Chapter 551: Invasion Crisis

"In addition, Liehuo will compensate the territories in Northern District One for the loss of crop seedlings caused by the rampant surge of blizzard elements, at a rate of half a jin of Yellow Lantern rice seed per mu of overwintering crops. The rice seed has already been handed to Yang Jin; once the beast tide passes, he will bring it over and distribute it to everyone."

Tan Junjie continued, "The Territory Management Department wanted to keep the rice seed in the safe zone to raise seedlings before distributing it, but Yang Jin refused. So the department asked me to quietly check with each lord—if you want to entrust the management department with raising the seedlings after receiving your seed, you can sign up with me."

Tan Junjie came directly to Xia Qing because he knew that among the territories in his jurisdiction eligible to receive seed, apart from Territory One and Territory Two, the others all followed Xia Qing's lead.

Xia Qing asked, "If we hand the seed over to the management department to raise seedlings, how will they charge?"

If it weren't for the hot spring valley, it would be very difficult for ordinary lords to raise seedlings within their territories. The key now is how the Territory Management Department will charge.

Tan Junjie shook his head. "I'm not sure. You'll have to discuss it with the management department yourselves."

After finishing the matter of compensation, Tan Junjie extended an invitation to Xia Qing, asking her to take part in the mission to defend the Northern District One territories.

The defensive pressure from this beast tide is very heavy, so two of the main snipers stationed in Northern District One have been reassigned to join the first line of defense against the beast tide in the western territories. After those two main snipers were pulled away, Tan Junjie needed to gather capable snipers to protect the territories.

Tan Junjie explained, "When a large raptor flies over, I will contact you and the sniper forces of Territory One and Territory Seven through the walkie-talkie and phone. You don't need to leave Territory Three—as long as you spot a raptor appearing over this patch of territory and you're confident you can hit it, you can take the shot. If a raptor lands and damages any facility within any territory, all follow-up matters will be handled by the Territory Management Department."

Thanks to the deliberate concealment by Xia Qing and the Blue Dragon training squad, Xia Qing's outstanding sniping ability had not spread. But Tan Junjie, who was in charge of hazard screening in this area, certainly knew that Xia Qing had now surpassed Hu Zifeng and the others to become the strongest sniper he could call upon in Northern District One.

Territory Seven should have even stronger snipers, but they are specifically assigned to protect Zhang San, and Tan Junjie has no authority to summon them. However, Tan Junjie can negotiate with Territory Seven to deploy their laser cannons to kill the raptors.

"No problem, I'll be on standby in my territory twenty-four hours a day." After Xia Qing agreed, she took the opportunity to ask about the situation in the western territories. "Captain Tan, there shouldn't be many people staying in Territories 151–200 for the winter, right?"

Tan Junjie nodded. "Of the fifty western territories, only four have built greenhouses. Everyone else chose to return to the safe community for the winter."

It wasn't just the western territories. Of the 200 territories Hui San had opened up, only the lords of Northern District One mostly chose to stay in their territories for the winter.

Kuang Qingwei and Zhao Ze had originally planned to return to the safe zone for the winter as well. It was only after learning that Xia Qing and Qi Fu were staying to farm that they chose to stay too. The more people who stayed, the safer this area would be.

Humans are social animals who like to gather in groups. Because the people of Territories 1–10 didn't return to the safe zone, more than half of the lords of Territories 11–26 chose to stay, building greenhouses and planting overwintering vegetables and wheat.

Xia Qing asked again, "Captain Tan, the first line of defense against the beast tide is deployed near the western territory isolation belt, right? Are there many evolvers deployed?"

Tan Junjie was very clear on the troop deployment for this beast tide. "The first echelon is at the western isolation belt of the western district. However, unlike last time when we defended against the beast tide and blocked every exit from Shankou, this time we're using a segmented interception approach."

Last December, when the Northern District One territories defended against the beast tide attack triggered by Mountain Fifty, they used evolvers plus fire walls to seal off the beast tide's advance and annihilated the entire beast tide outside the territory isolation belt.

The reason that approach worked was because the animals fleeing out of the mountain that time were mainly from Mountain Fifty, and the scale was very small.

This time, animals from deep within the western Evolution Forest are fleeing outward—thousands upon thousands of them pouring out. A single human wall simply can't hold them back. So they can only intercept in segments, gradually slowing the beast tide's speed and guiding them back into the Evolution Forest.

Xia Qing asked, "Which direction's Evolution Forest will this beast tide be guided toward?"

Tan Junjie replied, "Once the fleeing animals enter the western territories, they will be guided into the Evolution Forest between Northern District One and District Two. If the beast tide still can't be stopped, it will ultimately be led into the eastern Evolution Forest."

The map of Hui Three Base unfolded in Xia Qing's mind, and she traced the route Tan Junjie described on it. Along this route lay the houses, greenhouses, and farmlands the western lords had worked so hard to build, as well as the town ruins where the woman who once held a child and robbed Zhong Tao and Zheng Kui had been.

The territories trampled flat by the beast tide will have to be rebuilt when the lords return in February. Since that woman chose to survive in the Evolution Forest with her child, she should be able to avoid the beast tide.

From the overall picture, this route results in the smallest loss.

Xia Qing asked, "Captain Tan, when the beasts pass through the Evolution Forest between Northern District One and District Two, could they lose control and charge toward our territories?"

"No, the safe zone has deployed a large number of squads and troops along the route." Tan Junjie was very certain. "The screening team members in this district and I will also hold the southern isolation belt and shoot any animals that break away from the main group and slip through."

Hearing this, Xia Qing didn't feel reassured at all—instead she felt uneasy. "When the time comes, you'll be leading a team to defend the southern isolation belt of District One?"

Tan Junjie nodded solemnly and said nothing.

But Xia Qing could tell that Tan Junjie had also obtained the information Hu Zifeng had told Xia Qing, and had already begun deploying "troops." It was just that he was only a small unit leader; while obeying his superiors' assignments, he could only mobilize limited people and forces to formulate the best response plan.

After everyone gathered in the basement of Territory Five, Xia Qing first went over the current situation, then explained the main purpose of calling this meeting. "Today, we need to come up with a workable plan to deal with the possible invasion crisis."

Buzz—

Xia Qing's words were like a bomb thrown into the lords' heads, throwing everyone into a panic and leaving them at a loss.

In other words, what happened last year—when Territories 158 and 159 were invaded, the lord and the screening team members protecting those territories were killed, and the grain was looted—could very well repeat itself on them…

Zhao Ze's eyes went wide, his face full of terror.

Kuang Qingwei, with one arm in a sling, struggled to steady his emotions and spoke first. "When Territory Two was sending twenty-five evolvers to take part in the territory defense mission, I already felt something was off. Every time we go to Mountain Fifty, we haul loads of stuff back to our territories in big bags and small bags. The people of Territory Two must think we've gathered a huge haul of supplies. They've got their eyes on us!"