Chapter 1351: Zhang Shi's Coworkers

Having lived in the Evolution Forest with her child for so many years, Zhang Shi's hands-on skills must be very strong, so of course Xia Qing wouldn't stop her from making furniture herself.

Xia Qing pulled a key from her protective suit pocket. "The warehouse in the shelf building west of my small building has lumber and tools. This is the key to the wooden door in the middle of the first floor. But Tenth Sister shouldn't go over today. Wait until tomorrow when Big Brother and Wolf Lao Er recognize your identities before going, to avoid unnecessary conflict."

"Okay." Using her magnetic sense to confirm Xia Qing wasn't testing her, Zhang Shi took the key.

"There's already electricity here. The water dispenser next to the fridge holds filtered spring water—it's drinkable. The kitchen and bathroom on the ground floor aren't fully set up yet, but the water's already connected, so you can use them."

Although she'd let Zhang Shi and Ye Yiyi move into Territory Three, Xia Qing hadn't entered either of their facial features into the access control system of her own residential building.

This wasn't a matter of trust or distrust, but of privacy. Xia Qing didn't want humans wandering around her room when she wasn't home.

Ye Yiyi had just changed environments, and neither Xia Qing nor Zhang Shi felt comfortable leaving her alone there. So after the two of them set up a tent over Ye Yiyi's bed, they didn't leave the basement, and stayed in the workroom outside to talk.

Xia Qing took two printed sheets from the fridge. The top one was an aerial photo of Territory Three, with the locations of the territory's 80 cameras and the monitoring zones marked on it.

After installing the monitoring app on Zhang Shi's phone and giving her the password, Xia Qing began giving Zhang Shi a detailed rundown of the territory.

"Our territory has full camera coverage, and there's cell signal in the basement. Tenth Sister can use this app to view the feeds from all 79 cameras in the territory. My house and yard here are East Zone 1. The lab where you and Ye Yiyi are is East Zone 2. Only I can view the East Zone 1 feed, and only our two phones can view the East Zone 2 feed. The monitoring room by the fields can't see it."

Then Xia Qing pointed to the other areas of the abandoned village and continued, "Our east, south, and west sides are East Zones 3 through 6. Beard Feng's squad can see those feeds, but they won't come over to patrol. Security for East Zones 1 through 6 is handled by Big Brother and Wolf Lao Er. They have strong territorial instincts and won't let Beard Feng's squad in."

After explaining the cameras and zones, Xia Qing pointed out the safe activity areas for Zhang Shi and Ye Yiyi. "Whether it's day or night, Tenth Sister and Ye Yiyi can move around in East Zone 1 and East Zone 2. But when I'm not in the territory and Beard Feng's squad comes to guard it, you need to watch out for auditory and olfactory Evolvers."

Xia Qing handed the second printed sheet to Zhang Shi. It had photos of all ten members of Beard Feng's squad, along with their abilities and personality profiles.

She'd picked up this way of making tables from her idol—clear at a glance.

Zhang Shi took it and assured Xia Qing, "When they're in the territory, Ye Yiyi and I won't go up to the surface."

Being able to move around outside when no outsiders were in the territory already satisfied Zhang Shi.

Xia Qing nodded. "When they're not here, Tenth Sister can move around anywhere in the territory, and can also leave through the north gate. I've already entered you and Ye Yiyi into the access systems for Territory Three's north gate and North Zone 1's north gate. Both of those gates are privately mine, so they won't leak information."

Hearing that she was allowed to come and go freely from the territory, the string that had been pulled taut in Zhang Shi's heart loosened a little.

After teaching Zhang Shi how to check the cameras and enter and leave the lab, Xia Qing pointed at the fridge in the corner and said, "The grain, vegetables, and eggs inside are all green-light food produced by our territory. When you run out, I'll get you more. Tenth Sister, get some rest. I've got to head out on a mission after breakfast, but I'll definitely be back before dark. Around seven-thirty in the morning, two people from Beard Feng's squad will come over to guard the territory for me. If Tenth Sister needs anything, just message me."

Don't call—calling is easy to expose, because when Xia Qing goes on missions there are human teammates around her.

Hearing that everything in the fridge was green-light food, Zhang Shi finally understood what Xia Qing meant by "room and board included."

She immediately waved her hand. "You don't have to feed me all green-light food. Qiang elements can't hurt my body. I can eat yellow-light or even a little red-light food."

Recovery-type Evolvers really were heaven-defying. Xia Qing laughed. "I don't have much yellow-light food stored. That's just the standard for our territory. Tenth Sister, eat without worry."

Sensing Xia Qing's calm magnetic field, Zhang Shi also showed a genuine smile. "Please have the boss bring over the power-generating bike. From now on, I'll be in charge of generating electricity."

While checking the cameras earlier, Zhang Shi had noticed only eight solar panels on the lab's roof. Even with plenty of sunlight, the output from eight panels couldn't meet the electricity needs of the entire lab and basement. She was an employee here—how could she let the boss pedal a bike to generate power for her to use?

Xia Qing shook her head. "Our territory's power-generating duty is handled by Ram Big Brother. It treats pedaling the bike like a game and exercise. Tenth Sister, use as much as you want. Even if the sun doesn't come out for ten days, we won't run out of power."

Zhang Shi was shocked. "That ram… Big Brother… is also an employee?"

Xia Qing shook her head again, pointed at the area on the map that included Sheds One and Two, and explained to Zhang Shi, "Big Brother isn't an employee. It's the lord of this place. Before I moved in, this area belonged to it. The North Buffer Forest, especially the area around the big Chinese toon tree, is its core territory. When Tenth Sister moves around the territory, try not to enter that area, or you might get rammed into the air."

Xia Qing's mood was calm. Although it was to protect the springhead, what she said was also true. If Xia Qing wasn't in the territory, even Beard Feng's squad rarely entered the big Chinese toon tree in the North Buffer Forest or Sheds One and Two below it. That was Ram Big Brother's turf.

Seeing Zhang Shi's mouth hanging open, Xia Qing simply told her the whole situation about the territory at once, to keep her from being shocked over and over.

"Wolf Lao Er likes to catch bugs to feed the fish and chickens, and it's also in charge of collecting the eggs. So when Tenth Sister eats eggs, be sure to wash them clean."

Zhang Shi……

"Our territory has a nest of red squirrels that like to steal food and shiny things, and a flock of thieving magpies. When Tenth Sister dries things outside, be sure to cover them with insect-proof netting, or they'll very likely get stolen."

"Right now, our territory also has two brain-domain-evolved white-faced langur monkeys. They came to work here too. The male monkey handles weeding, picking cotton, cleaning, and taking care of the female. The female is young and currently convalescing. Apart from picking cotton, she spends most of her time on the male's back."

She'd been away from human society for six years. Rams could generate electricity. Wolves could not only read and write but also raise chickens and fish. Monkeys had entered human territory and become her coworkers……

Zhang Shi slowly closed her mouth. Looking at it that way, her job as an animal dentist wasn't strange at all.