Chapter 234: How About Clearing Out the Woods

The second half of the broadcast was still moving stories from within the Calamity Rain. The mutual aid among Territories One through Twenty-Eight was included among them, and Xia Qing heard her own name on the broadcast for the first time, tugging her lips into a smile.

After turning off the radio, Xia Qing switched on the walkie-talkie.

Hearing how severe the base's casualties were, everyone felt a bitter taste in their hearts while also feeling fortunate. Before they left the base, they were all at the very bottom of the heap, living on the outskirts of the safe zone, never getting enough to eat or a decent place to sleep, and their physical condition was far worse than it is now. If they hadn't left, they very likely would have been among the tens of thousands of casualties.

Although life in the territory was hard and dangerous, they had survived.

Kuang Qingwei spoke first. "No wonder Captain Tan called for support last night, but no one ever came. The management probably figured our patch was the least in need of a rescue."

Everyone silently agreed with Kuang Qingwei's assessment. Compared to the safe zone where tens of thousands had died and the territories that had no ability to defend themselves, although a high-risk Calamity-Evolved tree had appeared here, the danger was indeed within controllable limits.

Shi Zhong asked, "I wonder if this Calamity-Evolved situation with the cork trees releasing toxic gas is something only happening in our few territories, or if it's showing up in lots of places?"

The well-informed Tang Huai answered his question. "It's not just us. Over twenty territories with cork trees were emptied out directly. Our Territory Twenty-One only had one person survive."

Kuang Qingwei quickly asked, "Does Brother Huai know how many territories in total were emptied this time?"

Tang Huai replied, "Haven't heard. They're probably still tallying it up."

Shi Zhong continued, "Because cork trees bloom beautifully, our area only started planting them a few decades ago. Wild Firmiana trees aren't native here either. What do you think—could there be a reason on that side for them developing aggressive Calamity Evolution this time?"

Xia Qing, who was lifting weights, paused. She had never considered the angle Shi Zhong raised, and hearing it, it did make some sense.

The cork trees inside the territory were planted by people who lived here before the Calamity, and there were none in the undeveloped mountain forests, which is why no high-risk Calamity-Evolved cork trees appeared on Mount Forty-Nine—otherwise their patch would have been emptied too.

Wild Firmiana is an evolved species that only appeared after the Calamity; it spreads its seeds everywhere through bird droppings, and it is even less a native local tree species.

Shi Zhong's question could only be answered by a professional. Zhang San rarely answered technical questions, so Kuang Qingwei asked Li Si for guidance. "Is Fourth Sister there? What do you think of Old Shi's point—does it hold water?"

Li Si replied calmly, "Currently, the most persuasive research conclusion from this angle is: native indigenous plants on Blue Star, whose differences after the Great Evolution were not large, do indeed have a stronger resistance to Calamity Elements than other species. As far as I know, there isn't enough data to prove the hypothesis that 'introduced tree species have a higher probability of dangerous Calamity Evolution.'"

"The concentrations of Calamity Elements and Nurture Elements have been changing all along, the radiation problem has never been resolved, and Blue Star's organisms are still continuously evolving." Li Si paused for a few seconds, then continued, "Humans don't hold a prominent advantage in the Great Evolution. To survive, humanity must set aside its prejudices against one another and work together with all its strength."

Li Si's words were probably meant for Zhang San, and the territory lords didn't dare chime in.

After a long silence, Tang Huai was the first who couldn't hold it in any longer. "Is Xin Yu there? Your territory was the first to have mid-risk Calamity-Evolved plants appear. Can you say what kind of plant it was?"

Just as everyone assumed Xin Yu wouldn't reply, she spoke—just two words:

"Roses."

Everyone……

Tang Huai continued asking, "Were they originally in your territory, or did you plant them?"

Xin Yu said nothing more.

Roses are perennial woody plants. When Xia Qing followed the combat squad out to clear this territory last year, there were no roses in that area of Territory Eight.

So the roses in Territory Eight were raised by Xin Yu afterward. What kind of person, in the tenth year of the Calamity, still has the heart to grow roses?

The military truck didn't haul Calamity-Evolved plants out of Territory Eight, which means the mid-risk Calamity-Evolved rose plants in Territory Eight probably weren't big—a few people could carry them away.

Roses are flowering plants, and after Calamity Evolution the probability of them releasing toxic gas is high. That should be why Xin Yu classified them as mid-risk.

If that's the case, as long as one has an airtight protective suit, discovering and clearing out mid-risk Calamity-Evolved roses in time isn't all that hard. No wonder Xin Yu, living alone, didn't call for support.

Zhao Ze asked, "What do you think about us clearing out all the trees in the territory?"

Kuang Qingwei replied, "Each of our territories has at least a thousand-plus mu of woods. How could it possibly be that easy to clear them out? Fourth Sister, do you think this plan could work?"

Li Si replied objectively, "Mature trees that have already entered their mature period have a relatively low probability of undergoing dangerous Calamity Evolution, so there's no need to clear them out completely. Besides, completely clearing out the woody plants within the territory isn't realistic, because many tree species rely on wind and animals to spread their seeds."

Xia Qing agreed. Many trees have tenacious vitality—like Wild Firmiana, even if you clear it out thoroughly today, as long as the temperature and humidity are right, it'll sprout right back up, so it has to be cleared regularly. The more open the area, the faster Wild Firmiana grows.

The large trees in the buffer forest on the west and north sides of Xia Qing's territory are deeply rooted. With them blocking the sunlight, even if Wild Firmiana seeds that fall under the trees can sprout, it's very hard for them to grow thick and strong.

They discussed for a long time and still didn't come up with any good solution. The most reliable approach was still to clear out as much of the Calamity Grass and Red Lantern saplings in the territory as possible, and to plant more of the crops that had been cultivated and optimized by the scientific researchers. The more Green Lantern crops with a high safety factor planted in the territory, the lower the probability of dangerous Calamity Evolution occurring during the Calamity Rain.

But large-scale planting is also unrealistic. Without the kind of solid strength Zhang San has—enough to build greenhouses that can isolate Calamity Elements—large-scale planting requires a massive labor force.

Let alone large-scale—Xia Qing alone doesn't want to scale up. She chose the technical route, improving her territory's defensive capability during the Calamity Rain.

She already had the Nurture Stone, and she had weapons too. Chainsaws can't be used during the Calamity Rain, so dangerous Calamity-Evolved trees have to be cleared by manpower. If only she had a set of exoskeleton that could both bring out the advantage of a Strength Evolver and protect her from the force of recoil.

She didn't know what special functions Yang Jin's new protective suit had. If the functions fit her needs and the points weren't outrageously high, Xia Qing had to get a set. The most important thing right now was clearing the Calamity Grass.

The next day, Hu Zifeng's squad came over to help Xia Qing clear the Calamity Grass, and the clearing speed increased dramatically.

On the third day, Qi Fu also brought ten people over, and they finally managed to clear the territory once through before the Calamity Grass seeds matured.

Her ally Qi Fu knew where the line was. The people he brought were all assigned to work in the southern part of Territory Three, several hundred meters away from Xia Qing's planting greenhouses. The workers could only see from a distance that Xia Qing had put up seven greenhouses, but couldn't make out what she was growing or how it was doing.

But even if they had seen clearly, these workers wouldn't dare harbor any crooked thoughts.

During the third Calamity Rain, they had personally witnessed the Lord of Territory Three dash into Territory Five like the wind, chopping down a Calamity-Evolved tree over four meters tall in a few strokes. They had heard with their own ears the people of Territory Four tell how Xia Qing slashed with her blade and shot with her gun, killing several hundred huge Evolved Water Rats, and after the Calamity Rain ended, they had clearly seen the black smoke rising when Territory Three burned water to boil the rat corpses.

The Lord of Territory Three was powerful as could be—anyone who dared to harbor crooked thoughts would be a fool.