Chapter 996: Why Are You So Interested in Her?

After Blue Star's evolution, not only did plants become riotously colorful, life itself grew richer and more varied.

Huo Zhun, piloting the helicopter, stole a glance at the ugly monkey gnawing on jerky and Xia Qing gulping water in big mouthfuls.

Unreal — fucking unreal!

Xia Qing was thirsty because the little monkey had given the food she'd prepared to the small bear pinned down on the far bank of the stream. As a result, before the pinned bear could even stretch out a paw to reach it, the giant bear slapped the bag — and everything in it — to mush with one swat.

Xia Qing was enraged by that swat from the giant bear. She yanked off her protective mask and let out a furious roar, forcibly suppressing the bellow of a bear that massive.

Huo Zhun let loose a few roars of his own — fucking exhilarating!

Once Xia Qing had drunk her fill, Huo Zhun, his voice gone hoarse, asked, "Sister Qing, does this count as us making enemies of the Xiong Qun?"

"It doesn't." Xia Qing answered in a hoarse voice. "The wolf pack didn't get involved, and the Xiong Qun leader never showed up. The giant bear that smashed the food just now is the same one that roared back at me on Mountain Fifty-Three last time."

If she weren't worried about sparking a conflict between species, Xia Qing would have loved to put a bullet in that petty, food-wasting stinking bear!

Fortunately, the food wasn't wasted either — the unlucky one lying flat on the ground

After flying on for a stretch, Huo Zhun couldn't help asking again, "Sister Qing, how do you tell which wolf is which, which bear is which?"

"Build, coat color, eye color, and facial features." And temperament — every evolved animal's temperament was wildly different — but Xia Qing wasn't sure if others felt the same way, so she kept that to herself.

"Impressive. I can't even tell people apart, let alone animals whose coat color and build look so similar." Huo Zhun chuckled. "I can tell the Queen apart because she's missing a chunk of one ear, and Broken-Back because he's missing fur on his leg."

Xia Qing……

You'd better not say that in front of the lead wolf and Broken-Back, or the two of them will bite you to death.

"We've come too early this trip. Hickory nuts can't be picked until November. When the time comes, the two of us will go again — I'll give you eight jin."

Xia Qing had invited Huo Zhun to team up, assigning him the tasks of piloting and guarding the helicopter, with a payment of three jin of Green-Light Hickory Nuts. Although the hickory nuts hadn't been picked yet, the agreed payment still had to be paid.

Huo Zhun belonged to neither a combat squad nor the military; he was the highest combat power within the Territory Alliance, making him the best candidate for Xia Qing's team. Therefore, Xia Qing wanted to maintain a long-term friendly cooperative relationship with him.

"No need, Sister Qing — six jin is plenty for me." Green-Light Hickory Nuts were premium supplies that couldn't be bought even with points. Getting three jin just for flying the helicopter on one trip was already more than enough for Huo Zhun.

After getting the hickory nuts, Huo Zhun planned to give his brain a boost — he truly couldn't memorize all those textbook rules and regulations. If he failed the junior high graduation exam again next year, his dad would either beat him to death or scold him to death.

The helicopter landed on the helipad atop Mountain Forty-Nine. Xia Qing parted ways with Huo Zhun. She stuffed Daigua the monkey into her pack, crossed Zone Three of Mountain Forty-Nine, and hurried back to her territory in North Zone One — just in time to spot a patrol vehicle passing through the northern isolation belt.

Su Ming saw Xia Qing emerge and cheerfully rolled down his window to greet her. "Sister Qing!"

The iron-mesh wall of North Zone One sat right in the middle of the isolation belt. The patrol vehicle circled the iron-mesh wall at irregular intervals every day — sometimes inside the wall, sometimes outside.

Right now, they were inside the wall.

Besides Su Ming driving, Xia Qing also spotted Cao Xianyun in the passenger seat, and He Wu and Peng Lin in the back. Peng Lin was the Fiery-Fire scout who had taken the blood sample from Li Cun of Territory Nine and smuggled it out of North Zone One.

With a perfectly calm expression, Xia Qing swiped open the north gate of the North Zone One iron-mesh wall, walked in, and greeted the four of them.

Su Ming saw Xia Qing coming down from the mountain and guessed she hadn't seen the territory's latest notice yet. "The southern territories just got hit by an attack from evolved locusts. The Territory Management Department issued an emergency notice telling us to step up patrols. Sister Qing, are there more locusts on the mountain than usual?"

Xia Qing hadn't checked her phone messages and truly didn't know about this. "No more than usual. Conditions on the mountain are normal."

Peng Lin, in the back seat, poked his head out. "Didn't you hear the broadcast, Sister Qing?"

Xia Qing shook her head. "No."

"Where did you go, Sister Qing…"

Before Peng Lin could finish asking, He Wu beside him spoke up. "Sister Qing, hurry back to the territory. An hour ago I handed the anti-locust spray the Territory Management Department delivered over to Brother Er Yong. We need to spray the stuff around the greenhouses as soon as possible."

"Thanks." After thanking him, Xia Qing opened the north gate of Territory Three and entered her own territory.

The patrol vehicle continued east. Peng Lin muttered quietly, "Xia Qing left the territory carrying a sniper rifle and a pack that big — I have no idea what she's been up to."

He Wu answered, "Sister Qing's a top-tier sniper. Of course she went to the shooting range on Mountain Forty-Nine to practice."

Peng Lin shook his head. "The Green Dragon Squad's helicopter had barely landed before she came down the mountain. She most likely took the helicopter somewhere…"

Level-Four Hearing Evolver Cao Xianyun reminded this teammate who had only been transferred in a little over a month, "Xia Qing is a high-level evolver with the ability to protect herself. She's free to come and go from the territory as she pleases."

Peng Lin explained, "I'm not trying to restrict her freedom. I just feel like we don't have jurisdiction over the north gate, and that's a big hidden risk. What if someone slips past our inspection and brings dangerous items through the north gate into the territory?"

Turning the steering wheel, Su Ming steered from the northern isolation belt into the eastern one, then explained to Peng Lin, "Jurisdiction over the north gate belongs to Territory Eight. The Territory Management Department approved it."

He Wu added, "The iron-mesh wall here was built with the joint labor, personnel, and supplies of the Chong-Lian Alliance, to protect the safety of the lord of Territory Eight. The north gate is privately held by Territory Eight, to guarantee their freedom of entry and exit."

Peng Lin was puzzled. "If it's to make it easier for people from Territory Eight to come and go, why not give them the west gate — the one closest to Territory Eight?"

This…

He Wu scratched his head and looked at his two teammates in the front.

Su Ming answered, "Territory Eight originally wanted the west gate, but after the Territory Management Department negotiated with them, they settled on the north gate. That's because the north gate is on a hillside, and outside it is the Green Dragon Squad's core training ground — the safety factor is higher."

Peng Lin pretended to have a sudden realization. "So that's how it is. But if someone smuggles contraband through the north gate into the territory and causes a disaster, does Territory Eight take the blame?"

He Wu wasn't sure either. "That's even further beyond us. If Lin Zi here is curious, he can go ask the captain."

Peng Lin gave a sheepish grin. "I'm just curious, asking off the cuff. Xia Qing can not only get management rights for the experimental zone and Center Nine from Territory Seven, she can also get along with the lord of Territory Eight and get permission to come and go through the north gate as she pleases. Her methods are far from ordinary."

Even thick-headed Su Ming could tell something was off about Peng Lin's words, and he shot back without hesitation, "If you were a dual-ability high-level evolver and a top-tier sniper, and you could charge into the front lines during the Slaughter-Rain Period and the Disaster-Subduing Period without asking for reward, fighting natural and man-made disasters and holding the line on your own — you could get those permissions too."

He Wu briefed Peng Lin on Xia Qing's combat record. "Sister Qing can yank out the aerial roots of a Level-Four wild paulownia with her bare hands, knock over a Level-Three wild paulownia more than a meter thick with two hits, and take out a speed-evolved raptor with one shot. She's not just a lord — she's the highest combat power in our North Zone One."

Peng Lin exclaimed, "She's even more impressive than Luo Pei, the Third Master of the Green Dragon Squad from Territory One? I heard her marksmanship was learned from Master Luo, and her close combat from Green Dragon Captain Yang Jin."

He Wu was surprised. "Sister Qing learned her close combat from Jin-ge? Who did you hear that from?"

Peng Lin didn't answer directly. "Just something people were chatting about in the safe zone."

The patrol vehicle stopped. Su Ming turned to look back at Peng Lin. "Lin Zi, why are you so interested in Sister Qing?"

Peng Lin's pupils flickered for a moment, then he answered with a grin, "She's powerful, young, and beautiful. I'm not the only one interested in her."