Chapter 39: Evolving Little Kitten

Chapter 39: Chapter 39: Evolving Little Kitten

Tang Huai snorted. "You’re worrying about nothing. Even if there are refugees, they’ll run to Hui Yi and Hui Wu Base."

After the Great Biological Evolution, humanity abandoned their original homes to survive, gathering together to establish bases. In the two or three years after the Natural Disasters began, hundreds of bases of all sizes were established across Hua Country. However, as Evolutionary Biology and the environment continued to worsen, only forty-four now remained. To facilitate management and coordinated defense, these forty-four bases were divided into five base groups. The core was the Red City Base group, composed of eleven bases, with Red One Base serving as the capital of Hua Country. The seven northern bases formed the Bai City Base group, the ten western bases formed the Lan City Base group, the ten central bases formed the Hui City Base group, and the six southern bases formed the Gui City Base group.

As the name suggested, Xiaqing’s Hui San Base was the third-largest base in the Hui City Base group by population. South of Hui San Base were Hui Yi and Hui Wu Base. Five hundred kilometers southwest of Hui Wu Base was Gui San Base, which faced the greatest threat from marine creatures.

Just as Tang Huai said, if Gui San Base were to fall, the northbound refugees would definitely hit Hui Yi and Hui Wu Base first.

But Kuang Qingwei was still worried. "Brother Tang, I remember Gui San Base has two and a half million people. Even if only two million escape, and just under half of them head north into the Hui City Base group, Hui Yi and Hui San can’t accommodate nearly a million refugees. I think they’ll definitely be selective about who they take in and let the rest of the refugees continue north."

Xiaqing nodded in agreement. Every base was struggling on the brink of subsistence right now. Letting in several hundred thousand people would surely cause them to collapse.

Tang Huai didn’t speak. An unfamiliar voice sounded over the channel, "These things can only be arranged by the higher-ups. It’s useless for us to worry. We just need to farm our own land well and make sure we don’t starve to death."

As soon as his voice fell, Tang Huai immediately asked, "Beard, you’re going to farm?!"

The man on Land No. 1 cursed back, "The name’s Hu Zifeng! I took a team mission to guard Land No. 1, so what if I farm? Keep running your goddamn mouth and I’ll come over there right now and blow your fucking head off."

Everyone...

Compared to Luo Pei, who had been taken away by plane, this newcomer on Land No. 1 had a really bad temper.

The Level 5 Visual Evolver, Hu Zifeng, had been sent over as a squad leader to protect Xiaqing and the Third Territory. This mission was a perfect fit for Hu Zifeng, who excelled at long-range sniping.

Xiaqing was incredibly pleased with her security captain for the coming year.

Tang Huai, who had misspoken out of surprise, didn’t dare to make another peep. Zhang San’s lazy voice came over the channel, "This is Zhang San from Land No. 7. Found anything good to eat on Land No. 1?"

Hu Zifeng reined in his temper and replied calmly, "We’re clearing Injurious Grass. So far, we’ve only found a few newly sprouted peanut and ginger seedlings. We’ll trade with everyone when we have something good later."

Zhang San eagerly placed his order, "When you harvest the peanuts, I’ll take as many as you’re willing to give."

Xiaqing chimed in, "I want the ginger." She had very little ginger—only six plants.

Qi Fu and Zhao Ze spoke at the same time. "Brother Feng, this is Zhao Ze from Land No. 4," one said. "And Qi Fu from Land No. 5," said the other. "We need ginger too."

They didn’t dare compete with Zhang San for what he wanted, so they could only try to claim something else.

Hu Zifeng replied, "Sure. We’ll trade with everyone after the harvest. We got here late and missed the planting season, so I don’t know if the seeds will sprout. Does anyone have a lot of seedlings on their land? Can we trade for them with points or supplies?"

Kuang Qingwei—who had run a fruit shop before the Natural Disasters, dabbled in supplies in the Safe Zone after they began, and wanted to continue as a Second-hand Dealer now that the territories were established—immediately asked, "Brother Feng, you just got here so you probably don’t know. We already agreed on the terms for trading vegetable seedlings: one for one. You can also buy them for 100 points each. As for supplies, we trade them based on their value, calculated using Safe Zone prices. What kind of supplies can you offer, Brother Feng?"

Xiaqing sat up, her finger hovering over the talk button on her walkie-talkie.

Hu Zifeng replied, "We just arrived, so we don’t have many supplies. But I brought two small micro-tillers. After getting here, I realized Land No. 1 isn’t big enough to need two, so I want to trade one. I had to pull some strings to get this machine from the Planting Center. It’s brand new. 5,000 points."

A gas-guzzling micro-tiller in exchange for fifty vegetable seedlings?! No one was interested. Manpower was still more cost-effective.

’Time to put on the show.’

Xiaqing pressed the button. Following the others’ example, she called out respectfully, "Brother Feng, this is Xiaqing from the Third Territory. I’d like to trade with you. I have garlic, perilla, tomato, pumpkin, eggplant, and cucumber seedlings. The perilla and garlic can be transplanted now, but the others will need another half a month. Also, in a little over a month, I’ll have spinach seeds to trade."

Hu Zifeng played his part and replied, "Alright. Ten each of the tomato, cucumber, eggplant, and pumpkin seedlings. How many spinach seeds can I get for the remaining points?"

The growth cycle of spinach is about 40 days. In the later stages of growth, it bolts and goes to seed, and these seeds can be replanted to get more spinach.

Xiaqing played her role as well, haggling, "My spinach is a Green Light food. How about 100 points for five seeds?"

"Deal."

The moment Hu Zifeng’s voice faded, Zhang San’s rang out. "Xiaqing, it’s me, your Brother San. How much of that Green Light Spinach do you have? Can I trade for it now? Name your price."

Qi Fu jumped in too. "Little Xia, it’s Old Qi! I want spinach seeds too. Can I trade vegetable seedlings for them?"

"Sis, I want some too." Zhao Ze and Kuang Qingwei immediately chimed in, trying to sound friendly, and the channel descended into chaos.

Zhang San played his trump card. "Xiaqing, my Evolution Cat is pregnant."

Kittens!!!

Xiaqing’s heart pounded with excitement, but before she could speak, Tang Huai cut in. "Brother San, I want a cat! Name your price."

"Piss off. I don’t trade with Land No. 2." After cursing out Tang Huai, Zhang San turned back to Xiaqing with a friendly, wheedling tone. "So, Xiaqing... want a kitten? When my cat gives birth, you can take your pick."

Faced with the prospect of fluffy little kittens, Sheep Leader suddenly lost all its appeal. Xiaqing’s heart was racing, but she said, "Brother San, of course I want a cat. But I only have a few spinach plants. If I pull them up to trade with you, I won’t have any seeds. Besides, Evolution Cats are hard to raise. How do you get it to stay, Brother San? If I have to keep it in a cage, then I don’t want it."

Before the evolution, cats were people’s masters. After evolving, they upgraded directly to ’retired emperors.’ They weren’t creatures humans could keep just because they wanted to. If you kept one in a cage, it would drive you to a mental breakdown.

Zhang San immediately replied, "No need for a cage. As long as you have fish, the cat will come back to eat when it’s hungry. After you get the cat, you can trade for dried fish from me. Green Light vegetables will do. I don’t need all the spinach, either. Just pull up a few plants for me to try."

Xiaqing...

Zhang San added to his offer, "I can also trade you a home food dehydrator and a home fully-automatic vacuum sealer."

Xiaqing guessed Zhang San’s intention. "Brother San, does this mean I’ll have to trade with you for the vacuum sealer bags too?"

Zhang San laughed happily. "Heh heh, you could also buy them from the patrol teams, but I guarantee mine are the best quality."

With fungi and bacteria also evolving at an accelerated rate, food was difficult to preserve. A dehydrator that could quickly dry food and a vacuum sealer that could truly suck out all the air to extend its shelf life were high-priced supplies in the Safe Zone that you couldn’t get even if you fought for them.

If she could have both, she could dehydrate and seal fresh vegetables to preserve them for several months.

Zhang San was really sparing no expense just for a taste of spinach.

While incredibly tempted, Xiaqing remained extremely cautious. "I really only have a few spinach plants, and I can’t guarantee they’ll still be Green Light after a Harmful Rain. I need to keep them all to go to seed. Can we trade after the spinach produces seeds and I’ve planted the next crop?"

Zhang San was very agreeable. "That’s also an option, but my cat and my supplies are hot commodities. If you want to reserve them now, you’ll have to pay a deposit with spinach. You don’t have to pull up the plants, just pinch off all the edible leaves."

Xiaqing...