Chapter 790: Huanggan 39

Wen Nengjie spoke politely, his tone polite too, but Xia Qing still heard the thick smell of gunpowder in his words. Someone who could snatch corpse-carrying and corpse-burning work in a safety zone of millions of people—how could Wen Nengjie possibly be a pushover?

The lord channel, which had just been buzzing with noise, instantly went quiet. Xia Qing pressed the walkie-talkie button. "I did say I'd ask Jie-ge's people to clear the harmful grass in the southern half of my territory. Shou-ge, if Territory Fifteen isn't busy, could you come over the day after tomorrow to help me clear the harmful grass in the northern half of my territory? I'm short-handed here, sorry to trouble everyone. We'll settle at the same price as last time—alright?"

"No problem." Yu Shou wanted to repay the favor, but he also knew Xia Qing would never agree if he refused the points, so he agreed readily.

Wen Nengjie also chimed in agreement. "Sure, of course. Then we'll head over with Shou-ge at seven the morning after tomorrow?"

"Sure."

Once that matter was settled, the atmosphere on the lord channel eased again, and they chatted about the losses their territories had suffered in this harmful rain. Just as Tang Huaigang finished talking about how unlucky the deaths in his territory had been, Zhang San came online.

"Tan Junjie, you there?"

The big shot was online, and he was looking for the inspection team—clearly something major was up. Everyone immediately pricked up their ears.

Tan Junjie replied calmly, "Here."

Zhang San reported, "A new species of harmful grass has been discovered within Territory Seven. Its root system and stems and leaves are toxic throughout the entire plant, and it has been named Huanggan 39. The thick smoke produced by burning this harmful grass is likewise highly toxic. Most animals, including humans, who inhale this toxin will at minimum suffer diarrhea and nervous system damage, and at worst die. Based on the above reasons, Huanggan 39 should be classified as a dangerous evolved species. According to the relevant national regulations, the harmful grass Huanggan 39 should be recovered by the base's hazardous plant disposal department for centralized treatment."

Harmful grass does not refer to a single species, but is a general term for various herbaceous plants that have undergone harmful evolution due to excessive harmful elements in their bodies, and which—after several generations of reproduction—can grow rapidly in harmful rain. According to the information Xia Qing had, the number of harmful grass species within Hua Country had already exceeded two hundred.

During non-harmful-rain periods, the harm caused by the vast majority of harmful grass falls into two categories: first, crowding out the living space of normal plants; second, creating suitable survival and evolution conditions for poisonous insects and harmful evolved microorganisms.

Toxic harmful grass was not rare, but harmful grass containing deadly poison that required special handling numbered, according to records, only a dozen or so species. Harmful grass containing evolved glycoside toxins was one of them.

The idol had named this harmful grass Huanggan 39. As the name suggested, this harmful grass discovered within the Northern Zone One territories belonged to the glycoside type, with yellow grass leaves or stems. It was the thirty-ninth of this type discovered by humans, and also the first species requiring special handling to appear within the Northern Zone One territory range.

Sitting inside the micro-tiller, Xia Qing looked around and quickly spotted a harmful grass with pale yellow leaves she had never seen before. Her brow furrowed.

If it really was this kind, that would be trouble, because there was no shortage of this grass in her territory.

"Received. I'll head to the south road sign of Territory Seven right now to take samples, then notify each territory one by one to recover and dispose of it according to regulations." After replying to Zhang San, Tan Junjie immediately issued an announcement: "Lords of Territories 1 through 10: come to the signs on both sides of the territory passage in fifteen minutes to collect samples, inspect and clear Huanggan 39 within your territories. Acknowledge on receipt."

Xia Qing pressed the walkie-talkie button in turn. "Territory Three, received."

After waiting for Shi Zhong's reply, Qi Fu asked, "Third Brother, is Huanggan 39 only toxic after being burned, or is it toxic even without burning?"

"Toxic even without burning. The mouth, eyes, and open wounds must not come into direct contact with this grass. The toxin of this harmful grass is somewhat volatile, so protective masks should be worn during clearing."

Volatile too?!!!

While Wen Nengjie came online to express his endless admiration and gratitude to the big shot, Xia Qing immediately let out two whistles, summoning Wolf Lao Er.

Neither Sheep Lao Da nor the wolfhound Wolf Lao Er was wearing a protective mask. Apart from going to eat in the Number Fifteen shed protected by the Yishi stone, Lao Da stayed in the micro-tiller, but Lao Er had already been darting through the harmful grass catching bugs for quite a while!

Anxious about her chicks, Tan Qi asked, "Third Brother, if an evolved chicken is poisoned by Huanggan 39, is there an antidote?"

Zhang San answered listlessly, "The antidote is being prepared and will take a few more hours. Even if livestock or poultry take the antidote after being poisoned, their resistance will weaken."

Tan Qi imitated everyone's way of speaking and thanked the big shot of Northern Zone One. "Got it, thanks Third Brother, sorry for the trouble."

Xia Qing carefully examined the wolfhound Wolf Lao Er, who had heard the whistle and rushed over to climb onto the vehicle. Confirming that, like Lao Da, its eyes were not red or swollen, its breathing and heartbeat were normal, and it showed no signs of poisoning for the moment, she was relieved. She spoke very seriously to her two companions:

"Lao Da, Lao Er. Among the harmful grass in our territory there's one kind that's extremely toxic. If your eyes, nose, or mouth touch it, you'll get sick—stomach ache, diarrhea. You stay in the vehicle with me, don't run around."

Wolf Lao Er, who had suffered a serious illness last year, immediately retracted its tongue and stared at Xia Qing with a solemn face. Sheep Lao Da, who loved eating grass, showed no particular expression and continued lying down chewing its cud.

Xia Qing rubbed Wolf Lao Er's head, comforted it for a moment, then drove the micro-tiller to the southern end of the territory. Only after hearing movement outside did she walk out through the wild-grass wall and open the iron mesh gate.

"Xia Qing, do you know which kind of grass it is?"

Xia Qing shook her head.

Tang Huai was very irritated. "I haven't found any either. This is really troublesome!"

It really was troublesome, because with a new species of harmful grass appearing, the lords would need to spend more time clearing the harmful grass across thousands of mu of territory.

After Su Ming got out of the patrol vehicle, Yuan Rui continued on his way to deliver the message to Territories One and Eight.

Xia Qing took the transparent sealed bag containing the toxic harmful grass from Su Ming's hand, looked at the plant inside with its pale yellow leaves—about 1.5 meters tall when straightened—and gave up hope.

Her guess had been confirmed. Damn it!

"Shit!" Tang Huai pointed at an uncleared pale yellow harmful grass on the passage. "Isn't this the stuff?! There's plenty of it in my territory. What the hell did this grass evolve from?!"

"We're not sure either. The people from Territory Seven didn't mention this." Su Ming sighed and relayed the order. "The Huanggan 39 on the passages and isolation belts will be handled by the inspection team; the ones inside the territories will be handled by the lords. You must remember, Huanggan 39 needs to be pulled out by the roots, then bundled up and handed over to the inspection team. This task must be completed before noon tomorrow, because by tomorrow afternoon the seeds will mature and fall off. Qing-jie, Huai-ge, no problems on your end?"

Tang Huai shook his head. "None."

Xia Qing asked, "I used the micro-tiller to cut several passages through the harmful grass during the rain, and the cleared harmful grass also included Huanggan 26. Do the Huanggan 39 stubble need to be pulled out and recovered?"

Su Ming answered, "If the amount is small, pulling them out isn't necessary, but when burning harmful grass you must stay far away from houses and livestock and poultry raising areas."

"Understood." Xia Qing took the grass sample and returned to her territory.

Time was tight and the task heavy. Sheep Lao Da's hooves and Wolf Lao Er's paws were both incapable of this work, so she needed to hire personnel from other territories to come clear it right away.

The Hu Zifeng squad?

Their price for work was too high—not worth it.