Chapter 155: Not Approved

Among territories seven, eight, and nine, the first to come online was unexpectedly Lord Eight, who had only spoken once in the lord channel.

"Lord Eight Xin Yu approves."

Then came Territory Seven. The one speaking was the voice that had replied that Lord Seven was unavailable when Yuan Yan of Territory Six had asked Territory Seven for help a few days earlier.

"I have consulted Lord Seven — not approved. Territory Seven will shoot down any evolved birds entering its airspace on its own."

Territory Nine was still represented by Assistant Xiao Liu coming online. "Captain Tan, the garrison personnel of Territory Nine request to get in touch with the lord."

Lord Nine Li Si is still being held in the safe zone, so personnel within the territory cannot contact Li Si directly.

Tan Junjie replied, "Received. The investigation team will file the request immediately."

After about fifteen minutes, Tan Junjie responded, "I have asked Lord Li for instructions. He does not approve the investigation team entering Territory Nine."

Assistant Xiao Liu replied calmly, "Received. Territory Nine will do its utmost to kill any evolved birds entering its airspace."

Tan Junjie replied, "Please have Territories Seven and Nine report the methods they use to counter the evolved birds."

Assistant Xiao Liu replied, "Territory Nine uses three methods: spraying chemical agents, gunfire, and artillery fire."

The Territory Seven representative replied, "Territory Seven uses the same as Territory Nine."

Birds driven off by their chemical agents — would they end up flying into her own territory? Xia Qing's first reaction was to contact Yang Jin and have him send over the weapons she had just struck a deal for with the Green Dragon Squad. Even without grenade launchers, hand grenades would do.

Tan Junjie replied, "Received. The chemical agents used by Territories Seven and Nine must not cause adverse effects on other territories, or the relevant responsibility will be pursued. Please strictly control the density of artillery counter-fire. Once a Calamity Rain is triggered by artillery counter-fire, the losses caused to territories within the rain's coverage must be compensated at double."

Firing high-density shells into the air over a short period could very easily trigger a small-scale, high-danger-level Calamity Rain.

Once a red- or orange-level Calamity Rain falls, it will not only pose a major threat to humans within its coverage, but also cause Calamity Evolution in living creatures within the area, and even drive already frenzied evolved raptors to lose their minds, turning them into killing machines that throw away their lives.

"Territory Nine, received."

"Territory Seven, received."

The two territory representatives replied calmly, but the other lords listened with growing unease.

Kuang Qingwei asked, "How about we cover all the greenhouses with rainproof cloth tonight?"

Hu Zifeng replied, "If a flock of evolved birds attacks, greenhouses covered with rainproof cloth will only become their targets."

Where a flock of evolved birds can't see through at a glance, they'll assume there's something good inside. Rainproof cloth can hold up against hail, but it can't hold up against the sharp talons of evolved raptors.

"Hail and heavy rain only ended three days ago. The air humidity is already high. Even artillery fire that's not too fierce could trigger a Calamity Rain." Qi Fu also voiced his concern, his weak voice tinged with anxiety.

As farmers, what they care about most is the safety of their crop seedlings. If the young crops in the fields undergo Calamity Evolution from being drenched by Calamity Rain, even with double compensation, they would still feel the pain.

The Territory Seven representative replied, "Territory Seven uses laser cannons to counter-attack. It will not trigger a Calamity Rain."

Hearing Territory Seven's reply, the lords were not only not reassured, but their livers started trembling on the spot.

A laser cannon is a high-energy laser weapon that uses a powerful, directionally emitted laser beam to directly damage targets. After the Great Evolution of life on Blue Star, experiments proved that laser cannons can disperse and drive away cloud cover, achieving the goal of dispersing severe weather. So even though laser cannons are expensive to manufacture and consume a great deal of energy to fire, every base lists them as a key facility to build.

But a disaster in the sixth year of the Calamity Era brought that momentum to an abrupt halt.

That year, a base in Guicheng, after seven consecutive days of rain, detected a massive accumulation of Calamity Elements high in the air, forming thick cumulonimbus clouds. A large-scale red Calamity Rain would soon cover the base's safe zone.

So that base decisively used laser cannons to disperse the Calamity Clouds. They never expected the Calamity Clouds not to disperse, but to explode directly in the air.

Vast amounts of high-density Calamity Elements shot rapidly in all directions, Calamity-Evolving every living creature they struck, humans included, on the spot.

The protective suits worn by humans were pierced straight through by the Calamity Elements, and the base's safe zone became a purgatory.

This was the most terrifying form of attack the Calamity Elements had displayed in the tenth year of the Calamity Era, which humanity called:

Calamity Explosion.

After the Calamity Explosion incident, laser cannons were blacklisted for three years. It wasn't until early in the tenth year of the Calamity Era that the National Research Institute, after repeated experiments, finally identified the conditions under which laser cannons triggered Calamity Explosions, and permitted bases to use laser cannons under strictly limited conditions.

Now the tenth year of the Calamity Era is already past its halfway point. Xia Qing didn't know about other bases, but in any case, Hui-Three Base hadn't dared to use one even once.

Who would have thought that among the unremarkable outer territories of Hui-Three Base, there was actually a territory that had laser cannons and was preparing to use them. Were they going to counter-attack the evolved raptors, or wipe out the twenty-eight nearby territories together?

Territory Seven, hearing no one speak, added: "Territory Seven has fully mastered the relevant technology. The laser cannons deployed meet the standards and will not trigger a Calamity Explosion."

You say they won't, so they won't?

Shi Zhong earnestly tried to persuade, "Big brother from Territory Seven, laser cannons consume too much energy. Storing electricity isn't easy for you either. Why not use more chemical agents to drive the birds away?"

Kuang Qingwei, right next to Territory Seven, immediately asked, "Brother, I'm from Territory Six. Can I trade for the chemical agents you use to drive away the evolved birds?"

The Territory Seven representative replied, "Sorry, the chemical agents used by Territory Seven are classified as prohibited trade materials. Authorization from the relevant base department is required before they can be used, or uncontrollable risks may result."

Everyone fell silent. What on earth did Territory Seven have? It actually required prohibited trade materials and laser cannons to protect.

Territory Seven wouldn't trade, but someone would.

Assistant Xiao Liu, in her gentle business voice mode, came online. "Honored lords, Territory Nine possesses an exclusive patented, safe, and efficient chemical preparation for driving away evolved birds, classified as a permitted trade material. Repeated experiments have shown that the preparation is effective against over ninety percent of bird species below Grade Six. One thirty-milliliter bottle of the preparation can be diluted with water and sprayed to protect one mu of land for eight hours. Each bottle costs three hundred points."

Three hundred points, one mu of land, eight hours?

Not a single lord who farmed for a living spoke up. Evolved raptors didn't mainly attack crops, and they didn't have the financial means to spend a thousand points just to buy peace of mind.

They didn't have it, but someone did.

Tang Zhengpo of Territory Twelve asked, "May I ask Assistant Liu, what is the shelf life of the bird-driving preparation, and does it have any side effects?"

Assistant Xiao Liu replied, "If unopened, it can be stored at room temperature away from light for one month. Food that comes into direct contact with the agent must not be consumed. It has no side effects on plants, but has a certain effect on animals within the spraying range. People and other animals within the spraying range must wear protective masks equipped with a Grade Two or above air filtration device within twenty-four hours. After twenty-four hours, the preparation will naturally evaporate and no longer pose a threat to humans, but the small amount of residue will continue to have a lethal or repellent effect on small birds and insects for the following seven days."

Tang Zhengpo replied politely, "Thank you, Assistant Liu, for clarifying. Territory Twelve will purchase five bottles. Can the delivery be made tonight?"

Assistant Xiao Liu's voice grew even gentler. "Of course. In fifteen minutes, the agent will be delivered to the passage between Territories Nine and Twelve. Please have Chairman Tang prepare the points card."

Hu Zifeng also placed an order. "Territory One purchases six bottles, to be traded at the same time and place as Territory Twelve."

Assistant Xiao Liu accepted the order. "Very well."

Territory Nine's agent was good, but Xia Qing's key protected area had too many animals in it, so it wouldn't work.

She first contacted Ji Li and moved up the time for the exchange of the injectables and hemostatic medicine to four-thirty tomorrow morning. If the evolved birds came, she would definitely have to protect her territory. Fighting meant possible injury, and injury meant possible infection by evolved bacteria. Only with Zhang San's special-effect hemostatic medicine on her person could she fight with peace of mind.

Then Xia Qing ran into the yard and reported the latest news to the lead wolf in the sheep pen. "Your Majesty, tomorrow a large number of evolved raptors may attack my territory. You know what evolved raptors are, right?"

"They're flying beasts that flap their wings like this in the sky," Xia Qing spread her arms to mimic a bird in flight, then bent her fingers into the shape of bird talons and clawed the air forcefully a few times, "and they grab their prey like this — clack, clack — with their talons."

Three wolves with varied expressions stared at Xia Qing, motionless.

Xia Qing retracted her claws and continued, "If the evolved raptors attack, hide in the sheep pen and don't make a sound. Although most birds hunt by sight, some have evolved hearing and smell. Winged things are very hard to deal with."

After saying that, Xia Qing stared through the night-vision goggles at the three motionless wolves for a few seconds, sighed, and said, "Forget it. Once the evolved birds show up, you'll figure it out. We'll play it by ear then."

Wolves raised in the Evolution Forest definitely had more ways to fight back and protect themselves than she did.

Xia Qing went back inside to contact Yang Jin, hoping Yang Jin would deliver the weapons from their trade a few days ago tomorrow morning—she only had a few dozen rounds of ammo left.

Yang Jin quickly replied that the grenade launcher hadn't been shipped to Hui-3 Base yet, but all the other bartered supplies would arrive tomorrow morning, and reminded Xia Qing not to forget to tell the wolf pack that the evolved bird flock might attack the territory, so the wolves could help defend it.

Iron rooster—true to form, an iron rooster.

Xia Qing laughed and replied by text: Already informed.

Already informed—but what the wolf pack would do about it, Xia Qing had no idea.