Chapter 1215: Burning the Mountain Again

Li Kai, fitted with an iron prosthetic leg, returned to the valley and shone his flashlight on the Yishi Xia Qing had given him. He froze for a moment, then laughed, and in a lowered voice said to Zhang Shi, who had hurried over, "Shi-jie, look, these look like the same batch of Yishi from the last Pestilential Rain. Feels like Jin-ge specifically set this batch aside for Qing-jie."

Zhang Shi recalled the strong, joyful magnetic field she had felt radiating from Yang Jin when he stood beside Xia Qing during her helicopter ride with the Green Dragon Squad, and nodded gently. "Probably."

After a bit of gossip, the two began rapidly installing Yishi throughout the valley to protect the farmland inside.

A disabled veteran who had fought for years in the Evolution Forest, and a wanderer who had spent years hiding in it with her daughter, moved swiftly among the fields, placing the Yishi one by one. Then the two stood in the dim valley, listening to the wind moaning through the cracks in the rocks, gazing quietly at the crops in the field, and felt a sense of solid calm settle in their hearts.

Zhang Shi took a microscope from the lab and, within the Yishi's protective range, used it to observe the microorganisms in the soil. She let out a breath of relief. "The activity of the pestilential evolved microorganisms has dropped."

Li Kai, squatting beside her, grinned. "That's great! Shi-jie, hurry and report the good news to Qing-jie and San-ge."

Zhang Shi's current identity is a researcher stationed in the hidden valley by Territory Seven. Her behavior over the past half year has convinced the personnel recuperating in the valley from Territory Fifteen that this is true.

Zhang Shi shook her head. "The sample size is too small. We still need to test the soil in the potato field."

Li Kai immediately stood up. "Shi-jie, should I go collect the samples?"

Li Kai had just been fitted with the prosthetic Lord Huo Lei of Territory Eleven had crafted for him, and was in an excited state during this period, liking to wander around everywhere.

Zhang Shi sensed his mood through his magnetic field, nodded, and didn't dampen his enthusiasm.

After Li Kai left, Zhang Shi walked to the window, glanced at Ye Yiyi sleeping sweetly in the wooden cabin, and looked down at her phone.

Eleven hadn't called yet. Zhang Shi restrained her worry, showing nothing on her face and not calling to ask.

Because the less she contacted Eleven, the safer Eleven's situation would be.

Mountain Fifty, High-Risk Zone Two.

Zhang Tang, assistant researcher of Squad Zhang He, contacted Xia Qing through the walkie-talkie. "Director Xia, the special-effect bactericide has been sprayed for twenty minutes, but it has only killed about 20% of the super-evolved bacteria."

Xia Qing asked, "What should the kill rate be?"

"75%."

Xia Qing asked again, "What is causing the kill rate to be so much lower?"

Zhang Tang, standing in the lab, looked at the horrifying scene under the microscope and answered, "The super-evolved Salmonella is devouring the evolved anaerobic bacteria."

Xia Qing's grip on the walkie-talkie tightened slightly. She replied calmly, "Copy that. Continue observing the death rate and reproduction rate of the super-evolved bacteria over the next fifteen minutes."

"Yes."

Yang Jin watched the drones spraying and asked, "Salmonella can devour anaerobic bacteria?"

If Yang Jin had asked about another bacterial species, Xia Qing might not have known. But as the manager of Mountain Fifty, she knew the characteristics of the high-risk microorganisms lurking in this dangerous zone's soil very well. "Under normal conditions, only immune cells can wrap pathogens in a membrane and digest them, achieving phagocytosis. However, the super-evolved Salmonella is no longer in the normal category. After devouring the evolved anaerobic bacteria in the soil, it has gained higher drug resistance, causing the efficacy to drop."

Yang Jin nodded. "The threat from the red pestilential grass is not as great as the super-evolved bacteria."

"Right. The pestilential grass density is very low, and its growth is also suppressed by the Yishi. Salmonella can still devour anaerobic bacteria for energy." Xia Qing quickly gave orders. "Jin-ge, contact the weather observation post on Mountain Forty-Nine and check the rainfall and wind speed for the next three hours."

"Got it." Yang Jin stepped aside to check the weather.

Hearing that Xia Qing was preparing to use fire, Li Xuanyu of Yang Jin's squad clattered away at his keyboard, quickly pulling up the surveillance footage sent back by the eagle owl from Territory Eight, and estimating the fuel needed to burn the five-mu high-risk zone.

After getting the meteorological data, Xia Qing had Watching Huo Zhun carry Zhao Ze, who was inspecting the drainage ditches, over to cooperate with Li Xuanyu. They rapidly mapped out the length and width of the firebreak that needed to be cleared around the red pestilential grass burning zone, and had the mountain-guarding personnel move all the fuel out of the storeroom.

Everyone on Mountain Fifty was on edge, waiting for Squad Zhang He's observation results.

Fifteen minutes later, the report from Squad Zhang He was grim.

Xia Qing calmly pressed the walkie-talkie button. "Territory Seven, help me contact the Lord of Territory Seven."

Zheng Chen answered, "Director Xia, our Lord is in the core laboratory and cannot be reached."

"Copy that." Xia Qing called the inspection squad leader Tan Junjie. "Captain Tan, are you there?"

"Here." Tan Junjie came online.

"The super-evolved bacteria in the soil of Mountain Fifty cannot be effectively killed with chemicals. In ten minutes, we will ignite and burn the dangerous zone to sterilize it. The fire will not spread into the territory. Please notify the entire territory."

"Copy that. Stay safe."

"Understood."

Xia Qing calmly issued orders one after another, beginning to pour oil and burn High-Risk Zone One, with Zhao Ze in charge of monitoring the fire line in Zone One.

After calling the Broken-Waist Wolf to report the situation, Xia Qing led the strength, endurance, elasticity, and speed evolvers on the mountain to clear the firebreak at top speed.

The wind was currently blowing from the northwest, so if the trees and weeds to the southeast were not cleared, the fire would spread rapidly. This side's firebreak had to be twice as wide as the others.

Clearing the weeds didn't require Xia Qing to act. What she had to lead the team in clearing was the thirty-three large trees within the firebreak.

These trees were all research subjects in Mountain Fifty's experimental zone, holding important research value for the next phase of soil improvement projects.

During this year's second Pestilential Rain, Xue Yuan, a member of the Green Dragon Squad hired to defend Mountain Fifty, betrayed Xia Qing and buried landmines under the Third Peak to blow her up. That explosion killed twenty-eight trees, and Xia Qing demanded fifty-six thousand credits in compensation from Yang Jin.

This time, she had to chop down thirty-three trees of extremely high research value with her own hands, but could not demand compensation from anyone, including the Blaze Squad.

Because last year, Blaze had already paid two million credits in one lump sum for the remediation of Mountain Fifty's contaminated zone. Yang Jin had negotiated that compensation with Blaze, and at the time Xia Qing had felt it was enough.

Now it seemed, it was far from enough!

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

Xia Qing swung the black blade in her hand, each slash faster than the last. After chopping a sufficient gap in the large tree, she kicked it with her leg.

"Crack—snap!"

The tree trunk split and crashed to the ground with a thunderous boom, making Zhao Ze, who was directing personnel to clear the firebreak nearby, shrink his neck.

Di Ming, who was using a torch to burn the firebreak, looked up at Xia Qing, then glanced at Watching Huo Zhun hacking away at trees nearby with loud clangs, unable to understand why Xia Qing had suddenly shown an emotional fluctuation.

Three evolved wolves and four yellow weasels lay at a high point on Mountain Fifty's Third Peak, watching the firelight on the mountain below and the humans bustling around its edges. Seeing Xia Qing kick down the large tree, a half-grown wolf let out an "Aowu," and yawned.

After Yang Jin finished clearing his section of the firebreak, he walked over to the expressionless Xia Qing and stood with her, watching the flames devouring the red pestilential grass in the high-risk zone.

"I brought back a batch of high-quality Green Light millet from the Bai Si base. How about we have millet and pumpkin porridge tonight to clear the heat, then sort through the supplies?"

"... Sure."