Chapter 920: Snow-White Super Evolution Fungus

"Third Brother, what do you think of this one?"

Xia Qing dug a medicine box containing a sprig of mistletoe out of her bag and handed it to Zhang San.

After Yan Long was transferred away, Ji Li's squad tightened their inspection of supplies carried by people entering and leaving Territory Seven. To hide the secret that she was a magnetic-sense Evolver, Xia Qing had brought not only the target plant mistletoe, but also nine other kinds of mistletoe, samples of branches, leaves and fruit from other plants, as well as rocks and soil samples—filling up most of a large bag with all sorts of bits and pieces.

Because she had gotten into the habit of bringing all kinds of samples back to Territory Seven every time she returned from the Evolution Forest, the guards at Territory Seven didn't find it strange when she showed up carrying a big bag.

"Not bad, very complete."

Zhang San, with dark circles under his eyes and so thin his bones poked through his skin, examined the mistletoe Xia Qing had gathered with great satisfaction. "Once these mistletoe seeds sprout, we'll know whether Yi-3 is synthesized from the red bean tree or from mistletoe."

Xia Qing pulled out another sample bag from her pack. "I thought of that too, so I picked back a bag of red bean tree seeds. They look ripe—do you think they'll work?"

Seeing that the red bean pods Xia Qing had picked had already turned withered-yellow, revealing the bright red beans inside, Zhang San nodded. "Those two adult Evolution Leopards aren't in that mountain area?"

"I had Handsome Giant Wolf take me there. The leopards didn't dare show their faces, so I took the chance to pick a lot more pods."

Xia Qing very naturally steered the topic to Handsome Giant Wolf. "This wolf has taken a liking to medicinal baths lately, which has made the Alpha Wolf and Broken-Waist Wolf want to soak too. Third Brother, we can't let the medicine cause internal conflict within the pack, right?"

Zhang San held the heavy beans and looked at Xia Qing across the table.

The idol's expression isn't exactly pleasant—what's happened now…

Xia Qing smiled. "I also brought you five Green Lantern Spring Water fish. You can stew fresh fish soup with them for lunch."

Zhang San shot her a look and said irritably, "You've been raising fish for a year and you still haven't figured it out? The fish here taste best steamed."

Xia Qing breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, I'll go back and steam one to try."

Zhang San set the red beans and mistletoe on the table and asked, "The wolf pack's gotten stronger—can you keep them in check?"

Xia Qing told Zhang San the truth. "Third Brother, thanks to your full support, I've established a trade relationship and an alliance with the wolf pack. There's no question of anyone keeping anyone in check. They're a barrier in our northern Evolution Forest. The stronger they get, the safer we are here. Right?"

"I've never given you my full support."

Right, whatever the idol says goes! Xia Qing immediately corrected herself. "It was just a little help from you that let me form a trade and alliance relationship with the wolf pack."

Zhang San was silent for a few seconds. "With this kind of medicine, after ten packets for a normal wolf, the effect isn't obvious anymore. How many packets do you want?"

Xia Qing answered immediately. "I'd like five packets for the Giant Wolf, ten for the Alpha Wolf. Do you think this mistletoe and these red beans are enough for a trade? If not, I'll go pick more."

"Enough. Hold out your arm." Zhang San took a blood-drawing needle and test tube from the drawer and efficiently drew a vial of Xia Qing's blood, then went into the lab.

Xia Qing pressed a sterilized cotton ball against the needle hole and waited obediently.

Half an hour later, Zhang San came out. Besides the wolf medicine, he gave Xia Qing a jar of pills. "Your body's been too badly depleted for the past nine years—it can't be made up in a short time. This is an evolved version of the Eight Treasures Pill. Three of the ingredients contain Yi synthesis elements, and it's very effective at replenishing qi and blood. Take it sixty minutes after dinner, or your stomach and intestines won't be able to handle it."

Ash-powder Xia Qing stood up and took the medicine jar in both hands. "Yes, thank you so much, Third Brother!"

"Don't mention it. This jar is 500,000 credits."

Xia Qing…

How much?

Seeing Xia Qing's pained expression, Zhang San felt much better. His skinny frame sank into the soft chair, and he said weakly, "Think it's expensive? Outside, you couldn't buy this for two million."

"Yes, thank you so much, Third Brother, for specially formulating medicine for me, you're really…"

"It wasn't specially formulated for you."

"I'm still very grateful you could set aside a jar of such good medicine for me. Thank you, Third Brother! Allying with you, I'm sure I'll stay healthy and live another fifty years!" Xia Qing quit while she was ahead. "Do you still need mistletoe and red beans? Should I go get more for you?"

Forget about the credits?

Zhang San stopped Xia Qing from over-harvesting. "The plants that can produce Yi-3 are already being grown at scale at Red Four Base. These seeds are enough for my research. Don't collect too many seeds from that tree—it's part of the healthy ecological balance of the Evolution Forest. There should be quite a few animals in that mountain area that rely directly or indirectly on this Yi synthesis element to boost their resistance. The Evolution Leopards living nearby are good proof of that."

After saying that, Zhang San gave Xia Qing a negative example. "Lan Five Base over-harvested edible fruits and wild vegetables from the Evolution Forest, causing the animals living there to lose their quality food sources. During the last Blight Rain, the number of animals that lost control and went berserk surged, forming a massive beast tide."

Xia Qing nodded. "I saw the report on that. There were quite a few Evolution Bears and Evolution Wolves in the beast tide. Two large territories outside Lan Five Base were completely flattened, causing serious casualties."

"Besides that, there are even more serious consequences." Zhang San opened his notebook and tapped a few times, then opened a video and turned the screen toward Xia Qing. "Because the ecological balance was destroyed, the Evolution Forest in eastern Lan Five has become the domain of a super evolution fungus."

Xia Qing looked at the aerial footage of the Evolution Forest a hundred li outside Lan Five's safe zone, and her pupils trembled.

Having struggled to survive eleven years of natural disasters, she had countless times longed to see Bai Xue instead of the earth-yellow Blight Snow. But upon suddenly seeing the white that once blanketed the Lan Five Evolution Forest, Xia Qing felt only a heart-stopping dread.

The winding rivers in the "Bai Xue" that reflected the color of the sky looked like tears and sighs flowing from Blue Star.

"This is a fungus species with terrifying destructive power and reproductive ability. It has already covered more than 1,500 mu of Evolution Forest. If it's not manually eradicated, within two months Lan Five will become a dead zone."

Zhang San's voice was heavy. "To avoid causing panic, the state has sealed off the news. All P3 and P4 labs in the country qualified to research evolution fungi are working at full capacity against this newly emerged super evolution fungus."

At the end of the video was an evolution animal lying in the Evolution Forest, covered by snow-white evolution fungus.

Someone who didn't know the inside story might, at first glance, find the scene very peaceful, but those who knew the truth could only feel a suffocating sense of urgency.

No wonder the idol's dark circles had become so pronounced, no wonder the idol hadn't smiled at the sight of mistletoe—so something this big had happened.

Xia Qing calmed herself and looked at her idol. "Third Brother, what can I do?"

Zhang San snorted. "Besides farming, what can you do?"

"Yes, Third Brother, I'll go back and farm." Xia Qing stood up. "Third Brother, meals have to be eaten one bite at a time, and things have to be done one by one. Eat your two steamed fish and get a good sleep first. Once you've slept enough, keep thinking of solutions. If nothing else works, just set fire to it. Lan Five isn't far from Lan Nine, and that's where our country's largest oil field is."

After Xia Qing left, Zhang San took off his glasses, rubbed his brow, and smiled.

Zheng Chen saw Xia Qing off at the territory exit on the North Buffer Forest, watching Ji Li personally inspect the extra supplies in her bag.

Fifteen packets of liquid medicine, large and small, for bathing and disinfecting her evolution sheep. Xia Qing had traded for this kind of medicine once before, and it seemed to work very well.

This medicine jar…

Zheng Chen's handsome, upright face couldn't hide his surprise—wasn't this the pill that Hui City Base Leader had commissioned Boss Fu to make?

Ji Li, expressionless, put the medicine jar back into Xia Qing's backpack. Xia Qing also expressionlessly thanked her, shouldered the backpack, and walked back along the North Isolation Belt.

Seeing Zheng Chen staring at Xia Qing, Ji Li lowered her voice and explained, "The medicine was sent to Hui One yesterday."

Zheng Chen nodded, watching Xia Qing's back without speaking.

So the evolved Eight Treasures Pill Third Brother made, containing Yi synthesis elements, was custom-ordered by Hui One? Xia Qing pretended she hadn't heard, took out her phone, and sent a message to Yang Jin.

The unpolluted spring water Yang Jin discovered in Lan City's Sea of Death is right inside the Lan Five Evolution Forest.

That's an important resource for cultivating cordyceps fungus. If it's discovered or damaged during this natural disaster, there'll be trouble.