Chapter 508: Time Mother's Ability Evolution

Xia Qing was cooking dinner at home when she received a call from Qi Fu.

"Xia Qing, Lao Kuang has something he wants to report to you." After Xia Qing agreed, Qi Fu handed the phone to Kuang Qingwei.

Kuang Qingwei exchanged a few pleasantries, then got down to business. "Wen Nengjie from Territory Seventeen just came to find me. He wants to bring his territory's people to join the mission on Mountain Fifty to earn points. Sis, do you think that would work? Wen Nengjie knows the person at our Safe Zone Breeding Center who manages the evolution bees. I want to use this connection to get bees."

At the last lord meeting, Qi Fu and Kuang Qingwei had already brought up the matter of raising bees, and the two had been actively looking for ways to make it happen.

When the Lord Alliance teamed up to dig yellow clay on Mountain Fifty to build greenhouses, they had crossed paths with Wen Nengjie. They also remembered vividly how that group had looked at them with greedy and lecherous eyes the moment they met.

There were too many people like that now. Xia Qing wouldn't give up this lead just because she found the group disagreeable. "Brother Qing, how confident are you of getting green-light bees?"

Kuang Qingwei replied, "About forty percent. Yellow-light ones, we can definitely get."

If that was the case, this lead had to be kept. Xia Qing replied, "The main force clearing the firebreak is those few large machines. Let me ask Brother Zhao first to see if we can still add more hands."

After hanging up, Xia Qing walked to the eastern iron-mesh wall and called through the loudspeaker, "Brother Zhao, Zhao Ze, are you free right now?"

Zhao Ze didn't have a phone, so Xia Qing had to use the loudspeaker to find him. This matter couldn't be discussed on the lord channel, because if Zhao Ze said they didn't need to add people, Wen Nengjie might bear a grudge.

"I'm here, coming right over." Zhao Ze replied through his big loudspeaker, and soon trudged through the snow to the riverbank. Panting through the iron-mesh wall, he asked, "What are your orders, Boss Xia?"

……

……

……

"Brother Zhao, just call me by name." The name Boss Xia really didn't suit her. After correcting Zhao Ze's form of address, Xia Qing explained the situation.

Zhao Ze immediately replied, "I think we can still add eight people. That way the project can be finished two days earlier. But then... the points we can earn will be fewer. And Wen Nengjie's bunch don't look like they play by the rules. What if they cause trouble while they're at it?"

Xia Qing made the decision on the spot. "If this mission can be finished two days earlier, we can burn the mountain two days sooner, and the potential danger of our territory being invaded by super evolution fungi can be eliminated two days earlier. I'll discuss it with Captain Yang. With the Azure Dragon Squad and the inspection team watching, they won't dare cause trouble."

"Alright, whatever you say goes, sis." Zhao Ze braced himself and agreed.

In years of disaster, order was chaotic. Ability users crushed ordinary people. Among ordinary people, those with power crushed those without. If neither had power, it came down to whose fists were harder.

Zhao Ze's fists weren't as hard as Wen Nengjie's bunch, but he was now in Xia Qing and big shot Zhang San's camp, so he had power and didn't need to fear someone like Wen Nengjie who relied on fists.

After returning to her territory, Xia Qing immediately contacted Yang Jin.

The mission to clear the firebreak used the Blazing Fire Squad's points, so Yang Jin naturally had no objections. When Xia Qing mentioned that Wen Nengjie's bunch were hard to manage, Yang Jin laughed.

"Isn't he that dead-man Jie from the West City? In front of the Azure Dragon Squad, his back has never straightened. Rest assured, if he dares cause trouble, I'll fine him until he can't stand."

"Alright, thank you for your trouble."

If anyone else had said that, Xia Qing would have thought he was bragging. But when Iron Rooster said it, Xia Qing felt he was already being very restrained and very kind.

With his ability, just a few words listing out items could make Wen Nengjie's entire team strip off their clothes to scrape together points and pay fines!

Early the next morning, Xia Qing went to the assembly point on the east side of Territory Seven to see the mission team off to Mountain Fifty. Before she could walk over, Wen Nengjie came trotting up, bowing and scraping to curry favor. "Boss Xia, how come you came personally in this freezing cold? Just give a shout through the loudspeaker if you need anything."

Looking at Wen Nengjie's bent back, Xia Qing corrected him expressionlessly, "Just call me Xia Qing."

Wen Nengjie immediately changed his tune. "Alright. Thank you, Sis Qing, for giving us brothers this chance to earn points and feed our families. In the future, if Sis Qing needs anything, just say the word and the brothers won't hesitate."

Xia Qing remained expressionless. "Finish this mission first, then we'll talk about anything else."

"Alright, Sis Qing, you go ahead."

Wen Nengjie knew his limits. After currying favor, he returned to the crowd. Seeing Xia Qing walk over to Kuang Qingwei, a glint flashed in his eyes. He'd gambled right this time—going through Kuang Qingwei really worked.

Xia Qing asked about Hearing Zhu Li's injuries, and was relieved to learn she hadn't been infected with the super fungi.

Time Mother also came over, excitedly gesturing to Xia Qing. "Qing, after I got back yesterday, I went to Territory One to test my strength. Now it's this much!"

Two and a half levels?

Xia Qing was happy for Time Mother too, but still advised her to act within her limits. "Auntie, if you want to take on mission quotas as an evolver, just let Zhao Ze know and have him arrange it for you. Keep a good handle on it. Don't tire yourself out and don't get hurt."

Evolvers had to do more work to earn more points. If you took on a mission and couldn't finish it, points would be deducted.

"Yesterday I took on a one-and-a-half-person mission quota and didn't feel tired at all. Today I'm taking on double." Time Mother understood Xia Qing meant well. She smiled broadly at Xia Qing, but because there were too many people around, she didn't dare speak her gratitude aloud—it was all in her smile.

Looking like that, Time Mother seemed to have grown several years younger, and the scars on her face appeared to have faded a little.

Ability evolution didn't just mean becoming stronger—it also meant a longer lifespan. So although Time Mother's age hadn't changed, after her ability evolved she really was "younger" than before.

Time Mother was the first person in the Lord Alliance to show ability evolution after eating the green-light advanced evolution python. In a few days, once the mountain was burned and the allies drank the filtered hot spring water, more might appear.

The one Xia Qing had the highest hopes for was Hearing Zhu Li from Territory Six, because she had all four limbs intact, was healthy, and more importantly, she was only 22 this year, still within an evolvable age range.

Even if they couldn't become evolvers, after their allies' physical fitness improved, their chances of survival would rise. As long as the lords were all there, her alliance would grow more stable and better.

After watching the mission team drive into the valley between Mountain Forty-Nine and Mountain Fifty, Xia Qing jogged back to her own territory. Before she reached home, she saw in the distance that the red squirrel was already perched outside the second-floor bedroom windowsill, waiting eagerly for water.

Hearing Xia Qing return, the red squirrel leaped onto the roof in a flash, poked out its little head, and gazed at her eagerly.

This fellow seemed a bit more spirited than yesterday.

After getting home, Xia Qing opened the window and put out some warm water for it.

The red squirrel immediately jumped down, drank its fill, then gazed at Xia Qing eagerly, waiting for a free meal.

Dream on. I've already given you enough food! Xia Qing expressionlessly closed the window, no longer looking at this shameless neighbor.

Eight days later, the firebreak had not yet been cleared when Zhong Tao's convoy arrived, bringing Xia Qing a key piece of equipment: her high-hardness evolution snakeskin coat.