Chapter 1407: Raptors Take Flight, Lei Xue Begins

During the Calamity Years, helicopters were humanity's primary means of long-distance travel and a key protected resource for combat squads.

When the Azure Dragon Squad parked their two helicopters, they had already considered how to protect them from extreme calamities.

When Xia Qing burst out of the tent, besides Er Yong, who was dismantling the helicopter's rotor blades, and Peng Jian, who was dismantling the tail rotor, more than a dozen disaster-relief personnel were carrying out the animal carcasses that had just been loaded into the helicopter, reducing its weight—this made Xia Qing breathe a sigh of relief.

She charged forward through the gale and blizzard, first untying the two giant eagle talons bound to the helicopter's landing gear, then helped Er Yong remove the main rotor system including the five blades, rotor hub, and fittings, then strapped the five blades and the giant eagle talons tightly together with binding straps, hoisted them up, and went.

The main rotor system of a five-ton helicopter weighs about 900 jin in total, which wasn't heavy for Xia Qing, a level six and a half strength evolver, but with the strong wind and long blades now, she needed to devote part of her strength to fighting the wind, so she wasn't moving fast.

After transporting the main rotor system to the safe zone, Xia Qing also brought the tail rotor Peng Jian had dismantled to the safe zone, then together with Er Yong and more than a dozen squad members, used ropes to drag the helicopter's fuselage forward to the side of a solid rock face.

To protect the helicopter from blast attacks, a single rock face wasn't enough.

Four level three to four strength evolvers and non-evolver members of the logistics support squad quickly bound steel pipes into a shield, then braced it diagonally against the solid rock face to shelter the helicopter beneath it. Then, with safety ropes tied around their waists, several people quickly climbed the steel frame, drilled holes in the rock face, installed expansion bolts, secured the shield, then together pulled up a thickened protective layer and rainproof cloth to drape over the steel frame, blocking blast particle streams and flying rock debris from striking the helicopter.

These tasks didn't require Xia Qing's participation—she was a high-level strength evolver, and her main mission was to quickly transport supplies to the safe zone.

After moving her own helicopter, she worked with other strength evolvers to transfer the Azure Dragon Squad's other helicopter and the military helicopter to the safe zone, then began trip after trip of carrying seized supplies to hide them in the safe zone, covering and compacting them.

After all supplies had been moved to the safe zone, the logistics support personnel all entered the bunker to rest, taking shelter from the thunder snow and blasts that could come at any moment.

Xia Qing first rushed to Yang Jin, who was directing disaster relief, to retrieve her backpack and sniper rifle, then ran into the evolver forest with lower terrain and uniformly dense vegetation, found the bunker marked "Command Post," and ducked inside.

This disaster-shelter bunker was built in a rocky depression within the dense forest, with a felled large tree pressing down on top. The space inside wasn't large, but it could still fit five or six people taking shelter. Deputy Disaster Relief Commander Li Xuanyu and two disaster-relief squad members responsible for liaison tasks were holding notebooks or phones, communicating with various parties.

Seeing Xia Qing come in, Li Xuanyu immediately put down his phone and pointed at the inflatable changing room in the corner of the tent. "Qing-jie, you've worked hard—quickly go in and change into some dry clothes."

Running and carrying heavy objects in a short time causes muscles to generate large amounts of heat, leading to a rapid rise in the body's core temperature. In this situation, the body expels large amounts of sweat to cool itself—this is a physiological reaction beyond subjective control. The sweat is absorbed by the clothing worn, creating a slightly damp environment inside the non-breathable winter protective suit, leading to extremely dangerous symptoms of hypothermia.

Although what Xia Qing wore closest to her skin was moisture-wicking quick-dry underwear, since conditions allowed for changing clothes, of course she had to change into dry underwear as soon as possible to ensure her body was in optimal condition to face the next phase of the calamity.

After changing clothes, Xia Qing confirmed that none of the four people in the command post needed to change, then deflated the inflatable bag and packed it away, then took out her phone. After confirming that the Northern Zone One territory hadn't received a thunder snow warning, she breathed a deep sigh of relief.

When she had just heard about the thunder snow calamity, her first worry had been for her companions in her territory. Although there were people guarding and protecting her territory, Xia Qing still couldn't help worrying.

After confirming the territory was safe, Xia Qing put her phone aside, picked up her sniper rifle, and was about to continue maintenance when the phone screen lit up again.

Broken-Waist Wolf was video-calling her.

Xia Qing immediately turned down the volume on her Bluetooth earpiece, adjusted the angle to make sure no one else could see her screen, then answered the call and greeted in a lowered voice, "Duan-ge."

Hmm?!

Hearing Xia Qing's familiar tone and familiar form of address, the three Azure Dragon squad members in the command post couldn't help pricking up their ears.

"... I'm still at Hui One Number Twenty-Six Mountain, near the southern wolf pack's territory. Disaster relief is over, but thunder snow and blasts are about to hit here, so I can't return to my territory for now. How are things in your territory?"

Hmm hmm hmm? This person who could make Qing-jie speak so pleasantly was also a lord? There's no lord surnamed Duan in Northern Zone One—which lord has the character "Duan" in their name? The three Azure Dragon squad members exchanged glances and saw the gossip fire burning fiercely in each other's eyes.

Broken-Waist Wolf, hiding in its den, looked up above, waved its left front paw once, then lowered its head to look at Xia Qing on the screen.

Xia Qing understood. "Duan-ge saw the raptor?"

Broken-Waist Wolf immediately bared its lips, revealing its snow-white, adorable little fang tips.

"Got it, thanks for the heads-up, Duan-ge. I'll deploy immediately. You don't need to worry about my territory—protect your own, and I'll call you back when I return."

Xia Qing hung up the phone and immediately tapped out a flurry of messages, sending warnings to her idol, Luo-ge, and the personnel guarding Territories Forty-Nine, Three, and the Ninth Center, alerting them that a raptor had appeared in northern Hui Three and was flying toward the territory, then opened the gun case and continued maintaining her sniper rifle.

Xia Qing wasn't too worried that the raptor flying toward the territory would damage the farmland and facilities inside, because it wasn't the time slot when Luo-ge was soaking in his medicinal bath. With him and the laser cannon at Territory Seven, the raptor definitely couldn't threaten the safety of the core members' territories in the territory alliance or the Ninth Center.

Other territories? That was Tan Junjie's responsibility, not something Xia Qing should worry about.

Xia Qing put down her phone, had just unzipped the gun case, when the phone rang again. She picked it up and saw the two characters "Zhang San" appear on the screen, and breathed a deep sigh of relief. "San-ge."

Thank goodness—the one calling her wasn't Daigua, wasn't Fourth, and wasn't the Queen...

Zhang San asked, "Supplies all moved?"

Xia Qing replied, "Yeah, supplies are all hidden, the helicopters are hidden too, we're sheltering in the underground bunker now."

"Blasts are extremely dangerous. Although your protective suit's grade isn't low, you're too slow—you can't dodge flying rocks and tree debris. Best to stay put in the bunker..."

"Rumble rumble—"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Before Zhang San could finish speaking, Xia Qing heard thunder and the violent explosions that followed. Thunder snow had begun.