Chapter 359: The Weasel's Toxic Gas

"No."

Yang Jin explained, "We went there to gather herbs from the bottom of the lake. Those herbs didn't seem important to the snake colony — the snakes only wanted to drive humans out of their territory, and since our goal was to dig up herbs, we didn't go all-out either. I suspect that's exactly why the python colony didn't bring out their top combat power — the Qiange Serpent."

So what was captured in that photo was just a scene where neither side was fighting at full strength?

Xia Qing glanced back at the bandages on the Queen my lord's four legs. "The battle between the snake colony and the wolf pack was a fight over territory, so the Qiange Serpent entered the fight and seriously wounded the wolf pack's leader."

Xia Qing suddenly realized that the wolf pack hadn't been completely unprepared before their great battle with the snake colony. "When I followed the wolf pack over, the Queen my lord was already injured and lying in a mountain cave. There were herbs on its legs and in its mouth — they should be the same kind you and your team gathered from the lake, the kind that can be used as medicine to treat the synthetic Qiange poison."

Yang Jin nodded. "Although it wasn't the main ingredient, it did have some effect."

"If that's the case, then there isn't just one Qiange Serpent in that lake." Xia Qing furrowed her brow — this hidden danger was too great.

Yang Jin wasn't as worried as Xia Qing. "The south side of the lake is the territory of the wolf pack and Xiong Qun. As long as the bears and wolves are there, the Qiange Serpent can't threaten human territory. Right now, a new ecological balance is forming on Blue Star, and the Qiange Serpent is just one link in the food chain."

Xia Qing understood this point. Humans could indeed use weapons to kill all the evolved animals in the lake and even on the mountains beside it — even burn the mountains bare and eliminate the immediate hidden danger.

But then what?

Currently, the human population on Blue Star is too small, and those with combat ability are even fewer. So humans can't dispatch a portion of their fighters to garrison the lake and the two mountains.

After burning the mountains bare and clearing out all the creatures in the lake, a round or two of Qiange Rain would fall, and within half a year, new creatures would appear there.

The newly emerged evolved creatures might be even more formidable than the current Qiange Serpent. Because such things have happened before.

Then, the snake colony, wolf pack, and Xiong Qun that weren't completely wiped out would regroup, form an alliance under the Qiange Rain, and charge into human territory for revenge.

Under the suppression of the Qiange Rain, if humans don't want to die alongside the vengeful animals, they absolutely cannot use weapons of mass destruction. If it ever came to that, the casualties would be incalculable.

The consequences of burning the mountains and going to war are more than Base Hui-3 can bear.

Yang Jin asked again, "Where exactly on Mountain 60 did you pick your Green Lantern Hickory Nuts? I'll send people to the lake these next few days to look for the Qiange Serpent, and along the way see if we can find any hickory trees."

Xia Qing didn't know the exact location either. "Mountain 60 is very large. I only know it was at the foot of the mountain — walk up ten-plus meters — there's a mountain cave facing northeast, over four meters tall."

"Can you see the lake from there?"

On this point Xia Qing was very certain. "No. In the area I could see at the time, there was only one big tree bearing hickory nuts, and it had been broken."

Yang Jin nodded and reminded Xia Qing, "Just keep the hickory nuts for eating. Green Lantern Hickory trees are extremely picky about their environment, and hickory squirrels are all highly aggressive — they're not suitable for planting within the territory."

"Baa!"

Ram Boss, seeing that Xia Qing and Yang Jin had been talking endlessly, let out an impatient bleat and started pawing the ground.

Coincidentally, Yang Jin had also finished his official business, so he picked up his things and prepared to leave Territory Three.

As Xia Qing walked him toward the northern buffer forest, she asked, "The pythons were mainly trying to intimidate and drive humans away, so there shouldn't have been any fierce clashes, right? So you and Sister Yan — did you get your protective masks cracked from fighting too intensely with the other combat teams?"

Yang Jin answered, "The three squads that came from Base Red-11 and Base Hui-6 were hired by Sufeng."

Sufeng and Qinglong belong to the same combat team alliance, so they couldn't make a move directly, which is why they found helpers. The evolved forest stretching for several hundred li north of Base Hui-3's northern sector is Base Red-11 — Xia Qing could still understand why Sufeng would look for combat teams from Base Red-11, but why also involve fighters from Base Hui-6? They're over a thousand kilometers from Base Hui-3.

Xia Qing and Sufeng were on opposing sides, but everything she'd learned about him over the years had been peripheral. She seized this rare opportunity to ask Yang Jin for guidance.

To Xia Qing's questions, Yang Jin answered everything he knew. "Base Hui-6 is indeed far away, but Sufeng has helicopters, so distance isn't a big problem for them. Base Hui-6's combat teams regularly fight against monkey troops led by brain-domain evolved monkeys, so their real combat ability in the evolved forest is extremely outstanding."

"Captain Yang, wait a moment." Passing by the low-slope greenhouse, Xia Qing went in, brought out a basket of vegetables, handed it to Yang Jin, and then continued her questioning. "Did Sufeng's combat team know in advance that you were going to organize a team to look for herbs near Mountain 62, or did they have these people follow your squad over?"

Yang Jin turned to look at Xia Qing, his dark eyes carrying a note of approval. "The point you raised is the key. They were lying in ambush there in advance. I confirmed there was no leak of information, so Sufeng knew long ago that we would go there to look for herbs — that's why he hired so many experts to set up an ambush. From this we can deduce that the Qiange Serpent Sufeng used to poison Brother Luo was caught from that very lake. I'll follow this lead to find evidence that Sufeng poisoned Brother Luo, and then legitimately kick Sufeng out of the combat team alliance."

All things give rise to and overcome each other — within the Qiange Serpent's range of activity, there must be herbs that can cure its venom.

Being recognized by a brain-domain evolver, Xia Qing felt secretly delighted, though her face remained calm as still water. "The herbs you found from the lake aren't the main ingredient for curing Qiange poison — could there be other detoxifying herbs there as well?"

Yang Jin had considered this point too. "If there were, they'd be extremely hard to get. That's why the brain-domain evolved wolf came to find you and ask you to detoxify the Wolf Queen. We already have Qiange Cangwort — there's no need to take risks looking for herbs even the wolf pack can't obtain."

Xia Qing nodded. "Understood."

Looking at Xia Qing's dead-serious expression, Yang Jin suddenly said, "Brain-domain evolved wolves are very smart, and the wolf pack's combat ability is extremely strong. Especially that evolved weasel from earlier — you absolutely must not provoke it."

At the mention of the one she'd plucked fur from, Xia Qing asked curiously, "Is that weasel's toxic gas really that powerful?"

Speaking of the weasel's toxic gas, Yang Jin was still shaken. "At the time, I was leading my team in a life-and-death struggle against the killers Sufeng had hired. When they saw Yanlong had dug up the herbs, their attacks became even more frenzied. The head wolf leapt out to take the herbs away, and this weasel was riding on its back. After the weasel grabbed the sealed herb pouch, it turned around and released its toxic gas at the killers. The three people directly engulfed by the gas immediately lost all fighting ability, and the ones beside them started vomiting too. I forced down the urge to vomit, pushed myself to my limit speed and wiped them all out — and then I couldn't hold it in and threw up too."

"For a whole week after that, I could only smell stench — I couldn't even get food down…"

Xia Qing…

Can't hold it in. Really want to laugh.

Having finally coaxed a laugh out of Xia Qing, Yang Jin, carrying the hickory nuts and vegetable basket, happily left Territory Three.