Chapter 296: Commander Su Feng

Chapter 296: Chapter 296: Commander Su Feng

Seeing Xiaqing nod, Hu Zi leaned in and asked, "Captain Yan must have made a big catch, right?"

"Nope." Xiaqing’s initial denial was met with surprised looks, which she mischievously enjoyed before calmly adding, "She caught a few two-hundred-pound soft-shelled turtles and several evolved eels."

The patrol team’s eyes instantly lit up again, but before they could ask for details, their captain called them away to continue their patrol.

Xiaqing understood the patrol team’s excitement. She had been even more thrilled than them when she watched Yan Long emerge from the pitch-black, bottomless reservoir at night. Although Xiaqing couldn’t see how Yan Long located and caught the turtles and eels underwater, she had this unexplainable faith that even without last night’s lightning, Yan Long could have taken on the entire reservoir by herself.

That was just how badass Yan Long seemed to her.

"Captain Yan is so badass!"

Xiaqing stood quietly inside her territory, listening to the patrol team members’ hushed discussion as they walked away.

Yuan Rui said in a low voice, "Before the Disaster Years, she was the captain of our military region’s Frogman Special Team. Where else do you think the codename ’Yan Long’ came from?"

In the Disaster Years, with Evolved Fierce Beasts running rampant, it was human nature to admire the strong. Cao Xianyun excitedly added, "Forget a few hundred-pound turtles. Even if there were sharks in that reservoir, Captain Yan could’ve knocked out all their teeth. For someone that badass to be assigned to protect Zhang San... it’s such a waste of her talent."

Su Ming muttered under his breath, "Hu Zi, have you noticed? Sister Qing has gotten a lot fairer."

...

She wouldn’t have known if she hadn’t overheard them, and what she heard was a shock. It was only then that Xiaqing realized Yan Long, the Evolver with a Level 9 smell ability, had already been incredibly formidable even before the Disaster Years.

However, Xiaqing didn’t think assigning Yan Long to protect Zhang San was a waste of talent. After all, a man who could provide the military with medicine to heal physical injuries absolutely deserved their highest level of protection.

It had been a month since Xiaqing sent the Chestnuts to Territory Land No. 7 in exchange for the healing medicine. Zhang San, who never left a debt unpaid, still hadn’t delivered it, which just went to show how difficult this medicine was to formulate.

’A medicine that’s taking my idol this long to prepare must have top-notch effects,’ Xiaqing thought, filled with anticipation. In preparation for treating her physical injuries, Xiaqing had gradually reduced her use of the skin-dyeing medicine, and her complexion was slowly returning to normal.

Strictly speaking, Xiaqing hadn’t become fairer; she had returned to a normal, healthy skin tone. How fair could someone who worked in the fields every day possibly be? Xiaqing didn’t care whether she was fair-skinned or not. As long as she was healthy and strong, her complexion didn’t matter to her at all.

While repairing the greenhouse drainage ditch not far south of the reservoir—which had been destroyed by the several-meter-high waves kicked up by last night’s lightning strike—Xiaqing heard the roar of a helicopter’s rotors approaching from a distance. It landed inside the Second Territory. She quickly finished fixing the ditch, grabbed a bamboo basket, and hurried over to the Wild Grass Wall on the southern edge of her territory to gather stones, all while pricking up her ears to listen for any activity from the Second Territory.

The Second Territory had a total area of 2,300 mu. Its east-west width was the same as the Third Territory’s, so its north-south length was only 766 meters. The buildings in the Second Territory were constructed in its very center, over 300 meters from the South Wilderness Grass Wall of Xiaqing’s territory.

For a Level 7 auditory evolver like Xiaqing, as long as there were no interfering noises like strong winds, she could clearly hear people in the Second Territory speaking loudly inside their rooms from that distance.

"You’ve been in this territory for over half a year and you can’t even install a proper lightning rod? A bunch of useless trash!"

Hearing the cursing from the Second Territory, Xiaqing’s pupils constricted. She fought to suppress the murderous rage churning in her heart. Tang Zhengsu, the man who had murdered her father, was here. That meant Xu Pin, who could sense changes in human emotion within a hundred-meter radius, must have come with him. Xiaqing could not expose herself.

’For two of Su Feng’s captains to rush over by helicopter, Kou Fanming must be seriously injured.’

Xiaqing heard Tang Huai’s calm reply, "There was nothing wrong with the lightning rod in the Second Territory. Kou Fanming was struck because he was standing by the window wearing a Metal Protective Suit..."

"I’m just asking you this: was Kou Fanming inside the house or not?!" Tang Zhengsu cut Tang Huai off, erupting in a stream of curses. "If someone gets struck by lightning inside the house, it means you didn’t install the goddamn lightning rod right! Who the hell are you putting on that funeral face for..."

Tang Zhengsu’s cursing grew more and more vile. Xiaqing lost interest in listening and tipped her full basket of gravel onto the roadside by the Deserted Village to the southwest. Turning around, she noticed that a large cotton boll on one of the Qiang Evolved cotton plants—transplanted to the edge of the village during the third Harmful Rain—had actually split open with a crack.

Unsure if the Qiang Evolved cotton had developed any offensive capabilities, Xiaqing didn’t dare approach it rashly. After observing it from a distance for a moment, she pressed the button on her walkie-talkie. "Everyone, the Qiang Evolved cotton over here is about to bloom. But the cotton itself is a dark, blackish-yellow color, so the smell is definitely going to be bad."

After speaking, Xiaqing immediately pricked up her ears, listening for any activity from the Second Territory.

The walkie-talkie in the Second Territory was also on. After hearing Xiaqing speak, Tang Zhengsu, who was in the middle of chewing out Tang Huai, asked, "Is that the woman from the Third Territory who got in with Hu Fenzhi?"

"Yes," Tang Heng replied. "Lord No. 3 not only has a good relationship with No.1 Territory, but she also has the best relationship with Territory Land No. 7 out of all the territories in this area, because Lord No. 7, Zhang San, is very fond of the spinach from her territory."

Xu Pin added in a low voice, "Last night, Zhang Xi of the Jiang Bear Squad led people into the Third Territory to steal wolves and was caught by the patrol team. Blind Jiang called me last night, hoping we could help him out. He said he had no idea those two would disobey orders and act on their own."

Xiaqing raised an eyebrow. ’Xu Pin is saying that for the benefit of any Auditory Evolvers listening in from outside the territory.’

"Why should I protect useless trash who can’t even do their job right? It’s not like their surname is Tang, so why should I keep showing them mercy?" Tang Zhengsu’s words were clearly a veiled jab at Tang Huai, calling him useless.

The other Lords were ordinary people and couldn’t hear the commotion in the Second Territory, so they actively responded to Xiaqing’s announcement. Kuang Qingwei asked, "Xiaqing, are a lot of your cotton plants blooming? I’m going to go check on the patch in my territory too."

Zhao Ze was full of regret. "If I’d known they’d actually produce cotton, I would’ve kept mine."

Xiaqing answered Kuang Qingwei’s question, "The Qiang Evolved cotton plants here each have forty to fifty bolls. If they all open, I could harvest over a hundred pounds of cotton."

Zhang San spoke up languidly, "When Qiang Evolved cotton blooms, it releases a flammable gas, Class C. Remember to wear a gas mask and don’t use any open flames nearby."

Inside the Second Territory, Xu Pin immediately reported, "Captain, that’s Zhang San from Territory Land No. 7."

Qi Fu immediately asked, "Brother San, what’s the effective range of the flammable gas released by the Qiang Evolved cotton?"

"A single bloom has a two-meter effective radius. If a lot of them bloom at once, the effective diameter is unknown." After responding, Zhang San, in a rather good mood, started chatting about last night’s large prawns. "The prawns had a great texture. It would have been even better if they hadn’t been struck by lightning, what a pity."

In the Third Territory, Xiaqing, who was checking for flammable materials near the Qiang Evolved cotton plants, immediately pressed her radio button. "I’ll keep an eye on the reservoir. If I spot any shrimp fry next year, I’ll catch them and raise them."

"Good." Zhang San then asked, "What do you want to trade for all that fish and shrimp from last night?"