Chapter 1033: The Wanderer's Tamed Beast

Capturing the wanderers who once ambushed a military combat squad's invasion in the Evolution Forest during the Calamity Rain period is already an S-rank mission in difficulty.

Hu Zifeng's mission was to protect Xia Qing; he very much wanted to go with her. But he was only a senior sniper with a Level-5 visual evolution ability, while Xia Qing was already a top-tier sniper with a Level-9 visual evolution ability—in reconnaissance and sniping, he was a notch below her.

He had come this time hoping to make use of his close-combat skills, but in that area the Wolf King of the Northern Wolf Pack was above him. After the Wolf King voiced his objection, if he insisted on going along, he would only become a drag on Xia Qing. Hu Zifeng's heart was complicated, his expression calm. "Alright. If you need aerial support, contact me immediately."

"Okay." Just as Xia Qing turned to look at the silver-gray giant wolf charging over, she received a call from Yang Jin. Through the wind and rain sounds coming from the other end of the line—sounds bigger than this stretch of Evolution Forest—Xia Qing judged that Yang Jin was leading his team on a forced march through the Evolution Forest.

Whatever could make Yang Jin go out on a mission during the Calamity Rain period was certainly no ordinary task.

"I'm splitting up with Brother Luo to flank and encircle the invaders who broke into our base and are trying to blow up the spring eye." Yang Jin opened by explaining his situation to Xia Qing, then quickly shared intelligence with her.

"Xie Yu has already confirmed through Liehuo's secret channels that the wanderer squad that robbed Hui Squad 16's weapons numbers twelve people. They've been plundering resources everywhere, then trading with Liehuo for the supplies they need to survive in the Evolution Forest. Of the ten-person squad sent to the Northern Third District to capture the magnetic-sense evolvers, at least three are wanderers, and two were eliminated by you. In other words, there may still be seven hidden in the Evolution Forest."

"Whoa."

Yang Jin, advancing at full speed, landed on a large pine tree; the trunk trembled, and raindrops on the pine needles came showering down like a downpour.

"You go scout ahead with the wolf pack first. If there are few of them, wipe them all out. If there are many, contact Xie Yu immediately and have him send Tang Zhou to lead a team over to grab a share." Although he knew Xia Qing's combat power had increased, and knew she wouldn't act rashly, looking at the boundless, claw-like Evolution Forest before him, Yang Jin's eyes still held worry, but his voice carried a smile. "Combat is about to start on my end. Xia Qing, let's meet at Territory Three after the Calamity Rain."

The squad led by Tang Zhou was the fourth-ranked squad in overall combat power within the Azure Dragon Battle Team—far stronger than Hu Zifeng's squad, which ranked tenth.

Xia Qing looked with firm eyes at the Western Wolf King standing before her and answered calmly, "Alright. See you after the Calamity Rain."

No matter how dangerous this Calamity Rain was, no matter how many wanderers were lurking in the Evolution Forest invading Hui-3 Base and plundering resources, she would take back everything they had plundered and return to her own territory.

Share?

If she could take it all, Xia Qing of course didn't want to give a single bite to anyone else. The wanderers who came to plunder supplies were very likely carrying quite a bit of already-looted goods on them. According to the mission rules of the Calamity Years, if she took down this squad, the supplies would be hers.

Xia Qing stared at the giant wolf standing before her and calmly asked the Northern Wolf King beside her, "Queen, my lord, is this the Western Wolf King?"

Xia Qing had seen this giant wolf from afar three times before; up close, she found it even more awe-inspiring. Its build was a bit more massive than Handsome Giant Wolf's, and when it fixed Xia Qing with a pair of ice-blue eyes slightly lighter in color than Handsome Giant Wolf's, she felt an oppressive pressure even stronger than the first time she faced Handsome Giant Wolf.

Damn it—how much Calamity element content does this giant wolf have? How long has it been standing in the Calamity Rain? After she mounts it, will it immediately lose control and go berserk?

The lead wolf nuzzled Xia Qing, urging her to hurry up and stop dawdling.

"Alright, let's go!" Xia Qing gritted her teeth, walked over, grabbed the fur on the Western Wolf King's back, leaped up and wrapped her arms around its rain-soaked neck, and quickly fastened a Yi-stone necklace around it.

The Western Wolf King, displeased, shook its body and leaped straight off the mountainside, giving the three members of Hu Zifeng's squad a terrible fright.

Xia Qing did her best to steady her heartbeat, ready to leap off the wolf at any moment. When this Wolf King landed on a slippery stone, its body dipping slightly downward before rising, and shot forward more than six meters, passing over a patch of bright-red plants, both Xia Qing and Hu Zifeng's squad confirmed its ability:

An elasticity evolver.

In just a few seconds' time, the two Wolf Kings carried Xia Qing off and vanished into the dense Evolution Forest.

The driver, Er Yong, glanced up at the Calamity element detector on his arm, then at his phone. "Captain, Kuan-ge, I've got one piece of good news and one piece of bad news—which do you want to hear first?"

"Neither." Jing Kuan, who was aiming his sniper rifle at his assigned sector, hadn't yet come back to himself; right now he only wanted to know just how far the fierce beasts of Blue Star had evolved.

Hu Zifeng spoke up. "Cut the crap."

"The good news is the first wave of Calamity Rain is about to stop; next there'll be a twenty-minute lull. The bad news is that twenty minutes from now comes a red-grade Calamity Rain lasting no less than twenty-five minutes."

"Damn!" Jing Kuan cursed, then asked, "Boss, should we tell Sister Qing?"

A red Calamity Rain would certainly send animals big and small bursting out of control, disrupting Xia Qing's operation.

Hu Zifeng stared at a purple-red Calamity grass stalk that was in the middle of jointing and answered calmly, "That giant wolf is very hostile toward us. Xia Qing is on its back right now—we shouldn't take the initiative to contact her."

Fifteen minutes later, the two Wolf Kings stopped before a crack in the rocks at the base of a mountain peak. The Western Wolf King gave its body a forceful shake and flung the human clinging to its back off.

"Woo—"

The Northern Wolf King bared its fangs and let out a roar at the Western Wolf King, clearly very displeased with how it had treated Xia Qing. The moment Xia Qing's feet hit the ground, she immediately stood beside the Northern Wolf King, her actions making clear whose side she was on.

The two lead wolves exchanged looks for a few seconds. The Western Wolf King, in a thoroughly punchable manner, shook the water droplets off its fur, turned, and leaped into the dense forest and vanished.

The lead wolf retracted its fangs, led Xia Qing into the rock crack, and pressed forward at speed across the slippery stones.

Light was already poor on rainy days; five meters into the crack, it was so dark you couldn't see your own hand. Xia Qing raised her hand and pressed a button behind the left temple of her protective mask; the built-in low-light lenses slid down from her forehead and came to rest precisely in front of her eyes.

After the last time she followed the lead wolf to Mountain 59 to kill the giant eagle, Xia Qing had sent her three protective masks one after another to Territory Seven, asking her idol to modify them for her.

Although this modification had cost her 4,000 points, the effect was excellent. With her vision restored, Xia Qing sped up, following the lead wolf as she climbed upward across the slippery, moss-covered stones.

As the light gradually brightened, the lead wolf stopped and lay down. Xia Qing lifted her low-light lenses and, with great care, lay down beside the lead wolf, peering through the gaps in the grass and vines outside the cave to survey the situation beyond.

This was likely the sniping position the lead wolf had chosen for her; from here she should be able to see the wanderers hiding in the Western Evolution Forest.

So when Xia Qing saw the human inside a cave halfway up the mountain peak 1,500 meters ahead, she felt neither surprise nor delight.

What surprised her were two things: first, that blue-skinned human wasn't wearing a protective mask; second, two giant lizards were crouching beside him!