Chapter 781: Aggressive Locust Tree

At half past eight in the evening, Xia Qing finished patrolling Territory Nine, swapped shifts with Peng Jian, Liangzi, and Eryong, hurried back to her own territory, and went with Boss Sheep, Guan Tong, and Dajiang to the bamboo field by the western buffer forest. They wanted to cut one more batch of bamboo before the red-grade harmful rain began.

After receiving ample water, harmful elements, and fertilizer, the aggressive harmful-evolved red-leaf bamboo grew to 18 meters in just six hours.

This height was ideal for greenhouse timber. After cutting off the top, the bamboo poles were about 15 meters long, exactly the right length for the arched supports of the greenhouse.

This time Xia Qing and Guan Tong cut the bamboo again, while the hauling was done by Boss Sheep, Dajiang, and Xiaojiang, the two brothers. Xia Qing had originally wanted Boss Sheep to rest at home, but it insisted on wearing night-vision goggles and coming along to work.

In Boss Sheep's view, physical labor was just play.

Xia Qing stepped on the extra-thick stone slabs laid that afternoon, gripping her black blade, and instructed Guan Tong, "No rush. We just need to finish cutting in half an hour. Stay safe."

"Baa!" Boss Sheep answered before Guan Tong could, its voice brimming with excitement. Guan Tong couldn't gauge Boss Sheep's current state, so he didn't dare reply. He silently walked to the other side and got to work.

"Thud!"

Xia Qing swung her blade at the pale-red, high-hardness bamboo pole. The edge sank only one centimeter deep, and her hands felt the shock of the impact.

This hardness was truly incredible!

Xia Qing's eyes lit up. Putting in ninety percent of her strength, she cut down the first bamboo pole in twelve strokes, tied it with a rope, and called to her companion, "Boss, carry it down. Don't step anywhere except on the stone slabs—you'll hurt your hooves."

"Baa!" Boss Sheep answered, picked up the rope in its mouth, and charged downhill.

Actually, Xia Qing had already had Dajiang and the others clear a slide running from the bamboo grove to the bottom of the buffer forest. The cut poles could be slid straight down along this chute, but Boss Sheep wanted to take part in the mission, so Xia Qing let it tag along and help out.

After Guan Tong cut through a bamboo pole in eighteen strokes, Dajiang immediately dragged the pole to the edge of the slide, sprinted forward a few steps, let go and leapt aside, letting the bamboo slide down the slope by inertia. Xiaojiang then dragged it to the designated spot—where thick wooden logs had been set up as long-distance "parallel bars." Once the bamboo was placed on top, it was kept from touching the ground, isolating the aggressive red-leaf bamboo from contact with the soil.

Normally, bamboo absorbs water and nutrients through its root system, and once cut, it cannot continue to grow. But aggressive harmful-evolved bamboo was no ordinary bamboo, so it had to be isolated from contact with the ground.

Before Xiaojiang had finished carrying the slid-down bamboo over and stacking it, Boss Sheep had already placed its bamboo and returned up the slope. After Xia Qing handed it the second cut pole, Boss Sheep turned and ran without pausing.

One sheep alone was a match for both Dajiang and Xiaojiang combined.

After Guan Tong cut through his seventh bamboo pole, his right hand and right arm had gone numb. When he straightened up to rest, he counted and found that Xia Qing was already cutting her twelfth pole, and her speed was the same as when she cut the first.

This confirmed for Guan Tong that the gap in strength-evolution ability between him and Xia Qing was growing wider and wider. He was still Level Five, while Xia Qing's level should have reached six and a half, or even seven.

It was normal for Xia Qing's ability level to rise.

Guan Tong was a member of Azure Dragon's main combat squad. His body received ample nutrition and Yi-element supply, so whatever his current ability level was, he could display it fully—he was a genuine Level Five strength evolver.

Xia Qing's situation was different. For her first nine years, she struggled to survive in the Safe Zone, and her body didn't take in enough nutrition or Yi-elements, so the evolution ability she displayed was lower than her true level. Only after entering the territory and absorbing sufficient nutrition could she gradually reveal her real evolution ability.

Xia Qing was twenty-six this year, with another nine years to evolve. She had a real chance of evolving into a top-tier strength evolver. He himself was twenty-three this year, so it was possible for him too!

After drinking the premium nutrient solution, Guan Tong recovered after a while and was full of energy again. He swung his cleaver in wide arcs and kept chopping the red-leaf bamboo. After this harmful rain, he would also look for materials and ask Lord Huo Lei to forge him a set of black blades that suited him!

In twenty minutes, all 35 bamboo poles were cut down—Xia Qing cut 22, Guan Tong cut 13. After giving the bamboo some fertilizer, the four humans and one sheep headed down the slope. Without Xia Qing needing to open her mouth, Guan Tong, Dajiang, and Xiaojiang were already praising Boss Sheep, who had hauled 22 poles, to the skies.

The praised Boss Sheep put on an air of not caring at all.

With only a few minutes until the red harmful rain, Xia Qing and Boss Sheep rested in the off-road vehicle. After cutting and hauling 22 bamboo poles nearly 20 meters long, both Xia Qing and Boss Sheep were tired. But these two lords of Territory Three weren't used to showing fatigue in front of others—no matter how tired, the human and the sheep both kept their backs ramrod straight.

Now, they could sprawl out and rest without caring about appearances.

Xia Qing wiped the mud and grass bits from the corners of its mouth while softly praising it. "Boss, you're really amazing. Our home couldn't do without anyone less than it couldn't do without you. You're the pillar sheep of our family, the reliable sheep standing at the top of the pyramid. Being able to become your companion means I'm the human standing at the top of Blue Star's lucky pyramid!"

Boss Sheep held its head higher and higher, proud beyond compare, and glanced sideways to signal Xia Qing to keep going.

Xia Qing laughed. "Boss, you've worked hard. Want some water?"

Boss Sheep didn't move.

"Boss, want a cucumber to moisten your throat?"

"Baa~"

"Okay." Xia Qing took off her gloves, pulled out a washed cucumber, broke it in half, and handed it the larger half.

Xia Qing sent a message to Yuan Yan to confirm that Territory Five's red-leaf bamboo had also been successfully cut, then munched on a cucumber and lounged lazily against the seat to rest.

After finishing its cucumber, Boss Sheep flopped straight down, too tired to even chew while lying down.

A few minutes later, Tan Junjie's announcement came through the walkie-talkie:

"All territories, attention please, all territories, attention please: the red-grade harmful rain has begun. Please arrange your patrol personnel within the territory. If any dangerous situation arises that you cannot handle, immediately call for the investigation team in the group."

Xia Qing adjusted her seat. "Boss, we're back on the job!"

"Baa."

Boss Sheep answered weakly. It had no interest in clearing harmful-evolved crops. Whether it was dancing potato vines, exploding sunflowers, or soybean vines that did who-knows-what, they all made it feel danger and unwilling to approach.

But its little boss was going on patrol—what could it do? It could only follow.

Xia Qing had just driven the car to the edge of Greenhouse Six when she heard Territory Four's lord Zhao Ze send a distress call on the lord channel. "Captain Tan, a mature locust tree over twenty meters tall in Territory Four has undergone aggressive harmful evolution and is growing a large number of sharp thorns. Requesting assistance, requesting assistance!"

Hearing that a mature locust tree had evolved, Xia Qing turned to look at the swaying beam of light in Territory Ten, and her body instantly tensed.

In the sixth year of the catastrophe, during the second harmful rain, Xia Qing had taken part in a dangerous plant clearance mission in the Safe Zone and encountered a mature locust tree undergoing aggressive harmful evolution.

That locust tree had also produced a large number of sharp thorns and flower buds. When the mission squad went to clear it, the locust tree sensed the attack and actually shot its thorns outward, riddling the six members of the mission squad full of holes.

That time, Xia Qing and a Level Two strength evolver served as off-the-books logistics personnel. Their job was to handle the aftermath after the locust tree was cut down, so the two of them weren't in the first echelon and didn't go over to chop the tree. That was how they narrowly survived.

Several of the patches on her old protective suit were added after the injuries she sustained that time.