Chapter 1509: The Wolf Squad That Takes Human Missions

"Very good, Handsome Wolf Bro has successfully completed the mission to escort two humans that he took from me, so he can receive the mission reward of 500 points."

If humans were to escort Zhang Shi and Yiyi through more than three hundred li of Evolution Forest, the risk level of this mission would be at least B-rank, and a quote lower than 2500 points would definitely not get any squad to take it.

Because humans operating in Evolution Forest—especially deep in Evolution Forest—face a very high danger coefficient. Considering further that Zhang Shi is a Recovery-type Evolver, the difficulty level of this trip immediately skyrockets to S-rank, and the price would rocket upward too.

But getting evolved wolves to do the escort is different, because the territory this pack of evolved wolves passes through all belongs to the outer domains of their north and south wolf pack allies. The mission difficulty level doesn't even reach C, so the reward naturally drops. Therefore, when the human-wolf agent Xia Qing hired Broken-Waist Wolf, the mission reward she offered was a package price of 500 points.

Using a "package price" to settle the mission reward is to guard against some shrewd wolf bringing over twenty wolves on the mission and then demanding payment per wolf head.

Having taken two companions out for a spin and earned 500 points, Broken-Waist Wolf happily revealed four little pointed fangs, signaling Xia Qing to quickly transfer the points to it.

"Alright, I'll transfer the points to Handsome Wolf Bro right away! Handsome Wolf Bro truly is an evolved wolf standing at the top of Blue Star's pyramid—he can even take missions from humans to earn points!"

To boost Broken-Waist Wolf's sense of accomplishment, Xia Qing didn't bring up the matter of selling goods directly. She took out her points card and card reader, then pulled out Broken-Waist Wolf's flashy points card and transferred 500 points to it.

Selling goods could wait until it was leaving. Xia Qing asked whether any unexpected situations had occurred during the mission. "Did you run into any humans on the road?"

Broken-Waist Wolf closed its mouth.

"Handsome Wolf Bro truly is Handsome Wolf Bro—the route you chose was very safe! Did you run into any other fierce beasts?"

Broken-Waist Wolf raised its wet, big head and opened its mouth wide.

"Did you run into Blind-Eye Tiger Fifth?"

Xia Qing used a dry towel to wipe its head and tail, took off its protective suit, and asked, "Did you go into the tiger clan's territory?"

Broken-Waist Wolf closed its mouth and raised a paw to point at the two bags beside it.

Xia Qing opened the bags. One bag contained the protective suits worn by Big Guy and Number Two, and the other bag held three rabbits. "Alright, I'll clean and maintain the protective suits for you, Big Guy, and Number Two, and then roast the rabbits for the Queen. You didn't go into Blind-Eye Tiger's territory, so where did you run into it?"

Broken-Waist Wolf, lying beside Xia Qing, tapped two characters on its phone:

22.

Xia Qing, who was working briskly, glanced at it and continued asking, "At Mountain 22? How did it end up in the southern wolf pack's territory? Did Fourth tell it about the bad humans possibly invading? You don't know? Alright, I'll give Fourth a call later and ask…"

An hour later, Broken-Waist Wolf left Territory Three carrying two sets of protective suits, two roasted rabbits, and two pink bedsheets newly developed by Lan Yi.

Xia Qing cheerfully put away the points card, happily fed the freeloaders and Little Feimao, then hummed a little tune as she went to mix feed for Little Yellow Cow.

The fabric Yang Jin brought back this time was five meters in total, at a cost price of 3000 points per meter. Xia Qing took the goods from him at 3300 points per meter, and sold it to Broken-Waist Wolf at 3630 points per meter.

The discerning big spender Broken-Waist Wolf bought 3 meters in one go!

Why can't Xia Qing take the fabric from Yang Jin at cost price? Because Xia Qing isn't getting the fabric for her own use—she's buying and reselling it to earn points. According to the Green Dragon Squad's regulations, even senior employees' family members must pay 110% of the cost price when taking goods.

Dawn broke. The lords put on their warmest clothes and stepped out of their houses, beginning to cook breakfast, patrol their territories, feed poultry and livestock, and check on the growth of their crops. The lord channel also livened up.

"After two-something last night, when I got up to add firewood to the greenhouse, I found the temperature had dropped to minus 26 degrees!" Qi Fu remarked with feeling. "What's the temperature in everyone's greenhouses right now?"

Shi Zhong replied, "When I checked last night it was 13 degrees. That temperature is passable."

Wen Nengjie asked for advice, "Brother Qi, Brother Shi, at 13 degrees at night, chives, celery, and scallions should be fine, but cucumbers need a small shed, right?"

Qi Fu answered, "You've got to put one up. Otherwise the cucumbers will 'flower-hug-head' and stop growing upward. When setting up the shed, you also need to control the humidity. The anaerobic bacteria in the soil are very active now—if you don't control the humidity, disease will show up fast."

Wen Nengjie responded, "Alright, I'll set one up today. Whether the people in my territory can eat green-light meat over New Year depends entirely on the green-light cucumbers from these few vegetable beds."

With temperatures dropping and soil anaerobic bacteria evolving, farming difficulty has doubled. The lords need to put in double the effort to grow grain and vegetables.

Qi Fu asked, "Xia Qing, you there? What was the temperature in your shed last night?"

Xia Qing, who had already finished feeding the cattle and was busy in the greenhouse, pressed the walkie-talkie button. "17 degrees."

15-18 degrees is the ideal nighttime temperature for cucumbers during the fruiting period. Hearing that Xia Qing's greenhouse temperature was controlled so well, everyone was envious and kept asking her how she kept it warm.

Everyone's earthen walls were built in one go, with the same thickness and height, and they all used plastic film of 100-silk thickness. So why was the temperature inside Xia Qing's greenhouse higher?

Xia Qing answered, "The weather forecast said it would get cold, so during the day yesterday I swapped the straw mats covering the greenhouse for dry, thicker ones."

The straw mats covering the greenhouse plastic film are one of the main methods of nighttime insulation for greenhouses. Swapping in dry, thicker straw mats does indeed keep things warmer. Xia Qing wasn't in her territory, but she had hired the Beard Feng squad to guard the territory and do work. The one who swapped her straw mats yesterday was the Level-5 Strength Evolver Guan Tong.

Zhu Li also came online. "I swapped mine the day before yesterday. Last night's temperature was 15 degrees."

"15 degrees is fine too. I'll swap mine today!" Wen Nengjie immediately came online to make his presence felt. "Sister Qing and Sister Li are really diligent. I have to learn from you. Like Brother Qi says, when people are diligent, the land isn't lazy—the more diligent you are, the more you harvest."

After a while, Wen Nengjie came online again. "Damn it! The hay I stored in the warehouse has gone moldy and grown fur!"

Everyone…

"Attention all lords:" Inspection Squad Captain Tan Junjie came online to issue a warning. "Temperatures have been dropping recently. When everyone is burning firewood or coal indoors and in greenhouses to keep warm, you must pay attention to ventilation. Last night, a personnel casualty incident occurred in one territory due to a ventilation problem."

Hearing that someone had died, Xia Qing, who was holding a shovel, paused for a moment, then continued clearing out the chicken coop.

Huo Zhun asked, "Captain Tan, which territory had the incident last night?"

Zhao Ze came online, his voice weary. "Mine. Of the two people who went to the greenhouse to add fire last night, one is dead and one is injured."

The meaning of "currently" was that the one still alive wouldn't be alive much longer. After a moment of silence, Qi Fu reminded everyone, "Everyone must be extra careful. We've made it through so many natural disasters—Year Twelve of the disasters is almost here. We can't fall to carbon monoxide poisoning. When going into the greenhouse at night to add fire, if two people aren't safe, then go in groups of three."

Hearing Qi Fu say this, Tang Huai, who had just woken up in bed, immediately came online. "Sister Qing, do you need to hire someone to guard your territory at night?"

"No need."

Everyone…

Di Ming came online. "Everyone, hurry up and check the internet. The safety zone's announcement about yesterday's explosion incident has been posted."