Chapter 274: Broken Waist Wolf Goes Out

Chapter 274: Chapter 274: Broken Waist Wolf Goes Out

Xiaqing stopped and asked in an incredibly soft, gentle voice, "Plucking, are you looking for me?"

She had to be gentle. The little creature was as timid as a Red Squirrel. The difference was, a startled Red Squirrel would flee, while this creature would release toxic gas.

Hearing Xiaqing’s voice, the Evolved Weasel got spooked and immediately ducked behind a rock. After a moment, its small, round ears cautiously peeked out. The Plucking Yellow Weasel stared at Xiaqing with its glossy black eyes for two seconds, and upon confirming she was looking at it, it quickly placed two small kills on the rock and scurried away.

’Is this... a thank you gift?’

Xiaqing walked over and picked up the two palm-sized, plump frogs. A quick test revealed they were, to her surprise, Green Light.

’Is this a coincidence, or can the Plucking Yellow Weasel actually tell an animal’s Harmful Element content?’

’If it’s the latter, then that Evolution Rabbit from yesterday—the one weighing over ten pounds that the weasel was acting crazy to catch—was probably Green Light, too.’

Xiaqing decided to keep one of the plump frogs to make frog porridge for herself and trade the other.

The trading partner, naturally, would be her idol who only ate Green Light food. This would pay back some of the points she owed for today’s High Level Evolution Black Orchid Grass. Speaking of which, it had been a few days since her idol accepted the Green Light Chestnuts, but he still hadn’t sent over the medicine for her injuries.

’Looks like this medicine is truly difficult to prepare.’

Xiaqing contacted Ji Li directly. "Brother Ji, I caught two Green Light Frogs. They aren’t huge, just over a pound each... Okay, I’ll wait at the isolation belt."

The weasel’s thank you gift would conveniently cover part of the points for the high-level evolved herb she’d gotten today. She could settle the rest of the points with Green Light vegetables or Green Light Dried Meat.

Back inside, she shut the doors and windows tightly. Xiaqing first rinsed the insecticide from her Protective Suit before taking off her Protective Mask.

Even with the doors and windows shut, and despite not being an Olfactory Evolutionary, Xiaqing could still smell the acrid odor of the insecticide. The smell didn’t bother her; instead, it brought a sense of reassurance.

This was the insecticide that could wipe out the insect plague in her territory.

Xiaqing removed the Protective Masks from the three animals in the house. "Sheep Leader, Second, Broken Waist, the spraying is over. We can eat and drink now."

After the sheep and two wolves drank some Pollution-free Spring Water, the Broken Waist Wolf indicated to Xiaqing that it wanted to go out. Not just to relieve itself, but to leave the territory.

Xiaqing asked, "Are you hungry? Isn’t the one with the broken leg bringing you food later?"

After meeting the intelligent wolf’s calm gaze for a few seconds, Xiaqing relented. It wasn’t as if she could stop it anyway; the wolf was dead set on leaving. "Go on, be careful. The Evolution Forest is full of bugs right now, too."

The Broken Waist Wolf walked over, circled Xiaqing once, then ambled away. Xiaqing took the Protective Suits off Sheep Leader and the Sick Wolf before starting to cook. She hadn’t removed the suit from the Broken Waist Wolf. Even though there were fewer bugs in the Evolution Forest than in her territory, it was still dangerous for a wolf missing a patch of fur on its back.

Feeding the remaining two was simple. She had gathered enough fodder for Sheep Leader before the spraying to last two days, and the Sick Wolf could share the frog porridge with her.

Even though she had a recipe, Xiaqing couldn’t find even half of the listed ingredients. She could only ensure the porridge was cooked through; whether it tasted good was up to fate. In these Disaster Years, with the insect plague just behind them, having a safe place to stay and warm, safe food to fill her stomach was enough to make Xiaqing content.

Listening to the Hui San Base news broadcast that evening, Xiaqing learned that only the territories from No. 1 to No. 26 had been hit by the Evolutionary Thorn Moth plague.

This sort of thing was normal. The evolution of life on Blue Star had never ceased, and no one knew how many different types of evolved creatures existed. It was even impossible to determine how many different evolutionary paths a single pre-disaster species had taken.

After all, different natural environments and concentrations of the Qiang and Yi Elements could give rise to different evolutionary paths. Xiaqing turned on her radio, wanting to hear the experts’ assessment of the insect plague.

Shortly after she turned on the radio, Kuang Qingwei asked about that very topic.

Li Si gave a very professional answer. "Biological disasters are always the result of a combination of factors. First, the third Harmful Rain of the year lasted too long, and there was an increase in red Harmful Rain, which has a significant impact on insects in the egg stage. Second, the soil conditions in this block of territories are ideal for the propagation of Evolutionary Thorn Moths."

Zhao Ze asked, "Fourth Sister, when were the eggs of these thorn moths laid? I’ve been in my territory for half a year and never saw a large number of them flying in to lay eggs."

Li Si theorized, "We’ve captured some of the thorn moth larvae to study, but it’s too early to draw any conclusions. Our initial hypothesis is that the eggs were laid by moths that emerged from their cocoons last year."

’Eggs laid last year? And they only hatched this year?’

Before Xiaqing had a chance to speak, Tang Huai immediately targeted No. 1 Territory. "The Green Dragon Team accepted the mission to clear this area last fall and winter! This means our losses are because the Green Dragon Team didn’t do a thorough job! The Green Dragon Team must compensate all the Lords for their losses—double!"

Everyone was silent.

Hu Zifeng immediately shot back, "We cleaned the area according to the mission requirements and passed the inspection. If you’ve got the guts, go ask the ones who issued the mission for compensation."

The two argued for a while until Tan Junjie cut them off. "The insect plague isn’t completely over yet. For the next few days, all Lords need to eliminate the Evolutionary Worms within your territories as quickly as possible. This is to prevent large flocks of migratory birds from landing in your territories and destroying your crops."

His assistant, Little Liu, once again started pitching the special chemical repellent made by No. 9 Territory, capable of driving away birds below Level 6, but the Lord channel remained silent.

’Xiaqing suddenly had a thought. Besides the main reason—Zhang San—Li Si must have a side quest for coming to this territory: earning points.’

’But in the months they’ve been here, they’ve only earned a few points from selling compost fungus powder and the Mung Bean Cultivation Guide.’

Zhao Ze whined, "If I’d known, I never would have claimed a territory with a Buffer Forest..."

It was no wonder Zhao Ze was complaining. The average territory was around 330 acres, but those with a Buffer Forest were all over 500 acres. A larger territory meant greater potential profit, but also greater responsibility and a heavier workload.

For example, to eliminate the insect plague by adding High Level Black Orchid Grass, Territory No. 8—which had no Buffer Forest and was only 300 acres—needed to purchase six plants. Territory No. 4, with a Buffer Forest and a total area of over 610 acres, needed to buy twelve. Xiaqing, having the largest territory, needed twenty-three.

If it hadn’t been for the pollution-free spring in the Third Territory, Xiaqing, who had planned on living alone, would never have chosen this plot of land.

Xiaqing turned off the radio. She trained until eleven p.m. and was about to get ready for bed when the Broken Waist Wolf returned. Its Protective Suit was covered in leaves, mud, and small insects, but it was uninjured, and its eyes were shining brightly.

The Broken Waist Wolf walked up to Xiaqing, craned its neck, and gestured for her to take something out of its Protective Suit’s pocket.