Chapter 225: Territory Three Lord Calls for Strength-Evolution Companions

Xia Qing gritted her teeth and swung her blade. "Clang! Clang! Clang!"

She had enough strength, and her blade was sharp enough. The great tree's recovery speed couldn't keep up with Xia Qing's chopping, and the notch kept widening. The notch on Guan Tong's side was also widening.

But within three minutes, they couldn't possibly chop the tree down. Once the time exceeded three minutes, their strength would weaken.

This won't work.

Xia Qing bit the straw inside her protective mask, sucked down the spinach juice in one gulp, and called her companion in an extremely serious voice, "Boss, the wild paulownia grove on the south side of the village needs your support. Run over here. If we're any slower, our home will be gone! Wolf Lao Er, the one with the broken waist, the one with the broken leg, don't you walk out of the sheep pen."

"Baa!" Sheep Boss responded and ran out from home.

In this situation, what use could an evolved sheep without sharp claws or fangs be?

Before Beard Feng could ask, Xia Qing assigned tasks while chopping the tree. "Guan Tong, chop with everything you've got, hold on for three more minutes. Captain Hu, send two people to cover Sheep Boss as it charges in. Within two minutes, Boss and I will knock this tree down."

Knock it down???

"Copy that!"

Guan Tong roared, and like Xia Qing, exerted a hundred and twenty percent of his strength, chopping the tree desperately.

This was Territory Three, so of course Xia Qing called the shots. Even if they failed, they'd only get whipped away by the tree vines; they wouldn't die. Beard Feng immediately took Liangzi out to meet Sheep Boss.

When the two men and one sheep fought their way in, the trunk had already been chopped more than halfway, but the remaining connected portion was still considerable. Xia Qing handed her long blade to Beard Feng. "Captain Hu, keep chopping. Quick."

Beard Feng was infected by Xia Qing's momentum. He raised his blade and, together with Guan Tong on the left and right, clanged away at the tree. The remaining three team members blocked the tree vines' attacks, covering the retreating Xia Qing and Sheep Boss.

After retreating six meters with Sheep Boss and stopping, Xia Qing roared, "Boss, ram this tree down with me!"

"Moo—" Sheep Boss also roared loudly, charged forward several steps, leaped up, and slammed its spiral horns hard into the thick trunk.

"Bam!"

No one knew how the human and sheep had developed such chemistry, but the sheep's horns and Xia Qing's hands struck the trunk of the Calamity-evolved great tree at the exact same moment. Beard Feng, who had dodged just in time, heard a "Crack!"—and the nearly half-meter-thick great tree was actually tilted by their combined impact!

Beard Feng saw hope and excitedly gave orders. "Guan Tong, shift right ninety degrees and keep chopping. Xia Qing, Boss, shift left ninety degrees, keep ramming!"

It wasn't that others didn't want to ram along with them; they simply didn't have enough strength. Ramming together would just cause chaos.

"Boss, go!"

"Moo!"

"Bam!"

"Go!"

"Moo!"

"Crack—snap!"

The two Strength-evolution Lords of Territory Three rammed it three times in succession and actually knocked the half-meter-thick Calamity-evolved great tree down!

The massive canopy crashed to the ground, but even in death it wouldn't go down stiff—it could still swing a portion of its tree vines.

Discovering that an arm-thick portion of the trunk was still connected to the stump, Xia Qing, Guan Tong, and Sheep Boss exerted their strength together, easily severing the trunk from the stump.

The job was done.

The moment smiles appeared on everyone's faces, they saw the stump, battered by the urgent Calamity rain, sprouting buds outward at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The job wasn't done yet—they had to clear out the tree roots.

Xia Qing used her backpack to shield Sheep Boss's head. "Captain Hu, Boss's protective mask is cracked. I'll take it home first. I'll leave this to you all for now."

Beard Feng nodded. "Go quickly. We'll clear the stump."

On the way back home shielding Sheep Boss from the rain, Xia Qing heard Tang Huai asking in the group chat again.

"Xia Qing, job done?"

The gunfire stopping meant the crisis had been resolved. The gunfire inside Territory Ten hadn't stopped yet, meaning Squad Junjie was still fighting.

Xia Qing pressed the button. "Territory Three has severed the trunk. Currently clearing the tree roots."

Nicely done! Yuan Rui excitedly clenched his fist. "Copy that. Please report immediately once clearing is complete."

"Copy that."

In the background noise of Yuan Rui's speaking, Xia Qing heard Shi Du's roar. She didn't know if he was also chopping trees.

After returning home and greeting the wolf pack in the sheep pen, Xia Qing led Sheep Boss inside, removed its protective mask, and used a syringe to inject spinach juice—whose energy wasn't inferior to top-grade nutrient solution—into its mouth.

Sheep Boss loved this. After drinking, it still wouldn't let go of the syringe.

Letting it play, Xia Qing examined the damage to the mask under the lamplight with her slightly trembling hands.

Unlike last time during the ultrasonic attack, when Sheep Boss had cracked the side of the protective mask by ramming, this time a long crack had appeared in the mask's face shield. She'd have to wait until she traded with Yang Jin for a matching new face shield before she could fix it.

Xia Qing ran to the sheep pen with an umbrella, took off her own protective mask, and held it out to the sick wolf. "Boss's mask is cracked. Wolf Lao Er, would mine work for you? Look, this one's the same as the one on the broken-waist wolf. The effect is awesome, and it's super comfortable to wear."

Canine protective masks differed from human ones—the latter fully enclosed the head, while the former only half-enclosed it. Sheep Boss's spiral horns could poke out through the holes reserved in the two ear holes of the canine protective mask.

Seeing that the sick wolf didn't retreat, Xia Qing took it as agreement, gave it a piece of dried meat, and quickly swapped out the protective mask it was wearing.

Back inside, Xia Qing softly and sincerely praised her companion. "Boss, you're amazing. Without you today, there was absolutely no way we could've knocked that tree down. You're stronger than me—you protected our home and territory. Boss, you've worked hard. Does your head hurt?"

Sheep Boss stopped gnawing the syringe, squinted, stood up, and nudged Xia Qing's food pocket with its head.

Xia Qing immediately pulled out all the compressed rations from her pocket and stuffed them into Sheep Boss's protective suit's side pocket. "All for you. All the rations at home belong to Boss. If it's not enough, I'll trade for more. You rest at home. I'm going to clear the tree roots. I'll come back at dawn and make you something delicious."

Xia Qing put the protective mask back on Sheep Boss, took one more look at the poultry sleeping in the chicken coop in the tool room, then put on her silver-white protective mask, shouldered the two pickaxes from home, and ran toward the wild paulownia grove.

Did her arms hurt? They did. But the danger hadn't been cleared yet, so she couldn't rest.

Although woody plants resisted Calamity rain better than herbaceous ones, no one could guarantee whether the roots of the Calamity-evolved great tree would grab onto other trees' roots and cause the entire grove to Calamity-evolve.

Therefore, the entire grove had to be cleared—the faster the better. This kind of heavy labor required Strength-evolution humans.

When Xia Qing arrived, Guan Tong was chopping the tender shoots constantly sprouting from the stump, Liangzi and Er Yong were digging out the stump, and the remaining two were patrolling the grove, clearing the small shoots poking out from the Calamity-evolved great tree's roots.

Relatively speaking, Guan Tong's task was the easiest. This was because he'd exerted tremendous force chopping the tree earlier and was now completely drained.

Xia Qing stuffed a small bag of nutrient solution into his hands. "Top-grade."

T-Top-grade? Guan Tong froze for a moment, thanked her in a low voice, quickly pulled open the zipper connecting his protective mask to his protective suit, and tucked the nutrient solution inside to drink.

Top-grade nutrient solution could rapidly replenish physical strength and repair bodily damage. Two minutes after Guan Tong drank it, he and Xia Qing, one on each side, hugged the thick roots of the Calamity-evolved great tree, shouted a cadence, and pulled the entire root system out of the ground.

After the tree roots in Territory Three were pulled out, the gunfire in Territory Ten also stopped.