Chapter 1441: Xiao Liu's Cousin

After laying out the stones, Zhang Xun brought the two research assistants to calibrate the environmental control system and monitoring equipment. The lords couldn't help with this, so everyone gathered by the chicken coops, debated at length whose territory raised the best chickens, and then started chatting.

Zhao Ze sincerely apologized to Xia Qing, "Qing-jie, I'm truly sorry. This time I failed to keep proper oversight."

Xia Qing shook her head. "Lucky we caught it early—no damage done. Even the inspection team couldn't find it; we're not professionals, so we had even less chance."

If ranked by strength, Territory Four was the weakest in the alliance, which wasn't entirely bad for Xia Qing. If Zhao Ze's territory had evolvers or ordinary people with extremely high vigilance, the wolves' frequent trips into Territory Three would have been discovered long ago.

Zhao Ze was deeply uneasy, afraid Xia Qing would distance herself from him over this, and solemnly vowed, "I've purchased professional detection equipment. From now on, no matter the day, I'll sweep my territory once every day to make sure no one can install any device in my territory that would harm Territory Three!"

Xia Qing nodded. "Thanks for your hard work."

"Not at all, it's what I should do!"

The Territory Law clearly defines the lord's liability for damages caused by personnel within the territory, so this really was what Zhao Ze ought to do.

After confirming Xia Qing wasn't angry, Zhao Ze, whose nerves had been taut for over a dozen hours, finally relaxed and began telling his allies what had happened.

Hearing it through, everyone couldn't help feeling a chill of dread. Xia Qing's territory had few people, but she held several positions at once and often made phone calls to the outside world every day. Being bugged wouldn't just leak information—it would expose her movements.

Xia Qing was Hui Three's top sniper, and there was a bounty of 500,000 points on her head. People who wanted to claim the bounty and people who wanted to kill her to weaken Hui Three Base's overall combat strength—there were bound to be plenty of both!

Shi Du asked, "How did Qing-jie notice those two people in Territory Four acting strange?"

Xia Qing answered expressionlessly, "Yang Jin discovered it while patrolling the territory."

Hearing it was Yang Jin who found it, everyone felt it was only natural. He was top-tier combat power, rich in combat experience, and extremely vigilant. Xia Qing's handsome boyfriend, who was both strong and could cook—she'd really picked a good one.

Everyone glanced at each other and, without coordination, all missed Tang Huai. If he were here, he'd have been chattering away, spilling everyone's inner thoughts for them.

Watching Huo Zhun saw Zhao Ze lower his head, reached out and patted his shoulder, a silent comfort.

"I'm fine." Zhao Ze pulled himself together. "In these years of disaster, what haven't we been through, what haven't we seen? I've long since made peace with it. Those two are relatives of mine. When we fled for our lives at the start of the disaster years, we stuck together. When we couldn't make it in the Safe Zone and went out to farm, they didn't want to be lords, so I became one. Now that they see I'm doing well, they're resentful, think I gave them too few points."

"But I really didn't short them. Whatever my mom and I eat, they eat the same. In the territory's greenhouses, they can pick whatever vegetables they want..." Going on would be pointless, so Zhao Ze changed the subject. "When I get back, I need to go ask Wen Nengjie for advice—I'm far behind him when it comes to managing people."

Everyone nodded. Whether hauling corpses outside the Safe Zone in the old days or farming in the territory now, Wen Nengjie, with no powerful background and not an evolver either, had managed to gather dozens of people to work for him—that was his ability.

"Zhao-ge, I'll learn alongside you." Shi Du also felt Wen Nengjie was a capable man.

Yuan Yan asked, "Shi Du, is your territory planning to recruit people?"

Like Territory Three, Territory Ten didn't employ people long-term. Shi Du and his mother were both strength-type evolvers. The forty-plus mu of land that Territory Ten had reclaimed was usually managed by their family of three alone. They only hired people from Territory Fifteen, Center Nine, or the Green Dragon Squad when disasters struck. Normally, it was just their family of three in the territory, living a steady, down-to-earth life.

Shi Du answered, "Not hiring in the next few years. But once things settle down, we'll definitely need to expand our planting area, and we won't be able to handle it then. So I want to start learning now."

Watching Huo Zhun said cheerfully, "Du-ge, learn well. Once you've got it figured out, pass some experience on to me."

Yu Shou sighed. "After natural disasters come man-made ones. Within ten or twenty years, social order definitely won't recover to pre-disaster levels—and it may never reach that level again."

Everyone fell silent after hearing this.

In the first nine years before the disaster, natural disasters came one after another—acid rain, earthquakes, beast tides, killing rain, killing snow, thunderstorms, microbial evolution—humans had to band together to survive them. In the past two years, humanity had accumulated some experience dealing with natural disasters, and external survival pressure had eased, but conflicts between individuals, groups, bases, and nations had grown more intense.

The proportion of deaths caused by man-made disasters in the total death toll was rising year by year.

Zhao Ze agreed with Yu Shou's view. "Right, it definitely won't recover to pre-disaster levels."

Evolution had divided people into tiers from a physiological standpoint. Social resources and opportunities would inevitably tilt toward evolvers. For ordinary people like them...

Zhao Ze sighed silently. Why wasn't he an evolver...

Xia Qing calmly gave the order. "Xun-jie's side is done calibrating. Let's pack up and head back to the territory."

"Right, let's not think about stuff ten or twenty years out. Let's grab the chicken coop, the rabbit hutch, carry the water on our backs, and head back to the territory for a meal!"

Watching Huo Zhun's one line made everyone laugh.

As the allies went to pack up, Xia Qing took Zhang Xun to the lab beside the wooden cabin on the west side of the cave to complete the final handover.

This lab was an emergency shelter Zhang San had built for Zhang Shi and her daughter, who lived in the cave. Only Zhang Shi and her daughter could open the access system.

Before Zhang Shi left the cave, she deleted her and her child's information and entered Xia Qing's, so now only Xia Qing could open it.

After registering Zhang Xun's iris, fingerprint, and voice into the system, Xia Qing brought her inside for a tour. This would be Zhang Xun's team's workspace from now on.

Then Xia Qing took Zhang Xun to see the wooden cabin. "Xun-jie, you'll stay in these two cabins. Take a look and see if anything's missing—I'll bring it over this afternoon."

Zhang Xun went in and looked around. "The living conditions are already excellent—no need to add anything. Do you need me to look after these oil sunflowers?"

When Xia Qing didn't have time to come by, she'd ask Li Kai from Territory Fifteen to help tend the fields. With planting expert Zhang Xun volunteering to help, Xia Qing was of course happy. "If Xun-jie has the time, keep an eye on them for me."

"No problem." Zhang Xun pushed her glasses up and beamed. "After the oil sunflowers are harvested and pressed, could Qing-jie sell me five jin at a ten-percent discount? Don't worry, Qing-jie—I reported to San-ge before I came."

Zhang Xun was a lab technician for Territory Seven. Per the relevant regulations, she needed the lab supervisor's permission before contacting the outside world or exchanging supplies.

Xia Qing...

You don't know until you look, and once you do, it's a shock. Zhang Xun's smile and tone—weren't they a bit like Assistant Xiao Liu from Territory Nine, who had already joined Red Eleven Research Institute? If Xia Qing remembered correctly, their glasses even seemed to be the same model.

Could it be...

Zhang Xun smiled and extended her hand. "Let me introduce myself. My full name is Xun Wenying, a second-tier, second-class brain-domain evolver, and the cousin of former Territory Nine assistant Xiao Liu. My glasses are decorative too—same model as Xiao Liu's."

This was actually Xiao Liu's cousin!

Xia Qing smiled and extended her hand. "Xun-jie's observation skills are so impressive, you might already be at third tier. Find time to get retested sometime—I'll have San-ge give you a raise."

Zhang Xun smiled and corrected her. "My evolution is in emotion-capture ability and imagination. When I entered Territory Seven, I tested at second tier. San-ge said this valley is good for recuperation. He hopes I can reach third tier during my assignment here."

Xia Qing seized the chance to propose a trade. "Does Xun-jie want to trade for a green-light all-wood bath tub? Soak in the hot spring when you have time. San-ge said the spring water here is at the level of 'Beauty Soup.'"

Zhang Xun nodded immediately. "I'll take a large one!"