Chapter 242: Immunity Evolution

Chapter 242: Chapter 242: Immunity Evolution

Xiaqing didn’t believe for a second that bullshit about Zhang San and the Tang Family collaborating to develop edible mushrooms.

The way Ji Li slipped him the note confirmed Xiaqing’s suspicion that there was definitely something unusual about Tang Huai, who had been fine after eating the mushrooms.

For the price of just five Protective Suits, Tang Huai had managed to get her and Territory Land No. 7 to help him cover up the incident. It was an absolute bargain.

Humanity’s greatest crisis at present was the food shortage. Xiaqing didn’t know why Tang Huai was fine after eating something poisonous, and she had no interest in finding out. But she was certain many people would be extremely interested, such as Li Si, whom Zhang San had stopped.

As a researcher himself, Zhang San was surely interested too. That’s why he’d taken the initiative to propose a collaboration. ’What kind of project does he want to work on with the Tang Family?’

’To study why Tang Huai was unaffected? And how would they even study that?’

’Would Li Si be so easily fooled?’

Xiaqing—a multi-system Evolved Person with an unpolluted spring, High Yi Element Spinach, one Evolutionary Sheep, and a pack of Evolutionary Wolves in her territory—held her secrets even tighter. She had to keep lying low, farm diligently, live a peaceful and stable life, and get stronger at all costs. She didn’t want to be studied by anyone, not even Zhang San.

Inside Territory No. 12, the three men of the Tang Family, father and sons, looked progressively more grim.

On the table before them lay a slip of paper. On it were two scrawled words:

Immunity Evolution.

If he hadn’t heard his father speak of the underground experiments, Tang Huai would have been jumping for joy. But now, he just wanted to dig a hole and bury himself in it.

Tang Zhengpo took a sip of tea before speaking slowly. "The initial goal of the Hui Yi Research Institute’s underground experiments was to enhance human immunity. If immunity is increased, the body can resist the damage from excessive radiation and the Harmful Element, allowing Red Light organisms to be reintroduced into the human diet."

"After the Natural Disaster began, although our family’s circumstances are not what they used to be, we never resorted to eating Red Light flora and fauna out of hunger. That’s why we never discovered that Ah Huai had evolved," Tang Zhengpo sighed.

"Dad, this can absolutely not get out." Tang Heng was terrified his brother would end up like their cousin, captured and tortured in a lab. "The people from Territory Land No. 7 probably won’t talk. Bro, did Liu Sheng and the other guard see Ji Li give you the note? What about Xiaqing?"

Liu Sheng and the other man were Tang Zhengpo’s bodyguards. They had been with him since before the Natural Disaster and had stayed even after their abilities evolved, because Tang Zhengpo had always paid them very generously.

Tang Huai recalled their positions at the time. "They were behind me, so they shouldn’t have noticed. Xiaqing was beside me, but the cigarette case was blocking her view, so she probably didn’t see it. But it’s fine even if she did. She’s incredibly sharp; she wouldn’t say a word."

Tang Zhengpo nodded. "Ji Li chose to pass the note in front of Xiaqing, which means he never intended to hide it from her. Now, we wait for Zhang San to contact us and see how this ’project’ will proceed. Ah Huai, you need to get the mushroom cultivation up and running as soon as possible. Use the mushroom soil sent from Territory No. 4 and No. 6 Territory."

Tang Huai clutched his clothes tighter. "Dad, Zhang San won’t..."

"He won’t," Tang Zhengpo reassured his son. "He may have a bad temper, but he’s not a bad person. If he really intended to do something to you, he would’ve acted long before now."

Tang Huai slapped himself across the face. "This is all my fault for being so damn greedy!"

With the crisis temporarily averted, Tang Heng couldn’t help but laugh. "Next time my brother eats poisonous mushrooms, he probably won’t make a fuss about pulling them off his own body."

Tang Huai’s eyes bulged. "Wasn’t that like, decades ago? Bring it up again and I’ll smack you!"

Tang Zhengpo sipped his tea, waiting for his two sons to finish their bickering before he commented with a sigh, "Seeing Xiaqing successfully contact Territory Land No. 7 today made me realize something. In this cluster of territories from one to ten, Xiaqing is the only person who has established a line of communication with all of them. In other words, she controls this entire region’s network of contacts. If she plays her cards right, she could acquire an immense amount of survival resources."

Tang Huai wasn’t convinced, but when he mentally ran through the list, he realized his father was right. Xiaqing didn’t just have connections with humans; she had connections with sheep, connections with wolves...

At four-thirty the next morning, Xiaqing—the very person Tang Zhengpo believed to command a massive network of resources—was crouching at her own door with a wild pheasant, offering some seductive soup to her most important "wolf connection." "This chicken is so plump and beautiful! Her Majesty the Queen must have caught it herself, yes? Your Majesty is so mighty! As expected of the leader of the Wolf Group, you are truly in a class of your own!"

The Head Wolf glanced away, uninterested, and watched her packmates eat a wild boar. The chicken was for Xiaqing and the Sick Wolf, and since it didn’t need Plucking, the Weasel hadn’t been brought along today.

"Second, I’m busy today, so just make do with some meat jerky for now. I’ll make you chicken breast and pumpkin porridge when I get back tonight." Xiaqing stood up, went inside, and immediately sealed the feathered chicken and stuck it in the freezer. Then, she brought a bowl of cooked meat and pumpkin outside to feed the Sick Wolf.

Although Xiaqing only had a few pumpkin plants left in her field, each one could produce a whole string of gourds. The Sick Wolf had even been upgraded to eating Green Light Pumpkins.

She had to leave before dawn, so she couldn’t let her chickens out. After eating her fill and gathering her gear, Xiaqing first handed a piece of compressed rations to the Sheep Leader, then passed it a small basket. "Boss, I’m heading out. Watch over the territory, catch bugs to feed the chickens and fish. Don’t worry about the Snake Box; I’ll feed them when I get back."

Why not give a basket to the scrawny wolf-dog?

The answer was obvious. As if Xiaqing would dare order one of the Head Wolf’s packmates around right in front of her.

Far from it. Even in her own home, Xiaqing had to report her movements to the Head Wolf. "Your Majesty the Queen, I’m going out to gather food. Three people will be coming over later to help guard the territory. You just rest here and focus on your recovery."

The Red Squirrel’s Speed was too great. Xiaqing had to get to the abandoned mountain cave at the Wild Boar Breeding Center and lie in wait before the Red Squirrel emerged from its nest, so she could start tracking it midway through its route.

Xiaqing and the Wolf Group had traveled the route from the Third Territory to the Wild Boar Breeding Center so many times they had nearly beaten a path into the ground. It wasn’t dangerous to walk in the dark, but she had to wait for daylight to venture any deeper.

After reaching the cave, Xiaqing used her phone to check the Red Squirrel’s location.

As dawn broke, the little creature emerged from its nest. It did a lap between its several other nests, likely patrolling its territory. Then, the red dot on the screen entered the Third Territory and headed due south.

This was the time of day when the Red Squirrel usually went to her window for water and food. Watching the little red dot come to a stop over her home’s location, Xiaqing felt a great sense of accomplishment from her hiding spot in the cave.

Her plan to tame the Red Squirrel had achieved its first success.

Watching the red dot on her phone begin to move rapidly north, Xiaqing immediately reached out, caught a stink bug that was crawling past, and gave it a gentle squeeze. The startled bug instantly released its pungent, ailanthus-like odor, masking her scent so she wouldn’t be detected by the Red Squirrel and its keen smell.

Once the distance on the phone screen between the green dot representing her location and the red dot representing the Red Squirrel stretched to two hundred meters, Xiaqing judged that the rapidly moving squirrel wouldn’t detect any disturbance from this far away. She immediately entered Valley No. 1 and gave chase.