Chapter 676: The Unique Evolution Python

"Broken-Leg, go back and tell Wolf Lao Er that the fish we're raising have laid a lot of eggs. In a few days we'll be putting the big fish into the fish pond we've dug."

This evening, the one who brought the three sick wolves over to take medicine wasn't Broken-Waist Wolf, but Broken-Leg Wolf.

Sending this fool Broken-Leg on a mission shows that those three sick wolves aren't all that important in Broken-Waist Wolf's eyes either.

This fool must have run especially fast on the way, because the three sick wolves have already collapsed against the stone wall, panting with their tongues out, while Broken-Leg Wolf is still full of beans, leaping and bouncing around Xia Qing to express its joy.

Xia Qing was glad to see it too. After putting out the pollution-free spring water for the three sick wolves, she took out a packet of freeze-dried treats and fed them to Broken-Leg Wolf. While it finally settled down to eat, she had a chance to talk to it.

"Broken-Leg, have you seen Wolf Lao Er recently?"

Broken-Leg Wolf gobbled up a small handful of freeze-dried treats in a few bites, then started bouncing around and pawing at Xia Qing again.

What's Wolf Lao Er? Is it tasty?

Xia Qing played with it for a while. When half an hour had passed and it was time to take saliva samples, she pulled out a piece of dried roast meat to keep Broken-Leg Wolf occupied, then went over to give the three sick wolves their medicine and take samples.

Today just saliva samples, no blood draw.

The three exhausted sick wolves noticed Xia Qing approaching and immediately jumped up, baring their teeth and forming an attack formation.

"Aoo—"

Broken-Leg Wolf swallowed the dried meat in one gulp, let out a roar and charged over, knocking the three wolves down with a few thumps, then turned to look at Xia Qing.

It was the first time Xia Qing had seen Broken-Leg Wolf so dependable. She gave it a thumbs-up. "Broken-Leg, you're so cool, so awesome!"

Broken-Leg Wolf stood nearby backing Xia Qing up. She smoothly got saliva samples from the three wolves, tucked pills into them, then tucked a pill into the very dependable Broken-Leg Wolf as well. "Broken-Leg, you can take them away now."

Broken-Leg Wolf wouldn't leave, kept bouncing around, wanting Xia Qing to play with it.

Xia Qing tried to persuade it again, but it just kept bouncing.

"Then play till you've had enough and leave. I have to go deliver the samples, and I still have to get back to guard the territory tonight." Xia Qing couldn't manage this fellow, so she left Wolf Valley directly and headed for Territory Seven.

Yu Dongming had taken his bodyguards and left this territory by helicopter, and the iron-net wall along the northern isolation belt was also finished. Xia Qing left Mountain 49, Zone 3, swiped her face to pass through the gate in the northern iron-net wall, entered the south side of the iron-net wall, and walked east along the isolation belt.

Sturdy defenses give humans a sense of security. Walking beside this wall made Xia Qing feel a lot more at ease.

She had gotten word from Xu Juan that this morning a Red One base transport plane had landed at the airport inside Hui-Three Safe Zone, unloaded a batch of supplies and loaded up quite a few supplies, then taken off with the Red One investigation team that had come to investigate the poison-gas incident on Mountain 50.

The Red One plane must have brought some Qiangwu grass leaves, so Xia Qing wanted to go see what other people's leaves looked like, and also discuss a few things with her idol.

After looking, Xia Qing was very proud. "Their leaves aren't growing as well as mine."

Zhang San gave Xia Qing a look. "They're not stupid—of course they'd pick out the lower-quality leaves to trade."

As expected of her idol, every word hit the mark. Xia Qing immediately changed her tune. "Third Brother's right. But my Qiangwu grass still grows better than theirs, because even the worst leaves on my Qiangwu grass are better quality than these."

Zhang San reasoned, "It might be related to you using Yi stone fragments to grow the Qiangwu grass."

Xia Qing asked curiously, "Third Brother, what are the uses of waste Yi stones that no longer emit Yi elements outward?"

Zhang San listed them one by one. "There are four common uses. First, like you do, for cultivating plants. Second, for medicine—Yi stone ground into powder can treat several common ailments caused by excess Qiang elements in the body. Third, making high-grade filter elements. Fourth, making jewelry. Next time bring over two spent Yi stones, and I'll add them to the filter element in your protective mask to improve its quality."

"Okay, thanks a lot, Third Brother." Xia Qing asked again, "Third Brother, can I try adding Yi stone fragments to the soil where I'm growing the high-Yi-element spinach?"

"Sure, anything you can think of, you can try." Zhang San felt Xia Qing had real talent for growing things and didn't oppose her trying anything.

After finishing the Qiangwu grass topic, Zhang San brought up the Qiang snakes. "Preliminary research shows that female Qiang snakes only secrete a special-smelling substance that attracts male Qiang snakes to mate when stimulated by the pheromones released by Evolution Pythons. And this pheromone is unique to the Evolution Pythons in the lakes north of Mountain 55 and Mountain 60."

In other words, Evolution Pythons in evolution forests in other regions of the country haven't evolved this ability. So that's why the Qiang snakes here have surged in numbers? This is a serious problem!

Xia Qing asked, "Third Brother, what do we do next?"

Zhang San slumped in his chair, listless. "I held a video conference with the country's top snake experts, and we decided to just observe for a year. Because Qiang snakes won't spray venom outward unless attacked, they won't threaten the safety of human safe zones or territories for now."

Observe for a year?

Xia Qing asked, "Third Brother, can I tell the wolf pack about this news?"

Zhang San didn't object. "If you feel you can explain it clearly, then go ahead. But the wolf pack's territory borders the Evolution Python's territory, so they definitely already know the Evolution Pythons and Qiang snakes have formed a symbiotic relationship. As for what action the wolf pack will take, don't interfere too much."

"Understood. I'll grow the Qiangwu grass well, just in case."

After discussing the Qiang snakes, Xia Qing brought up another matter. "Last time I left Territory Seven, I happened to run into Yu Dongming bringing people over. I unexpectedly noticed one of the bodyguards in your territory acting a bit strange. I suspect he has private dealings with people from the Reunion Alliance."

Zhang San wasn't surprised at all. "I don't just have Reunion Alliance spies here, I also have ones from Hui-One, Hui-Three, even Red One. This is a P3 lab—if they didn't plant a few spies, how could those people feel at ease? If you get rid of this one, they'll buy off someone else or plant a new one in. Just pretend you didn't see anything. After you leave this room, be very careful what you say and do."

Xia Qing straightened up. "Understood. Third Brother, how about we build a pharmaceutical factory?"

Zhang San became interested. "What made you want to build a pharmaceutical factory?"

Xia Qing explained, "After you stopped cooperating with the Hui-One military, you need to find new sources of research funding. I don't think the agricultural output from our territory alone will be enough. So I want to build a pharmaceutical factory that specializes in producing the new medicaments you've developed, and use the profits as your research fund. What do you think?"

Zhang San got serious. "Just the few of us definitely can't do it. We need to find partners."

"I looked into it. Besides the hardware—technical staff, factory buildings, instruments and equipment—building a pharmaceutical factory also requires a production permit and drug patent authorization from the relevant national departments. But those aren't the biggest problem. Our biggest problem is suppression and sabotage from competitors—Hui-One Pharmaceutical. So I was thinking, we could find someone to partner with…"

An hour and a half later, Xia Qing left her idol's lab with a calm expression, carrying the medicament Zhang San had prepared for Zhang Hongda and the vaccine for the chicks, returned to Wolf Valley in Mountain 49, Zone 3, and found that Broken-Leg Wolf had already left with the three sick wolves.

She hadn't had time to tell Broken-Leg Wolf about the Qiang snake news, but Broken-Leg Wolf wasn't a brain-evolved one—it definitely wouldn't understand something this complicated. This matter needed to be discussed in person with the Queen or Broken-Waist Wolf.