Chapter 1967: We have met once before

After settling the usage volume and exchange price for the spring water, Qi Qi Zhongye picked up the water glass in front of him and asked, "Is this the pollution-free spring water from your territory?"

Xia Qing replied, "No. To avoid leaking the secret of the spring eye, Third Brother never lets me send pollution-free spring water into Territory No. 7. This is filtered spring water from Mountain No. 50. Aside from the Yi-2 element, the water quality of these two springs is about the same. Please, have a taste."

"Good." Qi Qi Zhongye had not expected that Zhang San had never used the spring water from Xia Qing's territory. He lowered his head to take a sip of the filtered water, then looked up and praised, "The taste of this water is indeed excellent; it is suitable for brewing black tea."

After praising the water quality, Qi Qi Zhongye asked, "Xia Qing, when did you discover the spring eye in Territory No. 3? Was it when you followed Luo Pei to clear the evolutionary forest for reclamation?"

Xia Qing nodded, "I discovered it by accident while clearing the buffer forest of Territory No. 3."

Qi Qi Zhongye smiled gently, "Luo Pei responded to the national call and took the lead in accepting a reclamation mission with a low cost-performance ratio. You followed him to reclaim the land, discovered the spring water, and then in the spring of the tenth year of the natural disaster, you used the spring water you discovered to save Luo Pei's life."

And after that, Hui San gained two top-tier snipers, and he also found the most suitable successor for the position of Base Commander.

"I only provided the detoxifying spring water," Xia Qing said modestly, adding more water to her idol's cup so he would drink more.

Qi Qi Zhongye continued his conversation with Zhang San, "Among the 224 spring eyes discovered by our country, not a single one has experienced a dry season, let alone a dry season lasting a full month. Third Brother, is there a connection between this spring and the hot spring on Mountain No. 50?"

Zhang San answered rigorously, "Only after the Jiang Cheng team conducts exploration and research can the connection between the two be confirmed."

Qi Qi Zhongye's tone held anticipation, "This spring has immense research value. Jiang Cheng will certainly sign a confidentiality agreement and enter the Northern District 1 to conduct in-depth research on it. If a connection exists, it is possible that new spring eyes may appear around the two destroyed spring eyes in our base."

Xia Qing had heard Luo Pei say that the Hui San base officials had discovered four spring eyes in total, two of which had been sabotaged by humans, but she did not know which two. Now that the Base Commander had mentioned this himself, Xia Qing maintained a calm expression, not revealing even a hint of curiosity.

Zhang San nodded without responding.

Qi Qi Zhongye ended the discussion about the spring water and moved to the next topic, "Third Brother, these are images of puppies captured by a micro-robot that infiltrated the Mountain No. 12 area of the Eastern evolutionary forest. That pack of wild dogs bred two litters totaling nine puppies this year. Four of the puppies have developed the same mutations in their front paws as the gene-edited dogs."

Zhang San straightened up and asked seriously, "Are they from the same litter?"

"Both litters have them; one litter has three, and one has one." After saying this, Qi Qi Zhongye sent the footage transmitted back by the Special Operations Team to Zhang San and Xia Qing.

When the Base Commander came over to talk directly about the spring water, Xia Qing knew the situation was bad, but she hadn't expected it to be so bad that nearly half of the puppies were showing stable mutations.

She opened the footage and watched the two litters of puppies nursing in silence, her mood extremely heavy.

Zhang San's expression was grave, "How do you intend to handle these descendants of the gene-edited dogs?"

The Base Commander responded, "I would like to hear your suggestion."

Zhang San replied calmly, "To prevent the gene editing from continuing to spread in the evolutionary forest, they should be exterminated and recovered as soon as possible."

Qi Qi Zhongye raised the risks of doing so, "If we exterminate them first and then recover them, it will trigger greater public opinion, and our subsequent difficulty in controlling the situation and stabilizing public sentiment will be even higher."

Wild dogs retaliating against humans during the Qi-rain season? That doesn't exist. The Special Operations Team has already been monitoring the wild dog pack; if necessary, they can be exterminated entirely.

Zhang San nodded, "So this batch of wild dog puppies cannot be exterminated by humans. Xia Qing."

Xia Qing spoke up, "This gene-edited dog entered the Eastern dog pack's territory last autumn and killed the previous dog king. The previous dog king's descendants have already grown up; it will fight its way back into the territory, reclaim the position of dog king, and kill the descendants of the gene-edited dog."

Qi Qi Zhongye nodded, "From which location will the wild dog fighting for the dog king position enter the pack's territory? I will have the Special Operations Team open a path and let it in."

Zhang San spoke, "Xia Qing, ask the former Southern wolf king and see how long it will take for the evolutionary wild dog to complete this task."

The former Southern wolf king? Is that the old white-furred, white-eyed wolf that once received treatment in Xia Qing's territory? Qi Qi Zhongye showed an interested expression and picked up his water glass again to take a sip of the filtered spring water.

He had long known that Xia Qing had formed an alliance with the Northern and Southern wolf packs of Hui San, but he hadn't expected that the brain-domain evolutionary leader of the wolf pack could already understand human language and had learned to use human communication tools.

Was the communication tool that Fu Tianfeng equipped them with exchanged with Wu Cheng and Yu Shou?

Besides the Southern wolf pack, Xia Qing should also be able to contact the Northern wolf pack, so does the Northern wolf pack also possess communication tools?

What about the Northern bear pack?

When Xia Qing went to extinguish the fire in the Eastern evolutionary forest of Hui Yi, did she exchange contact information with the wolf pack there?

The brain-domain evolutionary tiger receiving treatment on Mountain No. 50 has remained in a stable state; is it because it can also understand human language, and does it have a communication tool?

"Okay."

Xia Qing took her phone out of her protective suit pocket, sent the pictures and videos to the old wolf first, and then dialed its video call.

Her idol wanted her to contact Old Four in front of the Base Commander to strengthen the Base Commander's confidence in fighting the Blue Blood. Xia Qing agreed to do so, but she turned to the side, not letting the Base Commander appear within the range the camera could see, nor letting him see Old Four on the screen.

After the video call connected, Xia Qing was not surprised to see two wolves squeezed onto the screen, "Old Four, Ear-less, I am in Third Brother's office."

Hearing the names Xia Qing called out, Qi Qi Zhongye, who was always as steady as a rock, almost choked on his water.

Xia Qing switched the camera to let the two wolves see her idol.

Zhang San, leaning back in his soft chair, nodded slowly. Old Four nodded in response, and the Ear-less wolf impatiently bared its sharp fangs.

Xia Qing switched the camera back and asked, "Old Four, Ear-less, did you see the video I sent you?"

"Woo—" The Ear-less wolf bared its fangs and let out a dissatisfied growl.

Qi Qi Zhongye, who kept a retired military dog at home, heard the growl from the evolutionary wolf, which didn't sound truly angry, and confirmed that this wolf had a good relationship with Xia Qing.

Xia Qing explained calmly, "It's my fault for not sending a copy to Ear-less. I'll send it now."

Zhang San...

Qi Qi Zhongye...

After coaxing the Ear-less wolf, Xia Qing asked the serious-looking old wolf, "Old Four, the video I sent you was obtained by people sent by Qi Qi Zhongye, the human leader of our base. He is in Third Brother's office right now. Do you want to see him?"

Qi Qi Zhongye gently set down his water glass, straightened his protective suit, and raised his hand to brush his graying short hair, which had been flattened by his protective mask.

Zhang San rolled his eyes at him and slowly took a sip of water.

After the old wolf nodded, Xia Qing walked over to Qi Qi Zhongye, let him appear in the phone screen, and introduced him grandly, "This is the human leader of Hui San, Base Commander Qi Qi Zhongye. He is a companion that Third Brother and I trust; he is a good person."

The Ear-less wolf ran off to look at its own phone. The gray-white-furred old wolf on the screen gazed quietly at Qi Qi Zhongye without making any movement.

Qi Qi Zhongye scrutinized the wolf for a few seconds and spoke, "Hello, Wolf King. I am Qi Qi Zhongye. If I am not mistaken, in late September of the third year of the natural disaster, we met once in the Mountain No. 19 area of the Southern evolutionary forest of Hui San. At that time, I was leading a human combat team and two evolutionary dogs to chase an evolutionary cow, and the wolf pack you were with jumped out to compete for the cow. The wolf pack leader at that time was a female wolf with black-gray fur and white irises." ===== CHAPTER 1972 =====