Chapter 81: Yi Element Detector

Tan Junjie reported the numbers directly. "I don't know about other places, but in the northern territories of the Safe Zone alone, casualties reached ninety-four people."

That casualty figure would be unremarkable in a Safe Zone of two million people, but in territories that already had so few people, it was quite shocking.

At that casualty ratio, the total casualties across all territories would be at least over three hundred!

The seeds distributed by the Planting Center should have been strictly screened — how could such a wide-scale outbreak of aggressive malignant evolution occur, injuring hundreds of people?

Xia Qing stood behind a tall, dense grass wall, removing malignant grass while listening carefully. Sure enough, she heard Su Ming mutter, "With such heavy casualties, the Tang family has to bear the main responsibility."

Tang Zheng, daughter of Hui-3 Sub-Base Commander Tang Zhengrong, works in the management of the Safe Zone Planting Center — was it she who released the evolved potato seeds?

The Tang family is a plague on Hui-3 Base. The sooner they're eliminated, the better.

In the afternoon, at Luo Pei's invitation, Xia Qing brought three Green Lantern cucumbers to visit him.

Luo Pei had moved to Territory Three for treatment over two months ago, and had only proactively contacted Xia Qing twice — when reviewing and signing the contract. So when he messaged her asking her to come over, Xia Qing agreed immediately.

During this malignant rain, Xia Qing had shot dead over a dozen evolved rats and cut down an aggressively evolved malignant potato vine with her gun. Having personally experienced the benefits of using a firearm, her desire to master marksmanship grew even more urgent.

If she could learn even a tenth of Luo Pei's skills, she wouldn't have ended up covered in wounds.

When Xia Qing arrived at the basement, she was surprised to find the living room completely empty, with only two folding chairs and a small table left.

Luo Pei, whose face was still slightly flushed, first asked about Xia Qing's injuries. "Take these medicines back with you."

"Thanks, Brother Luo." After Xia Qing accepted the medicine, Luo Pei asked in detail about how she'd been injured, then reminded her seriously, "Besides shooting skills, you also need to improve your reaction speed and learn to dodge attacks."

After explaining to Xia Qing the methods and key points for training to improve physical reaction speed, Luo Pei urged earnestly, "After human evolution, reaction speed generally doubled. Many ordinary soldiers in the military, after professional training, can reach the standard of triple-evolution humans in reaction speed. If they can do it, you, as an advanced evolved human, should be able to do even better."

Xia Qing squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. "Don't worry, Brother Luo. I'll definitely raise my speed to the triple-evolution human standard."

"At least quadruple."

Xia Qing lifted her chin even higher, and her voice grew even louder. "Yes, quadruple!"

The more Luo Pei looked at this student, the more satisfied he became. His voice softened. "Also pay attention to rest — practice after your wounds heal. In the middle of next month, I'll take you to Mountain 49 for field practice."

Xia Qing tried to dissuade him. "Wait until the poison in Brother Luo's body is fully cleared before going into the mountain. Why is this room empty?"

Luo Pei explained why he could no longer hide here for treatment. "The afternoon before yesterday, Territory Two released a large batch of evolved rats to attack Territory One, suspecting I was inside Territory One. To conceal their true purpose, they also released a few evolved rats toward three adjacent territories in other directions. Hu Zifeng sent his team members to help you clear the evolved rats too quickly, which made them suspect Territory Three. Later, they released a large batch of evolved rats toward Territory Three as well. So I can't stay any longer — I'll move back to Territory One in a bit."

Xia Qing's Territory Three had a spring eye, and if the Tang family set their sights on it, there would be trouble.

Xia Qing hadn't expected the evolved rats to have been deliberately released by Territory Two. She clenched her fist. "Brother Luo, were the rats released by Tang Huai?"

"No." Luo Pei shared the intelligence he had already gathered with Xia Qing. "It was Xu Pin who brought the evolved rats over before the malignant rain. Tang Huai likely didn't know in advance, and in this evolved rat attack, Tang Huai's losses were also considerable."

Xia Qing furrowed her brow. "Brother Luo, we need to figure out a way to deal with this big threat from Territory Two as soon as possible."

Luo Pei nodded. "Focus on healing. We're working on a plan."

Tang Zhengsu was Xia Qing's enemy, and how to dismantle the Tang family's or the Sufeng Squad's power was something Xia Qing often considered.

Now, she actually had an idea. "Brother Luo, I have a plan — I don't know if it'll work…"

After discussing the Tang family matters, Xia Qing asked about the spring water Luo Pei used for treatment. "Brother Luo, will the spring water for your ongoing treatment be transported through the underground passage?"

Luo Pei discussed it with Xia Qing. "My current water usage has dropped to a quarter of the initial amount — fetching water once every three days is enough. After I return to Territory One, on the surface, water will be delivered by helicopter, but in reality, Wei Chengdong will go around Mountain 49 to fetch water from your territory. Is that alright?"

Xia Qing was puzzled. "Wouldn't it be more convenient to go through this passage?"

Luo Pei explained, "There are evolved rats around, so we can't keep this passage. Not just the passage — this basement has to be filled in too."

Xia Qing understood. "Brother Luo suspects they have brain-domain evolved rats?"

Luo Pei nodded. "Even if they don't have brain-domain evolved rats, they have ways to control rats. If you see rats again, shoot them dead on sight. You must pay attention to your personal safety — if you can't handle it, call Hu Zifeng over."

"Got it." Xia Qing nodded and made a mental note, then explained the purpose of her visit. "Brother Luo, do you have an instrument that can detect Yi element content? I'd like to trade for one — spring water or Green Lantern vegetables, either works."

Although Xia Qing owed the Azure Dragon Squad eighty thousand credits, those credits could be repaid with one month's worth of spring water. The Azure Dragon Squad wasn't in a rush for her to repay, and Xia Qing wasn't in a rush either, so she continued normal transactions with the Azure Dragon Squad.

Luo Pei didn't ask Xia Qing why she wanted a Yi element detector, and agreed without hesitation. "The detector in the lab on basement level two hasn't been transported out yet. Let me first explain clearly how to use it, and when it gets dark, I'll have Chengdong help you move it over."

As the name suggests, a Yi element detector is an instrument that detects the Yi element content within living organisms.

Shang element is harmful to the body, while Yi element is beneficial. According to public test results, the Yi element content in edible organisms ranges from a few ten-thousandths to four ten-thousandths — not a big difference.

Because Shang element detection is easier than Yi element detection, Shang element detectors are much cheaper than Yi element detectors. So, Xia Qing only had a Shang element detector — she didn't just lack a Yi element detector, she'd never even seen one.

Hearing Luo Pei use the word "move," and that he needed to specifically teach her how to use it, Xia Qing knew the Yi element detector was a precision instrument of considerable size.

When she arrived at the lab on basement level two and saw a detector as large as the ice cream freezer outside the small supermarket at her school gate, Xia Qing gave up on the idea of trading for it.

A testing instrument this big was probably worth more than a mountain. Besides, once such a precision instrument was given to her, the Azure Dragon Squad would certainly have to go through considerable trouble to get another one.

"Brother Luo, I thought the Yi element detector would be about the same size as a Shang element detector — I didn't expect it to be this big. I won't trade for it. Can I use this instrument to test the Yi element content of a few kinds of plants? I'll pay for the testing reagents consumed."

Luo Pei was so amused by Xia Qing's overly polite behavior that he laughed. "Cut the nonsense. Take out the plants you want tested."

Xia Qing pulled out a cluster of Chinese toon sprouts, a few stalks of evolved perilla, and a section of spinach root from her basket. "Just these three."

Luo Pei tested the Yi element content of the three plants while explaining the operating procedures and key usage points of the Yi element detector to her.

The test results for the three plants appeared on the screen forty-five minutes later, stunning both Xia Qing and Luo Pei.