Chapter 1511: Zhao Ze's Request

Xia Qing followed Zhao Ze through the Thorn Gate of Territory Four and entered the North Buffer Forest inside the territory.

Once they were out of the camera surveillance range on the iron-mesh wall of the North Isolation Belt, Zhao Ze immediately pulled out his phone, but in his panic he couldn't hold it steady; the phone slipped and smashed toward the ground.

Before it hit the ground, Xia Qing lifted her foot and kicked it up, caught it in her hand, and handed it back to Zhao Ze.

"Thanks, Sister Qing." Zhao Ze steadied himself, then opened his phone and showed Xia Qing a page of text he had typed up in advance, so she would understand why he was standing here.

Locking the stable door after the horse has bolted.

After the traitor appeared inside Territory Four last time, Zhao Ze had spent a fortune buying a batch of equipment from the Azure Dragon Combat Team to upgrade the territory's defenses. Every day he personally carried detection gear and inspected the entire territory, so during this period the territory had remained safe and sound.

Yesterday, after returning to the territory from the Safe Zone with Xia Qing, Zhao Ze inspected the territory before going back to his room to eat. But when he was about to get into bed and sleep, Zhao Ze suddenly felt a wave of panic, sensing something bad was about to happen.

He didn't dare harbor even a shred of wishful thinking, so he immediately shouldered his equipment, took his weapons, avoided the detection angles from the workers' dormitory windows, and carefully inspected his territory in the dark.

When he reached the edge of the greenhouse, Zhao Ze waited a while, but Zhao Hao and Zhao Lin, who usually came in to add firewood to the greenhouse, didn't come out. Fearing the two had been overcome by gas, he went in to check, and saw the two crouching by the stove of the fire wall, burning something.

Zhao Hao noticed Zhao Ze had suddenly appeared, stood up, shoved Zhao Lin toward him, and fled through the other door of the greenhouse.

During this period, Zhao Ze had been participating in the Azure Dragon training camp, working hard to raise his combat ability, so now dealing with one or two ordinary people was more than easy.

He quickly caught up with Zhao Hao, but when he tried to apprehend him, Zhao Hao resisted fiercely, so Zhao Ze drew his dagger and gave him a slash to make him behave.

But he failed to control the position and force properly, and the dagger forged by Lord Huo Lei was too sharp, so the slash went in too deep and damaged Zhao Hao's internal organs.

A hired hand in the territory acting furtively, fleeing the moment the lord discovered him, and the lord Zhao Ze apprehending him and stabbing him into serious injury—according to the Territory Law, Zhao Ze's actions constitute the crime of intentional injury or excessive self-defense. Although this charge is not enough to strip him of his lord's rights, it will cancel Territory Four's welfare benefit of purchasing supplies like insecticide and crop seeds at a discount.

Zhao Ze had two choices: one was to spend points to treat Zhao Hao, the other was to silence him once and for all.

He chose the latter without hesitation. But the moment he pulled the dagger out, before he could stab a second time, people who had heard the noise and come to check on the situation arrived, so Zhao Ze could only leave Zhao Hao with a last breath.

He discovered that Zhao Lin in the greenhouse had fallen and hit the back of his head on the corner of the stove, and was already dead. Zhao Ze directly reported to the Inspection Team that someone in his territory had been overcome by gas—one had fallen and hit his head dead, the other had fallen in fright and been accidentally injured.

The Inspection Team quickly arrived and took Zhao Hao away for treatment.

After Xia Qing finished reading, she pulled out her own phone and typed a few words: Does your mom know?

Zhao Ze immediately typed: She doesn't.

Zhao Ze hadn't dared tell his mother about this. If his criminal act were discovered, he would lose his lord qualification and be seized for forced labor.

If his mother didn't know, she could stay in the territory as lord; if she knew, she'd be an accomplice and would also lose her lord qualification.

Xia Qing typed calmly: What do you need me to do?

Tears streamed down Zhao Ze's face: Sister Qing, I'm afraid Zhao Hao is involved in the explosion incident. He's still breathing now—can I trade with Third Brother for a special-effect medicine to save him, and find out exactly what they were burning?

Anyone who has lived eleven years through the disaster years, when supplies were extremely scarce and order was chaotic, almost always has lives on their back. Some one or two, some dozens or hundreds.

So when Zhao Ze realized he had accidentally injured someone, choosing to finish the job to protect his welfare was completely normal in the disaster years; he felt no psychological burden at all.

While eating breakfast earlier, Zhao Ze was browsing news online and suddenly saw someone posting an analysis that Xia Qing was also one of the targets of this explosion incident, so he couldn't sit still.

The explosion incident at Hui Three Safe Zone has been ordered by the state to be strictly investigated; Hui Three Base will certainly get to the bottom of it, and all involved personnel will be severely punished.

Xia Qing was a target of the attack. Zhao Hao and Zhao Lin were acting furtively—were they colluding with outsiders to do something harmful to Xia Qing? If the person they colluded with was a member of the explosion criminal gang, then Zhao Hao and Zhao Lin would sooner or later be found out.

When that time comes, Zhao Ze will definitely have to cooperate with the investigation. If the person questioning him is a Brain-Domain Evolver or a Class C Magnetic-Sense Evolver, they'll definitely be able to tell he killed intentionally…

The more Zhao Ze thought about it, the more scared he became. He didn't dare tell his mother, and didn't dare make phone calls or send messages, so he ran to the Beimen to wait for Xia Qing, begging her, for the sake of their alliance, to put in a word for him with Zhang San about trading for the medicine.

Territory Alliance Lord Xia Qing was quite decisive: Come with me to find Third Brother to get the medicine, then you take it to the Inspection Team to save Zhao Hao, and ask Captain Tan to turn on the recorder and take his statement.

After Zhao Ze read the words on Xia Qing's phone, snot and tears streamed down together, and his knees buckled as he was about to kneel to her.

Xia Qing grabbed him, hoisted him onto her shoulder, sprinted to Territory Seven, propped him up outside the Beimen, and instructed the Territory Seven guard, "Let Zhao Ze rest in the guard post; I'll be out very soon."

The outdoor temperature is too low; Zhao Ze must be drenched in sweat right now, and staying outside could easily lead to hypothermia.

"Yes!" The guard at the Beimen, Luo Weiyi of Squad Zheng Chen, immediately accepted the order and hauled Zhao Ze into the post.

After passing inspection and entering Territory Seven, Xia Qing quickly got the special-effect medicine from her grumbling idol, came out, and handed it to Zhao Ze.

Zhao Ze immediately gripped the medicine in his hand and stood up unsteadily.

If he rushed over like this, Zhao Hao might stop breathing on the way. Xia Qing discussed with the guard, "Would Brother Yi carry the Lord of Territory Four to the Inspection Team office?"

Xia Qing already had a decent impression of Red Eleven Special Combat Team member Luo Weiyi; after he used the idol's medicine to cure the acne on his face, her impression of him improved even more.

"Yes! Mission guaranteed!"

Hearing Xia Qing call him "Brother," Luo Weiyi's grin almost split to the back of his head. He hoisted Zhao Ze onto his shoulder and sprinted along the Isolation Belt toward the Inspection Team office at full speed.

When Xia Qing returned to the office, Zhang San, who was watching the recording Xia Qing had shown Yang Jin and the Wolf Pack, pressed pause and asked, "Was that pen deliberately placed in the meeting room by you?"

Xia Qing nodded. "I guessed Director Pan would come looking for me, so I set up a backup in advance."

Seeing her idol ask with his eyes, Xia Qing answered truthfully, "Before the disaster, Director Pan was the head of the Civil Affairs Bureau in the urban district where my family lived. In the first year of the disaster, after the earthquake and the first acid rain, everyone near our home moved to Wanhe Gathering Area; Director Pan was the person in charge of that gathering area. He's a good man with a compassionate heart, so before the disaster he was a good official, but he lacks the thunderbolt methods and can't be a leader in the disaster years."

Seeing her idol listening attentively, Xia Qing continued, "Under his management, Wanhe Gathering Area had no future to be seen, so our family left Wanhe Gathering Area the next year and entered Hui Three Safe Zone. A few days ago I went online and checked Director Pan's current work style, and found he's still the same as ever. I didn't want to listen to him pouring grand principles into me, trying to persuade me to donate points to save people, so I simply didn't give him the chance to speak."