Chapter 461: Hunting Time

The wolves, without their full-coverage protective masks, had reconnaissance abilities far stronger than Xia Qing's with her mask on; the fact that they had formed an attack formation meant the ten-person squad from Territory Nine wasn't far from here.

It seemed this group had pushed further forward since Beard Feng sent the message telling Xia Qing their position.

Although before leaving the territory Xia Qing had sprayed scent-isolating agent on herself and the wolves, and had been careful to erase the animals' tracks along the way, this was a beast-hunting squad—there were bound to be auditory and olfactory evolvers in the team, and they carried plenty of modern equipment and drugs, which was how they'd managed to track her and the wolves' route and pick out the best ambush spot.

If not for the strong bear smell inside Xiong Dong and Xia Qing throwing bear dung everywhere, the beast-hunting squad would surely have cornered her and the wolves inside the bear cave.

Xia Qing raised a hand to press down on the sick wolf and the broken-backed wolf's necks, signaling them to hide well, then opened the micro signal jammers on the wolves' necks one by one, and chose a low position to place a small loudspeaker, gesturing for the wolves to wait until the beast-hunting squad was drawn over by the loudspeaker's sound before launching their attack.

This was the simple battle plan Xia Qing had worked out with the wolves back in the valley; whether the sick wolf understood was unclear to Xia Qing, but the two brain-domain evolved wolves definitely understood, and quickly took position at the best ambush spots. The sick wolf circled Xia Qing once, then took position on the alpha wolf's right side.

The signal jammers were something she'd specifically traded with Daya for this battle. Once activated, they could shield and jam electromagnetic signals within a certain range, cutting off all devices like walkie-talkies and phones that rely on radio transmission, making it impossible for the squad to coordinate as a team.

Territory Nine uses anti-jamming communication equipment?

Heh, sorry about that. Her idol Third Brother said Daya was an expert in this area—the nemesis of anti-jamming communication equipment.

Xia Qing had of course also brought a signal jammer; hers was a medium-sized one with better jamming effect than the wolves', but now wasn't the time to turn it on.

After arranging the wolves, Xia Qing shouldered the heavy backpack made for strength evolvers and moved two hundred meters, relying on her hearing to pick up the beast-hunting squad's trail.

She pretended not to notice, and continued down the original path with the heavy pack on her back. The Evolution Forest was full of dangers, so mission squads entering and leaving it always stuck to already-explored routes to reduce risk and wouldn't change paths lightly.

After another 150 meters, Xia Qing spotted the beast-hunting squad in the dense pine forest at the foot of the mountain. The tall, thick pines blocked out the sky; whatever happened inside the forest was invisible to satellites and recon birds, so any incident could easily be pinned on the aggressive creatures in the Evolution Forest and classified as an "accident."

The beast-hunting squad sure knew how to pick a spot.

Such dim lighting was also the favorite hunting ground of high-level visual-evolved snipers, and Xia Qing was quite satisfied with their choice of location.

She pretended not to notice anything amiss, carefully continuing forward with the heavy pack. Only when a beast-hunting squad member in a winter protective suit stood up from his concealed position did Xia Qing "panic in shock" and dart behind a large pine tree.

The beast-hunting squad tried courtesy before force: "Lord of Territory Three, Xia Qing?"

Xia Qing stayed behind the tree and didn't respond.

"We won't take the supplies you've gathered. Just tell us where those three wolves are right now, and we'll let you pass."

Xia Qing still didn't respond.

The other side grew angry and cursed: "Are you fucking deaf or mute? Don't think just because you're a lord I won't dare do anything to you. This is the Evolution Forest—no patrol squad protection here. Killing you would be easier than killing a rat!"

Very good. Evidence of the beast-hunting squad initiating provocation first was successfully captured by the micro-camera Xia Qing was carrying.

Xia Qing spoke while carefully retreating: "You're from Blaze Squad? Failed to buy the evolved wolf I saved, so you switched to robbery? That evolved wolf has already left my territory and returned to its pack—I don't know where it is."

The other side didn't deny Xia Qing's guess about their identity and purpose: "Don't be ungrateful. If you won't tell the truth now, I've got plenty of ways to make you talk later!"

The beast-hunting squad's auditory evolver reported over the walkie-talkie: "She's running. Follow her and we'll definitely find the wolves."

The beast-hunting squad leader ordered: "Hu Duo, Sanli, you two go capture Xia Qing. The rest of you, get ready to catch the wolves."

"Copy that." Two speed evolvers emerged from their hiding spots and gave chase to Xia Qing.

It seemed the beast-hunting squad wasn't underestimating her too much, sending two people over. Xia Qing retreated behind the large pine tree she'd picked out, pulled out a grenade and made as if to throw it; the two speed evolvers in pursuit quickly pulled back.

Seeing their retreat speed, Xia Qing judged these two were speed evolvers between levels four and five, and immediately felt reassured.

Realizing he'd been faked out by Xia Qing, Hu Duo scoffed coldly: "Latched onto Blue Dragon Squad's Crazy Hu, traded sleeping with a man for a few weapons, and now you dare venture into the Evolution Forest alone? I bet farming has rotted your brain."

Sanli beckoned with a finger: "Come on, let's see if your grenade-throwing speed is faster, or ours."

After speaking, the two used the pines for cover and ran in zigzag patterns to confuse Xia Qing and break down her psychological defenses.

The other side initiated the attack first—video evidence successfully captured!

Xia Qing pretended to dodge in panic and fall, leaving herself wide open, while simultaneously pressing the remote for the small loudspeaker.

"Awooo—" a sharp wolf howl rang out several hundred meters away, as if anxious because Xia Qing had fallen. Hu Duo and Sanli immediately retreated quickly, guarding against a sneak attack by the evolved wolves.

"Evolved wolves spotted, move to capture immediately. Hu Duo, Sanli, grab Xia Qing and bring her back fast, force Xia Qing to order the evolved wolves to submit."

"Copy that."

The two speed evolvers hiding behind the tree took the order and began searching for where Xia Qing was concealed. Although they verbally looked down on strength evolver Xia Qing, in action they didn't dare ignore a sniper with precise shooting skills.

A sniper was a long-range attacker—as long as some distance was opened up, Xia Qing's advantage would show. But in this short while, Xia Qing definitely couldn't have gone far; she was somewhere nearby.

Soon, Hu Duo spotted a corner of the heavy backpack Xia Qing had been carrying behind a large pine fifty meters away, and on a rock beside another tree, discovered Xia Qing using a suppressed sniper rifle to search for his hiding spot.

Hu Duo couldn't help but snort—worthy of a farming lord who used to be a construction worker, even his traps are this shoddy!

Using the large pine for cover, Hu Duo signaled Sanli, dodging the sniper rifle's line of sight to circle behind Xia Qing and attack. But the moment he took a step, he heard a "pfft" and felt a sting in his neck.

That familiar sensation told him he'd been hit. He instinctively dodged, but two steps later he crashed to the ground.

Sanli ducked back behind the tree and quietly called for help over the walkie-talkie: "Captain, Xia Qing has a human ally with a sniper rifle lying in ambush. Hu Duo's already dead. Need support urgently."

After calling out twice with no response from his comrade, Sanli knew he could only rely on himself to escape. He threw a stone at a nearby large pine, while fleeing toward a better cover position, but he'd only run two steps before a bullet hit his neck and he fell dead.

Beast-hunting squad casualties: two.

After learning moving-target shooting techniques from Luo Pei, Xia Qing had paid to join Blue Dragon Squad's winter training this year, using their speed evolvers to practice long-range sniping. The results of forty thousand credits' worth of training were now fully on display.

After killing the two, Xia Qing quickly climbed down the tree and hurried to the core combat zone to ambush the hunting squad.

Thanks to readers Dayu'er, Jiaoqing Jia's Huanhuan, and Hua'er Youkaihaole for their tips, and thanks to everyone for your subscription support.

Tomorrow counts as a small climax, and it happens to be the weekend. I'm home writing, so I'll post an extra chapter at noon. Thanks to this book's first Alliance Master Rouroujiang Chirourou for the tip.