Chapter 782: Thorn-Blocking Wall

As the head of the Hazard Investigation Team, Tan Junjie was of course well aware of how freakishly powerful the locust tree was. "An aggressive locust tree is a high-hazard plant. Anything within a two-hundred-meter radius falls within its effective attack range. All personnel inside Territory Four are to evacuate the effective attack zone immediately and wait for the investigation team to come handle it."

"Copy that." Zhao Ze's voice was already on the verge of tears. "There's a greenhouse within the attack range."

Hearing Zhao Ze's words, Xia Qing knew exactly which locust tree in Territory Four had undergone aggressive Qiang evolution.

Earlier this month, the alliance members of the Territory Alliance had even gotten to eat the coarse-grain steamed buns that Zhao's mother had made from the yellow lantern-pagoda flowers blooming on that very locust tree.

If it had been the old Tang Huai, he would surely have snapped at Zhao Ze, asking whether he wanted his life or his food. But Tang Huai, who had now settled down to seriously farm and raise insects, felt his heart ache along with everyone else at the thought that Territory Four was about to lose an entire greenhouse's worth of crops.

If even Tang Huai felt this way, there was no need to mention the other lords.

Wanting both to protect the safety of personnel within the territory and to preserve the farmland as much as possible, Tan Junjie asked, "How many meters is the greenhouse from the aggressive locust tree?"

Zhao Ze replied, his voice still breaking, "About a hundred and eighty meters. Captain Tan, the personnel in my territory wearing Grade-3 protective suits—can they go into that greenhouse to clear out the Qiang-evolved crops? That greenhouse has a whole mu of green-lantern mung beans planted in it; they've already flowered and are growing pods."

Tan Junjie asked, "What's the current crown radius of the locust tree?"

Zhao Ze answered, "Visually about eight meters, definitely not over ten."

Xia Qing, who had already entered Greenhouse Six, was clearing out the Qiang-evolved plants while quickly calculating the locust tree's various attack metrics:

The horizontal spread of the locust tree's root system is roughly twice its crown radius—in other words, within sixteen meters of the tree—or twenty meters to be safe—is a high-risk zone that absolutely cannot be entered. Stepping into the high-risk zone could mean trampling the tree's roots and triggering an attack.

A hundred and eighty meters, although within the effective attack range, is a relatively lower-risk zone.

Relatively lower doesn't mean no risk. Even if no one goes in to deliberately trigger it, the locust tree's branches could be snapped by the wind or pierced through by its own thorns, triggering an attack. Once triggered, the greenhouse's rainproof cloth would be shot full of holes like a sieve, and the arched supports would collapse.

The danger faced by anyone inside was imaginable.

Tan Junjie answered cautiously, "The wind isn't strong right now. Personnel wearing Grade-3 protective suits may enter the greenhouse, but they must carry shields and stay on guard against the locust tree's attacks at all times."

Zhao Ze immediately perked up. "Copy that."

Then Tan Junjie called Yuan Rui on the investigation team channel, ordering him to take three people into Territory Four and string up a cordon within two hundred meters of the locust tree.

It seemed Tan Junjie planned to take the conservative approach. Because there was a greenhouse within the big tree's attack range, clearing it immediately would damage the greenhouse, so he intended to wait until the Qiang rain stopped and blast it with a cannon.

Use Yi Stones to drive out the Qiang elements and stop the Qiang-evolved locust tree from continuing to grow?

Even if they wanted to use Yi Stones, they couldn't put up a rainproof shelter over such a large tree in a short time. Moreover, Yi Stones are very poor at driving out Qiang elements from deep soil; even if they did put up a rainproof shelter, it wouldn't completely stop the Qiang-evolved tree from growing.

If during the process of building the shelter you accidentally stepped on the tree's roots spreading out everywhere, you'd very likely cause the tree to shoot out thorns longer than a palm.

Stringing up a cordon was a simple task; it didn't require the territory's evolved ones to go support it.

But Xia Qing felt this approach also carried a certain risk: this was the second Qiang-rain period, and the locust tree was covered in pods. If they let it keep growing and the pods happened to ripen and fall during the Qiang rain, it would cause the high-risk plant to spread.

So the locust tree still needed to be cleared now. As for how to clear it, Xia Qing already had an idea. She didn't share it on the investigation team channel; instead, she sent Tan Junjie a message.

Tan Junjie was the investigation team leader; whether he adopted Xia Qing's suggestion or not wasn't something she could decide.

After sending the message, Xia Qing continued clearing the Qiang-evolved plants.

After the second wave of red-grade Qiang rain ended, Xia Qing immediately began patrolling the buffer forest within her own territory.

Within the buffer forest of Territory Three, covering an area of 4,500 mu, there were over a hundred mature thorn-bearing trees. After a full patrol, Xia Qing was certain these trees were all calm, showing no signs of aggressive Qiang evolution.

When she first cleared the farmland, Xia Qing had already considered how much damage these trees could do to the fields if they underwent aggressive Qiang evolution. So within five hundred meters of her farmland, there wasn't a single thorn-bearing tree. Even if the trees in her territory did undergo aggressive Qiang evolution, their physical attacks couldn't damage her rainproof shelters.

After finishing her patrol of the buffer forest, Xia Qing was just about to head over to Territory Nine for a look when she heard Tan Junjie ask on the lord channel, "Xia Qing, you there?"

Xia Qing pressed the walkie-talkie button. "Here."

"If we put up a wall made of rainproof cloth on the west side of the Territory Four greenhouse, how many layers of rainproof cloth do you think it would take to block the locust tree's thorns?"

It seemed Tan Junjie was going to adopt her plan. Once the thorn-blocking wall was built to protect the greenhouse, clearing that locust tree wouldn't be difficult.

Xia Qing answered immediately, "Three layers of rainproof cloth will ensure the greenhouse's safety."

Tan Junjie responded, "Good. Zhao Ze, that high-risk tree needs to be cleared now. Before clearing it, a four-meter-tall rainproof-cloth wall needs to be built to shield the greenhouse within the attack range. Do you have enough materials in your territory?"

"Not enough." Zhao Ze put out a request on the lord channel. "Brothers and sisters, does anyone in your territories have two full pieces of rainproof cloth that have been replaced and are no longer needed, sturdy wooden poles around five meters tall, iron frames, or steel rebar? I'd like to borrow them to build a thorn-blocking wall."

Xia Qing was the first to answer. "I have fifteen steel rebar, fifteen millimeters in diameter, between three and eight meters long, plus one full piece of greenhouse rainproof cloth replaced back in March, and twenty-five five-meter-long hardwood poles. I'll bring them over to you on the micro-tiller in a bit."

"Thanks a lot, Sister Xia Qing." Zhao Ze's voice choked up.

Lord Huo Lei spoke up. "I have thirty-three steel rebar, three to eight meters long, thirteen to twenty-three millimeters thick. I'll carry them over right now."

Qi Fu, Kuang Qingwei and others also reported their numbers, and soon they had gathered all the supplies Territory Four needed to build the thorn-blocking wall.

The nearby territories had people carry the materials over by hand; the farther ones waited for Xia Qing's micro-tiller to haul them. Once everything was there, everyone lent a hand and helped Territory Four put up the thorn-blocking wall.

While building the wall, everyone got chills down their spines hearing the rustle of leaves in the wind, terrified that the thorns longer than a palm on that locust tree might suddenly shoot out and pierce them. This kind of fear didn't disappear just because they were wearing Grade-3 field protective suits.

Even Xia Qing, in her special protective suit plus snake-skin jacket, got the same chills, and even felt a dull ache in her left arm—the one that had once been pierced through by a thorn.