Chapter 1318: Going on a Mission Together

At four in the morning, Xia Qing pulled the Broken-Back Wolf and Wolf Lao Er, who were in too much pain to move, out of the tub, dried them off, and—because the Broken-Back Wolf insisted—used the hair dryer to dry the fur on both wolves before carrying them into the living room and setting them down in front of the fireplace. Little Wolf Sister immediately crawled over to Lao Er, curled up against its belly, and went back to sleep.

Xia Qing swiftly tidied up the messy bathroom, then returned to the living room, pulled a blanket over herself, and went back to sleep.

The Head Wolf hadn't returned yet, her companions' combat strength hadn't recovered, and there were still two half-grown wolves in the house, so Xia Qing—as the homeowner and the wolf pack's fourth-strongest fighter—couldn't go back to the bedroom; she had to stay here and keep watch.

"Tap, tap, tap."

At six in the morning, Sheep Leader woke up.

Xia Qing pulled out her phone to check the time, glanced at Lao Er and the Broken-Back Wolf sleeping soundly by the fireplace, and decided to sleep for another hour to be fully rested for today's wolf pack operation.

Sheep Leader swiped open the front door and walked out. As the cold wind rushed into the living room, Qiangzai, Little Feimao, Little Wolf Sister, Broken-Leg Sister, and Little Four-Eyes all dashed outside. The anxious Black Wolf waiting outside the door reunited with the home wolves, and their bristled fur slowly settled.

The chattering magpies in the big tree outside the yard were startled into flight. A brown-gray figure suddenly leapt up and swatted the ringleader magpie with one paw, sending it crashing to the sheep pen's doorway.

The plucking weasel poked its little head tremblingly out of the sheep pen, looked around for a few seconds, then dragged the big magpie inside.

Daigua poked its head out of the tree hollow hung with fluorite stones, looked around, and—after confirming the unfamiliar wolves had left—ran to the kitchen, fetched two fresh green-light cabbage leaves, gave one to Ergua, and the two monkeys squatted on a tree branch crunching their breakfast. The medicinal bath had drained a lot of energy, and Daigua was hungry.

Lao Er was very familiar with this sound and only flicked its ears with its eyes closed; the Broken-Back Wolf simply raised a foreleg and pressed its ears down. Xia Qing, whose hearing had evolved, lost all desire to sleep, got up, put on her protective suit, picked up the two monkeys, and hurried to the greenhouse.

The natural habitat of the white-faced langur is the tropical rainforest of the Wasteland Continent. The core function of its long fur isn't to keep warm, but to defend against bee attacks and block contact between toxic plants and skin. Because rainforest temperatures and humidity are high, it doesn't need the warming function. To dissipate heat, the fur on its limbs is short, and beneath the long fur on its body there's no downy layer like wolves or bears have for insulation.

Before the Catastrophe, the langurs at Hui Three Zoo were kept in fully equipped glass houses at 26°C–29°C during winter.

In the first two years after the Catastrophe, the animals in the zoo fled into the Evolution Forest; those that couldn't adapt were eliminated, and those that evolved to adapt survived.

The white-faced langur troop on Mountain Sixty occupies a middle ground between the two. They evolved a layer of fine down and found habitats where winter temperatures don't drop below 15°C.

The Hui Three Northern Bear Group's territory spans Mountains 61 to 67. North of the territory is a vast, densely vegetated hilly region; Mountain 67's ecosystem is close to rainforest climate, and winter temperatures there don't fall below 15°C.

So the white-faced langur troop living on Mountain Sixty-Two migrates in winter into the rainforest-climate zone, where survival competition is fierce.

This information was, of course, told to Xia Qing by primate research expert Zhang Song.

The territory was getting colder and colder. If Ergua didn't need treatment, Daigua would have long ago packed its little backpack and had Xia Qing send it back to Mountain Sixty-Two to move into the Mountain 67 region with its troop for the winter.

Xia Qing brought the two monkeys into the greenhouse. The monkeys ate cabbage while she fed the chickens and insects, then went to the small kitchen by the meeting room to cook breakfast—rather than going home and disturbing Lao Er and the Broken-Back Wolf, who were sleeping.

Before Xia Qing had even finished preparing breakfast, she saw through the window Sheep Leader burst out of the hay shed, sniff the air, then accelerate toward her.

After the medicinal bath and a full belly, Sheep Leader was brimming with strength. If it rammed the brick-and-stone house, the building would collapse. Xia Qing immediately took off her apron, put on her protective mask, and rushed out.

Sheep Leader wasn't the only one bursting with energy and wanting to fight. Man and sheep locked eyes and charged forward at the same time.

"Bam—"

Although she was an advanced strength evolver, Xia Qing weighed less than half of Sheep Leader. In pure ramming force, she still wasn't its match and was sent flying.

Xia Qing twisted nimbly in midair, trying to kick, but Sheep Leader unexpectedly broke the pattern and leapt up to ram her again.

It wasn't only she who was growing—Sheep Leader was too—but Xia Qing was growing faster! She grabbed Sheep Leader's two spiral horns and used them to spin herself around.

"Bam!"

"Crash—"

Sheep Leader, sent flying, slammed into a section of wall built from stone slabs and knocked it straight down. The Head Wolf, standing atop the rubble, glanced in the direction of the rising dust, then stood up and stretched in a big lazy arc.

"Bam!"

"Sister Qing, what's going on?"

Xia Qing, sent flying by Sheep Leader yet again, pressed her walkie-talkie. "This morning's fodder didn't agree with its taste. My evolved sheep got angry."

Everyone…

Xia Qing's sheep really did have a worse temper than his two little ones. Tang Huai helped think of a solution. "I've got fresh green-light ice-spike grass in my greenhouse. Want me to send a basket over?"

Tang Huai's ice-spike grass seeds had originally been exchanged with Xia Qing, who said it was one of Sheep Leader's favorite forages.

"No need. Can't let it get picky. A good beating will fix it." After saying that, Xia Qing set the walkie-talkie on a nearby stone and sprinted toward Sheep Leader at full speed.

"Bam—"

Tang Huai, standing by the northern wasteland grass wall of Territory Two, heard the sound and couldn't help wincing. The kind of person raises the kind of sheep—only Xia Qing could handle a Sheep Leader like that…

Inside Territory Three, as a person and a sheep lay on the ground panting heavily, the wolf pack left the village.

Xia Qing looked up and saw the Head Wolf leading five evolved wolves and four weasels marching grandly toward the Northern Buffer Forest. She scrambled up and ran after them. "Your Majesty, wait! I'm coming too!"

The Head Wolf stopped and looked calmly at Xia Qing.

"I'll be ready in a minute!" Xia Qing hoisted Sheep Leader on her back and ran home. She stuffed a compressed ration into its mouth, told it to look after the little yellow cow, grabbed her already-prepared weapons and backpack, and ran out—only to find that in the Northern Buffer Forest, only Lao Er remained!

Before Xia Qing could ask Lao Er where the wolf pack had gone, her phone rang in her pocket. "Sister Qing, the Head Wolf led five wolves and two weasels into Zone Two of Mountain Forty-Nine. From the direction, they're heading to the helipad. Are we taking a mission?"

Xia Qing breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes, I'll be right there. Please ask Captain Hu to send two people over to help guard the territory. You and Er Yong free? Coming on a mission with me?"

Hu Zifeng answered loudly at once, "Free! We're both free, heading over right now."

Lao Er nudged Xia Qing, swiped open the door, and left Territory Three. Only then did Xia Qing realize Lao Er was coming too. She contacted Huo Zhun while running. Little Feimao, foraging in Zone Three of Mountain Forty-Nine, dashed over and burrowed into Xia Qing's pocket.

"Is Brother Huo free right now? …Okay, no worries, you go ahead. I'll find someone else to team up with."

Hu Zifeng's squad was currently responsible for raising bamboo rats, monitoring Mountain Forty-Nine, and protecting Territory Three, so they could spare at most two people. Learning that Huo Zhun had left the territory with his comrades on a mission, Xia Qing switched to contacting Zhang Hongda of Territory Fifteen. "Dazi, you free to run a mission with me right now? Okay, see you at the Mountain Forty-Nine helipad in fifteen minutes. Bring your weapons."

"Understood!" Zhang Hongda, inside the greenhouse, hung up the phone and sprinted at full speed toward the Territory Fifteen dormitory area.