Chapter 27: Evolution Rat

"Sister Xia Qing, these are things the people from Plot Two asked us to bring you." Approaching, Su Ming took off his protective mask, flashed his big teeth, and handed over the bag of protective clothing to Xia Qing.

With Sheep Boss around, Su Ming sensibly didn't step into Xia Qing's territory, afraid of being knocked down by a single sheep and losing face.

It was bizarre too — that brutish sheep with a punchable face could actually recognize Xia Qing's territory.

Xia Qing soothed Sheep Boss, stepped forward to take the protective clothing, and handed over the basket. "Sorry for the trouble."

"No trouble. Protecting the Lord is our mission." Su Ming noticed the basket held four portions of plants, each placed on tree bark carved with a number — easy to tell who each was for. "Sister Xia Qing is clever as always. I'll bring the basket to the signpost for you later."

The patrol team circled each Lord's territory on their rounds, heading north now and returning from the south later.

Xia Qing led Sheep Boss back to the territory, picked some newly sprouted Chinese toon buds, and on passing the spring, slung the water-filled bucket on her back and headed home.

Passing the farmland, Sheep Boss disliked the camphor tree sap smell and kept well away. Xia Qing walked over cheerfully, but her smile instantly turned murderous.

She set down her back basket, grabbed a machete, and stepped forward, confirming that about two square meters of the cotton field had been dug up.

Judging by the traces, it was rats' doing. Damn it!

Xia Qing closed her eyes and listened carefully. After confirming rustling sounds over two meters underground, she ran home and fetched the sharpest large iron shovel.

Raid the nest, wipe out the whole family!

Digging a pit over two meters deep along the rat hole at an angle was a matter of two or three minutes for the strength-evolved Xia Qing. When she shoveled out the last load of dirt and saw the rat family — big and small — and a pile of gnawed cotton seeds in their burrow, she was so angry her lungs nearly burst.

Two big rats, each twice the size of a normal rat, were furious too, baring two-centimeter-long teeth as they lunged at Xia Qing.

One slash from Xia Qing, and the two leaping rats became four chunks on the ground. Then Xia Qing reversed her iron shovel and wiped out the whole litter of baby rats, shoveling them out and tossing them on the ground too.

The magpies circling in the air immediately swooped down and carried off the rat carcasses.

Xia Qing shoveled out the cotton seeds, checked and found three still undamaged, filled in the rat hole, replanted them, and only then hurried to the signpost at the southernmost edge of her territory.

She had cleared a small patch of strangling grass when the patrol team came by on their rounds. After Su Ming cheerfully handed the basket to Xia Qing, a team member suddenly spoke up. "There's the scent of evolved rats."

No need to ask — this person was a smell-evolver. Xia Qing explained proactively, "I found a nest of rats in the farmland — two big ones and six small, eight in total. Already eliminated."

Evolved rats are a serious threat. Tan Junjie asked, "What type of evolution?"

Xia Qing shook her head. "I can't be sure. They're twice the size of normal rats, with long teeth, but their strength and speed are pretty average. They were digging up cotton seeds to feed the babies."

With teeth that big, it's probably bite-force evolution — they just didn't get the chance to show it before being wiped out. Tan Junjie asked, "Do you need help?"

Eliminating evolved creatures the Lord can't handle is the patrol team's duty. Xia Qing could handle this herself and didn't want to trouble them. "Thanks, Captain Tan. I'll contact you if I can't deal with it."

"Sixteen sweet potato seedlings will be delivered in three days. Prepare the ground in advance, and every last rat must be killed."

Xia Qing immediately stood at attention. "Yes, thank you, Captain Tan."

Xia Qing checked the items exchanged in the basket. The Level-1 antidote packaging was the same as in the Safe Zone — Zhang San hadn't cut corners.

Zhao Ze from Plot Four and Qi Fu from Plot Six were both honest. The chive seedlings and Jerusalem artichokes came with their original soil, roots undamaged. Of course, the perilla seedlings Xia Qing sent out were the same.

Xia Qing planted all the seedlings in her home vegetable garden. Like the ginger, she broke the whole Jerusalem artichoke apart by its buds into five portions and planted them, watered them once with mountain spring water, then sprayed camphor leaf juice around the area to keep the sheep away.

After planting the vegetables, Xia Qing abandoned her strangling grass clearing plan, shouldered her iron shovel, and did a grid search to clear out rats.

With her enhanced vision and hearing, she got double the result for half the effort. In one day, she covered five hundred mu of cultivated land and dug up thirteen rat nests — some normal, some evolved.

The clearing work for the remaining nineteen hundred-plus mu covered in strangling grass had to begin immediately.

Though she'd spent all day fighting rats, Xia Qing's appetite at night was completely unaffected. If something like this could affect her enthusiasm for eating, she wouldn't have survived this long.

Xia Qing turned on the radio, and she and Sheep Boss ate rations while listening to the broadcast.

Unexpectedly, the broadcast didn't mention telling Lords to exterminate rats. Could it be that only her territory had rats stealing seeds?

Xia Qing turned on the walkie-talkie, wanting to hear how nearby territories were faring.

The moment she switched it on, Kuang Qingwei's coarse cursing from Plot Six came through. "Damn it, those things stole wheat seed from two fen of my land overnight — it's killing me. Didn't do a thing all day but dig dirt and chase rats."

"Cotton seeds were stolen from me too — a whole big patch." Zhao Ze also complained bitterly. "One of my guys' protective suit got chewed through by rats."

Zhang San drawled lazily, "Lucky me, I haven't planted yet."

Tang Huai followed up, "Same here, been too busy to get to it."

These two...

The channel went quiet for a while before Kuang Qingwei asked, "Old Qi, Xia Qing — how's it on your end?"

Xia Qing replied, "Lost some cotton seeds."

Qi Fu from Plot Five answered honestly, "We kept watch all night without blinking, and finally held the line."

Listening carefully, Xia Qing could hear wind and footsteps in the background of Qi Fu's reply — meaning he was still patrolling the fields at this moment.

Night patrols mean either a hearing- or smell-evolver in the territory, or night-vision goggles. Xia Qing judged it was probably the latter. Because hearing- and smell-evolvers could find decent jobs inside the Safe Zone and wouldn't risk coming out to farm.

Qi Fu was the most diligent farmer among them.

Zhao Ze suggested, "Rats steal seeds and ruin crops, and evolved rats hurt people and chew through solar panel wiring. We have to wipe them out completely."

"Right. We need to wipe them out together. But even together, getting them all isn't easy." Kuang Qingwei was a bit irritated. "Brother Zhang, you got any rat poison?"

Zhang San was still languid, but his killing intent was palpable. "No. If any of you dare use poison that causes secondary poisoning to kill rats, I won't mind using poison to wipe all of you out."

The channel went dead silent for quite a while. Then Zhang San suddenly spoke to Xia Qing in a perfectly reasonable tone. "Xia Qing, I have an evolved cat that specializes in killing rats. I can bring it to your territory to exterminate them — you pay me with perilla for the next two weeks."

Everyone...

The cat can come, the person cannot. Xia Qing refused. "I'm strong — clearing rats isn't that much trouble."

Kuang Qingwei hurriedly negotiated with Zhang San. "Brother Zhang, bring the cat to my place. When my elm trees grow elm samaras, I'll give you ten jin."

"Deal." Zhang San's voice was cheerful.

Tang Huai was also curious about Zhang San's evolved cat. "Brother Zhang, what evolution does your cat have, and what level?"