Chapter 363: I'm Begging You

"Captain Luo, long time no see!" Hearing Zhong Tao's hoarse, delighted voice from afar, Xia Qing turned to look at the Number One Territory sign and saw Luo Pei actually walking out from behind the wild-grass wall.

He'd only been taking the medicine made from the Harming-Wither Grass for half a month, yet Luo Pei could already walk out as if nothing had happened!

What did this prove? It proved the Harming-Wither Grass Xia Qing planted in the Spring Water Cave worked wonders, that high-level evolved humans recovered far faster than ordinary people and regular evolved humans, and that the premium nutrient solution and green-light vegetables from Territory Three were top quality!

If she weren't being stared at by over a hundred refugees, Xia Qing would surely have broken into a wide grin.

The refugees who got off the two big trucks parked by the Number Two Territory sign all stared at Territory Three. There was no other reason—just because the edge of Territory Three had several busy engineering vehicles and over twenty people, making it far more interesting than Number Two Territory, which only had a wild-grass wall.

Xia Qing had seen the countless different looks peering out from the refugees' tattered protective masks for many years now. Gripping her submachine pistol, her face showed not a trace of fear or pity.

Tan Junjie used a loudspeaker to announce, "All newcomers must follow the team leaders' instructions. Entering the territory without permission will be treated as an illegal intruder and shot on sight."

After three repetitions, the refugees had already formed a long line outside Territories One and Two.

Xia Qing counted them one by one. There were 80 refugees lined up outside Territory Two. This was clearly only the first batch; another group would definitely be sent over tomorrow.

Among this line of refugees in ragged clothes, gaunt and haggard, over twenty were sturdy and strong, their protective suits still relatively intact, very different from the others.

"Who's that chick? The submachine pistol she's holding is worth at least 200,000." One sturdy "refugee" eyed Xia Qing's gun greedily, but when his gaze moved up from the gun and met a pair of calm, murderous eyes behind the protective mask, he got such a fright he jumped.

This woman was tough—he might not be able to take her.

Another sturdy "refugee" in the line lowered his voice to warn him, "Shut your mouth. Are you fucking blind? Didn't you fucking see the Heavy Union logo on the excavator? Don't fucking go looking for death!"

Cursing the moment he opened his mouth, this guy fit Territory Two's vibe perfectly—he'd definitely get hired.

Xia Qing wasn't wearing the Azure Dragon Squad insignia, so he mistook her for a member of the Heavy Union Group's security team.

"All of you fucking shut your mouths! Anyone who keeps yapping gets thrown out!"

From inside the wild-grass wall of Territory Two came Tang Huai's furious roar. Because Tang Huai was shouting through a loudspeaker, not only Xia Qing but also the people digging pits and burying thorn stakes south of Territories Four and Five heard it.

Zhao Ze, who was driving the excavator to dig the trench, stopped and looked uneasily toward Territory Two, while Qi Fu urged the workers who had stopped to speed up construction.

The excavator on Territory Three's border kept driving forward to dig the trench without pause, and the cement mixer kept spinning nonstop.

Soon, the crying, wailing, and furious shouting of the refugees who had failed the test grew louder and louder. Three refugees rushed out of Territory Two, sobbing and begging the team leaders to put in a word for them and let the territory keep them.

When begging failed, one of the refugees broke down emotionally and charged at Xia Qing with a scream, "Ah—ah—!"

Xia Qing stood motionless at the sign, pistol in hand. The convoy and screening team were both there; as long as that man's feet didn't step into Territory Three, Xia Qing wouldn't make a move.

Speed-evolver Tan Junjie immediately restrained the man and warned him sternly, "Control your emotions!"

"Ah—!" The restrained refugee still screamed and struggled like a madman—his emotions had clearly snapped. The refugees immediately retreated, putting plenty of distance between themselves and him.

Tan Junjie immediately ordered, "Judged emotionally unstable. Inject a calming agent immediately."

This man's Harming Element levels were excessive, causing him to lose emotional control and exhibit berserk, aggressive behavior. Without a timely injection or calming agent, he would launch indiscriminate attacks until he exhausted his strength and died.

Three minutes after the injection, the out-of-control man went limp and was carried back to the trailer.

The calming capsule was starting to take effect. If he couldn't take a repair agent in time, his body would weaken day by day; once he lost the ability to work, all that awaited him was death.

Everyone was long used to such sudden incidents. After confirming the berserker had lost his ability to attack, the refugees continued lining up to enter the territory and take the test.

Another refugee rejected by Territory Two rushed up to the security personnel again, continuing to plead. The third rejected person clutched his head and slowly squatted on the ground.

Both the screening team and Xia Qing were watching the man squatting on the ground, because his likelihood of losing emotional control was higher.

Based on experience, Xia Qing judged that if this man lost control, he wouldn't go on a wild rampage attacking those around him like the previous berserker—he was more likely to hurt or kill himself.

Scenes of self-harm from emotional breakdowns were bloodier than those of berserkers, because they had already lost their sense of pain.

"Is Captain Tan there?"

Xin Yu's inquiry came over the lord channel.

Tan Junjie pressed the walkie-talkie button. "Here."

"Please notify the refugees outside Territories One and Two who failed the test to line up outside Territory Eight and take the entry test again."

Tan Junjie's walkie-talkie was on speaker. The man squatting on the ground slowly raised his head, and the one clutching the security personnel also stopped, both looking toward Tan Junjie.

"Copy that."

After Tan Junjie relayed the Territory Eight lord's message through the loudspeaker, the two failed candidates came over to ask, "Are you taking us to Territory Eight? Where is Territory Eight?"

Tan Junjie replied, "Line up here first. Once we have ten people, we'll set off."

With a new hope of survival, the two failed candidates' spirits lifted considerably, and they got back in line to wait.

The crisis resolved, Xia Qing exchanged a greeting with Hu Zifeng, then followed the engineering vehicles fifty meters west to protect the construction team's safety.

Lu Yuhui, who had gotten off the truck, saw Xia Qing coming over and asked in a low voice, "Someone lost control just now?"

Xia Qing nodded. "One person. He's already taken a calming capsule."

"These people have it really tough." Lu Yuhui nodded. "You're an evolver too, Miss Xia? Before you left your territory, had you been to Third Mountain Base?"

Xia Qing shook her head.

Lu Yuhui continued, "I went to Guisan Base for an engineering job. If it weren't so close to the sea, Guisan Base definitely wouldn't have fallen."

It was rare to meet an outsider who had seen the world, so Xia Qing asked, "What kind of evolved animal broke through Guisan Base this time?"

"During the heavy rain, huge numbers of highly venomous evolved sea snakes entered Guisan Base through the sewers, causing massive casualties. And then…"

Lu Yuhui paused for two seconds, and the words she spoke she herself could hardly believe: "Three giant octopuses damaged the safe zone's walls, causing Guisan Base to be flooded."

"Whoosh—" The cement mortar finished mixing and flowed down the pipe into the dug trench.

Xia Qing blinked, unable to believe her ears. "Giant octopuses came ashore?"

That can't be real…

"During the heavy rain, it's possible." Lu Yuhui picked up a seamless square steel tube over four meters long, measured the distance, and inserted it into the cement mortar.