Chapter 1529: The Deceptiveness of Blue Blood 1

At twelve noon, after finishing the second interrogation of three prisoners, Xie Yu, wearing a fisherman's hat, pressed her aching head, rotated her stiff neck, and asked eagerly, "What good food is Brother Jin making for Sister Qing and me today at noon?"

Yang Jin, who had been about to go get the meal, sat back down. "She's eating with Third Brother today at noon. Go to the Number One Territory cafeteria and bring back two portions, and get me an extra ration of porridge."

Xie Yu tugged her hat down. "Me?"

"You've been sitting too long. Your muscles and bones are stiff and need exercise."

Xie Yu...

At Number Seven Territory, Zhang San, who had eaten half a bowl of noodles, left the cafeteria with Xia Qing, who had eaten a whole basin of noodles, and returned to the office.

Noticing that Xia Qing's first glance upon entering the room was toward the refrigerator, Zhang San removed his protective mask and gloves, washed his hands carefully, and opened the refrigerator door. "Dragon fruit and sugarcane. Which do you want?"

These two items were the crops the Number Seven Territory breeding research group was currently focusing on cultivating, so Zhang San's refrigerator only contained these two kinds of fruit.

Xia Qing asked, "Third Brother, can I eat both?"

Truly worthy of a high-level evolver in her growth and development phase, her metabolism was impressively fast. Zhang San first took out the dragon fruit, peeled and diced it, then peeled the sugarcane and cut it into strips, placed them in two clean white plates, and set them in front of Xia Qing.

"Thank you, Third Brother." Xia Qing took the toothpick holder from the toolbox on her idol's desk, poured out a green bamboo toothpick she had made, and began eating daintily.

Zhang San watched with satisfaction and opened the topic. "Do you know the current total surviving population on Blue Star?"

This... she knew it. It had just been mentioned at the Agriculture Department's year-end summary conference three days ago!

"As of the end of last month, Blue Star still had 580 million people, and our country still had 151 million, accounting for 26% of Blue Star's total population. Our population share has risen from 18% before the catastrophe to 26%. This is the victory of our Hua Nation working together against the catastrophe."

Zhang San nodded. "The moderates see this as a victory of human nature and our superior social system against the catastrophe; but the radicals see it as humanity's failure. Because they believe humanity wasted massive resources to save people who should have been eliminated by evolution long ago. In their view, saving one more useless person is murdering ten future evolvers. How do you evaluate this view?"

Xia Qing, whose every brain cell had run down to her stomach to enjoy the food...

Zhang San said nothing, quietly watching the new human across from him.

Red One's delegation would arrive at this hopeful human territory next month. Their radical ideas would surely bring an ideological shock to Xia Qing. Many people, under such shocks, had taken the radical path, gradually losing their humanity and becoming members of the Blue Blood Alliance.

Zhang San had mentioned the radicals to Xia Qing many times, but had never had an in-depth discussion with her on this issue, because he had never found the right opportunity.

What Zhang San wanted was "communication," not "indoctrination." The new human in front of him didn't enjoy pondering deep philosophical and ethical questions; if he forced it on her, she wouldn't take it in and would forget it the moment she turned away.

So Zhang San had been waiting for her to fall into confusion, to take the initiative and ask him, so he could seize the chance to explore the issue in depth.

He hadn't expected that this wait would last a full year. If Xia Qing didn't speak up soon, Zhang San was ready to crack open her skull and stuff it in directly.

Seeing her look so unwilling to use her brain, Zhang San switched to a gradual communication method and asked instead, "Why don't you want to wear your Yi stone anymore?"

Xia Qing answered honestly, "The two elements of Qiang and Yi have become fixed components of Blue Star's atmosphere and cannot be eliminated. All living beings on Blue Star are undergoing adaptive evolution, so I feel that always wearing the Yi stone and not coming into contact with Qiang elements isn't a good thing either. Last night in Basin Sixty-Seven, when the modified human Huo Lin's protective mask cracked, he turned and ran. I don't want myself to become dependent on the Yi stone and end up like him."

Zhang San opened his notebook, his long pale fingers tapping quickly on the keyboard, found the relevant data, and turned the screen for Xia Qing to see. "This is a ten-year tracking study on the evolution of survivors' nasal turbinates conducted by the Bai Er Base Research Institute."

Fearing Xia Qing wouldn't fully understand, Zhang San explained in detail, "The nasal turbinate is a powerful physiological structure, the 'first line of defense' and 'intelligent air-conditioning system' of our respiratory system, vital to our health and survival. After harmful Qiang elements appeared in the atmosphere, our nasal mucosa has already begun autonomously filtering Qiang elements. Bai Er's investigation shows that the nasal mucosa tissue of newborns after the catastrophe filters better than 95% of survivors..."

Xia Qing listened carefully to her idol's explanation and felt even more that she should take off her Yi stone. Her body was evolving; if she avoided contact with Qiang elements for too long, the mucosal tissue in her nasal cavity wouldn't perform its filtering function, just like a hoe left unused for too long or a gun left unfired for too long—its function would surely be affected.

Zhang San saw through Xia Qing's thoughts at once and asked, "You think you should take off your Yi stone?"

Xia Qing nodded.

"You should wear your Yi stone." Zhang San tapped the keyboard rhythmically, pulled up Xia Qing's physical examination report. "Newborns have 300,000 filtering units in their nasal turbinates; high-level evolved survivors average 1.5 million filtering units. When I examined you in September, only 850,000 filtering units in your nasal cavity were still working."

Huh?! Xia Qing's eyes widened in shock. Was her body really that poor?

Zhang San leaned back in his chair and gave the cause. "You worked for five years on construction sites with heavy harmful dust. Not only your nasal turbinates but your lung function has also been affected. If you hadn't taken the initiative to wear a protective mask during heavy dust, the situation might be worse."

Xia Qing asked, "Third Brother, the medicinal solution I soaked in before—was it good for my nasal mucosa?"

"Of course. Your condition should have improved somewhat now, but it's certainly not yet at the average level." Zhang San, following the Yincaishi Sect approach, used analogies Xia Qing could understand to explain to her. "Taking off your Yi stone now is like tearing the roof off a house that leaks in the rain—the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. You should first regulate your body, repair the fortress before welcoming the storm."

"I understand. Thank you, Third Brother." No wonder her idol had never told her to take off her Yi stone even knowing she always wore it. It turned out her idol had long ago examined her and confirmed that wearing the Yi stone suited her better than not wearing it, which was why he hadn't let her remove it.

Third Brother, truly an idol standing at the top of the universe's pyramid—she must have done many, many good deeds in her past life and the life before that to be able to meet such a wonderful idol in this life!

Xia Qing picked up a toothpick, skewered a string of red-heart dragon fruit cubes, and stuffed them into her mouth, converting the surging admiration in her heart into gastric energy.

Zhang San glanced at Xia Qing, took a sip of tea, and steered the conversation back to the main topic. "Some radical researchers, after reading Bai Er's report, proposed gradually reducing the effective filtering components in protective mask filters. Do you think this approach is advisable?"