Chapter 664: Green-Light Lettuce

Yang Jin of course had no objection. "Shall we cut back through Mountain Forty-Nine? Check for Manglers on the way?"

Xia Qing, who could locate Manglers with magnetism, nodded and silently thought:

Truly worthy of being called an iron rooster—sharper than is decent.

Once they entered Mountain Forty-Nine, guarded by the Green Dragon Squad, the danger level dropped considerably. Xia Qing relaxed and asked Yang Jin how many herbs he'd dug up in the Python Pool.

Yang Jin answered precisely. "Twelve target herbs dug up with their roots—should be enough for the antidote. Another twenty-six that looked like herbs—I don't know if they're worth anything."

From entering the pool to leaving it, the whole thing took less than a minute, yet he'd dug up thirty-eight herbs and remembered the exact count. That speed and mental composure genuinely impressed Xia Qing.

"We dug up the roots, so if it's not enough, Third Brother can plant a few in the greenhouse—two or three months should yield new herbs. Should I deliver them to Territory Seven later, or will you go?"

Can't we go together?

Yang Jin was silent for two seconds. "You're the main force on this mission, so it makes more sense for you to go."

Xia Qing nearly tripped over the two "you"s Yang Jin had used. She steadied herself against a nearby tree trunk and looked back.

Night-vision goggles are for enhancing vision in low-light conditions, so after leaving the gloomy Python Pool valley on Mountain Fifty-Five, both of them had taken theirs off. Now, through her protective visor, Xia Qing could clearly read the emotion in Yang Jin's eyes and understood what he meant.

Counting the time they killed Tang Zhengsu, she and Yang Jin had fought side by side twice now, and they were about the same age—there was no elder-junior relationship between them. All this "you" and "you" really was too formal.

So Xia Qing switched to a more casual tone on the spot. "Fine, I'll turn in the mission. Once the emergency is lifted, are you heading back to the safe zone?"

The grievance that had been in Yang Jin's eyes a moment ago immediately curved into a smile. "Not yet. I want to talk over a few deals with Yu Dongming. Too bad the Heavy Alliance construction worker you knocked out didn't take photos or video of Territory One and Mountain Forty-Nine—otherwise I could've driven the price down even harder."

Xia Qing...

Care to guess it's precisely because they know your plucking skills that they didn't dare photograph your turf?

Yang Jin hacked through the vines blocking the path ahead and discussed splitting today's herb-gathering profits with Xia Qing. "The points we get for the herbs—fifty-fifty between us, how about it?"

On this herb-gathering mission, the two had divided the work. Yang Jin drew off one python, Xia Qing drew off two; Yang Jin went down to gather herbs, Xia Qing handled defense. When the black python appeared, it was Xia Qing who pulled Yang Jin out of the water, so both of them completed their respective tasks smoothly.

In terms of danger, Yang Jin's was greater, but Xia Qing had drawn off one more python than him, so their contributions were equal—a fifty-fifty split was fair. Xia Qing had no objection.

Black Wolf helped too? It was on Xia Qing's side. After getting the herb points, how Xia Qing split them with Black Wolf was her own business and had nothing to do with Yang Jin.

Along the way, Xia Qing found no Manglers. The two parted at the edge of Zone Three on Mountain Forty-Nine—Xia Qing left the Evolution Forest to turn in the mission at Territory Seven, while Yang Jin stayed in the mountain to continue checking for dangers.

After leaving Mountain Forty-Nine, Xia Qing didn't return to her own territory. Instead, she followed the already-erected iron-mesh wall of the northern isolation belt eastward, heading to turn in the mission first.

On the north side of Territory Five, Xia Qing greeted Lu Yuhui, the construction squad leader in a Level-3 field protective suit. On the north side of Territory Six, she stopped to exchange a safety check with Hearing Zhu Li, who was carrying a machete and searching for Manglers in the northern buffer forest of Territory Six. Only then did she head toward Territory Seven.

After a detailed inspection and full-body disinfection, Xia Qing followed Ji Li into Territory Seven.

Seeing her idol with panda eyes and so thin he was barely recognizable, Xia Qing's heart ached.

Without a word of small talk, she immediately started pulling things out to hand over, hoping her idol could rest sooner. "Third Brother, this bag has twenty-six live Manglers, green and red both—caught by the pool on Mountain Fifty-Five."

Manglers were dangerous. Ji Li took the bag and placed them in a glass snake box. Seeing so many Manglers, Zhang San's expression grew even more serious.

"These are water and soil samples from the small pool." Without Zhang San having to ask, Xia Qing had already developed the habit of taking samples the moment she spotted anything abnormal.

The eyes in Zhang San's dark circles finally brightened a little. Weakly, he asked, "Very well done. What about the herbs?"

"Right here." Xia Qing handed over the herb bag Yang Jin had given her. "Twelve suspected antidote herbs, all with roots. The rest I don't know if they're herbs—see if you can use them."

Hearing there were twelve of the urgently needed herbs in the bag, Zhang San's exhaustion visibly receded. "Good, very good! Go back and rest. We'll go over the details later."

With that, Zhang San grabbed the herb bag and ducked into the lab. Xia Qing hurriedly put in her exchange request. "Third Brother, can I trade for a few green-light vegetables?"

"Find Daya."

After Zhang San disappeared into the lab, Ji Li took Xia Qing to find Daya, the food warehouse manager of Territory Seven.

Hearing Xia Qing wanted to trade for vegetables, Daya didn't even hesitate. "What vegetables do you want?"

Xia Qing didn't know what Territory Seven grew, so she explained her needs directly. "My greenhouse only has spinach, perilla, alfalfa, and chives—I've been eating them all winter and want a change of pace. Anything fresh will do."

Daya asked with a grin, "Do you like lettuce? I'll cut a few heads for you."

Lettuce was great! Xia Qing's eyes lit up at once. "Of course I like them. Thanks so much, Brother Ya."

While Daya went to the greenhouse to cut lettuce, Ji Li asked quietly, "For your evolution sheep?"

Worthy of a cat keeper—she'd caught the key point right away. Xia Qing nodded. "I didn't go back all night. I'm afraid it'll throw a fit."

Ji Li listened and silently envied her. Xia Qing was afraid her evolution sheep hadn't seen her last night and would get angry, so she needed to prepare food. When Ji Li left the territory to return to Huiyi, actively preparing food wasn't about fearing the cat princess's temper—it was worrying the cat would forget her.

Before long, Daya came back carrying four big lettuces, roots and leaves attached, each over half a meter long. "Take them back and try them. If you like them, let me know. This kind of vegetable is hard to grow outdoors, but it actually grows pretty fast in a standard greenhouse."

Xia Qing thanked him again. Daya grinned and made his point. "No need, no need—these are all Third Brother's. If you have time to dig up shoots again this year, dig up a few more. Third Brother's appetite has been poor lately—he can't get anything down."

"I'll go in the next couple of days!" Her idol's allergy symptoms were severe, and on top of fighting the disaster he'd been working round the clock with no rest—the dark circles were almost as big as his face. Forget digging up shoots—even if her idol wanted crocodile, Xia Qing would haul one back without a second thought.

But before going to dig up shoots for her idol, Xia Qing had to coax her own companion first.

Returning to her territory, she walked down through the buffer forest and crossed the stone slab bridge. Seeing the furious Sheep Boss charging at her with its spiral horn raised, Xia Qing immediately held up a big lettuce and went to meet it. "Boss! Look what I found on this trip!"