Chapter 1605: The Oppressive Pressure of a Human from the Apex of the Cosmic Pyramid

Xia Qing, carrying the broken-waisted wolf who was pretending to be unconscious and in need of rescue, with a backpack full of samples slung over her shoulder, passed smoothly through the North Gate of Territory Seven personally guarded by Zhang Jingwu, entered her idol's office, and saw her idol sitting down, Zhang He standing behind the idol, and Zhang Song standing by the door—Xia Qing's heart immediately went prickly.

When the idol had just said he would bring two assistants, Xia Qing had already felt that the idol had noticed the broken-waisted wolf was getting a swelled head, and wanted to make the wolf serve as his assistant. Seeing Zhang He, Xia Qing confirmed her guess.

Her idol, who stood at the very top of the pyramid, was having a petty streak—today she and the broken-waisted wolf were both going to have a rough time…

Zhang Song shut the door tightly and asked with a beaming, eager smile, "Sister Qing, Brother Duan, you're here. Sister Qing, do you need any help?"

Seeing Zhang Song's worthless look, Zhang San remained expressionless, and Zhang He fell silent.

"No need." Feeling the broken-waisted wolf's muscles tense, Xia Qing refused Zhang Song's help, set the broken-waisted wolf steadily on the floor, and unfolded the old bedsheet.

The solemnly-faced broken-waisted wolf glanced at Zhang Song, then fixed a solemn stare on Zhang He behind Zhang San.

Without needing Xia Qing to introduce it, Zhang San spoke up, "Little Duan, this is Zhang He, who previously handled contaminated soil at Mountain Fifty. She's also my student—just call her Senior Sister."

Zhang He, who had just been about to call the broken-waisted wolf "Brother Duan," immediately changed her address: "Junior Brother."

The broken-waisted wolf stared solemnly at Zhang He, motionless.

The idol really was being petty… Xia Qing pretended she hadn't noticed a thing and explained with a straight face, "Sister He, Broken-Waist recognizes you. It often goes to Mountain Fifty to watch you lead the team in treating the soil of hazardous zones—its sample-collecting methods were learned from you and your team. Just like Third Brother, you can call it Little Duan."

Zhang He immediately changed her address: "Junior Brother Little Duan."

Only then did the broken-waisted wolf give a solemn nod.

Zhang Song was envious. "Third Brother…"

Zhang San said coldly, "I could never produce a student like you."

Zhang Song…

The idol was in a bad mood, so Xia Qing didn't waste a single word and got straight to business. She took the sample bags out of her backpack. "Third Brother, these are the samples Broken-Waist collected from inside the river-bend valley of Huiyi Mountain Twenty-Two."

Zhang San nodded, had Xia Qing and the broken-waisted wolf put on protective gear in the clean zone, had Zhang He pre-treat the filthy packaging bags Xia Qing had brought, then led the three people and one wolf into his private laboratory and instructed, "Little Duan, take the samples out and sort them first."

This was work the broken-waisted wolf loved. With its two hind legs it sprang up to the pristine white lab bench, then its two front paws—clad in sterile rubber paw covers—pried open the bag mouths and skillfully used both paws to scrape the samples out.

Zhang He was dumbfounded, Zhang Song was thrilled, the broken-waisted wolf bristled.

Zhang San used his eyes to warn the two assistants to keep their emotions in check, then asked the greenish-tinged wolf, "Little Duan, what's the difference between these six water samples?"

The broken-waisted wolf raised a paw; Xia Qing immediately pulled a pen cap from her pocket and fitted it on, then handed over a small notebook.

The broken-waisted wolf wrote a few simple characters on the paper that the others couldn't understand; Xia Qing translated accurately, "The first was sampled from an ice cave five meters upstream of the living water source at the river bend; the second was from the living water itself; the third was ice at the edge of the living water; the fourth was a water sample from thirty centimeters below the surface of the living water; the fifth was from an ice cave five meters downstream of the living water; the sixth is… Broken-Waist, where is this ice from?"

The broken-waisted wolf extended a paw and waved it; Xia Qing nodded. "The sixth is rime ice on a large tree near the living water."

Zhang Song couldn't help getting excited again: the broken-waisted wolf's body-language development had already reached the point of conveying such complex information?!

Zhang He calmly reminded it, "Junior Brother Little Duan, your paw cover has been pierced by your claw."

The broken-waisted wolf raised its paw, looked at the hole by the claw, then extended its big paw toward Xia Qing.

If they were in the Territory Three laboratory, Xia Qing would certainly have said a little hole like that was no big deal. But here she didn't dare—she could only obediently pull a new high-elasticity rubber paw cover from her own backpack and fit it on the broken-waisted wolf.

Zhang San instructed, "Zhang Song, go analyze the water samples."

"Yes."

The broken-waisted wolf pulled out another pile of soil samples and scraped twice in the air with its paws.

This one Xia Qing could understand. "These are riverbed sediments—the first is from the living water source, the second is…"

"This one is aquatic moss, this one is organisms attached to rocks…"

"This one is organisms on the dead wood nearby, this one is small fish in the living water, this one is a plankton sample scooped with a net, this one is feces…"

After hearing Xia Qing's introduction, Zhang San's face had already gone from overcast to clearing. "Excellent—Little Duan's sample collection is very thorough. Zhang He, go test these biological-community samples; Little Duan and I… Xia Qing and I will test the microscopic-life, special, and comprehensive samples."

Xia Qing…

No need, my lord, you really don't need to drag me in like this—I don't mind, I really don't mind.

An hour later, a complete ecological testing report on the living water of the river-bend valley of Huiyi Mountain Twenty-Two was placed on Zhang San's desk.

Zhang Song gave the overview first. "Of the four categories and thirty-two kinds of samples Little Duan collected, two were damaged…"

The broken-waisted wolf, crouching beside Xia Qing, raised a paw and tugged at Xia Qing's arm; Xia Qing immediately spoke up. "Brother Song, those two samples weren't damaged because of any problem with Broken-Waist's sampling method, but because I didn't prepare enough sample collection boxes for it, and the insulation equipment was missing."

Zhang He…

Zhang Song immediately followed up. "Exactly! Brother Duan is an evolved wolf standing at the very top of Blue Star's pyramid, the Queen my lord's favorite evolved wolf—its operation has no problems whatsoever."

The broken-waisted wolf couldn't hold it in any longer and showed its cute little fang tips, which made Zhang He's hands itch.

Zhang San shot Zhang Song a cold look that startled him into a jolt, and he immediately straightened up and seriously presented his own test results. "My testing of the water samples shows that the main water source of the river-bend stream is snow-and-ice meltwater that has infiltrated over a long path, consistent with deep-circulation characteristics; the dissolved organic carbon values range from -28.5‰ to -26.0‰, significantly skewed toward the carbon-isotope signature of C3 plants…"

Zhang Song pulled out a printed sheet and handed it to Zhang San with both hands. "I retrieved sampling reports for six mountain areas in the southern Huiyi Evolution Forest from the public database, and can confirm that the organic carbon values of the river-bend valley are clearly distinct from the geothermal inorganic carbon sources of the other six mountain areas. This strongly proves that the main organic carbon in the river-bend valley's water body comes from litter input of terrestrial C3 plants…"

It's starting, it's starting—the idol is going to let the broken-waisted wolf know just how far behind its level still is! Xia Qing glanced at the broken-waisted wolf pretending to understand, lowered her head, and secretly yawned.

Zhang He's presentation was equally professional and dry; Xia Qing gave up directly and began thinking about house-building matters.

After Zhang San finished introducing the testing items and results he had done with the broken-waisted wolf, he gave a summary analysis. "Based on the samples, it can be concluded that the river-bend valley's winter ice-free ecosystem is a heterotrophic 'life oasis' that takes exogenous terrestrial plant organic matter as its main energy input and uses hydrogen sulfide tolerance and utilization as its key biological adaptive feature. It is not only the functional core and biodiversity hotspot of the regional ecosystem, but also—at the scientific and cognitive level—holds important model value and enlightening significance…"

After the idol finally stopped, the broken-waisted wolf hadn't understood and turned to look at Xia Qing; Xia Qing pretended not to see, and with a stiff upper lip nodded solemnly—everything the idol said was correct!