Chapter 1542: The Captain Who Set Out Early

At dusk, snowflakes drifted down over the territories of Northern District One. After confirming this was an ordinary snowfall rather than a deadly blizzard, the lords relaxed and began lighting fires to cook dinner.

In the small kitchen by the farmland of Territory Three, Xie Yu, the Third Master of the Azure Dragon Squad, with a head of bright golden curls, humbly sought guidance from Xia Qing. "Sister Qing, do you think my hair will attract the wolves?"

If the length wasn't enough, he'd also wear a wig.

Xia Qing, who was washing vegetables, was speechless. "You'll be wearing protective masks when you rendezvous with the wolf pack, so no one can see your hair. Length doesn't matter."

Huh?

Xie Yu was surprised. "This is my first formal meeting with the former Wolf King of the South. Don't I need to take off my mask and introduce myself? Wouldn't that make me seem very rude?"

Xia Qing...

Yang Jin, wearing an apron, kicked Xie Yu out of the kitchen. "Don't pay him any attention. Being teamed up with a wolf pack for a mission has overloaded his CPU and fried his brain."

Xie Yu's golden head poked back in again, solemnly correcting them. "Not just a wolf pack—there are also three Tibetan Mastiffs. We're a wolf-man-dog mission squad, right, Sister Qing?"

Xia Qing's voice was frosty. "Old Four doesn't like teammates with overactive brains who talk too much. If Captain Xie joins the wolf pack in this state, there definitely won't be a second chance to team up."

Hmm?

Xie Yu immediately squatted beside Xia Qing and pressed, "So that gray-eyed Wolf King is still a Class C magnetic-sense Evolver? It likes teammates with a mild magnetic field who stay quiet?"

As expected of a high-level brain-domain Evolver, he grasped the key point at once. Xia Qing replied, "I can't confirm whether it's a magnetic-sense Evolver, but allies are more sensitive to environmental changes than humans—it's one of their survival abilities. For this operation, Captain Xie can ignore species differences. Communicate and cooperate with Old Four exactly as you would with a top-tier human combatant who has rich combat experience in an Evolution Forest."

"Understood, thank you, Sister Qing." Xie Yu immediately switched to a calm tone when speaking with Xia Qing. "Look at me in this state—am I more likable to wolves now?"

Xia Qing... When Xie Yu doesn't use his brain, he's a perfect match for Tang Huai!

After dinner, Yang Jin and Xie Yu were about to set off. Xie Yu tactfully left first to give Yang Jin and Xia Qing a moment to be lovey-dovey. The expression on his face as he left was an even better match for Tang Huai—at any moment, it seemed like he wanted Xia Qing to add him to Territory Three's blacklist.

Yang Jin explained on behalf of his good buddy. "Xie Yu is twice as pretentious when he's wearing his hat, and twice as wild when he takes it off. If you don't like the sight of him, just ignore him. He'll be normal again after his wild moment passes."

Xia Qing nodded and whispered a reminder. "Use the potions Third Brother gave you sparingly. Bring back whatever you don't use and return them to Third Brother. The dosage used has to be converted into points and counted toward this mission's cost."

The price of special-effect potions is also very special-effect. As the mission broker, Xia Qing had to make all related matters clear.

Yang Jin nodded. "Of course it has to be counted in. Sister Qing, do I need to bring freeze-dried food, jerky, and eggs?"

"No need. The wolf pack hasn't accepted you as a companion yet, so they won't eat the food you provide. When you start recording and capturing Deng Yufeng, don't record the wolves."

"Understood."

Xia Qing paused, then solemnly instructed, "Come back safe."

"Okay." Yang Jin reached out to brush off a layer of snow that had fallen on Xia Qing's shoulder, and solemnly instructed in turn, "Liao Wendong giving us an address might also be a ploy to lure the tiger from the mountain—to draw me and Huo Zhun's group away so they can come kill you and blow up this area. So even if the Northern Wolf King and the Broken-Waist Wolf come looking for you, don't leave the territory. Leave the people who released the macaques to Yan Long. Even if she has to go deep into the tiger's den, she can complete the mission and come back unscathed."

Xia Qing nodded. "I'll try not to leave the territory."

Try? Yang Jin was silent for two seconds, then said, "If you do leave the territory, you must come back safe."

"Okay." After watching Yang Jin leave, Xia Qing ran lap after lap in the swirling snow with Wolf Lao Er.

This was her territory. Even with a layer of snow on the ground, she knew exactly where to step to avoid slipping.

After running for thirty minutes, Xia Qing shook off the snow accumulated on the outside of the greenhouse straw mats, went in for an inspection, then walked home with Wolf Lao Er through the crunching snow. She cleared the snow off the roof before entering the warm, bright little building. After praising Lao Da for pedaling the bike, Xia Qing sat by the fireplace and sent a message to the old wolf of the Southern Wolf Pack:

Old Four, Yang Jin's squad has set off. They expect to rendezvous with you tomorrow afternoon.

The Azure Dragon Squad's helicopter will return from the Eastern Evolution Forest tonight, then pick up the three Masters of the Azure Dragon Squad and their respective squads, cross the Southern Evolution Forest of Hui Three, reach the Southern Wolf Pack's territory, rendezvous with the wolf team, and head together to Mountain Thirty-Three in the Western Evolution Forest of Hui One.

Xia Qing waited a while but received no reply from Old Four, which left her uneasy. She immediately dialed Zhang Shi's voice call and asked, "Sister Shi, is Old Four not in the cave?"

Zhang Shi, a Class C magnetic-sense Evolver, didn't need to step out of the cave to know whether the old wolf was inside. "Fourth Brother left with two half-grown wolves right after finishing his call with you, and he hasn't come back yet."

Xia Qing grew even more uneasy. "Which two did he take?"

Zhang Shi replied, "Crooked-Head Pup and Black-Nose Pup."

Crooked-Head Pup is a pale-sand-colored female half-grown wolf from the Western Wolf Pack of Hui One; Black-Nose Pup is a milky-white male half-grown wolf from the Southern Wolf Pack of Hui One. They are the study partners of Scarface Pup and Xiao Hei Mei. Hearing that Old Four had taken these two wolves, Xia Qing understood he was going to scout the terrain before Yang Jin's squad arrived!

She pressed, "What about Scarface Pup and Xiao Hei Mei?"

Zhang Shi replied, "After finishing today's study tasks, they went out to patrol the territory and hunt. They haven't returned yet. Right now only Missing-Ear Wolf is in the cave. Do you need me to call it to take a call?"

Missing-Ear Wolf is in the same category as Handsome Giant Wolf—asking it would be pointless. Xia Qing instructed, "When Scarface Pup returns, have it use your phone to call me back. Sister Shi, it's very dangerous outside right now. You and Ye Yiyi absolutely must not step out of the cave. If the equipment runs low on power, just pedal the bike to generate electricity."

"Okay." Zhang Shi asked, "Are the Blaze people nearby?"

Xia Qing replied, "Not inside the Southern Wolf Pack's territory, but in the surrounding area."

Zhang Shi wanted to ask where the Fire Phoenix was, and whether Xia Qing's teaming up with the wolf pack to catch the Fire Phoenix would result in her being killed. If the Fire Phoenix died, could Eleven still stay in Northern District One to continue her studies. But in the end, she asked nothing. The situation was changing by the minute, and she had to be prepared for her daughter to withdraw from human society at any moment.

After hanging up the phone, Xia Qing immediately sent Yang Jin a message, telling him that the captain of this mission, Old Four, had gone ahead to scout the surrounding terrain.

Then, Xia Qing did indoor training exercises while waiting for Scarface Pup's call.

Instead, she got Broken-Waist Wolf first.