Chapter 1052: Aftermath of the Red Passage

Everyone on both sides of the barrier trench—inspection team members and territory staff alike—was left stunned by the blood-red corridor before them.

Perched high atop the iron tower, Xia Qing forced herself to stay calm despite the adrenaline coursing through her. She pulled out her phone, checked her messages, then pressed the button on her walkie-talkie. “All territories, inspection teams, Ninth Center: thanks to everyone’s combined efforts, we’ve successfully repelled the bird swarm. Azure Dragon Squad has also intercepted the beast tide in the Western Evolved Forest. This battle is ours. The next wave of Devastation Rain will begin in forty minutes, so please use this window to quickly clean up the battlefield, rescue the wounded, and repair the greenhouses.”

Within Xia Qing’s line of sight, she counted four wounded being carried away and five greenhouses with their rain covers shredded by the birds. Humanity had won—but the cost was steep.

Climbing down from the tower, Xia Qing stood at the edge of the quarantine trench, gazing silently at the sixty-meter-wide swath of aggressive Scourge Grass and Wild Grass Wall, all melted away by the blood-red pesticide. The corpses of countless birds were scattered across the crimson-soaked path. Once again, she was shaken by her idol’s overwhelming power.

“Commander Xia…”

Still dazed from shock, Zeng Quan walked over to Xia Qing and, pointing nervously at the red corridor, asked, “Can we collect these bird carcasses?”

Truth be told, Zeng Quan could have just radioed the big boss of Territory Seven directly, but he was worried a careless word might anger the senior expert.

Making the senior expert mad and ending up blacklisted was one thing, but winding up on the death list? His fate would be as doomed as the Scourge Grass on this path…

“Let me check.” Xia Qing pressed her walkie-talkie, her voice steady. “Third Brother, are you there?”

“Speak.”

The crisis resolved, her idol’s voice sounded weary again. The veteran fangirl-turned-commander instinctively ran through her mental food inventory even as she asked, “Should we collect or dispose of the animal carcasses that landed on the areas covered by the red pesticide?”

Zhang San answered right away. “The pesticide is highly adhesive. The carcasses are already stuck—no collection needed. After the Devastation Rain finishes, we’ll recover the pesticide layer along with the animal remains. Make sure everyone avoids stepping on the treated areas. If that pesticide layer is damaged, the Scourge Grass roots will reabsorb the Devastation Element and become active again.”

“Understood.”

Honestly, Xia Qing didn’t need to relay that—the Ninth Center personnel could all hear Zhang San’s broadcast via loudspeakers. But as the disaster response commander, she repeated his instructions and stressed the consequences of damaging the pesticide barrier.

After she assigned a team to keep round-the-clock watch on the red corridor, Xia Qing got Lord Wen Nengjie’s permission to enter Seventeen from Sixteen via the east side.

With the quarantine strip soaked in red pesticide, Xia Qing had no choice but to take a detour back to her own territory.

When Xia Qing arrived, Wen Nengjie was already waiting at the boundary. He glanced at the alarming red corridor and whispered, “Sister Qing, this pesticide… it’s harmless to humans, right?”

That didn’t even need asking. Xia Qing nodded without changing expression. “As long as you don’t touch it, there’s zero risk.”

Wen Nengjie bowed repeatedly. “Rest easy. I can’t speak for other territories, but within Seventeen—four kilometers of the trench—nobody will lay a hand on a drop. If anyone tries, I’ll deal with them personally!”

After escorting Xia Qing to the edge of Eighteen, Wen Nengjie couldn’t help but ask again, “Sister Qing, about Third Brother…”

As Xia Qing turned around—sniper rifle and heavy crossbow on her back, Black Blade at her hip, face hidden behind a protective mask and dark night-vision goggles—Wen Nengjie’s face lit up in a nervous grin. He offered her a food container with both hands. “You haven’t eaten yet, have you? These are green lantern cicada pupae, just sautéed with green lantern oil—still hot! Please take them and add a dish to your meal.”

Xia Qing didn’t take it. “I’ve already got dinner waiting back home. You eat, Jie. Once you’ve finished, fix any damaged greenhouses as soon as possible.”

From where Xia Qing stood, she could see at least three of Seventeen’s greenhouses wrecked by the bird swarm.

“Of course, of course.” Wen Nengjie quickly took the food box back. “Our losses weren’t so bad. Sister Qing, you should hurry and check out your own territory. Eighteen’s probably on the way over by now—Yong!”

Wen Nengjie shouted eastward through his loudspeaker.

“I’m here!” The Lord of Eighteen, Zhang Genyong, stood inside his own lands and warmly called out, “Commander Xia! The ground is all mud—be careful not to slip.”

Sticking close to the outside of the trench, Xia Qing moved from Seventeen into Eighteen. She answered Zhang Genyong’s questions about the blood-red pesticide, then left Eighteen for the east quarantine strip and boarded the inspection team’s patrol truck.

Su Ming, still buzzing with excitement, said, “Sister Qing, Third Brother is just incredible! Absolutely unstoppable!”

Xia Qing nodded calmly. If Third Brother wasn’t the top expert, who else would be?

As the patrol truck rolled over the Scourge Grass, leaving the east quarantine for the northern, Yuan Rui—usually the quiet type—couldn’t hold back. “I think Third Brother sounded pretty mad just now. Sister Qing, maybe you should go check on him?”

When it came to smoothing things over with the big boss, no one in these territories had more experience than Xia Qing.

She shook her head. “Third Brother’s been so busy he hasn’t even eaten yet. Now’s not the time to bother him. Plus, one of my greenhouses got torn up by the birds—I need to get home and replace that rain cover.”

Yuan Rui just sighed.

Su Ming did too.

Cao Xianyun as well.

Back in her own territory, Xia Qing climbed to the high slope to survey the scene—eight-meter-tall red-leaved bamboo still standing after the extreme Devastation Rain. She glanced at the six workers securing the new rain cover on Greenhouse Eleven, finally feeling a bit of relief.

Greenhouses Eleven, Twelve, and Fifteen lined the southernmost edge of Section Three. Eleven held green-light sweet potatoes and green-light rice; Twelve had green-light mung beans; Fifteen was Old Goat’s pasture, full of his favorite green-light grasses. The bird swarm had ripped the rain cover from Eleven, which stung, but if Fifteen had gone, Xia Qing would’ve been more than just upset.

Instead of rushing over right away, Xia Qing checked on the Green Lantern Orchard, then went to the breeding sheds One and Two. She hopped the flooded stone-slabbed river to inspect the planting and breeding greenhouses. After making sure her green lantern breadworms and flowering plants were safe, she headed into Shed Five—no Yi Stone protection here, just green-light mung beans.

The twenty-five-minute red-level Devastation Rain had cranked up the Devastation Element in the air to terrifying heights. Thankfully, the drainage channels had been fixed and rain covers secured ahead of time, slowing the element’s rise inside the greenhouses. Though Scourge Grass had sprouted, it was only as tall as the mung beans. If she pulled them quickly enough, she might salvage one last harvest.

The other unprotected greenhouses were in about the same shape as Shed Five.

When she finally entered Greenhouse Eleven, Xia Qing saw the damage was above the red-core sweet potatoes. The Yi Stone was still intact, and the Devastation Element inside was barely detectable. Her heart finally settled.

Except for the hundred-plus sweet potato plants that got hit by the red Devastation Rain, everything else in the greenhouse stayed top-quality.