Chapter 478: Huo Zhun Is Poorly Read (Alliance Bonus Chapter)

"Boss, I knew you were the best." After praising Ram Boss, Xia Qing took jerky out of the fridge, set it on the ground, and said, "Wolf Lao Er, your body's weak right now, so stay home and rest up. If you get hungry before I'm back, gnaw on this jerky to fill your belly."

The sick wolf wagged its tail once at the sight of food.

Xia Qing struggled to hoist the oxygen tank onto her back and secure it, then held up the disinfected, air-dried canine protective suit in front of the lead wolf and earnestly negotiated with her. "Queen my lord, I need you, Broken-Waist, and Big Wolf Bro to come on a mission with me. You heard it too—yesterday the enemies we fought in those mountains had two companions who escaped, and we need to go catch them."

The lead wolf turned, presenting her side to Xia Qing.

"Thank you, Queen my lord." Xia Qing's hands trembling, she quickly dressed the lead wolf in the protective suit and shoes, then had Ram Boss carry her as they hurried to the Beimen.

Xia Qing had been there less than a minute when Watching Huo Zhun appeared outside the wire-mesh wall—three minutes earlier than the agreed time.

Seeing Xia Qing's team, Watching Huo Zhun asked, "Xia Qing, two wolves and a ram?"

"Three wolves, and two haven't arrived yet." Xia Qing had Ram Boss set her down, sat in the swirling Calamity Snow, and gently negotiated with the lead wolf. "Queen my lord, shall I call Broken-Waist and Big Wolf Bro over?"

Before the lead wolf could even give the order, Watching Huo Zhun suddenly sprang aside as two evolved wolves arrived from Zone 3 of Mountain Forty-Nine, landing exactly where he had just been standing. One positioned itself to protect Xia Qing and Ram Boss; the other faced Watching Huo Zhun, ready to attack.

Seeing the wolf facing him, Watching Huo Zhun understood why one of the wolves could be called "Big Wolf Bro" by Xia Qing.

Xia Qing's team actually included an evolved giant wolf—this was really…

Watching Huo Zhun, poorly read as he was, truly could not find the right words to describe the shock he felt at this moment.

As long as the lead wolf didn't move, the wolf pack wouldn't attack Watching Huo Zhun.

Xia Qing took the bag the sick wolf was carrying in its mouth, pulled out Broken-Waist's protective suit, repeated the mission details with gestures and all, then took out a fist-sized double-sided stainless steel shatterproof mirror and opened it for Broken-Waist to see.

"Handsome Wolf Bro, what do you think of this mirror? If you help me catch two enemies—the companions of the ones who hurt us yesterday—this mirror is yours."

Xia Qing had long noticed Broken-Waist liked looking in mirrors. She had originally planned to trade this little mirror with Broken-Waist for Yi Stones.

Broken-Waist's eyes lit up. It immediately stood in front of Xia Qing, told her to hurry and put the protective suit on it, then stuffed the mirror into the suit's pocket.

I…fuck!!!

Watching Huo Zhun, poorly read as he was, could now only use profanity to express his utterly shocked feelings.

An evolved male wolf that could understand human speech actually—goddamn it—liked looking in mirrors?!

Calamity Year Ten, Calamity Snow Day One, 8:35 a. m. —Disaster Elimination First Echelon fully assembled.

Squad Leader Yang Jin led twenty-eight speed-evolvers of Level 5 or above, one of whom carried Lord Nine Li Si on his shoulders, along the valley between Mountain Forty-Nine and Mountain Fifty that had been flattened by the beast tide, heading for the Third Peak of Mountain Fifty.

At 8:45 a. m., Disaster Elimination Third Echelon—two people and three wolves—finished assembling and set out from the Beimen of Territory Three, racing toward Mountain Fifty-One to the southeast of Mountain Fifty to search for and capture the fugitives.

In the howling wind and snow, where the Calamity-element content in the air exceeded safe levels, human evolved sight, hearing, and smell could no longer track the fugitives' trail. They had to rely on the abilities of evolved dogs or wolves.

This territory had no evolved military dogs, so Disaster Elimination Commander Zhang San could only send the wolf pack to pursue. The only way to make the evolved wolves obey orders was to have Xia Qing lead them—which was why Zhang San had no choice but to send her out even though he knew she was in her weakened period.

The three evolved wolves ran ahead, while Watching Huo Zhun—a Level 5 elasticity evolver and Level 7 strength evolver who had taken Yi-element stimulant—carried Xia Qing on his back and sprinted behind at full speed.

However, the lead wolf was a speed evolver, Broken-Waist was a jumping-power evolver, and from the look of it, the giant wolf was also a speed evolver.

So even after taking the Yi-element stimulant and pushing his jumping power and strength to the top of human evolved capability, Watching Huo Zhun still couldn't match the four-legged evolved wolves for speed in the evolved forest.

This was the capability gap between different species.

When Broken-Waist, wearing goggles, stopped and looked back for the third time, Xia Qing spoke into the walkie-talkie to negotiate with Watching Huo Zhun, who was carrying her. "Brother Huo, point out a likely direction and I'll send the wolves to scout first."

"Got it."

The helicopter Fierce Fire had sent to rendezvous with them was probably already en route. Watching Huo Zhun pointed southeast. "Those two peaks side by side—the half of the nearer peak facing us. With the energy in their individual flight packs, they can't fly over or go around those two peaks, so they might be nearby."

"Understood."

Xia Qing switched tones through the walkie-talkie to call the wolves. "Queen my lord, Handsome Wolf Bro, halt."

The evolved wolves were all wearing protective goggles today; the handsome giant wolf was wearing Jing Kuan's, which fit its tall, broad frame.

The field-combat goggles' soft strap was fitted with a walkie-talkie, so the wolves could hear Xia Qing's calls through her airtight protective suit.

After Watching Huo Zhun used his jumping ability to catch up while carrying Xia Qing, he grabbed a pine trunk to stop himself, then landed on a stone beside the tree covered by Calamity Snow. His foot slipped and he nearly fell.

The lead wolf was furious and let out a low growl at him.

"Queen my lord, I'm fine, don't worry. Brother Huo, you okay?"

Watching Huo Zhun apologized. "I'm fine. I'm just not used to my current abilities yet and can't keep my balance. Queen my lord, sorry."

Xia Qing had Watching Huo Zhun unbuckle the strap on her right arm, then had him bend over so she could keep her line of sight level with the lead wolf's. Only then could she accurately raise her hand to point at the twin peaks ahead and communicate with the three evolved wolves through gestures.

"Queen my lord, Handsome Wolf Bro, Big Wolf Bro, the enemies are hiding near those two peaks. Go search for them first. They've got guns and gas grenades. When you find them, don't engage—just watch them and come back to report to me, the human."

Xia Qing patted Watching Huo Zhun's face shield. "The human, Watching Huo Zhun, will deal with them."

Having learned yesterday's painful lesson, Xia Qing didn't dare let the wolf pack fight Territory Nine's people directly again.

"Right." Watching Huo Zhun immediately raised his hand and pointed at his own head. "Queen my lord leads the search, and I'll take care of the enemies."

The lead wolf understood, and set off at full speed with the handsome giant wolf. Broken-Waist stayed beside Xia Qing as before.

Watching Huo Zhun asked, "This wolf isn't going?"

Xia Qing answered, "Handsome Wolf Bro is staying to protect us. Thanks, Handsome Wolf Bro."

The wolf pack considered him too weak in combat ability to protect Xia Qing?

This wolf wasn't as handsome as the giant wolf from earlier—could it be called "Handsome Wolf" just because it liked looking in mirrors?

Watching Huo Zhun felt he'd found the right way to understand his team members. He fastened Xia Qing's arm strap and, mimicking her tone, said, "Handsome Wolf Bro, shall we keep going?"

Broken-Waist bared its bone-white fangs, slapped the snow, and let out a furious roar at Watching Huo Zhun before running off.

Xia Qing…

Watching Huo Zhun gave a foolish grin and carried Xia Qing as he followed.

The airtight protective suit was designed for combat-inept scientific researchers; the helmet was one piece with the suit, so head mobility was noticeably worse than in the field protective suits evolvers wore.

Inside the airtight suit, Xia Qing peered through the face shield, trying to spot any trace of the enemies. But she was in her side-effect period, her abilities diminished, and she simply couldn't use sight and hearing to handle reconnaissance while moving at speed.

In this peril-filled evolved forest during the Calamity Snow period, how could Xia Qing possibly accept being nothing but dead weight? She closed her eyes and, relying on that indescribable feeling, tried to catch anything off around her.

If she couldn't catch anything, it meant she wasn't focusing hard enough.

She gave herself a mental cue: mobilize every ability, every bit of Yi element—focus, focus, focus again…