Chapter 771: Crisis on Mountain Fifty

Zhang He sought her out, so it had to be urgent.

Xia Qing connected immediately and, sure enough, heard Zhang He give a crisp, clear situation report:

"Xia Qing. Ten minutes ago, red Calamity Grass began sprouting outside the isolation chamber of High-Risk Zone One on Mountain Fifty. The area already exceeds two hundred square meters, and the tallest plant is two centimeters high. Third Brother is in surgery—how do you want this handled?"

Zhang San was the person in charge of the Mountain Fifty test area; Xia Qing was the administrator. When Zhang San was too busy to issue orders and an emergency arose on Mountain Fifty, Xia Qing had to make the call.

During this year's first Calamity Rain, red Calamity Grass sprouted in the High-Risk Zones of Mountain Fifty that had been directly blanketed by poison-gas bombs. Near the soil of this red Calamity Grass, large numbers of harmful microorganisms—rapidly multiplying evolved Salmonella—were present, and the flowers the Calamity Grass bloomed could also release Class-B toxic gas. The danger was extreme.

However, this Calamity Grass had one benefit: its root system could absorb the residual harmful chemical compounds from the poison-gas bombs in the soil.

For this reason, isolation chambers were built over the two High-Risk Zones, and Zhang He led a team in planting red Calamity Grass inside the chambers to purify the soil. Initial soil purification was expected to be complete by the end of May.

During the second Calamity Rain, for safety reasons, no further red Calamity Grass was planted inside the High-Risk Zone isolation chambers. But Zhang He, as the project's lead, still led her research group to remain stationed on Mountain Fifty, monitoring changes in the High-, Medium-, and Low-Risk Zones during the Calamity Rain.

High-Risk Zone One sat at the foot of Mountain Fifty's Third Peak. Outside the isolation area was a Medium-Risk Zone; the soil there contained fewer harmful substances and had not grown red Calamity Grass during the first Calamity Rain, so it had not been incorporated into the isolation area and continued to be scoured by the Calamity Rain.

The red Calamity Grass would quickly grow and bloom in the Calamity Rain, and the large numbers of advanced or super-evolved microorganisms multiplying at its roots risked spreading. Defensive measures had to be taken immediately.

Xia Qing stood up with a solemn expression. "Send me the overhead shot."

Surveillance cameras had been installed near the High-Risk Zones of Mountain Fifty—this was how Zhang He had spotted the red Calamity Grass so quickly.

Xia Qing opened the overhead image Zhang He had sent and studied the growth area of the red Calamity Grass on it, her brows furrowing.

Red Calamity Grass formed when toxic gas seeped into the soil and caused the grass seeds within to undergo Calamity-evolution. So the red Calamity Grass that sprouted during the first Calamity Rain was distributed in a roughly circular pattern, because the toxic gas had spread outward from the center.

By that logic, the red Calamity Grass growing in the Medium-Risk Zone should have been distributed in a ring around the High-Risk Zone.

In the image Zhang He had sent, the red Calamity Grass growing on the east side of High-Risk Zone One looked at a glance like a ring, but zooming in revealed that the density of this ring-shaped Calamity Grass was uneven.

With her planting experience, Xia Qing quickly reached a judgment: this roughly two-hundred-square-meter patch of Calamity Grass had been grown from seeds scattered by human hands!

Who, and why, had secretly scattered Calamity Grass seeds during the Calamity Rain?

Xia Qing thought for a few seconds, then got Zhang He back on the line. "Sister He, I'm ninety percent sure this patch of Calamity Grass was sown by hand. I'll send people over to support you right away. Protect yourself, and don't tip them off. Do three things now."

"First, immediately arrange for people to set up rain shelters over the area where the red Calamity Grass has sprouted, so this patch can't get rained on by the Calamity Rain. Pre-cut Yishi stones will be delivered within an hour—use them to suppress this Calamity Grass and the microorganisms so they can't grow. We'll deal with it after the Calamity Rain."

"Understood."

"Second, based on how long Calamity Grass seeds take to germinate from sowing under the current Calamity concentration, determine the time window for sowing, then contact Watching Huo Zhun and have her pull the footage to find everyone who passed through that area during that window. No matter who it is, once the support team arrives, restrain them all first. Be careful—they may fight back."

The Surveillance Room of Territory Seven held the monitoring rights for Mountain Fifty, which was why Xia Qing had Huo Zhun check the footage.

Zhang He acknowledged calmly, "Understood. I'll use drugs to control them and not give them a chance to fight back."

"Third, run tests on the newly sprouted Calamity Grass and confirm whether it's the same species as the one inside the High-Risk isolation zone."

"Copy that, testing is underway." Zhang He had no questions; she hung up and went to execute immediately.

After hanging up, Xia Qing immediately contacted Ji Li, briefed him on the situation, and asked, "Brother Ji, how many people can Territory Seven spare right now to support Mountain Fifty?"

Some of Mountain Fifty's guards were hired from the Azure Dragon Squad, and some were sent over by Territory Seven. It was still unclear which group had the problem, so Ji Li needed to send his trusted men to take control of the situation.

Ji Li answered calmly, "Only five people."

Territory Seven's guards had to protect Zhang San, protect Territory Seven itself, and clear the aggressive Calamity-evolved plants inside Territory Nine—the manpower that could be redirected was truly limited.

Five people—far too few.

Xia Qing asked again, "If I take charge of Territory Nine, how many can Brother Ji spare?"

"Eight, led by Yan Long."

Sister Yan leading the team? That settles it!

Xia Qing replied, "Then I'll take charge of Territory Nine. Brother Ji, send eight trustworthy, high-combat-capability people to Mountain Fifty. This trip might draw an ambush—do we need to take vehicles from my side?"

"No need, Territory Seven has enough vehicles inside. You watch your own safety too—don't leave the territory." Since Xia Qing had said the red Calamity Grass on Mountain Fifty was a deliberate spread, this was very likely aimed at her, which was why Ji Li reminded her to be careful.

Before receiving the image from Zhang He, Xia Qing had been thinking of riding a personal flight unit over with Yishi stones, bringing people to set up rain shelters, pinning down the red Calamity Grass with the stones, then flying back.

But after seeing the image of the Calamity Grass, she immediately changed her plan.

Because she too had a premonition that this operation was targeting her. She might be shot dead by a lurking enemy sniper the moment she neared Mountain Fifty.

"Understood. Brother Ji, tell Sister Yan to watch for ambushes. I'll notify Captain Tan in the Lords group right now—Territory Nine will be my responsibility from here on." The Lords channel was certainly being monitored; once they heard Xia Qing wasn't going to Mountain Fifty, the lurking enemies should stay hidden and wait for their chance.

"No need to notify. Pretend you're in the vehicle too—lure the snake out, then kill it." The phone had reached Yan Long's hands, and killing intent blazed through her voice.

No matter who they were, using the spread of a natural disaster to lure Xia Qing out of her territory meant they didn't give a damn about the safety of Mountain Fifty or the northern Territory One. Food was scarce in disaster years; Yan Long would not allow such people to live and waste grain.

"Captain Tan, you there?"

Hearing Xia Qing call for Captain Tan, all the Lords pricked up their ears to listen.

Xia Qing made her request, "An emergency has come up on Mountain Fifty. I need to lead a team over to provide support, leaving the territory through the west gate. Captain Tan, please grant passage."

Tan Junjie replied calmly, "Understood. Stay safe."

"Copy that."

After Xia Qing's reply, Hu Zifeng came online. "Captain Tan, from this moment on, Territory Three and Territory Nine will be under my proxy."