Chapter 233: A Million Casualties

Luo Pei's body hadn't recovered yet, and Captain Yang Jin couldn't afford any more mishaps. Xia Qing immediately informed Luo Pei that the alpha wolf had been cut by a sharp weapon, then began treating the wound on the alpha wolf's body. Yang Jin was the captain of the Azure Dragon Squad,

"Queen, this antiseptic will sting a little. Bear with it."

Xia Qing first disinfected the wounds on the alpha wolf's body, then applied a special hemostatic agent, and had it drink some anti-inflammatory medicine. Though top-tier Evolvers had tough bodies, they still felt pain when injured—Xia Qing knew this from personal experience. Medicine could prevent infection, speed up healing, and reduce suffering.

Throughout the whole process, the alpha wolf was unusually cooperative, and Xia Qing suddenly felt that she had inexplicably taken on the role of the wolf pack's medic, and wasn't worried about being bitten at all.

Thinking about it that way, she wasn't much different from a plucked yellow weasel...

No, she had to raise her own status! Xia Qing took the chance to stroke the alpha wolf's thick fur a couple of times, then went to the kitchen satisfied to boil water, made a simple meal, and went upstairs to rest after eating.

When the alarm woke her two hours later, Xia Qing discovered that Yang Jin had replied to her with a single word an hour earlier:

Okay.

Being able to reply meant there probably wasn't any serious problem. Luo Pei had already sent extra people to pick him up, so Yang Jin would definitely make it out of the Evolution Forest alive.

Still, Xia Qing pressed her forehead. As a high-level auditory Evolver, she had actually slept so deeply she didn't even hear her phone's message notification.

It was all because the wolf pack and Ram Boss were both guarding downstairs, giving her a full sense of security, which let her sleep so soundly.

Having companions felt wonderful. If only the wolf pack could stay in her territory forever. Ram Boss ate grass, she was omnivorous, wolves ate meat—no conflicts, perfect.

After waking up well-rested, the first thing Xia Qing did was repair the chicken coop destroyed by the Calamity-evolved wooden stick, put the chickens and geese that had been cooped up for four days back inside, then continue clearing the Calamity grass in her territory.

The lords who had slept the whole morning all got up, clearing their territories while sharing their losses with each other.

Everyone reported their crop losses at over half, and Xia Qing was no exception. Then came the casualty situation: Territory Four had five deaths, Territory Five had three, Territory Six had five, and Territory Ten's Shi Mu was injured.

Zhao Ze sincerely thanked Xia Qing, "You're really impressive, Xia Qing—no casualties in your territory. Thanks to you and Captain Luo, otherwise everyone here would be done for."

After the third wave of red-level Calamity rain, high-risk Calamity-evolved Amur cork trees were reported one after another in Territories One through Ten, and were cleared by Xia Qing, Territory One, Territory Seven, and Territory Nine working in shifts.

Past ten in the evening, Territories Eleven through Twenty-Eight sent out distress calls. Before the military rescue arrived, after Tan Junjie requested that Territories One, Seven, and Nine send people to help, two Amur cork trees releasing toxic gas appeared in Territory Four's buffer forest.

Xia Qing, who was killing berserk rats in the area bordering Territories Three and Four, immediately went to support and cleared both trees alone.

After personally seeing Xia Qing swing her blade—fast, accurate, and ruthless—to clear the Amur cork trees, Zhao Ze also spotted Evolution water rats charging into Territories Three and Four. He couldn't kill rats, but he could help collect the corpses.

During a natural disaster, humans instinctively admire the strong, hoping to stand beside the powerful and receive their protection. After the Calamity rain stopped, Zhao Ze's admiration for Xia Qing was ten times taller than the mountain of rat corpses.

Xia Qing was so capable. Having her as a neighbor made Zhao Ze feel especially at ease. He swore to get along well with Xia Qing from now on, hoping to be neighbors for life.

Xia Qing, who was pulling up Calamity grass, took off her glove and pressed the button. "I was injured the night before last while clearing a Calamity-evolved wild paulownia. Both my shoulders and arms were badly swollen. Later I just gritted my teeth, applied medicine, and pushed through."

Zhao Ze's admiration for Xia Qing grew by another ten rat-mountains. "You were injured, and one person still outdid twenty of me. You're incredible!"

Zhao's mother elbowed her son aside and came online. "I have a small half-bottle of medicinal wine here. I'll bring it over to you right now."

Xia Qing quickly pressed the button. "Auntie, no need. What I applied was medicine I traded with Third Brother. It's almost healed."

Zhang San's medicine was far beyond what medicinal wine could match. Zhao's mother didn't insist further.

Qi Fu spoke up. "If it weren't for Third Brother, Fourth Sister, Brother Luo, and Xia Qing last night, we'd probably just be skeletons right now."

Everyone agreed with Qi Fu's words.

The businessman Kuang Qingwei spoke up. "Xia Qing and the others helped us clear the high-risk Calamity-evolved trees. Although the base will give rewards, those of us who received help must also show our sincerity."

Qi Fu, Zhao Ze, and Shi Chong expressed their agreement one after another, asking how much would count as sincere enough. Four Calamity rains a year meant they'd inevitably need help in the future. If they didn't pay points, why would anyone help them?

This topic wasn't appropriate for Xia Qing to join. She had just turned off the walkie-talkie when she received a call from Zhong Tao.

Zhong Tao's voice was hoarse, and she could tell he was extremely exhausted. "Sister, the lord who made that deal with you to exchange green-light soybeans is dead. His territory has been reclaimed by the Management Department, so the trade between you can't be completed."

According to the Territory Law, after a lord's death, their territory can only be inherited by their biological children. Territories without legal heirs have their usage rights returned to the base.

Xia Qing asked, "Did the Territory Management Department take the green-light soybeans?"

"No." Zhong Tao replied slowly. "His territory was attacked by swarms of Evolution rats. Both people and supplies were chewed to pieces."

Xia Qing fell silent. If she didn't have a gun and strength, her territory would have been chewed to pieces by Evolution water rats too.

Zhong Tao's voice was hoarse. "Sister, how are things on your end?"

Xia Qing answered briefly. "I asked Territory One's people for help and managed to get through it."

"That's good. The casualties this time are too heavy. Your Brother Kui... his wife and child are both gone. His mother-in-law went berserk during the red Calamity rain. Of the whole family, only Zheng Kui is left now." Zhong Tao's voice choked up. "His home is in the military family dormitory. Everyone at home had protective suits. By all rights, nothing should have happened, but who would have thought..."

Before the Calamity rain, when he came to exchange spring-water fish with her, Xia Qing saw Zheng Kui smile so brightly for the first time...

"How's Brother Kui doing now?"

"This Calamity rain was too fierce. The two of us were reassigned outside the city to guard territories. When the rain stopped and he went home, he found out what happened... He's completely numb right now. I'm in the room and I can barely breathe." Zhong Tao, leaning against the wall, sniffed. "Sister, let's not talk about it. Just stay safe."

After the great biological evolution of Blue Star, every turn could be a parting of life and death.

This was a natural disaster. This was Blue Star after evolution.

After hanging up the phone, Xia Qing stood quietly for a few seconds, then put her gloves back on and continued pulling up the Calamity grass that the tiller couldn't handle.

To survive, she had to work hard.

In the evening, Xia Qing ate stir-fried green beans with jerky over rice while listening to the news broadcast.

Calamity rain was a climate phenomenon uniform across all of Blue Star, but the rainfall amount and duration differed by region.

Through the broadcast, Xia Qing learned that Hui-3 Base's rainfall amount and duration weren't even the highest. The disasters in southern Guicheng and northern Baicheng were even more severe.

Even though it wasn't the most severely hit, this Calamity rain still caused over twenty thousand deaths and over thirty thousand injuries at Hui-3 Base. Hui-3 Base's total population dropped from two million to just over 1.97 million. This number would continue to shrink, because the injured would die one after another or lose their ability to work.

One base lost this much labor force. Adding up all the bases across Hua Nation, it must be over a million. Xia Qing's heart was heavy.