Chapter 220: The First Wave of Red Calamity Rain Ends

Ram Boss pushed open the door and entered the corn shed. Xia Qing hurried forward, pulled off its protective mask, stuffed two compressed rations into its satchel, and cooed softly, "Boss, you came at just the right time. Without your help, our territory would be done for. Quick, pick up these corn stalks lying on the ridges and toss them out the shed entrance. Careful not to get caught in the Calamity Rain."

After saying that, Xia Qing gathered a few Calamity-evolved corn stalks from the ridges, ran quickly to the shed entrance, and tossed them out, demonstrating for Ram Boss.

"Baa!"

Ram Boss understood. It picked up two corn stalks still growing with clods of earth attached, ran swiftly to the shed entrance, and flung them out — farther than Xia Qing had thrown them.

Xia Qing, who was running, heard the commotion and, without looking back, praised it wildly. "Boss, you're amazing! Way better than me. Truly the ram who opened a new era of evolved sheep on Blue Star. It all depends on you."

Praised, Ram Boss flung corn stalks out frantically. Chen Zheng, who had never seen the like, was stunned for two seconds, then threw himself into the battle.

The red Calamity Rain lasted one and a half hours. Inside the sheds, crops, and outside, animals and plants, successively underwent Calamity evolution or went berserk. The humans were so busy they wished they had eight more hands.

"One hour and fifty minutes. The red Calamity Rain has ended." Tan Junjie's report sounded over the Lord Channel.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but their hands didn't dare stop. The Calamity elements in the air wouldn't drop quickly just because the red Calamity Rain had stopped; the crops in the sheds were still undergoing Calamity evolution one after another.

Outside the shed? No time for it!!!

Xia Qing had lost count of how many Calamity-evolved corn stalks she had cleared. The Calamity-evolved corn that Ram Boss had carried out was still growing wildly upward, blocking the shed entrance. Ram Boss charged out in a fury, butting and kicking its way around, before it cleared some space and continued tossing stalks out.

An hour and a half after the red Calamity Rain stopped, the crops inside the shed finally stabilized and stopped undergoing Calamity evolution. The Calamity grass growing inside had also been mostly cleared. Outside the shed, blue-grade Calamity Rain was falling, and the sky had brightened.

Everyone in the territory collapsed on the ground, exhausted, limbs trembling, breathing heavy. Ram Boss, now a ball of mud, lay beside Xia Qing, shaking its head constantly.

Xia Qing caught her breath, then scrambled up, wiped the mud from Ram Boss's face and mouth, and began tallying the losses from the first wave of red Calamity Rain. During the one hour and fifty minutes of red Calamity Rain, two hundred and eighty corn stalks in the corn shed underwent Calamity evolution. Listening to the losses reported from each shed, Xia Qing's heart ached so badly it twitched.

Fortunately, the Gao Po spinach terraces, sweet potato terraces, and the green-light rice in the fields she had protected with Yishi had no plants undergo Calamity evolution.

After thoroughly clearing out the Calamity-evolved plants and patrolling the territory to clear a batch of dangerous Calamity-evolved creatures, Xia Qing pressed the button. "The situation has stabilized. Everyone can rest now."

Hu Zifeng replied, "Starting now, we'll execute the original plan. Xia Qing, go home and rest. Come back at five in the afternoon. If red Calamity Rain falls during this time, I'll call you."

The third Calamity Rain would fall intermittently for a total of seventy hours. It was only the fifth hour now. Their eleven people needed to rest in three shifts to stay in peak fighting condition and respond to any emergencies.

Xia Qing, covered in mud and grass leaves, led the filthy Ram Boss back to the village, trudging through Calamity grass half a person's height.

Clear the Calamity grass? No time for that now.

Back home, after confirming the air contained no toxins, Xia Qing first removed the protective masks from the three wolves, then took Ram Boss to the bathroom to wash off the mud. She took off its protective suit, poured warm water into Ram Boss's tub, and let it soak comfortably.

Xia Qing went to the second-floor bathroom for a quick shower, changed out of her sweat-soaked clothes, and began cooking — feeding the wolves, the ram, and the chickens.

After a hard night, Ram Boss ate concentrate of green-light pasture grass plus spinach leaves and wheat bran. The sick wolves ate boiled offal. The chickens ate chopped vegetables mixed with wheat bran. The fish ate the insects Xia Qing had caught. The large water tank holding the green-light and yellow-light fish was placed beside the chicken coop, protected together by Yishi, and safely weathered the first wave of red Calamity Rain.

The snakes in the box? No time for them.

Xia Qing ate tea soup and fragrant five-spice green-light jerky, plus fifteen milliliters of freshly squeezed spinach juice.

The two wolves in the ram shed still had round bellies and didn't need to eat. Xia Qing estimated these two wolves wouldn't eat anything until the Calamity Rain stopped completely.

As she finished eating and prepared to rest, Xia Qing heard Zhao Ze ask, "How's everyone's territory? I lost over five hundred corn stalks, and only three white radishes are left."

"I didn't lose little either. Luckily this nearly two-hour red Calamity Rain fell right at the start. If it had fallen tomorrow or the day after, our losses would have been even greater." Unlike Zhao Ze's pessimistic complaining, Qi Fu always saw the positive side of things.

Tang Huai asked, "Zhao Ze, did rain get into your vegetable shed?"

If rain hadn't gotten in, the losses wouldn't have been this bad.

Zhao Ze said in frustration, "The waterproof cloth on the vegetable shed and one corn shed tore during the last wave. My mom said we didn't need to replace it..."

Before Zhao Ze could finish speaking, Xia Qing heard Zhao's mother roar, "I said glue it down properly! Did you glue it down properly? You good-for-nothing brats — can't even do the work right, and now you're blaming your old mother?"

As a lord, Zhao Ze's territorial power and ability to enforce his authority were too weak; he truly deserved the scolding. Hearing Zhao Ze get yelled at made everyone feel a lot better.

Kuang Qingwei asked, "Is everyone alright? Two more people here lost control and got hurt. It's really tough. The Safe Zone must be in total chaos."

Many ordinary people in the Safe Zone had old, broken protective masks. After one hour and fifty minutes of red-grade Calamity Rain, there would certainly be over a thousand people losing control.

Besides those losing control and attacking companions indiscriminately, plenty were taking advantage of the chaos to cause trouble. The Safe Zone now was no different from purgatory.

Xia Qing couldn't manage the Safe Zone's affairs, only her own and her allies'. After checking by phone that Territory Five had no serious injuries, Xia Qing put protective masks on Ram Boss and the wolf pack, then went upstairs to rest.

On the Lord Channel, Shi Du asked Zhang San for help. "Third Brother, are you there? Can I come get the medicine now? My dad's whole body is in terrible pain. Would green-light mung beans or green-light cotton work as trade?"

Zhang San wasn't short on green-light vegetables now. The two items Shi Du proposed were Territory Ten's best supplies.

"Sure, five catties of either." Zhang San replied. "Xia Qing, send over two catties of your territory's Bai Mao chicken-dropping vine."

Xia Qing pressed the button and replied, "Okay, right away."

Hu Zifeng's call came through immediately. "You rest at home. I'll deliver it."

"Sorry to trouble you, Captain Hu." Xia Qing thanked him, turned off the walkie-talkie, and went upstairs.

On the Lord Channel, Li Si's voice came through. "Xia Qing, can I trade for chicken-dropping vine? What supplies do you need?"

Xia Qing, who had already turned off her walkie-talkie, couldn't hear. Hu Zifeng replied on her behalf. "Fourth Sister, Xia Qing was clearing Calamity-evolved corn all night. I told her to go rest. I'll let her know when she comes out."

"Many thanks." Li Si replied calmly.

Tang Huai immediately came online and spoke sarcastically. "Madman, you're something, aren't you."

Hu Zifeng pressed the walkie-talkie. "Tang Big Idiot, straighten your tongue when you talk. Maybe if I'm in a good mood, I'll even let you into Territory One to dig worms."

Tang Huai snorted. "You say that as if you call the shots in Territory One."

Tang Zhengpo spoke up. "Tang Huai, is Territory Two cleared?"

"Not yet. I'm leading people to clear it now." Tang Huai replied obediently.

Tan Junjie spoke sternly. "Each territory, please report dangerous Calamity evolution situations."