Chapter 1109: Building the Laboratory

Xia Qing turned to look at the Broken-Waist Wolf. "Broken-Waist, will the macaque troop come our way? If you spot macaques invading or blue-skinned human wanderers, come get me right away."

Xia Qing had no control over what Zhang Shiyi's evolution forest had been reduced to by the wildfire and the blue-skinned wanderers, but if those people or monkeys dared to come plunder the resources of the evolution forest in the northwest of Hui-3, Xia Qing would not hold back.

The Broken-Waist Wolf bared a tiny tip of its fang, signaling it understood, and went back to watching the video.

The last clip was the video of Xia Qing returning by helicopter. When the Western Wolf King appeared on the snowy mountain, Xia Qing immediately paused and discussed with the Broken-Waist Wolf. "Look, Broken-Waist, the giant wolf's older brother is still wearing my Yi Stone around its neck. Can you help me get it back?"

The Broken-Waist Wolf seemed thoughtful, hopped off the sofa, walked to the entry door, and raised a big paw.

Xia Qing answered at once. "The door you bartered for has already been delivered. Where do you want it installed? Mountain Fifty-Five?"

The Broken-Waist Wolf was delighted, grinned and bared a tiny tip of its fang, signaled Xia Qing to pack up the roasted green-grade wild duck for it, and then left Territory Three.

Xia Qing understood that the roasted duck the Broken-Waist Wolf had packed was for the Wolf Queen. Wolfie and Little Wolf Girl had already grown up and no longer needed the Broken-Waist Wolf to hunt and feed them, so the remaining yellow-grade roasted duck was a gift for her.

Broken-Waist really is a wolf with manners!

The wild ducks would be migrating later this month, and lately they were busy feeding to build up their strength—plump and fragrant.

Roast duck doesn't taste good once it's cold. Xia Qing, who had already eaten dinner, stripped off the crispy roasted skin and large chunks of duck meat, gave half to Wolf Lao Er, and ate the rest herself dipped in a sauce of chili oil and vinegar.

Daigua, who sat beside her with eager eyes, and Xiao Feimao, who wagged his tail and rubbed his paws, each got a piece of meat. Yang Shanshan didn't care for roast meat, so Xia Qing gave it a cucumber.

Qiang Zai? Its intestines hadn't been fully cleared yet—it was on a restricted diet and couldn't eat meat.

Xia Qing put the duck bones in the fridge, saving them to make duck-frame soup noodles tomorrow. After being poisoned last winter and taking the Yi Element stimulant, her body, which had nearly lost control, had now been nursed back to health, and occasionally eating yellow-grade food wouldn't put much strain on her body.

After finishing the roast, Xia Qing handed the territory over to Wolf Lao Er, shouldered her gun, and headed to the Mountain Forty-Nine shooting range for tonight's night training.

Migratory bird season was approaching. Before it arrived, Luo Pei would assess the results of Xia Qing's training over the past few months, so whenever she had time these days, Xia Qing went to the shooting range to practice.

The standard Luo Pei had set for her was: as long as visibility met the standard, whether day or night, regardless of wind speed, humidity, or temperature, her effective range had to reach 2,100 meters.

When the wind was too strong—especially with chaotic wind directions in the mountains—ensuring an effective range of 2,100 meters was extremely difficult. Tonight's wind had reached Force 6, and visibility wasn't bad, making it perfect for shooting practice.

After burning through sniper rounds worth a fortune in points over three hours, Xia Qing trudged down the mountain with a broken heart and a heavy gun, deciding to continue maintaining her partnership with Yang Jin.

Because during her partnership with Yang Jin, she could buy sniper rounds at half price. At her training volume, she could save at least a million points over the course of a year.

When she got home, Xia Qing sent Yang Jin a message, telling him about the great battle between Lao Si's wolf pack and the macaques.

Relying entirely on the wolf packs to guard against the monkeys and wanderers wasn't enough—humans also had to strengthen patrols, promptly investigate, and eliminate potential dangers. According to the division of labor, this task should fall to the military and combat squads, not to Xia Qing, a farming lord.

Yang Jin was the captain of Hui-3's First Combat Squad, so it was most appropriate for him to step forward and discuss this matter with the military.

Shortly after sending the message, Yang Jin called. "The interrogation of Xiao Jing and the other captured wanderers has confirmed that the collared wolf the wanderers captured and the three wolves in the Mountain Twenty-Six cave belong to the same wolf pack. Their territory covers Mountains 22–26 of Hui-3 and Mountains 27–29 of Hui-1, partially overlapping with the wanderers' territory."

Human-drawn base boundaries and entry-exit rules couldn't affect the animals living in the evolution forest. It was perfectly normal for large animals' activity ranges to cross base boundary lines.

Xia Qing opened the map to check the mountain areas Yang Jin had mentioned. "Lao Si's wolf pack is located southwest of the Western Wolf Pack's territory in Hui-3. The macaques carrying the advanced evolved Aspergillus that invaded the Western Wolf Pack's territory on January 28 this year may have later invaded Lao Si's territory."

"The interrogation statements from the wanderers mention macaque troops carrying pathogens invading wolf pack territory, but we can't yet confirm whether it's the same troop."

Yang Jin leaned back in his chair, stretched out his limbs, looking even more relaxed. "I'll send you a picture of the macaque troop leader later. Next time you see Lao Si, you can confirm it with it. Tomorrow I'll send people to check the movements of macaques and wolf packs in that mountain area, and continue hunting down the wanderers—there are no fewer than twenty still at large."

Yang Jin had imposed a gag order on the Beard Feng squad and Chang Li regarding Xia Qing's ability to communicate with the wolf packs, so not many people knew. Otherwise, every department and combat squad in the base would have exploded by now.

"Okay." Xia Qing responded, about to hang up, when she heard Yang Jin ask, "Sister Qing, when are we going to pick chestnuts?"

Yang Jin remembered that last year Xia Qing had organized the chestnut-picking on September 10. Today was September 4. He was Xia Qing's boyfriend, so going with her to pick chestnuts was perfectly natural.

Unexpectedly, Yang Jin had miscalculated again.

"The hornet nest in the chestnut grove has evolved again. The risk of manual picking is too high, so I bought mechanical picking equipment from Territory Seven. I'll go install it tomorrow night, and the mechanical arms will harvest the chestnuts."

The miscalculated Yang Jin was happy for Xia Qing. "Once the mechanical arms are installed, it'll save a lot of trouble. When does construction start on the laboratory in your territory?"

Xia Qing answered, "Tomorrow we dig the foundation, the day after we put up the frame."

Yang Jin naturally picked up the thread. "I'll come over tomorrow to help you dig the foundation. How about hazel mushroom stew with meat for dinner? I'll supply the hazel mushrooms, you supply the meat."

Xia Qing was silent for a few seconds. "Aren't you very busy?"

"The combat squad does have plenty going on, but we've recruited over six hundred members, so once it's divided up, there isn't that much to do," Yang Jin answered with a smile. "Brother Luo is on a mission at Red-Six Base and can't get back, so I'm the one assessing the training results of this batch of training members. Brother Luo specifically told me not to relax the standards for you."

Xia Qing responded calmly and hung up.

The next day, Xia Qing invited the strength evolvers from within the Alliance—Qi Fu, Yuan Yan, Shi Du, Huo Zhun, and Yu Shou—over to help, along with Yang Jin who had rushed over from the safe zone. Together, following the construction blueprints, they dug the foundation.

On the third day, Xia Qing hauled a full set of building materials from Territory Seven. With Da Ya's guidance and the allies' help, they worked for five days and not only built five laboratories but also finished the slope road in the northern buffer forest.

On the evening of completion, Xia Qing provided the ingredients and invited Yang Jin, Er Yong, and Tang Huai to cook a lavish dinner to thank everyone for their help.

Tang Huai brought a case of beer and clamored to drink Yang Jin under the table. In the end, both got drunk. Tang Huai was carried back to Territory Two on Tang Heng's back, while Yang Jin, his face bright red, insisted he wasn't drunk.

But after helping Xia Qing clean up the dishes, he decided that in his current state it would be dangerous to leave Territory Three alone, and turned to duck into the inner bedroom, leaving Xia Qing unsure whether he was really drunk or not.