Chapter 1694: Reaching an Agreement with Zhang Shi

Zhang Shi couldn't help laughing out loud. "Alright."

After a quip, Xia Qing laid out the second layer of reason behind this exchange. "The fierce beasts in the Evolution Forest of Northern Zone One are an important barrier to the security of Northern Zone One's territory. You're an outsourced employee of Territory Three. If you don't strictly follow the clinic's employee code of conduct, you could easily damage the cooperative relationship I've built with the wolf pack and tiger pack. So, the two territories I'm trading to you aren't just for getting 200 milliliters of your blood to save Wu Chengyu and boosting the Northern Alliance's overall strength—I also want to deeply bind your interests to mine. That way, it's good for both of us."

When Wu Chengyu said "repay you with my life" at noon today, Xia Qing felt nothing inside. Integrity, promises, trust, order—all of it had shattered to pieces in the very first year of the catastrophe. Only mutually beneficial alliances of interest carry any credibility.

Whether it's toward her existing allies or toward Wu Chengyu, who is about to join the territory alliance, Xia Qing holds this attitude; toward her Employee No. 004, Zhang Shi, she holds this same attitude.

Human nature is too complicated—it can't bear scrutiny.

Right now, Zhang Shi and Eleven are recovery-type evolvers that everyone wants a bite of, so Zhang Shi can only hide in the shadows, seeking protection for herself and the wolf pack. Once the recovery factor isn't this precious anymore, the biggest premise for their cooperation will cease to exist.

Xia Qing using two territories to deeply bind Zhang Shi is just patching things up in advance.

The reason she gave Ye Yiyi a territory wasn't because she saw evolutionary potential in Ye Yiyi, but to resolve another hidden trouble—Ye Yiyi knew that Little Eleven had impersonated her, using her blood to enter Territory Fifteen. The risk: Ye Yiyi might become psychologically unbalanced and twisted, and actively expose Zhang Shi and Zhang Eleven.

"I agree to the exchange. If Sister Qing needs recovery factor in the future, as long as it's within what my body can handle, you can tell me directly." After saying this, Zhang Shi felt neither disappointment nor fear, but rather relaxed—more relaxed than ever before.

Xia Qing nodded solemnly. "When I'm seriously injured or gravely ill and must use recovery factor to save my life, I'll definitely come to Sister Shi to exchange."

Zhang Shi showed a genuine smile. "Boss, I need to eat well and drink well to stay physically and mentally healthy enough to throw myself into work and earn more points and supplies for the boss. That way, the boss can stockpile more bargaining chips to exchange for my blood to save your life at a critical moment."

Xia Qing……

Wu Chengyu's agreement was signed, Zhang Shi's side was settled. Next was negotiating with Hui Three Base Commander Qi Zhongye to successfully secure the target Xia Qing had already promised out—the newly added territory.

She had already promised out three territories, so her negotiation with the base commander could only succeed. This meant the other side held the initiative, and she had to put forward bargaining chips attractive enough to move him……

Xia Qing scrolled through her phone contacts, stared at the words "Base Commander" for a few seconds, then continued swiping down, stopped at the two words "Yang Jin," and decisively pressed.

This negotiation won't be easy. Xia Qing wanted to first hear the advice of a professional. She hoped this professional, who had gone to the Ruins Continent to prospect, was currently in an area with signal.

"Sister Qing, Brother Jin isn't back yet. If you have something, just tell me—I'll handle it." After the phone rang six times, the voice that came through was unexpectedly Xie Yu's, full of anticipation.

Yang Jin wasn't here, but Xie Yu was also a good person to consult. Xia Qing spoke politely. "There's something I want to hear Captain Xie's opinion on. I want to incorporate the 14,000-mu Evolution Forest south of Northern Zone One into Northern Zone One as soon as possible. The main purpose is to recruit top-tier talent Wu Chengyu. Do you think I should go directly to the base commander, or find the deputy base commander first?"

Xie Yu answered directly. "According to the division of duties, opening up Evolution Forest wasteland into territory falls within the deputy base commander's scope of responsibility. I suggest Sister Qing contact the deputy base commander first, then have the deputy base commander report it up to the base commander. Recruiting Wu Chengyu is great news—the base commander definitely won't oppose it. Sister Qing wants 14,000 mu of land—does that mean you have plans for the remaining 10,000-plus mu as well?"

According to territory policy, the cultivable area within one territory is around 2,000 mu. The moment Xia Qing opened her mouth, it was 14,000 mu—she definitely wasn't doing it just to recruit Wu Chengyu.

Xia Qing replied, "I want to build a precision instrument production factory, and hold onto the other plots to recruit outstanding talent."

So Xia Qing wanted to keep all seven territories in her own hands and decide the territory holders herself. This was indeed a bit tricky—no wonder she made this call. Xie Yu reminded her, "As long as Sister Qing isn't trying to build Northern Zone One into Hui Eleven Base, the base commander probably won't block you too hard. Brother Jin said the base commander intends to cultivate you, to have you serve as the next Hui Three Base Commander."

Xia Qing understood: it was the next Hui Three Base Commander, not splitting Hui Three in half to build a new base. So the base commander wouldn't fully hand over power and give Northern Zone One entirely to her.

"Thank you. The base commander's burden is too heavy—I'm not capable enough to shoulder it, and I don't have that kind of interest. You, Yang Jin, or Brother Luo—any one of you pulled out at random is stronger than me."

Xie Yu laughed. "The three of us have thousands of lives on our backs—we can only muddle along in combat squads for the rest of our lives. Sister Qing, I think highly of you too. As long as you're willing to climb higher, you could even shoulder the burden of Hui City Chief Base Commander!"

Xia Qing was speechless. After asking Xie Yu about the deputy base commander, she hung up, drove straight to the Ninth Center, and found Yue Haiying—who had served under Qi Zhongye for twenty years—to learn Qi Zhongye's work style and prepare for the negotiation.

After leaving the Ninth Center, Xia Qing first called Li Xuegang, the former director of the base commander's office and current deputy base commander, to submit her application.

Just as Xie Yu and Yue Haiying had predicted, Li Xuegang first enthusiastically praised Xia Qing for recruiting top-tier talent for the base, then laid out the difficulties of claiming land, and finally said he would immediately request instructions from the base commander and get back to Xia Qing as soon as possible.

As expected, tomorrow Xia Qing would have to make a trip to the Safe Zone to personally discuss the land claim with the base commander. Xia Qing took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, set this matter aside for now, and began handling the things at hand.

Zhang Liu of Territory Seven had sent over the loss summary. Adding Territory Seven's loss of 43,200 points, the total losses brought to Northern Zone One by Pian Hu staying in Mountain Fifty's experimental area for treatment came to 332,000 points.

Apart from this, all territories in Northern Zone One except Territory Three had registered to exchange one male and one female Green Light chick with Territory Seven at half price. Who pays for the remaining half? Of course—Old Four!

This spring, the price of female Green Light chicks had dropped to 800 points each, and roosters to 300 points each. So Old Four, who had promised to keep Pian Hu quiet but failed to successfully restrain Pian Hu, according to its prior verbal agreement with Xia Qing, should bear compensation of 343,550 points.

Although for a certain wolf with assets worth over a hundred million, this amount of points was nothing more than a drizzle. Xia Qing still spent half an hour on the phone, laying out the facts, reasoning things through, and listing the data for this stingy wolf, until it had nothing left to argue and agreed to bring its points card over during tomorrow morning's special training.

After settling the compensation, Xia Qing took out her own points card without hesitation and handed it to Tan Junjie.

At three in the afternoon, the territory holders of Northern Zone One who had suffered losses from the tiger's roar received their compensation points, each overjoyed. Those who hadn't suffered losses were also overjoyed, because they too now had the chance to exchange two Green Light chicks—one male, one female—with Territory Seven at half price!

Amidst the festive atmosphere, when the territory holders heard the tiger receiving treatment on Mountain Fifty let out a sound—neither loud nor soft—they didn't feel much resistance or fear anymore.

Tang Huai came online to ask, "Sister Qing, why is this tiger calling so softly? Is it hungry or not used to the environment? Ask Third Brother if he needs help. If he does, I'll head to Mountain Fifty with Ma Hai right away."

Ma Hai, who had fled the submerged Gui Three Base and been recruited by Tang Huai into Territory Two, then brought to Territory Twelve, had run a pet shop before the catastrophe.

Zhao Ze asked curiously, "Has Brother Ma treated tigers before?"

Tang Huai answered matter-of-factly, "Never treated a tiger, but I treated its master."