Chapter 794: One, Two, Three

"After several failed assassination attempts against her enemies, Deng Yufeng changed her strategy and began researching synthetic poisons."

"They began researching chemical weapons, biological weapons, and genetic weapons, using these weapons to exterminate their enemies." Zhang San pointed at the large soybean test report on the table. "This batch of soybeans is a genetic weapon. Consuming this kind of soybean can cause genetic mutations in the enemies and their descendants, robbing them of the ability to evolve and reducing them to ordinary people—or even sickly wretches, imbeciles, or the mentally handicapped who are worse than ordinary people. What do you think of this method of revenge?"

Xia Qing answered seriously, "It's very satisfying, but these soybeans and the pathological genes might spread to innocent people. After a few generations of transmission, they could destroy the entire base. Third Brother, since these mutated soybeans can be detected by magnetic-sense evolvers, doesn't that mean their weapon failed?"

"Yes, it failed." Zhang San's voice contained fury. "There are experts in genomics and bioinformatics on Liehuo Mountain. Their research focus should have been altering the soybeans' composition without raising the qiang element content, so it could be mixed in with edible soybeans. From that perspective, they succeeded. After all, magnetic-sense evolution is a rare ability."

Everyone has a qiang element detector, but more complex detectors are only available in laboratories or large institutions. If these soybeans were planted by people without magnetic-sense evolution abilities, they would treat these aggressive qiang-evolution soybeans as ordinary yellow-light soybeans and eat or trade them.

The consequences would be unimaginable!

Xia Qing pressed her lips together. "Can we use these soybeans as evidence to wipe out Liehuo's laboratory?"

Zhang San grew even more irritated. "Who can prove they did it on purpose? On the surface, Liehuo's laboratory is engaged in pharmaceutical and breeding research. They've released plenty of useful medicines and cultivated over twenty varieties of high-quality seeds."

"I contacted Li Si. She said these soybeans are a new variety Liehuo bred in the second half of last year. When we traded with Liehuo last year, this batch of soybeans had just been harvested for the first crop, and the second crop's promotional planting experiment hadn't been carried out yet, let alone pushed to market. As long as they refuse to admit it and claim these are soybeans from a failed breeding experiment, what can you do to them? Genetic science itself is neither right nor wrong—used correctly, it can cure and save people; used wrongly, it becomes a weapon for killing and destroying the world."

Seeing her idol in such a foul mood, Xia Qing pushed the strawberries toward him. "Even if we can't destroy them, we can find a suitable way and time to publicize these soybeans, so the relevant upper-level departments will strengthen their supervision and inspection of Liehuo. At the very least, it might make them restrain themselves a bit."

After offering one piece of advice, Xia Qing began analyzing why this batch of soybeans had been traded to them. "Third Brother, are you one of Phoenix's revenge targets?"

Last October, Xia Qing used green-light eggs to trade with her for green-light soybeans—a perfectly normal transaction. Last November, when Shan Ying entered Territory Nine, the scout water rats she had sent into Territory Three were caught, and she used five jin of green-light soybeans to smooth the matter over.

At that time, Shan Ying hadn't yet come to Territory Three to "buy wolves," Xia Qing hadn't wiped out Liehuo's beast-hunting squad, and Li Si hadn't been captured. Even if Shan Ying was crazy back then, she wouldn't have taken out a newly developed genetic weapon against her and her idol just over two scout water rats.

Unless her idol was on Phoenix's revenge list.

"I'm one of the people who exposed the underground experiments, so Deng Yufeng said I was her lifesaver. She invited me several times to take charge of the Liehuo Mountain laboratory, but I refused every time. Although she and I had a very unpleasant falling-out over this, I definitely wasn't her target to kill back then. As for now…"

Zhang San, sprawled in his chair, said weakly, "Because of Territory Nine, X-2, and you, Deng Yufeng has put me on her enemies list. Because in her view, anyone who hinders her revenge is her enemy."

Xia Qing pulled back the paw reaching for the strawberries and asked, weak, innocent, and pitiful, "Third Brother, do I count as one too?"

Zhang San shot Xia Qing a look and snatched away the bag with only three strawberries left.

Xia Qing immediately pulled out a handful of roasted meat jerky from her pocket and placed it on the snow-white table. "This is green-light chicken jerky made by the head chef at Tang Heng's family restaurant. Try it."

Xia Qing understood her idol's temperament very well. The jerky had to be said to be from Tang Heng's family, not Tang Huai's family. Otherwise, Third Brother would think of the spoiled meat, ruining his mood and appetite.

With green-light jerky on the table, Zhang San's expression visibly softened. "You weren't qualified originally. I was the one who pulled you up there."

Xia Qing……

……

……

Where's a rope? She needs to climb out of this pink pit!

"During the violent rainstorm that just passed, Shan Ying didn't hesitate to use Liehuo's connections and resources, setting a trap to make sure she killed you to avenge Shan Xiang." Zhang San ate the last two strawberries, his voice gentle.

"Shan Ying dared to do this because Deng Yufeng also noticed you and tacitly approved her revenge. So, I made a call to Phoenix, warning her not to touch you, or else I'd make sure every new drug Liehuo produces afterward can't recoup its costs."

Xia Qing immediately let go of the rope, her eyes brimming with tears as she pulled out a shovel, dug a deep hole, and buried herself at the deepest part of the pink pit. "Third Brother!!!"

Zhang San opened his mouth and cursed, "Stay the hell away from me! If you'd left Shan Xiang a breath of life back then, Shan Ying wouldn't have latched onto you and refused to let go!"

Xia Qing obediently lowered her head. "You're right. I was too reckless that time."

The fact that Shan Xiang was killed by the waist-breaking wolf was something Xia Qing had never mentioned to anyone, so her idol didn't know either.

Zhang San picked up a piece of jerky and changed the subject. "Over the years of natural disasters, over a billion people have died in Huaguo, but plenty of scumbags are still alive. Catching them and dismembering them wouldn't be excessive."

Xia Qing immediately nodded. "Exactly!"

Xia Qing didn't need to think hard—she could rattle off over a dozen such scumbags without hesitation.

"Liehuo is secretly conducting human experiments. Deng Yufeng claims the people she caught all deserve to die a thousand deaths." Zhang San tore open the jerky, sniffed it, and put it back on the table.

Clearly, the smell of this jerky couldn't whet his appetite.

Xia Qing, who had been mentally dismembering scumbags, looked up. "Claims? Aren't all the people they caught scumbags?"

Zhang San's gaze was icy. "When judging whether a person is guilty is based not on law or evidence, but on the subjective standards of an individual or a group, anyone can become a scumbag. In their eyes right now, you are a scumbag."

An individual or a small group placing themselves above the law is absolutely a greater disaster than natural catastrophes. Xia Qing asked, "Third Brother, what's the relationship between Phoenix and Shan Ying?"

"The power holder, and the knife in her hand."

Her idol had made it very clear. Xia Qing didn't press further and returned to the earlier question. "When we received the soybeans last winter, you and Territory Nine hadn't yet fallen out, the X-2 information hadn't leaked, and I hadn't made an enemy of Shan Ying. So back then, you weren't Liehuo's enemy. Liehuo's purpose in trading these poisonous green-light soybean seeds to you wasn't for poisoning."

"Seeds this important definitely wouldn't be left lying around or mixed up by mistake." Xia Qing voiced her speculation. "I feel like it might be someone at Liehuo who can get their hands on the seeds, wanting you to know they're secretly breeding this genetic weapon. Following this possibility, can you think of who inside Liehuo it might be?"

"I can." Zhang San's fury exploded. "One, two, three of them are all goddamn idiots—talked into it with a few sweet words and climbed aboard the pirate ship like fools. After they came to their senses, every last one of them counted on me to pull them out. Why the hell should I bother with them? So damn annoying!!! Just let them all die!"

No need to ask—among these one, two, three, Li Si is definitely included.

"Exactly, why should he?! What were they doing earlier?!" Xia Qing knew her idol understood everything and just wanted to vent his emotions, so she joined in the cursing.

While cursing, she kept pulling out small packaged snacks from her pocket.

Er Yong's pork jerky and egg tofu, her own original-flavor bamboo shoot strips…

Only delicious food can extinguish her idol's fury. He doesn't like the Tang family's jerky, but among so many varieties of green-light snacks, surely at least one should be passable enough to eat a couple of bites, right?