Chapter 183: The Sufeng Squad's Scheme

Human research has been going deeper, but the evolved bugs' drug resistance keeps rising too. The repellent the base improved in June is already less effective at driving the evolved bugs away.

She wouldn't let the disease-carrying flies buzz around the sick wolf. Xia Qing went back to the house, grabbed an insect net, caught the big evolved flies, tossed them all into the fire, then took window screen from the tool room and briskly installed an openable magnetic-stripped insect-proof screen door on the sheep pen.

While Xia Qing was adjusting the screws on the door, she heard Kuang Qingwei asking her about food storage over the lord's walkie-talkie.

"Xia Qing, you there? What do you think about digging a cellar to store potatoes?"

After the lords sent the seed potatoes back to the safe zone, none of them sold the potatoes at the safe zone's set price; instead, they all tried to stockpile them.

Xia Qing didn't mention she'd already dug two cellars. She pressed the walkie-talkie button. "If we can keep out bugs, rats, and moisture, I think it's worth a try."

Shi Zhong asked, "Xia Qing, if we dig a cellar, how do we handle ventilation?"

Qi Fu is recovering from injuries, so his online time is irregular. For construction-related questions, Xia Qing—who serves as a deputy squad leader of the construction team in the safe zone—also knows the trade well, so she's become everyone's go-to. But Xia Qing isn't online for long stretches either, so whenever they catch her, everyone hurries to ask.

Xia Qing had already thought this through. She answered, "You can install an exhaust fan, or leave a vent and use a blower to pump air in on a schedule."

Kuang Qingwei felt it wasn't right. "Setting aside how many points the exhaust fan and blower cost, both need electricity. Our solar panels were all smashed by the hailstorm—where would we get power to run an exhaust fan?"

Kuang Qingwei always talks big—take at most thirty percent of it as truth. If his solar panels were really smashed, how does he charge his walkie-talkie?

Xia Qing continued, "If it's a small cellar, you can use a small exhaust fan as a ventilator. I remember the safe zone has battery-powered exhaust fans."

In the cellar inside the abandoned village on the southwest side of Territory Three, Xia Qing installed a battery-powered small exhaust fan as an experiment. The test results: airflow was of course better than no ventilation, but humidity and temperature became harder to control.

So running the exhaust fan on a timer every day or every other day to swap the air is workable.

To keep it secret, Xia Qing didn't go through the normal trade procedure with Zhong Tao. Instead, she tipped off Hu Zifeng and used the yellow-light vegetables from the greenhouse to trade with Territory One. Territory One has a lot of people and consumes vegetables and grain heavily. Most of the yellow-light vegetables Xia Qing grows in her farm's vegetable greenhouse go to Territory One; the smaller share goes to Zhong Tao and Zheng Kui.

Tan Junjie hasn't traded vegetables with Xia Qing in the past two months. Based on multiple clues, Xia Qing deduced he must be the lord of Territory Fifteen.

Shi Zhong continued, "Xia Qing, those wind-driven spinning ventilators on top of the underground buildings in the safe zone—don't those run without electricity?"

Xia Qing had considered that too, but ruled it out. "They don't need power, but they have to be installed in an open, ventilated spot."

Kuang Qingwei felt it wasn't right. "That kind won't work—too big, too conspicuous."

A food storage spot should of course be as hidden as possible.

Zhao Ze, who did landscaping work before the catastrophe, joined the discussion. "We can use the old rural cellar ventilation method—either don't seal the cave or cellar opening too tight, or run a pipe to connect it with the outside. It'll make the storage a bit less effective, but we don't have much food to begin with, and we don't need to keep it that long anyway."

Everyone chimed in agreement, but among the nearby territories, the one with barely any food worth storing is probably only Territory Four.

Zhao Ze asked Xia Qing, "Xia Qing, are you digging a cellar or a mountain cave?"

Xia Qing answered calmly, "My territory has lots of hillsides—I'm planning to dig a mountain cave. Does Brother Zhao know what kind of place is good for digging one?"

Zhao Ze answered simply, "Of course somewhere hard and dry. It rains a lot around here, so waterproofing the cave is a problem. When's Third Brother coming back? I want to ask him if he has any good ways to preserve food."

Zhang San, that glutton, must have some way to preserve food—question is how cost-effective it is. Zhang San, who's already been away from the territory for ten days, is the important figure everyone mutters about several times a day. When he's not around, everyone feels uneasy.

Just as Xia Qing was wondering what could be tying Zhang San up this long—he hasn't even come back to enjoy the green-light meat—her phone in her pocket started buzzing.

The caller was Yang Jin. If he's calling her, it must be urgent. Xia Qing picked up immediately.

"Just now, the Sufeng Squad approached Xu Juan of the Dongyang Squad and Zhang Yong of the construction team, and got them to come install solar panels for you."

Xia Qing keeps a very low profile in the safe zone, and her social connections are very simple. Xu Juan and Zhang Yong are the two people still in the safe zone she's had the most contact with.

Zhang Yong is the only ordinary person among the four squad leaders of the Hui Three Base construction team. He manages four squads, each with a deputy leader—Xia Qing is one of his four deputies.

Zhang Yong was already doing construction work in this area before the catastrophe, so he has some connections. After the catastrophe, relying on his old ties and his own ability, he firmly holds the "cushy post" of construction team leader.

Xia Qing's father saved Zhang Yong's life during the beast tide. Grateful, Zhang Yong pulled Xia Qing into his squad to keep an eye on her when he learned she'd applied to join the construction team.

Only after joining the construction team did Xia Qing realize that once you were with Zhang Yong, there was no switching squads in time. The construction team has an unwritten rule: if Xia Qing leaves Zhang Yong's squad, no other construction squad will take her.

The reason Xia Qing doesn't want to work under Zhang Yong is that he's lecherous.

Zhang Yong won't force women, but after the catastrophe, with clothes and food scarce, plenty of people throw themselves at him for food and supplies. His wife has fought with him over it more than once.

In Xia Qing's first month with the construction team, Zhang Yong's wife stormed the worksite to make a scene. When explanations failed, Xia Qing simply picked her up and slammed her sideways into a sand pile—only then did she behave.

Zhang Yong, remembering Xia Qing father's life-saving grace, didn't make things hard for Xia Qing over it, but afraid his wife would cause another scene, he didn't dare give Xia Qing any extra care.

To avoid suspicion, Xia Qing kept only the necessary work contact with Zhang Yong. Later, when she became a deputy squad leader, it was on the strength of her formidable power as a strength-type evolver.

Xia Qing hadn't expected herself to be worth this much effort from the Sufeng Squad. "Xu Juan is a hearing-type evolver, Zhang Yong is an ordinary person—even if they come in, they won't find out anything. Does Captain Yang know the Sufeng Squad's plan?"

"They'll probably plant surveillance gear on the two of them, or dust them with a drug that triggers a strong reaction from evolved animals." Yang Jin paused, then went on. "The latter is easy to detect, so the former is more likely. They'll have Zhang Yong or Xu Juan ask you about the pangolin, then have a brain-domain evolver analyze their facial expressions and vocal changes to judge whether you're telling the truth or lying."

Xia Qing knew brain-domain evolvers were freakish, but hadn't expected them to be this freakish. "Captain Yang, can they really tell?"