Chapter 716: The Four Warriors of the Black Blade

Xia Qing couldn't answer the first question, but she knew how to solve the second. "I believe Third Brother wouldn't do anything illegal, let alone conduct illegal human experiments. If you don't believe me, you can ask him directly. With your abilities, you can certainly tell if he's speaking the truth."

Xia Qing trusted Third Brother; if not for his moral conscience, he wouldn't have exposed the crimes of the Huiyi underground experiments, nor would he have abandoned the advanced research conditions of the Huiyi Research Institute to set up a new operation in Territory Seven.

Shi Jiaran and her son, who were still living in the ruins of a town south of Territory One in the Northern Region, and Tang Huai, who was lively and active within the territory, could all vouch for Zhang San's character.

But these were secrets that could not be spoken.

Xia Qing's calm and gentle aura alleviated Seeing Xin Yu's anxiety. "You're right; if the answer can be found by asking, there's no need to waste energy guessing blindly."

Xia Qing nodded. "Correct. A person's energy and physical strength are limited; internal friction will slow down our rate of becoming stronger."

Seeing Xin Yu stood up. "Once my Black Blade is forged, I'll follow you to the Evolution Forest too; I want to become stronger as well!"

After seeing Seeing Xin Yu off, Xia Qing went to the planting greenhouse to meet Wolf Lao Er, brought it back to the courtyard, pointed at the chicken coop, and instructed, "Our little chicks have moved back too. Big Brother, keep an eye on things tonight. If any rats, snakes, or weasels come to steal chickens, you must tell me immediately."

Wolf Lao Er wasn't interested in the chicken coop; it went straight inside, sniffed here and there, confirmed no one had touched its nest or bicycle, and then started pedaling the bicycle to light up the light bulb for fun.

Since Big Brother wasn't useful, Xia Qing carefully checked the chicken coop again, set up protective measures, and then stood at the entrance of the sheep pen to call out to the tenants living there for free, "Free-loader, are you asleep?"

Red squirrel Zheng Kai, who was holding its cub and sleeping, opened its eyes and twitched its small ears.

"Free-loader, keep an eye on the chicken coop tonight. If a snake or a big rat comes to catch chickens, go to the windowsill and call me."

The red squirrel rustled out, waited a while without seeing Xia Qing come in to bring it food, then crawled back into the hole to hold its cub and sleep soundly. It was safe, comfortable, and had food and drink here; it was perfect for raising cubs.

Hearing no more movement inside, Xia Qing sighed. The red squirrel had poor combat power and was timid; it definitely wouldn't be useful, so she would still have to rely on the cameras to keep watch at night.

If only Wolf Lao Er were here...

Wolf Lao Er had left the territory for 36 days already. Once she got the dog food formula, Xia Qing planned to make some dog food to visit Wolf Lao Er at Mountain Sixty, and also ask when the Alpha Wolf's lactation period would end.

After its lactation period ended, Xia Qing would start soaking in the Body Damage Recovery Potion again.

Back inside the room, after praising Wolf Lao Er, who was diligently generating electricity, Xia Qing sent a message to Tang Huai.

Upon learning that Seeing Xin Yu agreed to the exchange, Tang Huai was overjoyed.

The next morning, he brought the dog food formula to Xia Qing, gave her a stainless steel pot for cooking dog food for free, then happily ran to Territory Eight to get meteoric iron from his ally Zhou Zhaoping, and then happily went to Territory Eleven to ask Lord Huo Lei to forge a Black Blade identical to Xia Qing's for him.

Lord Huo Lei advised Tang Huai not to use good materials. "That long blade of Xia Qing's can only be effective in the hands of a Power Evolver; for a non-Power Evolver, a medium sword and a dagger are enough."

Tang Huai asked, "Did Seeing Xin Yu have two or three blades forged?"

Lord Huo Lei spoke seriously. "Although we are allies, every trade has its rules..."

Tang Huai understood. "I just want the full set of three; please make the long blade lighter for me."

Seeing Lord Huo Lei still wanted to persuade him, Tang Huai patted the iron lump he had exchanged for with many insects and spoke with conviction. "Uncle Huo, Seeing Xin Yu isn't a Power Evolver either, yet she still wants a set forged. Do you know why?"

Lord Huo Lei...

I don't want to say it; I know nothing!

"Our alliance will become more and more awesome; in the future, when we go out, we must have style and not let people look down on us. This set of Black Blades is Xia Qing's signature weapon. Seeing Xin Yu is forging a set, I'm forging a set; this way, when we go out with Xia Qing, we'll have momentum."

Tang Huai got more and more excited as he spoke. "When people see me and Xia Qing wearing the same weapons, they'll definitely think I'm a core member of the alliance. Uncle Huo, you're a Power Evolver too; you should forge a set for yourself. When we go out in the future, let's call ourselves the Northern Alliance Black Blade Four Warriors. How about that? Isn't that awesome?"

Why Northern Alliance and not Territory Alliance? That was naturally because their alliance included not only the lords but also the Northern Wolf Pack!

Thinking about being able to ride an Evolution Wolf out for a stroll in the future, Tang Huai couldn't help but want to howl.

Lord Huo Lei nodded. "Awesome enough; I'll forge you a full set! Go try the blades on the rack and see which weight feels most comfortable for you."

"Good." Tang Huai was delighted. "Xia Qing told me to work hard to improve my combat power recently to prepare for the next team-up. I'll choose a slightly heavier one; that way, once my combat power improves, it will feel just right..."

After settling the price and seeing Tang Huai off, Lord Huo Lei contacted Zhou Zhaoping, wanting to exchange five jin of meteoric iron to forge a set of Black Blades for his son as well.

The reason for exchanging just a small piece was that he still had one piece in his warehouse, plus what remained from forging blades for Seeing Xin Yu and Tang Huai, plus the five jin exchanged, which would barely be enough.

After the deal was made, Lord Huo Lei felt both happy and pained, and called to ask his son what he was doing.

Hearing that he was in morning training, Lord Huo Lei earnestly instructed, "Practice hard; Tang Huai has already squeezed into Xia Qing's team. If you don't work hard, you won't even be able to keep a logistics spot..."

As he spoke, Lord Huo Lei couldn't help but mutter curses. "If you had half the smarts of Tang Huai, I'd be laughing in my sleep at night!"

Watching Huo Zhun...???

His father actually thought he had even less smarts than the half-wit Tang Huai?!

Unaware that she had already become one of the Northern Alliance Black Blade Great Warriors, Xia Qing was standing outside the North Gate of Territory Three, introducing the grim situation of Mountain Fifty-One to Tan Junjie, emphasizing the severity of the consequences:

"The first Corrosive Rain of this year; the over hundred aggressive wild Paulownia trees that sprouted within our Northern Territory One were spread by the seeds of this tree. If we cannot completely eliminate this wild Paulownia before the second Corrosive Rain and let it bloom and bear seeds again, during the third Corrosive Rain, many greenhouses and houses in our territory will be smashed flat by the wild Paulownia."

Cao Xianyun watched the video with a serious expression. "This should be the highest evolution grade and largest canopy Corrosive-Evolved Wild Paulownia discovered by our base since the Eleventh Year of Natural Disaster. Sister Qing is right; it must be completely eliminated before the second Corrosive Rain."

Su Ming was also shocked. "This thing will require cannons to blast it."

"After blasting with cannons, we still have to dig up the roots, and after the third Corrosive Rain, we'll have to clear the newly sprouted wild Paulownias. This is a huge project." Cao Xianyun turned to look at the team captain.

"I'll report it immediately upon returning." Tan Junjie put away the materials and asked, "Whose territory is Mountain Fifty-One? The Northern Wolf Pack, the evolved leopards in the northeast, or the Bear Pack?"