Chapter 90: Diligently Digging for Bugs

Chapter 90: Chapter 90: Diligently Digging for Bugs

"Leader, help me press the button on the walkie-talkie." Xiaqing, who was holding a heavy object, certainly wouldn’t interrupt her training just to talk to Tang Huai.

The Sheep Leader, lying beside Xiaqing, stretched out a forehoof and accurately pressed the button on the walkie-talkie. It had seen Xiaqing do this countless times and had long since learned how.

"Here," Xiaqing said, then went silent. The Sheep Leader released its hoof and squinted its sheep eyes at her.

Xiaqing immediately rattled off, "Leader, you’re so smart! You’re truly the sheep who stands at the pinnacle of the Blue Star Pyramid, the one who will make history for all of Blue Star’s Evolutionary Sheep! I’ll make you something delicious tomorrow morning."

Thinking it would get a delicious reward tomorrow, the Sheep Leader was satisfied and resumed chewing its cud.

Tang Huai angrily asked, "What have you been busy with in your territory today, thumping around with that sheep all day long?"

’The plan she’d discussed with Luo Pei could begin.’ Xiaqing narrowed her eyes. "Leader, press the walkie-talkie button."

The Sheep Leader put out its hoof and held the button down. Xiaqing yelled angrily into it, "Is Captain Tan there? The Second Territory is spying on my territory! I’m asking Captain Tan to uphold justice!"

Tang Huai...

Everyone...

Tan Junjie replied seriously, "Received. I’ll handle it immediately."

Everyone...

Tang Huai cursed, "Xiaqing, you’ve gone too far! I was just asking a question! What are you so worked up about? Or did you do something shady and have a guilty conscience?"

"Bullshit!" Xiaqing couldn’t be bothered to get into a war of words with Tang Huai, but Hu Zifeng, who relished this kind of thing, immediately chimed in. "You fucking listened in on her all day, and now you have the nerve to turn it around and say *she’s* the one with a guilty conscience doing shady things? I’d say you’re the shady one here!"

Tang Huai was choked up. "I didn’t listen all day."

Hu Zifeng sneered, "What, you don’t even dare to admit what you just said? Everyone here has ears, and Captain Tan heard you too."

Tang Huai panicked a little. "Captain Tan, let me explain! I was just exaggerating a bit. I wasn’t eavesdropping."

Tan Junjie replied seriously, "Meet me under the No. 2 signpost in ten minutes."

Tang Huai...

Li Si from Territory No. 9 spoke up coldly, "You from the Second Territory, if you dare to squat by the edge of Territory No. 9 and eavesdrop, I’ll immediately deploy poison and make everything that breathes in the Second Territory shut up for good."

Tang Huai...

"Fourth Sister, this is Xu Pin, Deputy Captain of the Su Feng Team. I apologize on behalf of the people from the Second Territory for upsetting you. I will deal with the relevant personnel sternly. Please rest assured."

’That’s Xu Pin for you,’ Xiaqing frowned. ’Such a pompous, bureaucratic tone. Even his voice is repulsive.’

Li Si had the distinct manner of a scientific researcher. "Su Feng Team? Never heard of it. They’re your people. How you choose to deal with them is your business and has nothing to do with me. I only arrange the optimal course of action based on the current situation."

Xiaqing, still holding the stone, nodded. Although her idol didn’t like Li Si, Xiaqing found that Li Si was quite to her own taste.

Inside the Second Territory, Xu Pin, who had lost face in public, said with a dark expression, "You caused this mess. You go deal with it."

Tang Huai left the house, swearing under his breath as he headed for the signpost. He sprayed a repellent to drive away the Evolved Insects attracted by the light of his Protective Mask. "Xiaqing, you just wait! Sooner or later, I’m going to kill you."

After he said that, Tang Huai didn’t hear his younger brother Tang Heng’s attempts to calm him down. He then realized his brother hadn’t followed him out. Listening more carefully, he heard his brother was actually inside, busy trying to appease Xu Pin. Tang Huai’s rage was suddenly replaced by a complex, indescribable emotion.

When he reached the signpost, Tang Huai confessed before Tan Junjie could even ask. "Captain Tan, I wasn’t intentionally eavesdropping on the Third Territory. I was in the northern part of the Second Territory, digging for insects and looking for rats. The Third Territory was just making a lot of noise, so I heard it. If you don’t believe me, I can take you there. You’ll see plenty of holes where I was digging for insects."

Tan Junjie, wearing his Protective Mask, asked, "The location you’re indicating is at least five hundred meters away from where Lord No. 3 was active. Why were you able to hear sounds from the Third Territory so clearly?"

Not wanting to be treated as a criminal for trespassing on someone else’s territory, Tang Huai had to prove his innocence. "I’m a Level 5 Hearing Evolver. Xiaqing was making a huge racket, so I could hear her."

Tan Junjie nodded. "Then why did you list yourself as a normal person when submitting your registration data?"

Surrounded by evolved flying insects, Tang Huai waved his arms in frustration to drive them away. "I hid my ability for self-preservation, of course. That’s not against the law, is it, Captain Tan?"

"It’s not against the law. However, over the past three months, the patrol team has spotted you dozens of times near the borders of No. 1 Territory, the Third Territory, and Territory No. 7. Therefore, we have reason to be suspicious of your motives for concealing your ability. Please come with us to cooperate with the investigation." Tan Junjie had his team members take Tang Huai back to the investigation team’s dormitory for questioning.

Tang Huai wasn’t released until noon the next day. He returned to the Second Territory on unsteady feet, only to be subjected to another round of interrogation by Xu Pin. He felt like he was about to collapse.

"What, you’re still not convinced?" Xu Pin’s face was dark. "I think you’ve dug for so many insects your brain has turned to mush! Xiaqing from the Third Territory was an unofficial member of Luo Pei’s squad back in the Safe Zone, and now she’s with Hu Zifeng. You openly exposed your own crime on the Lord channel. It’d be a surprise if she didn’t use this opportunity to screw you over and curry favor with Hu Zifeng."

"From now on, Tang Heng is in charge of daily affairs in the Second Territory. Give him the walkie-talkie too. You and Zhou Xun are on 24-hour surveillance of No. 1 Territory. If you can’t even handle that, you can get lost and go back to guarding the gates in the Safe Zone!" Xu Pin didn’t want to waste any more time on an idiot and waved him away.

Tang Heng chased Tang Huai out of the house, comforting him in a low voice as they walked. "There’s lunch left in the kitchen. Brother, eat and then get some rest. Let Zhou Xun keep an eye on things for now."

Although Tan Junjie had interrogated him for over ten hours, they had at least fed him. Tang Huai walked straight to the overgrown grass separating the Second Territory from No. 1 Territory, lay down, and stared blankly at the sky.

Zhou Xun knew his boss had been wronged and cursed in a hushed voice, "It’s all that bitch’s fault. Sooner or later, we’ll find a chance to take care of her."

"You’d better behave. If something happens, I can’t protect you." After saying that, Tang Huai closed his eyes and started snoring.

After the Auditory Evolver, Da Jiang, returned to the small building and reported the situation, Hu Zifeng laughed with schadenfreude. "Tang Huai definitely got an earful from Xu Pin."

Luo Pei called Xie Yu. "Xu Pin released Evolutionary Rats in the Second Territory, causing Tang Huai to lose two of his ordinary team members. This has escalated Tang Huai’s dissatisfaction with Xu Pin. Also, Tang Huai is gradually developing a strong interest in farming and digging for insects, so he isn’t diligently carrying out the surveillance mission assigned by the Su Feng Team. I think we can use this. We can get Tang Zhengpo to leave the Safe Zone and come to the territories. He can develop and grow his strength here, and we can dismantle the Tang Family from within."

Xie Yu, the second-in-command of the Green Dragon Team, laughed on the other end of the line. "Brother Luo, that’s not a bad strategy. I’ll have the team doctor check you out later. I feel like that poisoning you went through might have triggered a brain domain evolution."

Luo Pei laughed. "Whatever! It wasn’t my idea. It was a friend’s."

"Xiaqing? I’m getting more and more curious about her." Xie Yu, the Brain Domain Evolver, quickly laid out a timeline to implement the plan. "I’ll arrange it. Xu Pin will return to the Safe Zone within three days, and we’ll have Tang Zhengpo go over to farm within five days. That way, Tang Huai can dig for his insects in peace."

Tang Zhengpo is Tang Huai and Tang Heng’s father. As you can tell by their names, he is the cousin of Tang Zhengrong, the Hui San Deputy Base Commander, and Tang Zhengsu, the captain of the Su Feng Team. Before the Natural Disaster, Tang Zhengpo was a well-known entrepreneur and was doing much better than Tang Zhengsu.

After the Natural Disaster, he and his younger son failed to evolve and remained ordinary people. Although his eldest son, Tang Huai, evolved into a High Level ability user, it was an auditory ability with little practical combat use. As a result, their branch of the family gradually declined and was suppressed by Tang Zhengsu. Although Tang Huai joined the Su Feng Team, he never managed to break into its upper echelons.

"Tang Zhengpo used to be a powerful figure in the Tang Family. Isn’t five days a bit rushed?" Luo Pei asked.

Xie Yu laughed like a fox on the other end. "Because Tang Zhengrong took Tang Zheng to Hui Yi Base One to explain the matter of the evolved potato seeds. They’ll be back in five days."

Luo Pei also laughed. "Ah, then we really do need to move quickly. The Second Territory belongs to Tang Lu, so Tang Zhengpo would be suppressed even if he went there. It just so happens that Territory No. 12 is empty. It would be more suitable for him to become the Lord of No.12."

Tang Zhengsu and Tang Zhengpo do not get along, so he suppresses him at every turn, never giving him a chance to rise again. The fact that the two brothers, Tang Huai and Tang Heng, were exiled to the Second Territory for this mission was definitely Tang Zhengsu’s doing.

In that case, let’s move Tang Zhengpo over too, and let this branch of the Tang Family rise again to fight Tang Zhengsu internally. That way, the thorn that the Tang Family planted next to the old regimental headquarters and the Green Dragon Team will become a blade that tears the Tang Family apart.

Luo Pei had to admit, this idea really didn’t seem like something the farm-obsessed Xiaqing could have come up with.