Chapter 92: Agricultural Trade Fair

Chapter 92: Chapter 92: Agricultural Trade Fair

After confirming that only one Evolutionary Wolf had attacked the Wild Boar Breeding Center this time, Xiaqing first had Chen Cheng and Chen Zheng return to No.1 Territory before calling Luo Pei. "Brother Luo, I’m in the Evolution Forest north of the breeding center. I ran into the wolf that attacked the wild boars. It’s not the same one as last time. Both of its ears are intact, but it’s also very strong, smart, and fast."

"Okay. Don’t leave your territory for the next few days. The Evolutionary Wolf might come back." After hanging up with Xiaqing, Luo Pei called Yang Jin directly. "Ah Jin, pull back. We can’t move forward with the plan to find the spring."

Yang Jin, who had already led his team to Mountain No. 55, asked, "What’s the situation?"

Luo Pei explained, "An Evolutionary Wolf just attacked the Wild Boar Breeding Center and killed two wild boars. The Wolf Group probably thought you were going after them for revenge, so they came to kill the boars as a warning."

In the eyes of the Evolutionary Wolves, humans living in clusters were a single tribe. If the humans pushed deeper, the Wolf Group would definitely attack the breeding center again. If the humans didn’t retreat even after all the boars were killed, the wolves’ attack range might expand to the humans in the surrounding territories.

Yang Jin gazed at the dense Evolution Forest that blotted out the sky and quickly made the most advantageous decision. "Brother Luo, report this up the chain. Make the situation sound as serious as possible. Get the people at the Wild Boar Breeding Center to move out as soon as they can. Also, tell Xie Yu to figure out a way to get the Safe Zone to ’forcefully shove’ that piece of land from the breeding center onto us."

Times had changed. Previously, Yang Jin had proposed enclosing the valley to build the breeding center to improve the safety of the nearby territories. Now that Mountain No. 49 belonged to the Green Dragon Team and the boars at the breeding center were almost all dead, the center no longer had any reason to exist.

With the Wild Boar Breeding Center attacked by an Evolutionary Wolf again, the military sent personnel to strengthen the protection of the territories near the center. The various Lords were also told not to leave their territories.

Within the territories, everything continued as usual. After living through ten years of the Natural Disaster, it wasn’t a rare event for a wolf to kill a person, let alone a pig. The humans lucky enough to have survived had to keep striving just to stay alive.

The next day, Zhong Tao and Zheng Kui drove their pickup truck to deliver the eight hundred catties of earthworm castings Xiaqing had ordered, dropping them off under the road sign for the Third Territory.

Zhong Tao accepted the twenty Green Light Spinach Seeds from Xiaqing’s trade with Sun Zhe for the earthworm castings and said with genuine envy, "Sister Xiaqing, you’re really something. It’s only been a few months, and you can already trade Green Light vegetable seeds for supplies."

These twenty seeds were, of course, the ordinary Green Light Spinach Seeds from Zhang San. Xiaqing complained, "I only found a dozen or so Green Light Spinach plants in my territory. I babied them like my own ancestors for over two months, and just when they were about to go to seed, I had the bad luck of being hit by the Harmful Rain and lost over half of them. I only have a little over two hundred seeds left. If I didn’t desperately need the earthworm castings for planting, I wouldn’t have parted with them."

A little over two hundred spinach seeds sounded like a lot, but considering the germination rate, it really wasn’t. Zhong Tao didn’t press the matter of the spinach seeds and instead asked about Xiaqing’s losses during the Harmful Rain. "Sister, you prepared so much rainproof cloth. Your losses shouldn’t be too bad this time, right?"

"My other crops only lost about a third, but the potatoes were a huge loss." Xiaqing had a look of lingering fear. "Four of my potato plants underwent a dangerous, aggressive Qiang Evolution. They knocked down my rain shelters, and I got whipped by the potato vines a dozen times. If my body hadn’t evolved, it’s debatable whether I would have survived. Brother Tao, did you guys run into an Evolved Beast?"

Through their Protective Masks, Xiaqing could see that both Zhong Tao and Zheng Kui had several cuts on their faces freshly treated with antiseptic. It was obvious they had just finished a fight.

Zhong Tao cursed, "Not an Evolved Beast. We ran into robbers on the way from the North First District. If Kui Zi and I didn’t have guns, we would’ve been goners on the road today."

The fifty territories in the northern part of Hui San Base were divided into two large sections. One section included territories No. 1 to No. 26, near the old regimental headquarters. The other included territories No. 29 to No. 50, near the Safe Zone. The two sections were separated by nearly thirty miles of ruined towns and forests. Although the area in between had been cleared, it was still fraught with all kinds of dangers.

Robbing transport vehicles was a low-risk, high-reward activity, and for many groups of people, it was the primary way they acquired supplies.

Logically, since Zhong Tao and Zheng Kui were constantly on the road, their vigilance and Combat Power Values shouldn’t be low. They shouldn’t have fallen for such a trick.

Before Xiaqing could even ask, Zhong Tao continued, "Today, we saw a woman carrying a child being chased by an Evolutionary Rat, so I got out of the truck to help. It’s been ten years since the Natural Disaster, and some motherfuckers are still using children as bait! I almost died at that woman’s hands!"

Xiaqing was also surprised. Starting in the seventh year of the Natural Disaster, Hua Country had enacted a series of measures to protect women and children. In the Safe Zone, women of childbearing age and children under twelve could receive a free ration to ensure they wouldn’t starve to death. If a child possessed a multi-level Evolutionary Ability, the benefits were even greater.

Under such a policy, for a woman with a child to give up a stable life in the Safe Zone to become a highway robber was indeed a rare sight.

Xiaqing asked which direction the woman had fled, then opened the lid of her back basket. "I got lucky and caught a Red Light Porcupine while patrolling my territory. Brother Tao, could you please help me exchange it for salt? The good kind. As for these two Yellow Light Snakes, you and Brother Kui can take them back to replenish your strength."

Having traded so many times, Zhong Tao and Zheng Kui knew Xiaqing didn’t eat snakes, so they didn’t stand on ceremony with her, simply thanking her and accepting the gift.

After taking the items, Zhong Tao became more talkative. "It’s a good thing you’re an Evolver, Sister. A normal person would be dead after four or five lashes from those potato vines, let alone a dozen. You probably haven’t heard yet, have you..."

Zhong Tao glanced around and lowered his voice.

Xiaqing leaned forward slightly, her eyes fixed on Zhong Tao, assuming a posture of rapt attention.

"During the second Harmful Rain, because of the potatoes’ dangerous Qiang Evolution, the number of deaths in the territories was..." Zhong Tao first held up one finger, then two, then three.

’One hundred twenty-three people?’ Xiaqing sucked in a sharp breath. "That many?"

"The number of injured is definitely higher. The base didn’t even dare to report the figures. The guys in our transport team compared notes privately, and in our North District alone, over a hundred people were injured by the whippings. And how many people are there in each territory, anyway?" Zhong Tao sighed.

Xiaqing pretended not to know this was related to the Tang Family and said with a look of righteous indignation, "How could the Safe Zone distribute such dangerous seeds!"

"Tell me about it." Zhong Tao sighed. "I heard a rumor that this has something to do with the Tang Family. Logically, it shouldn’t, though."

Lying on the grass in the Second Territory and eavesdropping, Tang Huai’s expression turned very ugly.

From the way Zhong Tao spoke, Xiaqing knew she wouldn’t get any more information about that matter, so she changed the subject. "Has the base said anything about how they’ll compensate the Lords for the losses caused by the potato seed issue?"

"There will definitely be compensation, they just haven’t worked out the details yet. I heard they’re planning to compensate with seeds. I’ll let you know once it’s decided." After finishing the gossip, Zhong Tao smiled and asked Xiaqing, "Sister, do you have a lot of vegetables in your field? Brother Kui and I would like to trade for some."

Being cautious, Xiaqing didn’t agree immediately. "My losses from the Harmful Rain weren’t small either, and I’ve been trading vegetables with other Lords these past few days to get by. The seedlings that survived the rain need some time to recover. They should have grown more by the time you come back next. What are you looking to trade for?"

Xiaqing had already ordered another eight hundred catties of earthworm castings from Sun Zhe, with the trade date still set for twenty days later. By the time the next batch of castings arrived, it would be time for her to harvest her wheat and prepare to plant corn, mung beans, and rice. She would need a large amount of organic fertilizer, and by then, she could trade some vegetables with Zhong Tao and the others.

Zhong Tao quickly listed his requests, "I want tomatoes and cucumbers. We don’t get a turn at the good stuff from the Safe Zone, and my nephew at home is dying for some."

Zheng Kui was even more eager. "Green beans, eggplant, squash—anything will do. Sister, however much you can part with, I’ll take it."

Logically, since Zhong Tao and Zheng Kui had direct contact with fifty territories, they shouldn’t be short on vegetables. Xiaqing didn’t ask any further questions and just nodded in agreement. "The squash hasn’t started growing yet, but the others are possible. If they’re fully ripe and you haven’t come by, I’ll dry them first..."

"Just give us a shout when they’re almost ripe, Sister. We’re on the road every day, so it’s no trouble to swing by," Zhong Tao said cheerfully.

Before leaving, Zheng Kui revealed an important piece of news to Xiaqing. "I heard the base is planning to hold a Lord’s agricultural product fair next month."

"An agricultural product fair?" This was new information. Xiaqing pressed, "What’s it for? Where are they holding it?"