Chapter 479: Chasing Down the Fugitives

After Huo Zhun and the Broken-Waist Wolf each clashed with several evolved trees or vines with differing attack methods, Xia Qing finally caught hold of that faint, recurring difference.

She opened her eyes and spoke quickly, "Handsome Wolf Bro, that big tree up ahead where you planned to land your claws will make wolves shed their fur—don't touch it. Huo Bro, dodge thirty meters ahead to the right, away from that tree!"

"Copy."

Huo Zhun, who had originally planned to use the thick horizontal branch of that big tree to push off and leap, shifted his center of gravity and landed early at the Broken-Waist Wolf's launching point, springing to the right to avoid the tree.

After passing that tree that looked perfectly normal but felt different, Xia Qing closed her eyes and continued to focus all her attention on sensing the difference ahead.

Not long after they left, a wild boar with blood-red eyes charged out and slammed headfirst into the trunk of that tree. Six thick roots instantly burst out from beneath the snow. The boar, having lost its senses and unable to dodge, was pierced through the belly by one root and let out a loud wail.

The two lynxes that had been chasing the boar skidded to a halt, glanced at the evolved wolf and human not far away, and turned to leave.

Huo Zhun and the Broken-Waist Wolf, who hadn't run far, both stopped at the same time. Looking back at the boar skewered on the root, Huo Zhun's pupils contracted.

Without waiting for Huo Zhun to ask, Xia Qing explained on her own initiative, "I saw a few lumps under the snow beneath that tree. I suspected they were animal carcasses."

Huo Zhun stared at the lumps under the pine in surprise, "Your vision evolved?"

Xia Qing reminded him, "Huo Bro, that's within fifty meters."

With the great evolution of Blue Star's organisms, every human ability had generally doubled. Spotting lumps bigger than watermelons within a hundred meters truly didn't require an evolved vision ability.

Huo Zhun grinned, "Shall we keep moving?"

"Sure." Xia Qing called to the Broken-Waist Wolf, "Handsome Wolf Bro, keep up."

After moving forward for five minutes, every area or plant Xia Qing told Huo Zhun and the Broken-Waist Wolf to avoid, they carried out without hesitation. Huo Zhun was afraid of stepping into pits; the Broken-Waist Wolf was afraid of losing fur.

After moving forward for over half an hour, the Broken-Waist Wolf suddenly accelerated. Xia Qing said with pleasant surprise, "The Head Wolf is back."

Huo Zhun kept moving forward and asked between breaths, "Did it find something?"

"Probably." Xia Qing asked, "Does Huo Bro need to rest?"

"I'm fine. It's my first time running this fast under a load—I'm a bit unused to it. Let's catch those two fugitives first, then rest." Huo Zhun accelerated, charging toward the two wolves.

Seeing Xia Qing arrive, the Head Wolf raised its head to look at her.

"My lord, did you find something?" The Head Wolf glanced at Xia Qing once, then ran forward.

"My lord is mighty, my lord is amazing." Xia Qing praised the Head Wolf, signaling Huo Zhun to follow.

Not expecting the wolf pack to find the fugitives so quickly, Huo Zhun was overjoyed and hurried to follow.

More than ten minutes later, the Head Wolf led Xia Qing to rendezvous with the Handsome Giant Wolf outside a stone forest formed of stone pillars made of sedimentary rock.

"Are they inside?" Huo Zhun stopped and asked in a low voice.

Based on the formation the three wolves had taken up, Xia Qing gave an affirmative answer, "They're definitely inside, and the straight-line distance between us and them is no more than a thousand meters. Huo Bro, put me down."

Xia Qing had Huo Zhun set her down, then had him take a fully enclosed protective mask from her backpack. With trembling hands, she put it on the Head Wolf's head, and through the walkie-talkie, in a lowered voice, gestured to the Head Wolf, "The enemies inside will use poison. My lord, take this human—Huo Bro—inside, find the enemies, and then let Huo Bro deal with them."

Huo Zhun wanted to place Xia Qing, who was wearing a sealed protective suit, on the leeward side, but was stopped by the Broken-Waist Wolf, who looked toward the Giant Wolf.

Xia Qing understood what the Broken-Waist Wolf meant, "Huo Bro, strap me to Giant Wolf Bro's body with the binding straps."

"Got it. You guys hide first." With the fugitives right before his eyes, Huo Zhun swiftly strapped Xia Qing on securely, then charged into the stone pillar forest with the Head Wolf.

Before long, Xia Qing heard thump, thump sounds of impact coming from within the stone forest, and knew the two sides had already begun fighting.

Huo Zhun was a bodyguard assigned to Third Brother by the Yijidi Sect. Xia Qing wasn't worried he couldn't beat those two fugitives; she only worried that if the fugitives were pushed to the wall, they would use poison gas attacks again, contaminating this stone forest and triggering a disaster.

When Huo Zhun walked out of the stone forest carrying two backpacks, Xia Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief, "Caught—"

Before Xia Qing could finish, she saw the Broken-Waist Wolf raise its head toward the distant sky, baring its fangs. Xia Qing's heart trembled, "It might be the helicopter coming to rescue those two."

Huo Zhun hung the two backpacks around the Broken-Waist Wolf's neck, "Hide well and don't move, or you'll very likely be targeted by the people on the helicopter. I'll go lead the helicopter away. You contact the commander first."

With that, Huo Zhun charged back into the stone forest.

Xia Qing quickly searched for a hiding spot, then gave the order, "My lord, Handsome Wolf Bro, Giant Wolf Bro, the helicopter is here. Let's hurry and hide under that big rock over there."

When the Giant Wolf carried her under a large rock, Xia Qing, who was in a weakened state, could also hear the roar of the helicopter, but couldn't accurately judge its distance and position.

She had the Broken-Waist Wolf dig a hole nearby to hide the backpacks. She lay on the Handsome Giant Wolf's back, took out her phone, and contacted her idol.

Upon learning the supplies had been secured, Zhang San immediately said, "Open the backpacks and take photos of the supplies inside for me."

"Copy."

Xia Qing opened the shockproof medicine boxes inside the two backpacks, revealing the test tubes, bottles, and labels stuck on the bags inside, and took clear photos to send to her idol.

Zhang San finished looking and breathed a sigh of relief, "Contact Yang Jin immediately, and hand the medicine boxes over to him at the fastest speed. Any later and we'll have no choice but to use fire."

Burning the evolved forest to eliminate the disaster is an extreme measure taken when harmful microorganisms in a natural disaster reach a high-risk level, in order to clear the danger as quickly as possible.

Setting the mountain ablaze would not only burn the evolved grass and the accompanying harmful microorganisms, but also the normal organisms in the area, especially trees in their mature stage.

The large areas left behind after these trees die would be quickly seized by evolved grass during next year's first evolved rain, triggering a string of dire consequences.

But once it reaches the point where fire must be used, no one considers what the consequences will be. Because if fire isn't used, the humans and the vast majority of organisms in this area will no longer have an "after."

The helicopter was circling overhead, and all three wolves were in a tense state, growling softly. Xia Qing stroked the Head Wolf's neck and contacted Yang Jin.

After understanding the current predicament of the Third Disaster Elimination Echelon, Yang Jin immediately asked for the helicopter model.

After learning the helicopter model through Huo Zhun, Xia Qing relayed it to Yang Jin.

Yang Jin immediately produced a battle plan, "Three things. First, send me your current coordinates; I'll bring people over immediately. Second, contact Third Brother and have him notify the Xinyu Sect to use their trained birds to blow up the helicopter. Third, if Third Brother agrees, have Huo Zhun and the Head Wolf act together to lead the helicopter toward the territory."

"Don't worry. This kind of small helicopter has strong concealment, but its flight speed is slow and its payload is low—it can't carry missiles. Your location is in the evolved forest, and the Head Wolf is the king of the evolved forest. The long-range attack weapons on this kind of helicopter can't hurt it at all."