Chapter 915: The Odd One Out of Territory Three

"Yue-ge, these are the employment contracts for the four of them." Xia Qing handed the contracts to Yue Haiying, the head of Human Resources at the Ninth Center, and reminded him, "Family members who move in together and meet the employment requirements can also be arranged for employment."

"Got it." Yue Haiying happily took the contracts. Magnetic-sense evolvers were scarce talent; Yue Haiying had originally thought that Xia Qing's trip this time would snag at most one, but he hadn't expected her to bring back four.

With the addition of these four ability users, in the next blight rain, not only would the center's several hundred mu of farmland be protected, but the safety rating of this entire territory would also rise a notch! And then there were the potatoes and sunflowers that nobody dared to plant within the territory — now they could be grown too!

Zhong Tao, who had been helping the new employees unload their belongings from the helicopter into the tractor bucket, ran over to report to Xia Qing. "Director, everything's loaded."

"Good." Xia Qing nodded, and told the four employees and the five accompanying family members, "This is Minister Yue from our Human Resources Department. He will give you a detailed introduction to our management policies and benefits, and help you with your onboarding. There's one thing I need to explain to everyone in advance: although the Ninth Planting Center is a planting department, because it's located within the territory and the environmental danger rating is high, we use military-style management. Employees and family members need to apply in advance before going out. For the four of you going out on official business, the center will send people to protect you; for private outings, you can apply for protection, but the security costs will be borne by yourselves."

"Understood!" Wang Jun responded eagerly, then asked, "Do children also need to apply when entering and leaving the Ninth Center for school?"

Such minor questions didn't require Xia Qing to answer personally. Yue Haiying explained, "The school is right inside our center. Children going to school don't need to go outside."

Her children's safety was also what worried Wu Xinlian most. She pressed, "Minister Yue, does the school have a gate guard?"

Yue Haiying nodded. "The school has walls and is staffed with ten security personnel. Anyone entering or leaving the school must pass a security check. Apart from security personnel, no teachers or students entering the school are allowed to carry weapons."

At this, everyone felt even more reassured.

Wu Xinlian's mother asked, "Minister Yue, what procedures do the children need for enrollment?"

Yue Haiying answered, "First they need a physical at the center's Medical Department. Once the child is confirmed to meet the enrollment requirements, they can enroll. Textbooks and miscellaneous fees are the same as the schools in the Safe Zone."

Hearing that a physical was required, Wang Jun, who was holding his son's hand, grew nervous again. Wang Shunkang, head lowered, also gripped his father's hand tighter and scooted a little closer to his father, not letting the big ants scurrying past bite his feet.

It wasn't only Wang Shunkang who was nervous — the other two children were as well. They had all been born and raised in cramped rooms, rarely going outdoors. Standing for the first time in such an open space, everything around them made them feel extremely uneasy.

It was already past five o'clock now. After the supplies they brought were carefully inspected by the Planting Center's gate guards and then moved into their assigned dormitory, it would be nearly dark.

The new employees climbed into the tractor bucket to guard their own belongings. Zhong Tao drove the tractor, Yue Haiying sat beside him, and together they headed back to the Ninth Planting Center.

Xia Qing didn't go with them. She said hello to Hu Zifeng, left Territory One through the north gate, and walked back to her own territory.

Tang Huai crawled out from the tall grass wall at the northwest corner of Territory Two and walked back with Xia Qing. "Sister Qing, how many of the new employees are magnetic-sense evolvers?"

Although the news of discovering magnetic-sense evolvers hadn't been officially released yet, the Tang family had well-connected sources, so it was no surprise Tang Huai had gotten word. Xia Qing answered calmly, "Four."

"That many?!" Tang Huai was delighted, and quickly asked, "Sister Qing, can they take private jobs outside? I want to hire a magnetic-sense evolver to check the mealworms and grasshoppers in my insect-rearing greenhouse. Recently, larvae keep getting bitten to death and I can't find the culprit."

Xia Qing wasn't sure whether the magnetic-sense evolvers she'd recruited could meet Tang Huai's requirements, but she didn't want to say so outright. "They are also responsible for detecting hostile blight-evolved creatures in Northern Zone One and Zone Three. Once the Territory Management Department issues the notice, they'll carry it out according to regulations."

"Great!" Tang Huai said with a grin. "Sister Qing, that protective suit looks really good on you. Where did you buy it? I want to get one for my sister as a birthday present."

Xia Qing certainly wasn't going to say she'd traded for it with Yang Jin. "Hu Zifeng bought it. You can ask him."

Tang Huai barely held back the urge to curse. After a long while he managed to squeeze out one sentence: "Who'd have thought — ugly face, bad temper, and yet not bad taste."

Xia Qing……

After saying that, Tang Huai couldn't help adding one more line: "Only a madman with good taste would pick you, and only someone with bad taste would pick him."

Xia Qing didn't bother with this guy who bloomed at the slightest bit of sunshine. She opened the gate and went straight back to her territory. After passing through the blight-grass wall, she took off her protective mask and gloves, pulled a small pack of Green Light pork jerky from her pocket, tore it open, and started eating.

She'd been busy all day and hadn't even managed lunch — she was starving.

Seeing Wolf Lao Er running up to greet her and eyeing the jerky longingly, Xia Qing immediately pulled out a piece of original-flavor Green Light air-dried beef jerky from her pocket, tore it open, and stuffed it into Lao Er's mouth. "Lao Er, you've worked hard. Use this to gnaw on — it's delicious. I bought it specially for you."

Seeing Lao Er getting treats, Sheep Lao Da, who had been resting in the shade under a tree, immediately charged over with an attitude like he was about to beat someone up. Without a word, Xia Qing pulled Green Light dried lettuce from her pocket, tore it open, and stuffed it into Lao Da's mouth. "Lao Da, you've worked hard too, guarding the territory."

After Little Feimao came running over, Xia Qing pulled a chestnut from the briefcase she was carrying and gave it to him. Why did she carry so much food on her? Because she'd been hungry too many times — not having food on her made Xia Qing anxious.

Little Feimao, perched on Xia Qing's shoulder, fumbled the chestnut around with his little paws for a few turns, then went "Crack!" and bit the shell open with his teeth.

Watching this scene from a distance, Peng Jian, a Level-5 visual evolver, felt that the vibe of Territory Three was getting more and more different from the other territories. Other territories had more and more people; Territory Three had more and more animals. It got to the point where Peng Jian felt like he was the odd one out staying here.

When Xia Qing came closer, Peng Jian reported to her on the situation in the territory that day, then brought up the mission they were about to take. "Sister Qing, did Captain Hu tell you? The six people in our squad are going out on a mission — we'll be back in at least seven days. Er Yong, Chen Zheng, Chen Cheng, and Dajiang are staying. If you need anything, you can go straight to them."

After Luo Pei noticed the combat effectiveness of Hu Zifeng's squad had dropped, he increased their training load and the frequency of their outside missions. The reason four people were left behind was that Hu Zifeng's squad was tasked with monitoring Mount Forty-Nine and guarding Xia Qing's territory.

The northern wolf pack was getting along well with the Northern Zone One territory, and there hadn't been any major disaster warnings lately, so there was no need to keep the entire Hu Zifeng squad stationed here.

"Good." Xia Qing pulled another small pack of Green Light pork jerky from her briefcase and handed it to Peng Jian. "I just bought it in the Safe Zone. Try it — it's pretty good."

"Thanks, Sister Qing." Peng Jian hadn't expected to get a share of the food too. He happily took it and ran off. Because after he took the jerky, the wolfdog Lao Er looked at him as if he were a big piece of jerky himself. Just how fierce this guy was — probably only Xia Qing didn't know.

"Baa." Sheep Lao Da walked a few steps toward the northern buffer forest, then noticed Xia Qing hadn't followed. He bleated in displeasure.

Xia Qing explained, "Lao Da, you're going to fight Xiao Pingtou? You and Lao Er go ahead. I'm going home to get Daigua's medicine — I'll be there in a bit."

Xia Qing went home and found that the big and small chickens had already returned to the coop. She sealed the coop's entrance on her way, grabbed the medicine, and went back to the edge of the farmland, where she found Lao Da and Lao Er still waiting for her in the same spot.

Seeing that Xia Qing had finally come out, Lao Da led his two little brothers off to teach Xiao Pingtou a lesson.