Chapter 975: Ye Yang Comes Online

"Captain Hu, you there? This is Ye Yang from Territory Fifteen."

Xia Qing was eating breakfast when she heard Ye Yang's voice for the first time over the Territory walkie-talkie.

The distance between the hidden valley on the third peak of Mountain Fifty and the territory had already exceeded the walkie-talkie's range. This meant Ye Yang's plan to return to Territory Fifteen and bring Little Eleven into the territory would have to be brought out into the open.

However, picking the person up now would be very difficult. When Zhang Shi first made the plan, he hadn't anticipated Orchid Five's crisis spiralling out of control to this extent.

Ram Boss had no interest in the unfamiliar voice coming from the Territory walkie-talkie and kept his head down, eating. The Broken-Waist Wolf eating beside him raised its head and looked at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing introduced Ye Yang to it. "This is Ye Yang, a human from Territory Fifteen, a dual-system Evolver with endurance and vision. His waist is injured, so right now he can only sit in a wheelchair."

The old wolf eating in the yard heard Xia Qing's voice, raised its head to look at the window, then lowered it again and continued eating the eggs it had traded insects for.

The Broken-Waist Wolf knew what a wheelchair was. It slowly walked to the wall and accurately opened the small drawer holding the territorial map of Northern Zone One.

Xia Qing walked over, took out the map and laid it on the ground to see what it wanted to say.

The Broken-Waist Wolf pressed its left paw on the territory marked 15 and looked at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing...

When the hell did you learn to read?

"Right, Ye Yang is in Territory Fifteen. Broken-Waist, you're really clever."

The Broken-Waist Wolf raised its big paw and pressed it down again on Territory Seven, north of Territory Fifteen.

Xia Qing understood. "You want to ask why Ye Yang's waist was injured and he didn't let Third Brother from Territory Seven treat him?"

The Broken-Waist Wolf bared its mouth, showing the little tips of its fangs.

Xia Qing explained with gestures. "Third Brother is a human doctor standing at the very top of Jin Zita. He rarely treats wounded patients himself, and his fees are very expensive."

"You were lucky — you got injured and were sent over by the Queen right away. I'm on pretty good terms with Third Brother, so you could be sent to Territory Seven in time for him to treat you. When Ye Yang contacted Third Brother through Yuehai Camp, he'd already missed the optimal treatment window."

The Broken-Waist Wolf looked at Xia Qing, lost in thought.

"You want to ask why missing the window means it can't be treated properly? I don't know that either. Let's eat." Xia Qing put away the map, washed her hands, and just then heard Hu Zi Feng come online.

"This is Hu Zi Feng. Brother Ye looking for me?"

Tang Huai snapped back, "Cut the crap, I've been waiting for you forever!"

Ye Yang asked, "Captain Hu, will the Azure Dragon Squad's helicopter be going to Orchid Five in the next few days?"

Orchid Five had announced the activation of its emergency disaster-containment procedure last night. Ye Yang wanted to get to Orchid Five quickly to pick up Little Eleven, and hitching a ride on Azure Dragon's helicopter was the best option.

Hu Zi Feng didn't answer directly on the Territory channel. "Brother Ye, shall we talk by phone?"

After Ye Yang gave an acknowledgment, Tang Huai snorted. "A new Qiang synthetic element has appeared in Orchid Five's atmosphere — it's been all over the internet ages ago. Crazy Hu, what are you playing mysterious for?"

What? A new Qiang synthetic element? A new toxin?

The Territory lords who were eating breakfast or had already finished and were busy in the fields all stood up straight. Zhao Ze immediately asked, "Brother Huai, where did you see this news? Is it reliable?"

Tang Huai answered, "It's reliable. Orchid Five was burning the evolved forest outside the safe zone, planning to burn out an isolation belt to keep the super evolved fungi from invading the safe zone, but it backfired. The high-risk burning of the evolved forest caused the super evolved fungi to release a large amount of a gas that combined with the Qiang elements in the air, forming a new Qiang synthetic element. That's why Orchid Five had no choice but to activate an emergency disaster-containment procedure across the entire base."

Watching Huo Zhun also came online. "Brother Huai, what kind of Qiang synthetic element is so terrifying that Orchid Five has to activate a disaster-containment procedure on such a large scale?"

"Qiang 46 — an extremely dangerous Qiang synthetic element."

Xia Qing and her idol said it in unison, except one was online and the other was offline.

The explosive Qiang synthetic element in the air sample Yang Jin had brought back from Orchid Five and sent into Territory Seven had been named Qiang 46.

Qiang 46 — the 46th confirmed Qiang synthetic element on Blue Star.

Compared to Yi synthetic elements, there were 10 more Qiang synthetic elements. This gap was mainly because there were 13 more artificially synthesized Qiang synthetic elements than artificially synthesized Yi synthetic elements, bringing the total to 21.

Without exception, every Qiang synthetic element was a toxin. So the higher-ups had issued a strict order prohibiting all bases and research institutes from conducting further research on Qiang synthetics. If not for that, the number of Qiang synthetic elements would have long since passed 50.

After announcing the new element's name, Zhang San, who hadn't gotten out of bed yet, continued to explain. "Qiang 46 is extremely unstable. Even outside the Qiang-rain period, contact with any substance above 79 degrees will set it off. Grounding flights is a safety precaution; not issuing a notice is to avoid panic."

Kuang Qingwei immediately asked, "Third Brother, this Qiang 46 — it won't drift over to our side, will it?"

The Territory lords all held their breath and waited. If it did, from then on they couldn't light fires to cook, couldn't use solar power — this would be a catastrophe classified at the highest level.

Just thinking about such a situation was enough to make one despair.

Zhang San answered lazily, "If Orchid Five can absorb all the Qiang 46 out of the atmosphere before the third Qiang rain, it won't."

Could Orchid Five do it? Everyone wanted to know but didn't dare ask, because Zhang San's voice was already carrying anger.

The Broken-Waist Wolf had caught the gist of it and looked up at Xia Qing solemnly, no longer in the mood to eat. The Ram Boss beside it had already finished its food and started licking the bowl.

"There's already a method to absorb Qiang 46, but the cost is too high. Scientists are working hard on a low-cost method."

After Xia Qing finished speaking, she downed the bowl of green-light rice and lean pork porridge in one go, saluting her idol who worked day and night.

"Thank you, Third Brother, for telling us such important intel. Don't worry, we won't spread it around." Wen Nengjie finished making his presence felt in front of Zhang San, then began to advise Ye Yang. "Brother Ye, you heard what Third Brother said, right? If it's not something extremely urgent, better wait until the crisis passes before going to Orchid Five."

Yuehai Camp came online. "Ye Yang's biological brother is in Orchid Five. His condition is serious, and there's also a five-year-old child at home."

Hearing this, everyone fell silent. In the years of the catastrophe, a serious condition meant one could die at any moment. If my lord died, how many days could a five-year-old child caught in the catastrophe survive?

A dozen or so minutes later, Ye Yang came online. "Third Brother, do you know the distribution range and density of Qiang 46 in Orchid Five's atmosphere?"

Zhang San said lazily, "Want to go to Orchid Five? Pay back the medical fees you owe me first, then we'll talk."

Zhang San was angry, and no one dared make a sound. Only Xia Qing understood what was going on and continued holding her bowl, drinking porridge.

Ye Yang pleaded, "The child has been kept shut in the house by my brother, never exposed to outsiders. Orchid Five over there is already a total mess, and I don't have anyone I can trust there. Third Brother, you also know I'm already a cripple. This child is the only bloodline of our old Ye family."

Hearing no response from Zhang San, Tang Heng spoke up. "Brother Ye, our family's Lian has partnered merchants over in Orchid Five. Let me contact them first and have them go check on Brother Ye's home to see if they can help?"