Chapter 1056: Take His Life Directly, or…

Xia Qing returned home and saw Lao Zhong lying on the tatami, chewing cud. She took off her protective mask and glanced at the ruins of the building to the south of the yard. "Boss, did Old Four go back to its den?"

Sheep Boss squinted and pretended not to hear, but its mouth kept moving.

What's this guy nervous about? Is it remembering that it wrecked Old Four's den during its frenzy, or that Old Four taught it a lesson once its strength recovered?

Xia Qing pretended not to notice, glanced down at the two red squirrels squeezed into the cage in the corner of the wall, then said, "If Old Four went back, let it. I've already fixed its den, so it won't get caught in the harmful rain even if it stays inside."

Sheep Boss immediately relaxed and went back to squinting and chewing cud.

Listening to that familiar sound at that familiar rhythm, Xia Qing went upstairs, washed her face, drank half a bottle of cooled boiled water, and called her idol.

It was nearly dawn now. Zhang San hadn't rested, and his voice was as deep as it was in the lab. "Speak."

Xia Qing got straight to the point. "Third Brother, who performed the surgery on this evolved wolf?"

Zhang San, gazing out at the vast night sky, turned and leaned his back against the windowsill so that people outside couldn't read his lips.

"In all these years of the Great Biological Evolution, the question of how humans should coexist with other evolved creatures on Blue Star has been endlessly debated. The main views can be broadly divided into three factions: the Moderates, the Centrists, and the Radicals."

"I and Hui-3 Base Commander Qi Zhongye belong to the Moderates. We advocate vigorously pushing the territory policy, gradually reducing the proportion of survival resources obtained from the Evolution Forest, and doing our best to maintain the existing ecological balance, so as to reduce unpredictable dangers in human survival and development."

"Hui City Chief Base Commander Zhang Guannan belongs to the Centrists. He advocates that humans should, as before the Catastrophe, control and utilize all of Blue Star's resources to meet humanity's needs for survival and development and achieve rapid population growth. Only with a large enough population base can more Evolvers be born to better fight the Catastrophe."

"The Radicals believe that humans should follow the laws of natural development—survival of the fittest—and abandon the old, weak, sick, and disabled ordinary people, because the weak among other Blue Star creatures were already eliminated in the brutal struggle for survival long ago. The reason humanity has evolved so slowly is that humans are the only creatures on Blue Star still bound by the laws and moral concepts established before the Catastrophe. The resources saved by no longer rescuing the old, weak, sick, and disabled can be used to raise Evolvers' evolution levels and breed more Evolvers."

"The participants in the Hui-1 underground experiments—now Liehuo's Phoenix and Dan Ying—both belong to the Radicals." Under the soft bedroom light, a 12.5-centimeter surgical scalpel spun like flowing light between Zhang San's fingers. "For these eleven years, the Moderates and Centrists have taken turns in power, and humanity has stumbled forward. As the older generation of non-Evolver administrators gradually leaves the political stage, I don't know what position human society will be pushed to."

After briefing the background, Zhang San finally answered Xia Qing's question. "In Hui-1's neuroscience field, the only person who can be called an expert is Shi Lunyao, the main participant in the Hui-1 underground experiment project. On the day the underground experiment rioted, he was killed by a test subject."

"Based on how the incision on this evolved wolf's brain has healed, we can determine the surgery was performed this February. A prefrontal cortex resection is extremely difficult; the slightest deviation can cause severe neurological damage to the patient. This evolved wolf's surgery was a great success. To reach this level of skill requires extensive clinical practice. Within my knowledge, there's only one person in Hui City capable of this—Peng Yuancai, Chief Physician of Neurosurgery at Hui-1 Outer City Hospital. He was Shi Lunyao's student and was fired from the hospital for participating in the underground experiment project. He should currently be serving his sentence in prison."

This January, someone snuck into the western wolves' territory and brutally killed the pack's pups; the pack retaliated by triggering a beast tide against humans. In February, Peng Yuancai—who should have been in prison in Hui-1—performed a prefrontal cortex resection on an evolved wolf. At the end of August, this wolf was fitted with an inserted low-voltage command collar by humans and sent into the Western Evolution Forest to carry out the mission of guiding the beast tide.

In other words, it's very likely a member of the western wolf pack. Even if it's spotted by the western pack's patrolling wolves, it won't be attacked by them and can continue its mission…

"Crack!"

Hearing her phone protest under the strain, Xia Qing immediately relaxed her left hand, which had unconsciously tightened around the device, and reasoned, "As things stand, Peng Yuancai is probably at Liehuo Mountain."

Zhang San replied, "Even if he's not at Liehuo Mountain, he's definitely not in prison. No matter how chaotic Hui-1 is, you can't perform this kind of surgery in a prison. Knowing Peng Yuancai's character, once he finally got out of prison, there's no way he'd go back after finishing the surgery. He must be in some lab somewhere, continuing his experiments."

"Yang Jin is currently searching the Western Evolution Forest for the person who bombed and injured the evolved wolf. The other side has very likely already passed the news back to the organizers of this attack. We have Hui-1's eyes and ears here, so the organizers definitely know that the Green Dragon's helicopter came from the Western Evolution Forest and landed north of Territory Seven. Right now they may be actively deploying to send Peng Yuancai back to prison." After quickly analyzing the current situation, Xia Qing asked, "Does Third Brother know which prison he's locked up in?"

Zhang San already knew what Xia Qing was going to do and answered calmly, "Hui-1 Prison Number One. I'll have Zheng Chen deliver the drug to you. This agent can knock down everyone within a 100-meter radius in any weather, unless he isolates himself completely from his surroundings with a glass cover."

The idol was furious and produced the drug; Xia Qing was in charge of execution. "Third Brother, do we take his life directly, or…"

Zhang San answered calmly, "Record it, arrest him, then I'll report it up to Red-1 Base. He's bound to die for this, but it shouldn't be done by your hand."

"Got it. Have Zheng Chen send the evolved wolf's corpse over with the rest. I'll get ready to leave immediately." After hanging up, Xia Qing immediately contacted Yang Jin to explain the situation. "Captain Yang, if you leave the Western Evolution Forest to deliver the drug now, you'll definitely tip them off. You contact whatever assets we have on the Hui-1 side, and I'll deliver the drug to them."

This was an urgent mission—if they were slow, Peng Yuancai would be back in prison. Every second counted.

The helicopter could only fly to the border between Hui-3 and Hui-1's Evolution Forests; the rest of the way had to be covered on foot. So Xia Qing decided to make a trip to the Northern Evolution Forest and ask the Head Wolf to send three or four evolved giant wolves with her on the helicopter for this mission.

Yang Jin proposed a more solid plan of action. "If you go deliver the drug, you'll have to negotiate with the wolf pack first. Even if they agree, they aren't as familiar with the terrain near Hui-1's Safe Zone as my team members. Hand the drug over to Brother Luo and have him arrange four high-level Speed Evolvers to take the Yi Element Stimulant and deliver it."

This arrangement was indeed more suitable than Xia Qing going herself, so she agreed at once. "Alright. Once the next batch of Harmful Rain Suppressant is produced, I'll use four doses as payment for this mission."

Taking the Yi Element Stimulant rapidly burns up the Yi Element in the body in a short time, doubling Evolvers' abilities. Once the effect wears off, there are fairly strong side effects; Harmful Rain Suppressant is the targeted remedy for those side effects.

Tightwad Yang Jin haggled in reverse. "No need—two doses will do. Territory One and Mountain Forty-Nine are also victims of this beast tide."

After hanging up, Xia Qing contacted Luo Pei while simultaneously rushing toward the Northern Buffer Forest, where she obtained the agent and a pack of matching protective mask filters.

If the matching filters weren't used, the first person knocked down after deploying the drug would be the one deploying it.

As for Xia Qing only clipping a tuft of wolf fur and then having him take it back, Zheng Chen found it a little strange, but out of professional discretion he asked nothing and carried the evolved wolf's corpse back to Territory Seven.

Less than five minutes after Xia Qing handed the agent and matching filters to Luo Pei, the Mountain Forty-Nine helicopter took off.

After watching the helicopter fly off, Xia Qing told Chen Cheng and the other two to continue patrolling the territory and the greenhouses, while she herself, machete in hand, headed for the Red Leaf Bamboo Forest with Sheep Boss.

She now had a bellyful of fury that needed venting, and Sheep Boss was also bursting with pent-up frustration and needed to run a few extra laps.