Chapter 1380: Cling Tight to the Thigh and Never Let Go

The enemies of these blue-skinned wanderers still hiding in the Evolution Forest, if divided by species, fall into two categories: human evolvers of the same species as them, and the evolved wolves of the Evolution Forest.

The reason human evolvers hunt this batch of wanderers is to claim the bounty points offered by the base and to seize the wanderers' supplies.

The evolved wolves of the Southern Wolf Pack are searching for the wanderers because this batch once captured and killed members of the Southern Wolf Pack — they are their enemies. Yang Jin can't guess about the other wolves, but the Southern Wolf Pack's gray-eyed former Wolf King Lao Si, as long as he's still alive, will not give up revenge. The Broken-Waist Wolf of the Northern Wolf Pack searching for evolvers is probably after points or supplies; this wolf pack is a searcher the wanderers would never in a million years expect.

If these wanderers still hiding in the Evolution Forest haven't fled deeper into it, then the best area for them to hide is not the Evolution Forest region close to human territory, nor the territory of their enemy, the Southern Wolf Pack, but the territory of the Tiger Pack.

Evolved tigers are solitary animals; aside from mating season and the stage of raising cubs, each tiger lives alone in its own territory. After evolving, the fierce tigers realized the benefits of having companions, but they only choose to place their territories adjacent to other evolved tigers' territories, rather than living in groups like wolf packs, bear packs, or python packs.

It wasn't that Yang Jin hadn't thought of this point — he simply didn't dare send team members to risk it in the Tiger Pack's territory. He looked at the brain-domain evolved wolf standing in the blight snow on Xia Qing's phone screen, listening intently to her speak, and his gaze grew more thoughtful.

This brain-domain evolved wolf of the Northern Wolf Pack teaming up with the Western Wolf King and running into the Western Tiger Pack's territory to hunt human wanderers — was it coincidence, or a deliberate choice after careful thought?

If the latter, then this wolf's brain-domain evolution has reached a terrifying level; its logical reasoning ability has already surpassed many humans.

"…So, Yang Jin's companions are searching Mountain Zones 18 and 19, right here." Xia Qing held the map up to the phone, pointing at the area where the Azure Dragon team members were, and continued communicating with the Broken-Waist Wolf. "Broken-Waist, how about this — you and Handsome Giant Wolf's brother search the territories of the Western Wolf Pack, Northern Wolf Pack, and Western Tiger Pack, and let Yang Jin's human companions search and capture the blue-skinned humans in Southern Zones 1–8 and Western Zones 19–21. Is that okay?"

The Broken-Waist Wolf thought it over for a few seconds and was just about to bare its little fang tips when Yang Jin's head appeared on its phone screen. So this clever wolf immediately shut its mouth and nodded very solemnly.

Xia Qing smiled. "Alright, that's the division then. Broken-Waist, you stay safe."

The Broken-Waist Wolf nodded solemnly once more.

Yang Jin spoke up as well. "Brother Duan, if you run into trouble searching the Tiger Pack and need human help, you can contact me anytime. I have over fifty human companions in the southwestern Evolution Forest who can reach the Tiger Pack's territory within half an hour."

The Broken-Waist Wolf glanced at Yang Jin, whose fur had grown much shorter, and continued staring solemnly at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing understood. "Got it. If Broken-Waist needs me to come over, just call me. You must be careful — don't let those wanderers spot you. Their potions are extremely powerful."

The Broken-Waist Wolf nodded solemnly, and without bothering with Yang Jin, used its big nose to hang up the call.

Why does it feel like the Broken-Waist Wolf's expression is kind of… disgusted with him?

Yang Jin shook his head to dispel this strange thought, stood up, and said, "Sister Qing, go home and rest. I'll wash the dishes; I'll guard the territory. The wolf packs move fast — you may have to head out again soon."

"Okay." Xia Qing really was tired, and didn't stand on ceremony with Yang Jin. She went home to catch up on sleep.

Although this year's blight snow arrived earlier than the major temperature drop, and the outdoor temperature is now holding around -7°C, with some cold-resistant blight grass sprouting sparsely across the territory, under these climate conditions this bit of blight grass won't amount to much.

Moreover, the green-light animals and green-light crops in Territory No. 3 are all protected by the Yishi, so guarding Territory No. 3 during the blight-snow period only has two main tasks: first, monitor conditions across the territory via cameras, conduct regular patrols, and promptly detect and clear any aggressive blight-evolved plants and intruding animals that appear in the territory; second, regularly shake the accumulated snow off the greenhouses and sheds so the snow doesn't get too thick and collapse them.

Having top-tier combat power handle these two small tasks is absolutely foolproof. So after getting home, Xia Qing attached the snow shovel to the micro-tiller, cleared the ten-plus centimeters of blight snow that had fallen in the yard and around the lab, told Lao Er to guard the abandoned village, and went back to her room to lie down. She fell asleep almost immediately.

After Xia Qing left the small house by the fields, Yang Jin didn't immediately tidy up the dishes. Instead, he first contacted Xie Yu, the vice-captain stationed at the Azure Dragon base in the safe zone, and asked him to quickly deploy personnel according to the search zones he and Xia Qing had divided, to capture the wanderers in the Evolution Forest.

Xie Yu seized on the key point in the information. "So as long as our people operate within Mountain Zones 1–8 and 18–21, even if they encounter wolf packs, there won't be any conflict?"

Southern Zones 6–8 of Hui-3 and Northern Zones 11–13 of Hui-5 are the territories of raptors and hyena packs. Aside from the hyena packs, nearby wolf packs also hunt at the edges of the hyena packs' territory.

Yang Jin replied, "Right. If a squad encounters a wolf pack, they should immediately halt operations and report, then resume only after the wolf pack withdraws. But I suspect the wanderers may be hiding in the Western Tiger Pack's or Southern Wolf Pack's territory — we might not catch any this trip."

The wanderers are most likely hiding in the Western Tiger Pack's territory, and the next most likely place is the Southern Wolf Pack's territory.

Because the Southern Wolf Pack's territory has already been designated as the experimental zone for Hui-3's Territory No. 7, anyone entering the Southern Wolf Pack's territory without permission will be identified as an invader who may be eliminated.

So, if the wanderers hide within the Southern Wolf Pack's territory and stay concealed well enough that the wolves don't notice them, they can avoid the search by human evolvers.

Another reason is that this batch of wanderers is very familiar with the Southern Wolf Pack's territory, because their own territory partially overlaps with it. Staying in this overlap zone would make them feel more secure.

Moreover, after some team members were killed or captured, the wanderers still on the run, out of caution, probably won't plant evolved white-cogon grass to protect themselves in the Evolution Forest areas accessible to humans. But they don't know the wolf packs have already achieved information-sharing with humans. Wanderers hiding in the core territory of a wolf pack or tiger pack may still use this method to build a "wall" during the blight-snow period, thereby exposing their hiding place.

So this time, it's likely the wolf packs that will manage to capture the wanderers.

Xie Yu immediately replied, "No worries. As long as the wolf packs don't join the fight, even if we can't find the wanderers, we can take the chance to dig up the valuable medicinal herbs in these few zones — that'll earn plenty too."

The Southern raptors have no brain-domain evolvers, so humans moving through the Evolution Forest in protective suits don't disturb them much and won't provoke raptor attacks. The Southern Hyena Pack just changed its leader not long ago and is still in a turbulent period — morale is low and combat strength is insufficient, so during the blight-snow period they definitely won't patrol their territory frequently. If the wolf packs don't block us, this is a perfect chance for the Azure Dragon squad to raid the hyenas' home!

Yang Jin gazed with a smile at the blight snow drifting outside the window and reminded him, "Leave some grass roots. We've got to keep it sustainable."

"Understood." Xie Yu also reminded Yang Jin, "Brother Jin, captain, you absolutely must shamelessly cling tight to Sister Qing's thigh and never let go! I, your little brother, don't ask for much — once you've made it big, just take me along on a few team-ups with the wolf packs. If you can get me to ride a giant wolf, you'll be my daddy from then on."