Chapter 450: Digging Ditches

In the tenth year of the Catastrophe, Blue Star's population plummeted by 92%. The surviving humans, like every other creature on Blue Star, struggled to survive in the planet's new environment.

Humans, who had held dominion over Blue Star for several thousand years, were indeed no match in physical ability for the rapidly evolving large beasts — but they still possessed an advantage no other creature could match: creativity.

In the tenth year of the Catastrophe, humans built bases, discovered safe foods they could eat, and developed new medical technology. The nutrient solution that could rapidly restore stamina was one of the most important of these breakthroughs.

Nutrient solutions are divided into three grades based on how effectively they restore stamina: ordinary nutrient solution, premium nutrient solution, and Yi-element stimulant solution.

Ordinary nutrient solution is made by extracting nutrients from green-light vegetables or meats whose Shang-element content is below 5‰ and whose Yi-element content does not exceed 5?. It can rapidly restore stamina and is essential gear for Evolvers on long-distance or extended missions.

Premium nutrient solution is made by extracting nutrients from green-light vegetables or meats whose Shang-element content is below 5‰ and whose Yi-element content is between 5? and 10?. It not only restores stamina faster and more fully, but also accelerates the body's repair of injuries.

Yi-element stimulant solution is made by extracting nutrients from green-light vegetables or meats whose Shang-element content is below 5‰ and whose Yi-element content exceeds 10?. It not only rapidly restores stamina and repairs injuries, but can also let an Evolver burst out with double their combat power for a short time.

The differences between the three are fully reflected in their prices:

A 15 ml vial of ordinary nutrient solution sells for 200–400 credits; a 15 ml vial of premium nutrient solution sells for 2,000–4,000 credits. Yi-element stimulant solution, though it carries certain side effects, remains an extremely sought-after rare commodity — 10 ml starts at 10,000 credits, and whether you can even get your hands on one depends on luck.

After years of cultivation, the Blaze Squad already had several high-Yi-element vegetables with Yi-element content between 5? and 7?, the most stable of which was green-light spinach. Relying on these high-Yi-element green-light vegetables, they could already mass-produce premium nutrient solution.

All the premium nutrient solution available at Hui-3 Base came from the Blaze Squad, priced at 2,000 credits per 15 ml — rumored to be a "discounted price" enjoyed only by the nine bases of Hui City. Premium nutrient solution made the Blaze Squad's profits overflow.

The Blaze Squad's "treasure of the mountain" was a strain of green-light spinach with a Yi-element content of 9?, carefully cultivated over many years.

Forget offering ten thousand seeds — even producing a single seed was difficult, which was why Shan Ying's face had darkened and she had turned to leave.

Xia Qing, of course, had done it on purpose.

She stood inside the territory, quietly watching the Blaze Squad's helicopter — noticeably two sizes larger than the Suifeng Squad's — lift off and fly away from the territory.

Though Xia Qing's face was expressionless, Hu Zifeng knew she was angry. Forget Xia Qing — even Hu Zifeng, who had never had any dealings with Sick Wolf, felt like pulling out his gun and shooting Shan Ying after seeing that insufferably arrogant look on her face.

Xiao Jiang was worried. "Lao Er isn't outstanding in any way, so it's not worth Shan Ying making a special trip. Qing-jie, could she have seen the Queen through the camera on the evolved water rat that infiltrated that night, and mistaken the Queen for Sick Wolf's Lao Er?"

The night Territory Nine broke through Territory Three's wire fence and let the evolved water rats infiltrate Territory Three to take water samples, it was the Head Wolf who sensed something was wrong and led Xia Qing, Er Yong, and Xiao Jiang to the water rats.

Xiao Jiang saw clearly that night that both Xia Qing and the Head Wolf were very weak — both human and wolf's legs were trembling as they walked; it was just that the Head Wolf was short with short legs, so the trembling wasn't as obvious as Xia Qing's.

"No," Xia Qing said with absolute certainty.

The Head Wolf had been extremely cautious — it had hidden in the grass by the reservoir and never shown itself. Only after Xiao Jiang and Er Yong caught the water rats, removed and stowed the weak-current controllers on them, did it get up and leave. So Xia Qing was absolutely certain that the equipment on those two water rats had not filmed the Head Wolf.

Hu Zifeng agreed with Xia Qing's view. "If what Shan Ying saw was the Wolf Queen, she wouldn't have taken that attitude, and she wouldn't have offered only twenty thousand credits."

Guan Tong also felt Shan Ying hadn't seen the Head Wolf. "Boss traded with Territory Seven for an evolved cat not even the size of a palm, and spent over twenty thousand credits' worth of supplies. If she'd really seen the Head Wolf, she'd have asked for at least two hundred thousand."

Xiao Jiang breathed a sigh of relief and muttered, "Don't you guys feel like the way Shan Ying looks at people is really creepy?"

Hu Zifeng laughed coldly. "That look of hers — I've got too deep an impression of it. You know why it feels creepy? Because when she looks at you, she doesn't see you as the same kind of being — she sees you as an 'experimental subject,' one she can control life and death over, dissect at will, and modify."

"Holy shit! Shan Ying isn't one of those people who crawled out from underground, is she? Boss, don't scare me!"

Xiao Jiang was only twenty-two this year. He had joined the Azure Dragon Squad at Hui-3 Base, but he had heard the old Azure Dragon Squad members talk plenty about the underground experiments at Hui-1, and every time it made his whole body go cold.

Seeing that Xia Qing's face was perfectly calm, Hu Zifeng knew she had heard about the underground experiments at Hui-1 Base. He solemnly warned everyone present, "Under no circumstances should any of you make contact alone with someone like Shan Ying. Her combat power isn't high, but she's more dangerous than an advanced Evolver, because they have all kinds of drugs you can't guard against. Xia Qing, should I report this matter to the captain and ask him to send more people to garrison Territory Three?"

Xia Qing shook her head calmly. "No need. I have a way to deal with her."

"Alright then. This is the first batch of worm castings from our territory's greenhouse — keep them for your own use, and let me know if it's not enough." Seeing that Xia Qing hadn't become flustered just because she'd met Shan Ying, Hu Zifeng felt reassured, and led his team out of Hui-3 Territory through the north gate.

After Hu Zifeng's squad left, Sick Wolf, who had been feeding the fish inside the greenhouse, came out and nuzzled Xia Qing's leg with its body.

Xia Qing reached out and rubbed the increasingly thick fur on Sick Wolf's neck, asking slowly, "Lao Er, are the fish full?"

Hearing Xia Qing ask about the fish, Sick Wolf tilted its head up at her and laughed heartily, in the best of moods. Xia Qing took off her protective mask, bent down, and pressed her forehead against this wolf with clean eyes that trusted her completely. "Go play. I'll keep digging the cold-proof ditches."

Hearing that Xia Qing was going to keep digging the cold-proof ditches, Sick Wolf immediately climbed onto the micro-tiller and sat down in its dedicated spot.

After Xia Qing started the micro-tiller and dug two shovelfuls, Sheep Boss also came down from the hillside, slipped under the tiller's cover, and sat down in its dedicated spot to chew its cud.

Xia Qing sat between one wolf and one sheep, drove the micro-tiller to finish digging the last cold-proof ditch in the wheat field, packed it full of leaves and filled it back in. Only then did she enter the planting greenhouse, take off her protective gear, wipe the sweat from her face, and call Zhang San.