Chapter 1963: The Storm Before the Storm

Yang Jin quietly gazed at his calm-faced girlfriend on the screen, his voice low as he reminded her, "Gao Ying has already led her team into the eastern wild dog territory of Radiance-3. If the offspring bred from the genetically modified dogs and the wild dogs in the Evolution Forest have stably inherited the genetic modification traits of this dog's claws, the Base Commander may come to you personally and activate the unpolluted spring water in your territory."

If Blazefire's intelligence analysts could deduce that there was very likely unpolluted spring water within Xia Qing's territory, then of course the official intelligence analysts of Radiance-3 Base could deduce this as well.

Compared to the unpolluted spring water, Radiance-3 Base Commander Qi Zhongye valued Xia Qing's abilities and her relationship with Zhang San even more, so Qi Zhongye did not investigate further.

Now that the Blue Blood Alliance is about to play its trump card, Radiance-3 Base must have enough chips to stabilize the situation.

What are the chips during a year of natural disasters? Survival supplies, and the combat power capable of defending those survival supplies.

The unpolluted spring within Xia Qing's territory is a vital survival resource.

The unpolluted spring Yang Jin discovered in the Lan City Dead Sea?

That spring is now shared by the Green Dragon Squad and the Mad Sand Squad of Lan-5, and the water it yields has already been utilized to the maximum.

Xia Qing nodded calmly. "Understood. The mining site you discovered on the Ruins Continent—will that also have to be exposed?"

"That depends on the outcome of your negotiation with the Base Commander. If the conditions the Base Commander offers satisfy you and you decide to cooperate with him, it can be exposed; if you're not satisfied, then this mining site has nothing to do with Radiance-3 Base. The Green Dragon Squad, just like Third Brother and Sixth Brother, firmly stands on your side, protecting the interests of the Northern District-1 Territory Alliance led by you. Because…"

Yang Jin looked at his girlfriend, who grew calmer the more critical the moment became, and broke into a brilliant smile. "The Green Dragon Squad holds two territories in Northern District-1 and is a genuine member of the Territory Alliance. Protecting the interests of the Northern District-1 Territory Alliance means protecting the interests of the Green Dragon Squad. Following Sister Qing will definitely be better than following the Radiance-3 Base Commander."

Xia Qing didn't stand on ceremony with Yang Jin and nodded calmly. "Recover from your injuries as quickly as possible."

The Blue Blood Alliance is about to play its trump card, and the battles ahead will all be grueling tests of wits. Yang Jin is a top combatant of Radiance-3 Base, the captain of the Green Dragon Squad, and her steadfast ally. Once his combat power is restored, Xia Qing's confidence will grow even stronger.

"This battle will be a long one; the first half month will definitely be a war of public opinion. I've already recovered forty percent of my combat power, and in half a month I can get back to ninety percent. Rest assured, Sister Qing—I absolutely won't miss the chance to fight alongside you, Fourth Brother, and the Northern Wolf King to defend our territory and earn our place in history!"

Xia Qing chuckled. "Brother Jin, you're overthinking it. Your main battlefield after recovering your combat power will be at the negotiation table."

"Alright, Sister Qing calls the wolves and tigers in the Evolution Forest, and I'll dominate the negotiation table." Yang Jin urged his girlfriend, "Stay in Northern District-1 as much as possible recently. Don't go out, and definitely don't come to the Safe Zone. The more crowded the place, the more dangerous it is for you."

Xia Qing is the core figure of the Territory Alliance. The Blue Blood Alliance has given up trying to win her over and only wants to kill her as quickly as possible, dismantle this alliance, and weaken the combat power of Northern District-1.

"Understood."

After ending the call with Yang Jin, Xia Qing turned off the light in the second-floor living room, drew back the blackout curtains, and stood by the window gazing silently outside.

The territory's night was very dark and very noisy—dark because tonight's clouds obscured the stars and moon, and noisy because of the various insects and frogs within the territory.

Xia Qing couldn't see the noisy frogs, but she could clearly distinguish which shed and which tree each of the dark shadows of varying heights in the territory belonged to.

This was her territory. She had lived here for over two years, was familiar with every inch of the land, and remembered the appearance of every rock and every tree…

"Beep."

The phone's notification sounded. Xia Qing raised her eyes toward the North Buffer Forest and watched silently as two dark shadows ran closer and closer.

She let go of the blackout curtains, went downstairs, and heard the two wolves rinsing their paws in the water basin outside the entry door and scraping their paws on the grass mat.

The one stirring the water into a loud slosh and hooking several blades of grass off the mat with its claws was Missing-Ear Wolf; the one making very little sound, almost none at all, was Missing-Ear Wolf's father—the former Wolf King of the Southern Wolf Pack, Fourth Brother.

After the entry door opened silently, the pitch-black Missing-Ear Wolf standing outside darted into the house, lowered its body and hopped left and right, looked at Xia Qing with a pair of bright white eyes, and was ready to play and roughhouse with her.

This was how Missing-Ear Wolf expressed affection.

The pitch-black old wolf, which had noticed something was off about Xia Qing, still stood outside the door, watching her silently with a pair of wolf eyes filled with wisdom and the weight of years.

Missing-Ear Wolf keenly sensed something was wrong, stood up on its hind legs and looked at Xia Qing, as if asking what had happened.

One black and one white two little monkeys had already huddled together; the strong cub stayed motionless in its luxurious wooden nest guarding its baby; the only sound in the entire living room was Sheep Boss's rumination.

Xia Qing walked downstairs. "Fourth Brother, Missing-Ear, nothing happened on my end—it's the situation that's changed. I just finished a call with Yang Jin and haven't quite collected myself yet. You didn't spot any enemy tamed beasts on your way over, did you?"

Seeing that Xia Qing had returned to normal, Missing-Ear Wolf gave a flick of its tail. Fourth Brother walked into the room and gave a quiet nod of his pitch-black head.

Going downstairs, Xia Qing touched the spiral horn on her companion's head, then led the two pitch-black evolved wolves into the first-floor bathroom.

Water had already been prepared in the bucket in the first-floor bathroom. Xia Qing first rinsed the mud and grime from the two wolves' fur before letting them into the bathtub, adding a medicinal agent to remove the black coloring adhering to their fur.

While letting them soak, Xia Qing explained what had happened.

When it came to gene editing, not only could the not-very-educated Missing-Ear Wolf not understand, Fourth Brother couldn't quite follow either. Because this old wolf, just like Xia Qing, was only interested in knowledge it considered useful.

Half an hour later, the water in the bathtub had turned pitch black, and the two evolved wolves' fur had returned to its original color. Both wolves had predominantly white fur—Fourth Brother had less black fur on his back, while Missing-Ear Wolf had more. As she toweled Missing-Ear Wolf's fur dry, Xia Qing thought once more of the name her idol had given it.

Getting through this winter—or rather, the coming year—would not be an easy matter for the wolf pack. The situation in the Evolution Forest was even more perilous than that of the Northern District-1 territories.

Xia Qing led the two squeaky-clean evolved wolves into the first-floor living room and turned on the TV to play a program about gene editing for them.

The two Does huddled in the tree nest saw the two wolves had returned to their original fur color and their eyes went wide. After their shock passed, they too began watching the television earnestly.

After watching for only a few minutes, Missing-Ear Wolf and Does Ergua began to drift off and yawn, while the old wolf lying on the sofa and Does Daigua, curled up in the tree nest, stared at the television with full concentration, watching the spiraling structures inside known as "gene chains."