Chapter 487: Personal Flight Pack

Microorganisms are the true rulers of Blue Star.

When Xia Qing was hauling bricks in the safe zone, she heard a broadcast say: the most powerful "enemy" threatening human survival at this stage is no longer—or rather, never was—the wildly evolved flora and fauna on Blue Star, but rather the omnipresent Qiang elements, and the pathogenic microorganisms that have evolved wildly under their influence.

On her way back to her territory, the maimed allies Xia Qing saw were the most direct proof of this claim.

The "enemy" is extraordinarily powerful, which is precisely why we must do everything possible to maintain the current ecological balance, slow the enemy's evolution, and give the researchers among humanity more time to find ways to combat the evolved pathogenic microorganisms.

In the ten years since the Calamity, the flora and fauna inside the Evolution Forest have faced microorganisms head-on without the layered protection of hazmat suits, potions, advanced technology, or weapons, and through survival of the fittest, they have already iterated several times.

They are not only a source of human food, but also a barrier standing between humanity and the pathogenic microorganisms. Once this barrier is broken, the survival environment humanity faces will only grow harsher than it is now.

Xia Qing took a deep breath, patted the evolved sheep beside her, and said, "Boss, you're amazing."

No matter what methods it used, the herbivorous Sheep Boss surviving in the brutal Evolution Forest made it one seriously badass evolved sheep.

Sheep Boss, chewing on bits of chive leaf, slightly raised its big head with the spiral horns, looking utterly invincible.

Still, Xia Qing figured she wasn't bad either.

Sheep Boss and the wolf pack were both born after the Calamity, while the vast majority of surviving humans, including Xia Qing herself, were born before it—in other words, the vast majority of humans are still products of Blue Star's previous era.

What does that prove?

It proves that aside from having long lifespans, humans also have the strongest ability to cooperate as a group among all Blue Star animals, which is why a population of seven percent has survived into the tenth year of the Calamity.

Human Xia Qing lifted her chin, brimming with fighting spirit. "I'm twenty-five years old this year. I've already survived ten years of the Calamity. I'm even more amazing than you!"

Sheep Boss's chewing stopped, and its eyes narrowed dangerously.

Before it could move its hooves, Xia Qing stood up, grabbed her hoe, and headed for the vegetable beds. "Boss, want some tender grass?"

Grass always grows faster than seedlings. If we don't pull it out, all the nutrients from the fertilizer we bought with points will be eaten up by them.

"Mee~~" Sheep Boss, who had just stood up ready to brawl, immediately dashed outside the thorn hedge, fixed Xia Qing with starry eyes, and let out an infuriatingly cute squeaky bleat.

Xia Qing laughed without turning her head. "Alright, I'll get you grass right away. Oh, Auntie Zhao sprouted alfalfa seeds with the green-light ones. I put them in the fridge. Let's have alfalfa sprouts for lunch today."

"Meee~~~"

Territory No. 4 definitely has no shortage of alfalfa seeds, which is why they can afford the luxury of sprouting them into microgreens. She needed to learn the sprouting method from her neighbor as soon as possible, so she could turn the green-light Chinese toon seeds she'd gathered into Chinese toon microgreens and enrich the dining table for herself and Sheep Boss.

"Cluck-cluck, cluck-cluck—"

The proud, loud cackling of a hen after laying an egg drifted from the neighboring greenhouse. Sick Wolf passed through the little door in the earthen wall between the two greenhouses, entered the planting greenhouse, and let out a happy "awoo" at Xia Qing.

"I heard, the hen laid an egg." Xia Qing picked up the small handful of grass she'd just hoed, set half of it in front of Sheep Boss to let it pick through, then took the other half and followed the delighted Sick Wolf to the neighboring greenhouse to collect the egg.

The egg didn't have to be collected right this second, but since Sick Wolf had come over so happily to call her, Xia Qing of course had to go, to share the joy of the harvest with Sick Wolf.

Xia Qing first put half the tender grass into the chicken trough, and only when the flock rushed over to peck at it competitively did she circle around to the other side and check the nesting boxes. She opened the little door—just big enough for one hand—on the nesting box that held an egg, felt around inside, pulled out two eggs, and showed them to Sick Wolf. "Wolf Lao Er, look, the egg's still warm. I'll boil one for our Wolf Lao Er tonight, alright?"

Sick Wolf sniffed the egg and grinned broadly.

"Wolf Lao Er, where did the Queen and Broken-Waist go?"

Sick Wolf was still grinning broadly.

Xia Qing rubbed its head, put the eggs away, checked the peanuts drying on the rainproof cloth, and went back to weeding the planting greenhouse. Sick Wolf followed, picked up the grass Xia Qing had pulled out, carried it to the neighboring greenhouse, and fed the chickens, the fish, and the rabbits.

Outside, Qiang snow blanketed the sky and earth; inside, it was warm as spring. Xia Qing didn't turn on her lord's walkie-talkie, savoring the rare peace amid the calamity.

"Buzz, buzz."

She'd just finished cleaning two vegetable beds when the phone in her pocket began to vibrate. Xia Qing pulled it out and saw it was Yanlong looking for her.

Xia Qing picked up immediately. "Sister Yan."

To her surprise, it was Watching Huo Zhun on the other end. "Xia Qing, it's me. How are you feeling today?"

After a bit of small talk, Watching Huo Zhun got to the point. "When we went after the fugitives yesterday, we seized two sets of personal flight packs. Yang Jin's idea is to turn in the older one as evidence and give us the newer one, as payment for the Third Squad being conscripted to participate in the disaster-clearing operation. If you agree, shall we do it that way?"

"I agree."

Of course she agreed! Xia Qing felt that hesitating for even 0.1 seconds would be disrespectful to such important supplies. Ally Yang Jin was really something.

Watching Huo Zhun laughed, then hissed in pain a few times before continuing. "The Third Squad has two people and three wolves. You're the captain. By task contribution, you get two shares, the Queen and I each get 1.5 shares, and the remaining two wolves each get one share. Does that split sound fair to you?"

The main force chasing the fugitives in the Third Squad was three evolved wolves that still possessed precise tracking abilities under extreme conditions. Xia Qing was the one who could command the wolf pack, so even though she was in a weakened state when she went on the mission, she was indispensable to the Third Squad—a captain in name and in fact.

Watching Huo Zhun had carried Xia Qing on his back to and fro, caught the two fugitives the Lead Wolf and the Giant Wolf had found, and worked with the Lead Wolf to draw off the helicopter. That was why his and the Lead Wolf's task contribution was greater than that of the other two wolves.

Watching Huo Zhun's split was very reasonable. Xia Qing agreed and put forward her request. "That's fine. Brother Huo, I want this flight pack. Can I trade supplies or points for your share?"

The captain has first pick of the harvested supplies. A personal flight pack is such an important piece of equipment—Xia Qing had to get her hands on it.

She wanted to fly!

Watching Huo Zhun had long anticipated Xia Qing would want the flight pack, and directly quoted the price and his own trade request. "This personal flight pack is military-grade equipment. It's not the newest model, and its flight speed isn't that fast, but it's sturdy and durable. It can carry 250 jin, has ten minutes of endurance, and a maximum range of 15 kilometers per flight. Its balance isn't bad either, so the current black market price is 850,000 points per set. Give me 180,000 points. Do you still have that green-light python meat? I want to trade you for 80 jin. The rest you can make up however you like, anything works."

Although Xia Qing had over 500 jin of python meat, parting with 80 jin still made her flesh ache.

Still, this wasn't the time to haggle. Xia Qing could only agree. "Alright. At the trading price I have with Third Brother, python meat is 500 points per jin, so 80 jin is 40,000 points. I'll transfer another 14,000 points to you. Is that okay?"

Xia Qing had plenty of supplies, but she preferred to trade with points, because in Calamity years, supplies were worth more than points.

"Sure, of course." Watching Huo Zhun agreed immediately.

Going on this mission with Xia Qing had doubled Watching Huo Zhun's stockpile, which left him beaming. "Xia Qing, teaming up this time, I feel like I get along pretty well with your squad. If we get the chance again, let's keep teaming up, alright?"