Chapter 912: Snatching People

The breeding sunflowers Xia Qing had planted in the terraced fields were protected by Yi Stones during the Calamity Rain period, but she hadn't been willing to use Yi Stones in Greenhouse No. 6.

Before the second Calamity Rain, Xia Qing had already pulled out the plants with abnormal magnetic fields. During the Calamity Rain, she also increased the frequency of her patrols in Greenhouse No. 6, and the few aggressively Calamity-evolved plants that hadn't been identified in advance were cleared out by the members of Lu Ziqiang's squad, who were excellent shots, so the aggressive Calamity-evolved plants wouldn't have a chance to turn into machine guns.

The greenhouse was over half a mu, and Xia Qing finished harvesting it very quickly.

The half mu of 1,106 yellow-grade sunflowers planted in Greenhouse No. 6 in spring, after a three-month growing period, yielded a total of 880 flower heads.

Under conditions without Use Yishi protection, the seeds planted with a Calamity element content of around 8‰—during the second Calamity Rain, about one-fifth of the plants were pulled out due to Calamity evolution, and the Calamity element content of the sunflower seeds harvested from the 730 yellow-grade flower heads had risen to 12-13‰. Although they still belonged to the yellow-grade crop category, they could no longer be used as seeds.

The sunflowers in the terraced fields protected by Yi Stones yielded a total of 143 flower heads. Because the soil, fertilizer, and irrigation water in the terraced fields were all of higher quality than those in the cultivated land, the Calamity element content of most plants dropped by 1-2 points, to 6-7‰. The Calamity element content of the 5 cultivable optimized seeds produced by this year's yellow-grade sunflowers was between 4.2-4.8‰.

Most other lords' yellow-grade sunflowers, planted in hidden valleys without Gao Yi-element soil and unpolluted spring water but protected by Yi Stones during the Calamity Rain period, had a Calamity element content of 9-10‰ when mature.

There was another piece of data that was also very valuable: the Calamity evolution probability of the sunflowers planted this spring during the second Calamity Rain was one-fifth, while the evolution rate of those planted last autumn was one-third.

This was because when last year's third Calamity Rain arrived, the sunflowers in the field were 45 days old and in the flowering period; when this year's second Calamity Rain arrived, the sunflowers were 75 days old and in the mature period.

Plants in the flowering period have a weaker ability to resist attacks from excess Calamity elements than plants in the mature period, which is why the Calamity evolution probability differed by so much.

From this, two conclusions can be drawn: first, Xia Qing's terraced field optimized breeding method is effective; second, this variety of sunflower bred by Hui-3 Base after the catastrophe is more suitable for spring planting.

The hidden valley is protected by hot springs and the mountain body, so the temperature inside is spring-like all year round, making it also suitable for planting sunflowers.

Once the harvested green-grade sunflowers have passed their seed dormancy period, she plans to fill the valley with green-grade sunflowers. Based on the spring planting data, the Calamity element content of this batch of sunflowers planted in October should be around 6‰ at harvest, which is premium yellow-grade quality.

So, if this year's second crop of sunflowers can be harvested smoothly, she and No. 001 employee Fei Mao of her territory will be able to enjoy freedom of premium yellow-grade sunflower oil and sunflower seeds by the end of the year.

What about No. 002 temporary employee Does Daigua?

By then it will have long since recovered and rolled back to Mountain No. 62, searching for red-veined stone for her to repay the points it owes Xia Qing.

Among these points, 70,000 was the cost of the medicine Xia Qing had exchanged from her idol while enduring scolding for Does Daigua, which is the food and nursing fee Does Daigua has to pay Xia Qing during its convalescence, and 1,000 is the compensation owed for damaging one cultivable optimized sweet potato.

The food and nursing fee is 300 points per day.

Now that Does Daigua is living in Wolf Valley, shouldn't the food fee be reduced?

Impossible!

The evolved forest where Wolf Valley is located also belongs to Xia Qing, so every bite of food Does Daigua eats in Wolf Valley belongs to her.

When Xia Qing was cleaning the chicken coop manure after harvesting the sunflowers, Yang Jin called her.

Xia immediately answered the call, "Captain Yang."

"The fishing operation is over. We captured over four hundred criminals and rescued 8 magnetic-sense evolvers."

Yang Jin's voice was slightly hoarse, sounding a bit grating on the ears—probably because he hadn't had a chance to rest from yesterday until now. There was no noise around him, but there was the whoosh of wind, indicating he was currently at a high elevation. Based on Xia Qing's years of experience as a construction worker, Yang Jin was most likely on the rooftop of the inner-city administrative building of Hui-3 Safe Zone.

With a Safe Zone population base of 1.82 million, they certainly discovered more than 8 magnetic-sense evolvers. Xia Qing first offered a sweet date, then threw out the question:

"Captain Yang, thank you for your hard work in protecting the safety of the Safe Zone residents. Besides the rescued magnetic-sense evolvers, are there also some magnetic-sense evolvers that criminal elements have already discovered but didn't have time to take action against?"

Standing on the rooftop of the administrative building, with several dried bloodstains still on his protective suit, Yang Jin smiled silently. "Mm. There are also 21 magnetic-sense evolvers who have been confirmed—they didn't have time to act or didn't dare to act."

This number wasn't considered large either. Xia Qing calmly asked, "The classification of these 29 evolvers?"

Yang Jin didn't beat around the bush and answered directly, "There are 3 AB-type, 6 A-type, and 20 B-type. Don't even think about the first two categories; you can compete for the B-type."

According to the magnetic-sense ability classification standards officially published by Huaguo, A-type refers to magnetic-sense evolvers who can sense Yi-element magnetic field fluctuations; B-type are those who can sense Calamity-element magnetic field fluctuations; AB-type are those who can sense both Calamity and Yi element magnetic field fluctuations—Xia Qing belongs to the AB-type.

This was the question Xia Qing was most concerned about. She asked, "Does the Base have any guiding opinions?"

Yang Jin explained, "Those among them who lack the ability to protect themselves will have their safety protected by personnel sent by the Base. Correspondingly, they must also contribute to the Base. These people can choose to join the military, combat squads, research institutes, the Safe Zone Planting Center, the Territory Management Department, or the Ninth Planting Center. Only B-type magnetic-sense evolvers can choose the last three departments."

Xia Qing nodded, "This arrangement is fairly reasonable."

Yang Jin continued, "After a preliminary intention survey, 8 of the B-types want to go to the Ninth Planting Center, but the other departments don't agree and are actively competing for them. Do you know why so many people want to go to your place?"

Xia Qing was very quick on the uptake, "Thank you, Captain Yang, for your help."

Yang Jin laughed, "Besides me, you also need to thank Li Xuegang, the director of the Base Commander's Office, and Zhou Qianpeng from the Territory Management Department. When they were introducing the Ninth Center, the two of them made the advantages of your center very clear. Of course, the prerequisite is that you run the Ninth Center very well."

Although it's outside the Safe Zone, the person in charge of the Ninth Planting Center is the big shot Professor Fu Tianfeng. The Northern District No. 1 where the center is located has wire-mesh walls and is also protected by the northern wolf pack. The employees here are all veterans and military family members. The center has dormitories, a cafeteria, a medical office, and a school. These working conditions and environment are quite attractive.

Xia Qing also showed a smile, "Thank you, Captain Yang, for the reminder. I will make a special trip to thank Director Li and Director Zhou. Do you know which people want to come to my side?"

B-type magnetic-sense ability users are the ultimate weapon against aggressive Calamity-evolved plants. After getting the list, Xia Qing needs to start taking action immediately—she has to bring back at least two out of the eight!