Chapter 1026: Wolf-Run Hunt

The blue-faced advanced Speed Evolver running ahead was definitely faster than the Handsome Huge Wolf carrying Xia Qing.

But! Evolved Wolves have way more stamina than humans—especially when the Huge Wolf’s just downed a premium nutrient shake.

After ten minutes, the gap between human and wolf started to close. At fifteen minutes, their target was within Xia Qing’s shooting range; by fifteen and a half, she pulled the trigger.

“Bang!”

As a top sniper, she never missed the kill.

Watching the target drop, Xia Qing slung her rifle in her right hand, then patted the thick, silver-gray fur around the Huge Wolf’s neck with her left. “You can stop now, Big Wolf.”

The Handsome Huge Wolf came to a halt and shook its body vigorously.

Xia Qing unbuckled the restraint harness and hopped off, smoothing down the tangled fur that had been messed up by the straps. “You’re the best, Big Wolf. If you hadn’t run so fast, there’s no way I could’ve taken out my target.”

The Huge Wolf bent down and sniffed around Xia Qing’s stomach.

Xia Qing’s abdomen and thigh both reeked of gunpowder from getting hit by bullets. Double-layered protective suits stopped the rounds, but the pain was still sharp. Still, she shrugged it off. “I’m wearing my protective suit—no injuries. Let’s go check it out.”

They walked to the corpse, which had a gaping hole through its neck—dead beyond saving. The Huge Wolf threw back its head and let out a long, commanding howl. The responses from the pack echoed all around.

From the sound of it, there had to be at least twenty wolves nearby.

That only meant one thing: they were already near the core territory of the Western Wolf Pack—Hill Forty.

But with a trustworthy partner at her side, Xia Qing wasn’t afraid. She nudged the Huge Wolf away and told it to howl off to the side, then pulled out a big heavy-duty bag and packed up the body. She also scooped up the blood-soaked dirt and stones.

Both victims had blue skin. Xia Qing worried their blood might be toxic and pollute the Evolved Forest.

She packed up the corpse and threw it over her shoulder.

Once the Huge Wolf finished howling to its heart’s content, Xia Qing hoisted the body and asked it to lead the way—time to recover the first body she’d killed.

These two were her kills. Their grade-four field protective suits, sidearms and knives were all trophies. On top of that, Xia Qing still needed to find their supplies.

No sensible human who entered the Evolved Forest before the Devastation Rain would bring only weapons and no food, tent, or medicine.

She first contacted Tan Junjie, then sent coordinates to Huo Zhun, asking him and Hu Zifeng to fly the helicopter out to pick her up.

Earlier, she hadn’t used the helicopter on purpose—she’d planned to have the Huge Wolf carry her back, saving on fuel.

Now, with the Huge Wolf leading her deep into Western Wolf Pack’s territory and with two bodies to return, there was no way she’d have it escort her all the way out—helicopter extraction was her only option.

By the time the helicopter hovered over Xia Qing’s location, she and the Huge Wolf had already found the supplies of the two blue-skinned people.

Two large backpacks! Xia Qing didn’t bother checking—she just stuffed them straight into a heavy-duty bag.

When the helicopter dropped the rope, Xia Qing tied up the bodies and trophies and sent them up first. She thanked the Huge Wolf once again, making a promise: “Whenever you’re thirsty, hungry, want a medicinal bath or grooming, just come to Section Three and find me.”

“And if you spot any more bad humans, let me know right away too. They’re sneaky, you’ve got to be careful, Big Wolf.”

But up on that vantage point, the Handsome Huge Wolf was too busy howling his heart out to hear a word.

As Xia Qing began her ascent, holding onto the rope, she locked eyes with the Western Wolf King perched on the high peak to the west—he looked almost exactly like the Huge Wolf.

This Wolf King was brimming with murderous intent. If the Huge Wolf hadn’t been with her, Xia Qing would’ve been torn to shreds by the pack already.

After all, it was a human who broke into the wolf pack’s core territory. Their anger was understandable. Every Wolf King was proud to the bone, so Xia Qing didn’t try to cozy up at a time like this—she just met its gaze coolly and calmly.

Her gaze shifted from looking up at him, to level, then finally down. She reached out and grabbed Hu Zifeng’s offered hand, pulling herself into the helicopter.

The doors closed, altitude rose, and they sped back toward Section One of the North.

First thing Xia Qing did was ask Hu Zifeng to spray her down with disinfectant. Then she took off her protective mask and gloves, thanked them both, and downed over half a bottle of water from her pack.

Seeing how thirsty she was, Huo Zhun grinned. “Sister Qing, your schedule is seriously packed today.”

She’d started the morning dropping monkeys off at Hill Fifty-Nine, then checked on wolves at Hill Sixty, bombed crocodiles at Hill Fifty-Five, got picked up by helicopter on the way back, rushed over to the town ruins between Northern Section Three and Section One to carry out a rescue, smoothed over things at the Ninth Center, and hadn’t even reached her own territory when Tan Junjie called for help. Then it was on to her flight suit for a team dash with the Huge Wolf deep in the Western Wolf Pack, taking out two enemies. Her day really was full to bursting.

Xia Qing managed a smile. “Any word on the last two?”

Hu Zifeng quickly looked away from her. “The Inspection Team only found two human traces in Forest Forty-Eight. Looks like the information from the captured intruders was off. Sister Qing, who were these two anyway?”

Xia Qing shook her head. “No idea. They fired twice and ran, so I took them out.”

Huo Zhun let out a low whistle. “Challenging your marksmanship, Sister Qing? They were asking for it.”

If only it were that simple. Xia Qing pulled out her phone and called her Idol. “Third Brother, I shot two intruders in the Western Evolved Forest—a man and a woman. Both had blue skin. They played dead inside an aggressive Devastation Evolution Tree hollow, hiding from the Evolved Wolves’ noses so the pack thought they were corpses. I’ve brought back the bodies and all the samples I collected. Want to take a look? Sure.”

Her Idol was intrigued, so naturally Xia Qing would hand the bodies over to him first for testing, before letting the Inspection Team deal with them.

While she was at it, she could get the experts in Territory Seven to disinfect her trophies, check for risks, and strip any trackers or surveillance gear. Only then could she use the loot worry-free.

After returning to Section One of the North, Xia Qing thanked Huo Zhun and Hu Zifeng again, slung her pack, and hoisted the bodies to Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine.

Huo Zhun watched Xia Qing walk off, then glanced at Hu Zifeng. Something felt off.

By now, Guan Tong had pulled her off-roader up to the Section Three North Gate. Xia Qing left the Evolved Forest and tossed the bodies in the car. She drove along the Northern Barrier to the gate of Territory Seven, handed off the corpses and supplies to Zheng Chen, then went to meet her Idol.

After briefly going over her day, she apologized, “One thing after another today, that’s all I’ve got in me. I’ll come tomorrow to install the chestnut grove’s surveillance robots for the bees.”

Zhang San nodded and asked, “Are the wounds on your stomach and legs serious?”

“Not at all. No broken bones, barely even scratched. Just need a soak in the medicine you mixed up for me,” Xia Qing said carefully. “Can you give me a few more packs of medicine for the Huge Wolf? We’re running low at home.”

Zhang San…