Chapter 1314: Survey Partner and the Female Researcher in the Valley

After leaving Tan Qi at the north gate of Territory 15, Xia Qing went to the Ninth Center, then returned to Territory 3 with Luo Pei, who clearly had something to tell her.

Sheep Leader saw Xia Qing bring back an outsider, squinted for a few seconds, and after confirming he was no match for the other party, opened his mouth to summon wolves.

Wolf Lao Er was right there, so what Sheep Leader would summon was definitely an even fiercer wolf. Xia Qing quickly pulled out a few stalks of green-light vegetables she'd picked from Territory 5 and stuffed them into Sheep Leader's mouth. "Leader, try these quick—I found this green-light grass, how does it taste? Pretty good, right!"

Sheep Leader squinted, holding the grass in his mouth, and stared at Luo Pei for a few seconds before giving up on fighting and starting to chew.

The expressionless Xia Qing in front of people was a completely different person when interacting with the animals in Territory 3. The animals in her territory all had very distinct personalities. Just like this sheep that got along so well with wolves—no matter how many times Luo Pei looked at it, he still found it bizarre.

This was a sheep that hung out with wolves; it couldn't be treated as an ordinary herbivore. So Luo Pei calmly stood behind, hands down and head slightly lowered, letting the sheep know he had no intention of provoking it.

After soothing Sheep Leader, Xia Qing discussed with Luo Pei, "Luo-ge, go wait for me in the conference room first? I'll come over once I've sorted things out at home."

After Luo Pei turned to head to the conference room, Xia Qing and the wolf-dog Wolf Lao Er first followed Sheep Leader to the North Buffer Forest to watch it fight Xiao Pingtou, then went home, where she found the Broken-Waist Wolf father and son in her living room, studying the hydrogeology course teaching video she'd requested from Territory 7.

Does Daigua and Does Ergua squatted in their den, staring blankly at it too.

Xia Qing felt both gratified and pressured. "Broken-Waist, Little Wolf-ge, Daigua, Ergua, can you actually understand this?"

Broken-Waist Wolf and Little Wolf-ge grinned, showing their little sharp fangs; the two gua remained blank.

Xia Qing, who hadn't even started studying yet, felt enormous pressure. "You guys keep watching. The leader of the Azure Dragon Squad, Luo Pei, is here. I'm going to the conference room tonight to have dinner with him."

Xia Qing efficiently prepared food for Sheep Leader, Wolf Lao Er, and the two gua, then headed to the conference room with ingredients. Luo Pei was on a phone call. She slipped quietly into the kitchen and started washing vegetables, cutting meat, and heating up steamed buns.

"... Yeah, I'm having dinner at Xia Qing's place. How many more days over there?... I've already postponed it..."

Hearing Luo Pei in the conference room mention her name, Xia Qing immediately knew who he was talking to—Yang Jin, who was leading a team in Hui-1 for negotiations.

The capable do more work; even the Iron Rooster has it tough. He probably gets a headache every day.

When Luo Pei hung up, took off his protective suit and rolled up his sleeves to help Xia Qing in the kitchen, he indeed brought up Yang Jin. "A-Jin's progress over there is going well; he'll be back in another three to five days."

Xia Qing responded, "Luo-ge, if the Azure Dragon Squad previously took on a mission that had to be carried out by a top sniper, I can make a trip."

When there's work, the disciple does the labor—reporting for duty. Luo Pei had to stay in the territory to take medicine and soak in medicinal baths to drive out the residual Mangle-Snake venom in his body, so he couldn't take on missions. Xia Qing, as his disciple, should step up.

Luo Pei had a calm temperament; even while washing vegetables, he gave off an unhurried, composed air. "No need, it's already arranged. Just focus on handling the territory, the Ninth Center, and Mountain 50."

"Okay." Xia Qing didn't know what else to say, so she silently cut vegetables, stir-fried, then brought the dishes to the table and started eating.

Tasting Xia Qing's stir-fried dishes, Luo Pei silently thought that his good brother might still have a chance to squeeze his way into Territory 3 in the capacity of a cook.

After the meal, Xia Qing didn't need Luo Pei's help. She nimbly washed the dishes, made tea, and sat down properly, waiting for her master to ask questions.

Luo Pei asked, "Why the sudden need to upgrade and renovate the hot spring valley on Mountain 50?"

The two reasons Xia Qing had raised at today's Territory Alliance meeting were actually not valid.

If it was for the quality of the rice seedlings, she could simply build standardized greenhouses within the territory and raise seedlings inside them. Territory 7 had standard laboratories and planting areas that could fully simulate the outdoor survival environment for plants; there was no need to plant precious herbs in a hidden valley.

Luo Pei felt there must be inside information, so he came over to ask.

Luo-ge knew about the pollution-free spring water in her territory, so Xia Qing didn't hide it. "The Blaze Squad sent Hui-6 researcher Wang Zhanxi to my territory to gather information, and Red-1 also sent Zhang Han into Territory 7 to focus on me. I want to divert their attention."

"That valley won't divert them for long. Blaze holds the Gao Yi elemental spinach seeds and a large number of crop breeding research projects, so their demand for pollution-free spring water is huge. The pollution-free spring water officially allocated to them by Hui-1 can't meet their needs, so they need to seize a pollution-free water source."

Luo Pei told Xia Qing about Blaze's movements. "Besides your place, Blaze is also probing other bases in Hui City, and has sent people to Lancheng's Sea of Death and Baicheng's Snow Ridge to look for pollution-free water sources."

Xia Qing nodded and told Luo Pei her full plan. "Upgrading and renovating the valley serves two purposes: one is to divert their attention, the other is to cover for me. I want to use this renovation period to survey the water system of the Mountain 50 hot spring, to see if this water system is connected to the pollution-free water system in my territory."

Luo Pei took a cautious stance. "Probably not connected. Based on existing exploration results, there can only be one spring within a 5-kilometer area."

"Third Brother said the same thing. This time I..." Xia Qing detailed the goals of her survey.

Luo Pei nodded. "If the hot spring eye really is a damaged pollution-free spring eye, then the risk of exposure at your place would indeed drop significantly. How confident are you?"

Xia Qing smiled. "It's only a hypothesis; I have to confirm it after surveying. If it isn't, then I'll take the second measure: during the period from mid-January to mid-February when my spring eye stops flowing, I'll let outsiders into my territory to wander around a few more times."

Seeing that Xia Qing had thought things through, Luo Pei felt a bit more at ease and asked, "Will Third Brother also be surveying the water system?"

Xia Qing shook her head. "Third Brother doesn't have time to learn this stuff. I asked him to help me find books and videos, and once I've learned it, I'll go survey."

Luo Pei smiled. "After the catastrophe, geological conditions have become more complex. Without someone to teach you hands-on, it's not easy to learn it well."

Xia Qing gave a wry smile. It really wasn't easy. Just looking at those diagrams full of lines, dots, and circles in the materials made her head spin. Fortunately, she had a smart partner—Broken-Waist Wolf.

Xia Qing had great confidence in Broken-Waist Wolf and felt it would definitely be able to learn.

Luo Pei suggested, "When Yang Jin comes back, you could team up with him. In college, Yang Jin studied Communication Engineering and Military Geology. Before the catastrophe, he took a few basic courses, and after the catastrophe, in order to find pollution-free water sources, he didn't give up on his specialized coursework either. That's how he was able to find the pollution-free spring near the Sea of Death last year."

Seeing Xia Qing's eyes light up at once, Luo Pei could only feel helpless.

These two had been together for several months now, and Xia Qing didn't even know what Yang Jin's major was. When they were together, did they only ever talk about food and drink?

Luo Pei didn't want to get involved in those two's business and continued, "That female researcher from Territory 7 with the child in the hot spring valley—is that Shi Jiaran?"