Chapter 632: Evolved Rat

Kuang Qingwei certainly hoped his wife would become an Evolver, but he didn't want to put too much pressure on her. "Don't rush. Let's heal your wounds first, then eat well and take care of your body. The Evolution ability will come when it's time. You go back inside and cook; I'll take people to watch the fields."

Xia Qing turned on the Lord walkie-talkie and immediately heard Tang Huai howling, "Xia Qing hasn't turned on her walkie-talkie yet? Captain Tan, how's Territory Nine? Do you need help?"

Tan Junjie replied calmly, "No need."

"Captain Hu, what's the situation at Territory Nine?" Xia Qing returned to her own territory and used her earpiece walkie-talkie to contact Hu Zifeng.

Unexpectedly, Hu Zifeng had already brought Dajiang and Xiaojiang into Territory Three, replacing Guan Tong and Chen Zheng to guard Xia Qing's farmland. He stood by the yellow-light rapeseed field and waved to Xia Qing near the north gate, answering through the walkie-talkie, "When the red Calamity Rain was almost over, quite a few bats and owls flew into Territory Nine. The search team went in to check and discovered a large patch of lilies that sprouted and bloomed during the Calamity Rain. Right now Captain Tan and the people from Territory Seven are clearing them out inside."

After the great biological evolution on Blue Star, lilies evolved into Calamity-element sensitive plants. When grown in environments not isolated from Calamity elements, the probability of aggressive Calamity evolution in Calamity-element sensitive plants is around 70%, and during Calamity Rain it reaches a hundred percent.

As far as Xia Qing knew, Tan Junjie and the people from Territory Seven had already thoroughly searched Territory Nine twice. It was hard to say these lily seeds hadn't been deliberately buried in the soil by someone using some method to isolate their scent and Calamity elements, specifically waiting for the Calamity Rain period to disgust people.

Xia Qing walked down the slope, first went to check the greenhouse, found that Sheep Boss and Sick Wolf weren't inside, and after confirming everything was normal in the greenhouse, entered the yellow-light rapeseed shed. Seeing the rapeseed seedlings had grown noticeably sparser again, she couldn't help but sigh.

This Calamity Rain had only just begun a little over four hours ago. After another fifty hours, how many rapeseed plants would she have left?

Hu Zifeng stopped Xia Qing, who was about to join them in pulling Calamity weeds, and urged her to go home and rest. "We've got things covered here. Go back and take a look first. Sheep Boss went home after the red Calamity Rain stopped; Sick Wolf never came out. Don't make dinner for the three of us—we brought food with us. Just come by tomorrow at six in the morning."

"I'll schedule the next shift—I'll come over at two in the morning." Xia Qing set the time, went home and greeted her two companions first, pulled all the Calamity weeds in the yard, then took a quick shower and started cooking.

"All Lords, the crisis inside Territory Nine has been cleared, but a small number of rats escaped. Territories Two, Ten, Four, and Twelve, please be on guard. If you need the search team's help exterminating rats, please leave a message."

Evolved rats are one of the most hated animals by farmers.

"Copy that, Territory Ten doesn't need assistance for now." Shi Zhong spoke first.

"Copy that, Territory Four doesn't need assistance for now." Zhao's Mother followed.

"Copy that, Territory Twelve doesn't need assistance." Tang Heng followed as well.

"Copy that, don't need it for now." Territory Two's agent Tang Huai was bursting with curiosity. "Captain Tan, were there a lot of rats inside Territory Nine? Where did they get in? What were they eating before? You and Third Brother's people went in together and still couldn't wipe them all out?"

Before Tan Junjie could speak, Zhang San cut in, "Tang Huai, don't ruin my appetite during mealtime."

Tang Huai immediately stopped talking about rats. "Yes. What's Third Brother having for dinner tonight? Shall I stir-fry a plate of green-light worms and bring them over?"

Everyone:...

Zhang San replied lazily, "I don't trade with Territory Two."

Everyone:...

Tang Heng, who was in Territory Twelve, immediately asked, "Third Brother, would you like some green-light mealworms tonight? Should I bring them over?"

Zhang San, in a good mood, replied, "I'll send someone over to pick them up now. Tell me what you want to trade."

Zhang San really was... Everyone couldn't stand it and burst out laughing in their respective territories. Xia Qing laughed so exaggeratedly that Sheep Boss, who was eating, narrowed his eyes dangerously, wanting to hit her.

Tang Huai couldn't stand it either and demanded furiously, "Tan Junjie, give me a straight answer today: last year, that is March 4th of the tenth year of the Calamity, was it you people who spoiled that piece of yellow-light lamb meat I traded to Third Brother?!"

Everyone was genuinely curious about this question too and listened with rapt attention.

Tan Junjie's tone remained as serious as ever. "I swear on a soldier's honor: it wasn't us."

If Tan Junjie said so, then it definitely wasn't the search team. If not him, then it was someone from Territory Two or Seven. Everyone leaned toward it being someone from Territory Two who did it carelessly themselves.

Territory Seven? Third Brother loves good food so much—how could they deliberately spoil meat they'd just gotten their hands on!

Tang Huai cursed, "Then it must've been someone in my territory who didn't seal it properly! Damn it, that's gonna kill me!"

Xia Qing pressed the walkie-talkie button as well. "Everyone, if you see a weasel enter your territory to catch rats later, please show mercy—it's one I'm raising."

Tang Huai immediately shifted his attention. "Xia Qing, when did you start raising a weasel? How come I didn't know!"

Everyone began counting silently: 1, 2...

Hu Zifeng came online with a frosty tone. "You spoiled-meat seller, not being able to package and store food is one thing, but your hearing has degraded too? You can't eavesdrop on what's happening in other people's territories anymore?"

Xia Qing listened to Hu Zifeng and Tang Huai bickering while she finished her meal, then discussed with Sick Wolf, "Wolf Lao Er, want to patrol the territory? If you find rats that have entered our territory, just kill them on the spot."

Although the wild grass walls around the territory had been sprayed with repellent for small reptiles, repeated applications during the Calamity Rain period would definitely weaken or eliminate the effect. There might really be rats squeezing through the wire mesh and crawling into her territory.

After saying that, Xia Qing put a fully enclosed protective mask on it and reminded it, "Just smack them with your paws. When it rains, come right back."

Sick Wolf, already full, wagged its tail and happily went out to patrol the territory.

Plucker? No need to tell it, because when Xia Qing came back it wasn't in the sheep shed—it must have taken advantage of the rain stopping to go hunt for Little Bai Mao.

Rats, centipedes, locusts, frogs, fish, and small birds are all prey for weasels, with rats making up more than half. Only when these food sources are scarce will it risk hunting larger prey.

So for farmers, weasels count as "beneficial beasts." Before the Calamity, farmers in some regions wouldn't kill weasels when they saw them, largely because they were natural enemies of field rats.

After dinner, Xia Qing didn't rest immediately. She put on night-vision goggles and patrolled the territory, clearing two aggressively Calamity-evolved small plants and one aggressively Calamity-evolved sapling. Only when the Calamity Rain started falling again did she return home with Sick Wolf to sleep.

Xia Qing rinsed the mud off her own and Sick Wolf's feet at the door. Just as she went inside to change shoes, she noticed Sick Wolf looking at the security door. Xia Qing had a feeling and pulled open the security door, seeing half a rat placed on the grass mat outside.

She stared at that half rat for two seconds before raising her head to thank the pitch-black sheep shed.

"Plucker, thank you so much, thank you for leaving me the meaty front legs and head of the rat!"