Chapter 1584: White-Eyed Raven

On the canopy of the great tree in Mountain Area No. 86 hung clusters and clumps of purplish-red, small, granular fruits. These fruits were encased in winter's ice crystals, glittering under the sunlight, and from a distance they looked like flames frozen solid by the cold.

Forming a stark contrast with the fruits were the cracked, iron-grey branches, the dense, sharp wooden thorns covering them, and… several dozen ravens standing quietly among the thorns.

When these extremely noisy creatures suddenly fell silent and stood motionless, they carried with them a bizarre, spine-chilling sense of oppression.

Xia Qing stared at the raven standing at the highest point — pitch-black all over, but with white irises — and five characters flashed through her mind: Brain Domain Evolver?

"Holy crap!" Huo Zhun followed Xia Qing's gaze, saw that very conspicuous great tree, and after a gasp of admiration asked, "Sister Qing, what kind of tree is that?"

"Sichuan pepper." A distance of over three hundred meters was nothing to Xia Qing, a Level Nine and a half Vision Evolver.

Her territory had two Sichuan pepper trees over three meters tall, and the great tree ahead matched the branch growth, bark color, and fruit shape of the Sichuan pepper trees in Territory Three.

However, the Sichuan peppers in her territory had ripened and been picked back in late August, while the fruits on that Sichuan pepper tree ahead were still hanging from the branches in the cold month of January. Though encased in ice, the peppercorn husks on the tree were still fresh in color and hadn't split open to reveal the seeds inside — this was highly abnormal.

In other words, that Sichuan pepper tree ahead had definitely evolved. But the distance was a bit too far, and Xia Qing couldn't use her Magnetic Sense Evolution ability to judge whether it was a Yi evolution or a Qiang evolution.

Regardless of which it was, it was worth sampling. If by some chance it was a Yi evolution, Xia Qing could take the seeds back to Territory Seven and definitely trade them for a big bag of premium feed for Boss Sheep and Little Yellow Ox.

Huo Zhun, standing at Xia Qing's side, reasoned, "Ravens don't eat Sichuan pepper. That flock of ravens is protecting the pepper tree, which means that tree has very likely undergone an evolution beneficial to ravens."

Unlike Wu Lianmin, who was bullied by the raven Molly, Huo Zhun had a decent relationship with Molly. When Molly was in a good mood, Huo Zhun could even chat with her for a bit.

Although there were plenty of competitors — not least Zhang San and Xia Qing, two people he was sure he couldn't outcompete — Huo Zhun still wanted to fight for the qualification to raise the raven chicks in Territory Eight, so he'd carefully studied raven diets and confirmed that Sichuan pepper wasn't on the list.

Wu Lianmin lowered his voice and added, "It could be the ravens protecting the pepper tree, or it could be that pepper tree protecting the ravens. There's another possibility — that pepper tree releases a gas that muddles animals' minds. That flock of ravens looks really eerie; they might be under the pepper tree's control."

Wang Man also spoke up, "Control is unlikely, because there's only one kind of bird on the pepper tree — ravens. From the look of it, it's more like that flock of ravens has made that tree their core territory. This is the outer territory of the raptors; even if we defeat the ravens, their calls would draw other raptors and trigger a chain of crises."

"A frontal assault definitely won't work. Let's pull back first and figure out a plan. Everyone move carefully — holster your guns, don't make any loud noises that might startle the flock." Xia Qing took a photo with her phone, led the team back to a spot out of the flock's line of sight, called the raven Molly over, and quietly discussed with her, "Ribbit, are those ravens being controlled by that pepper tree? Can they get away?"

The raven Molly shook her head exaggeratedly, indicating no.

This was body language Xin Yu had taught her for when she couldn't vocalize. Shaking her head meant "no, wrong"; nodding meant "yes, understood"; and when she held her neck straight and still, it meant "I don't know, not sure."

"Ribbit's amazing — you got here just a little before us and already investigated everything about this place." Xia Qing rewarded Molly with a Green Lantern pine nut and continued asking, "Are those ravens planning to eat the peppercorn fruits?"

The raven Molly's head stopped moving, meaning she didn't know.

Xia Qing continued asking, "Can Ribbit sneak into that flock of ravens and bring back a few peppercorn seeds?"

The raven Molly shook her head vigorously from side to side again, indicating she couldn't.

Xia Qing discussed with Molly, "Did Ribbit see that white-eyed raven leading the flock? It looks extremely powerful at first glance. How about you take some food over and try to communicate with it? See if you can trade for a couple of peppercorn seeds?"

The raven Molly's head stopped moving as she began to think.

Xia Qing asked gently, "It's fine if you don't trade. Ribbit can just go give that white-eyed raven some tasty food and start building a relationship. Does Ribbit want to go?"

Molly was three years old, well past the age of looking for a mate. If it weren't for the joint operation with Xie Yu to kill Yu Dongming, Xin Yu would definitely have joined this mission and come to see the ravens here.

Since her friend hadn't come, Xia Qing took photos and sent them to her. Having Molly make contact with her own kind was Xin Yu's suggestion. Xin Yu, like Xia Qing, had also taken a fancy to that white-eyed raven standing alone at the top.

Of course, the decision of whether to make contact rested with Molly. If she didn't want to go, Xia Qing certainly wouldn't force her. Because this bird was the most important air-defense force of the North Zone One territory, Xia Qing valued her highly and wanted her to be happy and content with her work every day.

Molly thought for a moment, then gave a nod of her pitch-black head.

"Ribbit's awesome. What do you want to bring?" Xia Qing opened her backpack and let Molly look at the supplies she'd brought. "Dried mealworms? Freeze-dried meat? Dried jerky? Dried figs? Peanuts? Corn? Mung beans…"

Wang Man, Wu Lianmin…

After pulling out over ten kinds of food in a row, none of which could get the raven Molly to nod, Xia Qing hesitated and didn't take out her trump-card food — a small section of spinach root with a Yi element content as high as 8.1?.

Gao Yi-element evolved organisms held an extremely strong attraction for evolved animals. Xia Qing was sure that if she took out this spinach root, the raven leader on the pepper tree would very likely react.

But within a five-kilometer radius of here, there was an underground laboratory of Blaze, and Xia Qing's squad was very likely already within the lab's surveillance range. If she took out the spinach root, it would expose the fact that she'd just harvested a crop of spinach.

For Xia Qing, that would be a choice that cost more than it gained.

Seeing that none of the food Xia Qing had brought appealed to Molly, Huo Zhun pulled out his own food. "Ribbit, how about rations?"

Seeing that Huo Zhun's food was also passed over, Wang Man pulled out a pack of compressed biscuits. "Biscuits?"

Wu Lianmin also pulled out his personal treasure. "How about evolved cigarettes?"

Do ravens smoke? No wonder Molly looks down on you. Xia Qing began packing her supplies back away. "Alright, there's nothing here that'll win over that white-eyed raven, so Ribbit shouldn't bother with it. I'll keep exploring other areas…"

Before Xia Qing could finish speaking, Ribbit had already hopped into the backpack she hadn't had time to zip shut, lowered her sharp beak, and pulled out a supply Xia Qing hadn't expected but that fell within the realm of reason — a string of pink pearl bracelet.

This bracelet was strung from pearls Yan Long had given her. Xia Qing had packed it into her backpack intending to find a chance to trade this very bling-bling handmade artwork to a discerning big shot — the Waist-Snapping Wolf.

She hadn't found the chance yet, and the bracelet had already caught the eye of the equally discerning raven Molly.

Xia Qing confirmed with Molly, "Ribbit thinks that white-eyed raven will like this pearl necklace?"

"Ribbit!" The raven Molly called out twice, picked up the pearl necklace in her beak, and flew straight toward the great pepper tree.

Molly didn't rashly enter another bird's territory. Instead, she landed on a nearby tree and placed the pearl bracelet she was carrying on the pitch-black trunk.

Under the sunlight, the tender, round pearls were stunningly beautiful to the birds.