Chapter 1280: Wild Boar Herd

Xia Qing put the giant evolved golden-ringed hornet with a weakened magnetic field into a large sampling tube, ran as steadily as she could to Territory Seven, and Zhang San immediately took the giant hornet and rushed into the lab with two assistants.

A little over an hour later, Zhang San came out of the lab and brought Xia Qing back to his office. "That giant hornet was infected with evolved microorganisms. Its life is safe for now. Later, take it back to the swarm."

Keeping hornets in a lab, even with highly professional environmental control and technical support, still has a survival rate far lower than that of honeybees. Besides, Zhang San couldn't move the entire hornet colony from the chestnut grove into the lab just for this one hornet, so he could only send it back.

"Brother San, you're amazing!" Xia Qing immediately handed her idol a cup of pollution-free spring water, and only after he took a few sips did she ask, "Is this giant hornet's weakness connected to the evolution of the aphid flies in my territory?"

"This giant hornet's weakness was indirectly caused by the evolution of anaerobic soil bacteria." Zhang San, who had just pulled an all-night shift, took a few sips of water, took off his glasses, and pressed his fingers against his brow as he answered wearily, "I pulled the research data from the Hui Six Research Institute and confirmed that the green-light honeybees cultivated at Hui Six have a symbiotic relationship with the aphid flies. The aphid fly larvae survive by eating the waste inside the beehive, and the pheromones released by adult aphid flies during mating season can promote the development of the queen bee and improve the quality of the bee eggs."

Xia Qing immediately seized the key point. "Once the bee egg quality improved to a certain level, the nutrition the aphid flies got from feeding on the young bees increased, which promoted evolution?"

Hearing Xia Qing's normal train of thought for once, Zhang San's fatigue faded a bit and his expression softened. "The data to verify this hypothesis wasn't provided by Hui Six."

If this were really the case, beekeeping would become harder. Xia Qing, the farmer, wouldn't give up a valuable planting or breeding project just because the difficulty increased; she would meet the challenge head-on, because she needed high-quality honey. "Brother San, what do you need me to do to verify this hypothesis?"

Zhang San's voice grew gentler. "I don't have enough nectar-producing plants here. I need Territories One, Two, and Three to open access permissions so the researchers I send can conduct tracking studies inside the territory apiaries. We'll discuss the frequency and duration after you get back, with Xiao Han."

Xiao Han? Zhang Han? Xia Qing nodded. "Territory Three is fine. I'll talk to Territories One and Two about it; shouldn't be a problem."

Zhang San reminded Xia Qing, "Zhang Han is an entomologist I just recruited from Red One. Wang Shunkang and Zhang Song confirmed that she's paying very close attention to you and to Territory Three. She probably came with a secret mission, but there's no malice, and we've confirmed she's not a Class C magnetic-sense evolver. Letting her wander around your territory can reduce Hongcheng Base's attention on you."

Xia Qing's eyes went wide with shock. Hongcheng Base is paying attention to her?!!!

Zhang San gave her an exasperated look. "A twenty-six-year-old dual-system advanced evolver in Strength and Vision, who became a top sniper after just one year of training, and has also established an in-depth cooperative relationship with my lab—it's hardly strange that the higher-ups would pay attention and investigate, is it?"

Four-system top sniper Xia Qing, weak, innocent, and pitiful, said, "Brother San…"

"Shut up and keep your cover tight."

"Understood." Xia Qing pulled out chicken feet and walnut kernels and placed them in front of her idol, then picked a topic that would make him happy and continued chatting. "Brother San, has Wang Shunkang's body been adjusted enough to take on missions?"

From the time her idol confirmed Wang Shunkang was a Class C magnetic-sense and brain-domain evolver until now, only two months had passed. That speed was way too fast.

"Mm." Zhang San finished the water in his cup, picked up a packet of walnut kernels, and said, "His evolution potential is very high, and his temperament is good too. With focused cultivation, he could finish all his university courses and get his bachelor's degree within seven years."

In other words, Wang Shunkang could graduate from university at fourteen. How was Watching Huo Zhun and Shi Du supposed to face that?

Xia Qing guessed, "Wang Jun probably wants Wang Shunkang to attend school normally, right?"

Zhang San nodded. "Judging by how much he cares for Wang Shunkang, he should choose that path. Letting Wang Shunkang study and grow up like a child without brain-domain evolution is good for strengthening his psychological resilience and ability to integrate into society, but his potential can't be wasted either. Find a chance to talk to Wang Jun. At the very latest, by fourteen, Wang Shunkang must start his undergraduate courses."

The country urgently needs large numbers of highly talented people to fight the natural disasters. Wang Shunkang is a good seedling; his potential can't be wasted.

After the lab assistant reported that all the giant hornet's indicators had improved, Xia Qing took the giant hornet back to the chestnut grove and placed it in the mountain crevice where the hive was located.

The egg-shaped robot extended its mechanical arm to support the giant hornet, whose magnetic field strength had recovered to five-tenths of its level, and sent it back beneath the hive.

The giant hornet struggled to climb onto the hive and squeezed in among worker bees less than half its size, slowly drooping its antennae and beginning to rest. Seeing this scene through the surveillance camera, Zhang San breathed a sigh of relief and notified Xia Qing she could head back.

With human intervention ending here, whether this High-Yi Element giant hornet survives remains unknown.

Surrounded by buzzing hornets, Xia Qing decided to stay a while longer. Because Qiangzai, Little Feimao, and over a dozen red squirrels, gray squirrels, and mice Xia Qing didn't recognize were seizing the chance to search through the fallen leaves in the chestnut grove for dropped chestnuts.

Once Little Feimao and Qiangzai's cheek pouches were stuffed full and they fled the battlefield, Xia Qing left the chestnut grove and headed south along the valley. She planned to check on the wild boars on the way, then return to her territory for breakfast.

However, before Xia Qing could walk out of the valley, her phone rang.

Liangzi, on duty at the Mountain 49 monitoring room, reported, "Sister Qing, the northern wolf pack is driving a group of wild boars into Area Six of Mountain 49. Looks like they're heading for the Wild Boar Valley."

Last year it was November 10, this year it's November 9. The evolved wolves' timing for rounding up wild boars follows a pattern. Xia Qing replied calmly, "Just let them through. I'm inside Wild Boar Valley."

"Copy that."

Xia Qing threw out a Dengshan rope, wrapped it around a big tree above the steep valley, climbed out of the valley and up the tree in less than ten minutes, when she heard the sound of a herd of large hoofed animals running. From the noise, there were no fewer than twenty wild boars.

Soon the wolf pack drove the wild boar herd to the top of the valley. The paths on both sides were blocked by wolves, with wolves behind and a steep slope ahead—the wild boars had only one way to go.

When the first wild boar jumped into the valley, the rest followed, scrambling down one after another and squealing as they charged forward. Last year the wolf pack drove thirty-two wild boars here; this year twenty-five, because there were still a few wild boars left in the valley. It seemed the wolf pack also had a clear idea of how many wild boars this valley could support.

The lead wolf, with twelve evolved wolves, stood at the top of the valley and looked up at Xia Qing in the tree.

?? Thanks to reader jou_sl_minag for the tip to Wolf Lao Er, reader Spring Sun Warm All Things Grow for the tip to Sister Qing, and reader Just Call It Zen Courtyard for the tip to Big Wolf Bro, and thanks to reader Jewlemay for the tip to Yang Jin. Thanks to everyone for your subscriptions and votes.