Chapter 1050: Red Rain and the Territory’s Stand

“Awooo—”

The makeshift shelter on top of the house ruins had already collapsed. Old Goat, trapped tight by rain cover and rope, slammed his protective mask and spiraled horns against Number Four’s Royal Platform. Elder Wolf, wearing his own protective mask, pressed both massive paws atop the wobbling ground stakes and let out a low growl in Xia Qing’s direction.

“Thanks for holding Old Goat back, Number Four. I’ll take over from here.”

Xia Qing was deeply relieved she’d used eight large stakes and the sturdiest rope to anchor the rain cover, all to keep the shelter from blowing away in the wind. Thankfully, Old Goat’s brain wasn’t the sharpest, so brute force alone had gotten him tangled. Otherwise, Number Four—unable to use his teeth through the protective mask—would never have been able to stop the mad charge.

It was obvious: Old Goat had been shaken up by the scent of Scourge Grass flowers, which lured carnivores and hung heavy across the territory.

With the evolved grass-eater tightly bound, Xia Qing stood and turned, looking over at the swallows battering the rain cover under the eaves. She tipped her head back to the sky, watching the streaks of Devastation Rain that linked heaven and earth.

For the first time, she found herself hoping the Devastation Rain would pour even harder—anything to drive the frenzy-inducing scent down into the earth. There was no way the rain cover was truly airtight. Even the small doses of scent escaping from the Passage’s Scourge Grass blooms had already driven the animals closest to the Passage absolutely wild. If the rain didn’t strengthen, and the scent kept building, Flathead, Red Fox and his family in the evolved forest, and even the wild boars in the valley would all go berserk.

Lifting Old Goat, still thrashing, in one arm and hauling Number Four—who kept cursing and trying to bite her right through the mask—with the other, Xia Qing carried them indoors and laid them on the tatami. She gave each a soothing capsule.

Elder Wolf, who wasn’t tied up, shook out his fur, flinging water everywhere. He looked ready to snap but made no move to bolt. Xia Qing breathed a little easier—no doubt, a brain evolution powerhouse truly stood atop the food chain, resisting even the call of meaty Scourge Grass. She spoke gently to her two companions, “Don’t worry, Old Goat. Give the medicine a minute and the discomfort will fade. Number Four, you’re safe here. Stay put with Old Goat until I get back.”

Put the whole chicken flock under with airborne sedative. Now.

As for Freeloader and his daughter Qiang Zai—they’d have to fend for themselves for now.

Once the chickens were sedated, the Devastation Rain picked up. Back inside, Xia Qing found Old Goat and Number Four knocked out on the tatami, the capsules doing their work. She grabbed the crossbow and slingshot from the wall, slung her trusty sniper rifle, and stepped outside to a chorus of agitated birds and chickens. Over the ruckus, she called Tan Junjie to open the megaphone again and issued new orders:

“All territories, Inspection Team, Azure Dragon Training Center, Ninth Center: Inspection Teams split into squads and closely monitor any abnormal activity at the Passage. Track Devastation Element density in the air at all times. Be cautious using firearms—prefer crossbows and bows for taking down rampaging animals. Protect the Passage’s rain cover at all costs. Everyone inside the territory, guard the crops and patrol your borders. If you spot any threat you can’t control, report it immediately. Ninth Center, initiate Plan Three now. Territory Seven, laser cannon—if a large bird tries to land, shoot to kill. Captain Hu, get the helicopter up with explosives and head for the Western Evolved Forest.”

Voices crackled back through the megaphone one after another:

“Inspection Team Six, message received.”

“Inspection Team Five, received.”

“Inspection Team Four, received.”

“Helicopter mission team, acknowledged.”

“Ninth Center, received.”

“Territory Seven, confirmed.”

The crisis channel Xia Qing was using only included these people. Now, with everyone accounted for.

But then, hearing Zhang San’s cold, almost surgical tone—like he might dissect someone on the spot—Tang Huai, already fuming as he chased down locusts inside the greenhouse, suddenly felt fired up. He snatched the megaphone and bellowed, “Territory Two, received!”

In case the earpiece walkie-talkie ever failed—and to keep spirits high during emergencies—all territory leaders kept a backup megaphone handy.

Tang Huai’s roar boomed out, louder than the loudspeakers on the mobile signal tower.

Zhao Ze’s Mother in Territory Four also grabbed her megaphone and shouted, “Territory Four, received!”

As a former teacher, her voice was loud and commanding.

Still patrolling the southern Wild Grass Wall despite her pounding head, Yuan Yan raised her megaphone and yelled, “Territory Five, received!”

Wearing night vision goggles and crouched with her crossbow, waiting to take out any predator bird, Zhu Li chimed in, “Territory Six, received!”

Even from usually silent Territory Eight, Xin Yu’s voice came through: “Territory Eight, received.”

Down on his knees at the edge of the greenhouse, wracked with joint pain and pulling up Scourge Grass, Shizhong still managed to grab a megaphone and boom, “Territory Ten, received!”

“Territory Eleven, received!”

……

“Territory Eighteen, received!”

……

Amid the rolling calls, Xia Qing—still running—got a call from Yang Jin.

“Xia Qing, Luo and I just wrapped things up here. We’re leading the team by helicopter to the Western Evolved Forest. Three minutes till we hit the beast tide. We’ll make sure no monster gets anywhere near Section One’s iron mesh wall.”

“Copy that. Thanks, Captain Yang, thanks, Luo.” Xia Qing felt the weight slip from her shoulders. Hanging up, she keyed the walkie-talkie again. “All territories, Inspection Teams, Ninth Center: all replies received. Azure Dragon Squad is en route to sweep the Western Evolved Forest, so cancel the bombing run. Territory Seven has prepped the special pesticide and will start distributing it soon. As long as we ride out this red Devastation Rain and get the medicine sprayed, plus pick off any beasts and predator birds that make a run from the nearby evolved forest, we’ll hold our ground—we’ll hold our fields, we’ll save our stores.”

“Territory leaders, let’s fight!”

After giving her orders, Xia Qing uprooted a newly sprouted, over-two-meter-tall aggressive Devastation-Evolved Wild Tung Tree from the Ninth Center and tossed it into a tree fork. Over the walkie-talkie, she called Chen Zheng: “Section Three is on you now. Ignore the smaller reptiles and birds—just focus on clearing out the aggressive Devastation-Evolved plants breaking through. Don’t let any big birds use your skies to get at the Passage’s rain cover. If you’re short on people, you can leave the greenhouses for now. If you spot Red Squirrels chewing on Scourge Grass near the Passage, subdue them if you have the chance.”

All the key crop greenhouses in Section Three were shielded by Yi Stone, blocking out the effects of the Devastation Rain. The other greenhouses, either in late-phase Green Lantern mung beans or other Yellow Lantern crops, just couldn’t be prioritized right now.

“Copy that.” Chen Zheng answered calmly, “Sister Qing, stay safe.”

As an advanced vision-evolved sniper, Xia Qing was still the top anti-air threat in this territory—second only to the laser cannon—even under red Devastation Rain. She had to take the most dangerous zone herself.

Now, stepping into Territory Sixteen, Xia Qing paused in front of Zeng Quan, Inspection Team Four’s squad leader, and nodded, “All right. You too—watch yourselves.”

After that, Xia Qing split up the assignments with Zeng Quan. “I’ll cover a 400-meter radius here for air defense. You guys take the rest. Be careful.”

“Understood.” Zeng Quan eyed the heavy crossbow on Xia Qing’s back and immediately adjusted his squad’s positions.

The army-issued crossbows had an effective range of 400 meters, but tonight, with the wind and rain, Inspection Team sharpshooters would be lucky to get 300.

Other people might claim they could guard a 500-meter-high danger zone with just one crossbow, but Zeng Quan wouldn’t buy it—not unless it was Xia Qing making the promise.

Because she was an advanced vision-evolved fighter, a top sniper, and she wielded a powerful crossbow crafted by Lord Zhao Huisheng’s famous blacksmith, Huo Lei, for strength-evolved warriors.