Chapter 1329: Teaming Up to Catch Snakes Again

"Eating juvenile Yi snakes can reduce the intestinal and immune damage caused by harmful elements." Zhang San first corrected Xia Qing's wording, then answered her question.

"Using Yi-6 to alleviate my allergy symptoms is a waste of its potential. Although research hasn't begun yet, I can confirm that an anti-allergy agent made from extracts of these juvenile snake bodies can prevent harmful-element-induced mast cell release, eliminate harmful-element allergy symptoms, and basically have no side effects."

Understood!

Xia Qing stood up. "You rest. I'll head to Mountain 67 as soon as possible and catch a batch of small snakes back for you."

That wasn't what Zhang San meant. "Over-harvesting would disrupt the Evolution Forest's ecological balance. The lab already has 5 adult Yi snakes and 48 juveniles — that's more than enough. I told you about the snake's medicinal value because I want to raise the snake's research and breeding tier. Once breeding succeeds, we can begin new drug development. After breeding succeeds, it won't be too late for me to eat these juveniles to treat my allergy symptoms."

The adult Yi snakes in Territory 7 are currently in hibernation. Even if breeding succeeds, the lab's small snakes won't be ready to eat until this time next year.

Zhang Shi was already preparing to leave. If the idol couldn't exchange for Zhang Shi's blood, he couldn't extract recovery factors to treat his harmful-element allergy, causing his health to deteriorate again.

Now that she knew juvenile Yi snakes could treat the idol's allergy symptoms, even if it disrupted the ecological balance, Xia Qing still wanted to go catch them. Besides, catching a few snakes wouldn't disrupt the ecological balance there at all. "Although the wolf pack and tiger pack only pass through during the three days the dead-leaf flower blooms, baboons and monkeys frequently go to the lake to catch snakes during this period. Lao Si already wiped out the Broken-Brow Monkey troop, so I'll catch exactly the amount those macaques were going to catch, maintaining the ecological balance."

Zhang San quietly gazed at Xia Qing, who had already stood up, and slowly smiled. "Did the wolf pack tell you this?"

Xia Qing smiled and nodded. "It was Broken-Waist Wolf who said it. When it was young, the wolf pack took it along to eat small snakes. Look — all these years, the small snakes have kept coming, which proves the Hot Spring Lake's ecology isn't that fragile. Now keep these for research, and I'll go catch another two hundred or so. You eat one a day, and by the time you finish, the lab's snakes should have successfully bred too. Can you make me some powder with the same snake-attracting effect as the dead-leaf flower?"

The dead-leaf flower's blooming period was already over, but Xia Qing had brought back a sample. With the idol's skill, he could definitely compound a powder with the same effect.

Zhang San indeed nodded. "I'll have Zheng Chen deliver it to you this afternoon. You don't need two hundred snakes — a hundred is enough. You must pay attention to safety. The wolf pack members born this year have all already eaten small snakes. Will they still be willing to team up with you to go? How about I post a secret mission, and you team up with Huo Zhun and the other four to go?"

The four retired Marine Special Forces soldiers in Territory 11 could absolutely handle a dozen or so giant pythons.

However, Xia Qing had a better plan. "Before breeding succeeds, the fewer people who know there are Yi snakes in Python Lake and Hot Spring Lake, the better. Don't post a mission yet. I'll go to Mountain 61 first — the Hot Spring Basin is Xiong Qun's territory. If the trade doesn't work out, I'll team up with Huo Zhun and the others to go."

Zhang San...

Although the words coming out of Xia Qing's mouth were human language, strung together, these vocabulary always gave him a feeling of being unable to properly understand them. He stared coldly at Xia Qing's brain, his head full of question marks.

Isn't this new human a wolf pack member? Have the wolf pack and Xiong Qun formed an alliance? Can she communicate such complex information with Xiong Qun? What does she have to trade with Xiong Qun? Why would that group of bears agree to trade? Isn't she afraid a giant bear will slap her dead with one paw?

Stared at by the idol until her scalp felt chilly, Xia Qing decided to take her leave immediately. "If you have nothing else, I'll head back to my territory?"

Zhang San snorted coldly, raised his sleeve, took a reagent tube from his arm, and slapped it into her hand. "Take this. When you encounter danger you can't escape, just pull the test tube open. The gas inside can anesthetize all lung-breathing and skin-breathing animals within a 200-meter radius in 30 seconds. Within 5 meters, 5 seconds is enough."

Xia Qing's eyes immediately lit up. Isn't this the idol's personal, non-exchange defensive reagent?!

Zhang San glared. "Shut up. Return it to me after completing the mission. Get out of here, don't delay my meal."

Xia Qing, who had been chased out of the lab by the idol, left Territory 7 with a calm expression. After returning to her own territory, she carefully took out the reagent tube, turned it over and examined it meticulously for a full five minutes before putting the life-saving reagent away safely, humming a little tune as she made lunch.

When she turned around to get firewood for the stove, she saw Wolf Lao Er lying at the kitchen doorway, quietly watching her.

Xia Qing smiled. "Wolf Lao Er, I'll cook you green-light pork and eggs for lunch today, okay?"

Wolf Lao Er immediately grinned, happily smiling.

Xia Qing reached out and patted its head, handing the basket to it. "Wolf Lao Er, go to the breeding greenhouse and get a few eggs back. We'll eat the freshest eggs."

Wolf Lao Er took the basket in its mouth, happily wagged its tail once, and left.

When Xia Qing went outside under the eaves to get the drying firewood, she asked Daigua, who was sunbathing and seriously picking cotton, and Ergua, who was wearing a diaper. "Daigua, Ergua, what do you two want for lunch today?"

Upon hearing about food, Daigua's eyes immediately lit up. She immediately pulled a fruit from her pocket and gazed at Xia Qing eagerly. Ergua was still a bit afraid of Xia Qing, pressing close to Daigua and not daring to move.

This was a palm fruit that Little Speedball had picked when Xia Qing took it to the Mountain 67 basin yesterday. After Xia Qing sent the seeds to Territory 7 and had botanist Zhang Tao identify them, it was confirmed that although this palm fruit was green-light, it contained toxins. Humans couldn't eat it. Red squirrels should eat it with caution, but white-faced saki monkeys could eat it — in fact, it was one of their main foods.

Because white-faced saki monkeys had evolved detoxification abilities, they could digest the toxic palm fruit flesh. Moreover, the toxins in the palm fruit flesh that inhibited germination were broken down in the white-faced saki monkey's gastrointestinal tract, increasing the germination rate of palm seeds in their excreted feces by at least 30%.

In other words, palm trees and white-faced saki monkeys had a mutualistic symbiotic relationship.

So after bringing the fruit back, Xia Qing rewarded the diligent temp worker No. 002 Daigua and temp worker No. 003 Ergua with one fruit each. With these two monkeys at home, Xia Qing didn't even need to pick cotton herself.

"Want to eat palm fruit? Sure. Daigua worked very seriously today, so she can have palm fruit."

Xia Qing happily agreed. After starting the fire, she gave Daigua the six palm fruits Little Speedball had picked back, then asked, "Does Daigua want more of such delicious palm fruit?"

Daigua, busy stuffing fruit into her pocket, immediately looked up, her eyes shining.

Wanting it made things easy. Xia Qing happily suggested, "Tomorrow Daigua comes with me to Mountain 61. Bring your good friend Greedy Little Bear. Let's go pick fruit, and catch some small snakes for Ergua along the way. How about it?"

"Ehh!"