Chapter 1237: New Progress in Soil Research

The helicopter, bound to the talons of a giant eagle, soared over peak after peak and arrived above Mountain 59.

Xia Qing looked down and saw Handsome Giant Wolf fighting the Broken-Legged Wolf — they seemed to be going at it pretty fiercely. The helicopter roared as it lowered its altitude, and only then did the two stop fighting, hiding together in the Evolution Forest to watch the commotion above.

A strong sense of self-preservation — excellent.

Xia Qing shifted her gaze; within the Mountain 61 area she couldn't spot any Evolution Bear. That was normal — the weather had turned cold, bears' activity levels dropped, and it was time to prepare for hibernation.

The helicopter landed on the helipad of Mountain 59. Xia Qing gave Little Monkey one last reminder, straightened its clothes, and led it off the helicopter.

The flashy little monkey, backpack on its back and sweet potato bag slung over it, stood on the peak and looked around for a while, then swiftly climbed through the trees and vanished into the dense Evolution Forest. Only after it had crossed the valley between Mountain 59 and Mountain 61 did Xia Qing dig a Green-Light Egg out of her backpack and feed it to the Broken-Legged Wolf, which was darting and leaping about in front of her.

"Hey, Broken-Legged, haven't seen you in a few days — you've gotten a lot sturdier." The Broken-Legged Wolf hadn't just put on a layer of autumn fat; it had also grown a bit taller, but it was still just as lively.

The Broken-Legged Wolf tossed its head back and swallowed the egg in one gulp, then kept pawing at Xia Qing, wanting her to play with it. Xia Qing also wanted to have a go at the Broken-Legged Wolf and Handsome Giant Wolf to see who was stronger, but she truly had no time.

She stuffed another small packet of freeze-dried treats into the Broken-Legged Wolf's mouth, waved up at Handsome Giant Wolf standing imposingly on Mountain 60, then climbed into the helicopter and flew back to her territory.

The plan had changed — the temporary worker was gone, and Lord No. 3 had to take soil samples and test them herself. The most important thing in the territory right now was improving the soil as quickly as possible and planting overwintering crops.

After returning to the territory, Xia Qing pulled out a handful of Green-Light Grass she'd cut on the way back and fed it to Sheep Boss, who was waiting for her. The grass wasn't fresh and tender at this season, but Sheep Boss didn't mind — it grabbed a few stalks and ate as it followed Xia Qing downhill.

Xia Qing, grass in hand, walked toward Wolf Lao Er, who was feeding fish by the fish pond.

Daigua was gone and probably wouldn't come back this winter. When spring came next year, Wolf Lao Er should also return to the wolf pack to look after the pups. So only Sheep Boss, whose territory completely overlapped with hers, would stay on this land — but its brain evolution wasn't advanced enough for delicate work.

Xia Qing walked to the reservoir and rewarded the wolf-dog Wolf Lao Er with a piece of dried roasted meat. "Wolf Lao Er, the way you paw at the bugs with your claws is really cool."

The microbes in the soil were evolving, and bugs burrowing out of the ground could very well carry pathogens. Xia Qing had corrected Wolf Lao Er many times, and it finally remembered not to pick bugs up in its mouth, switching to pawing at them with its claws instead.

Don't be fooled by Wolf Lao Er's gentleness — it was actually a fierce and powerful Evolution Wolf. The way it liked to feed fish was to hold a bug in its mouth just above the water's surface, and at the moment a spring-water fish leapt up and snapped at it with its sharp teeth, release the bug right into the fish's mouth.

For Wolf Lao Er, feeding fish by pawing them robbed the activity of most of its fun. But when it heard Xia Qing call it, it still grinned happily.

Xia Qing rubbed its neck and pressed the walkie-talkie button. "Sister Yan, are you there?"

Yuan Yan of Territory No. 5 quickly pressed her walkie-talkie button. "Here."

"When are you planning to harvest the fish?" Harvesting the fish meant drawing in the net to collect the fish from the pond — this was a term Xia Qing had picked up from her allies.

Yuan Yan replied, "Once we've finished planting the wheat."

The middleman Kuang Qingwei immediately asked, "Sister Yan, how many jin of fish are you selling?"

Yuan Yan answered, "We're not planning to sell any edible fish this year. After we haul them up we'll process them and store them in the food warehouse of Territory No. 1, saving them to eat over winter."

After two years of farming, the lords were no longer short of vegetables, but meat was still scarce. This year everyone had earned quite a few points growing grain and X-2 spinach, and with a bit more cash on hand they could hold back some quality meat to improve their meals.

Kuang Qingwei responded, "Alright, Sister Yan — for the Red-Light Fish you haul up, I'll buy them at the market price."

Wen Nengjie also came online. "In our alliance, only Brother Qi and Sister Yan grow grain well. I'm no good — this year I still have to sell all the fish in my pond to Brother Qing to scrape together enough points for rainproof cloth and equipment. Sister Qing, what fertilizer are you planning to buy this year?"

After the territory alliance expanded, the remaining 12 territories in the Northern Sector One all joined, becoming second-tier members of the alliance. Wen Nengjie was thrilled that his relationship with Xia Qing, Zhang San, the Green Dragon Squad, and the Tang family had grown closer, and he kept popping in to say so.

The name of the Northern Sector One territory alliance had already made a name for itself in the Safe Zone and other territory areas. Wen Nengjie's friends and former colleagues were all green with envy, while Wen Nengjie straightened his back, finally living like a proper person again.

Xia Qing pressed the button to reply, "I've ordered worm castings and the fermented manure from the Squad Alliance."

Tang Huai asked, "Xia Qing, you're not buying crab-shell fertilizer this year?"

Xia Qing answered, "I still have a few bags left, enough for planting the overwintering wheat. How much is crab-shell fertilizer per jin now?"

Kuang Qingwei came online. "8 points per jin."

"Can't afford it, really can't afford it." Zhao Ze came online with a sigh.

"Sister Qing, are you busy right now?" Tang Heng came online to ask. "If you're not busy, could you come by the Research Department?"

"I'll be there in twenty minutes." If Tang Heng was looking for her, it was probably because there was new progress in the soil research — of course Xia Qing had to go.

Tang Huai immediately cut in, "Sister Qing, I'll hitch a ride with you."

Everyone: "..."

Xia Qing quickly took soil samples at different depths from the five greenhouses where she planned to grow wheat, then drove off with Tang Huai, who had been waiting outside the door, heading for Territory No. 12.

After disinfecting, putting on a white coat, and donning a mask, Xia Qing was ushered by Tang Heng into the research room of the Research Department. Hearing Zhu Li, also wearing a mask, came up to greet her, her voice bright. "Sister Qing, our research has made a breakthrough!"

Over the two years in the territory, with improved meals, the once pale and skinny Hearing Zhu Li had not only put on some flesh but also grown a few centimeters taller — completely different from when she had first entered the territory. But in Xia Qing's eyes, her biggest change was in her gaze and bearing.

Through hard work, the hearing-evolver Hearing Zhu Li had improved her combat ability, capabilities, and education — she had become confident now.

The allies in the lab who were testing the territory's soil samples and observing the soil changes in the experimental boxes all paused to greet Xia Qing.

The Soil Research Department had drawn up a duty roster. The duty supervisor today was Zhang Xiaoxu of Territory No. 7, with participants Xie Xiaoqin of Territory No. 8, Ma Hai of Territory No. 2, and Ye Yang of Territory No. 15. Xia Qing's duty shift was the day after tomorrow.

Zhang Xiaoxu, a graduate student in soil science, asked Xia Qing to look at the soil in the transparent experimental box numbered 56. "Sister Qing, yesterday at nine in the morning we mixed fermented crab-shell fertilizer into the soil, and just now testing showed that the activity of the harmful evolution anaerobes in this box has dropped significantly."

Xie Xiaoqin beside her handed over a notebook. "Sister Qing, look — these are the comparison figures from yesterday."

After Xia Qing clearly saw the obvious difference between the two columns of data in the notebook, she asked, "Have you confirmed the cause?"