Chapter 273: Homage to the Lord

Chapter 273: Chapter 273: Homage to the Lord

"It worked!" Kuang Qingwei immediately asked Tan Junjie, "Captain Tan, all the territories in our group need Brother San’s special herbal medicine. Could you talk to Captain Jiang, who’s in charge of the spraying? Can you ask her to add the medicine to the insecticide when she lands in the Third Territory to refill her water?"

"Roger."

Ten minutes later, Tan Junjie replied, "It’s been coordinated. Territories No. 11 through No. 26 need it as well, so the helicopter spraying has been paused. Please have Brother San prepare the medicine as quickly as possible. I’ll head over to get it."

Zhang San replied lazily, "It’s already done. Come and get it."

After everyone thanked Tan Junjie and Zhang San, Qi Fu asked, "Captain Tan, what about the areas that have already been sprayed? Should we spray them ourselves, or will the helicopter?"

An unfamiliar voice came over the Lord channel. "This is Jiang Ting, the squad leader for today’s spraying mission. The more than sixteen hundred acres that have already been treated will be sprayed again after we add the new medicine. A question for Lord No. 7: can the insecticide be applied at night after adding the new medicine?"

Zhang San answered, "As long as it doesn’t rain."

"Roger that. The helicopter squad will work nonstop, day and night, until the mission is complete."

Jiang Ting’s reply put everyone at ease.

After switching to the new medicine, the helicopters sprayed all the greenhouses again.

’Were the insect-free greenhouses in the Third Territory sprayed again, too?’ Yes. The Third Territory had so few greenhouses that it was more trouble to skip them than to just spray them along with the rest.

"Most of the leaf-curling thorn bugs here are dead!" Zhao Ze cheered, half an hour after the second spraying of the greenhouses.

Shi Zhong chimed in, "Same here! The stem borers are almost dead, too. Thank you, Brother San! Thank you, Captain Jiang!"

Xiaqing thanked them as well.

Zhang San was already offline, and Jiang Ting was busy spraying, so neither responded.

At three o’clock the next afternoon, after the helicopter squad had finished spraying Territories No. 1 through No. 26, they spent another three hours spraying the skies over the Evolution Forest bordering the territories. Then, Jiang Ting announced over the Lord channel:

"Attention, all Lords. The spraying mission for the Northern First District territories has been completed. The helicopter squad is withdrawing and returning to the Safe Zone."

Everyone quickly thanked her.

Jiang Ting replied, "The grain and vegetables you grow will help more people get through this cold winter. On behalf of the entire helicopter brigade, I salute all you Lords."

Jiang Ting’s words echoed in Xiaqing’s mind. As she watched the three helicopters shrink into the sunset, a sense of pride in her work as a farmer swelled within her.

The Lords had risked coming out here to farm to improve their own lives. But from a broader perspective, they were, first and foremost, citizens of the nation. By being self-sufficient and not having to claim the basic-subsistence compressed rations, they were saving the nation resources. Secondly, the grain, vegetables, and Evolved Herbs they grew in their territories could be sold to keep more people from starving. Right now, what the country lacked wasn’t points, but food.

The territories had become the third source of food, alongside cultivation at the Safe Area Planting Center and what the teams hunted and gathered from the Evolution Forest.

Coming out here to farm was an act that benefited themselves, other people, and the nation. She was proud to be a Lord!

Spurred on by Jiang Ting’s words, Xiaqing decided she would clear even more land next spring!

Thanks to the timely spraying, an insect plague that could have stripped the territories bare had been quelled. Bathed in the twilight glow, the Lords inspected their lands, their feet treading on a dense carpet of tiny caterpillar corpses.

The Wild Grass Wall was chewed so thin that light shone through it. The leaves on the trees were riddled with bite marks, and the crops inside the greenhouses had also been heavily gnawed on. But it was alright. The roots and main stems were undamaged, so they would recover quickly. However, the mung bean flowers that had been eaten off would certainly never produce any beans.

Because they all had seeds from the first mung bean harvest, every Lord had planted several, or even over a dozen, greenhouses full of them. The reduced yield would have a major impact.

Only the Third Territory, which had been sprayed in advance, was minimally affected.

Xiaqing inspected her farmlands plot by plot. The leaves of the cabbage, radishes, and spinach were also a bit chewed up, but the losses weren’t great.

Her cornfields had only a few nibbled leaves, but her rice paddies had more. Apparently, this particular species of stem borer, scientifically known as the Evolved Asiatic Rice Borer, had a preference for rice seedlings.

However, the main stems of the rice seedlings weren’t chewed through, so the loss shouldn’t be too great.

She had to save the ninety-five Green Light plants for seed. Every stalk was precious. Over the past few days, she had been inspecting and listening to them one by one, confirming that no insects were eating the seedlings from within.

Of the four hundred rice seedlings she had brought back from the Safe Zone, only 280 remained after the third Harmful Rain. Afterward, Xiaqing tested the Harmful Element content of the Yellow Light seedlings and pulled out any that were above fifteen parts per thousand. Grain with a Harmful Element content exceeding that threshold was considered inedible; keeping it was useless and just an eyesore.

The remaining 260 stalks had a Harmful Element content between nine and fourteen parts per thousand, placing them in the edible range. But now that she had the J-2 rice seeds from Zhang San—which she had traded for with Chestnuts and had a Harmful Element content of only six parts per thousand—Xiaqing no longer planned to save these high-content Yellow Light rice plants for seed.

After these rice plants were harvested, she planned to give the rice to Uncle Huo of the Huo Family Iron Workshop. When Xiaqing bought her knife, she had promised him she would give him some rice once she grew it.

Despite its high Harmful Element content, this rice was still a hot commodity that most people couldn’t get their hands on. With this rice as a gift, it would be much easier for Xiaqing to ask Uncle Huo to forge her a custom set of Protective Equipment suitable for a High Level Strength Evolver.

The thought of Uncle Huo reminded Xiaqing of the kind person who had sent her the message. She wondered if he had made it through the third Harmful Rain safely and whether he had been affected by the insect plague.

The person was a complete mystery, so Xiaqing didn’t feel right about messaging them to ask. With a sigh, she went to patrol Zone Three of Mountain 49. The broken-leg wolf and the Red Squirrel had both fled deep into the forest, frightened by the spraying, and were not in their dens. The insect density in Zone Three of Mountain 49 was lower than in the territories, and Jiang Ting’s helicopter squad had made a few passes over the area while they were at it. They had used the standard insecticide, without the addition of the High Level Evolved Herbs, so while it had some effect, it wasn’t much.

But it didn’t matter if there were a lot of insects in the Evolution Forest. Unlike the territories, which had been cleared by humans, the forest was full of insectivores, forming a complete food chain. Any pest population would eventually be brought under control.

The insectivores would attract small carnivores, which in turn would attract large predators. Mountain No. 50 could be left alone, but Mountain No. 49 was the Green Dragon Base’s field training ground. If any large predators came down from the mountain and wreaked havoc in the territories, the Green Dragon Team would be held responsible.

So, Xiaqing called Hu Zifeng to ask if they should exterminate the insects on Mountain No. 49.

Hu Zifeng answered, "We’re not. Captain Xie said we should use the insects as bait to hunt."

’So Xie Yu is really treating Mountain No. 49 as a training ground.’ Xiaqing knew Yang Jin was away and hadn’t returned, but she hadn’t realized Xie Yu was now the one making decisions for the No. 1 Territory. Hu Zifeng came by every day to pick up Green Light vegetables, which meant Luo Pei had to be in the territory.

What did that imply? It meant Luo Pei’s condition was terrible.

Xiaqing asked in a low voice, "Is Brother Luo okay?"

"He’s holding on. Our boss has already collected the last herb he needs and is on his way back. Once he takes the medicine, Brother Luo will make a full recovery." There was a note of relief in Hu Zifeng’s voice.

Luo Pei had been tormented by that poison for over half a year, and now he was finally going to recover. Xiaqing was delighted. Humming a little tune, she went to inspect the Red Squirrel’s nest, caught a few large evolved lizards along the way, and then returned to the Third Territory.

Just as she was about to cross the Northern Isolation Zone, she spotted the Plucking Weasel hiding behind a large rock nearby. It was peeking its head out furtively, as if it had something to tell her.