Chapter 903: Coming Knocking

"Buzz."

Feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket, Xia Qing pulled it out, saw the message Er Yong had sent her, and felt a pang of heartache.

She had only been gone for barely half an hour when the lead wolf and Broken-Waist Wolf led nine adult wolves, escorting seven pups into Mountain 49, using the wild boars in the boar valley to train their hunting skills.

At the size of this group, the wolves would need to take down at least three wild boars on this hunt.

With her not home, there was no way to collect the meat left behind after the wolves gutted their kills in time; it would quickly be picked clean by scavenging birds and small animals, and Little Flat-Top would definitely get to eat his fill too.

Those were wild boars she'd been raising for over half a year!

There was no turning back now. Xia Qing expressionlessly pocketed her phone, listened to Yan Yue and He Hui asking Chang Li about prosthetic limbs, and answered Hearing Zhu Li's questions about her protective suit.

Today Xia Qing was wearing that light-purple protective suit made of the new material. She'd bought three suits of this model in total; she'd originally wanted to wear the camouflage one, but Yan Yue had specifically reminded her yesterday that camouflage would look out of place in the office, so she'd picked this one and trimmed her hair in front of the mirror.

Noticing her hair had grown out, He Hui enthusiastically offered to cut it for her. But Xia Qing would never let anyone get close to her head with a blade.

"Buzz—"

After chatting for a bit, she felt her phone vibrate again. Xia Qing glanced at it and saw it was a message from Chen Zheng, who guarded her territory for her. Leaning back in her chair, she opened the territory's surveillance camera.

That Broken-Waist Wolf wasn't up in Zone 3 of Mountain 49 protecting the pups hunting wild boars—he'd entered her territory in broad daylight. And the bastard had jumped straight in without using the gate, so Xia Qing's phone hadn't pinged her about anyone entering through the north gate.

On the surveillance feed near Gao Po's north gate, Broken-Waist Wolf, not wearing a protective suit, first sniffed noses with Sheep Boss who was guarding the big toon tree, then trotted down the slope and nuzzled Wolf Lao Er who was feeding the fish, and then used his big paw to poke at Does Daigua the monkey, who was sitting on a rock beside Wolf Lao Er eating a sweet potato…

Hold on!

Xia Qing zoomed in on the image. Damn it—Does Daigua the monkey had actually dug up a sweet potato to eat while she was away!

Xia Qing immediately switched cameras, checking Greenhouses 1, 11, and 13 where the sweet potatoes were planted in turn. Only after confirming the insect nets in all three greenhouses were undamaged did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.

You just wait till I get back and deal with you!

When Xia Qing switched back to the reservoir-side camera, Broken-Waist Wolf was already gone. She switched to the courtyard camera and still couldn't find him. She messaged Chen Zheng to ask, and learned that Broken-Waist Wolf had gone into her house and hadn't come out yet.

To protect her privacy, the cameras Xia Qing had installed in the courtyard couldn't see inside the house, and she hadn't put any cameras inside either, so she had no way of knowing what Broken-Waist Wolf was doing in there.

After staying inside for over ten minutes, Broken-Waist Wolf trotted out pushing a basket in his mouth.

When he passed under the camera, Xia Qing saw his basket contained a new pink notebook and four cucumbers.

After switching cameras twice more, Xia Qing saw Broken-Waist Wolf trot past the reservoir with the notebook in his mouth, set the basket down, and poke at Does Daigua the monkey, who was sitting on the rock dazedly and slowly gnawing a sweet potato—and he was laughing like a lunatic!

"Xia Qing, what are you looking at, that's so fun…"

Seeing Xia Qing intently staring at her phone, Tang Huai, who wanted to get in her good graces, had just opened his mouth. But the moment he saw the look Xia Qing turned on him—it was like a gun barrel—he immediately shut up and shrank into his seat, not daring to make a sound.

Lord Wen Nengjie, who had been ready to follow right behind Tang Huai to farm goodwill, also sensibly shut his mouth.

Hearing Zhu Li, who had been chatting with Yuan Yan, turned her head and whispered, "Sister Qing, what's wrong?"

Xia Qing shook her head and pocketed her phone.

"Buzz—"

Not long after, Xia Qing's phone buzzed again. It was a message from Chen Cheng, reporting that Broken-Waist Wolf had left the territory carrying a notebook in a basket, and they hadn't stopped him.

Beard Feng's squad protected Xia Qing's territory against invaders. The northern wolf pack and the red fox family had entry permits for Territory Three and didn't count as invaders.

Xia Qing replied with two words and stuffed her phone back in her pocket. Take it if you want—that notebook belonged to that scoundrel wolf anyway. Luckily she kept all her own files on the scoundrel wolf's old computer.

The old notebook might get carried off too. She needed to buy a new one as soon as possible to transfer her files over, and lock it in the bedroom when not in use. This afternoon, she'd go browse the mall in the inner city.

When she used to live in the Safe Zone, she'd never once been to the inner city mall, because back then the credits she earned weren't even enough to buy food and gear, let alone go shopping.

After the helicopter landed steadily on the pad at the Green Dragon Squad's base, Xia Qing declined Beard Feng's escort and walked out with the rest of the group.

Before they even made it through the Green Dragon Squad's gate, Yang Jin's car pulled up beside them. The window rolled down, revealing a pleasing face. "Where are you headed?"

Hearing Zhu Li answered, "Sister Qing's going to the Agriculture Department for a meeting, Brother Huai's going home, and we…"

Before Hearing Zhu Li could finish, Tang Huai cut in, "The rest of them can ride in my car—it's on the way. Brother Jin, where are you going?"

For the first time, Yang Jin found Tang Huai pleasant to look at. He turned his gaze to Xia Qing. "I'm heading to the Government Affairs Building too. Care to ride together?"

If Xia Qing were still working inside the Safe Zone, she'd definitely give Yang Jin as wide a berth as possible to avoid unnecessary trouble. But now that she'd moved to her territory, she had no such reservations. "Sure, then thanks for the ride, Captain Yang, and you too, Brother Jie."

"Thanks, Brother Jin." Seeing Yang Jin nod, Lord Wen Nengjie hurried over, opened the car door, and shielded the top of the doorframe with his rough, large hand. "Sister Qing, please."

Tang Huai… that clueless oaf!

After Xia Qing was seated, Lord Wen Nengjie closed the car door, turned and saw Tang Huai's face looked off. He didn't have time to wonder what was wrong with him and immediately took the passenger seat. Right now, nothing mattered more than letting people in the Safe Zone see him sitting in Captain Yang Jin's car.

"Thanks, Brother Jin. I'll get off with Sister Qing. I'm going to the Government Affairs Hall."

"On the way." Yang Jin drove steadily forward and made small talk with Xia Qing. "Didn't expect you'd find the time to come back for a meeting."

Huh? So Xia Qing and Captain Yang were that close?

Lord Wen Nengjie, who hadn't sat in a sedan in eleven years and was debating whether to buckle his seatbelt, was immediately drawn in by Yang Jin's tone.

"The Agriculture Department specifically requested the heads of all departments attend." Xia Qing explained, then quickly got down to business with Yang Jin. "Captain Yang, can I trade for sniper rifle ammo?"

Everyone knew Xia Qing was a sniper. By proposing the trade in front of Lord Wen Nengjie, she wanted people to know exactly where her credits were going.

Yang Jin nodded. "Ammo for your sniper rifle has gone up again—330 a round. Brother Luo told me before he left to give you a ten percent discount. How many do you need?"

H-how much?! Lord Wen Nengjie's eyes went wide. He knew ammo was expensive, but he hadn't expected it could be absurdly expensive.

Xia Qing's heart was bleeding, but her face remained calm as she asked, "If I buy more, can I get a bigger discount?"

Yang Jin turned onto a street full of pedestrians, the car slowing down, and said with a smile, "If you agree to join the Green Dragon Squad, we'll supply ammo for free."

Xia Qing's heart immediately stopped bleeding. "I'll buy."

Lord Wen Nengjie was shocked again.

After nearly glaring Tang Huai to death, Xia Qing had now turned down the Green Dragon captain's recruitment offer to his face. This was the thigh he'd picked—badass!