Chapter 195: A Full Granary, A Mind at Ease

Chapter 195: Chapter 195: A Full Granary, A Mind at Ease

Since Xiaqing had asked, Da Ya answered truthfully, "You haven’t installed a Harmful Element filter. Even if you control the temperature and humidity, the longest shelf life for this grain is about three months."

Xiaqing continued to inquire, "If I install a Harmful Element filter, how long can the grain in my cellar be stored?"

Da Ya replied, "As long as it isn’t damaged by external forces, the equipment doesn’t malfunction, and the power supply is stable, then adding a Harmful Element filter will let you store it for two years, no problem. However, installing a Harmful Element filter isn’t cost-effective for you."

Xiaqing, who was carrying the Yi Stone, had no intention of installing one anyway. She responded with a smile, "I understand. For a small storage room like mine, I’d be better off just using points to buy grain from the Safe Zone than installing a filter."

Da Ya continued, "These walls won’t protect against attacks from burrowing, rodent-type Evolutionary Animals. You can trade with Brother San for interior wall panels for your food storage room. The panels can block destruction from rodent-types below Level 6, and they also insulate against moisture and humidity and protect against earthquakes below Level 5."

’Territory Land No. 7 has something this good?’ Xiaqing immediately nodded. "Thanks, Brother Ya. I’ll bring it up with Brother San after sunrise."

Seeing that Xiaqing didn’t intend to ask him to help install the second unit, Da Ya tactfully said his goodbyes. After they returned to the surface, Xiaqing handed him a pack of Green Light Dried Meat. "Sorry to have troubled you, Brother Ya. This is some dried meat I made with my dehydrator. The flavor is probably not as good as what your territory makes, but it’s good quality meat. It’s not much, but I hope you’ll take it."

Da Ya accepted it with a cheerful laugh and stuffed it into a pocket of his Protective Suit. "Green Light meat tastes good no matter how you cook it."

After seeing Da Ya off, Xiaqing first put the Yi Stone back in the underground storage room in the tool shed. Then she went to the kitchen to turn off the stove, took out the cooked Green Light Chicken, and deboned it. She carried the pot of meat and broth to the front of the sheep pen. "The meat is stewed. I added two Green Light tomatoes and five spinach leaves for energy. Eat it after it cools down."

After setting out the food for her SSVIP customers, Xiaqing carried the other set of equipment to the cellar in the warehouse to install it.

Although Xiaqing felt that the well-stocked First Territory and Territory Land No. 7 wouldn’t be interested in the small amount of food on her land, she still didn’t want to expose all her food storage locations. So, after learning how to install the temperature and humidity control unit from Da Ya, she saw him off and installed the second one herself in her more concealed cellar.

Ten minutes after connecting the second unit to the battery, the temperature and humidity in the cellar’s storage room reached the values Xiaqing had set. After putting the Yi Stone back in its place, Xiaqing sat in the storage room, breathing in the fresh, cool, dry air with a blissful expression on her face.

With the two units she’d traded Green Light meat for, the two large batteries she’d gotten for shooting down the Reconnaissance bird, the Yi Stone she’d exchanged with the Wolf Group, and soon the interior wall panels, her storeroom would be able to extend the shelf life of her grain to two years.

What did this mean?

It meant that as long as she could grow enough grain to feed herself, Sheep Leader, and her poultry, then even if Hui San Base suffered a large-scale Beast Tide or Natural Disaster, she could survive on her territory with a full belly, as long as the disaster didn’t last more than two years.

The saying, ’A full granary keeps panic at bay,’ was just so... incredibly true.

Next, her tasks were to increase her strength, store more food, and take good care of the wolves.

Increasing her strength was necessary to protect her territory and food. Storing more food meant she wouldn’t go hungry. Taking care of the wolves was how she could trade for more Green Light meat and Yi Stones.

The Yi Stone and the temperature and humidity control units were the keys to preserving her food long-term.

After disinfecting the floor of the storeroom, Xiaqing shut the heavy wooden door, went back through the winding passage to the garage, and replaced the concrete slab. Because the temperature and humidity control unit would run once every day at two in the morning to ventilate the food storeroom, she had to leave a small gap in the concrete slab to ensure air could circulate between the underground area and the surface.

Leaving a gap meant she had to be careful about it being discovered by people or entered by Evolutionary Animals. Xiaqing sprayed Insect Repellent at the exit, then placed the micro-tiller’s bulldozer blade over it as camouflage.

After making sure the camouflage was convincing enough, Xiaqing stood inside the garage and listened intently for a moment, then went into the yard to listen again. Since the storeroom’s temperature and humidity had already reached the set standard, the unit, installed four meters underground, was in standby mode. As a Level 7 auditory evolver, Xiaqing couldn’t hear a single sound.

Luo Pei, who could enter her territory, had Level 6 auditory evolution. Da Jiang had Level 4 auditory evolution, and Liangzi had Level 6 auditory evolution. Cao Xianyun, the patrol team member who checked the isolation belt daily, had Level 4 auditory evolution. Tang Huai, who was digging for bugs in the Second Territory, had Level 5 auditory evolution. If Xiaqing couldn’t hear anything while standing in her own yard, there was no way these people outside her territory could.

This gave her an incredible sense of security. Feeling quite pleased, Xiaqing carried a bundle of hay from the warehouse back into the yard.

By now, the sky had lightened. In the food bowl outside the sheep pen, not even a drop of broth remained, let alone any meat. The Sick Wolf couldn’t have eaten that much; the Head Wolf must have eaten all the leftovers after the other one had its fill.

Seeing Xiaqing spread the hay to dry under the eaves, Sheep Leader immediately trotted over from the sheep pen to sniff it. When it discovered the hay wasn’t the kind it could eat, it turned to leave but was stopped by Xiaqing.

"Alright, Leader, no more sleeping. I’m going to patrol the territory. You go catch bugs to feed the fish."

Sheep Leader, who hated catching bugs, squinted at Xiaqing. Only after she stuffed a block of compressed rations into its saddlebag did it slowly, deliberately pick up the small basket by the door and follow Xiaqing, who was carrying the chicken coop.

Seeing Xiaqing and Sheep Leader head out, the Sick Wolf slowly followed. The Head Wolf didn’t move, remaining in the sheep pen to rest.

The little chicks, long accustomed to a creature like the wolf, showed no fear of the one trailing behind them, chirping away in their coop. The small Red Light goose, however, seemed to understand the terror a wolf represented and huddled in the corner of the coop farthest from it.

Xiaqing inspected the chicken run, and only after confirming there were no problems did she open the coop to let the chickens out.

The little Black Feathered Rooster was the first to rush out of the coop, followed closely by the small Red Light goose, and then the remaining ten chickens. Because Xiaqing had been feeding them carefully, the chicks and the gosling had all recovered from the damage caused by the ultrasound attack. Each one had bright feathers and was full of life. Once out of the coop, they immediately started drinking water, eating feed, and scratching for bugs in the dirt.

The two-month-old chickens and goose had all grown in their feathers. The other chickens’ feathers were red, yellow, white, and brown—all perfectly normal. Only the Black Feathered Rooster, which was currently flapping its wings and posturing at the small Red Light goose, had grown into something Xiaqing had never seen before.

Every single part of it—its comb, eyes, beak, feathers, and claws—was a glossy black. Xiaqing really wanted to catch it and draw some blood to see if it was black, too.

The Black Feathered Rooster might have sensed Xiaqing’s malicious intent, as it quickly ran away. The moment it bolted, the ten little chicks immediately followed, putting distance between themselves and Xiaqing.

The chickens had already scratched over every inch of dirt in the run, so they had likely eaten most of the bugs. Xiaqing decided she would move the chicken pen to a new spot the next morning so they could continue to dig.

Sheep Leader and the Sick Wolf had already ambled nearly to the North Buffer Forest. Xiaqing turned west to first patrol the South Wilderness Grass Wall and the West Buffer Forest.