Chapter 1222: Blue Star's New Subject

Xiaomi porridge, sweet potato cakes, roasted rabbit meat, fried breadworms, shredded pork stir-fried with celery, scrambled eggs with tomato, and stir-fried shredded radish were set out on the table; Zhang San ignored the faint stench in the air, took a bite, and praised, "Captain Yang, your cooking is not bad."

"It's because the ingredients are high quality that I can make a decent dish." Yang Jin took off his apron and walked over to sit beside Xia Qing.

"That's not how you should put it—culinary skill is very important." Xia Qing picked up the thread of conversation. "Third Brother, Song Ge, eat more, let's not leave any leftovers."

"Thanks, Jin Ge. Thanks, Qing Jie." Zhang Song's mind was entirely not on the food; after a few bites he seized the chance and asked in a casual tone, "Qing Jie, the alpha wolf howled just now—was it because it didn't want Jin Ge to touch the rabbit?"

Xia Qing nodded. She had brought the rabbit over from her home's refrigerator, originally intending to let Yang Jin roast it. She hadn't expected that when the alpha wolf saw Xia Qing about to hand the rabbit to Yang Jin, it immediately let out a roar. Xia Qing could only carry the rabbit to the edge of the potato field, harvesting sweet potatoes while roasting the rabbit.

The rabbit now on the table was one Yang Jin had roasted in the kitchen with seasoning.

Zhang San shot a look at Zhang Song, who was about to keep asking questions; Zhang Song immediately shut his mouth and buried his head in his rice.

Yang Jin had overestimated the appetites of the two brain-domain evolution researchers and cooked too much. Xia Qing and Yang Jin, in unspoken understanding, finished off all the dishes and the rice porridge, leaving only seven sweet potato cakes. Compared with the cakes, the dishes and porridge were harder to store.

Xia Qing took the sweet potato cakes home and put them in the refrigerator to chill; when she came back, she found Yang Jin had already washed the bowls and chopsticks clean and was sitting at the table drinking tea with Zhang San and Zhang Song.

After sitting down she also had a cup; the dishes had been rather salty.

Xia Qing had returned, so Zhang San immediately got down to business. "Through analysis of soil samples collected from the territory's soil and from the Evolution Forest by Duan Yao, we've preliminarily reached two conclusions: first, microorganisms in the territory and in the Evolution Forest underwent evolution within the same time period; second, per unit area, the number of evolved microorganisms in the soil of the territory's planting zones is higher than in the soil of the non-planting zones within the territory and in the Evolution Forest."

Xia Qing asked, "Is it because of the fungicides and fertilizers used in farming?"

Zhang San tapped a few times on his phone with his pale, slender fingers and sent the comparison charts to Xia Qing and Yang Jin. "According to sampling tests, the soil microorganism activity in Territory Three and the Ninth Center's cultivated land is lower than in other territories."

Xia Qing understood. "Most of the fungicides and pesticides used in other territories are issued by the Territory Management Department. Here with me and at the Ninth Center, we use the special fungicides you formulated based on our local soil."

Seeing Xia Qing's eyes light up, Zhang San didn't give her a chance to open her mouth and say something pointless; he went on, "The soil microorganism activity is highest in the plots that used Hui Four potato-specific fertilizer. This kind of potato only has two-generation stability, with an attack-type harmful-evolution rate as high as 5%; it belongs to low-quality crops. After applying the yield-boosting specific fertilizer, it encountered harmful evolution of soil anaerobic bacteria and a rise in harmful-element content, which would inevitably lead to disastrous consequences. Even the plots that didn't apply the potato-specific fertilizer suffered the greatest damage to their potatoes."

"Fortunately, Third Brother, you quickly developed the special sterilization agent; otherwise everyone's losses this time would have been enormous." After expressing her admiration, Xia Qing asked, "Third Brother, has the correlation between this evolution and the rise in harmful elements in the atmosphere and soil been confirmed?"

Zhang San shook his head. "We still can't confirm whether the rise in harmful elements led to the microorganism evolution, or whether the microorganism evolution led to the rise in harmful elements."

After looking over the image comparison data, Yang Jin spoke up. "I hope it's the former."

If it's the latter, Hui Three Base's ecological environment will undergo a tremendous change; harmful rain will become an unpredictable natural disaster, and the cost and difficulty of crop cultivation will rise sharply.

Zhang San nodded. "The goal of the preliminary soil cleanup work on Mountain Fifty was to remove toxic substances from the soil; it hadn't yet entered the stage of restoring soil ecological balance. That's why, in this sudden natural disaster, a super-evolved bacteria outbreak was triggered again. Going forward, whether it's Mountain Fifty or the territory, soil microorganism balance must be listed as a key assessment indicator for ecological safety."

"Understood." Xia Qing nodded and made a note.

Yang Jin asked, "Third Brother, will this sudden large-scale evolution of soil anaerobic bacteria produce any subsequent chain disasters?"

Zhang San replied, "We can't be sure yet. Focus on small animals—whether in the Evolution Forest or in the territory, anyone moving outdoors must wear protective equipment."

After the harmful evolution of soil anaerobic bacteria, other microorganisms and small organisms in the soil are affected, then plants and small terrestrial animals, and only then large animals.

Yang Jin nodded. "Fortunately winter is almost here; we have the whole winter to prepare, and by next spring plowing we'll definitely be able to come up with the best response plan."

Zhang San looked at Yang Jin and Xia Qing sitting across the long table. Apart from being equally stingy, the two of them were still quite similar in their resilience, ability to take a hit, and the trait of always being able to see the positive side of things.

Being stared at by her idol, Xia Qing instinctively broke into a smile.

When she smiles, she looks a bit like him too. Zhang San pulled up an electronic document, sent it to Xia Qing, and began the second agenda item of the evening.

"Because of you, the animals in the Evolution Forests to the north, west, and south of Hui Three—especially brain-domain evolved animals—have shown behaviors clearly different from those in other regions. After multiple discussions, we've decided to launch a new research project on a new model of coexistence between brain-domain evolved animals and humans. I'll lead the project, with you and Zhang Song as the principal researchers. The initial task is to formulate the rules that evolved wolves should follow and to produce related courses, to be incorporated into the compulsory curriculum of evolved-wolf education…"

After briefly introducing the project content, Zhang San looked at Xia Qing. "Is this project feasible for you?"

Xia Qing scanned through it, then raised her head. "Third Brother, the nature of this compulsory course is similar to that of the human elementary school compulsory course 'Morals and Law.'"

"…Correct."

Xia Qing paused before continuing. "Even after humans formulate these rules, they won't be of much use."

Xia Qing being able to raise a differing opinion made Zhang San very happy; even his voice turned gentle. "Say exactly what you think."

"Alright." Xia Qing put forward her idea. "I think this project, besides the principal researchers, should also add two or three principal researcher wolves, and then have humans and evolved wolves jointly formulate the coexistence rules and abide by them together."

Zhang Song's eyes lit up at once, while Zhang San fell into deep thought.

Yang Jin understood what Zhang San was thinking. "Third Brother, may I offer my own view?"

After Zhang San nodded, Yang Jin spoke. "Over the years, the moderates among humans—including yourself—have consistently advocated ecological balance, and the relevant departments have drawn up lists such as the one prohibiting the active provocation of Evolution Forest animals. But subconsciously, humans have always placed large evolved animals on the opposing side. Even when considering the possibility of peaceful coexistence between humans and animals, the dominant approach has been humans domesticating animals, making evolved animals submit and obey humans."

"After seeing how Xia Qing gets along with the evolved wolves, the evolved sheep, and even the little squirrel in Territory Three and the little honey badger in Zone Three of Mountain Forty-Nine, at first I also found it hard to understand, but once I shifted my perspective, it felt perfectly normal."

Yang Jin's words successfully drew the gazes of the three people in the room. "It's simply no longer treating evolved intelligent animals as inferior beings, but seeing them as humans who use a different language and have different living habits."

Yang Jin's smiling gaze fell on Xia Qing beside him. "Of course, this is only my own idea. In Xia Qing's view, these animals should be just like her—all of them lords."