Chapter 787: Outstanding-Performing Territory Alliance (Thanks to Jiang Meng for the Tip)

"Boss, what do you mean by that?"

After one person, one sheep, and one wolf finished a hearty lunch, Xia Qing was cleaning up the kitchen and decided to take a good nap when she noticed Sheep Boss standing beside her hammock chair, squinting at her with a look that said if things didn't go its way, it was ready to throw down.

Xia Qing's mind spun three circles, but she still couldn't figure out what Sheep Boss wanted, so she simply asked directly.

Sheep Boss glanced at Wolf Lao Er, who was lying in Xia Qing's hammock chair, then turned to look at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing understood, and was speechless. This thing had seen her carry Lao Er onto the hammock chair this morning, and now it didn't want to climb up on its own four hooves.

"Fine. In the Calamity Rain that just passed, Boss was the big hero of our worksite. Let me carry you onto the hammock chair to sleep, and once you wake up we'll go cut Calamity Grass." What could she do? Carry it, of course—it wasn't much effort. Xia Qing walked over, picked up the three-hundred-plus-jin Sheep Boss, set it steadily on the hammock chair, and rubbed its proudly raised big head.

Then, Xia Qing softly said to Wolf Lao Er, who was lying on the hammock chair watching her, "Lao Er, you sleep too. If you're not leaving this afternoon, we'll cut grass and feed the fish together."

Seeing Lao Er still watching her, Xia Qing simply didn't go upstairs, lay down on the long chair beside it, pulled a thin blanket over herself, and yawned, "Sleep."

After saying that, Xia Qing closed her eyes.

Wolf Lao Er slowly closed its eyes. It had been terribly busy lately, and after crossing the evolved forest following the Calamity Rain, it was genuinely tired and needed sleep. But even while sleeping, its two furry ears remained alertly monitoring every little movement within the territory.

This was the instinct of animals raised in the evolved forest—no matter when or where, it would never change.

With Lao Er back, Xia Qing slept especially soundly, soon starting to snore softly. Sheep Boss's snores were even louder than hers.

Though the walkie-talkie was on, the Lord Channel was quiet. Not just Territories 1-10, but most territories in Northern Region One had their people sleeping soundly. Only the people in Territories 16, 17, 18, 23, and 26, which had suffered relatively severe disasters, were still pushing their exhausted bodies to care for the wounded, rescue crops in greenhouses blown over by the wind, or dig out supplies buried under collapsed houses.

The dark, oppressive clouds in the sky had broken into large patches of clouds, which, under the sun's glow, cast their shapes onto the vast land of Blue Star.

The temperature was rising, while humidity and the concentration of Calamity Elements were slowly dropping. Birds and insects were loudly celebrating having survived another natural disaster.

In the territories of Northern Region Two, the Safe Zone, and the Southern Region, Wen Nengjie's former colleagues were dragging bodies out of the ruins, using small carts to transport them to the crude crematoriums in each district for burning.

The human living areas damaged by the natural disaster were in an uproar. The army, combat teams, and medical personnel had no time to maintain order—they had to rescue the wounded.

No matter how contorted their facial expressions, no matter whether the bodies were intact, the dead would never make any sound again.

Their relatives wept and screamed, grabbing anything that could serve as a weapon, cursing and fighting with those who came to scavenge or loot. They had already lost their loved ones and could not afford to lose their supplies too.

The wounded who had not yet been rescued wailed in the ruins, using every ounce of strength to beg for a chance to live.

Countless others who had smoothly weathered the natural disaster hid in their rooms, clutching the only green thing in their lives and refusing to let go. The X-2 that had already set seed and successfully survived the Calamity Rain period was their only hope of staying alive and escaping their current predicament.

As long as they lived, they couldn't let anyone take it. Even in death, they would take the X-2 with them!

"Knock, knock, knock."

In the inner city of the Safe Zone, the door to the Base Leader's office was knocked, then a secretary pushed the door open and delivered a detailed statistical report of territory casualties from this Calamity Rain to Base Leader Qi Zhongye.

Base Leader Qi Zhongye, whose eyes were bloodshot, took it. After seeing the top line of numbers, he felt his eyes light up. "Let the person who delivered the report come in."

"Northern Region One suffered 33 deaths and 25 injuries. Territories 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, and 15 performed especially outstandingly, with only a few minor injuries and no deaths reported. The number of times they needed support from inspection teams was also far lower than the average call-for-support frequency of other territories in Northern Region One."

After accurately reporting these territories, Zhou Qianpeng from the Territory Management Department reported even more valuable information. "I called Tan Junjie, the captain of the inspection team responsible for Northern Region One's territories, and learned that the main disaster-resistance personnel in these territories maintained abundant physical strength throughout the 53-hour Calamity Rain."

When the Base Leader looked up, Zhou Qianpeng, who was wearing a suit, delivered the good news. "The reason is that the people in these territories took a new drug our base's pharmaceutical factory is currently developing: Nutrient Source!"

"Adding 15 ml of X-2 spinach juice to 1 g of Nutrient Source can produce a high-quality premium nutrient solution. The energy it contains is equivalent to that of 1.5 premium nutrient solutions produced by Liehuo. Base Leader!"

The fatigue on Qi Zhongye's face was largely swept away by this news. "Good. You all continue to coordinate personnel, finances, and material resources to rescue the injured and damaged territories from the Calamity Rain. I'll send someone to follow up on the Nutrient Source matter."

Earlier this year, Jiang Quan, the corrupt head of the Territory Management Department, and several key department leaders were removed from their posts. Zhou Qianpeng seized the opportunity to rise, becoming the Director of the Disaster Prevention Division of the Territory Management Department, responsible for compiling statistics on disaster losses within the territories and distributing disaster prevention and resistance supplies.

After Zhou Qianpeng left, Qi Zhongye immediately dialed Tan Junjie's number. "Junjie, what's going on with the Nutrient Source?"

The pharmaceutical factory's new drug under development was used in several territories in Northern Region One, so this matter didn't require finding Pharmaceutical Factory Director Yu Jinghong—it should be directed at Zhang San.

However, Qi Zhongye was afraid of disturbing the big shot's rest, so he asked Tan Junjie first.

Tan Junjie stood at attention. "Reporting, Commander. I just found out too."

"Get lost!"

Qi Zhongye didn't hold back with a soldier he'd trained himself. "You and Yue Haiying might as well wear the same pair of pants. He already used the drug, and you still dare to play dumb with me?!"

Tan Junjie answered sincerely, "Commander, Old Yue signed a drug-testing confidentiality agreement. You also know the temper of that person from Territory Seven. He only told me after the Calamity Rain."

So, Qi Zhongye dialed Yue Haiying's number to ask about the effects of the Nutrient Source.

Yue Haiying stood by the window of his crude office built from shipping containers and answered energetically, "The nutrient solution made from Nutrient Source and X-2 spinach juice is significantly superior to Liehuo's premium nutrient solution in rapidly replenishing physical strength and repairing bodily damage."

Qi Zhongye couldn't suppress his excitement; his breathing grew heavy, and he asked urgently, "It's just X-2 juice plus 1 g of Nutrient Source? No other drugs? And no special storage conditions required?"