Chapter 1527: Exchange for Pan Yuanwen's Head

When the morning mist was pierced by the rising sun and the temperature slowly climbed, breakfast was served on the tables of every territory in the northern Sector One of Hui Three.

In the meeting room beside the farmland of Territory Three, Xia Qing finished the last fragrant stuffed pancake, carried her bowl into the kitchen to wash it. Head chef Yang Jin stood beside her, took the clean bowl and placed it into the sterilization cabinet, and recounted last night's interrogation. "After Huo Lin's squad escorted Liao Wen east out of Hui One's safe zone, they avoided the core territories of fierce beasts in the Evolution Forest and trekked for four days before reaching a basin within Mountain Domain Sixty-Seven, where they waited for Lan Five to send a helicopter to pick them up. They chose this basin to settle for two reasons: first, it's shrouded in fog, which better conceals their movements; second, they wanted to see if the basin contained any uncontaminated water sources and scarce herbs. Huo Lin's squad is battle-hardened, so they picked the best spot in the hot-spring lake basin to hide."

Xia Qing picked up the thread. "They're almost as smart as Daigua."

This bunch crossed miles of Evolution Forest to reach their destination, picked the very same tree that Daigua's white-faced snub-nosed monkey troop had chosen, and then had the nerve to detain the monkeys to stand watch for them.

Little did they dream that among the monkeys they detained was one who not only understood human speech but also had a communication device, and by sending memes it summoned Hui Three's top sniper, top combat force, and the northern wolf pack, wiping out all those geniuses who hadn't even had time to act after entering the valley.

After putting the bowls and chopsticks into the sterilization cabinet, the two returned to the meeting room. Yang Jin continued his briefing. "Feng Ziyu and Wang Sen will say anything to stay alive, but everything they told us is intel we already have. Liao Wen guessed I wouldn't let him leave alive, so he's willing to reveal where he's hidden his supplies, but only if I bring him Pan Yuanwen's head in exchange."

Liao Wen served as vice-captain of Hui City's First Combat Squad for so many years, he must have a few tricks up his sleeve. Xia Qing dried the water droplets from her hands, picked up the bag of peanuts beside her, and as she shelled them, asked, "If he hates Pan Yuanwen that much, why hasn't he made a move all these years?"

Yang Jin sat across from Xia Qing, shelling peanuts as he explained. "When Liao Wen's wife was arrested, she was an employee of Hui One's safe zone Planting Center, and Pan Yuanwen was the center's director at the time. Liao Wen hadn't originally listed Pan Yuanwen as a target for revenge, but this year he investigated and learned that before his wife was arrested, Pan Yuanwen had submitted a Potential Analysis Chart of Evolved Employees at the Planting Center to the then-base commander of Hui One, Qu Dazhi. Liao Wen's wife's name was on that list—she was an auditory evolver."

"After learning this, Liao Wen began looking for a chance to take out Pan Yuanwen. But Pan Yuanwen is now a senior leader in Hui City, with a special-ops squad protecting him whenever he comes and goes, and the man himself is extremely cautious, so Liao Wen never found an opening."

Xia Qing placed the shelled black-skinned peanuts into a small winnowing basket woven from thin willow strips, and asked, "Why did Pan Yuanwen submit that list?"

Yang Jin answered, "To solve the food shortage, Pan Yuanwen, then director of the Planting Center at Hui One's Inner City Safe Zone, proposed opening up wasteland outside the safe zone to expand the cultivated area. The proposal wasn't approved because of the large investment and high risk. Pan Yuanwen was stubborn, so he wrote a detailed feasibility report and submitted it again; the Evolved Employee Capability Chart from the Planting Center was one of the appendices to that report. Base Commander Qu Dazhi was deeply involved in the underground experiments, so that list fell into the hands of the underground experiment researchers."

"Crack, crack, crack…" Xia Qing finished shelling the peanuts in her hand before asking, "Every evolver on that list was arrested?"

Yang Jin shook his head. "Two were arrested. Liao Wen's wife had decent potential, and Liao Wen himself was still a nobody at the time. His two children—one was an auditory evolver, the other hadn't yet been detected as having any evolution ability. The mother and her two children happened to fit the subject requirements for a certain experiment. After his wife disappeared, Liao Wen's two children were snatched away right in front of him; he fought to the death but couldn't protect them. He survived for the sake of revenge."

After Xia Qing understood the full cause and effect, she offered no comment on the matter and continued asking, "He went to Lan Five because he has enemies there too?"

"Wang Sen and Feng Ziyu said they went to Lan Five to get more uncontaminated spring water. Liao Wen refused to talk, and I haven't contacted Crazy Sand yet, so I can't confirm for now. Although Liao Wen won't give up intel, he did say two things." The speed evolver Yang Jin swept the large pile of peanut shells beside him into a basket and continued, "First, he said the cannon operator who tried to blow you up that day wasn't arranged by him; second, he believes the Azure Dragon Combat Squad has planted a mole near Qu Fangzhou, which is how I was able to pinpoint their hiding spot."

Xia Qing was more concerned with the second point. "In other words, the people currently around Qu Fangzhou can communicate with the outside, while the people around Fire Phoenix cannot."

Yang Jin answered carefully, "The former is certain; the latter still has two possibilities: first, Fire Phoenix and the people she took with her don't know Liao Wen's whereabouts; second, Fire Phoenix has no one around her—she's hiding alone."

That was indeed a possibility.

Yang Jin continued, "Liao Wen's reason for living is revenge, so wherever he goes must be tied to revenge; Fire Phoenix wants to survive, so I suspect she's hiding alone in Hui One's Evolution Forest. She must have planned out more than one hiding spot that others wouldn't think of."

What humans can't think of doesn't mean animals can't think of it or find it.

Xia Qing nodded. "I'll talk to Lao Si and have it pass the word to the fierce beasts in Hui One."

Yang Jin nodded. "Lan Five probably won't send anyone over now. Should we call Huo Zhun back, or wait another two days?"

Xia Qing preferred to play it safe. "Wait another two days."

"Beep."

Her phone screen lit up. Xia Qing glanced over and saw that the Broken-Waist Wolf, which had delivered medicine to Xiong Wang, had returned.

After last night's tests confirmed the type of evolved anaerobic bacteria infecting Xiong Wang, although her idol confirmed Xiong Wang could rely on its own immunity to resist this anaerobic bacterium, Xia Qing still insisted on swapping out a large jar of targeted medicinal powder and had the Broken-Waist Wolf deliver it to Mountain Sixty-One.

Because it's the breeding season for the bear troop now, and Xiong Wang being able to resist this anaerobic bacterium doesn't mean the mother bears and newborn cubs can too. Xia Qing confirmed through photos Daigua sent that the mother bears in Xiong Dong were also infected with the same horn-shaped fungus as Xiong Wang and needed medicine.

After entering Territory Three, the Broken-Waist Wolf first greeted Wolf Lao Er, who was patrolling the territory, then went to the greenhouse to check on Sheep Boss and Little Yellow Ox, who were eating grass. After confirming they were in normal condition and hadn't lost any fur, it continued on, called Xia Qing over at the meeting room beside the farmland, and asked her to come with it to the lab.

The Broken-Waist Wolf had brought another batch of new samples that needed to be tested as soon as possible.