Chapter 1164: A Flock of Ducks with a Very High Edible Ratio

Above human territory, helicopters roared; above Mount Forty-Nine, raptors shrieked; in Mount Forty-Nine, Zone Three, wolves howled.

Plop, plop, plop…

The spot-billed ducks that had dived into the Wolf Valley pond surfaced one by one, while the unluckier ones that had plunged straight into the shallows sank into the mud and never rose again. Xiaopingtou dragged a spot-billed duck with a broken neck out of the shallows and lay by the pond's edge to eat.

The spot-billed ducks appeared, the raptors' shrieks grew louder, and the wolves' howling rose with them. The temperature climbed degree by degree; inside the shed covered by the rainproof cloth, the temperature had likely already risen past 30°C. If the rainproof cloth wasn't opened soon, the rice plants in their grain-filling stage would suffer irreversible damage from the heat.

Xia Qing, the Third Territory lord, whose half-acre-plus of multi-variety WD-6 and J-2 green-light rice, one and a half acres of green-light corn, and half-acre of yellow-light corn were planted inside the territory, spoke up. "Captain Yang, could you contact Captain Tan and have the Ninth Center and every territory open half of the shed rainproof cloth to ventilate?"

Because Xia Qing had been taking part in missions outside the territory these past two days, she hadn't joined the evolver group in North Zone One handling the migratory bird season, and her walkie-talkie was currently connected to Yang Jin's squad, so contacting Tan Junjie required using her phone to make a call.

She couldn't spare a hand right now, because she had to keep a close eye on the two raptors circling overhead, ready to prevent them from suddenly changing direction and diving into North Zone One's territory to damage the farmland.

Yang Jin nodded. "Xuanyu."

"Copy." Li Xuanyu immediately contacted inspection team member Su Ming, and in every territory of North Zone One and inside the Ninth Center, people immediately rushed to the sheds, pulled up the rainproof cloth, and let the air inside and outside the sheds circulate to bring down the temperature inside.

Inspection team leader Tan Junjie repeatedly reminded the lords on the lord channel to stay safe; the laser cannons and countless guns inside the territory were aimed at the two enormous raptors circling high above.

Because of these two raptors, the other passing migratory birds either detoured or climbed to a higher altitude, so the sky above the territory was unusually clear for once. Although the two raptors were calling, the lords weren't worried at all, because the wolves' howling was far louder than the raptors.

After pulling up the shed's rainproof cloth, Tang Huai wiped away some sweat and asked, "Seeing Xin Yu, are those two circling up there giant eagles? What do they want, and why haven't they retreated yet?"

Seeing Xin Yu, who was inside Territory Eight, naturally wouldn't respond to such nonsense. The raven on her shoulder buried its head in its feathers, and the walking eagle inside the territory also ducked into the bushes, craning its neck nervously as it watched the overlords of the sky.

An hour later, the spot-billed ducks were still huddled in the pond, showing no intention of continuing their migration. The two raptors let out a few screams, spread their wings, and soared up into the clouds; the wolves let out victorious howls.

Xia Qing, who had been guarding the territory's safety from the helicopter, also felt her throat itch and wanted to howl along.

Li Xuanyu reported, "Captain, the two giant eagles have left the Mount Forty-Nine airspace and are flying north at high speed."

Yang Jin gave the order, "Crisis over, helicopter return."

"Copy." Hu Zifeng piloted the helicopter back to Mount Forty-Nine, and after it landed on the helipad, the cabin door opened. Yang Jin asked with a smile, "Sister Qing, can we catch that group of spot-billed ducks in the pond?"

The members of the Azure Dragon Squad all pricked up their ears and waited. Li Xuanyu's eyes darted twice between the boss and Xia Qing. The boss was two years older than Xia Qing—what was that form of address supposed to mean?

Also, Xia Qing called their boss "Captain Yang," and called that person surnamed Duan "Brother"—what was that supposed to mean?

Don't tell me… their boss hasn't won Xia Qing over yet?!

The Azure Dragon Squad members on the helicopter all pricked up their ears to listen, and Xia Qing had to put on a show too, softening her voice by eight degrees. "That group of wild ducks is the wolves' prey. I'll go keep an eye on them first, shall we stay in contact?"

Yang Jin's ears flushed red uncontrollably, and his voice couldn't help softening by eighty degrees. "Okay."

Seeing their boss in this state, Hu Zifeng turned his head away—too painful to watch, really too painful to watch…

Senior sniper Cao Ping's eyes shifted between the boss, Hu Zifeng, and Xia Qing, his gaze far brighter than when he was staring at prey.

After leaving the mountaintop, Xia Qing sped back to the Wolf Valley edge in Mount Forty-Nine, Zone Three, and saw most of the wolf pack gathered around the pond eating ducks. Xiaopingtou, whose belly was round from eating, was fighting with the broken-leg wolf, whose mouth was full of duck feathers.

In the pond, the few spot-billed ducks on sentry duty raised their heads and looked around, while the vast majority twisted their necks back and rested their heads on their backs.

The broken-leg wolf saw Xia Qing arrive, raised its head and let out an "Aowu," telling her to come down quickly.

"Coming!" Xia Qing jumped into the valley.

"Quack quack quack—"

Seeing humans approach, the sentry spot-billed ducks immediately cried out loudly, and all the ducks raised their heads and gathered toward the center of the pond, but they didn't fly away. It seemed they really were exhausted and couldn't fly.

Xia Qing wiped the fur off the broken-leg wolf's face, walked over to the alpha wolf who was eating, and said, "my lord, shall I fish out the rest of the ducks?"

The alpha wolf didn't object. Xia Qing, gun on her back, waded into the pond amid the quacking, pulled the spot-billed ducks stuck in the shallows' mud, rinsed the mud off them in the water, quickly tested their quality—green-light ones she carried, yellow-light and red-light ones she tossed onto the grass on the bank.

After one full round, she had picked up twenty-two ducks: four green-light, ten yellow-light, and only eight red-light. That edible ratio was remarkably high—no wonder those two giant eagles had chased them relentlessly.

Where had this group of ducks flown in from, and how could they be of such high quality? The ducks in the pond—could most of them be edible?!

After cleaning itself off, the full broken-back wolf first sniffed the ducks on the ground, then sniffed the ducks in Xia Qing's hands, and placed its big paw on the ducks Xia Qing was carrying.

Xia Qing stood firm. "You've already eaten your fill. These four are mine. You can have the ducks on the ground."

The broken-back wolf's big paw remained on the ducks, refusing to withdraw.

"If I hadn't held them off with the helicopter, all these ducks would have fallen into Territory Three and become my prey."

The broken-back wolf still wouldn't withdraw its paw, staring at Xia Qing solemnly.

Xia Qing refused to back down either. "How many ducks are in that pile on the ground—can you count them clearly, broken-back?"

The broken-back wolf, who was currently learning math and loved taking tests, happily ran off to count the ducks.

Xia Qing quickly stuffed the four green-light ducks into the fresh-keeping bags in her backpack, sidled up to the alpha wolf who was grooming her fur, pointed at the group of ducks in the middle of the pond that had once again tucked their heads onto their backs to sleep, and asked softly, "my lord, may I hunt those ducks?"

The alpha wolf stopped grooming, and a pair of tycoon-gold eyes looked sternly at Xia Qing.

"Not allowed? Okay." Xia Qing readily complied, then turned to look at the handsome giant wolf. The three ducks pinned under its paws were definitely green-light—could it possibly eat them all?

Discovering that Xia Qing was after its prey, the handsome giant wolf picked up all three ducks in its mouth and walked off.

Fine!

Xia Qing walked over to the broken-back wolf counting ducks. "Handsome Wolf Brother, have you counted clearly? How many ducks are there in total here?"