Chapter 1020: Sealing the Dark River Passage

The Devastation Rain season was almost here. Section Three still had a lot to prepare. Xia Qing also needed to review contingency plans from the Ninth Center and Hill Fifty. She had no time to waste.

Xia Qing unzipped her backpack and pulled out a half-meter-long cube-shaped underwater robot. She hooked a rope through the loop at its top, lowered it into the water, then used the camera’s screen to watch what was happening below.

Last autumn, Xia Qing had seen Zhang Song use this equipment to search for water rats from Territory Nine sent into Section Three’s reservoir. She’d studied the manual again last night, learning how to operate the machine. Stumbling through the first couple of minutes, she soon got the hang of piloting it to inspect the underwater scene.

The robot’s lights cut through the dark, deep water. Fish, other aquatic creatures, and water plants growing along the pond walls drifted past on the screen. The Alpha, Crippled Wolf, and Xia Qing all watched intently.

For the Evolved Wolves, the world beneath the water was completely new. That must be why they were so fascinated.

But Xia Qing had another reason to focus. Crippled Wolf had already given her all of the pond’s water plants. She scoured the underwater view for any valuable medicinal herbs—anything she could harvest later to exchange for credits.

Alpha and Crippled Wolf stood on either side of Xia Qing, both watching the display. Little Wolf and his little sister lounged atop a rock above. Little Wolf looked intensely serious as he watched the looping rope disappear into the water, while his sister sprawled on her back, sunning her soft, fluffy belly.

“Your Majesty, Broken Back—look here! There’s the tunnel between the pond and the hidden river.”

Xia Qing pressed the handle’s button to stop the robot in place. She pointed to a hole on the screen and read out the numbers above it. “Depth: 28.24 meters. The passage is nearly round, about 2.5 meters wide. With a tunnel this size, both giant pythons and crocodiles could come through easily.”

Alpha fixed his gaze on the distant, lamp-lit mouth of the passage that stretched on into darkness. His lips curled back, exposing sharp fangs, and a low growl rumbled from his throat. Clearly, it brought back unpleasant memories.

Xia Qing didn’t flinch, but Little Wolf, perched on the rock, shrank back at once. His little sister quickly rolled to her feet, pretending to stare seriously at the water.

“28.24 meters—that’s about as high as from here up to that big rock! This pond’s deep,” Xia Qing explained, gesturing to the wolves as she talked. “I’m blocking off that huge hole at the bottom today so no giant python or croc can crawl in from the hidden river. Once the Devastation Rain is over, I’ll come back and fill it in the rest of the way.”

Crippled Wolf flashed a toothy, lopsided grin, baring his small fangs in agreement.

“All right—let’s get to work!”

Xia Qing studied the terrain at the bottom, found an underwater channel where a rock would roll straight down to block the passage, then followed that channel up past the surface and chose several nearly-round rocks, each just over two meters across.

First she chopped down any trees in the way, then grabbed her hammer to knock off the sharp corners of the rocks. After that, she just needed to lever them loose and tumble them into the pond.

This kind of job? Xia Qing was an old hand by now.

She quickly loosened the base of the first stone, and, with a group of wolves—big and small—watching, gave a strong push. The rock thundered down into the pond.

The crash sent an enormous splash flying sky-high, and the wolves let out a chorus of cheers. Xia Qing had never seen such excitement when she filled Python Pond before.

She guessed that, during last year’s python invasion of Hill Fifty-Five, the snakes might have crawled out from this very spot.

After rolling down three more rocks, Xia Qing put the underwater robot back in and, together with the wolf pack’s two leaders, checked that the tunnel’s lower half—shaped like a funnel—was now blocked.

With things sealed off this well, even a giant python would have a tough time clearing a path. And if there’s a commotion, the wolves would know and have time to get ready.

Realizing this, Alpha threw back his head and let out a long, mournful howl. The rest of the pack joined in. Xia Qing figured they were mourning their comrades who’d fallen in last July’s battle for territory.

It was such a solemn moment that Xia Qing didn’t join the howling pack. Instead, she set up her tent, put on a wetsuit, and dove into the pond.

She wanted to collect the ripe herbs she’d spotted earlier before continuing to fill the pond.

As soon as Xia Qing splashed in, Little Wolf leaped down from the rock and trotted to her tent, sniffing around everywhere.

Soon five young wolves from the hillside bounded down to join him, poking around Xia Qing’s tent. Alpha, Lame Wolf, and a big gray-brown female wolf watched in silence, making no move to stop the pups.

Ten minutes later, Xia Qing came up for air. Instantly, the wolf pups dashed off to hide. The moment she dove under again, they returned to keep poking around the tent.

It didn’t take clever Little Wolf long to find the right spot. Using his nimble paw, he hooked the zipper and opened the tent!

Just as the pups were about to celebrate, knowledgeable Crippled Wolf bounded over and zipped it back up. Xia Qing’s backpack and equipment were inside; no way could the pups play with those.

The fifth time Xia Qing surfaced, she placed a soggy bag of herbs on the shore, asked Crippled Wolf to guard them, took a deep breath, and dove back in.

At a depth of fifteen meters, a giant boulder jutted out from the wall. Xia Qing examined it closely. If she could pry off this stone, the wall would collapse and fill the funnel-shaped bottom. Even if that Black Loach from Python Pond worked day and night, there’d be no way to dig the passage open again.

But fifteen meters down, water pressure was two and a half times normal, and the temperature was much colder than near the surface. Prying rocks underwater was way tougher than on land.

After ten minutes of hard work, Xia Qing finally cracked open a half-meter-wide fissure. Just as she was about to surface for air, a sudden surge hit her from behind.

Some kind of huge aquatic creature was rushing toward her—fast.

All the harsh training with Yan Long and countless practice dives at Section Three’s reservoir finally paid off in this moment.

In a flash Xia Qing spun around, catching sight of a giant crocodile, limbs tucked in tight, tail slicing through the water as it shot toward her.

If a crocodile that size got its massive jaws on her, she’d be lucky to survive at all.

Xia Qing had never fought a croc this big, but she didn’t hesitate. As it lunged, she dodged the jaws, jammed her Black Blade’s short edge into its lower jaw with all her might, and slammed her right fist hard under its chin.

“Bang!”

“Bang, bang!”

As the croc’s head jerked up from the blow, Xia Qing twisted in the water and delivered two savage kicks.

She went all out, but it still wasn’t enough to knock the crocodile unconscious.

Blood and pain only enraged the massive beast. It spun, lashing its tail at Xia Qing, but as the pond water surged into a whirlpool, she used the current to swim clear.

Crocodiles don’t normally hunt with their tails. And this one didn’t just sit at the bottom of a thunderous, rock-filled pond for an hour waiting to ambush someone. Clearly, it was no ordinary croc.

Xia Qing, lungs burning, was certain—she was up against a Brain-Evolved Giant Crocodile.

It had chosen a perfect moment to strike. Too bad it picked the wrong target.

When the crocodile lunged again, Xia Qing flung a waterproof, custom-made grenade—thanks to an old friend—straight down its throat.

“I’m no Yan Long—I don’t care about fighting fair. If I can’t knock you out or pierce your hide, then I’ll just blow you to pieces!”