Chapter 1512: Being Added to Zhang San's Blacklist by Pan Yuanwen

After listening to the conversation between Xia Qing and Liao Wendong, Zhang San leaned back against the soft chair and asked the New Human across from him—who had just finished breakfast yet still had room for a dragon fruit—"Why didn't you let Liao Wendong finish speaking?"

Xia Qing answered honestly, "I was in the middle of a disaster-elimination sniping mission at the time. The purpose of my call with him was to lock down his position. The spotter beside me signaled to me that the position was already locked, so I had no need to keep listening. Besides, I was worried Liao Wendong would say something he shouldn't, and I wouldn't be able to wrap things up cleanly."

According to regulations, during a disaster-elimination mission, Xia Qing had to keep the recording function of her protective mask on the entire time. After the mission ended, these recordings had to be handed over to the commander.

If this disaster-elimination had been near the territory of Northern Zone One, the commander would have been Zhang San, and Xia Qing would have had no one else around her—she would definitely have let Liao Wendong finish speaking.

But she was carrying out the mission inside the inner city of the Safe Zone, with a spotter she was working with for the first time beside her. If Liao Wendong had blurted out things like "I've long known there's pollution-free spring water in your territory," "I've long known you're in close contact with the Northern Wolf Pack," or "I've long known Shi Jiaran is in your hands," it would have been a disaster.

Xia Qing had too many secrets she didn't want others to know, so compared to gleaning information from Liao Wendong's mouth, she cared more about the safety of herself and her territory.

Zhang San nodded and analyzed the reason Liao Wendong wanted to blow up Pan Yuanwen. "Pan Yuanwen didn't take part in that underground experimental project back then. The reason Liao Wendong hates him so much is probably that Pan Yuanwen offered protection to one or several researchers Liao Wendong had marked as enemies, or that some policy Pan Yuanwen pushed forward got in the way of Liao Wendong's revenge plan."

Whether it was Pan Yuanwen, or Zhang San, or Xia Qing—anyone who stood in the way of Blaze's revenge would be branded by them as an enemy that had to be eliminated.

Xia Qing nodded. "That is indeed something Minister Pan would do."

Zhang San glanced at the New Human across from him, who had clearly still not eaten enough after one dragon fruit, then took another dragon fruit out of the fridge and pushed it over. "When you were in the Wanhe Gathering Area, did you have any grudge with Pan Yuanwen?"

Xia Qing shook her head. "No personal grudge. I just suffered losses because of the unreasonable rules he set—twice I almost died. Though I can't blame Minister Pan entirely; everywhere was chaotic back then, and I had no experience myself. Third Brother, are you going to save him?"

Even though she didn't like Pan Yuanwen, she still addressed him as "Minister" every time she opened her mouth, so this New Human still had some respect for the former Bureau Chief, now Minister. If it were someone else, Zhang San might have lent a hand, but Pan Yuanwen was out of the question. "Don't even mention I can't save him—even if I could, I wouldn't."

Oh? Xia Qing split the second dragon fruit in half and gave half to her idol. "Third Brother, the food at Hui-1 Research Institute wasn't good—was that anything to do with him?"

Zhang San took the dragon fruit, pulled open the drawer used for storing food, took out an individually wrapped fruit knife, and snorted in displeasure. "In the fourth year of the Calamity, he was in charge of the planting center in Hui-1's inner city. After the second Harmful Rain, he came begging me for medicine. I proposed letting him trade Green Lantern food for the medicine, and he refused."

Xia Qing took a bite of the red-fleshed dragon fruit, bristling with killing intent. "He didn't give you a whole bunch of self-righteous lectures too, did he?!"

Zhang San, who was eating the cubed fruit pulp speared on a toothpick, shot a look at the slovenly New Human across from him. "He didn't know I was allergic to Harmful Elements—he just thought I was a picky eater."

After finishing the dragon fruit and wiping the table clean with disinfectant wipes, Zhang San clicked on the next video. Seeing Xia Qing skillfully punch a hole in the wall of the C-8 basement, Zhang San had just raised his hand to press his forehead when the New Human across from him began explaining, "I had people build both of these buildings, so I know which walls aren't load-bearing."

Zhang San was silent for two seconds. "You remember the structure of every building you've built in the Safe Zone?"

Xia Qing nodded. "I remember. These are all means of saving my life."

Xia Qing's goal was: once a major natural disaster or man-made calamity occurred, no matter where she was in the Safe Zone, she could reach a safe area inside a building in the shortest time possible.

So she not only firmly memorized the structure of the buildings she had helped construct—when other construction teams built houses, she would also find time to go over and look, making an effort to memorize those buildings' structures as well.

Seeing Xia Qing push down the wall and, with swift and ruthless precision, smash the gunner pinned under the bricks dead with a single brick, Zhang San finally spoke. "The reason you've survived this long is mainly your ability, and only secondarily luck."

Xia Qing bared her teeth in a wolfish grin. "My little tricks are nothing compared to your—"

"Shut your mouth and go form a team!" One more word of nonsense and I'll poison you mute this instant.

"Yes sir!" Xia Qing stood up, stuffed the snacks her idol had left on the table into her pockets. "Third Brother, I'm off?"

Zhang San pulled a packet of antidotes from the drawer, handed it to Xia Qing, and instructed, "Wipe your mouth clean before you go out. Until Deng Yufeng's death is confirmed, try not to leave the territory. If you absolutely must go out, take Yang Jin or Huo Zhun with you—they're fast runners."

Xia Qing, who was a slow runner, couldn't help asking, "Third Brother, when you have time, could you look into how to trigger speed-evolution abilities?"

Xia Qing, who had been kicked out of the office by her idol, spotted the pitiful-looking Zhang Song at a glance and greeted him proactively. "When did you get back, Brother Song?"

That morning, hearing Zhang San and Xia Qing's conversation over the walkie-talkie, Zhang Song had understood that the relationship between those two had eased. Now that Xia Qing was still willing to greet him proactively, it meant the matter of Zhang Han had been turned over. Zhang Song breathed a huge sigh of relief and stepped forward. "I—"

Xia Qing caught the big shot, who was fond of falling flat on level ground, and sincerely suspected his two legs and his brain weren't running on the same operating system.

"Thanks, Sister Qing. I got back yesterday. When you go to deliver supplies to the Southern Experimental Area later, can I tag along?"

Zhang Song teared up. He really shouldn't have volunteered to go to Red One on Third Brother's behalf back then. He'd thought he'd be back in a day or two, but the meeting had dragged on for half a month, causing him to miss the dental surgery on the wolves and the syndactyly separation surgery on the monk-faced monkeys. From now on, he would never leave Territory Seven, and absolutely could not miss any major event!

In the territory of the Southern Wolf Pack—that is, the Southern Experimental Area of Hui-3 Territory Seven—a kind of fungus was discovered that could reproduce rapidly in Harmful Snow, colorless, transparent, and extremely hard to detect. After Xia Qing brought the samples back to Territory Seven, the Zhang Tao research group, which was engaged in breeding research, believed that understanding this fungus's life processes in resisting extreme low temperatures and the principles behind them would significantly help improve the cold resistance of crops like corn and wheat.

So the members of the Zhang Tao group drafted a national-level project application and submitted it. It had now been approved for project establishment and had received research funding. Yesterday, Zhang Tao had applied to Zhang San, hoping to send two researchers to the Southern Experimental Area for on-site investigation and sampling, with an expected stay of three days. Zhang San had agreed.

The researchers needed to go over for investigation and sampling, so the experimental equipment, cold-weather gear, food, drinking water, and other supplies filled twenty-three cases. These cases had to be delivered to the Southern Experimental Area today, so the tents could be set up first.

After the manager of Mountain Fifty, Xia Qing had taken on yet another position—manager of the Southern Experimental Area. Transporting supplies and pitching tents were her responsibility, which was why Zhang Song had come looking for her.

Xia Qing answered calmly, "I'm not going. The Agriculture Department issued a document—I have to do a thorough inspection of Center Nine today."

Zhang Song's head drooped at once. If Xia Qing wasn't going, then even if he went to the Southern Experimental Area, he wouldn't see a single wolf, let alone the brain-evolution wolf Old Fourth, who had just had dental surgery.