Chapter 1045: The Anomalous Passage

Chopping hardness-evolved bamboo is the strong suit of strength evolvers.

That afternoon, the top sniper Xia Qing, who had been killing people and fighting tigers in the Evolution Forest, was now standing on a stone slab pressing down needle-like roots, swinging a machete and hacking away at bamboo with loud clangs.

Level-five strength evolver Guan Tong and olfactory evolver Chen Zheng were on the other side, also swinging their machetes in wide arcs and working away with heads down.

"Boss." After a few clang-clangs from Xia Qing brought down the first bamboo stalk, she nimbly tossed a rope loop to catch the pole and handed it to her companion.

"Baa!"

Sheep Boss, wearing night-vision goggles, took the rope loop in his mouth, glanced at Chen Cheng waiting for bamboo on the other side, stepped along the laid stone-chip path, and dragged the long bamboo pole down the mountain.

Chen Cheng didn't want to argue with a sheep, but that attitude of his was genuinely infuriating. Even when angry, he had to hold it in, because Guan Tong and his brother didn't have as much strength as Xia Qing, and he certainly didn't have as much strength as that stubborn sheep.

After finishing chopping the red-leaf bamboo and fertilizing the bamboo grove, Xia Qing heard Lord Huo Lei calling Jiang Ying on the lord channel.

"Yingzi, you there?"

Jiang Ying came online quickly. "I'm here, Uncle Huo. I just tested it—the fire shears work, but after each heating, they can only cut one bamboo stalk with a wall thickness under 1.5 centimeters. Over 1.5 centimeters and you need two extra chops."

Shi Zhong also came online. "Looks like the red-leaf bamboo that just grew during the Calamity Rain period is harder to chop than the dried red-leaf bamboo."

Lord Huo Lei replied, "That's normal too. The bamboo now has high moisture content, and the air humidity is also high."

Tang Huai asked curiously, "How do you cut bamboo with fire shears? Jiang Ying, how many did you make? I want to try too."

Jiang Ying answered, "Only five. One person heats the shears with charcoal, another cuts. Two people working together to cut hardness-evolved bamboo is at least twice as fast as two ordinary people chopping at the same time."

Yue Haiying commented, "Speed is one thing, but mainly it saves energy."

Commerce Minister Kuang Qingwei immediately followed up, "During dozens of hours of Calamity Rain, conserving stamina means improving territory security."

Hearing there were only five, Tang Huai didn't mention going to get one. "Sister Ying, I want ten after the Calamity Rain."

Wen Nengjie immediately followed, "Sister Ying, how much per pair?"

Jiang Ying answered, "We haven't reached the pricing stage yet. But to improve the shears' toughness and hardness, I added new material ore. If I sell them cheap, I can't recoup the cost."

Hearing that new material ore had been added, Wen Nengjie became much more cautious. "Sister Ying, once you've set the price, let us know in the group. If it's not too expensive, I'd like to buy a few too."

Territory Seventeen was all ordinary people. Although they now had X-nutrient solution to replenish stamina, saving the manpower used to chop red-leaf bamboo meant they could do other things.

Wen Nengjie wanted to build ten more greenhouses without adding personnel. He and his brothers were all ordinary people; if they wanted a good life, they could only find ways to run the territory well—plant more fields, raise more insects.

Zhao Ze also came online. "Jiang Ying, record the data in detail. After the Calamity Rain, we'll calculate the exact time used."

"Understood." Jiang Ying answered crisply. Having been in the territory for over half a year, Jiang Ying had found her place. Being able to earn points through her own ability had made her increasingly confident.

Territories Three, Five, Ten, and Eleven, which had strength evolvers, didn't have a strong demand for fire shears and didn't place orders.

After placing the chopped red-leaf bamboo on the rack, Xia Qing flicked the mud off her machete and was about to tell everyone to take a break when she heard Tang Huai calling her on the lord channel. "Xia Qing, are you done chopping bamboo? How many stalks did you collect?"

Hearing Tang Huai call Xia Qing, everyone fell silent and listened intently. Xia Qing was their backbone. From the start of the Calamity Rain until now, they hadn't heard Xia Qing's voice, and somehow felt uneasy about it.

Xia Qing pressed the walkie-talkie button. "25 stalks."

The greenhouse supports in Territory Three had all been replaced with red-leaf bamboo boards. Xia Qing planted red-leaf bamboo this time to build chicken pens and racks, so she hadn't transplanted many bamboo roots.

Hearing Xia Qing's voice, everyone felt at ease. Tang Huai, machete in hand and face covered in sweat, asked, "25 stalks—you chopped them all in one go, right?"

Xia Qing... well, not exactly.

Zhang San came online lazily. "Xia Qing, go to the north gate."

"Okay, thanks, Third Brother."

Xia Qing ran to the north gate and waited a short while before Zheng Chen arrived carrying a large foam insulated box. Seeing this sealed insulated box, Xia Qing seemed to smell the aroma of roasted lamb and couldn't help drooling.

She thanked him calmly, took the box, and returned to the meeting room by the farmland. Seeing Xiao Jiang and Chen Cheng staring longingly at the box, a smile also appeared on her face. "The lamb is roasted. Once Er Yong finishes cooking the dishes, we'll eat."

"Great!" Xiao Jiang answered brightly. "Liangzi's watching the screen. The two of us will patrol the territory once and then come back for the meat!"

When Xia Qing opened the foam insulated box, olfactory evolver Chen Cheng, who had already walked out the door, really started drooling.

So fragrant...

Xia Qing quickly took out five lamb ribs, wrapped them in foil, packed them into the insulated lunch box she'd prepared long ago, drove an off-road vehicle out of the territory through the south gate, and went to deliver roasted meat to her good friend.

By now it was completely dark. The Calamity Grass on the passage between territories had grown taller than a person. Xia Qing unlocked the south gate, and the moment she drove into the overwhelming Calamity Grass, she sensed something was wrong.

During the Calamity Rain period, it was normal for Calamity Grass to grow thick on the passage. But for the Calamity Grass to grow this neatly, with no traces of the patrol team's vehicles running over it, was very unusual.

Cautious by nature, Xia Qing immediately shifted into reverse and retreated inside the territory, locked the south gate, and pressed the walkie-talkie. "Captain Tan, are you there?"

"Here." Tan Junjie's voice was calm and serious.

"I just..."

She had only spoken three words when Xia Qing felt a heavy blow to her brow, and every hair on her body stood on end.

After pausing for two seconds, Xia Qing steadied her voice and continued, "I opened the south gate and found no tire tracks on the passage between territories. So I wanted to confirm with you how long ago the patrol team last inspected the north passage."

Within the Northern Zone One territories, there were a total of three east-west passages, named from north to south the North Passage, Middle Passage, and South Passage.

Tan Junjie also found it unusual. "We patrolled just twenty minutes ago."

Before Xia Qing could say anything more, Yue Haiying spoke up. "Director Xia, the Ninth Center magnetic-sense evolver squad reports that a large number of aggressive Calamity-evolved Calamity Grass has suddenly appeared on the Ninth Center's north passage. The magnetic field is extremely strong, and there's a trend of it spreading inward toward the center."

Xia Qing also clearly felt the magnetic field on the passage growing stronger. Her voice remained calm. "Implement Emergency Plan One. I'll arrive in five minutes."

"Copy." Yue Haiying acknowledged.

Xia Qing first contacted her idol. "Third Brother, are you there?"

Zhang San knew why she was looking for him. "I've already sent people to take samples of the Calamity Grass on the passage. We'll confirm the Calamity Grass species as soon as possible."

"Okay, thanks for your hard work, Third Brother." Xia Qing spoke again. "Brother Zhao, are you there?"

Zhao Ze came online immediately. "Here. Little sis, just say the word."