Chapter 1056: Unmasking the Past: The Operating Table’s Secrets

……

When Xia Qing got home she saw Old Goat sprawled across the tatami, ruminating as always. She took off her protective mask and glanced at the house ruins on the south side of the yard. “Old Goat, Number Four’s gone back to its den.”

Old Goat squinted, pretending not to hear, but its mouth never stopped moving.

What’s his problem—was he nervous about wrecking Number Four’s den during his mad episode? Or maybe he got a taste of payback once Number Four regained his strength.

Xia Qing pretended not to notice. She looked down at the two red squirrels squeezed into the chicken cage in the corner, then finally spoke, “If he’s gone back, that’s that. I already fixed his den. He’ll stay dry in there, even if the Devastation Rain comes.”

At this, Old Goat instantly relaxed and went back to ruminating with closed eyes.

The familiar sound and rhythm of chewing comforted Xia Qing. She headed upstairs, washed her face, downed half a bottle of water, and called her idol.

It was nearly midnight, but Zhang San was still awake. His voice over the phone was just as deep as it was in the lab. “Go ahead.”

Xia Qing didn’t waste words. “Third Brother, who did surgery on this evolved wolf?”

Zhang San glanced at the boundless night outside his window, then leaned back against the sill, making sure no one could read his lips from outside.

“Ever since the Great Biological Evolution, there’s been heated debate on how humans should coexist with other evolved creatures on Blue Star. The prevailing opinions fall into three camps: the moderate, the centrist and the radical.”

“I, and Hui Three’s Base Director Qi Zhongye, are moderates. We push for a ‘territory policy,’ gradually reducing reliance on resources from the Evolved Forest. We try to keep the current ecological balance to make human survival less risky in ways we can’t predict.”

“Zhang Guannan, Huicheng’s general base director, is a centrist. He believes humans should manage and use all Blue Star’s resources the way we did before the calamity, so we can thrive and expand. The bigger the population, the more evolved fighters are born, making it easier to survive future disasters.”

“Radicals think we should leave things to nature, let the strong survive and abandon the weak, sick, and elderly. All the other creatures on Blue Star already do this. Humans have evolved slower than any other species only because we’re still bound by the laws and morals from before the apocalypse. The resources saved by not helping the weak should go toward evolving those with potential and raising more evolved fighters.”

“Participants in Hui One’s underground experiments—like the current Fire Phoenix from Fire Phoenix, and Dan Ying—are all radicals.” Warm lamplight shone over a 12.5-centimeter scalpel spinning like a flash in Zhang San’s fingers. “For eleven years the moderates and centrists took turns at the helm. Humanity stumbled forward. Now that the old, non-evolved leaders are fading from the political stage, I have no idea what’s next for us.”

Only after laying out the background did Zhang San finally answer Xia Qing’s question. “Hui One’s only real neuroscience expert was Shi Luyao, lead on the old underground project. He was killed by a test subject the day of the lab riot.”

“Judging by the surgical healing in this evolved wolf’s brain, the operation was done in February this year. Removing the prefrontal cortex is a tough job—a small mistake can cause major nerve damage. Whoever did this did it perfectly, which means they’ve operated a lot. As far as I know, only one person in Huicheng could pull this off: Peng Yuancai, chief neurosurgeon at Hui One’s Outer City Hospital. He was Shi Luyao’s student, but was fired for joining the underground lab project. He should be serving time in prison now.”

Back in January, someone snuck into the Western Wolf Pack’s territory and killed their pups, triggering a beast tide. In February, Peng Yuancai—supposedly locked up—removed the prefrontal cortex of an evolved wolf. At the end of August, this wolf was fitted with an implant collar and sent to the Western Evolved Forest to lead the beast tide.

So it’s likely this wolf was a member of the Western Wolf Pack. If patrol wolves found him, he’d be left alone and could keep carrying out his orders….

“Click!”

Hearing her phone creak under strain, Xia Qing realized she’d been squeezing it hard. She tried to relax and guessed, “Looks like Peng Yuancai must be at Fire Mountain now.”

Zhang San replied, “Even if he’s not at Fire Mountain, he’s definitely not in prison. Hui One’s in chaos, but there’s no way a surgery like this could happen behind bars. And with his personality, once Peng Yuancai escaped, he’d never go back. He’s got to be hidden in a lab somewhere, continuing his research.”

“Yang Jin’s hunting for the person who hurt the evolved wolf in the Western Evolved Forest. Odds are, the attackers already told whoever organized the strike. Hui One’s got spies here, so the organizers must know Qinglong’s helicopter came from the western forest and stopped north of Territory Seven. They’re probably working overtime to sneak Peng Yuancai back into prison right now.” Xia Qing ran a quick analysis of the situation, then asked, “Third Brother, do you know what prison he’s locked up in?”

Zhang San knew what Xia Qing was planning, and calmly answered, “Hui One’s First Prison. I’ll have Zheng Chen deliver the medicine there for you. This stuff will knock out anyone within a hundred meters, unless they’ve got a glass dome sealing them off from the environment.”

With her idol taking charge of the poison, Xia Qing just had to carry out the plan. “Third Brother, are we ending him right away or…”

Zhang San kept his cool. “Record it, capture him, then I’ll report it to Red One Base. He’s doomed this time, but you’re not the one who should be finishing him.”

“Copy that. Have Zheng Chen bring the evolved wolf’s body too. I’ll get ready right now.” Hanging up, Xia Qing immediately contacted Yang Jin. “Captain Yang, if you leave the western forest now to deliver the medicine, you’ll tip them off. You get in touch with any Hui One connections you can. I’ll take the goods to them myself.”

This was a race against time. Slow down, and Peng Yuancai would be back in lockup before they reached him.

The helicopter could only get as far as where Hui Three and Hui One’s evolved forests met. She’d have to run the rest. So Xia Qing decided to swing by the Northern Evolved Forest and ask Alpha to send three or four giant evolved wolves to join her on the helicopter for this mission.

Yang Jin suggested a safer plan. “If you’re the courier, you’ll have to negotiate with the wolf pack. Even if they agree, the wolves don’t know their way around the Hui One Safe Zone like my team does. Give the medicine to Luo, let him assign four top speed evolvers, and use Evolution Element stim shake to get them there fast.”

He had a point, so Xia Qing agreed right away. “Alright. I’ll pay them with four doses of the Devastation Element Antidote once we have a new batch ready.”

The Evolution Element stim shake burns up Evolution Element in your body, doubling your evolved ability for a short burst. When it wears off, the side effects hit hard, but the antidote cures those symptoms.

Iron Rooster Yang Jin even haggled in reverse. “No need. Two doses will do. Territory One and Hill Forty-Nine suffered from the beast tide too.”

After hanging up, Xia Qing contacted Luo Pei as she sprinted to the Northern Buffer Forest, grabbing the medicine and a pack of matching protective mask filter cartridges.

Without the right filters, the first person the medicine would knock out was the one who scattered it.

Zheng Chen found it odd that Xia Qing only took a clump of wolf hair and sent him back, but he didn’t ask questions—professional courtesy. He lugged the dead evolved wolf back to Territory Seven.

After Xia Qing handed off the medicine and filters to Luo Pei, it took less than five minutes for Hill Forty-Nine’s helicopter to lift off.

Watching the helicopter vanish into the night, Xia Qing sent Chen Cheng and the others to keep patrolling the territory and greenhouses. She grabbed her machete, rounded up Old Goat and headed off toward the red-leaved bamboo grove.

She was seething and needed to vent, and Old Goat had plenty of pent-up energy to burn too. Time for some laps.