Chapter 75: The Evolved Rat Crisis Is Resolved

Xia Qing had no time to listen to the clash between Territories One and Two. She put night-vision goggles on Sheep Boss and herself, shouldered her spear, locked the door, scattered insect-repellent powder, and hurried south through her territory with Sheep Boss.

Sheep Boss might not be able to kill the evolved rats, but with it along, Xia Qing could make sure it wouldn't get bitten.

Territory Two lay just south of Territory Three, so the evolved rats invading Territory Three were definitely more than four. If they didn't clear out the invaders before dark, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Evolved rats that could flee in all directions and cause massive damage couldn't be left to wait for the danger-inspection team to arrive before being dealt with. Xia Qing had just pulled out her phone to call Beard Feng when his call came in first.

He skipped the small talk and went straight to the point. "Smell-evolution squad members Chen Zheng and Chen Cheng are already on their way to Territory Three. Will that be enough?"

"If they both come, what about Territory One?" Beard Feng's squad only had these two smell-evolved people.

Beard Feng was nothing like the hothead brawling on the lord channel right now—his voice was perfectly calm. "Our mission is to defend Territory Three."

Defending Territory Three was their mission, and Luo Pei was here too, so Territory Three really was more important than Territory One.

After hanging up, Xia Qing felt much more at ease. She pushed her sight and hearing to the max, searching for traces of the rodent evolved rats.

Beard Feng's squad's two smell-evolution members and Tan Junjie's squad's smell-evolved person Yuan Rui arrived one after another. Using scent tracking, they patrolled Xia Qing's territory in just over an hour, tracking down a total of sixteen rodent evolved rats that had entered Territory Three from Territory Two. Four were beaten to death by Xia Qing, four were hunted down by evolved birds in the territory, and the remaining eight were eliminated by the three of them.

Once the cleanup was done, Tan Junjie's squad's smell-evolved person Yuan Rui immediately rushed to Territory Nine to reinforce.

While they were searching Territory Three, rodent evolved rats had appeared in Territory Four on the east side of Territory Three, Territory Nine on the east side of Territory Two, and Territory Eight on the southwest side of Territory Two. Three ordinary people in Territory Nine had already been bitten—the situation was dire.

From within her own territory, Xia Qing could hear the gunshots and roars drifting over from the eastern and southern territories.

South of Territory Two was Territory Eleven. Xia Qing figured evolved rats had surely fled into Territory Eleven as well, but Territory Eleven wasn't part of Tan Junjie's squad's inspection range, and its lord wasn't on the one-through-ten lords' communication channel.

At nine in the evening, the Calamity Rain began to drizzle down again, making defending the territory even harder.

With only one not-very-bright sheep as backup, Xia Qing didn't dare be careless. She called Beard Feng again and asked him to send hearing-evolution squad member Dajiang to help hold Territory Three. By then, the evolved rats in Territory One had also been cleared out.

Once Dajiang arrived, Xia Qing had three human helpers: Level-4 hearing-evolved Dajiang, and Level-5 smell-evolved Chen Zheng and Chen Cheng.

Twenty-three-year-old Chen Zheng and twenty-one-year-old Chen Cheng were blood brothers, with the same evolution ability level—only the older brother was steady in temperament, while the younger was a bit more impetuous.

Territory Three had two dangers to handle tonight: attacks and destruction by evolved rats or other evolved animals, and the Calamity-evolution of crops. The four split into two groups—Xia Qing and Chen Zheng patrolled the rain shelters, Dajiang and Chen Cheng patrolled the territory.

Of course, Xia Qing still had one more helper: Sheep Boss.

The Calamity Rain drizzled all night, its level wavering constantly between orange and yellow. During the night, Dajiang and Chen Cheng killed another four rodent evolved rats that had fled over from Territory Two, and wiped out batch after batch of Calamity-evolved insects approaching the rain shelters. Xia Qing and Chen Zheng likewise cleared Calamity-evolved plants one after another.

Shortly after four in the morning, another huge swarm of evolved rats suddenly appeared in Territory Two, and gunfire rang out nonstop across Territories One, Two, and Three.

The next morning, after Tan Junjie's squad forced their way into Territory Two for a thorough purge, the evolved rat crisis was finally declared over.

Beard Feng swapped in four squad members to relieve Dajiang, Chen Zheng, and Chen Cheng, and told Xia Qing to go home and rest as well.

The daytime situation was better—the Calamity Rain kept up its drizzle, the level holding steady at blue.

Shortly after four in the afternoon, Dajiang, Chen Zheng, and Chen Cheng returned to Territory Three to swap shifts with their four teammates, continuing to stand guard in groups with Xia Qing.

Dajiang and Chen Cheng were still in charge of patrolling the territory, while Xia Qing and Chen Zheng patrolled the rain shelters.

In the fine pattering rain, hearing-evolved Dajiang chatted with his smell-evolved teammate Chen Cheng as they walked. "Territory Three is way tidier than ours, and she's grown so many crops and vegetables. Young Lady Xia really lives up to being a strength-evolved person."

Chen Cheng snorted. "Guan Tong is also a Level-5 strength-evolved person. You think he alone could grow this many crops?"

Dajiang shook his head at once. "No way."

Chen Cheng shook his body, flicking the rain off his protective suit. "Young Lady Xia can afford the hard work, and she has the skill. If most of the crops in the sheds make it through this Calamity Rain, she won't have to worry about food or clothing this year."

In a year of natural disasters, having food, clothing, and a stable home was the dream of the vast majority. Dajiang sighed enviously. "Not only won't she have to worry about food and clothing—she's about to have an evolved cat too."

The two finished a patrol, cleared a large batch of evolved insects approaching the rain shelters and Xia Qing's house, and returned to the small hut by the fields. Coincidentally, Xia Qing and Chen Zheng had just finished patrolling the rain shelters as well and were resting inside.

The moment Chen Cheng took off his protective mask, his eyes stuck to Sheep Boss beside Xia Qing. He edged closer to the sheep as he spoke. "Young Lady Xia, this hut of yours is built really well—not a drop of rain leaks in."

Xia Qing smiled. "If I built a little hut and it still leaked, I couldn't have spent five years on the construction team. You're too polite—just call me Xia Qing like you used to."

Xia Qing often went on missions with Luo Pei's squad, and Luo Pei's squad sometimes teamed up with Beard Feng's. So Beard Feng's people had known Xia Qing for a long time—only now her status was different from back then.

"That won't do—you're our great benefactor." Chen Cheng scooted a little closer. "But calling you Young Lady Xia does sound a bit too formal. How about we call you Sister Qing?"

"Of course that's fine." Sheep Boss's muscles tensed at Chen Cheng's approach—he was about to throw a fit. Xia Qing poured a cup of tea and handed it to Chen Cheng. "You've worked hard, sit down and have some tea."

"Thanks, Sister Qing." Chen Cheng cradled the tea in both hands, still trying to sidle up to Sheep Boss, but was pulled back by his older brother Chen Zheng.

"This tea is really good—doesn't smell the least bit funky." Chen Cheng took a deep sniff.

Smell-evolved people were extremely sensitive to odors, and suffered plenty because of it. For instance, the faint off-flavors that filtration couldn't fully remove from water were pure torment to a smell-evolved person.

The tea was brewed with unpolluted spring water, so of course it couldn't have any funky smell. Xia Qing cradled her own cup as she explained. "The leaves were traded with the lord of Territory Seven—the flavor really is excellent."

Xia Qing had made the trade with Zhang San through the lord channel—everyone across several territories knew that.

"Such good tea leaves, and that guy from Territory Seven actually traded them for spinach leaves—how much does he love eating spinach?" Chen Cheng sighed. "Sister Qing, I remember his evolved cat is having kittens at the end of this month, right? Do you know how many kittens she's carrying?"