Chapter 486: Gifts

Sporting dark circles under his eyes and looking like he was about to waste away into a skeleton, Zhang San sat behind a snow-white desk, flipping through Xia Qing's medical reports one by one.

"The Harmful Element level has dropped to 16‰, not bad. In another five days the body pain will disappear, but as for when you'll recover the combat strength you had before taking the stimulant, that depends on when you can take in enough energy. The bone damage hasn't worsened, no need for any other medication. How are the three wolves in your territory doing?"

Xia Qing answered, "Haven't seen the alpha wolf yet today. The Broken-Waist Wolf is perfectly normal. The sick wolf has been in an excited state since last night—probably because after taking the Harmful-Element-Reducing Agent, it can feel its body getting better."

Zhang San yawned. "How much of the Harmful-Element-Reducing Agent is left?"

"One dose left."

"You and that sick wolf can dissolve one drop in water and take it daily, until it's used up. During this period you can't eat any food with Harmful Element content over 10‰, otherwise the medication's effect will be neutralized by the Harmful Elements."

"Okay, thanks, Third Brother."

As a fan, Xia Qing looked at her idol's haggard appearance and was genuinely worried he'd kick the bucket soon. "Third Brother, I brought the green-light peanuts and pecans over and handed them to Ji Li. Want some chicken? I'll go back, kill one, and bring it to you—give you some nourishment too?"

Zhang San replied weakly, "No appetite."

Zhang San was the only person Xia Qing had met during the Calamity years who, while guarding a sufficient supply of green-light food, still managed to starve himself into this miserable state.

She guessed Zhang San's "no appetite" might not be just pickiness, but that was his secret, and of course Xia Qing wouldn't pry.

"The Yijidi Sect sent people to search Liehuo Mountain. They didn't find any contraband, and didn't discover any irregular experimental projects either." Zhang San's expression and tone were both very unhappy.

Xia Qing was so angry she stood up and slammed the table. "Impossible. Absolutely impossible!"

Zhang San leaned back. "Back up, you're stinking up the place."

……

……

……

The stinky Xia Qing pulled her chair back a bit before saying, "Third Brother, let's not discuss for now how Liehuo Mountain was handled. The fact that Territory Nine was hiding contraband chemicals and using poison gas bombs is nailed down. Surely this time we can at least drive them out of our territory, right?"

You think I'm free? Zhang San shot Xia Qing a look. "The follow-up will be handled by Yang Jin and Tan Junjie. I'm only responsible for disaster elimination."

Leaving it to Yang Jin put Xia Qing at ease—with him around, they absolutely wouldn't get the short end of the stick. "Third Brother, how did you get your hands on the antidote for the poison gas bomb?"

Mentioning this matter made Zhang San listless again. "Traded with Li Si. She wanted to leave the Liehuo Squad and stay here with me. I didn't agree, and arranged for her to be sent to Red Eleven Base."

Although Red Eleven Base was just north of Hui Three Base, the two were separated by a vast, thousand-mile stretch of Evolution Forest, and there was almost no contact between them.

It was precisely this Evolution Forest belt, stretching north of Hui Three Base and formed during the years of intense crustal movement a few years before the Calamity, that divided Huaguo into north and south halves. South of the Evolution Forest were Hui City and Guicheng Base; north were Red City, Lan City, and Baicheng Base.

This thousand-mile-wide Evolution Forest belt dividing north and south—no one has yet been able to cross it on the ground. So although Red Eleven and Hui Three are connected, there's almost no contact between them.

Xia Qing asked, "Third Brother, are you saying this case will be tried at Red Eleven Base?"

"Correct." Zhang San, who rarely had patience, explained to Xia Qing, "The commander of Hui Three Base, on the grounds that local trial would affect impartiality, applied for trial in a different location for this major case with extremely serious consequences and extremely vile impact that harmed human interests."

As long as it wasn't Hui One trying the case, Xia Qing felt much more at ease. "Third Brother, do we need to go to Red Eleven Base for the hearing too?"

"I can't leave my territory. You can go out and see the world." Zhang San yawned and pointed at the medicine bag on the desk. "Stuff these in your bag and take them home. Start using them in January, same requirements as before."

The idol had already prepared her new medication for treating body damage. After thanking him, Xia Qing seized this rare opportunity to ask, "Third Brother, is the poison from the aggressive Harmful-Element-evolved rapeseed very serious? I heard someone in Territory Five needed amputation after being poisoned."

Zhang San explained, "The liquid in the thorns contains a corrosive strong acid. That person wasn't just stabbed by the thorns—they also got infected with a super-evolved bacterium. Amputation was the only way to save their life."

If amputation was needed, it meant even Zhang San's medicine was useless against this super bacterium. Xia Qing asked, "Third Brother, how much longer before we can develop a broad-spectrum antibacterial agent effective against super bacteria?"

After hearing her idol's answer, Xia Qing walked with heavy steps out of Territory Seven and got on the micro-cultivator.

Before Hu Zifeng had a chance to start the micro-cultivator and head back, he saw Yue Haiying come out of Territory Fifteen with two people.

Hu Zifeng immediately jumped off the micro-cultivator to greet Yue Haiying. "Brother Yue."

Hu Zifeng had frequently teamed up with Yue Haiying's unit for missions before. By rights, Hu Zifeng should have given Yue Haiying a salute when seeing him. But Yue Haiying's right arm was missing, so Hu Zifeng switched to the form of address used among lords and didn't salute.

Regardless of their previous profession or position, Yue Haiying now, like Xia Qing, was a farmer.

Slow on the uptake, Xia Qing was about to get off the vehicle too, but was stopped by Yue Haiying. "Your body hasn't recovered yet. Stay on the vehicle, it's safer. How are you feeling now?"

Xia Qing insisted on getting off the vehicle and standing with everyone in the snow. "I'm much better. Third Brother said the pain will be gone in another five days."

Yue Haiying instructed, "The pain disappearing doesn't mean the body has recovered. During this period, try to eat as many green-light foods as possible."

After Yue Haiying finished speaking, the power-evolver Yu Tao—blind in the left eye and missing half a palm—handed a bag to Hu Zifeng. "This is green-light bamboo rat jerky. Sister Qing, take it back to nourish your body."

"Thanks." Since they'd already brought the gift out, Xia Qing didn't decline and accepted it directly.

Passing Territory Six, Kuang Qingwei and Hearing Zhu Li, who had been waiting under the road sign with umbrellas long ago, came out and gave Xia Qing a small bag of yellow-light dried longan.

Further on, Xia Qing received green-light dried celery from Territory Ten, green-light ginger from Territory Five, fresh tender alfalfa sprouts sprouted from alfalfa seeds from Territory Four, and peeking and quiet mumbling from Territory Two.

After entering Territory Three through the south gate, Xia Qing went home first to put down the gifts, made a round of inspection of the greenhouses, and then entered the planting greenhouse.

Outside, Harmful-Element snow was still falling, but inside the planting greenhouse the supplemental lights were bright and the air was warm. The spinach, alfalfa, perilla, scallions, pumpkin, and forage grass planted thirteen days ago had all sprouted and were growing well.

The fastest-growing were the two hundred chive roots Xia Qing had planted. The chive leaves pushing through were already over ten centimeters long and could be cut and eaten.

Xia Qing pinched off a few chive leaves, handed them to Goat Boss, then slowly sat down beside the strawberry seedlings.

The weather outside was cold and unsuitable for outdoor activities, so when the animals of Territory Three got bored staying home, they would come to the greenhouse to play.

Evolved wolves were carnivores and liked to stay in the breeding greenhouse. Goat Boss was an herbivore and liked to stay in the planting greenhouse full of plants, staring at the little vegetable seedlings while chewing cud.

Goat Boss held the chive leaves in his mouth and lay beside Xia Qing, slowly savoring them. Xia Qing leaned against Goat Boss, staring at the flower buds growing on the strawberry seedlings in the vegetable beds.

These flower buds would bloom in a few more days, and after hand pollination they would turn into small green strawberries. If all went well, Xia Qing would be able to eat fresh strawberries in January.

But right now Xia Qing couldn't work up any enthusiasm. What was still on her mind was her idol's last words:

If we can't protect biodiversity and keep the ecosystem in its newly formed stable and balanced state as much as possible, then humanity's speed in developing antibacterial agents will never catch up with the evolution speed of the over four hundred thousand known microorganisms, and the at least over a million unknown ones.