Chapter 437: Tamed Beast Invasion

Although neither Beard Edge's squad nor the surveillance had issued any danger alerts, the two wolves' movements were so perfectly synchronized that Xia Qing immediately took it seriously.

Enduring the pain and drowsiness wracking her body, she first downed a premium-grade nutrient solution, then gave one each to Old Sheep and the five wolves to replenish their energy for any unexpected situation that might arise.

Then Xia Qing pulled herself together and checked the territory on her phone. The north gate, south gate, Gao Po, low slope, fields, and house — none of the surveillance cameras had triggered an alarm, and through the feeds everything looked normal. But her cameras couldn't cover the entire territory, so the problem might be happening somewhere outside the monitored zones.

Just then, the Broken-Waist Wolf and the Sick Wolf, who had just finished their baths, also slowly raised their heads and swiveled their ears to scan their surroundings — clearly they'd noticed something off too. Only Old Sheep and the Broken-Leg Wolf, those two idiots, kept sleeping soundly after their nutrient solution; the Broken-Leg Wolf even started snoring.

Xia Qing asked softly, "My queen, have you detected intruders?"

The lead wolf's notched ear flicked. She stood up and headed outside; the moment she rose, the Broken-Leg Wolf immediately stopped snoring, lifted his head and looked around for two seconds, decided it was none of his business, and flopped back down to snore away.

Xia Qing endured the pain and patted her companion. "Boss, wake up."

Old Sheep cracked open an eye and glared at Xia Qing in annoyance.

Xia Qing explained to him, "Intruders have appeared. The Queen and I have to go patrol the territory. You finished your bath first, so your body's in the best shape — the home needs you to guard it. Boss, you're the most amazing evolved sheep on Blue Star, the most responsible boss there is. You'll definitely protect the home, our food, and your wolf friends, right?"

Old Sheep listened, immediately stood up with his head held high, and looked around this way and that — looking thoroughly dependable.

"I knew the boss was the best. I'm leaving the home to you. If anything happens, just howl loud and I'll hear it." Xia Qing stuffed a compressed ration into his mouth, then put on her protective mask and slung her sniper rifle, enduring the pain as she followed the lead wolf outside.

Once out of the house and wrapped in the deep-night chill, Xia Qing felt much more awake, and the pain in her body seemed to ease. She forced herself to stay alert and followed the lead wolf — who had bathed even later than her but seemed completely unaffected — out of the village, broadcasting on the walkie-talkie to the two people closest to her.

"Xiao Jiang, Eryong. The lead wolf picked up unusual movement inside the territory. I'm coming out with her to check. I need backup — meet at the east end of the village." Xia Qing's combat ability was currently lacking, and though the lead wolf looked fine, her body was probably hurting too; she might not be able to handle danger alone, so she needed support.

"Copy," replied Eryong, who was at the northern buffer forest.

"Copy," replied Xiao Jiang, who was near the southern weed wall.

Xia Qing's house sat at the northwest corner of the abandoned village, so when she left the village to head for the fields she usually turned right. But this time the lead wolf turned left, following the road Xia Qing had repaired out of the village, where she linked up with Xiao Jiang and Eryong, who were hurrying over.

The lead wolf seemed not to notice them; once out of the village she headed straight for the weed wall on the territory's east side. Xia Qing, Xiao Jiang, and Eryong followed close behind.

Then the lead wolf led the three humans to the territory's east wall — and on the wire-mesh fence there was a basketball-sized hole. This spot was outside the surveillance coverage.

Xiao Jiang stepped forward at once to examine it. "The cut is very fresh — just made. They must have used thermal-cutting equipment!"

After confirming with hearing and sight that there were no people or other large animals nearby, Xia Qing immediately gave orders. "Eryong, block the hole with stones first. Xiao Jiang, wake Chen Cheng and Chen Zheng and use scent to track the intruders' direction. My queen — where did the intruders go?"

The lead wolf's direction was clear; she led the three humans to the reservoir and stared at the water's surface. The temperature now was minus six degrees; the water near the shore had already begun to freeze, but in the middle it was still flowing.

What were the intruders doing in the water in weather this cold?

Wearing night-vision goggles, Xia Qing endured the pain, crouched beside the lead wolf, and stared silently at the water too.

When the lead wolf bared her fangs, Xia Qing spotted a dark shadow over twenty centimeters long moving slowly through the icy water. It lifted its little head above the surface a few times to breathe, then sank back down.

A water rat! And a huge one at that. Lightning had already cleared out the reservoir, so this had to be tonight's intruder!

Soon another water rat appeared on the far side of the reservoir. Looking closely, you could see both water rats were carrying something on their backs — these weren't ordinary water rats, they were tamed beasts.

No wonder Eryong and Xiao Jiang guarding the territory's east side, and the cameras, hadn't noticed anything — the things crawl through the grass, and now they're hiding in the water, where the flowing current masks their scent and the sound of their movement.

Xia Qing signaled Eryong, who had followed, to go get the fishing net. Then Eryong and Xiao Jiang each fixed their eyes on one water rat. Seeing that Xia Qing had already spotted the water rats, the lead wolf stopped watching the surface and turned back toward the village to rest.

If you looked closely, you'd see the Queen's legs were trembling slightly too. She was in pain too, but the dignity and duty of being the lead wolf forced her to make this trip.

Water rats live near water and can dive to some extent, but they can't stay submerged for long. Eryong and Xiao Jiang hid on the bank and waited for the two water rats to surface again to breathe. When they did, they moved at the same time — the one closer to shore was scooped up with the net, the one farther out was killed on the spot and then retrieved.

"Squeak— squeak squeak—" the enormous water rat they'd scooped up shrieked and struggled desperately.

After confirming the devices they wore couldn't suddenly detonate, Eryong and Xiao Jiang moved fast and separated the devices from the water rats — tossing the devices aside and binding the rats tightly into special bags for small animals.

Eryong, who was responsible for patrolling the northern buffer forest, was deeply ashamed. "I really didn't hear a thing."

"I didn't notice either. Thank goodness the Queen was alert," Xiao Jiang said, still shaken.

"They came prepared this time and sent such small animals to infiltrate. Our hearing and sense of smell aren't as sharp as the evolved wolves', so it's perfectly normal we didn't detect them." After Xia Qing explained, she heard Chen Zheng report over the walkie-talkie, "Qing-jie, there's no unusual scent near the breach — they must have used a scent-neutralizing agent. Do we need to report to the investigation team and have them enter Territory Four to keep tracking?"

In this territory, the only one who could use water rats as tamed beasts and send them to her territory in the middle of the night had to be Territory Nine. So at a time like this, finding the investigation team wasn't as good as calling her idol. "No need for now. I'll contact Territory Seven first."

Xia Qing pulled out her phone with some difficulty and contacted Ji Li. Learning that Zhang San was still in the lab, she called her idol directly, briefly explained the situation, then asked, "Third Brother, how do you think we should handle this?"

Zhang San, who was already at odds with Territory Nine, took it very seriously. "Preserve the scene. I'm sending people over right away."