Chapter 1621: Driving the Job Applicant: Zheng Kui

At 11 a. m. the next day, after receiving hugs from everyone at Territory Three, Yang Jin left Northern District One with Xia Qing's reminders and three large backpacks of supplies, boarding a helicopter. He would first return to Hui-Three Safe Zone to take a large aircraft, fly to Bai Er Base to rendezvous with the Sturgeon Squad's gold-prospecting team, then transfer to a flight bound for Ruin Continent, beginning this perilous gold-prospecting journey.

Xia Qing stood in her own territory, watched the helicopter fly off into the distance, then got busy. It was eleven o'clock; she first went home to stew a pot of green-light pork and green bean rice, then used the time waiting for the rice to finish to continue clearing the homestead plot.

Although she was the only person in the territory, Xia Qing was not at all lonely. She had a red squirrel in her pocket, a sheep and a wolf trailing behind her, and a cow trailing behind the sheep.

These past few days Xia Qing had been busy outside and only came back at night, so both Sheep Lao Da and Wolf Dog Lao Er stuck close to her—wherever she went, they followed.

Xia Qing chopped trees at the edge of the homestead while chatting with her two companions. "Yang Jin took away potions and gear worth 2.2 million credits from us. I hope he brings back plenty of ore, otherwise we'll have lost money on this investment."

"Baa." Sheep Lao Da responded considerately, then gave Xia Qing a look signaling her to place the treetop she had just chopped down beside it—it wanted a taste.

Xia Qing placed the treetop, with only a few withered leaves still hanging on it, beside the sheep and the cow, and told Lao Er, who was picking up branches nearby, "I boiled two big pork bones. When we go back, the two of us will have meat soup."

Lao Er grinned, smiling very happily.

Before mealtime, Xia Qing received a message from Xu Juan: Feng Wen had given birth—a boy, with all four limbs intact.

Xia Qing had just replied to Xu Juan's message when she received a call from Tang Huai. The two were talking about the same thing. "Sister Qing, Feng Wen gave birth to a boy at the safe-zone outer-city hospital. Right after giving birth, she immediately applied for a blood test to confirm the child's blood relation to Yan Meng."

Feng Wen's urgency in confirming the child's blood relation to Yan Meng was not because Yan Meng had an inheritance for the child to inherit, but to confirm that both parents were Evolvers. According to Hui-Three Base's welfare policy, if both parents are Evolvers, the guardian can receive more credits and food. Feng Wen had no proper job and had to rely on welfare to survive.

Xia Qing gave an acknowledging sound, and Tang Huai immediately started chattering nonstop. "Sister Qing, are you going to the Ninth Center this afternoon to deal with the Red One inspection team? How about Huo Zhun and I drive you? We'll bring the full aura and straighten these bastards out in one go!"

Xia Qing asked calmly, "Why do we need to deal with them?"

These twenty-two people are staying in the Ninth Center's staff dormitory, paying 30,000 in rent per day, and paying market price for food, drinks, and electricity. They are the Ninth Center's big clients—as long as they follow the rules, Xia Qing has no objections even if they stay a year.

If a few more waves of people like this come, the research funding for Territory Seven the year after next could be fully covered.

Without Xia Qing needing to say more, Tang Huai immediately found himself a way to back down. "As long as they're obedient and don't make Third Brother angry again, we don't have to deal with them. Sister Qing, the video of you shooting the collar off the golden snub-nosed monkey's neck on the 14th was insanely cool. Is that golden snub-nosed monkey still alive?"

The moment Xia Qing heard Tang Huai bring this up, she knew the official announcement had been released.

Hui-Three Deputy Base Commander Li Xuegang contacted Xia Qing yesterday afternoon, wanting to use the official account to release the video of her defending the base to deter invaders. Regarding Xia Qing's request not to show her face, Li Xuegang agreed readily.

Just now, the Hui-Three Base official account released an announcement about January 14th: a group of invaders driving an armed helicopter and commanding tamed beasts to invade Hui-Three's Northern Evolution Forest. Hui-Three Base will thoroughly investigate the source of the invaders and punish them severely.

This announcement was paired with a video of Xia Qing sniping the invading tamed beast, with blood-red text added on top: Before invading Hui-Three, first consider which is faster—you, the speed-evolved golden snub-nosed monkey, or the top sniper's bullet!!!

Immediately after, the Hui-Three military account also released a video. In the video, Xia Qing knelt on one knee inside the helicopter, aimed through the firing port beneath the helicopter at the beast tide in the icy snow, and pulled the trigger. The camera angle shifted, and in slow motion, a high-level speed-evolved leopard sprinting through the beast tide was hit and fell to the ground, then trampled into a pulp of flesh. The video was shocking enough, and the caption directly @'d the Hui-Three Base official account: Of course it's our top sniper's bullet that's faster!

Almost simultaneously, the Hui-Three Agriculture Department released a photo taken on the day of the catastrophic 1223 Explosion Incident, showing Xia Qing standing on a rooftop escorting an ambulance, with the caption: Hui-Three's top sniper escorts you—please keep moving forward.

These three official posts immediately blew up the internet, and several related trending search terms had already appeared on the Hui City trending search rankings.

Tang Huai, who was online 24 hours a day, saw the video and got so excited he was howling.

The top sniper Xia Qing, who had blown up the internet, axe in hand, answered Tang Huai's question with a perfectly calm expression. "I don't know."

Tang Huai pleaded, "Sister Qing, are you patrolling the Evolution Forest today? How about I carry your gun and bags for you? I promise I won't cause trouble. Should I prepare some green-light snacks to bring along?"

Xia Qing answered calmly, "Right now the Northern Evolution Forest is patrolled by the military. I only go over when they find a target they can't eliminate. If you want to come, you can follow along, but you must keep your mouth tightly shut."

The existence of the top sniper is both strength and deterrence. Luo Pei needs to go out on missions often to demonstrate strength; Xia Qing, who stays in Northern District One's territory, is the deterrent for those invaders who are itching to make a move.

The two videos released by the officials are enough to let those snipers who think Xia Qing is a greenhorn with nothing but a reputation see clearly what her sniping ability is really like. When they want to invade Hui-Three's Evolution Forest—especially the Northern Evolution Forest—they must consider how to evade the sniper bullets fired by the Grim Reaper located in Northern District One's territory, who can reach their position within half an hour.

Hearing that Xia Qing was willing to take him along, Tang Huai solemnly made a promise. "Thank you, Sister Qing! I absolutely won't leak a single word to anyone. I'm ready at any moment!"

After hanging up the phone, this guy excitedly howled inside his own territory, startling all his allies in the Soil Research Lab.

Tang Heng hurried out and asked, "Bro, what's going on?"

Tang Huai was bouncing and leaping around inside the room, howling. "Xia Qing is so cool! The top sniper is so cool! I'm gonna be a top sniper!!!"

Tang Heng……

No matter how wildly popular the trending searches online got, the top sniper Xia Qing, who was being hotly discussed, continued working with her companions, building their new home bit by bit.

At 1:30 p. m., three large trucks entered Northern District One's territory through the south gate and stopped outside the Ninth Center's main gate.

The driver of the first large truck, Zhong Tao's old partner Zheng Kui, had a cigarette dangling from his lips and leaned back against the seat back that was now only a steel frame, calmly watching his retired comrades line up for security checks.

At 1:45 p. m., a battered off-road vehicle drove into the Ninth Center and parked in the lot beside the office. A person wearing a one-way light-filtering protective mask jumped out, and under the nearly frenzied gazes of Ninth Center staff, onlooking family members, and job seekers, walked with steady steps toward the Human Resources Department office.