Chapter 1403: Hearts Connected by a Single Thread

After receiving the mission, Xia Qing bid farewell to the three teammates she would be working with on today's sniping mission, left the tent, met up with Eryong, and set off on foot toward the sample collection site—Hui-1 Mountain Area 28 Sinkhole.

They were now in a red-grade Calamity Snow period. After this round of Calamity Snow, two more rounds of orange-grade would follow, and the atmospheric Calamity element concentration would not drop to a level safe for helicopter flight for at least three more hours. So Xia Qing had no choice but to run there.

The energy consumption of sprinting at full speed was enormous for non-speed Evolvers. Eryong, a speed Evolver, had been brought along so that when Xia Qing's stamina dropped and her pace slowed, he could carry her on his back for a stretch, letting her recover before running again on her own.

A speed Evolver's energy consumption while running was far lower than that of other types of Evolvers—that was the difference between Evolved and non-Evolved. Through grueling training, Xia Qing had reached a running speed close to Level 5, but her energy consumption remained at a very high level. To reduce the energy cost of running, she would have to train even harder.

Watching Xia Qing leave with the Azure Dragon Squad members, Zhu Wei outside the command tent began daydreaming about a bright future. "Sister Qing doesn't seem to have a fixed partner for her sniper-recon role. If she'd take me, I'd retire from the army right now and apply to work at the Ninth Planting Center. When there are no missions, I'd farm; when there are missions, I'd go out with her and earn points."

Working at the Ninth Center had already become the top post-discharge employment choice for every soldier in Hui-3. Because this department, which gave hiring priority to disabled veterans, was filled with the brothers and sisters they had fought alongside for years—a place that felt safe and human.

Xia Wanxing nodded. "Me too. I can rejoin my unit by the end of this year, spend a few years guarding Brother San at Territory Seven, then go work at the Ninth Center. When there are missions, I can serve as Sister Qing's legs."

Xia Wanxing belonged to Hui-3 Special Forces Team Three. He had been on other missions for the past half year, and once those were finished he could rejoin his unit to carry out the mission of protecting Territory Seven.

A comrade beside him chimed in lazily, "Sister Qing has a top-tier speed-Evolved boyfriend. She doesn't lack legs."

Zhu Wei sighed. "Sister Qing really doesn't lack legs. Even if Captain Yang doesn't have time, there are still two speed-Evolved and one elasticity-Evolved veteran at Territory 11 in Northern Zone One, and a speed-Evolved veteran at Territory 15. That Azure Dragon Squad member who teamed up with her just now is a Level 5 speed Evolver."

Xia Wanxing……

After sprinting for fifteen minutes through the red-grade Calamity Snow, Xia Qing, already gasping for breath and needing to borrow some legs, climbed onto Eryong's back, quickly adjusted her breathing and condition, then continued running on her own legs.

Finally, ten minutes after the orange-grade Calamity Snow began, the two left Mountain Area 26 and entered the fringe territory of the Southern Wolf Pack—Hui-1 Mountain Area 27.

After passing through Mountain Areas 27 and 28, they would reach the core territory of the wolf pack!

Xia Qing drank an X Nutrient Solution to replenish her stamina and had been running for less than ten minutes when she suddenly saw the old wolf of the Southern Wolf Pack walk out from under a rock beside the beast trail and stand in front of her and Eryong.

Xia Qing stopped, panting, and asked, "Old Four… here to wait for me?"

The old wolf nodded solemnly.

Xia Qing, still catching her breath, smiled. What is it to have hearts connected by a single thread? This is it.

When she saw Lord Cui Yan leading the wolf pack out to attack during the Calamity Snow period, Xia Qing had guessed that Old Four would come find her after the battle.

Because the Southern Wolf Pack had only about thirty wolves left. During such a dangerous period as the Calamity Snow, when they clearly knew humans had already spread out in formation to resist the beast tide, the two leaders of the Southern Wolf Pack still led the main members of the pack into battle—they must have had a plan in place.

Their plan was probably to trade potions with her.

So after the sniping mission ended, Xia Qing had braved the Calamity Snow and hurried to the core territory of the wolf pack.

At the same time, the old wolf was also on his way to find her.

The solemn old wolf turned his head and looked at Eryong beside Xia Qing.

Eryong immediately brushed the accumulated snow off his protective mask and started trying to get friendly. "Fourth Brother, I'm Eryong, the one who guards Sister Qing's territory. The way you crashed into that big cypress tree just now was seriously cool—worthy of an Evolved wolf standing at the top of Blue Star's pyramid!"

Xia Qing……

Old Four stopped looking at Eryong and turned his gaze back to Xia Qing.

Xia Qing took a test tube from her backpack and handed it to Eryong. "Go collect samples of the Calamity-Evolved Fungus in Danger Zone Five. When you get close to the danger zone, you absolutely must not take off your protective mask, and you need to turn on your infrared goggles. The mid-level Calamity-Evolved Fungus there looks like a small cluster of pennywort, but it's colorless and transparent—you can't see it with the naked eye. Stay safe. After you get the samples, come back here and wait for me. If you run into danger, call me and I'll have Old Four send wolves to back you up."

"Understood." Eryong took the test tube, said hello to the old wolf again, and sped off toward the sinkhole in Mountain Area 28.

Xia Qing pulled a folding umbrella from her backpack, opened it to shield the old wolf from the falling Calamity Snow, then reached up to brush the freshly fallen snowflakes off his fur.

Although the old wolf wore a Yi Stone necklace that could drive away the active Calamity elements in the air around his body, snowflakes containing excessive Calamity elements landing on his fur would still cause him some harm.

"Old Four, where are the wolf pack members who fought the beast tide with you just now? They need to drink Calamity-Reduction Potions. You and Lord Cui Yan should drink some too—to lower the Calamity elements in your bodies, boost your resistance, and become even stronger."

Old Four listened to Xia Qing's panting. Once her paws stopped ruffling his fur, he looked up at the umbrella above, then turned and led the way slowly ahead.

Seeing Old Four's condition, Xia Qing knew that no member of the Southern Wolf Pack had been seriously injured or was showing obvious symptoms of Calamity Evolution.

She relaxed a lot too, and chattered away while holding the umbrella. "Today we finally wiped out that Broken-Brow Monkey—one less major threat in the Evolution Forest. I noticed the speed-Evolved leopard at the very front of the beast tide had no scar on its head and no collar around its neck. Did it team up with the Broken-Brow Monkey? Does Old Four have a grudge against that leopard too?"

The old wolf didn't look back and kept walking forward.

"Old Four, did you and Yang Jin get a lot of supplies from those four blue-skinned wanderers you caught last night? Duan Yao and I haven't sorted through the loot yet—we've been busy until now…"

"Old Four, the two Calamity-Reduction Potions I brought this time are the only two left from the last batch. This kind of potion is very expensive…"

Hearing that Xia Qing's breathing had steadied, the old wolf immediately sped up and plunged into the Calamity Snow. Xia Qing immediately closed the umbrella and chased after him.

After wolf and human leapt over a not-very-tall hill in the Calamity Snow, they entered a valley, then went upstream along a stream that hadn't frozen yet, and ducked into a mountain cave hidden by dense shrubs.

Once inside the cave, Xia Qing saw seven pairs of green, eerie wolf eyes in the pitch-black interior. She put down her low-light night-vision lens and greeted the wolf king standing at the very front. "Queen Cui Yan, the way you charged at that speed-Evolved leopard just now was seriously cool—worthy of a powerhouse standing at the top of Blue Star's pyramid!"

After seeing Lord Cui Yan studying teaching videos alongside Old Four, Xia Qing had changed her way of addressing it from "Cui Yan" to "Queen Cui Yan," to avoid the fellow getting upset about its name once it gained more knowledge.

To be fair, Xia Qing also changed her way of addressing the Western Wolf King from "Handsome Giant Wolf's Brother" to "Lord Wolf King."

Lord Cui Yan turned her head and looked at a companion behind her.

Xia Qing understood. "A wolf is injured? Let me see how bad the wound is."