Chapter 1630: The Territory Alliance Mission Squad and the Stone Tablet of Number Fifty Mountain

The bio-magnetic field fluctuations triggered by a group of brain-domain evolvers getting emotionally agitated at the same time were, for Class C magnetic-sense evolvers, no different from thousands of needles stabbing into the brow at once.

Standing at the high ground with her visual ability fully engaged, Xia Qing scanned the valley, confirmed that no one was behaving abnormally because of this magnetic field fluctuation, and then continued her defensive mission.

After carefully observing the spring, the mountain's geological structure, and the traces left by human excavation, the hydrology and geology expert Jiang Cheng submitted a request to Zhang Tang, hoping to be allowed to go to the top of this mountain and the adjacent peak to observe the terrain.

According to the pre-arranged itinerary, the inspection team had only one chance to enter the Number Fifty Mountain experimental zone. Jiang Cheng wanted to make full use of this opportunity to climb high and observe the macro geological structure of this mountain and the surrounding mountain ranges, in order to obtain key field evidence for judging the cause, source, and value of the hot spring.

Team leader Zhang Tang called to ask Zhang Song for instructions, then walked briskly with his phone to Xia Qing's defensive position, looked up, and asked, "Director Xia, Director Song is asking whether we can spare some guards to escort Professor Jiang to the mountaintop to survey the terrain."

Xia Qing first had Shi Yue, the senior sniper of the Special Operations Second Team, come over to take over her high-ground reconnaissance mission, then jumped off the stone platform and took the phone. "Director Song, if we spare guards, we will not be able to ensure the safety of personnel in the contaminated zone and the valley."

Before Zhang Song could respond, Jiang Cheng, who had followed over, immediately proposed, "Director Xia, I can hire evolvers at my own expense to protect me, and sign a liability waiver. Any accident that occurs during my off-team inspection will be borne by me personally, and has nothing to do with Hui Three Base or Territory Seven."

Liang Wen from the Evolved Ferocious Beast Defense Research Center of Bai Liu Research Institute immediately followed up, "Director Xia, I also apply to go off-team, under the same conditions as Professor Jiang."

Liang Wen's purpose for going out was different from Jiang Cheng's; he wanted to climb to the top of this mountain to look out over the purely natural evolved forest to the north, searching for traces of large ferocious beasts.

Xia Qing calmly asked, "Can the two of you move as one group?"

Jiang Cheng and Liang Wen exchanged a glance and nodded simultaneously, "We can!"

Xia Qing continued to ask, "For your outing, you need to hire an evolver squad from within Territory North One. The mission level is set at Class B, with a mission score of 5,000 points. If the two of you cannot return with the team, the evolver squad you hire will be responsible for protecting you on the way back, but you must return to Territory North One before dark. Do either of you have any objections?"

Protecting two fragile experts on an inspection in the evolved forest was indeed a Class B mission, and the protection fee for each expert was indeed 2,500 points; the two had no objections. Especially Jiang Cheng, who was staying at the Ninth Center, felt the price was quite, quite reasonable.

Agreement made things easy. Xia Qing immediately called Tang Huai, explained the mission content and team requirements, and asked him to gather team members and arrive outside the hidden valley of Number Fifty Mountain within one hour.

Although this mission was Class B, the actual risk coefficient was not high. First, because the brain-domain evolved ravens Jasmine and her pursuer Bai Yan were patrolling back and forth in the air; second, because the aggressive evolved plants and dangerous zones in this mountain area had already been clearly marked; third, the only large ferocious beasts that might appear here were the northern wolf pack, which had an extremely good relationship with Xia Qing.

To put it bluntly, this mission just required carrying the experts up and down the mountain, which was just tiring; having Tang Huai form the team was the most suitable choice.

Tang Huai, receiving an outing mission for the first time, was extremely excited. "Is Sister Qing leading the team this time?"

Xia Qing replied, "I need to stay in the valley to carry out the mission. This outing mission will be carried out by members of the Territory Alliance."

"Understood! Form the team and set out within fifteen minutes, arrive at the entrance of the hidden valley of Number Fifty Mountain within one hour." After hanging up the phone, Tang Huai jumped around the room a few times, then coughed twice, pressed the walkie-talkie button, and imitating Xia Qing's tone, solemnly called the allies to form a team.

At the forty-fifth minute, two off-road vehicles from Territory Twelve came speeding in and parked in the parking lot under the third peak of Number Fifty Mountain.

At the fiftieth minute, the mission squad arrived at the designated location.

Xia Qing, protecting the two experts wearing airtight protective suits, walked out of Xiong Dong, and at a glance saw Yan Long and Tang Huai standing at the very front. Behind them were six other team members: Huo Zhun, Wang Man, Di Ming, Shi Du, Zhang Hongda, and Zhu Li.

Tang Huai, dressed in a wild-environment Level Four protective suit and carrying the same model sniper rifle as Xia Qing, stood at attention and solemnly reported, "The Territory Alliance mission squad, composed of four senior evolvers and four ordinary evolvers, has arrived on time. Please give your instructions, Alliance Leader!"

Territory Alliance members...

Wearing a single-sided light-transmitting protective mask, Xia Qing explained the mission content in detail, then directly appointed the team leaders: "Sister Yan serves as team leader, Sister Man as deputy team leader. During the mission, you must ensure the safety of the two experts and return to the territory on time."

"Understood." Yan Long accepted the order, commanded the strength evolvers Huo Zhun and Shi Du to carry the two experts on their backs, and began the climb.

Zhu Li, executing a mission as a machine gunner for the first time, nodded to Xia Qing and quickly followed. Xia Qing turned around and returned to the valley, jumping onto the stone platform to continue her defensive mission.

Zhang Song, an outstanding talent of Territory Seven, had arranged the experts' itinerary packed full.

One hour later, the valley inspection segment ended. Xia Qing led the team to escort the experts to the foot of the mountain peak, and under Zhang He's lead, began visiting the contaminated soil treatment project of Number Fifty Mountain. The experts who had already finished viewing the contaminated soil treatment followed Zhang Tang up the mountain, heading for the hidden valley.

Zhang He began his second lecture of the day: "Respected teachers, on November 30 of the tenth year of the Catastrophe, the Fierce Fire Beast-Catching Team used gas bombs here to capture evolved wolves. What is engraved on these two stone tablets are the composition of the gas bombs and the contaminated areas. You may examine them up close."

Guo Qingbin asked, "Director He, are the characters on this stone tablet hand-carved?"

Zhang He, deputy director of the Territory Seven Research Institute, calmly replied, "Yes, they are hand-carved. We erected stone tablets here and carved the composition of the poison gas and the scope of contamination onto them, not to display data, but to remind us — any technological progress that escapes strict limitations and ethical constraints will ultimately lead humanity toward self-destruction."

This was a rather heavy topic. The experts said no more, standing before the stone tablets and reading carefully.

The cold wind blew the snow on the ground, bit by bit filling the horizontal, vertical, left-falling, and right-falling strokes that had just been wiped clean on the stone tablet. Xia Qing, executing her defensive mission, did not look at the tablet, yet could clearly recall every single character on it.

The text on this stone tablet was carved by her, stroke by stroke. Her purpose in carving the tablet was not to warn these researchers, but to remind herself to always stay clear-headed and calm.

At the end of November of the tenth year of the Catastrophe, knowing full well that Shan Ying, the deputy captain of Fierce Fire, had set her sights on Wolf Lao Er, Xia Qing — who had just learned some sniping and combat skills and had initially gained the trust of the northern wolf pack — teamed up with three evolved wolves, stepped out of the territory, entered Number Fifty Mountain to search for Green Lantern Peanuts, and clashed fiercely with the Fierce Fire Beast-Catching Team.

Though the one person and three wolves completely annihilated the Fierce Fire Beast-Catching Team, they paid a bitter price.

First, Xia Qing and the three wolves were all poisoned. To obtain the antidote, Zhang San pinched his nose and agreed to the exchange conditions put forward by Li Si, the lord of Territory Nine.

Second, the Fierce Fire battle team used gas bombs to trigger animal panic on Number Fifty Mountain, forming a beast tide that rushed toward Territory North One. The investigation team requested reinforcements from the garrison at the old headquarters; although they intercepted the beast tide, they also expended considerable ammunition, and six people were injured as a result.

Third, the 201 mu of evolved forest on Number Fifty Mountain was contaminated, and in the contaminated snow that night, red mutated grass grew in the 5 mu of the most severely contaminated high-danger zone, and super evolved fungi multiplied rapidly. Had Zhang San not activated the emergency disaster-elimination procedure, once the super evolved fungi spread, Territory North One would have been directly emptied, with no survivors.

Fourth, in order to treat the contaminated area, Zhang He's team set aside their ongoing research projects and fought on Number Fifty Mountain for a whole year, spending over a million points before they managed to downgrade the high-danger zone and medium-danger zone to low-danger zones. It would take at least another five years for the ecology here to recover to its pre-contamination level.

This disaster event made Xia Qing, who had toiled hard for ten years before she had initially built up her strength, profoundly realize: true guardianship is never merely about defeating the enemies before one's eyes with courage and strength, but about using the greatest wisdom to foresee and prevent those deeper disasters triggered by "victory" itself.

The idol had Xia Qing carve the stone tablet with her own hands precisely to make her remember this point, to stay vigilant at all times, and not be bewitched by "power."

Xia Qing, did achieve this.