Chapter 1303: The Frightened Wang Zhanxi

"Director Xia, the leaves and flowers of these few wild basil plants are darker in color — they weren't grown from our seeds, were they?"

After Xia Qing and Zhang Song finished watching Ergua enter the beekeeping greenhouse, Hui-6's beekeeping expert Zhang Shunzhou pointed at the few wild basil plants in bloom and asked her the question.

Xia Qing nodded. "I transplanted them over from the Evolution Forest. They're 'green-light' plants."

The reason she emphasized these were green-light plants was that last night, when Xia Qing was on the phone with Yang Jin, Yang Jin had gone over with her the details of the contract he signed with Hui-6 when exchanging green-light bees, as well as the insurance coverage he purchased. Among the points he especially reminded Xia Qing to pay attention to, one was the quality of the nectar source plants.

Where these nectar source plants came from wasn't important, but if they weren't green-light ones, Hui-6 would refuse to pay out.

According to the losses Xia Qing reported — bee colonies damaged by the evolution of aphid flies — Hui-6 was to compensate her 2,880 credits at four times the amount.

For a lord, that was a very large sum of money. She had to get it!

Zhang Shunzhou nodded, recorded this point in his notebook, and continued testing the soil and nectar source plants, his attitude very serious. It was clear that his task in coming over was to inspect the bee colonies; Wang Zhanxi had a separate task, because his attention wasn't on the bees at all.

Although influenced by the fragrance of the nectar source plants, Wang Zhanxi still caught the scent of primates on Xia Qing and Zhang Song.

Judging by the scent, it was indeed a monk-faced monkey.

Monk-faced monkeys were small in size and gentle in temperament, posing no threat to humans and unable to be tamed into combat assets for them. Why had Professor Fu Tianfeng brought back a sick monk-faced monkey, and why had he left it with Xia Qing?

This past May, Hui-6 dispatched a military squad to the Evolution Forest in northern Hui-3. Using a locator, they had nearly succeeded in hunting a bear cub when they were spotted by an evolver from the Azure Dragon Squad. Their effort came to nothing, and all squad members except the pilot were killed. Later, they used a batch of precious supplies to get back the military helicopter the Azure Dragon Squad had seized.

That's how the bees in Territory Three came to be. Xia Qing was Yang Jin's girlfriend, so it was perfectly normal for her to get the bees.

Wang Zhanxi had reviewed the hunting footage that squad sent back, and in it, that bear cub was together with a monk-faced monkey.

Based on the dosage of anesthetic, that monk-faced monkey should already be dead, but if Professor Fu Tianfeng's team had stepped in, saving it wasn't impossible.

Professor Fu Tianfeng had broken away from Hui-1 Base and come to the edge of the Divine Herb Shelf Forest Area — Territory One in northern Hui-3 — and had also recruited primate research specialist Song Mingqian over. He definitely had some ulterior motive…

Wang Zhanxi's gaze swept over Xia Qing, who was skillfully pulling weeds beside the humming beehives. He wanted to know what role this newly elevated top sniper of Hui-3 played in Professor Fu Tianfeng's team — a role significant enough to make someone of Song Mingqian's caliber call her "Sis" and stand up for her.

Most likely, the intelligence he'd obtained was real. There really was unpolluted spring water within Territory Three, and Xia Qing had won Professor Fu Tianfeng's favor and the respect of the researchers in Territory Seven through that spring water.

Where was the spring?

Could the X-2 High-Yi Element Spinach have been cultivated within Territory Three?

What kind of reason should he use, or whose name should he borrow, to legitimately investigate this territory?

Perhaps, he could…

When Wang Zhanxi's gaze turned back toward Xia Qing, who was pulling weeds, he was so startled that he let out an "Ah!" and fell backward, only to be caught by the quick-handed Tang Huai.

"Brother Wang, you alright?"

"I'm fine, thanks." Wang Zhanxi looked, still shaken, at Zhang Song, who had somehow sidled up next to him without his noticing.

Before he could question him, Zhang Song opened his mouth with a smile. "What does Researcher Wang want to ask Sis Qing?"

Huh?! Panic flared in Wang Zhanxi's heart, and he put on an indignant expression of being wronged. "There's nothing I want to ask!"

"Nothing?"

Zhang Song leaned forward slightly, fixing Wang Zhanxi — who was half a head shorter than him — with an intensely oppressive stare. "Ever since Sis Qing and I entered the greenhouse, your attention has been fixed on the two of us. In the past sixteen minutes, you've been intermittently glancing at Sis Qing at a high frequency — brows raised, fingers curling unconsciously. Every one of those expressions and movements says plainly that you're full of malice toward Sis Qing…"

"You—"

Wang Zhanxi, furious, tried to interrupt Zhang Song, but was stopped by Zhang Song's raised hand.

Zhang Song stared into Wang Zhanxi's eyes from even closer, pressing him aggressively. "You want to ask: I'm not a primate researcher, so what gives me the right to talk to you like this?"

"Heh." Zhang Song gave a cold laugh. "When Professor Wang takes on tasks in the future, be sure to do your background research in advance. I'm not just a primate researcher — I'm also Red City's criminal investigation and interrogation specialist. Every one of your little thoughts is written all over your face."

Wang Zhanxi's pupils contracted sharply, and he instinctively stepped back. Tang Huai grabbed him again to keep him from falling and smashing the beehives.

Zhang Shunzhou, who was nearby asking Xia Qing questions, couldn't hear what Zhang Song was saying, but the situation looked off, and he wanted to go over and help.

Zhang Han, who had come along with Zhang Song, stood up and quietly watched the scene. The visual evolver Xia Qing couldn't read a single trace of tension on her face.

Wang Zhanxi steadied his heartbeat and calmly stated his position. "Researcher Song, I bear no malice toward Director Xia."

"Good, if there's nothing, then." Zhang Song smiled slowly and didn't press further.

After Zhang Song left, Xia Qing glanced calmly at Wang Zhanxi and went back to answering Zhang Shunzhou's questions.

Tang Huai looked at Wang Zhanxi with a face full of admiration. "Still Brother Wang who's the steady one. I was actually intimidated by Brother Song just now."

Wang Zhanxi, whose back was already soaked with sweat, kept his face expressionless.

Tang Huai lowered his voice again, chatting with him like brothers. "After Brother Wang gave me that free, detailed explanation of the key points to watch out for in silkworm raising yesterday, I knew Brother Wang was a good person. It's perfectly normal for you to be interested in Sis Qing's territory — I'm even more interested than you."

Wang Zhanxi…

"But Brother Wang, we can think about it all we want, just don't do anything out of line."

Tang Huai reached up and brushed the pollen off the protective suit on Wang Zhanxi's shoulder, kindly reminding him, "Sis Qing is the alliance leader of our territory alliance. Third Brother of Territory Seven, Luo Pei of Territory One, Xin Yu of Territory Eight, and I — we all take her orders. If you do something that angers Sis Qing, I don't know what'll happen to the person who sent you, but the cause and manner of death for you and your whole family — I can lay it out for you right now, clear as day."

Wang Zhanxi trembled. A bead of sweat slid from the edge of his brow to the corner of his eye. He clenched his mouth shut and didn't make a sound.

Tang Huai sighed. "Why's Brother Wang breathing so loud? You're scaring the bees."

Zhang Shunzhou, seeing Wang Zhanxi was really about to break, stepped forward again to go rescue him, but Xia Qing gently patted the dirt off her glove and stopped him.

"Brother Huai, Professor Zhang wants to take samples of the water quality here. Please take him over."

"You got it!" Tang Huai replied, gave Wang Zhanxi's shoulder a pat, turned around, and walked off with a sunny smile.

Watching expressionless Xia Qing walk toward him step by step, the combat-less Wang Zhanxi's breathing stopped. He instinctively wanted to grab something to defend himself.

Zhang Shunzhou, who was about to be sent away by Xia Qing, walked over and stood in front of Wang Zhanxi, explaining to Xia Qing, "Director Xia, please don't make things hard for Professor Wang — his heart's not good, he can't take being scared. Besides coming here to learn about growing potatoes and inspect the bee colonies, we also have one goal: to clarify your relationship with Territory Seven. We bear no malice — we just want to use you as a channel to strengthen cooperation with that person."