Chapter 211: Something Feels Off

Chapter 211: Chapter 211: Something Feels Off

The other Lords all asked quite a few questions, but no one found it strange when Li Si singled out Xiaqing, who had only asked one. This was because before Li Si was captured, she had been very interested in Xiaqing—or rather, in the things growing in Xiaqing’s territory.

Xiaqing replied calmly, "Because of all the seeds I got from the agricultural trade fair, besides corn, the sunflowers grew into the stoutest and tallest plants."

The stouter and taller a plant, the harder it is to deal with after Qiang Evolution. Xiaqing’s answer was impeccable.

Before Li Si could ask another question, Zhang San spoke up lazily, "Captain Tan, have you conducted the surprise inspection on No. 9 Territory this month?"

Everyone...

Tan Junjie replied sternly, "Not yet."

"Alright." Zhang San’s tone was clearly tinged with pleasure. "Please give me a heads-up before you go, Captain Tan."

Excellent. Zhang San still couldn’t stand the sight of Li Si, just like always. With him keeping an eye on her, Li Si wouldn’t be able to do anything illegal. The other Lords could now farm and prepare for the Harmful Rain in peace.

Li Si coldly proposed a trade, "Brother San, can I trade for fifteen grams of your No. 3 special hemostatic medicine? When you come over, you can take any plant that catches your eye from my greenhouse."

Territory Land No. 7 and No. 9 Territory didn’t get along. Would Zhang San agree?

Everyone held their breath, waiting for the petty Zhang San to speak.

Zhang San asked listlessly, "How many plants?"

Li Si, who had no concept of value, went offline. Assistant Liu from No. 9 Territory came online and replied in a gentle and professional tone, "Lord Zhang, our Lord had an urgent matter to attend to and asked me to negotiate the trade with you. Would three plants be acceptable?"

Xiaqing, who was currently petting a sheep, grumbled to the Sheep Leader she was stroking, "Assistant Liu must have shoved Li Si out of the way."

Zhang San replied lazily, "Fifteen plants."

Knowing Zhang San’s temperament, Assistant Liu didn’t haggle. "Alright, thank you, Lord Zhang. Would it be convenient for us to come pick up the medicine now?"

They were in such a hurry to get the medicine. Someone in No. 9 Territory must have sustained an injury that regular hemostatic medicine couldn’t heal. ’Who could it be? Li Si?’ Xiaqing’s eyes narrowed, and her hand moved to some sparse wolf fur, continuing to stroke it.

Zhang San responded, "Go to the middle section of your easternmost greenhouse. Find those plants with the black flowers. Pick fifteen of the best ones and bring them over, roots and all."

Assistant Liu paused for a few seconds before replying gently, "Alright. Thank you, Lord Zhang. We’ll go dig them up now and deliver them to the signpost of Territory Land No. 7 in fifteen minutes."

From that few-second pause, Xiaqing could sense Assistant Liu’s reluctance. The black-flowered plants Zhang San wanted must be very precious.

’What kind of plant has black flowers and is also very valuable?’ Xiaqing thought hard and actually recalled two types of Evolved Plants that had bounties posted for them on the mission board in the Safe Zone’s quest hall:

Sinewgrass and Black Bat Flower.

If it was one of those two, then it was no wonder Little Liu was so reluctant. However, this only further highlighted how precious Zhang San’s special hemostatic medicine was.

’The No. 3 special hemostatic medicine Li Si wanted must be different from the kind of hemostatic medicine that I and the other Lords trade Zhang San for with our Green Light plants and animals.’

Xiaqing took out her small notebook, carefully jotted down this clue, and then began to plan out her tasks for the next three days to avoid forgetting anything important.

Xiaqing was halfway through writing when she received a call from Luo Pei. "Xiaqing, is there anything wrong with the sunflowers in your territory?"

Luo Pei was recuperating in No.1 Territory and rarely came to the Third Territory, so he wasn’t clear on Xiaqing’s situation.

Xiaqing answered, "My tests found that many of the sunflower plants have a Harmful Element content above ten per-thousand. I’m worried they’ll undergo Qiang Evolution during the long Harmful Rain."

The dividing line between Yellow Light and Red Light plants was a Harmful Element content of fifteen per-thousand. Anything above that was Red Light, while anything between five and fifteen per-thousand was Yellow Light.

During a seventy-hour Harmful Rain, the Harmful Element content in the atmosphere was bound to increase. Once the plants’ roots, stems, and leaves absorb an excess amount of the Harmful Element, their internal balance will be disrupted, and they won’t be able to expel the excess quickly enough. At that point, Green Light plants could turn into Yellow Light plants, and Yellow Light plants could turn into Red Light ones.

Although Red Light plants won’t necessarily undergo Qiang Evolution, the probability is higher than for Green and Yellow Light plants. Moreover, even if Red Light crops grown in a greenhouse don’t undergo Qiang Evolution, they lose all edible value and must be destroyed. Otherwise, when the plants flower, the pollen from Red Light plants could fertilize Yellow and Green Light plants, which would reduce the quality of the seeds.

The only exception was cotton, since no one grew it for food anyway.

Luo Pei understood Xiaqing’s concern and replied, "The members of my territory’s planting team also mentioned this. They plan to pull up all sunflowers with a Harmful Element content higher than thirteen per-thousand in the days before the Harmful Rain."

"That’s a good idea. I’ll just pull them up too," Xiaqing responded.

Luo Pei then asked, "Are you planning to use Yi Stones? Should I give Hu Zifeng a heads-up?"

Hu Zifeng’s team didn’t know Xiaqing had Yi Stones, and she didn’t plan on letting them find out. "I’m just planning to use two small Yi Stones to protect the Green Light Spinach and Green Rice. I’ve already carved out holes in the greenhouse frames over those two fields, so they shouldn’t be discovered."

After hanging up, Xiaqing drew a line under the plan she had already written down: "Remove dangerous sunflowers."

Her reason for Li Si was just a cover. Her answer to Luo Pei was only part of the truth. Xiaqing didn’t want anyone to know the real reason she was paying attention to the sunflowers.

The reason she had asked Li Si about the possibility of sunflowers undergoing Qiang Evolution was that Xiaqing had discovered several sunflowers in her own fields that were very strange.

At the agricultural trade fair, Xiaqing had traded points for two hundred Yellow Light Sunflower seeds. She planted them in the terraced fields and farmland in her territory, successfully growing a total of 120 sunflowers: 90 in the terraced fields, and 30 in the greenhouse on the farmland below the mountain slope.

Xiaqing was very lucky; two Green Light Sunflowers appeared among the 120 plants, one in the terraced fields and one in the farmland greenhouse.

Just as she did with her other Green Light plants, Xiaqing tied a very conspicuous red string around these two sunflowers and gave them extra care, whether it was pest control, fertilizing, or weeding.

Half a month ago, Xiaqing noticed that the Green Light Sunflower in the farmland, along with a few other sunflowers around it, was growing slower than the other plants and was a bit shorter.

Logically, this shouldn’t have been the case. Green Light plants received more and better fertilizer and water than other plants, so they should have been growing more vigorously.

After a careful inspection, Xiaqing discovered that among this patch of shorter plants, there was one Yellow Light Sunflower that gave her a strange feeling.

Xiaqing suspected it had turned into a Red Light plant because it was "weak," which caused an imbalance in its system. However, a test revealed that the sunflower’s Harmful Element content was only seven per-thousand, far from the level of a Red Light plant.

Even though it was a Yellow Light plant, and even though there was nothing visibly wrong with it, Xiaqing just felt there was something indescribably off about it.