Chapter 269: Three Helicopters

The radius and ulna are extremely important flight bones for birds. If the broken bone cannot be precisely set so that the two fractured ends grow back together exactly, this eagle will lose its ability to fly forever. Xia Qing didn't have the skill to set an eagle's bone, so she simply applied some special-effect hemostatic medicine to its wound to keep it from bleeding too much or dying from an evolution bacteria infection.

After treating the wounds on the evolution eagle, Xia Qing sat quietly in her chair. Amid the roar of the helicopter, she replayed the afternoon's extraordinary hunt in her mind.

The evolution wild rabbit killed by the weasel died from being too curious. If it hadn't stopped to watch the weasel's god-dancing performance, it wouldn't have been hunted down by the weasel.

When the weasel hunted the rabbit, it certainly didn't notice the evolution eagle circling high overhead. Otherwise it wouldn't have carried the rabbit across the isolation belt, nearly losing its hard-won prey.

Catching this rabbit also cost the weasel a great deal of energy. If the eagle had snatched the rabbit away, the weasel would have had to endure hunger and exhaustion and keep hunting. If it couldn't catch any prey, an ordinary weasel would grow weaker and weaker, and eventually be killed by other animals or evolution plants.

This clever weasel was a follower of the wolf pack's alpha wolf. It was very smart. It had long since noticed Xia Qing hiding behind a tree watching, and in that critical moment it called Xia Qing for help, saving its pack's prey.

As for that hungry evolution eagle, it only saw the weasel and the rabbit, and didn't notice Xia Qing. Maybe it did notice her, but didn't think a human could do anything to it, which is why it swooped down to snatch the prey. It miscalculated, and so it became Xia Qing's prey.

If Xia Qing hadn't been there, after the weasel's prey was snatched by the evolution eagle, this plucked weasel wouldn't have starved to death either. Because it could go find the alpha wolf, gnaw on leftover meat, chew on leftover bones, and get by.

To survive in the fierce competition, the weasel follows the wolf pack and plucks feathers off chickens for them.

After the great evolution of life on Blue Star, you can't underestimate the survival wisdom of any creature.

Xia Qing stuffed the evolution eagle into a bag and put it back in the tool room, then went upstairs to the second floor, grabbed a bottle of ice-cold boiled water and took a swig. She heard the roar of a helicopter approaching.

The helicopter spraying pesticide to the south couldn't possibly reach Territory Three this quickly. Xia Qing climbed up to the attic, lifted a corner of the blackout curtain, and sure enough saw a second helicopter cresting Mountain Forty-Nine and entering the airspace above her territory.

Her excellent eyesight let Xia Qing see two people in the cabin. Although the pilot was wearing a protective mask, Xia Qing immediately recognized her identity:

Level Four Visual Evolver Jiang Ting, one of the few visual-evolution helicopter pilots at Hui Three Base.

Jiang Ting often flew helicopters on missions to spray insecticide and herbicide. She wore her striking long red hair loose, never pinning it up or covering it with a hair net when flying, which made her very easy to recognize. The way she wore her protective mask was both cool and beautiful, and quite a few people copied her style.

But that way of wearing the mask only works inside the safe zone, or when flying the plane. When entering the evolution forest on a mission, no one dares to wear it like that.

Looking good is important, but staying alive is the most important thing.

"Baa—" The roar of the plane grew louder and louder, and Sheep Leader in the living room on the first floor bleated anxiously, calling for its companions.

Xia Qing closed the curtain and hurried downstairs. Sheep Leader, who grew up in the evolution forest, was experiencing helicopter insecticide spraying for the first time, so it was bound to be nervous. The two wolves didn't make a sound, but they were surely nervous too.

The plane roared overhead across the yard, and the sound of the sprayed insecticide hitting the windows was very similar to the sound of rain.

The same sound, heard while hiding in an evolver dormitory, feels completely different from hearing it in your own territory's room. Xia Qing stroked Sheep Leader's soft wool, looking completely relaxed.

Unlike Xia Qing, the two wolves and one sheep were all very tense. Sheep Leader pressed close to Xia Qing's side, seeking protection from its companion.

Broken-Waist Wolf shielded the sick wolf behind it, staring at the window with a solemn expression. The curtain had already been pulled down by Xia Qing, but Broken-Waist Wolf's expression remained utterly solemn, as if at the first sign of danger it would charge out and tear the danger to shreds. Even though it was itself an evolution wolf still recovering from a serious waist injury.

The sick wolf standing behind Broken-Waist Wolf also spread its four paws apart, tail drooping, its wolf eyes fiercely fixed on the window, striking an attacking pose.

Xia Qing didn't dare to recklessly touch the evolution wolves at such a moment. She spoke softly to soothe them, "Broken-Waist, Wolf Lao Er, don't be afraid. This is a human piloting a helicopter to spray insecticide, killing the pests in our territory. It's not coming to attack our territory."

The two wolves didn't relax their vigilance because of Xia Qing's soothing. Clearly, they didn't trust any humans besides Xia Qing. Xia Qing didn't try to persuade them further. It wasn't a bad thing for evolution animals to stay constantly alert around humans.

Soon, Xia Qing heard the roar of a third helicopter. Then for over half an hour, no more helicopters appeared.

Xia Qing's brow furrowed slightly.

Helicopters spray at a rate of about 1,500 mu per hour. Three planes in one hour can spray 4,500 mu. That number sounds big, but Territories One through Twenty-Eight have a total area of over 70,000 mu. If you rely on only three helicopters, spraying this entire area once would take sixteen hours.

In sixteen hours, the slug moth caterpillars can grow from two millimeters to one centimeter long. How many plants will they devour in that time?

Xia Qing heard Qi Fu ask, "Captain Tan, will more helicopters be added?"

Tan Junjie replied, "The base has limited helicopters. Dizhineng Sect can only send three over for Territories One through Twenty-Eight. The helicopters will first spray the already cultivated fields in each territory and nearby areas, then the uncultivated farmland, and finally the buffer forest."

Zhao Ze, whose territory contained buffer forest, got anxious. "Captain Tan, by the time it gets to the buffer forest, there probably won't be a single leaf left."

Before Tan Junjie could respond, Tang Huai fired back, "Our base's helicopter squadron only has thirty helicopters in total. Being able to send three our way is already very generous. The territory is so big, of course we have to prioritize the places where people live and where crops are grown. Didn't you always think the buffer forest was a nuisance? Wouldn't it be perfect if the bugs ate it clean?"

Zhao Ze replied without much confidence, "After the buffer forest is eaten clean, the caterpillars will definitely head for my greenhouse. My greenhouse is by the river under the buffer forest. Xia Qing, Qi-ge, Qing-ge, yours are the same way, right?"

The river at the foot of Mountain Forty-Nine flows along the base of the mountain. For convenient irrigation, the farmland in Territories Three, Four, Five, Six, and Seven, which have buffer forest, is all close to the river, and therefore close to the buffer forest.

If not for this reason, the base wouldn't have zoned such a large area of buffer forest into these territories.

Qi Fu replied, "The farmland here has already been sprayed once by helicopter. I noticed there are fewer caterpillars in the buffer forest than on flat ground. Spraying the flat ground first is the right call."

Kuang Qingwei also answered, "Right."

Xia Qing pressed her button too, "Right."

Zhao Ze...