Chapter 24: The People of Plot Two

"Once the solar panels and walkie-talkies are set up, someone will come lead the way. The territory is dangerous, but the benefits aren't bad either." Hu Zi hoisted the solar panel onto his shoulder and headed toward the isolation belt of Plot One.

Xia Qing was about to head back when she suddenly heard footsteps from the direction of Plot Two, over two hundred meters away—six people by the sound of it, while Hu Zi was alone.

Xia Qing stopped and hid behind a tree.

Soon Hu Zi heard the footsteps too and set the large wooden crate holding the solar panels on the ground.

Six Tang family employees living in Plot Two scrambled up the slope, burst into the isolation belt, and called out loudly to Hu Zi, "You're here to install the solar panels, right? Come this way—we've cleared a path."

Hu Zi replied calmly, "Plot Two has no buffer forest, so it doesn't meet the installation requirements."

A slightly chubby fellow stamped his foot in fury, "On what grounds? Are ordinary people's lives not lives? What do you people at the military department mean by this?"

Another man spoke up, arguing his case, "Plot Two doesn't have a buffer forest, sure, but we're right next to Plot One and Plot Three. If a dangerous evolved creature somehow gets past the isolation belt and buffer forest, it could reach Plot Two in less than five minutes. The caterpillar from Plot One the other day—if it hadn't been spotted, it could've crawled over to Plot Two in no time."

Hu Zi nodded, "I'll report what you've said up the chain. The incident at Plot One happened because they underestimated the caterpillar's toxicity and didn't wear protective gear. You all must follow outdoor-work protocols and put on protective clothing."

Seeing Hu Zi was immune to both soft and hard tactics, the people from Plot Two settled for second best, "Even if you can't install the solar panels, you can at least give us a walkie-talkie, right? We need to report danger immediately when we run into it."

Hu Zi's face darkened, "Base headquarters issued an order just this morning. The fact that you already know about it means you have real-time communication equipment on hand, so you don't need walkie-talkies."

"Even so…"

The people from Plot Two were still trying to wrangle an argument when Hu Zi lost patience, hoisted the crate, and walked off.

The people from Plot Two were about to explode with rage, "Captain, you're just letting him go like that?"

The Plot Two captain, who had stayed silent until now, replied in a foul mood, "He's armed. And even if he weren't, if we touched him, the military could have us pinned to the ground and turned into sieves within an hour."

Another man complained, "They're deliberately targeting our Tang family. This dump has nothing at all—I don't want to spend another day here!"

"Anyone who doesn't want to stay can get the hell out!" the leader cursed and started walking back, the rest immediately falling in behind him.

The furious voice from earlier piped up again, "Captain, the brothers are dying for some release—can we go find those little ladies over at Plot Three to have some fun? Heh…"

Have some fun? Sure. Xia Qing drew her machete and gently blew across the gleaming blade.

"Go if you want to die." The leader's voice grew even more impatient.

The man who'd set his sights on Xia Qing wasn't scared off, "That little lady's just a strength-type evolved human. The brothers can handle her."

The leader snorted, "Even if she can't kill you, she'll report it to base afterward."

Another man spoke up, "Then how about we grab her and bring her back?"

The leader grew even angrier, "Get back and copy the Territory Law once each! You think you can fool the nose of a high-grade evolved military dog? A bunch of brainless idiots—want to die, don't drag me into it! Get back and pull weeds and till the land!"

"So damn annoying, I regret this so damn much." The speaker's hair was fuming, and the others' voices dropped low enough that Xia Qing could barely make them out.

"Haven't you heard how many Tang family people died this time? If we brothers were still in the safe zone, we'd all be done for. Come on, toss the seeds in the ground and let's head to the evolved forest to hunt—I haven't smelled meat in days."

Listening until they walked away, Xia Qing stepped out from behind the tree and headed down the mountain the way she'd come. After Xia Qing left, the Tang family squad leader inside Plot Two paused and twitched his ears.

Xia Qing checked the buffer forest for evolved caterpillars as she walked, thinking about the people from Plot Two.

Those squad members are nothing to worry about—find the right chance and I can deal with them openly. But that captain's a bit of a problem; he's got brains.

The lord system, introduced to expand the area under food cultivation, must first protect the safety of the lords who leave the safe zone.

Therefore, the Territory Law not only lays out the various rights lords enjoy within their territories, but also stipulates harsh punishment for any crime that infringes on a lord's personal or property safety.

The moment someone harms a lord, the base immediately dispatches an enforcement team made up of high-grade evolved humans and high-grade evolved dogs.

Although surveillance equipment is no longer scattered everywhere now, a high-grade enforcement team is far more formidable than a cold, unfeeling camera. Once they pick up the scent of a stranger inside a territory, they can catch the criminal within two hours.

Unless the criminal turns to ash, or escapes the base by plane.

So anyone who doesn't want to die won't lightly provoke a lord. Xia Qing wasn't worried about her own safety—she was worried about Ram Boss.

If the people from Plot Two learned of Ram Boss's existence, they wouldn't dare break into her territory to catch him, but they'd definitely scheme to lure him outside the territory and grab him.

Although Ram Boss is strong and stubborn, all the other side would need is a single piece of rations to lure this glutton away for sure.

The most thorough solution would be to fence off her own territory. But her 7,500-mu territory has a perimeter of over 9 kilometers, and she doesn't yet have the ability or the funds. So for now, the best approach is to keep Ram Boss by her side as much as possible and not let him leave the territory.

If only Ram Boss were smarter and could understand what she said.

Xia Qing returned home, gathered her tools, and headed to the new territory with Ram Boss. Although the new territory had already been swept, Xia Qing still didn't dare take potential dangers lightly, and sprayed insecticide and repellent on both Ram Boss and herself several times.

Upon reaching the new territory, Ram Boss's first stop: perilla.

The evolved perilla had been cut back quite a bit by Xia Qing, and after the heavy rain another batch had evolved, leaving only half of it.

Xia Qing didn't cut the perilla and continued up the terraced slope toward Gao Po.

Along the way, she kept clearing the evolved creatures blocking her view. Animals were killed, plants were pulled up and left to dry, to be burned on her next visit—otherwise they'd run rampant.

The hilltop was only a few mu in size; five households had originally lived there. Further north lay the isolation belt—a fifty-meter gentle-slope buffer—and beyond that, uncleared evolved forest, where the slope steepened and the mountains grew tall and densely wooded.

Xia Qing stood inside the buffer forest and looked north. She wasn't worried about any large evolved creatures in this stretch of evolved forest that could threaten her, because beyond this mountain, in the valley on the other side, was Captain Tan and his team's garrison. So although this was nominally evolved forest, they must have swept it—otherwise they wouldn't have dared put the wild boar breeding center on the eastern side of their own slope.

Xia Qing eyed the sturdy wire fencing of the breeding center enviously for a while longer before she began searching the slope again for edible plants and supplies that were still usable.