Chapter 544: Pregnant

Next came the distribution of supplies based on mission contribution. Xia Qing was today's team leader, so she counted as three combat units. The others were counted as one or two combat units according to their contributions.

Zhao Ze and Zhu Li, who had carried over a hundred jin of supplies, were also counted as one combat unit, just like Shi Mu.

When Xia Qing entered Territory Seven with 100 green lantern bug pupae, 100 jin of green lantern kudzu root, and a sample of the toxin from the evolved Harmful tree, Zhang San's face was beaming with such warmth that his mood couldn't be described by a single word: "good."

Xia Qing reminded her idol, "Third Brother, although these pupae were all dug out of green lantern kudzu vines, they're not necessarily green lantern bug pupae. You'd better test them before eating."

Statistically speaking, most of the kudzu bugs dug out of green lantern kudzu root are green lantern ones, but there's also a chance of yellow lantern or red lantern. Eating one red lantern bug wouldn't matter much to others, but Zhang San can't, because he's allergic to Harmful elements.

"Alright." Zhang San replied enthusiastically, examined the pupae for a while, and asked, "What supplies do you want to trade for these?"

Xia Qing answered immediately, "Hemostatic agents and sterilizing agents."

Zhang San's special-effect medicines were the means by which members of the Lord Alliance protected their lives.

He picked up another test tube containing a branch segment. "So this is the toxin that can corrode Level Two protective suits out in the wild?"

Xia Qing nodded. "Not just Level Two protective suits—it also has a certain corrosive effect on the rocks in the giant tree growth zone."

After Zhang San put away the test tube, Xia Qing took out her phone, found a photo of Chai Shuling, and asked, "Third Brother, do you recognize this person?"

"Chai Shuling?" Zhang San looked at the name on the ID photo Xia Qing had taken, then at the photo itself, and shook his head. "Never heard that name, never seen her. What's up with her?"

The fact that Chai Shuling could be sent out to carry out a specific mission like inspecting crop losses in a territory meant she wasn't anyone important, so it was perfectly normal her idol didn't know her.

Xia Qing answered, "She's a member of the inspection team sent by the Guanlibu Sect. She took samples of all the plants in my territory and soil from different locations. In other territories, she only sampled spinach, wheat seedlings, and soil."

Zhang San nodded. "Tell me the specifics."

"The Guanlibu sent a total of four inspection teams. The team leader who entered Territory Three is named Zhou Qianpeng…" Xia Qing gave a detailed account of the inspection teams entering the territory.

After listening, Zhang San first brought up Li Chang. "I know Li Chang. She previously went to Huiyi Research Institute to study, with her main focus on innovation in crop breeding resources. Last June, she submitted an entry application to Territory Seven, but it was rejected because she didn't meet the qualifications. When you trade crops with her, you must be very careful—don't let her discover the quality difference between your crops and those of other territories."

"Understood." Xia Qing nodded solemnly. After hearing Zhang San's words, she felt Li Chang was very likely trying to use her to board Zhang San's big ship.

"These people came for the spinach. They don't know there's a spring in your territory, but this time they'll definitely detect the high Nourishing-element soil in your territory. Exposing that point isn't a big deal. However…" Zhang San looked at Xia Qing. "You answered every question Zhou Qianpeng asked—wasn't that a bit over the top?"

Zhang San was a big shot, so of course he didn't understand the survival logic of someone like Xia Qing at the bottom. She briefly explained, "Zhou Qianpeng is a lapdog of Tang Zhengrong and Jiang Quan, the head of the Guanlibu Sect. He's a complete petty person who bullies the weak and fears the strong, and he's very face-conscious. I gave him plenty of face so it'd be easier to deal with him in the future."

Zhang San countered, "Since he bullies the weak and fears the strong, aren't you afraid that bowing your head in front of him will just make him bully you even more?"

Xia Qing was very certain. "He wouldn't dare. Because right now I'm running errands for you, and I'm also the girlfriend of Hu Zifeng, a main fighter of the Azure Dragon Squad. So in his eyes, I'm not a soft persimmon he can squeeze at will. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so polite to me the day he entered the territory. I gave him plenty of face, which in his view is a show of goodwill—he'll treat me as someone he can do business with."

"A petty person like this, as long as you give him enough benefits, he'll dare to do anything. Once our alliance grows and expands, keeping his line inside the Guanlibu Sect will only bring benefits, no harm."

Zhang San frowned. "People like that are really annoying."

Xia Qing agreed. "Right, but people like Zhou Qianpeng are extremely common in every department of the Safe Zone. Every trade has its specialty, Third Brother—you just focus on your research. I'll work hard to improve my combat power. The line with Zhou Qianpeng is already established, so we can leave it to Kuang Qingwei to maintain in the future."

Zhang San looked at Xia Qing deeply. Xia Qing grinned, flashing her snow-white teeth, her smile extraordinarily brilliant. She didn't have Zhang San's technical skills, but to survive, over the years she had dealt with countless disgusting people—someone at Zhou Qianpeng's level was nothing to her.

Zhang San also smiled. "How's your body recovering now?"

Xia Qing answered immediately, "I've finished the Harmful-Reduction Agent. The Harmful-element content in my body has dropped to 15‰, and the Nourishing-element has risen to 4.4?."

Before taking the Nourishing-element Stimulant, the Harmful-element content in Xia Qing's body was 12‰. After being hit by the poison gas bomb and taking the stimulant, the Harmful-element in her body climbed to 28‰.

Now, one and a half months had passed since she took the stimulant. The Harmful-Reduction Agent, combined with a pure green lantern diet, had finally brought the Harmful-element content in her body below the dangerous level. But it was still 3‰ higher than Xia Qing's previous Harmful-element level, and her Nourishing-element content was 2.1?. lower than before.

Zhang San nodded. "The results aren't bad. Keep up the all-green-lantern diet, don't take or use any medication, and after a month of conditioning, start soaking in the physical damage treatment medication."

Um…

Xia Qing gathered her courage and carefully discussed with her idol, "Third Brother, can you soak in medication while pregnant?"

Zhang San's eyes instantly went wide.

Xia Qing quickly added, "It's not me who's pregnant—I suspect the alpha female of the wolf pack is pregnant. I agreed to the wolf pack's exchange condition, letting her soak in the medication with me, so…"

Zhang San gave Xia Qing a look for stopping mid-sentence. "Not only can you not soak during pregnancy, you can't during the nursing period either. This time of year is indeed the wolves' mating season. Wolf gestation is about two months, and the nursing period is two to two and a half months. Are you sure you want to wait?"

Over four months…

Xia Qing nodded, smiling carefully as she discussed with her idol, "Since I promised the wolf pack, I have to keep my word. Third Brother, looking at my current physical condition, what other medication can I use during this period to get myself into even better shape?"

The way Xia Qing was calculating every little thing—how was it a bit like Iron Rooster Yang Jin?

Zhang San snorted, slowly stood up, walked into the laboratory behind the glass door, and after beeping for a while on a cabinet with a password lock, finally opened it and began mixing medication.

Over half an hour later, Zhang San walked out with two bottles of medication, placed them in front of Xia Qing, and said, "This is a medication for repairing internal organ damage. It's mild in efficacy, and the side effects are negligible. This orange-yellow bottle—drink 1 milliliter every night before bed. Take it for a month first, then we'll see how it goes."