Chapter 46: Distributing the Spoils

Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Distributing the Spoils

Hu Zifeng’s team took care of the fifty-plus Evolved Bamboo Rats in less than ten minutes.

The whole time, Xiaqing was only responsible for standing in the center of the team to "protect" the bamboo shoots in the bags. In reality, the team was protecting both her and the shoots. This was different from the dangerous situations Xiaqing had encountered on previous missions.

Team members who undertook missions outside the Safe Zone could generally be divided into three categories: the team’s main combat force, internal logistics members, and temporarily recruited external logistics personnel.

Xiaqing didn’t belong to any team and had always taken on missions as external logistics personnel.

When encountering danger, both external and internal logistics members had to run to the side of the fully armed main combat members for protection as quickly as possible.

The main combat members had an obligation to protect all logistics personnel, but when faced with uncontrollable danger, many teams’ default practice was to abandon the external members as bait to cover the team’s retreat.

That was why Xiaqing was very selective, doing her best to avoid teaming up with such squads. She chose to go on missions with teams like Luo Pei’s and Xu Juan’s precisely because they treated their external members like human beings.

The reasons she didn’t join a team were threefold. ’First, while a team is a shield against danger, it’s also a shackle on my freedom. Second, Strength Evolvers aren’t highly valued even within teams and don’t get a large share of points. Third, I’m a Three Systems Evolver, and if I go on long-term missions with the same group of people, my cover will be blown.’

’I’m afraid of being captured for research.’

Xiaqing didn’t have any lofty goals. She didn’t want to become some powerful figure, calling the shots; she just wanted to live a quiet, stable life.

Now that the combat was over, it was her turn to step up. Xiaqing volunteered, "Captain Hu, should I clean up the battlefield?"

Hu Zifeng knew Xiaqing often went on missions with Brother Luo’s team, so he nodded. "Miss Xia, you and Guan Tong will clean up the battlefield. The rest of you, stay on guard."

Guan Tong quickly pulled a stack of vacuum-seal bags and disposable plastic gloves from his protective vest pocket and handed them to Xiaqing. "Miss Xia, let’s bag and seal all the bamboo rats as fast as we can. Watch out for venomous snakes."

Xiaqing was all too familiar with this work. She deftly picked up the Evolved Bamboo Rats, bagged them, and handed them to Guan Tong, who had taken out a small vacuum sealer to preserve them.

A bamboo pit viper, attracted by the smell of blood, slithered slowly down a bamboo stalk, intending to swallow the bamboo rat in front of Xiaqing. Xiaqing stunned the snake with a smack of her machete and put it into a separate vacuum-seal bag. Just then, she heard a noise three meters above her head. However, she didn’t dodge, because Hu Zifeng was standing guard right beside her.

Hu Zifeng raised a hand and snatched the venomous snake as it lunged down to attack, handing it to Xiaqing. She stunned it with another smack of her blade, bagged it, and gave it to Guan Tong to seal.

Live ones were worth more than dead ones. It didn’t matter if it was an Evolutionary Snake nearly two meters long and as thick as a man’s arm; even the most powerful Evolutionary Animal would suffocate without air.

They finished cleaning the battlefield in less than five minutes. Guan Tong, the Strength Evolver, picked up the large bag of bamboo rats and snakes and hoisted the largest sack of bamboo shoots onto his back.

Xiaqing, also a Strength Evolver, hoisted another sack of bamboo shoots—one that was more than half her height—onto her back. She then picked up two more bags to carry by hand and stood beside Guan Tong.

Hu Zifeng and the other three men shouldered their smaller backpacks, formed a protective perimeter around Xiaqing and Guan Tong—the designated porters—and retreated from the Evolution Forest the way they came.

The trip took seven hours. No one removed their Protective Mask the entire time. When they got hungry, they just bit down on the straw below their mouths inside the masks to drink some nutrient liquid. The nutrient liquid tasted about as bad as could be, but it quickly replenished their energy and was an essential supply for any team on a mission inside the Evolution Forest.

After exiting the Evolution Forest, Hu Zifeng took off his Protective Mask to speak with Xiaqing. "Miss Xia, the shoots you dug up yourself are yours. As for the rest of the shoots, the snakes, and the bamboo rats, shall we divide them according to the Safe Zone’s rules?"

Xiaqing removed her mask and agreed, "Of course. And Captain Hu, you don’t have to be so formal. You can just call me Xiaqing."

Hu Zifeng was also a straightforward person. "Alright. We’ll take the supplies back to be inspected and cleaned first, and then I’ll bring your share over. How many cans do you want to trade for?"

"Is one okay?" Canned food was a hot commodity, and Xiaqing didn’t know how many they had brought out of the Safe Zone, so she didn’t ask for more. Besides, the Evolved Perilla on her land would only yield about two pounds at most.

After watching Hu Zifeng’s team enter the No.1 Buffer Forest, Xiaqing returned to her territory with her bag of shoots. The team members who had been guarding the four corners of her territory withdrew to the No.1 Territory. Sheep Leader rushed to Xiaqing’s side, lifting its head and staring with wide, watery eyes. It greeted her with a cutesy, high-pitched bleat, "Maa."

Flush with her bountiful harvest, Xiaqing took off her sweat-wicking headband and shook out her short, damp hair. She greeted him with a smile, "Boss, I’m back safe and sound with the bamboo shoots!"

’Too bad I didn’t find any evolved giant pandas,’ she thought.

When the wheedling Sheep Leader realized Xiaqing wasn’t giving it any food, it narrowed its eyes, gestured with its spiral horns, and began to paw the ground.

Xiaqing didn’t have the energy to fight it right now. She swung the bag off her back. "Come on, I’ll feed you when we get home."

After Xiaqing left with the sheep, Zhou Xun quietly fell back some distance and hurried back to the village in the Second Territory. "Chief, Xiaqing and Hu Zifeng’s group are all back! And they brought back edible bamboo shoots!"

Tang Huai, who had spent the day digging for bugs, said nothing. Tang Heng analyzed the situation. "They were gone for seven hours. The bamboo forest must be at least five miles from here."

"Going five miles deep to find bamboo requires a well-equipped team of Evolvers." The only Evolvers in the Second Territory were Tang Huai and Zhou Xun, and neither of them were combat-oriented types. Zhou Xun wouldn’t give up. He sidled up to Tang Huai and pleaded, "Chief, let’s trade some of our supplies with No.1 Territory or the Third Territory for some bamboo shoots, please?"

When Xiaqing got home, she took out a three- or four-pound bamboo shoot, cut off a thin slice, and put it in Sheep Leader’s food bowl. By the time she finished a quick combat shower, she found Sheep Leader standing in the doorway, staring at her with its big, dramatic eyes.

"Maaaaa—"

’This guy’s even using its cutesy voice just for some food.’ The sound sent a shiver down the freshly showered Xiaqing’s spine. She walked right past Sheep Leader. "Nope. These bamboo shoots were hard to come by. We have to make them last."

"Maa!" Realizing it wasn’t getting any more, Sheep Leader started pawing the ground, ready to settle things with force.

Xiaqing didn’t want a fight, so she decisively stuffed the remaining bamboo shoots into the kitchen’s metal cabinet and locked it.

Sheep Leader stopped making a fuss, because it understood that sooner or later, it would get its share of what was in that cabinet.

Xiaqing first went to the High Slope planting area to cut a bundle of Evolved Perilla, then came back to wash and steam some rice. Once Hu Zifeng delivered her share of the supplies and the can of food, she could enjoy a delicious dinner of stir-fried bamboo shoots with meat and fragrant rice.

A little over half an hour later, Xiaqing received her share: one Yellow Light Bamboo Rat, four Red Light Bamboo Rats, and twenty pounds of Green Light Bamboo Shoots. She had also successfully traded for a can of meat.

Hu Zifeng explained to Xiaqing, "Out of the fifty-plus bamboo rats, eight of them were Yellow Light. We got a total of one hundred fifty pounds of Green Light Bamboo Shoots and fifty-eight pounds of Red Light snakes. I kept the snakes, so I’m compensating you with an extra four pounds of Green Light Bamboo Shoots for your share."

Xiaqing thanked him, took the supplies, and returned to her territory. On this mission, she had only been responsible for guiding, cleaning the battlefield, and carrying supplies, yet the share Hu Zifeng gave her already exceeded the base’s standard allocation. Xiaqing understood perfectly that the extra four pounds of Green Light Bamboo Shoots were a personal gesture from him.

It was his way of thanking her for allowing Luo Pei to receive treatment within the Third Territory.

Even though all the supplies were vacuum-sealed, the meat wouldn’t keep for more than three days.

Xiaqing glanced at the time, then went to stand on the quarantine line to wait for the inspection patrol to pass by.