Chapter 948: The Falling Adult Wolf

Passing the headless giant eagle's body, Xia Qing stopped, pulled out a soft tape measure and placed it beside the corpse, and took several photos from various angles with a click-click-click.

She had to snap them quickly, because given the evolved wolves' habits, once the alpha finished howling, it would be time to deal with this corpse.

This guy was most likely the one Gui Wu had chased over here. Xia Qing would use the photos and some of the body tissue to claim the 60,000-point bounty from Gui Wu Base and the additional 5,000 points from Hui San Base.

For those 65,000 points, the top ten squads of Hui San Safe Zone had all sent out their main combat teams. Who would have thought this guy would run deep into the Evolution Forest to wreak havoc on the wolf pack.

Sure enough, the moment Xia Qing finished taking photos, the alpha wolf leaped onto the giant eagle's corpse, threw back its head and howled furiously, "Aoo—Woooo—"

Xia Qing swiftly pocketed her phone and tape measure, and ran over to the Broken-Waist Wolf. The two slash wounds on its head and its paws were all seeping blood; even the stones had been stained red.

The little wolf nearby was also covered in blood, whimpering and whimpering as it nuzzled under Broken-Leg Girl's belly trying to nurse. A four- or five-month-old pup had long been weaned; this behavior was its instinctive reaction after being severely frightened.

The little wolf had its parents to look after it. Xia Qing bent down first to check Broken-Waist Wolf's injuries. Before she even touched it, she noticed that every wolf—except the handsome giant wolf howling with its head raised—was staring at her.

Xia Qing…

What?

Broken-Waist Wolf, blood streaming down from the wound at the corner of its eye, raised its blood-soaked front paw and pointed at the bird's nest in the giant tree.

Xia Qing looked up, pointed at the nest that didn't look all that big from the ground, and asked, "Broken-Waist, you mean I should climb up there and see what's in the nest?"

Broken-Waist Wolf kept pointing at the nest; the blood seeping from its paw and the blood running down its head dripped onto the stones, splashing into bright red dots.

Xia Qing gestured again to ask, "Broken-Waist, you mean I should knock the nest down?"

The solemnly-faced Broken-Waist Wolf bared its bloodstained fangs, indicating Xia Qing had guessed right.

"Got it!" Xia Qing reached up, unclipped a grenade hanging from her waist, and tossed it toward the forked branch at the top of the giant tree cradling the nest. Broken-Waist Wolf was hurt this badly—Xia Qing had to blow it up quickly to treat its injuries.

"Boom!"

The grenade Xia Qing threw had been made by Xin Yu, packed with more than four times the charge of an ordinary grenade. The trunk, over half a meter thick beneath the nest, was blown apart. As the forked branch tilted and began to fall, Xia Qing's pupils contracted.

The corpse of an adult evolved wolf with its brain scooped out plummeted from the sky along with scattered branches and two enormous bird eggs.

The alpha wolf leaped high, smashed the eggs with one swipe of its paw, landed among its dead companion and the dead branches, threw back its head and let out a desolate howl. Dead leaves from the nest swirled on the wind, blocking out the sun like a flurry of snow and casting down a shadow.

Every wolf joined the alpha in furious howling. Xia Qing stood quietly among the falling leaves, confirmed that the brown-gray evolved wolf lying at the alpha's feet was not Broken-Leg Wolf, and only then slowly unclenched her fists.

This was the bloody truth of Blue Star's law of survival: no matter the species, the weak are slaughtered; only the strong get food, survive, and reproduce.

As king of the northern wolf pack, the alpha had not only bound the evolved wolves here into a united, cooperative group, but had also allied with humans, yellow weasels, and even leopards, trading for more chances of survival for its pack—but casualties were still unavoidable.

On evolved Blue Star, no species could sit firmly atop the throne of the food chain the way pre-evolution humans had.

After the alpha howled furiously a few times, it lowered its head, licked a few mouthfuls of egg fluid off the branches, then savagely bit through the headless giant eagle's neck and chewed down a few bites of meat.

Broken-Waist Wolf limped over on bloody paw prints and began gnawing on the giant eagle's flesh, followed by the handsome giant wolf.

Then the alpha looked at Xia Qing, who was standing still.

Xia Qing understood, drew her black blade, walked over, cut off a chunk of the giant eagle's meat, hacked off a bird leg, and sealed them into a packaging bag.

After Xia Qing "ate," the wolves took turns going up to gnaw on the giant eagle. Even the injured little pup that had just been rescued struggled to crawl over and tear at the giant eagle's wing with all its might. The one that had been plucked had already fled; there was no sign of it.

These wolves weren't just feeding—they were avenging themselves, determined to tear the giant eagle apart.

The alpha bit off the other bird leg as well, set it down in front of Xia Qing, and watched her quietly.

Through her protective mask, Xia Qing pressed her forehead against the alpha's, pulled out her phone, found her helicopter video, and gestured as she negotiated with it. "Queen, my lord, Broken-Waist and that little pup need treatment. Shall I have a human fly my helicopter over here to bring medicine and a doctor?"

The alpha was no stranger to helicopters and didn't object.

"Understood, I'll contact the helicopter." Xia Qing quickly treated the two bleeding slash wounds on Broken-Waist Wolf's face, then had Big Guy carry her up the tall Shanfeng three li away. After finding cell signal, she sent her location to Er Yong, then contacted Third Brother, briefly described Broken-Waist Wolf and the little pup's injuries, and asked him to send Zhang Song over.

Xia Qing, this half-baked squad medic, could only stitch wounds and dab on some medicine; any more serious injuries were beyond her ability to handle.

Zhang San first asked about Xia Qing's condition. "You're not hurt, are you?"

Xia Qing replied, "No, I was on overwatch sniping, never took off my protective mask, didn't even scrape the skin. Third Brother, can I have Huo Zhun protect Song Ge?"

Compared to the guards inside Territory Seven, Xia Qing trusted the already-retired Huo Zhun more. She didn't want Ji Li's or Zheng Chen's people having too much contact with the wolf pack.

After hanging up, Xia Qing immediately contacted Huo Zhun and told him to go pick up Zhang Song.

When Xia Qing came down the mountain and returned beneath the giant tree, some of the wolves had already left carrying their companion's corpse. The alpha and Little Wolf Brother were licking Broken-Waist Wolf's wounds, while Black Wolf and Broken-Leg Girl were tending to their injured pups.

Seeing Xia Qing return, Broken-Leg Girl bared her bloodstained fangs at her and snarled.

That temper, really…

Xia Qing sighed silently, took the first-aid kit from her backpack, put on sterile gloves, walked over, and nudged Black Wolf aside with her foot to make it give her some room. Then Xia Qing held down the injured black pup, first gave it a dose of oral medication, and used disinfectant cotton to wipe its wounds.

It was Xia Qing's first time interacting with this pup, but it didn't resist her too strongly. Maybe because it was seriously injured, or maybe because the wolf pack had already accepted her as a "companion."

The pup's wounds were just like the ones left on Little Feimao after being grabbed by a hawk—small but deep entry wounds. It would probably need to be brought back for treatment.

After a basic cleaning of the pup's wounds, Xia Qing turned and, under the watchful gaze of Little Wolf Brother baring its small fangs and the alpha, began treating the long and short wounds on Broken-Waist Wolf's head caused by branches. Luckily Broken-Waist Wolf was wearing its snake-skin protective suit; otherwise its body would have been covered in wounds too.

The Evolution Forest was hot and humid this season, so evolved wolves rarely wore protective suits. Xia Qing guessed that when the pack took the pups out hunting, the black pup was snatched away by an ambushing giant eagle, so the alpha ran to find her while Broken-Waist Wolf ran back to Mountain Fifty-Five to put on its protective suit before coming to set up the ambush.

Broken-Leg Wolf had most likely been left behind to guard Mountain Fifty-Five, which was why it hadn't shown up.

After removing Broken-Waist Wolf's protective suit, Xia Qing saw that three of its four paws were bleeding. She asked with heartache, "Broken-Waist, of these three legs, which one hurts the most?"