Chapter 1295: Evolution Forest Sampling

"Eryong pilots the helicopter, Huo Zhun serves as co-pilot, Captain Hu and Jing Kuan handle left and right defense. After Duan Yao, Laosi, and Daigua take samples, Xin Yu directs Guagua or Xiaoxiao to bring the samples back. I protect the safety of the sample-carrying birds, examine the samples, and stay in contact with Third Brother. If the beasts need treatment, Guagua will deliver it."

On the helicopter taking off, Xia Qing, her face calm, finished assigning tasks and offered the mission reward: "After the mission is complete and we return to the territory, every member on the helicopter can exchange for special-effect potions from Territory Seven worth up to ten thousand points at a twenty percent discount."

After hearing the mission details and reward, the expressions of the people, birds, and monkey on the helicopter were all very calm.

But Xin Yu, using magnetic sense, confirmed that the only one truly calm was Xia Qing. The little monkey hiding beside Xia Qing and clutching its backpack was very scared, and the two birds inside the cage covered with black cloth were restless because of the helicopter's noise. Huo Zhun and the other three were excited, and Xin Yu herself was also excited.

She adjusted her heartbeat and breathing, took out a sewing kit, and said, "Daigua, your backpack is torn. Want me to sew it up?"

Daigua immediately hugged the backpack tight and shrank into Xia Qing's arms. Xia Qing lowered her head to check its backpack, found it was indeed torn, took out a packaging bag, put all the supplies and food from the backpack into the packaging bag, let it keep hugging that, then handed the backpack to Xin Yu and suggested, "How about you sew it a little pouch for its phone too?"

Daigua was small, and its backpack was also small; fitting a phone the size of a human palm inside took up too much space.

Xin Yu was only too glad to have something to do, something that would let her hide her expression and abilities. "Sure, but I only brought black waterproof fabric."

Xia Qing had no preference about color. "As long as it's sturdy."

Eryong, piloting the helicopter, cheerfully spoke up. "Black is good. Daigua's fur is black, so a little black pouch is more concealable."

Huo Zhun felt black wasn't ideal. "Black is more concealable, sure, but Daigua likes flashy things. Sister Xin can make it another one after we return to the territory."

Wrong—it's not Daigua who likes flashy things, it's Xin Yu. Xia Qing said expressionlessly, "Eryong, land the helicopter on Mountain Fifty-Nine."

"Copy that."

In the office, Zhang San, watching the live recording, looked at Xia Qing and the monkey, then at Xin Yu who was sewing the pouch, and at Huo Zhun, who was still a normal human when in his territory, and pressed a hand to his forehead.

After the helicopter landed, Daigua, wearing a two-strap backpack patched with a yellow five-pointed star and a black phone pouch slung diagonally across its chest, jumped down from the helicopter. Once it darted into the Evolution Forest, it gripped the branches with its front paws, swinging from this tree to that, and quickly disappeared into the Evolution Forest.

Watching this scene, Hu Zifeng felt the pressure. "The brain-domain evolvers among primates are getting closer and closer to humans."

Huo Zhun corrected him. "In some respects, these primates have already surpassed humans. They are outstanding evolvers screened out by the brutal living environment of the Evolution Forest. They can live in the Evolution Forest without protective suits or masks, and their physical resistance and survival ability are stronger than most humans. I've seen them in the depths of the Evolution Forest…"

"Buzz—"

Before Huo Zhun could finish, Xia Qing's phone rang. She immediately answered. "Duan Yao, you found a sick animal?"

Duan Yao Wolf tapped the screen with its big nose, switching the camera. Then, on Xia Qing's phone screen, a large tree appeared, and on a branch crouched a half-grown spotted leopard, swiping its paw at Duan Yao Wolf and roaring.

The camera shook again, and Xia Qing saw a prey animal on the ground, half-eaten.

Xia Qing understood. "Duan Yao, this prey animal is infected with a pathogenic bacterium, already sick?"

"Awoo." Duan Yao Wolf responded.

Xia Qing understood. "Got it. Is the leopard in the tree sick?"

Duan Yao Wolf closed its mouth tightly and said nothing.

Xia Qing replied, "Got it, Duan Yao isn't sure whether the leopard in the tree is sick. What do you think, Third Brother?"

Zhang San, on the other end of the screen, answered, "Have Little Duan send a location pin to your phone, mark the activity range of this leopard, and no need to intervene for now."

After responding to Duan Yao Wolf, Xia Qing hung up and explained to Zhang San on the screen, "Third Brother, the area Duan Yao is in is the second peak of Mountain Forty-Six. The half-grown spotted leopard it found is the cub of the leopard lord of that area."

"Good."

Huo Zhun exchanged a look with Jing Kuan, and in each other's eyes they saw the same question: how does Sister Qing tell every animal in the Evolution Forest apart?

Xia Qing asked, "Third Brother, since Duan Yao Wolf confirmed that prey animal is infected with a pathogenic bacterium, why is no intervention needed?"

"A leopard's stomach acid is even stronger than a vulture's, and can effectively kill the vast majority of bacteria, viruses, and parasites present in the prey's meat. Until it's confirmed that this leopard cannot rely on its own immunity to kill the Evolution Fusobacterium, there's no need for… external intervention."

Zhang San paused, then changed his wording. "External intervention."

Duan Yao isn't a person, so the term "human intervention" couldn't be used.

"Understood, thank you, Third Brother." Xia Qing carefully noted it down and continued waiting for news from her animal companions.

Huo Zhun looked back at the languid Zhang San on the screen, then at the expressionless Xia Qing, holding back a bellyful of words.

He had spent over a year in Territory Seven and knew well that Zhang San was a person who very much disliked socializing—apart from running experiments and looking at data, he simply didn't want to talk to anyone.

But with Xia Qing, this big shot was unusually patient, and the sharp, I-don't-care-if-you-die edge in his speech was gone.

Huo Zhun wasn't curious about why the big shot treated Xia Qing differently, because Xia Qing was worth it. What he was curious about was whether Xia Qing knew that Zhang San's attitude toward her was already extremely, extremely tolerant.

"Beep, beep."

Xia Qing heard two notification sounds. Before she could open them, her phone rang.

This time, the one sending her a video call request was the old wolf of the southern wolf pack.

Xia Qing immediately answered. Laosi, confirming via the screen that Xia Qing was there, flipped the camera to show her his discovery.

After seeing the animal in the frame clearly, Xia Qing fell silent. "Laosi, are you saying that group of wild boars across from you is infected with Evolution Fusobacterium?"

Laosi, holding the phone, responded, "Awoo."

"Laosi, zoom in on the screen, I want to take a careful look at the boars." Seeing that the bellies of two large boars in the herd were sunken in and their tails were smeared with feces, she knew these two animals were infected with an Evolution pathogenic bacterium.

"Laosi, the situation with this boar herd is more serious than that little leopard from earlier. Take a fecal sample and wait there; I'll have the trained bird from Territory Eight go over to collect it." After hanging up, Xia Qing immediately forwarded the location pin the old wolf had sent to Xin Yu. "Send your trained bird to collect the sample. Stay safe."

"Understood." Xin Yu replied calmly, and pulled off the black cloth covering the birdcage.