Chapter 784: Evolution Forest in the Calamity Rain

After driving a patrol around Territory Nine, Xia Qing returned to Territory Three.

Territory Nine had no greenhouses or crops, so Beard Shanfeng's squad of three plus four people from Territory Eight — seven in total — took turns patrolling, which was enough to spot danger in time; anything they could handle they'd deal with immediately, and anything beyond them they'd report up to Xia Qing. So Xia Qing didn't need to stay on watch in Territory Nine all night.

Xia Qing was genuinely grateful to Xin Yu, who didn't talk much but was absolutely a true friend.

After patrolling her own territory and greenhouses once more and confirming there were no major hidden risks, she hurried home to sleep for three hours. At half past three in the morning, she had to get up to harvest the third cutting of Red Leaf Bamboo.

So after getting home and turning off the walkie-talkie, Xia Qing only managed a quick shower before her two heavy legs carried her to the bed, and she was asleep in seconds.

Downstairs, Sheep Lao Da, who had been pedaling the power-generating bike, heard that Xia Qing was asleep, got off the bike, climbed into the hanging chair, and slept.

The Calamity Rain pattered as it scoured the continent and the seas; inside the vast Evolution Forest in northern Hui Three, plants were growing wildly, animals that had lost control through Calamity Evolution were fighting and killing each other, and normal animals were hiding in whatever caves or dens they considered safe, sheltering from the Calamity Rain.

In the rubble of a cave on the summit of Mountain Sixty, several pieces of cracked Yishi stone lay scattered. Six wolf pups were squeezed into the hanging chair, four little wolves were squeezed into the pink wolf den, and three more little wolves lay on their backs on a dirty blanket, snoring away in deep sleep. Outside this circle of pups were the pups' parents and the old, weak, and evolved wolves from the northern wolf pack.

Beyond them stood the strong, healthy adult wolves.

"Awoo… awoo~" A little wolf sleeping in the pink wolf den howled softly with its eyes closed, its fuzzy little short legs kicking restlessly.

The head wolf lying on high opened its gilded eyes; Broken-Leg Sister raised a big paw to cover her ears; Wolf Dog Lao Er at the edge of the den lifted its head and licked the brow of the nightmare-stricken pup. The little one opened its eyes, drowsily awoo-ed twice, then burrowed and nudged, burrowed and nudged, until it burrowed into Wolf Dog Lao Er's arms, closed its eyes, and went back to sleep.

On Mountain Fifty-Five, in the rock crevices beside the Python Pool, all sorts of animals — big and small — were packed in tight, sheltering from the Calamity Rain.

A bat hawk perched on high stared fixedly at the blood-sucking bats hanging upside down on the cliff face, as if assessing which one was the biggest and had the tastiest meat; a python flicked its forked tongue to test the air, then slithered soundlessly toward a squirrel that was coughing up pine nuts.

Several wild boars shielded their piglets in the middle, pointing their tusks at two lynxes watching them hungrily; a honey badger kept on and on fighting a Tasmanian devil bigger than itself, angering a nearby sleeping mountain macaque, which let out piercing, furious screeches.

A little fawn hiding in the crevice was so frightened by the mountain macaque that it cried out yoo-yoo nonstop; a leopard, hearing the cry, leaped over and reached a paw into the crevice to dig a few times, failing to get the fawn, and growled in low fury. The fawn's yoo-yoo cries grew louder; a stag with great antlers, enraged, charged over and rammed the leopard…

"Squelch, squelch—"

From outside came the sound of a large beast trampling through mud and water, and the sharp-eared animals in the crevice all swiveled their ears and lifted their heads at once.

An evolved wolf bounded swiftly among the evolved wolves and vanished in the blink of an eye. Having lost its quarry, the eight-meter-long giant crocodile sniffed the air, then picked up new prey and rushed quickly toward the crack in the mountain.

"Boom!"

"Splash—"

The advancing giant crocodile knocked over a boulder weighing several hundred jin; the stone rolled into the Python Pool, sending up a huge spray of water.

The crocodile kept charging toward the crack. Though its claws were sharp, they couldn't support its body as it tried to climb the slick rock face and get into the crevice. The crocodile, already out of control, had no reason left — it only knew to bash itself against the wall and climb with all its might. The herbivores in the crevice trembled in terror; the carnivores bared their fangs and growled low.

"Splash—"

"Splash—"

Stones knocked loose by the giant crocodile kept rolling into the pool, finally disturbing the great black python inside; its enormous snake head rose slowly out of the water.

The giant crocodile caught the python's scent, turned, whipped its tail, and lunged at the great snake.

The python tested the air with its forked tongue, as if not very keen on fighting this fish, and slowly sank back into the pool. The giant crocodile, already in the water, dove and slid swiftly across.

Soon, the surface of the Python Pool churned with spray as the great python and the giant crocodile joined battle.

An evolved wolf wearing a snakeskin protective suit lay under a thick pine tree on Shanfeng, sheltering from the rain while watching the fight.

A muffled roll of thunder came rumbling over; this wolf lifted its nose to sniff, then turned and leaped into Shanfeng to take shelter from the soon-to-be-heavier Calamity Rain.

To the southeast, on the halfway slope of the Third Peak of Mountain Fifty-Five, Yanlong, who was leading the search for the escaped personnel, also heard the thunder. She lifted her nose to sniff, then ordered through her earpiece walkie-talkie, "The Calamity Rain is about to get heavier. Return to High-Danger Zone Two."

"Yes, ma'am."

Passing a crack in the mountain body that was only a fist's width across and perfectly straight, Yanlong stopped and slowly furrowed her brow.

Inside this crack there was the scent left by frequent human activity — and not just one person. And there was a particular body odor in there that somehow felt a little familiar?

This was… the scent of Ye Yang, squad leader of the Yuehai Battalion middle team. Wasn't he recovering from injuries in Territory Fifteen? How could his scent be here?

And there was another scent, seemed to be…

"Captain Yan?" The team members up ahead, seeing Yanlong stop, stopped too and asked over the walkie-talkie what was going on.

"Nothing. Keep moving." Yanlong answered calmly and stepped forward to continue.

Inside Shanfeng, there should be members of the secret planting project team from the experimental zone on Mountain Fifty that Xia Qing had mentioned. The reason Ye Yang was here was something Yanlong shouldn't — and didn't want to — inquire about.

After Yanlong led her team away, Hu Ningsheng silently let out a breath of relief and gave a hand signal to Zhang Shi on the other side.

Zhang Shi walked over and asked in a low voice, "Who was that outside?"

Hu Ningsheng answered, "That was Yanlong from Territory Seven. She's leading a patrol, hunting for fugitives."

Hearing Yanlong's name, Zhang Shi's pupils trembled.

Yanlong — back in the day, when she escaped from the Hui One Research Institute, she was the Level-Nine scent-evolved hunter sent after her! If Zhang San hadn't given her the scent-masking potion, Zhang Shi would probably have had every last drop of marrow sucked out of her.

In that instant, Zhang Shi's first reaction was to rush back to the little wooden cabin, take her daughter, and flee into the Evolution Forest. It was too dangerous here — the Evolution Forest was safer.

But back in the cabin, seeing her sleeping daughter's little face that had gained a little flesh, Zhang Shi hesitated again.

Zhang Shiyi sensed her mother's unease and stretched out two small arms. "Mama…"

Zhang Shi took off her protective suit, lay down on the bed, held her daughter in her arms, and gently patted her. "It's nothing. The Calamity Rain's getting heavier. Go to sleep."

"Mama sleep too." Zhang Shiyi buried her little head in her mother's arms and quickly fell asleep.

Zhang Shi quietly listened to the muffled thunder and the gurgle of water in the drainage channel, slowly exhaled, and sent a message to Zhang San.