Chapter 1679

Half an hour later, the gale in the southern Evolution Forest stopped, and the mountains fell silent. The helicopters and ground personnel had completed another sweep, still finding no suspicious targets. Gao Ying gave the order, "There should be one more infiltrator squad. Expand the search range and find them as quickly as possible."

The infiltrator squad Gao Ying mentioned was the one the Azure Dragon Squad had sent people to disguise as this morning, just past nine o'clock. Their attire and numbers were clearly different from the squad that had self-detonated half an hour earlier.

They had to keep searching here until tomorrow afternoon. Once the evolution tiger that had lost its territory was discovered by the experts and transported behind Mountain Fifty, they would search for another hour or two before they could announce the mission over and return to the safe zone or their territory.

There were still twenty-three hours before the tiger was taken away. A strong sense of unease made Xia Qing decide to change the plan. She first called her idol and the base commander to discuss the situation. After revising the plan, she sent Gao Ying a message with the latest plan, then sent Tang Huai a message, asking him to propose bringing the tiger back.

Finally, she sent Yan Long a message, telling her to move toward her own location and be ready.

After hearing the message Xia Qing sent through his Bluetooth earpiece, Tang Huai, who was resting and eating inside the helicopter, did not act immediately. Instead, he held the five-spice beef jerky and stared blankly for a few seconds, then looked at Commander Gao Ying.

After a few seconds, Tang Huai looked at Gao Ying again, seeming to want to speak but holding back; a few seconds later, he looked at Gao Ying again.

Gao Ying felt the timing was about right and took the initiative to ask, "Little Tang, does your stomach hurt?"

Everyone...

Tang Huai shook his head vigorously, leaned close to Gao Ying, and discussed with her, "Captain Gao, that tiger was injured and bleeding, crawled into a cave, and hasn't come out to hunt. It probably won't survive tonight. Can I call Sister Qing and ask her to contact Third Brother, and have your warplane airlift this tiger back to the Northern Zone One territory?"

Gao Ying solemnly reminded Tang Huai, "Little Tang, Third Brother is leading several national key research projects, each one tied to the lives of tens of thousands, or even millions, tens of millions of people. Are you sure you want to disturb him for a wild animal being eliminated by nature? You should know that Third Brother hates being disturbed, and hates even more being used as a doctor."

Tang Huai's face was full of gratitude. "Thank you for the reminder, Sister Ying. Let me discuss it with Sister Qing first. I have professional veterinarians in my territory, so I don't necessarily need Third Brother to treat it personally—I just want to borrow his name."

Evolution tigers are far more destructive than evolution wolves. Without permission from the relevant department, they cannot be brought back to human living areas. The fastest way for Tang Huai to bring that tiger back was to ask Zhang San to file an application with the base under the purpose of scientific research.

After Tang Huai called Xia Qing and pleaded repeatedly, Xia Qing finally called her idol.

After the call connected, Zhang San answered in a bad mood, "Speak."

Why the bad mood? After the plan changed, he immediately left the laboratory and hurried to the cafeteria. Only by doing so could he let those visitors who were just dispersing for lunch overhear his conversation with Xia Qing.

He never expected to be bothered by these people for a full three and a half minutes before Xia Qing's call finally came through!

Through the background sounds of the call, Xia Qing confirmed her idol had already reached the outdoors, so she adopted a careful, fearful-of-angering-her-idol tone to describe the situation. "Third Brother, in the tiger clan's territory on the northwest side of the southern trial zone, a territorial battle broke out. A thin, weak evolution tiger lost and entered the outer territory of the southern wolf pack..."

Zhang San "impatiently" cut Xia Qing off, "Fifteen seconds. Get to the point."

Hearing Zhang San's tone, the experts not far away couldn't help but break into a sweat for the person on the phone.

Xia Qing immediately sped up her speech, "That tiger looks like it's infected with evolution anaerobic bacteria. I think it has research value. Can I catch it and bring it back to you?"

Zhang San's tone grew even colder, "My territory is small. It can't hold such a big research subject."

Xia Qing hurriedly asked, "Then can I collect samples of that evolution tiger's feces and bring them back for testing?"

Zhang San countered, "Can't the instruments in the southern trial zone be used?"

"They can! Thank you, Third Brother." Xia Qing hung up the phone and applied to Gao Ying through the walkie-talkie, "Captain Gao, can you send someone to collect blood and fur samples from that defeated, injured evolution tiger and send them to the southern trial zone for testing? I suspect it's infected with evolution anaerobic bacteria."

Gao Ying asked, "Can't the sampling wait until the mission is over?"

Xia Qing explained, "If the evolution tiger is infected with evolution anaerobic bacteria, a living specimen has more research value than a dead animal. Third Brother told me to take the samples and send them over."

Hearing that Xia Qing wanted to take blood samples from the target tiger, the Blue Blood Alliance mole inside Aurora Squad Three immediately panicked. He was about to egg on the squad leader to take this mission—only by doing so could he find a way to stall for time.

However, before he could speak, Yan Long's voice came through the walkie-talkie, "Captain Gao, I'm not far from the cave where the evolution tiger is hiding. Requesting permission to go take samples."

Everyone silently assumed that this top-tier combatant of Hui City, who was currently on vacation, was fighting so eagerly for the mission because she wanted to have a go at that evolution tiger...

The Blue Blood mole panicked and quietly suggested the squad leader take this mission, since they were also in this area. The captain of Aurora Squad Three glared at him fiercely and growled lowly, "You think I'm living too comfortably?"

Competing with Yan Long for a mission was asking for a beating!

With no other options, the Blue Blood mole could only use the excuse of going to relieve himself and once again hide in a tent to send a message.

After the intelligence officer in the secret room of the Hui Five Library reported the latest information, the already oppressive atmosphere in the room grew even more oppressive.

Liu Yin roared, "Order Group Two to act immediately! Level that mountain area within half an hour!"

Qu Fangzhou calmly reminded him, "Director Liu, visibility hasn't dropped yet..."

"Shut your mouth! I'm in charge here! If we don't blow it up now, the dish will be cold!"

Qu Fangzhou certainly couldn't shut up at this critical moment. "Yan Long is a special forces captain. Even if she's on vacation, she's definitely wearing toxin-detection equipment. It won't take half an hour—within five minutes, the test results showing that evolution tiger has been hit with Qiang-18 will be on Professor Fu Tianfeng's phone. The only mole closest to Yan Long doesn't have the combat ability to stop her."

After stating the facts, Qu Fangzhou emphasized his tone and reminded Liu Yin, "On the premise that the mission can be judged a failure, Director Liu still wants to expose the alliance's latest weapon. That is a wrong decision. Once the Qiang bomb detonates under the watch of the Hui Three warplane, the person calling the shots here won't be you."

"You!!!" Liu Yin knew rationally that Qu Fangzhou's words were not wrong, but his face still turned the color of pork liver with rage. He gritted his teeth, "Qu Fangzhou, good, very good!!!"

The intelligence officer raised his hand, "Director Liu, the Aurora mole reports that Yan Long detected Qiang-18 in the experimental tiger's excrement and has already reported it to the commander through the walkie-talkie channel."

That fast? The fury surging up in Liu Yin's heart was instantly doused by this news, and he couldn't help but start feeling fear in hindsight.

"Qiang-18? Artificially synthesized Qiang-Ta toxin? Sister Qing!" Hearing Yan Long's report on the walkie-talkie, everyone realized the gravity of the situation and waited for the commander to give orders. Only Tang Huai, who lacked mission experience, could not contain his fury and immediately called Xia Qing.

Xia Qing pressed the walkie-talkie, "Tang Huai, calm down."

At this moment, Tang Huai felt no joy at having completed the secret mission Xia Qing had given him—only anger. He struggled to respond calmly, "Copy."

Gao Ying spoke, "According to regulations, the discovery of artificially synthesized Qiang toxin in the Evolution Forest must be reported immediately. Yan Lian, is that evolution tiger still alive?"

Standing beside the tiger, Yan Long answered, "Alive, but it looks very weak. I can't confirm whether it can withstand a normal dose of anesthetic."