Chapter 449: Please Name Your Price, Young Lady Xia

Just as Xia Qing thought the people from Blaze and Sufeng were finally leaving and she could happily farm and train, Shan Ying actually called her on the Lord Channel.

"Lord Three Xia Qing, are you there?"

What could she want with her? Xia Qing, who was driving a micro-tiller to dig a cold-proof trench, pressed the button. "Here."

Shan Ying was very polite. "I'm Shan Ying from the Blaze Squad. I have something I'd like to discuss with you. Would it be convenient for me to come to your territory now?"

Those who offer favors without cause are either up to no good or out to steal! Xia Qing asked calmly, "If you have something to say, just say it directly. I'm digging a cold-proof trench and don't have time to entertain you."

Shan Ying refused to speak on the Lord Channel and directly decided the time and place for the meeting. "This matter isn't suitable for public discussion on the Lord Channel. Twenty minutes, south gate of Territory Three. It'll take at most ten minutes of your time."

In just those few sentences, Shan Ying's lofty sense of superiority was on full display.

Inspection Squad Captain Tan Junjie came online. "In one hour, a helicopter will enter this territory from the south and land inside Territory Nine. Territory Nine, please prepare to receive it."

"Territory Nine, please acknowledge."

Territory Nine Assistant Xiao Liu came online. "Received. Reception preparations are complete."

Hu Zifeng spoke up on the Lord Channel. "Xia Qing, have you gathered enough fertilizer for the greenhouse? I got another two bags of worm castings. Shall I bring them over to you?"

Externally, Hu Zifeng always acted as though he was pursuing Xia Qing. He was using the excuse of delivering fertilizer to prevent Shan Ying from having a chance to meet Xia Qing alone.

As the time Shan Ying mentioned drew near, the surveillance at the south gate sent a warning to Xia Qing. Xia Qing opened her phone and saw a tall, slender woman in camouflage, accompanied by two subordinates, appearing outside the south gate of Territory Three.

Shan Ying was actually not wearing the fully enclosed, airtight white protective suit designated for research personnel. It seemed she had a certain degree of combat ability, or at least the ability to protect herself.

Xia Qing stopped the micro-tiller, told Sheep Boss and Sick Wolf, who were seated in the dedicated seats on either side of the micro-tiller, to wait a moment, and went to meet this Blaze vice-captain who had once been locked up in prison for over a year after the disaster.

To prevent people outside the territory from seeing inside through the wire-mesh walls, the small paths cutting through the wild-grass walls near each territory's signpost were either shaped like a greater-than sign or a less-than sign.

The path inside Xia Qing's territory was shaped like a less-than sign. When she turned the corner, she saw Shan Ying's group of three and Hu Zifeng's squad of five standing on either side of the large gate welded from wire mesh.

The Inspection Squad's patrol vehicle was parked on the passage. Su Ming, Cao Xianyun, Hu Zi, and others stood by the vehicle with loaded weapons. Tan Junjie stood between Shan Ying and Hu Zifeng, looking as though he was afraid the two sides would come to blows.

The Inspection Squad's equipment had been upgraded—light submachine guns plus Level Three field combat suits. This was one of the trade conditions Yang Jin negotiated when he went to the safe zone to meet the Base Leader to trade spinach seeds.

She hadn't expected the new equipment to arrive so quickly. This Base Leader is someone worth dealing with.

Hu Zifeng raised his hand to greet her. "Xia Qing."

Xia Qing swept her gaze past Shan Ying's blunt, lofty, appraising look, waved at Hu Zifeng, and called out to Tan Junjie, "Captain Tan, are you here on business?"

Tan Junjie replied seriously, "Here for an inspection."

Xia Qing nodded, took out her key and opened the iron gate. Hu Zifeng directly carried the two bags of worm castings into Territory Three, stood beside Xia Qing, and faced Shan Ying with her.

Shan Ying gave Xia Qing a slight nod. "Young Lady Xia, shall we go inside to talk?"

Xia Qing refused directly. "Sorry, I'm not familiar with you. I can't let you bring people into my territory. If you have something to say, please say it here."

Shan Ying glanced at Tan Junjie beside her, her words carrying implication. "If Young Lady Xia doesn't mind, of course I have no objection."

Xia Qing nodded, her expression still blank.

With limited time, Shan Ying asked directly, "I want to purchase that evolved mother wolf inside Young Lady Xia's territory. Please name your price."

Hu Zifeng glared. Xia Qing showed no emotion. "Not for sale."

"Twenty thousand points." Shan Ying acted as though she hadn't heard, and offered a price she believed Xia Qing couldn't refuse.

Twenty thousand? Heh. Trying to fool a fool? Her idol had sold an evolved kitten barely a month old for that price. Xia Qing's expression remained blank. "If you have nothing else, I'll go back to farming."

"Thirty thousand." Shan Ying raised it by ten thousand. "That wolf was parasitized and lost its combat ability. Even if you save it, it won't be worth much."

Xia Qing turned around directly and closed the gate.

"Thirty-two thousand." Shan Ying raised it by another two thousand, as if this were already the highest price she could offer, warning Xia Qing not to be ungrateful.

Xia Qing locked it.

"Young Lady Xia, if you sell me the evolved wolf, next spring when the evolved wolf gives birth to pups, I can give you a healthy evolved wolf cub for free. An evolved wolf raised from birth will obey its master's commands like a dog."

Hu Zifeng, bristling with anger, said, "Captain Shan, if I remember correctly, of the five domesticated wolf beasts the Blaze Squad raised from birth, the first time they entered the Evolution Forest and encountered wild evolved wolves, three of them defected, bit their handlers, and left with the wild evolved wolf pack, right?"

"I heard about this on the base broadcast. I just didn't know it was about the Blaze Squad." Su Ming of the Inspection Squad also spoke up.

Just as Xia Qing and Hu Zifeng, each carrying a bag of worm castings, were about to turn past the wild-grass wall, Shan Ying spoke again. "I'll trade you Gao Yi Element Green-Light spinach seeds for your evolved wolf."

Is she testing her? Xia Qing kept walking.

"Since Young Lady Xia has come out to farm, you must know the value of Gao Yi Element Green-Light vegetable seeds. One hundred spinach seeds in exchange for your sickly evolved wolf."

Xia Qing turned her head. Shan Ying's face showed absolute certainty of getting her way. "I suppose Young Lady Xia's evolved wolf has a damaged digestive tract and can't even eat raw meat now, only cooked food and vegetable porridge, right? No matter how you treat an evolved wolf like that, it can never recover to its peak state."

Xia Qing asked, "What are the Yi Element and Shang Element contents of your spinach, and what's the germination rate?"

Shan Ying smiled. "Yi Element at 5.3 parts per ten thousand, Shang Element at 4.8 parts per thousand, germination rate one-third. As long as you cultivate it carefully, two generations of stability are absolutely no problem."

That content level barely scraped the edge of Green-Light plants and Gao Yi Element seeds. Two generations of stability meant that no matter how carefully this Green-Light spinach was tended, each generation's Shang Element content would rise by about four parts per thousand.

Even with a 1% accident rate, after one generation of cultivation, if a breedable optimized seed burst forth, the Yi Element content would probably already be below five parts per ten thousand, no longer qualifying as a Gao Yi Element Green-Light vegetable.

The Blaze Squad truly had calculated this well.

"That wolf is now my family. No matter how high your price, I won't sell." After saying this, Xia Qing turned and kept walking.

"If you never intended to sell from the start, you wouldn't have asked about the seed quality." Shan Ying raised her voice. "Name your price."

Xia Qing stopped, put on an appropriately greedy look. "I want Green-Light spinach seeds with a Yi Element content of nine parts per ten thousand. Ten thousand of them."

Shan Ying shot Xia Qing a look of disgust, turned, and left.