Chapter 607: Tri-Ability Evolver Dazi

Yue Haiying worried the alliance members wouldn't realize how serious the matter was, and continued:

"Everyone here, aside from Xia Qing, draws their greatest sense of security from an assigned identity—the Lord. Killing a Lord and looting their supplies will indeed be punished severely by law, but the nation is now occupied dealing with the Calamity and cannot spare enough combat power to uphold the law's fairness and authority. The last invasion incident already proved that, as long as the profit is tempting enough, a Lord without the means to defend themselves is nothing but a fat sheep in some people's eyes."

The Lords, who had just been through a major battle, fell silent, because Yue Haiying was speaking the bloody truth.

"The uniqueness of Magnetoception has surely piqued the researchers' great interest. Magnoception Evolvers within powerful organizations will be 'invited' to take part in research projects that won't cause bodily harm."

Yue Haiying's voice was low, "A Magnetoception Evolver without backing, once exposed, along with their close relatives, is likely to 'disappear' and end up as test subjects. Just like the apes and monkeys dragged into laboratories."

Zhao Ze turned pale again with fright. Shi Du, puzzled, asked, "Brother Yue, they grab the close relatives of Magnetoception Evolvers—is it for research on triggering Evolver abilities?"

"Correct, individual evolution is tied to genetic inheritance. Among an Evolver's close relatives, ordinary people under thirty-five are the best test subjects for triggering Evolver abilities." Yue Haiying gave the allies an example, "Our base's earliest Tri-Ability Evolver Shen Yongdong's younger brother Shen Yongle died on the operating table."

Yue Haiying knew about the underground experiments at Hui One Research Institute—this was within Xia Qing's expectations—but she hadn't expected Yue Haiying to reveal this secret to the allies.

It seemed Hui Three's officialdom had downgraded the secrecy level of this matter. The relationship between Hui Three and Hui One was quietly shifting.

Under the table, Qi Fu wrapped his rough, large hand around his wife's cold one.

Kuang Qingwei muttered, "The Shen Yongdong brothers used to live in West Outer City. After Shen Yongdong was identified as a Tri-Ability Evolver, he took his little brother and moved to Hui One. Everyone in West Outer City was green with envy... Brother Yue, is Shen Yongdong dead too?"

Yue Haiying wasn't sure of Shen Yongdong's current status either. "He was one of the earliest publicly known Tri-Ability Evolvers. The lab wouldn't dare touch him. After his brother died, he was taken to Red One Base. He should still be alive."

Zhao Ze was badly frightened. "I've heard plenty of stories about human experiments, and thought most of them were fake... Lucky none of my family became Evolvers..."

Xia Qing seized the chance to ask, "Brother Yue, the Tri-Ability Evolver who was exposed alongside Shen Yongdong—the one serving in the military—is he still in Hui Three?"

Yue Haiying gave a slight nod.

Seeing Yue Haiying didn't want to say more, Xia Qing got back on track and resumed the previous topic:

"Although Magnetoception, like Cerebral Evolution, is a rare ability, we can't rule out the possibility that there's a Magnetoception Evolver among the Chonglian construction crew. So, if anyone tries to get close to you, or offers you some benefit, asking you to keep an eye on Territory Eight, don't agree to any of it. To avoid unnecessary trouble, it's best not to have any contact with the Chonglian construction crew at all."

Anyone who had lived through to the eleventh year of the Calamity had seen and experienced human treachery countless times. Hearing Xia Qing say this, what was there left for them not to understand:

Seeing Xin Yu has it rough too.

Zhao Ze sighed, "If things hadn't been so bad for him in Hui Two, Seeing Xin Yu definitely wouldn't have come to a territory with nothing to farm."

Yue Haiying's concern was very practical, "Is Zhou Zhaoping sent by Chonglian to supervise Seeing Xin Yu?"

Xia Qing explained, "No, Zhou Zhaoping is on Seeing Xin Yu's side. From now on he'll represent Territory Eight at alliance meetings. You don't need to watch what you say in front of him."

Yue Haiying nodded, "That's good then."

Next came the final item on today's meeting agenda: finalizing the personnel list for those who could go to the hidden valley on Mountain Fifty to tend the seedlings, lighting and drainage facilities, and fetch water.

After spring arrived, the danger level of the Evolution Forest had escalated. The area beneath the Third Peak of Mountain Fifty that had once been blanketed by poison gas could still see microbial mutations during the Blight Rain season.

Ordinary people with slow reaction speed, weak resistance, and low combat ability were no longer suited to leaving the territory to take on missions.

Xia Qing began calling names, "Me, Brother Qi, Sister Yan, Aunt Shi, Shi Du, Brother Yue, Yu Shou, Cheng Ping, and Hu Ningsheng—these are the only people in our alliance who can go out on missions. I want to send people to garrison Xiong Dong under the pretext of guarding the high-danger zone of the Third Peak..."

Before Xia Qing could finish, Yue Haiying volunteered, "Xia Qing, I'll take two people to garrison the valley. By every consideration, I'm the best choice."

"First, I'm experienced, and I know how to respond if danger appears. Second, Territory Fifteen has plenty of people, so my absence won't delay the spring plowing. Third..."

Yue Haiying paused for a few seconds before slowly speaking, "The Tri-Ability Evolver in our military that Xia Qing asked about earlier—his name is Zhang Hongda, and he's currently inside Territory Fifteen."

Yue Haiying's words were no less than a bomb, instantly blowing the alliance members' minds.

Zhao Ze's tongue stumbled, "B-Brother Yue, is Brother Zhang also injured and retired?"

Yue Haiying explained, "Last December, on a mission, he was hit by Blight-synthesized poison sprayed by a Blight Evolved plant, causing extensive damage to his skin and a severe drop in his Evolver abilities. We didn't tell everyone before because his whereabouts are also classified, and he's already lost his combat ability, so he can't come out and join alliance missions. Third Brother said soaking in medicinal baths with the hot spring water in the valley would be good for his body."

After discovering the spring water was useful, most of the spring water Territory Fifteen fetched back from Mountain Fifty was used to purge the poison from Zhang Hongda.

Blight-synthesized poison again. Xia Qing asked, "Did Third Brother say how to detoxify Brother Zhang?"

"Just call him Dazi. He's twenty-seven this year, a Tri-Ability Evolver with Speed, Vision, and Elasticity Evolutions. He's been in my squad for the past three years." A smile appeared on Yue Haiying's face. "Dazi got lucky—Third Brother actually found the main ingredient for the antidote. Now we just need to gather three more rare Evolved herbs, and with over a month of treatment using the valley's spring water, we can cure his poison. When that happens, he'll be the alliance's second-strongest fighter, right after Xia Qing."

No, no, no!

Xia Qing corrected with a smile, "Dazi's combat power is way higher than mine. Once he recovers, won't he return to his military post?"

Yue Haiying explained, "Although he's a Tri-Ability Evolver, all three abilities are only at the four-or-five level. Even after detoxification, he can't recover to his peak combat power. As long as you keep enough distance, you could take him out within three shots, so his combat power can't compare to yours. He's already retired, he definitely won't go back. Besides, these three herbs aren't easy to gather. I've exhausted every channel for over a month and haven't found a single one."

Good that he won't go back. Xia Qing decided to mobilize her Wolf Vein to find medicine for Zhang Hongda. "Brother Yue, send me the names and pictures of the herbs. I'll help look for them too."