Chapter 644: Digging Up Saplings

Hmm... this...

Passing through Section 6 of Mountain 49, Xia Qing looked up at the broken camera on the big tree and immediately contacted Hu Zifeng. "Captain Hu, how did the camera in Section 6 break?"

Could it be... the waist-breaking wolves? Does Yang Jin know about this?

Hu Zifeng, who was petting a cat, answered calmly, "Little Old Five was being naughty last night and broke the camera."

Hearing Hu Zifeng's answer, Little Old Five, who was lying on the table, purred even louder. Xia Qing heard the cat's purring, and her mood was wonderful too. No matter how the cat broke the camera, as long as it wasn't the wolves, it was fine.

Although she didn't have a cat, she had a litter of very cute, fluffy yellow weasel cubs. Once she got familiar with Little Bai Mao, she might be able to pet a yellow weasel.

She had smelled them before — the plucked yellow weasel didn't use its evolution ability at home, and the sheep pen didn't smell at all, so the little yellow weasels definitely didn't smell either.

Xia Qing crossed the valley and arrived at the danger zone beneath the Third Peak of Mountain 50. Unlike the quiet tranquility elsewhere, this place was exceptionally busy.

The qiang grass sprouting from the firebreak surrounding the danger zone had already been cleaned up completely. Inside the danger zone, the temporary rain shelter Xia Qing and her people had set up during the qiang rain had been replaced by a more advanced, sturdy large shed.

Outside the large shed, two people patrolled with guns. Inside, scientific researchers wearing pristine airtight protective suits were busy among the man-high bright red qiang grass.

Seeing Xia Qing arrive, the patrolling people raised their hands to greet her.

A lab worker walked out of the large shed through a five-meter-long disinfection corridor. Xia Qing identified her by her height and eyes — it was Zhang He.

As the manager of Mountain 50, Xia Qing stepped forward to perform her duties and inquire about the experiment's progress.

Zhang He briefly explained, "The second batch of qiang grass has finished being forced to ripen. We can harvest the seeds soon. We'll force-grow the third wave in two days."

The newly built large shed could isolate the inside and outside air circulation. The researchers used technical means to raise the qiang element concentration inside the shed, making the bright red qiang grass grow quickly, set seeds, and then the seeds would be harvested.

This process would repeat continuously until the harmful substances in the contaminated soil were absorbed by the red qiang grass down to safe content levels, and only then would it stop.

Xia Qing asked, "When will the soil data after the second force-growing come out?"

Zhang He answered, "It's already out. The results match the predictions. The project is progressing smoothly. It should be completed in three months."

After this experimental project is completed, the high-danger zone can be downgraded to a medium-danger zone. Then it will still need at least two years of various technical means to repair it before the medium-danger zone can be downgraded to a low-danger zone and restored to a normal evolution forest.

According to Zhang San's experimental arrangement, Zhang He listed the supplies needed for the experiment. After getting the list, with Zhao Ze's help, Xia Qing calculated the funds needed for this experiment — 400,000!

The people patrolling outside the experimental shed now were evolvers Xia Qing had hired from the Qinglong Squad. Their fees were included in the 400,000 experimental cost.

Back then, when Yang Jin stepped forward and had the Liehuo Squad pay 2 million credits to repair the damage caused by the Liehuo Beast-Hunting Squad in this evolution forest, Xia Qing had thought he was asking for too much, wondering why Liehuo was willing to pay so many credits.

Now it seemed she had been out of her depth. What Yang Jin asked for wasn't too much at all, and Liehuo knew it perfectly well too.

After confirming no supplies needed to be replenished, confirming the experimental project was proceeding normally, and confirming safety was guaranteed, Xia Qing didn't disturb Zhang He any further. Under the pretext of hunting, she turned to the southeast of the Third Peak and walked into a straight mountain fissure shooting up to the sky.

The scientific researchers and security personnel conducting experiments in the high-danger zone had to rest and work in Xiong Dong. After the Lord Alliance met and discussed, they unanimously agreed to first seal the passage from Xiong Dong to the hidden valley, then open a new passage from the other side of the valley to facilitate Alliance members' entry and exit.

The exit of the new passage was inside the mountain fissure on the southeast side of the Third Peak. Although it added several hundred meters to the journey, it was more concealed and safer here.

"Sister Qing."

Dazi and Li Kai, who had been waiting in the valley, saw Xia Qing arrive and greeted her warmly in low voices.

After smoothly getting through the qiang rain period, in order not to attract attention, Yue Haiying and Yu Shou returned to Territory 15, and the hidden valley was guarded by Dazi and Li Kai. They video-called Yuan Yan and Shi Mu every day, managing the rice seedlings in the valley under their guidance.

Xia Qing asked Li Kai, "Is your injury no longer a problem?"

"I used Third Brother's special medicine, and it's no longer a problem. It was Brother Yue who took care of me, letting me come keep Dazi company and recuperate." Li Kai, leaning on a single crutch, smiled very happily, but his face was still a bit pale.

On the night of the late January beast tide, sniper Li Kai was sneak-attacked while assisting in the defense of Territory 6, his internal organs ruptured, and he nearly died. It was Xia Qing who entered Territory 6, found him in a pool of blood, and sent him to Territory 7 for emergency treatment, saving his life.

Although he was an ordinary person with a recovery ability somewhat inferior to evolvers, he was still young and had a very good physical foundation. After using Territory 7's special medicine, he recovered almost completely in a month.

Although the hidden valley was inside the evolution forest, it was very concealed and isolated from the outside by fine, sturdy wire mesh, and was regularly sprayed with Territory 7's special insect-repellent to drive away insects, so safety was assured.

Moreover, the farm work here was only turning the supplemental lights on and off on schedule, and opening the water channels to periodically divert water to irrigate the two mu of seedlings. For Dazi and Li Kai, this was indeed like recuperating by a hot spring. As long as they didn't make too much noise and get discovered, it was fine.

Xia Qing took out an insulated bag from her backpack, and took out a frozen pig hind leg bone and four ribs. "These are green-light pork and pig bones I just got. Cook soup and stew meat with them this year."

Seeing the high-quality green-light meat, Li Kai and Dazi's eyes both lit up. They didn't stand on ceremony with Xia Qing and happily accepted it.

Although they didn't have equivalent supplies to trade with Xia Qing right now, once they got out, they would find the supplies Xia Qing needed and send them to Territory 3.

Xia Qing wandered around checking the seedlings' growth, and the more she looked, the happier she felt.

The rice seedlings grown from the rice seeds she exchanged with her idol were very robust. After she went back, she could start preparing the paddy field and get ready for transplanting. The green-light sweet potato seedlings had also grown to palm height, so the sweet potato field also needed to be prepared.

After leaving the hidden valley carrying a large bucket of hot spring water, Xia Qing went to hunt a rabbit first, but unfortunately her luck was bad — it was another red-light one.

She put the wild rabbit into a packaging bag, sealed it, stuffed it into her backpack, returned to Section 3 of Mountain 49, followed the slippery beast trail into the valley, jumped over the gurgling stream, and arrived near the chestnut grove.

Although the chestnut trees were still bare and hadn't sprouted, the buds on the branches had grown a bit larger. She estimated they would turn green in the next few days.

Xia Qing listened carefully. In the mixed sounds of the gurgling water, birds chirping, and reptiles crawling rustling, there was no buzzing of evolution hornets.

Xia Qing's eyes darted around. She grabbed a shovel and rushed into the chestnut grove, quickly digging out two man-high saplings. Just as she was about to use a packaging bag to protect the soil around the saplings' roots, she heard the buzzing of hornets.

Before the hornets could rush over, Xia Qing had already wrapped the saplings' roots and fled at full speed. After several months of diligent training, her full-speed running had reached the level of a fourth-level evolver. In just a few seconds, she had run up the hillside, and the hornets couldn't catch up to her at all.

After confirming the hornets hadn't caught up, Xia Qing took out her phone to contact Yuan Yan, and set the time and place for exchanging saplings with her.