Chapter 244: Evolved Bee

Chapter 244: Chapter 244: Evolved Bee

After making sure not a single inch of her skin was exposed, Xiaqing circled to the other side of the stream and hid behind a large tree. She first dug a hole in the ground big enough to hide in. Only after spraying half a bottle of potion on herself did Xiaqing take a deep breath and walk toward the chestnut tree.

If the potion didn’t work, she would jump into the hole, block the entrance with her backpack, and wait for the bees to disperse before escaping.

The Evolved Bees quickly discovered Xiaqing, swarming toward her with a loud BUZZ. However, when they got within two meters of her, they refused to get any closer, just circling her and buzzing.

’A special supply from my idol—it’s gotta be top-quality!’

Xiaqing relaxed and quickly rushed to the base of the chestnut tree. After confirming the trunk wasn’t sticky and wouldn’t launch any physical attacks, she first snipped off a branch to test.

Her luck was off the charts today—the very first tree was a Yellow Light! Xiaqing immediately climbed the tree, swinging her long-handled shears and snipping away. SNIP! SNIP!

A layer of chestnut-laden branches soon covered the ground, but the small squirrels gathered in the distance could only watch anxiously. With the Evolved Bees’ nest stirred up, they couldn’t get close.

Enduring the angry buzzing of the surrounding bees, Xiaqing stood in the chestnut tree, wielding her 4.5-meter-long pole shears. She had just finished snipping all the chestnuts within reach and was about to climb higher when she spotted an extra-large bee—bigger than her palm—appear within the swarm and charge at her, buzzing menacingly.

’A High Level Evolutionary Bee!’

Unsure if Zhang San’s potion could fend off a High Level Evolutionary Bee, Xiaqing quickly drew her gun and blew its head off. She then hastily sprayed another layer of potion on herself. While keeping an eye out for more High Level Evolutionary Bees, she climbed to a higher branch and continued snipping chestnuts. Only after she had stripped the entire tree did she climb down to pick up the chestnuts.

In the process, after killing four more High Level Evolutionary Bees, Xiaqing confirmed that the potion was only effective against regular Evolved Bees.

After gathering all the chestnuts, Xiaqing snipped a branch from each of the other chestnut trees, stuffing them into a separate small bag before retreating with her large pack. The swarm chased her up the hillside before finally turning back.

Leaning against a big pine tree, Xiaqing let out a long sigh of relief.

The potion could indeed block attacks from most regular Evolved Bees, but her head felt like it was about to explode from their buzzing. The power of their sonic attacks was nearly on par with ultrasound.

The return trip was much faster, and Xiaqing was back in her territory by noon. Liangzi, who had come over to watch the territory, saw Xiaqing return covered in sticky, dirty leaf fragments and carrying a large backpack. He didn’t ask many questions; anyone going into the Evolution Forest at this time of year could run into anything. Being dirty but uninjured was already impressive. "Sister Qing, Second Territory delivered the plastic sheeting. I put it in the small cabin."

Xiaqing had arranged to trade for the greenhouse plastic sheeting with Second Territory this morning, instructing whoever was watching her territory to dig up ten spinach plants from the westernmost plot in the greenhouse and give them to Tang Huai.

After Liangzi returned to No.1 Territory, Xiaqing headed home with the chestnuts on her back.

The Head Wolf wasn’t home, but the broken leg wolf had come over. Three wolves and a sheep were resting in the clean and comfortable sheep pen. Xiaqing greeted them and immediately went inside to wash up, only to discover to her dismay that the chestnut leaves stuck to her Protective Suit wouldn’t wash off. No wonder even Evolutionary Worms couldn’t escape once they got stuck.

Xiaqing changed into a clean set of clothes, then pulled the tattered-looking Protective Suit back on and went to check on the Spring Water Fish in her house. Since one of the fish ponds had been washed out and the Spring Water Fish were thriving in the tank, Xiaqing had decided not to release them into a pond and was just raising them in the tank directly.

There were no dead Evolved Insects around the tank or near the chicken coop, which meant Wolf Dog Second had helped the Sheep Leader with cleanup duty. Xiaqing happily let the chickens into their coop, then sat down in the courtyard to peel chestnuts.

This was something new, so all three wolves and the sheep came out to watch.

The Sheep Leader sniffed the leaves, which were covered in bugs and dirt, and immediately recoiled with a look of disgust. The Broken Waist Wolf and the Sick Wolf quietly observed Xiaqing’s movements, while the broken leg wolf leaped and bounced around the pile of chestnuts as if it had gone mad.

Half a month ago, she definitely would have been startled by this creature and would have raised her gun to aim at it. But the Xiaqing of today was used to it. She muttered as she worked, "See this? One pair of pliers in each hand, pull to the sides, and the chestnut pops out. Easy-peasy. Too bad none of you have hands, so you can’t do this."

The chestnuts from this Evolutionary Chestnut Tree were twice the size of pre-evolution ones, and each spiky bur contained four or five large chestnuts. Peeling them was incredibly satisfying.

"WOOOO—"

The broken leg wolf suddenly slapped the ground with its paw, whining excitedly. Xiaqing looked over and couldn’t help but laugh.

She hadn’t been paying attention when she was gathering the chestnuts and had accidentally packed up a fist-sized hedgehog, mistaking it for a spiky bur. Xiaqing pulled the chestnut bur stuck to its back off and set the little hedgehog aside.

The broken leg wolf circled the little ball of spikes, leaping and bouncing excitedly. It would bat at it a few times, then jump back. The Broken Waist Wolf and the Sick Wolf weren’t interested, but the Sheep Leader found it quite amusing and joined the broken leg wolf in hopping around the little hedgehog.

Xiaqing recorded a ten-second video of the two spazzing creatures before continuing to peel her chestnuts. From just one tree, she had harvested over a hundred pounds of chestnuts!

And her haul would surely be far greater than this. That chestnut forest had twenty-three trees in total. Six of them bore no fruit, and she had only harvested from one tree today. There were still sixteen more to go.

Now, it was time to test the quality of the remaining sixteen chestnut trees. Xiaqing took out the small bag, pulled out a small branch, broke off a piece, and squeezed out its sap to test it. Yellow Light!

Another branch—Yellow Light!

The third—Green Light!

The fourth...

All sixteen trees were edible, and four of them were even Green Lights!

In the ten years since the Natural Disaster began, this was the first time Xiaqing had ever encountered such a well-behaved Evolution Forest!

"We’re rich! Sheep Leader, Second, Broken Waist, Broken Leg, we’ve struck it rich!" she exclaimed, leaping up in excitement, jumping even higher than the wolf and sheep that were spazzing out around the hedgehog.

After the excitement wore off, Xiaqing began to plan how to bring back all the chestnuts as quickly as possible. If it were only one or two trees, she could handle it by herself tomorrow, but with so many, forming a team was necessary.

Xiaqing first contacted Hu Zifeng, then switched on her walkie-talkie to contact Shi Du. "Tenth Territory, Shi Du, are you there?"

The chestnut harvesting team would have three main tasks: picking the chestnuts, transporting them, and eliminating the High Level Evolutionary Bees.

In other words, the mission team would need two types of people: skilled shooters and Strength Evolvers.

Shi Du replied quickly, "Sister Qing, I’m here."

Xiaqing asked directly, "Are you free for a mission tomorrow?"

"Yes! Thank you, Sister Qing." The Tenth Territory had suffered significant losses during the Harmful Rain, and Mother Shi was even injured, so Shi Du was desperate to recoup. He was very grateful that Xiaqing, despite her close relationship with No.1 Territory, was still willing to include him on a mission.

"Alright. Let’s meet tomorrow morning at six, at the North Isolation Zone of No.3 Territory."

After Xiaqing had settled on a time with Shi Du, she heard Tang Huai ask, "Xiaqing, what mission are you doing? Can you take me with you?"

Xiaqing asked, "Are you a Strength Evolver, Level 4 or above?"

Tang Huai immediately replied, "Not a Strength Evolver, but I’m still really strong! And I’m an Auditory Evolver, Level 5!"

Xiaqing calmly replied, "There’s extreme noise interference in that area. It’s not a suitable place for an Auditory Evolver."

Tang Huai was speechless.