Chapter 1219: The Creatures in the Natural Disaster

After tidying up Qiang Zai, Xia Qing finally took off her protective gear, hung the little Xiao Feimao that had burrowed into her pocket on the clothes rack along with it, and asked the three huddled together—Lao Da, Wolf Lao Er, and Does Daigua—while stepping into her self-woven straw sandals, "Lao Da, Lao Er, Daigua, are you hungry?"

"Meee~~~"

"Awoo~~~"

"Eee~~~"

Good, all three companions were hungry enough to sound exactly the same.

"Got it, everyone's hungry. I'll take a shower and then cook." Xia Qing smiled and went upstairs, first doing a round of inspection to confirm the roof and windows weren't leaking, then took a shower, changed into clean clothes, and came back down to cook.

The natural disaster wasn't over yet, the rain pouring outside, and Xia Qing was very tired too, so the food she prepared for herself and her companions was also very simple.

She placed the No. 3 rations mixed with Green Lantern pumpkin and cabbage in front of Lao Da, enthusiastically praising Lao Da's performance over the past two days, "Lao Da! These two days while I wasn't in the territory, you not only protected our territory, our home, but also released the little yellow cattle and the chickens. You did wonderfully. This is the delicious food Lao Da deserves!"

With delicious food before it, Sheep Lao Da had no time to bother with its little brother, burying its head in the food.

Xia Qing rubbed Wolf Lao Er, the wolf-dog that had been following her around since she entered the room, her voice gentle, "Lao Er, these two days while I wasn't here, you fed the fish and chickens, collected eggs, protected Qiang Zai, and patrolled the territory day and night. You did amazingly well. This is Lao Er's food, you've worked hard."

Wolf Lao Er smiled at Xia Qing, then buried its head in eating the boiled Green Lantern chicken meat and eggs.

Finally, Xia Qing looked at the little clown monkey with its big watery eyes, "Daigua, while I wasn't in the territory, you diligently picked cotton, pulled weeds, and took care of Qiang Zai. You also did wonderfully. This is yours."

"Ah!"

Does Daigua happily cried out, quickly grabbing the honey-mixed boiled egg in the small bowl with its two little black paws and stuffing it into its mouth.

Why did Xia Qing know her three companions' whereabouts so clearly? Because No. 3 territory had already achieved full camera coverage, so even when Xia Qing was at Mountain No. 22, she could check on the situation inside the territory.

The little monkey in front of her with terrible table manners had squatted by the cage for a full ten minutes after Wolf Lao Er placed the cucumber on Qiang Zai's cage, then reached out its little black paw to open the cage and put the cucumber beside Qiang Zai's grass nest.

Its behavior deserved praise, but its taking the opportunity to gnaw a big bite of cucumber also had to be sternly criticized. However, Xia Qing was now both tired and hungry, and couldn't be bothered.

She took little Xiao Feimao out from the protective suit's pocket, stuffed it a Green Lantern peanut in the shell, washed her hands, then brought out a big bowl of tea soup, two hot steamed buns, and a plate of braised meat from the kitchen, and ate heartily.

After eating her fill and washing the dishes and her companions' bowls big and small, Xia Qing set her alarm, collapsed into the hanging chair listening to the rustling rain, and fell asleep in less than half a minute.

Sheep Lao Da squinted at Xia Qing for a while before lying down in its own hanging chair to sleep. Wolf Lao Er didn't go to its hanging chair, but lay down on the floor beside Xia Qing.

Does Daigua licked the honey off its fingers, went to the first-floor bathroom, turned on the faucet and carefully washed its little black hands, then dried them with the small towel Xia Qing had bought for it before returning to the living room.

Its dull little face turned between Lao Da, Wolf Lao Er, and Xia Qing, before it slowly climbed onto Xia Qing's hanging chair.

Little Xiao Feimao, who had finished gnawing the peanut crumbs clean, also darted onto Xia Qing's hanging chair and burrowed into her pocket.

Small animals, whose sensory organs like smell and hearing were more developed than humans', were more sensitive to changes caused by extreme weather, and when sensing danger, they would instinctively seek out places they considered safe to hide.

Even Qiang Zai, weak, innocent, and powerless in the luxurious wooden house on the wall, had struggled to burrow into the furry mouse nest filled with the scent of the strong.

"Buzz—"

"Your friend Broken Waist is calling you on video."

"Buzz—"

"Your friend Broken Waist is calling you on video."

Xia Qing, lying in the hanging chair, opened her eyes, pushed aside Does Daigua the monkey squeezing against her, sat up, grabbed her phone, and asked in a hoarse voice the pair of green, watery eyes on the screen, "Broken Waist, the rain's stopped on your side. How's the situation now?"

Broken Waist Wolf kept its mouth tightly shut, looking very unhappy.

Xia Qing immediately asked, "The situation's not great? Do you need me to rush over to help? You only need to pay me a pigeon-egg-sized Yi Stone, and I'll fly right over!"

Broken Waist Wolf still kept its mouth tightly shut.

It seemed the wolf pack had also suffered losses, but didn't need her assistance.

Xia Qing breathed a sigh of relief and comforted her ally, "The human territory side has also suffered serious losses—six dead, over thirty injured, and several dozen mu of rice paddies destroyed. None of your companions injured, right?"

Broken Waist Wolf, which had kept its mouth shut all along, finally revealed its snow-white little fang tips. None.

Xia Qing smiled, "Good that no companions are injured. Other material losses are just losses—after the natural disaster passes, lost materials can all be rebuilt, and prey that ran away will come running back."

Broken Waist Wolf again revealed its little fang tips, brought its nose tip close to the phone screen with the cracked display, and ended the communication.

Xia Qing glanced at the time, found it was nearly 3 a. m., and decided not to sleep anymore. She stood up and stretched, rubbed Wolf Lao Er's neck, smoothed Does Daigua's fur, then took little Xiao Feimao out from her pocket and tucked it into Does Daigua's fur.

She first contacted Yang Jin, confirmed that Mountain No. 50's situation was under control, then contacted the Ninth Center, and then dialed Lao Si's number.

Mountain No. 55 had also been hit by the disaster. She didn't know how things were on the southern Evolution Forest side.

The phone rang for a long time with no wolf answering. Xia Qing guessed the old wolf had gone to patrol the territory. She also put on her full protective gear, said goodbye to her companions, left home, and hurried to the greenhouse to stand watch.

Although the rain had stopped, the atmospheric Calamity element concentration hadn't yet dropped to normal levels, still belonging to the natural disaster period, requiring continued disaster resistance.

When she drove the tracked micro-tiller, rolling over Calamity grass over ten centimeters tall, out of the abandoned village, Lao Si was lying under a big tree on Huiyi Mountain No. 28, watching humans fight a melee in the giant tree forest.

Phone? It would expose its location, so Lao Si had left it in a cliff cave on Huisan Mountain No. 22.

Seeing Xia Qing arrive, Er Yong, who was guarding the monitors in the farm conference room, reported, "Sister Qing, the forecast says in thirty minutes there'll be a northwest wind of no less than Force 11."

"The northwest wind won't have much impact, we've got mountains blocking it here." Xia Qing sat by the table and looked at the fully lit screens, "The cameras damaged by the hail been replaced?"

"Yes, Kuan Ge replaced them." Er Yong sighed, "Mountain No. 49's equipment suffered 31 units of damage, 4 of which were destroyed by Calamity-evolved tree vines."

Xia Qing asked, "What level?"

"High risk, in Zone Six, already cleared." Er Yong asked, "Sister Qing, after this soil anaerobic bacteria evolution, our living environment will get even harsher, right?"

In the Beard Feng Squad's view, Xia Qing, who hung around with Zhang San, was already half an expert.

Xia Qing shook her head, "There are 1 billion microorganisms in 1 gram of soil, anaerobic bacteria account for as high as 30%-50%, with tens of thousands of species. I still don't know which two types of anaerobic bacteria underwent Calamity evolution."

Anaerobic bacteria in soil are the "invisible engine" driving element cycles, their activities profoundly affecting soil fertility and Blue Star's climate.

If this sudden Calamity rain and hail and other extreme weather were triggered by the evolution of soil anaerobic bacteria in the soil, Xia Qing wasn't sure whether this microbial Calamity evolution would make humanity's living environment harsher, but one thing she could be sure of:

The difficulty of farming had definitely increased.