Chapter 1253: A Powerhouse About to Die

The report Xia Qing read on the helicopter stated that anyone poisoned by this complex toxin must be injected with the specialized antidote within four hours. The first four hours after poisoning are the toxin's incubation period; after eight hours the body rapidly weakens, ordinary people die within eight to ten hours, and even high-level Evolvers with strong resistance cannot last past fifteen hours.

At Old Wolf's running speed, the time from when it went to find Xia Qing until now definitely hasn't exceeded four hours. In other words, when Old Wolf went to find Xia Qing, this wolf had already been poisoned and was in the active poisoning stage.

Old Wolf's medical knowledge was insufficient; it believed its companion had eaten something bad and had diarrhea, just like last time when a simple dose of medicine cured it. So although it went to find Xia Qing overnight, it did not display any anxious emotions.

Because Old Wolf's phone pouch was filthy and the photos it took weren't clear enough, Xia Qing, judging from Old Four's emotions and the dirty photos, also assumed these two wolves had diarrhea caused by infection with mildly pathogenic organisms.

This must be an Evolved wolf with a very high evolution level; its own immunity is extremely strong, and its will to live is also extremely strong, so even though it had been poisoned for over fifteen hours and its body had already rotted from the inside, it was still breathing tenaciously.

In the eleventh year of the Calamity, Xia Qing, who had long grown accustomed to life and death, still could not suppress the surge of sorrow and anger as she looked at this powerful being who was poisoned and about to die.

Its current appearance is very similar to that of the human powerhouse Luo Pei who was poisoned by the synthetic toxin Qiang last year. Or rather, it looks exactly like Luo Pei when he was about to die without having found uncontaminated water and Qiang-Free Grass to detoxify him.

Behind the protective mask, Old Wolf's pale grey pupils also revealed sorrow and rage. Its fur stood on end all over its body, and it shook its head hard, trying to fling off the protective mask!

With her arms and hands already in contact with the poisoned powerhouse, Xia Qing could only raise her left leg to restrain Old Wolf, who had lost two companions. "Old Four, calm down! There may still be poisoned ones among your companions. You must calm down, only then can we save them!"

Lord Cui Yan, seeing a human dare to attack its companion, snarled furiously and charged over. The Head Wolf, moving almost simultaneously, blocked Xia Qing and tangled with Lord Cui Yan in a brawl; shed wolf fur was blown in all directions by the cold wind and stuck to Xia Qing's protective mask.

The Broken-Waist Wolf standing beside Xia Qing let out a long string of howls at Old Wolf, but constrained by the protective mask, its voice was not clear.

Xia Qing hadn't used much force in her leg; logically, she shouldn't have been able to restrain Old Wolf, who was also a strength-type Evolver.

But Old Wolf didn't struggle free. It bore the weight of Xia Qing's leg and, relying on powerful emotional control, calmed itself down; its bristling fur slowly settled, and it looked at Xia Qing calmly.

In a calm, steady tone and with measured movements, Xia Qing communicated with Old Wolf. "Old Four, immediately have Lord Cui Yan gather all your companions. We need to check which other wolves are poisoned, then treat them right away. Any further delay and we'll miss the treatment window. Does Old Four understand? If you understand, nod your head like this."

Xia Qing nodded her head twice at Old Four.

Old Wolf looked at Xia Qing with a pair of pale grey eyes and bobbed its head twice.

Only then did Xia Qing withdraw her leg. After removing and disinfecting her antibacterial gloves, she took off the protective masks for Old Wolf and the Broken-Waist Wolf.

Old Wolf sniffed its companion on the ground, whose scent was faint, and let out a few low howls.

Lord Cui Yan stopped fighting with the Head Wolf, ran over to Old Wolf and sniffed, then sniffed the companion on the ground, raised its head, and let out a long, stern howl.

Lord Cui Yan was gathering its companions—all of its companions!

Xia Qing breathed a sigh of relief. She put on her antibacterial gloves and was about to put the dying poisoned wolf into a body bag, but was blocked by the Broken-Waist Wolf and Old Four simultaneously raising their paws.

The Broken-Waist Wolf grabbed Xia Qing's arm; Old Four used its paw to point at the right hip of its companion, whose breathing was gradually stopping, then leaned in to sniff, bared its fangs, and let out an angry, low growl.

The grim-faced Broken-Waist Wolf also bared its fangs and, bristling with killing intent, looked at the small pack of medical supplies on Xia Qing's waist.

Only then did Xia Qing notice that on this wolf's hip, near the tail, there was a circular patch of rotted skin.

She immediately had the head-mounted camera zoom in on that spot and asked, "Song Ge, look at this wound."

"Eighty percent likelihood." Zhang Song was furious, but his reason still held; he did not say the words "needle hole." "Qing-jie, preserve this wolf well. I need to dissect it to confirm the true cause of its poisoning."

"Understood."

Old Four may have only suspected, but the Broken-Waist Wolf's gaze toward the satchel holding her medical supplies showed that it had already concluded this was a wound left by a human-made object.

Fury was also burning fiercely in Xia Qing's heart, but her tone remained calm. "Huo Zhun, Peng Jian, Song Ge—you three immediately bring medical equipment and medicines and rendezvous with me. The wolf pack won't block you. Captain Hu, contact Captain Yang immediately, tell him the situation here, have him muster the members of the Azure Dragon Squad and prepare to take part in a cross-base emergency disaster-elimination operation. Keep movements strictly confidential. Song Ge, on your way here contact Third Brother; once I'm ready I'll have him activate the disaster-elimination procedure and hand over on-site command to Yang Jin or the military commander. Jing Kuan, once the Head Wolf and Broken-Waist Wolf return, you take off immediately and fly at full speed back to Territory Seven to fetch the medicine."

"Copy."

"Copy."

"..."

Amid the string of responses, Xia Qing had Old Four notify the arriving wolf pack members not to clash with Zhang Song's squad, then thoroughly disinfected the paws of Old Four and the Broken-Waist Wolf, and quickly took photos of the poisoned Evolved wolf and sent them to her idol, along with a long text message she typed out.

Then Xia Qing walked over to the Head Wolf, removed her protective mask, and through gestures and mime explained the current situation.

"Queen, you and Handsome Wolf take the helicopter and return to Mountain Forty-Nine with Hu Zifeng and Jing Kuan. Little Wolf, Little Wolf-Sister, and our territory all need you back to protect them. Leave this place to me; I can handle it."

The Broken-Waist Wolf looked at the protective mask in Xia Qing's hand. Xia Qing understood its meaning. "Alright, I'll turn on the camera, and once the mission is over and we're back at the territory, I'll show Handsome Wolf the mission recording."

The Head Wolf bumped Xia Qing's forehead with its head, then vanished into the Evolved Forest with the Broken-Waist Wolf.

Xia Qing put her protective mask back on, stood beside Old Four, and silently watched the wolves arriving from all directions.

Three minutes after the helicopter parked on Mountain Twenty took off, the elasticity-type Evolver Huo Zhun and the speed-type Evolver Peng Jian, carrying Zhang Song and the instruments on their backs, finally appeared in Xia Qing's field of vision.

More humans appearing in the core territory of the wolf pack triggered the pack's displeasure and aggressive urges, which were suppressed by the majestic Old Wolf's roars.

When the three humans climbed the slope to rendezvous with Xia Qing, Lord Cui Yan glared at them with killing intent, then continued howling to gather its companions.

After Zhang Song arrived, Xia Qing had Old Wolf call the wolf pack members at the foot of the mountain up one by one for blood tests.

Under Lord Cui Yan's intimidation and the physical restraint of Old Wolf and Xia Qing, Zhang Song professionally and swiftly pierced the skin on the Evolved wolves' hind legs, dropped beads of blood onto the toxin detector, and rapidly tested for poison.

When testing the sixth wolf, Zhang Song spoke up. "Qing-jie, this wolf is poisoned. Should I inject it with the antidote?"

"Inject it."

When Xia Qing had called her idol that morning, just in case, she had exchanged three doses of special-effect antidote for self-defense; she had just contacted her idol again and exchanged another forty doses.

Did her idol have that many doses of special-effect antidote? If not, given her idol's abilities, he could absolutely produce them on the helicopter during the flight back.

If the raw materials were incomplete, he could also use substitute drugs to make an ordinary antidote and save the poisoned one's life.

Just as back then, when there was no uncontaminated spring water or Qiang-Free Grass, he could still use medicine to extend Luo Pei's life, letting him hold on until his companions found the remedy for him.

Old Four of the Southern Wolf Pack is a powerhouse no weaker than Yang Jin; it has the points and the ability. If the number of its poisoned companions exceeds the doses of special-effect antidote, it can definitely gather the medicinal ingredients for its companions and ask Third Brother to compound a targeted antidote.