Chapter 1002: On the Brink

According to a notice issued by the Territory Management Department, Magnetic Perception Evolvers only patrol the already-cultivated farmland within each territory for free. If a lord wants a Magnetic Perception Evolver to patrol other areas within the territory, they have to pay.

This rule is meant to encourage lords to speed up the cultivation of their farmland.

Xia Qing certainly wouldn't spend points to hire them to wander around her own territory, so after Geng Min and Wang Jun finished patrolling the greenhouses in Territory Three and detected two abnormal corn plants and five abnormal rice plants, they were escorted by the Investigation Team and the Security Team of Center Nine to patrol the farmland in Territory One.

Xia Qing, who also possesses Class B Magnetic Perception Evolution ability, was very satisfied with Geng Min and Wang Jun's work, because the two of them had found all the targets she had locked down with her Magnetic Perception within the farmland.

After seeing them off from Territory Three, Xia Qing pressed the lord walkie-talkie, cutting off the allies who were enthusiastically chatting about how amazing Magnetic Perception Evolution ability was, and asked, "Is Third Brother there?"

Hearing Xia Qing looking for Zhang San, everyone pricked up their ears to listen.

Half a minute passed before Zhang San replied listlessly, "Speak."

Her idol was in a bad mood, so Xia Qing of course had to be very careful. "Third Brother, when the two Magnetic Perception Evolvers were inspecting my territory just now, they found eight soybean plants with abnormal magnetic fields. When you're free, I'd like to ask you to check what's wrong with these plants."

Zhang San pulled in some of his casualness and continued asking, "The soybeans in your territory haven't been harvested yet?"

Xia Qing replied, "Most of them have been harvested. There are just over thirty plants that aren't fully ripe yet. I was planning to harvest them the day before the third Calamity Rain."

Xia Qing's arrangement was perfectly normal. Because clearing out the farmland now would just mean sunning the soil while waiting to plant overwintering crops, so there was no need to rush the harvest.

Tang Huai asked in surprise, "Out of just over thirty soybean plants, eight were abnormal? That's a really high ratio. Xia Qing, are these the Green-Light soybeans you exchanged with Fourth Sister last year?"

The allies in the territory alliance all knew Xia Qing had Green-Light soybeans and had agreed to exchange soybean seeds from Territory Three. Hearing now that the aggressive Calamity Evolution rate was so high, everyone felt uneasy.

Also, just hearing the name "Fourth Sister" gave everyone a sense of how much had changed since then.

Thinking of her, everyone thought of the beast tide before last winter's Calamity Snow, the emergency disaster-mitigation procedure activated during the Calamity Snow, and the Calamity-Evolved wheat and rapeseed that shot up crazily in the territory's farmland.

In short, the allies in the territory alliance were all in a terrible mood at this moment.

Xia Qing replied calmly, "Not entirely."

Zhang San continued asking, "Have the soybeans you've already harvested and the plants been tested? What quality are they?"

"Most of the harvested ones are Yellow-Light, and they've already been sun-dried; the leaves on the soybean stalks were eaten by the sheep I raise, and the bean stalks were crushed together with other plant straw for compost."

Everyone: Diligent!

Tang Huai got anxious. "Among the soybean stalks your sheep ate, there must have been plenty of abnormal plants. Has anything seemed off about it since?"

Everyone's hearts tensed up too, because they all knew how much Xia Qing treasured that strong sheep in Territory Three that could plow fields.

However, no one dared suggest that Xia Qing send the sheep along to Territory Seven and ask Third Brother to test it as well.

Zhang San also got serious. "How many jin of soybeans did you harvest? How many have you eaten?"

Xia Qing gave an exact answer. "25 jin of Green-Light soybeans, 96 jin of Yellow-Light soybeans, 21 jin of Red-Light soybeans. I've only eaten boiled Yellow-Light edamame twice, and sent you one jin of Green-Light edamame. I'll take one jin sample of each quality and bring them all over?"

"Bring everything over. Don't leave a single grain."

Zhang San saying this made it obvious he thought there was a problem with Xia Qing's soybeans. The Green-Light soybeans Xia Qing had worked so hard for half a year to harvest—were they like the Iron Soybeans she grew last year, where not a single one could be eaten?

The allies, who were also lords, all felt for Xia Qing.

"Alright, I'll bring them over to you right now. Sorry to trouble you, Third Brother."

Hearing that Xia Qing's voice had also taken on some heat, even Tang Huai, who usually talked the most nonsense, didn't dare make a sound.

After Xia Qing hung up the phone, Xin Yu called. "All the seeds are from Liehuo?"

Xia Qing replied calmly, "Yes."

Xin Yu reminded Xia Qing, "Ask Third Brother to give you a thorough physical checkup."

After Xia Qing agreed, she called Hu Zifeng by phone and asked him to send someone over to watch her territory for a while.

Tan Junjie was leading a team patrolling the farmland in Territory One. When something came up on Xia Qing's end, Hu Zifeng immediately handed off his tasks and rushed quickly to Territory Three.

Unexpectedly, the moment he entered the Beimen of Territory Three, he saw Xia Qing driving an off-road vehicle into the South Wilderness Grass Wall. Judging by the speed of the vehicle, Hu Zifeng felt a little panicked.

Tang Huai, standing under the Territory Two road sign, saw Xia Qing rush toward Territory Seven without even closing the door. He ran over to close it for her, feeling uneasy himself.

Even though he knew that no matter how angry Xia Qing got, she wouldn't dare act up in front of Third Brother, Qi Fu still spoke up for Xia Qing on the lord channel. "Last year, Xia Qing discovered over 20 Yellow-Light soybean plants in her territory and carefully tended them for half a year, but the soybeans she finally harvested were all hard and inedible."

"I remember that too." Zhu Li immediately came online. "That's why back in October last year, Sister Qing used Green-Light eggs to exchange 350 Green-Light soybeans with Fourth Sister."

Shi Mu also came online. "350 soybeans couldn't grow this many beans. The soybean seeds Xia Qing exchanged with someone else might have had a problem."

"It's possible. Fourth Sister is an expert; the soybeans she provided shouldn't have any issues." Zhao Ze chimed in in agreement.

High-stability Green-Light soybeans are one of Liehuo's best-selling seeds, so this matter absolutely cannot be dragged onto Liehuo. They can't afford to offend Liehuo, and neither can Xia Qing.

Wen Nengjie also understood. "If I find out which bastard used defective seeds to screw over Sister Qing, I will absolutely not let them off!"

After parking the off-road vehicle at the South Gate of Territory Seven, Xia Qing saw Yue Haiying walk out from Territory Fifteen. She hopped off the vehicle, nodded at him, then opened the back door and lifted out a grain sack weighing over a hundred jin.

Yue Haiying was about to walk over and help Xia Qing carry the things, but Ji Li, a Level Seven Speed Evolver, had already reached the off-road vehicle and raised his hand. "Give it to me."

"Brother Ji takes this one; this one's lighter." Xia Qing handed the black bag containing the abnormal plants to Ji Li, and carried the over-hundred-jin sack of soybeans herself, closing the car door.

Ji Li stood still and reached out again. "Give me the grain sack too."

Xia Qing frowned slightly, slowly raised her head, met Ji Li's solemn face, and said calmly, "No need to trouble Brother Ji. I can carry it."

Neither yielded. Ji Li's outstretched hand refused to withdraw, and Xia Qing refused to hand him the sack. She said calmly, "I want to deliver it to Third Brother personally."

Yue Haiying sensed the situation was turning bad and stepped forward quickly. In Territory Six, Zhu Li's heart clenched too. Tang Huai, who was watching this side through binoculars, saw things going south and immediately called Tan Junjie.

Yue Haiying was fast, but Ji Li was faster. Ji Li tossed the bag of plants to his subordinate, then struck out like lightning and gripped Xia Qing's wrist—the one holding the grain sack.

Because she was entering Territory Seven, Xia Qing had no weapons on her, and she clenched her right fist. The four guards of Territory Seven rushed forward immediately, their gun barrels aimed at Xia Qing. Yue Haiying saw the situation was bad, immediately stepped between Xia Qing and the Territory Seven guards, drew his gun, and aimed it at Ji Li's head.

At the same time, Tan Qi, Zhang Hongda, and Yu Shou burst out of Territory Seven along with five others, all armed. Zhang Hongda and Yu Shou used guns like the opposing side, while Tan Qi gripped twin blades, radiating killing intent.

Zhu Li quickly retreated, pulled out her phone to call for backup, only to find not a single bar of signal.

The signal here had been jammed!