Chapter 1050: Lords, Begin Battle

"Awooo—"

The makeshift shed built from a tarp on top of the house ruins had collapsed. Sheep Boss, bound by the tarp and rope and unable to break free, was smashing his protective mask and spiral horns against Lao Si's royal cell. Lao Si, the old wolf wearing a protective mask, was pressing down with his two big paws on the already-loose ground stakes, growling softly at Xia Qing.

"Thanks, Lao Si, for holding back Boss for me. Leave it to me."

Xia Qing felt immensely grateful that she had used eight large ground stakes and the sturdiest rope to secure the tarp against strong winds, and also grateful that the not-very-bright Sheep Boss only knew brute force, which was why he got tangled in the rope. Otherwise, Lao Si, wearing a protective mask and unable to use his teeth, really couldn't have held back the frenzied Boss.

No need to ask—Sheep Boss had definitely been affected by the scent of the Harmful Grass flowers spreading through the territory, which attracted carnivorous animals.

Tying up the evolved sheep that was eating grass with rope, Xia Qing stood up and turned her head, looking at the flock of swallows banging against the tarp under her eaves, then looked up at this Harmful Rain connecting heaven and earth.

For the first time, she hoped this Harmful Rain would intensify, quickly pounding the animal-enraging scent permeating the territory's air into the soil. The tarp couldn't be completely airtight; the small amount of scent drifting out from the Harmful Grass blooming at the passage had already driven animals closest to the passage mad. If the rain didn't get heavier and the scent concentration kept rising and spreading, the Flatheads, the Red Fox family in the surrounding evolved forest, and the wild boars in the valley would all go berserk.

Xia Qing hoisted the struggling Sheep Boss onto one shoulder and held the cursing, mask-biting Lao Si in her other arm, carried them both inside, set them on the tatami, and fed each of them one Soothing Capsule.

The unbound old wolf shook his body hard, flinging off rainwater. Though he looked irritable, he showed no intention of charging out. Xia Qing breathed a sigh of relief—worthy of a brain-domain evolved powerhouse standing at the top of the Jin Zita, actually able to resist the lure of the meat-scented Harmful Grass. Xia Qing spoke softly to comfort her two companions, "Boss, don't be afraid, once the medicine kicks in you won't feel bad anymore; Lao Si, it's very safe here, you wait here with Boss for me to come back."

The chickens? Directly anesthetize them all with aerial anesthetic!

The freeloader and her daughter Strong Cub? No time for them.

After Xia Qing anesthetized the chickens, the Harmful Rain grew heavier. Returning to the house, she found Boss and Lao Si already knocked out by the capsules, lying on the tatami. Xia Qing took the sniper crossbow and slingshot off the wall, brought along the sniper rifle she never left home without, stepped out the door, and amid the frantic cries of swallows and chickens, notified Tan Junjie, turned on the loudspeaker again, and issued orders:

"All territories, patrol teams, Azure Dragon Training Center, Center Nine, listen up: Patrol teams, split into groups, closely monitor passage anomalies, keep constant watch on atmospheric Harmful element density, use firearms with caution, prioritize sniper crossbows and arrows to counter invading berserk animals, protect the passage tarps from damage; personnel in territories protect crops and patrol the territory, report uncontrollable dangers immediately; Center Nine, activate Plan Three immediately; Territory Seven laser cannon, if you spot large birds landing, take them out immediately. Captain Hu, helicopter carrying explosives, take off and head to the western evolved forest."

From the loudspeaker, replies rang out one after another:

"Patrol Team Six, copy."

"Patrol Team Five, copy."

"Patrol Team Four, copy."

"Helicopter mission squad, copy."

"Center Nine, copy."

"Territory Seven, copy."

Xia Qing was using the crisis-handling channel, with only these few members. At this point, everyone had replied.

But hearing Zhang San's icy voice, like he was holding a scalpel about to cut someone open, Tang Huai, who was furiously catching locusts in the greenhouse, suddenly felt his blood boil. He grabbed the loudspeaker and roared, "Territory Two, copy!"

To guard against earpiece communicator failure, and also to boost morale, the lords all carried a backup loudspeaker.

Tang Huai's roar was louder than the sound from the amplifier hanging on the mobile signal tower.

In Territory Four, Zhao's Mother also picked up her loudspeaker and shouted along, "Territory Four, copy!!!"

She was a teacher—her voice was resonant and commanding.

Yuan Yan, enduring a headache while patrolling the Southern Wasteland Grass Wall, also raised her loudspeaker and bellowed, "Territory Five, copy!"

Hearing Zhu Li, wearing night-vision goggles and holding a sniper crossbow, waiting to shoot raptors, roared along, "Territory Six, copy!"

Rarely, Seeing Xin Yu's voice also came from Territory Eight, "Territory Eight, copy."

Shi Zhong, whose joints ached unbearably and who could only kneel at the edge of the greenhouse pulling Harmful Grass, also grabbed the loudspeaker, "Territory Ten, copy!"

"Territory Eleven, copy!"

……

"Territory Eighteen, copy!"

……

Amid the rising and falling shouts, Xia Qing, who was running, received a call from Yang Jin.

"Xia Qing, Brother Luo and I have finished the battle here, we're leading the team by helicopter to the western evolved forest, we'll reach the beast tide area in three minutes, making sure not a single beast in this tide gets a chance to hit the iron-net wall in Northern Zone One."

"Copy, thanks Captain Yang, Brother Luo." Xia Qing instantly felt the weight on her shoulders lighten considerably. Hanging up, she pressed the communicator button again, "All territories, patrol teams, Center Nine: all replies received. Azure Dragon Squad is heading to the western evolved forest to eliminate the beast tide, beast-tide bombing mission cancelled. Territory Seven has produced a special agent, distribution will begin soon. As long as we endure this red Harmful Rain, spray the agent, and eliminate the beasts and raptors charging over from the nearby evolved forest, we can hold the territory, hold the fields, hold the food."

"Lords, begin battle."

After issuing the order, Xia Qing casually pulled up an aggressive Harmful-evolved wild paulownia over two meters tall that had just sprouted in Center Nine, tossed it onto a large tree branch, and used the communicator to contact Chen Zheng, "Territory Three is in your hands now. Don't worry about small reptiles and small birds, just clear out the aggressive Harmful-evolved plants sprouting in the territory. Don't let large birds fly over Territory Three to damage the passage tarps. If you're short-handed, you can temporarily abandon the greenhouses. If you spot red squirrels gnawing Harmful Grass by the passage and can spare the hands, restrain them."

The greenhouses in Territory Three growing important crops were all protected by Yishi, shielding them from the Harmful Rain's effects. The unprotected greenhouses were growing either late-stage green-light mung beans or other yellow-light crops—there was no time to worry about them now.

"Copy." Chen Zheng replied calmly, "Sister Qing, stay safe."

Xia Qing was a high-level vision-evolved sniper. In the red Harmful Rain, she remained the strongest anti-air combatant in this territory second only to the laser cannon. She had to hold the most dangerous area.

Xia Qing, stepping into Territory Sixteen, stopped in front of Ceng Quan, captain of Patrol Squad Four, and replied solemnly, "Alright, you too."

After that, Xia Qing divided the mission area with Ceng Quan, "The air-defense mission for the 400-meter radius around this position is mine. You handle the other areas. Stay safe."

"Copy." Ceng Quan glanced at the heavy sniper crossbow on Xia Qing's back and immediately adjusted the troop deployment.

The military-issued sniper crossbow had an effective range of 400 meters, but on a stormy night, the patrol team's effective range was only about 300 meters.

If anyone else had said they could hold the highest-danger 500-meter radius with the densest scent using just one crossbow, Ceng Quan wouldn't have believed it; but when Xia Qing said it, he believed it.

Because she was a high-level vision evolver, a top sniper, and she was carrying the heavy sniper crossbow specially made for strength evolvers by Lord Huo Lei, the famous blacksmith of Territory Eleven.