Chapter 229: Ten Vials of Premium Nutrient Solution

After verifying goods and exchanging supplies with the people of Territory Nine, Xia Qing put the compost fungus powder and plastic film on Sheep Elder's seat, started the micro-tiller, and continued cutting Calamity Grass to clear the path, pulling out the various saplings that had sprouted during the Calamity Rain along the way.

Saplings in their seedling stage mutate easily during Calamity Rain, so clearing them early puts her mind at ease.

An hour later, the Calamity Rain intensified. Xia Qing went home, carried the supplies inside, parked the micro-tiller in front of the sheep shed, and removed the protective masks from the three wolves and one sheep so they could drink water.

Then Xia Qing instructed the sick wolf, "Wolf Lao Er, your body is weak. When you go to relieve yourself, stand close to the wall and don't get rained on."

The wolves' and sheep's "toilet" was just outside the south wall of the sheep shed. Before the Calamity Rain, Xia Qing had set up a canopy over their toilet.

The sick wolf nuzzled Xia Qing with its rib-thin body, indicating it understood.

Xia Qing put the protective mask on the sick wolf, then gestured and instructed the broken-waist wolf, "You're clever. If an emergency comes up, howl right away, then take Wolf Lao Er and the broken-legged one into the house, lock the security door. I'll hear it and come back fast."

The broken-waist wolf stared quietly at Xia Qing, still wearing that thoughtful, clever look. Time was tight, so Xia Qing said no more, put the mask on it, then beckoned over the broken-legged wolf that was baring its teeth and glaring. "Broken-leg, you're now their protector. No matter what danger shows up in the territory, you don't need to worry about it—just protect your companions."

Xia Qing put the mask on the unruly broken-legged wolf, then beckoned her own companion over in a gentle voice. "Boss, this is the most dangerous moment. Our territory is short on hands, so you have to come with me to guard it. Boss is the guardian deity of our territory, the stabilizing needle. With you here, we'll definitely get through this Calamity Rain safely. Come on, Boss, let me put your mask on."

The proud Sheep Elder, after putting on the protective mask, had Xia Qing hold an umbrella over it, and together they headed off to the "battlefield."

Standing under an umbrella in the rain monitoring Calamity-element concentration, Beard Feng saw the person and sheep approaching and immediately ordered Guan Tong, "The third wave of red Calamity Rain should arrive soon. Wake everyone up and prepare for battle."

"Copy." Guan Tong immediately went to the inner room and woke the team members who had only been asleep for less than three hours.

After sixty hours of Calamity Rain already, what would another wave of red-level Calamity Rain mean? It meant the number of Calamity-mutated plants in the greenhouses would visibly increase, and that aggressive Calamity-mutated plants could appear at any moment—everyone had to throw themselves into the fight.

Beard Feng's squad stood inside the cabin, each face more serious than the last, forming a stark contrast with Sheep Elder standing beside Xia Qing, munching grass.

With a calm expression, Xia Qing took out ten vials of nutrient solution and set them on the table. "These are premium nutrient solutions, one per person. For the next ten hours, I'm counting on all of you. I'll say it again—safety first. The moment things spiral out of control, we retreat immediately."

Ten vials of premium nutrient solution—twenty thousand points.

The core members of the Azure Dragon team were stunned by Xia Qing's generosity.

Last night Xia Qing had given Guan Tong one vial of premium nutrient solution, but that was an emergency—they had to clear the wild paulownia forest fast. The red Calamity Rain hasn't even started yet. What if this wave doesn't last long? Wouldn't it be wasted?

The muffled thunder jolted Beard Feng back to his senses, and he immediately ordered, "Guan Tong takes half a vial, everyone else one vial—drink it now. We have ten hours before the Calamity Rain ends. After taking the premium nutrient solution, none of you are allowed to slip up on me!"

"Yes!" Nine voices answered in unison. They drank the premium nutrient solution, and the whole team was quickly back to full strength.

Two thousand points a vial—premium nutrient solution really delivers.

Beard Feng discussed with Xia Qing, "You'll guard the hillside greenhouses with me?"

Beard Feng didn't say another word, but Xia Qing knew he had figured out where her premium nutrient solution came from, so he listed Gao Po's spinach terraces as a priority protection target.

"Gao Po's spinach field, the Green Lantern sweet potatoes, and the Green Lantern rice in the cultivated-land greenhouse—I used special methods to protect them all. There's basically no Calamity-mutation risk." At this critical moment, Xia Qing decided to come clean.

Even if she hadn't confessed, Beard Feng and the others had pretty much guessed it. After three days of Calamity Rain, the Calamity-mutation clearance rate for other crops had exceeded twenty percent, but the three areas Xia Qing mentioned had zero loss.

The contrast was so obvious that even a red squirrel trembling in its tree hole, dragged over and shown, would know which plot to hide in.

Beard Feng nodded and discussed with Xia Qing, "You'll take command from here on out?"

The upcoming red Calamity Rain was extremely dangerous and needed someone to oversee the whole picture. After cooperating this many times, even if Xia Qing didn't say it, Beard Feng—a Level-5 visual evolver—had realized her visual evolution far surpassed his own.

Lord Xia Qing nodded and began assigning tasks. "I'll go to the highest point in the territory and report any dangerous Calamity-mutation situations in real time. Sheep Elder will help out in the corn shed. One person per greenhouse, three people patrol the territory—specific arrangements are up to Captain Hu."

Xia Qing was a Level-9 visual evolver. As long as she stood high enough, no anomaly in the territory could escape her eyes.

Over the pattering rain, Beard Feng gave orders: "Xiao Jiang guards the cotton shed, Guan Tong guards the vegetable shed... Eryong guards the corn shed. Peng Jian, Jingkuan, and I will be outside. If any shed has a situation you can't handle, call for backup immediately."

Clearing Calamity-mutated plants inside the greenhouses was important, but patrolling the territory in the rain and clearing Calamity-mutated creatures was even more critical. Level-5 visual evolvers Beard Feng and Peng Jian, and Level-5 speed evolver Jingkuan, were the squad's strongest combat power. The three of them were responsible for patrolling the territory, clearing dangerous Calamity-mutated creatures, and providing rapid backup when any greenhouse needed support.

Xia Qing first sent Sheep Elder into the corn shed, pumped it up with plenty of encouragement, then headed toward the hillside.

"A sunflower mutated—it's blooming several flowers in different colors. So pretty." Guan Tong, guarding the vegetable shed, spoke up. "Is anyone nearby outside? I'll move the sunflower out, and you guys find an empty spot to plant it. Maybe this mutated variety could work as an ornamental plant."

In a year of disaster, people could barely get enough to eat—who had the mind to grow ornamental plants? No one took it seriously; they all knew he was joking. Xiao Jiang replied, "Appreciate what? Appreciate how it shoots sunflower seeds in every direction when it mutates aggressively?"

Hearing the laughter in her earpiece, Xia Qing walking over flowing water and muddy ground smiled too. Passing the fish pond, she observed carefully and reported, "There's a crack in the north embankment of the right-side fish pond. Everyone go around it."

"Baa." Before Beard Feng's squad could reply, Sheep Elder responded first, its voice carrying a tension only Xia Qing could detect.

It was guarding the corn shed, with no Xia Qing and no wolf pack beside it—it was nervous.

Separating from Sheep Elder to carry out tasks couldn't be helped. Xia Qing replied gently, "Don't be afraid, Boss. Just get through one more night, and tomorrow I'll make you a concentrate with cucumber and perilla flavor."

"Baa." Greed overcame nervousness, and Sheep Elder calmed down.

The stone bridge leading to the hillside had already been swallowed by the rushing river. Xia Qing took a few running steps and leaped straight across the water, then walked up along the open ground between the rain shelter on the low slope and the woods.

Before she even reached Gao Po, the lord's walkie-talkie crackled with Tan Junjie's serious report: "The third wave of red Calamity Rain has begun."

The decisive battle had begun!

Xia Qing took a deep breath, quickly climbed the big Chinese toon tree on Gao Po, and looked around. The big Chinese toon tree wasn't the highest point in the territory, but it was a Green Lantern one, so it had a higher safety factor than other big trees.

Standing atop the big Chinese toon tree, the 2,600 mu of cultivated land south of the river all came into the view of the Level-9 visual-evolving lord.

Ten minutes in, the Calamity Grass grew faster.

Twenty minutes in, the number of Calamity-mutated plants reported from the greenhouses rose, but the team members were all at full strength, and Sheep Elder in the corn shed was pulling its weight—no one called for backup.

Thirty minutes in, a Calamity Grass plant inside the Calamity Grass wall in the south of the territory shot up rapidly, trembling strangely.