will no longer send Magnetic Perception evolvers to inspect their farmland for aggressive Calamity-evolved plants."

The four from the Ninth Center were all startled upon hearing that Ma Xiaoyin had gone missing, but they remained fairly composed. They had been training with the Ninth Center's Security Department for two months, and their physical fitness and combat skills had improved by a huge margin.

Their own combat ability, combined with four bodyguards armed to the teeth protecting them at close range, made patrolling the farmland within the iron-fence-protected Northern Zone One territory hardly a dangerous mission at all.

At this point, let alone Zhao Baolin, even if Zhao Baolin's old man came, none of them would be allowed to leave Northern Zone One!

At eight in the morning, Xia Qing received a call from the Base Commander's office. The Base Commander personally ordered all departments to assign more personnel to protect the safety of Magnetic Perception evolvers.

After hanging up the phone, Xia Qing took the small bag Does Daigua handed her and taught it how to take the cotton out of the small bag and put it into the big bag.

In late August, the mature cotton bolls on the lower fruiting branches of the cotton plants split open, and it's time to pick cotton. Does Daigua, with its nimble claws and small stature, is best suited for this farm work.

After teaching the little monkey how to pack the cotton, Xia Qing was about to go weed the mung bean shed when she heard Kuang Qingwei's voice on the lord channel. "Xia Qing, are you there?"

Xia Qing pressed the button. "I'm here."

"Lord Huo Lei and I are helping you install the automatic rain-cover lowering equipment now?"

Another major research achievement from the Northern Alliance Laboratory has finally hit the market!

Xia Qing was overjoyed. "Great, thank you for your hard work, Uncle Huo and Brother Qing."

"Sister Qing, do you need me to come help?" Wen Nengjie came online immediately. He was very curious about this new equipment, and if the price was right, he wanted to install it too.

Xia Qing declined. "No need. I don't have many sheds in my territory. Everyone wait in your own territories for the Magnetic Perception evolvers to come inspect the dangerous crops."

Zhang San came online. "Xia Qing, once the equipment is installed, send me a video to see."

Xia Qing immediately agreed, then called her idol to report the matter of Zhao Baolin wanting to transfer Lü Ziqiang to the Safe Zone Planting Center and being turned down by her.

Zhang San yawned. "Got it. Keep your temper in check later and don't get into a fight with Ji Li. You can't beat him."

Xia Qing agreed. "Understood. Please enjoy your breakfast in peace. Once these two busy days are over, I'll pick a few catties of fresh chestnuts and bring them over to you."

Zhang San's voice immediately turned kind. "Just pick a few to taste. While you're at it, see if there are any more torreya nuts that can be picked. Stay safe, don't fall."

After hanging up the phone, Xia Qing sent Does Daigua, Eldest, and Fourth back home, prepared delicious food for them, and let them rest well. Only then did she open the south gate of Territory Three and invited Kuang Qingwei and Watching Huo Zhun, who were driving an electric tricycle, into the territory.

Tang Huai, who had been waiting at the north gate of Territory Two, also followed them in to join the fun.

Seeing the materials in the tricycle's cargo bed, Xia Qing roughly understood how the rapid rain-cover lowering device for the greenhouse was generally constructed. "Uncle Huo, how big a stone do we need?"

Kuang Qingwei gave a thumbs-up. "The lass is still the best. She figured it out at a glance."

Lord Huo Lei said cheerfully, "A one-ton boulder will do. Four stones per shed."

In an era of natural disasters, the weather can change in an instant. In territories with lots of land but few people, how to protect personnel safety while quickly lowering the rain cover to protect the farmland when the weather suddenly changes or bird swarms or insect swarms attack is a challenge every territory faces.

The simplest solution to this challenge is to install an electric-motor-driven automatic film-rolling machine. But automatic film-rolling machines are too expensive, and the prices of electric motors and fuel are both very high. Obtaining electricity within a territory is also quite difficult and unstable. Lords can't afford to install such equipment.

Therefore, the Territory Alliance's research institute took the time and effort to develop a low-cost solution using local materials.

The experimental team drew on the principle of the falling-stone mechanism in ancient Huaguo tombs, digging a pit over three meters deep at each of the four corners of every greenhouse, placing a heavy stone inside the pit, and connecting the greenhouse's rain cover to the heavy stone.

When the rain cover needs to be lowered quickly, the steel cable suspending the heavy stone is released. The rapidly falling stone pulls the rope connected to the greenhouse's rain cover, achieving the effect of quickly lowering the rain cover. Even if water gets into the pit, it doesn't affect the device's operation.

In an emergency, as long as one person stands at each end of the greenhouse and pulls the mechanism, the rain cover can be lowered within three seconds!

Xia Qing is the only person in her territory, but running from one end of the greenhouse to the other only takes her a dozen or so seconds. In other words, she can lower one greenhouse's rain cover in twenty seconds.

What makes Xia Qing even happier is that this heavy-stone-lowering mechanism is pretty much the same as the handle on her home's security door. So she, Eldest Goat, and Fourth can all do this farm work.

Territory 001 employee Little Feimao and Territory 002 employee Does Daigua the monkey?

Those two can't do it. They're too weak.