Chapter 1385: One Foot on Top of the Pyramid

Xia Qing nimbly climbed onto the black giant wolf's back and continued on her way.

The Blind-Eye Tiger stuck out its tongue to lick the food residue from its mouth, then turned and left. Clearly it also knew that being active outside during the Killing Snow period was very dangerous, and it needed to hide as soon as possible.

Seeing the Blind-Eye Tiger leave, Xia Qing understood that it had accepted her, and that it had a decent relationship with the western wolf pack, which was why it allowed her and the wolves to move about within its territory.

During the third Killing Rain, after the Blind-Eye Tiger was lured by drifters using a special scent into the valley of Mountain 37, it merely roared at the wolf pack and didn't actually fight. Later, when the Blind-Eye Tiger mistook Xia Qing for an enemy and charged down the valley to kill her, the Northern Wolf King issued a battle command to protect her, rushing into the valley alongside the western wolf pack to block the Blind-Eye Tiger.

As for the Blind-Eye Tiger accepting her, Xia Qing also thought it was quite normal. After all, she had treated its wounds, administered Killing-Suppressant to reduce the killing elements in its body, brought it medicine when it was sick, and fed it Yi Snakes in the hot spring lake—she had practically maxed out its affection. Let alone the Blind-Eye Tiger being a brain-domain evolver; even if it were an ordinary beast, it shouldn't hurt her... right?

Xia Qing pulled her gaze back and focused entirely on what lay ahead.

After trudging through the snow for a few hundred meters, the leading western wolf king ducked under a massive boulder. Xia Qing jumped off the wolf's back, stuffed a pack of freeze-dried food into the wolf's mouth, and crawled in after it.

After crawling forward for a stretch, they entered a damp, dark mountain cave. The environment reminded Xia Qing of the cave she had passed through during the third Killing Rain, when the lead wolf had taken her to the blue-skinned drifters on Mountain 37.

Xia Qing activated the low-light night-vision lens inside her protective mask. Following the western wolf king through twists and turns for over ten minutes, she finally rendezvoused with the Broken-Waist Wolf, and the western wolf king retreated back the way it had come.

The Broken-Waist Wolf, staring outside, gave a flick of its tail, signaling Xia Qing to lie down beside it.

Because the temperature outside the cave had already dropped below zero, the water droplets at the cave entrance had frozen into ice, blocking part of the view, but also better concealing the people and wolves inside. Xia Qing lay down directly beside the wet Broken-Waist Wolf, observing the situation outside through the small ice-covered opening.

It was now completely dark. Xia Qing couldn't use her night-vision lens to distinguish the color of the killing grass growing over two meters tall six hundred meters away, but based on the leaf characteristics, it should be the same species as the one on Mountain 55. The most obvious things under the night-vision lens were the cameras hanging beneath the rocks on the left and right sides of the killing grass area.

Xia Qing lowered her voice and asked, "Broken-Waist, do you see the cameras?"

As the Broken-Waist Wolf nodded, the dozen or so water droplets on its head quickly dripped down.

The Broken-Waist Wolf was wearing protective clothing, but its head wasn't covered by a human full-coverage protective mask that would impair its sense of smell, hearing, and limit its biting attack power, so its head had been soaked by the constantly dripping water in the cave.

"Cameras mean there are definitely humans hiding in the killing grass." The people inside were just taking advantage of the Blind-Eye Tiger not knowing what these things were, which was why they dared to hang them so brazenly.

The Blind-Eye Tiger didn't recognize them, but the Broken-Waist Wolf did. Not only did it recognize them, it had studied them carefully. Xia Qing praised, "From our current position, the two cameras definitely can't catch us. Broken-Waist, you're amazing. Old Four and the others are still on their way. Let's wait until they reach their destination, then move at the same time, okay?"

The Broken-Waist Wolf, staring outside, bared its small fang tips, then shook its head hard. The water droplets flung off splashed onto Xia Qing's protective suit and mask.

Xia Qing immediately pulled a rain sheet and five steel wires from her backpack, quickly set up a rain shelter large enough for herself and the Broken-Waist Wolf, then took out an absorbent towel from her backpack, quickly wiped the fur on the Broken-Waist Wolf's head, and sent a message to Yang Jin.

On Mountain 23 of Hui-3, Yang Jin, carrying Wang Man on his back, reported the situation over the walkie-talkie: "Captain, Xia Qing has rendezvoused with the Broken-Waist Wolf and the western wolf king on Mountain 36. Confirmed there's a large patch of killing grass catalyzed by evolved Bai Mao grass over there, and cameras have been set up. Humans are using the cameras in the killing grass to monitor activity outside."

The goggles Xia Qing had brought were given to the Scarface Little Wolf. The old wolf is now wearing goggles provided by Yang Jin, which also come with Bluetooth communication functionality.

After the report, seeing no reaction from Old Four up ahead, Vice Captain Huo Zhun, carrying Mao Jin on his back, reminded him: "Captain, do we need to alert the wolf team members stationed at Mountain 24 to avoid the cameras?"

Old Four, leading the run, showed no sign of stopping and continued on his way.

Wang Man reminded Huo Zhun: "The southern wolf pack's territory is now an experimental zone. There's a ring of cameras around the perimeter of the territory. The captain and the wolf pack's Cui-Yan Wolf King definitely recognize cameras."

Right!

Huo Zhun immediately roused himself to execute the task with full concentration. He felt that if he made another mistake, his position as vice captain might not be safe.

On Mountain 36 of Hui-3, Xia Qing handed her phone to the Broken-Waist Wolf, letting it see the message from Yang Jin that they had already reached their destination at Mountain 24.

After the Broken-Waist Wolf looked it over, Xia Qing asked, "Shall we begin the operation?"

The Broken-Waist Wolf, staring intently outside, grinned, baring its small fang tips. Xia Qing immediately typed four characters to Yang Jin: Begin operation.

On Mountain 24, slightly breathless Yang Jin listened to the message played through his Bluetooth earpiece, then reported over the walkie-talkie: "Captain, Xia Qing has received our arrival message. She and Broken-Waist have begun the operation."

Old Four nodded solemnly, glanced at Yang Jin and Huo Zhun, then turned around. Old Four had already acknowledged Yang Jin's running ability and decided to take him to execute the next phase of the mission.

Seeing Old Four's action, Huo Zhun immediately pointed at his team members one by one and asked: "Does the captain mean that Mao Jinfeng executes the sniper mission here, Man Jie stays here to protect Mao Jinfeng, and I and Brother Jin follow the captain to execute other missions?"

Old Four nodded.

This sniper position was indeed good, but the old wolf had chosen it based on Xia Qing's sniper skill level. Huo Zhun asked: "Brother Feng, can you hit targets in the killing grass from here?"

Mao Jinfeng shook his head.

He was a Level-5 visual evolver. Previously, due to lack of training time, his sniper skill had remained at intermediate level. After starting the mission to protect Xia Qing and Territory Three last year, Mao Jinfeng's squad gained more training time. After a year of hard training, both he and Liangzi had raised their sniper skills to advanced level. Limited by sniper talent, no matter how much they trained, they couldn't become top-tier snipers, so Mao Jinfeng didn't feel upset, because he had already done the best he could.

"Captain, I need to move forward 200 meters to hit the target with my sniper rifle."

The old wolf, wearing goggles, bared its fangs in a silent roar.

Using the Qing-style communication method he had learned over the past year or more in Territory Three, Mao Jinfeng explained to the old wolf: "Fourth Brother, Sister Qing is a sniper standing at the very top of the human pyramid. Among the more than 1.8 million people in our entire base, only Sister Qing and Brother Luo have reached the top-tier level. I'm an advanced sniper, just a little behind Sister Qing, and among humans I'm also very excellent... with one foot on top of the pyramid."

Seeing Old Four slowly retract his fangs, Huo Zhun secretly gave a thumbs-up: Awesome!

Yang Jin: Never knew Mao Jinfeng was this good with words.