Chapter 1408: Hail Like Onions

"Boom—"

"Bang!"

"Crack!"

"Crack!!"

"Crack!!!"

"Hiss————"

The explosions caused by lightning igniting the high-density qiang elements in the air rang out one after another, the sounds growing louder and louder, drawing closer and closer to the bunker where Xia Qing was hiding.

Though the shockwaves from the explosions were blocked by the two layers of the bunker—the sturdy outer baffle and the inner air cushion—they still caused considerable trouble for the hearing-evolver, triggering tinnitus.

Blasted tree fragments and stones rained down on the canopy above the bunker. Xia Qing and the three people from the command post lay prone inside. She held up a protective shield, wore a special protective suit and mask, and kept her mouth open to balance the pressure on both sides of her eardrums, reducing the pressure differential and lessening the damage the explosions could do to her eardrums.

In the face of a disaster of this level, all Xia Qing could do was protect her weapons and supplies without getting hurt herself.

The bullfrog in her backpack? Hopefully this hibernating fellow can take a beating; otherwise, bringing it back would only add a dish to her idol's table.

The wolf pack? Old Four had safely weathered disasters far more severe than Lei Xue's qiang暴 many times. It was surely leading its companions to shelter in a very safe place right now.

Perhaps this disaster-hardened old wolf was hiding deep in a mountain cave, worrying about her safety.

After the string of explosions stopped, Xia Qing, whose ears were buzzing, heard the sound of impacts growing more and more frequent.

The team member lying beside her turned his head and shouted, "Sister Qing, is that hail?!"

No one dared to turn on their walkie-talkie in this weather, so all conversation had to be done by shouting.

Xia Qing answered calmly, "Yes."

"Hail in a heavy snowstorm…"

Seeing the young disaster-relief team member beside her, face hidden behind a protective mask, looking at her with mounting anxiety, Xia Qing—who was normally taciturn around strangers—decided to say a few more words to soothe his emotions. She didn't want the guy to get so worked up that he did something rash, or even lose control and undergo qiang evolution.

"The qiang explosion caused violent air currents, which triggered the hail. Unlike the hail in autumn or summer, the hail triggered by Lei Xue is harder and semi-transparent, with an onion-like layered structure inside."

The young team member's attention was successfully diverted. His eyes shining, he looked at Xia Qing and said, "Sister Qing isn't just an outstanding sniper, she's a meteorology expert too."

A meteorology expert? That was impossible. Xia Qing answered calmly, "I'm a Lord."

As a farmer who lived at the mercy of the heavens, how could she farm if she didn't even understand weather phenomena?

Another member of the Azure Dragon team explained, "Sister Qing, Meng Xin is a communications technical talent who came from the Gui-6 Base, so he doesn't know the climate on our side."

Unlike Hui-3 Base, which faced three qiang rains and one qiang snow a year, Gui-6 Base, located at the southernmost tip of Hua Country, had a warm climate, with the year's lowest temperature rarely dropping below zero. The people of the Gui-6 Safe Zone were also fighting disasters now, but what they faced was qiang rain.

Each base cultivated specialized personnel through training courses lasting one or two years to better respond to disasters. Those accepted for training included both evolvers and ordinary people. After completing training, they were dispatched to the front lines of disaster relief to become the technical force resisting natural disasters.

That was how the young Meng Xin was able to join the disaster-relief command post with his professional skills.

Back in the Safe Zone, Xia Qing had also wanted to go this route. Because although these technical talents worked on the front lines after graduation, they enjoyed high pay and excellent benefits. For instance, right now, the bunker Xia Qing was in had the highest disaster-relief rating and the best location.

To get into the training course, Xia Qing studied hard every night for half a year straight, but she didn't pass. Her grades weren't top-tier, and she had neither connections nor enough points to grease the way, so she gave up on that path.

Fifteen minutes later, the thumping of the hail finally stopped.

Deputy Commander Li Xuanyu spoke, "The most dangerous period has passed. Everyone turn on your walkie-talkies and confirm whether the channel is clear."

"Command Post Meng Xin, confirming walkie-talkie status."

"Command Post Zhang Xi, confirming walkie-talkie status."

"Command Post Deputy Commander Li Xuanyu, confirming walkie-talkie status." Deputy Commander Li Xuanyu also spoke. A few seconds later, Li Xuanyu said loudly, "The walkie-talkies are being interfered with, the signal isn't clear. The Commander is checking the situation inside each bunker. Zhang Xi, Meng Xin, debug the equipment immediately, contact the base as soon as possible, and confirm the latest weather conditions."

"Copy."

"Copy."

At the same time, Xia Qing also turned on her walkie-talkie and contacted her squad: "Sniper Xia Qing, confirming walkie-talkie communication status."

"Sniper… copy… hiss—"

Ma Jun's voice in her earpiece was intermittent. Xia Qing turned her head and reported, "Deputy Commander, Sniper Squad One's Xia Qing is unable to contact her squad leader."

Li Xuanyu immediately gave the order, "Copy that. Sister Qing, please keep a constant watch on the fan-shaped area from ten o'clock to two o'clock outside the bunker. Report to me immediately if you spot anything abnormal."

The qiang explosion attack had knocked out a lot of electronic equipment, so the command post needed a high-level visual evolver to take on the警戒 mission.

"Copy." When Xia Qing opened the bunker hatch and looked outside, she was deeply shaken by the scene before her.

The qiang element explosions had no flames or thick smoke, yet they had utterly destroyed this stretch of evolved forest.

The dense forest of dozens of towering trees that had stood before Xia Qing was now reduced to tree stumps of varying heights still standing in place, angrily pointing at the sky. These stumps gave Xia Qing a feeling strikingly similar to the row of gravestones beside the cabin she had seen the first time she entered the hidden valley of Mountain Fifty.

The branches that hadn't been completely destroyed by the qiang暴 took another hammering from the hail. Mixed with shrubs and wild grass, they stood stuck in the qiang snow, segment by segment, like thorns sprouting from the earth.

With the evolved forest gone to block it, the gale could no longer howl, and outside there was utter silence. The sound of Xia Qing pushing open the bunker hatch seemed to be the only sound in all of heaven and earth.

"Creak, crack, crack…"

A disaster-relief team member opened a bunker hatch and emerged carrying a wounded person, stepping over hail and branches as he walked toward the medical bunker, breaking the deathly silence.

"Disaster-relief Second Echelon bunker has been breached. Third Echelon Squad One, immediately proceed to provide rescue." Yang Jin appeared in Xia Qing's field of vision, shouted out the order, and vanished in a flash.

Then, Li Xuanyu's voice, the sounds of Zhang Xi and Meng Xin debugging equipment, and the sounds of bunker hatches being opened all rushed into Xia Qing's eardrums at once, pulling her out of her shock. She swiftly entered disaster-relief mode and calmly carried out the警戒 mission.

One minute later, Xia Qing requested, "Deputy Commander, the monitored area is clear of danger. Strength Evolver Xia Qing requests permission to go outside and join the rescue."

"Copy. Stay safe, Sister Qing."

"Will do." Xia Qing walked out of the bunker with her gun and first-aid kit, stepping over the slippery hail as she headed toward the place that needed her more.

Two hours later, Xia Qing tied the giant eagle's claws to the helicopter's landing gear, jumped into the cabin, hugged her rifle, and looked through the porthole at the vast stretches of evolved forest below that had been destroyed by the qiang explosion.

Hearing the helicopter, a gray evolved wolf quickly ran to the top of the mountain and let out a long howl at the helicopter flying overhead.