Chapter 1394: The Pupil Outdoes the Teacher — Xia Qing

Yang Jin nodded. "Those three are all guardian dogs of Blazing Fire Mountain — respectively evolved in smell, hearing, and sight. Last month when Old Four launched a beast tide to attack Blazing Fire Mountain, all three dogs were taken away by Qu Fangzhou. This time they were brought into Mountain 36 by the mission squad to improve the squad's reconnaissance capability and safety factor."

Xia Qing was surprised — mastiffs could be used like that?

Without Xia Qing having to say it, Yang Jin knew what she was thinking and answered directly, "Although mastiffs have relatively high strength, endurance, and tenacity, with an extremely strong territorial instinct, they lack speed and agility, their personalities are too independent, and their obedience to humans isn't high either, so they're more suited to serve as guardian dogs for fixed areas. Qu Fangzhou letting them follow the mission squad out on a mission — I suspect it's because, first, she values this mission very highly, yet she doesn't have any tamed beasts more suitable than these three mastiffs in her hands; second, she hasn't reached a deep cooperation with Hui Five's battle squad or the military, so she can't borrow their combat strength or tamed beasts to carry out the mission."

The original top-ranked Hui One First Battle Squad, Blazing Fire, had its combat strength decline, and was short on personnel, supplies, and tamed beasts.

Xia Qing's mood lifted. "Those three mastiffs didn't die — they were taken away by Old Four."

"These three mastiffs were previously stationed at Blazing Fire Mountain, so they must have used their sense of smell to memorize the auras of the vast majority of Blazing Fire battle squad members. Although Blazing Fire Mountain is in the southern part of the Hui One safe zone, Old Four's range of activity is very wide, so it should have seen these three mastiffs before. I suspect that Old Four's purpose in taking these three mastiffs is to use their abilities to lock onto the auras of its enemies."

After speculating on Old Wolf's purpose in taking the mastiffs, Yang Jin handed Xia Qing a cup of honey water and laughed unkindly. "From now on, when members of the Blazing Fire battle squad move about in the Evolution Forest, the likelihood of being attacked by wolf packs, tiger packs, or jackal packs will be very high."

Xia Qing continued to reason downward. "Not only will the danger increase, the supplies the Blazing Fire battle squad obtains from the Evolution Forest will also decrease. If Lan Five's Mad Sand battle squad puts in some extra effort, they should be able to reach cooperation with the Fire Phoenix."

Yang Jin picked up his tea cup. "Not one, but three. Wu Cangsong's own, the Green Dragon battle squad's assistance, and Sister Qing's assistance."

A strong dragon doesn't suppress a local snake.

The straight-line distance between the Hui Three safe zone and the Lan Five safe zone exceeds 1000 kilometers. After Lan Five's Mad Sand battle squad learned that the Sea of Death had such a scarce resource as unpolluted spring water, they didn't drive away the Green Dragon battle squad to monopolize the spring — besides the Green Dragon battle squad being powerfully strong, there was another reason:

Green Dragon Captain Yang Jin's girlfriend Xia Qing is someone the top-tier medical boss Zhang San trusts very much. By getting on this line, Wu Cangsong might be able to invite Zhang San, that great Buddha, to see his sick daughter.

Xia Qing had already guessed this point before; now that Yang Jin had made it explicit, Xia Qing had only one feeling: dealing with smart people really saves worry.

She raised her water cup and clinked it lightly against Yang Jin's, making a promise. "As long as what Wu Cangsong offers in exchange isn't a prohibited-for-exchange drug, I'll go talk to Third Brother for you — no big problem."

Yang Jin's heart trembled slightly at the crisp clink, and a kind of numbing sensation beyond words instantly flowed through his whole body — his brain no longer hurt, and his fatigue vanished!

After tipping his head back for a dry toast, Yang Jin leaned forward slightly, his smile more brilliant than a Devastation-evolved rose. "The anesthetic Sister Qing used yesterday to single-handedly capture Blazing Fire's ten-person squad — does it belong to Third Brother's prohibited-for-exchange drugs?"

Too smart — and not worry-saving either!

Previously, to catch Peng Yuancai, Third Brother had brought out this kind of drug; afterward, Xie Yu had called Xia Qing to ask if it could be exchanged, and of course was refused by Xia Qing.

This time, seeing that the cave on Mountain 36 had no signs of fighting or struggling, and that six people and four beasts had fallen into a deep coma, Yang Jin guessed that what Xia Qing used wasn't the anesthetic bullet he had given her.

Because Zhang San's drug had too heaven-defying an effect, Yang Jin, knowing full well an exchange was impossible, still tried one last time out of sheer unwillingness to give up. Xia Qing had to wipe this notion from this iron rooster's brain this time, once and for all!

So Xia Qing also leaned forward slightly, her tone softer than his, her smile brighter than his. "Brother Jin's been using his brain too much, his memory's gotten worse? Then let me remind you one more time: this drug isn't just prohibited from exchange, it's also prohibited from being passed on. If the news leaks, your entire squad will be put on Third Brother's blacklist, and enjoy the same treatment as Tang Huai."

Although his evolved brain domain had precisely calculated what reaction Xia Qing would have after he asked this question, Yang Jin still underestimated Xia Qing's effect on him. With his self-control, he simply couldn't receive this extremely high-sugar address, tone, and smile without changing expression.

Seeing Yang Jin's face, ears, and neck all turning red at a speed visible to the naked eye, Xia Qing raised an eyebrow, and her eyes brightened.

Although when Yang Jin used a honey trap, she was also a bit dazed — but she didn't blush, this guy blushed!

In this round, Xia Qing's victory was very clear!

Xia Qing admired her fiery red battle result for a few seconds before standing up. "I'm going to get the earphones."

"Okay…"

Yang Jin had regained his reason, but his voice was still not quite under control, even more hoarse. "Sister Qing's skill is a cut above — this little brother is happy to concede defeat."

"Not a cut above, but the pupil outdoes the teacher — thanks for the guidance, Brother Jin." Xia Qing, who had finished putting on her protective suit, turned her head; the smile on her face had already been put away, restored to her outward commercial expression — that is, no expression.

After saying that, she fastened her protective mask, pushed open the door, and left the conference room.

In just this short while, the outdoor temperature had already dropped to minus ten degrees; the indoor moisture had frozen into ice flowers on the window. After Xia Qing went out, Yang Jin couldn't even see her figure anymore.

When the familiar car engine sound rose, Yang Jin, who had been staring at the window flowers in a daze, leaned back against the wooden chair's backrest, the corners of his mouth slowly curving upward into a happy arc.

Xia Qing didn't have any of Yang Jin's romantic thoughts at all. With one hand on the steering wheel, she pressed the walkie-talkie button with the other and issued the task. "Eryong, the temperature's dropping now — you tell Xiaojiang to close the wheat shed's ventilation openings a bit smaller, and you go add firewood to the fire walls in the beekeeping greenhouse and the breeding greenhouse. Watch the temperature and humidity changes inside the greenhouses. I have to go to the Ninth Center — I'm leaving the territory to you guys."

Cooling has both advantages and disadvantages: it can slow the growth rate of Devastation grass and reduce the activity of insects other than snow-jumping bugs, but it can also frostbite the wheat seedlings. So the current focus of disaster prevention is to protect the crops and animals well, keeping them from harm caused by the rapid temperature drop.

Eryong responded, "Copy that, we're closing the ventilation openings right now. I'll head to the greenhouse immediately — rest assured, Sister Qing."

"Good. There are buns and tea soup in the small kitchen — remember to go eat breakfast when you're done." Xia Qing went home, took the noise-canceling earphones, added firewood to the fireplace, and also took two large rechargeable batteries that Brother Sheep had fully charged last night and placed them in the laboratory, to prevent the lab from losing power after the temperature drop and the equipment shutting down and freezing Zhang Shi and Little Yiyi.