Chapter 1060: Sweeping Changes in the Rain: Guarding the Territory

Earlier, the Territory Management Department set the rule that Magnetic Sense Evolvers had to patrol all the land under their care once a day during the Devastation Rain.

After Ma Xiaoyin from the Safe Zone Planting Center went missing and two Magnetic Sense Evolvers from the Ninth Center were attacked on a mission, Hui Three Base ordered every department to come up with real, workable plans to protect their Type B Magnetic Sense Evolvers, especially since they have limited combat strength.

So, the Territory Management Department changed the patrol assignment. Now, Magnetic Sense Evolvers only need to patrol before and after the Devastation Rain, not during it. That means all three Magnetic Sense Evolvers from the Planting Division are currently safe inside the Safe Zone.

The only reason the Territory Management Department asked the Ninth Center’s Magnetic Sense Evolvers to make a daily patrol in Section One of the North during the Devastation Rain is because that area has iron mesh walls. Plus, the Ninth Center Security Team and Inspection Team watch over them, so their safety is guaranteed.

Northern Section Three has no walls. With insider help for the recent intruders, Xia Qing would have to be crazy to send her own top-grade employees across nearly ten kilometers of town ruins just to run extra missions there during the Devastation Rain.

When Wu Xinlian and Lü Ziqiang heard Xia Qing clearly reject the request from Northern Section Three, they finally relaxed, hopped in the vehicle, and followed the security team to Territory One.

After finishing her patrol and chopping down the third batch of red-leaved bamboo, Xia Qing had breakfast and headed to the southernmost edge of her territory to inspect the passage and wild grass wall covered in blood-red pesticide.

In the bright daylight, seeing this sixty-meter-wide strip with its passage and wild grass wall coated in blood-red pesticide, Xia Qing found the effect even more overwhelming than at night.

She studied the sticky layer clinging tightly to the ground, refusing to budge under water, and suddenly had a hunch. This kind of gummy substance seemed a lot like the extract from Devastation-evolved pumpkin vines. After all, those vines in her territory secreted a goo that stuck to surfaces and was waterproof, just like this.

It was clear now: Idol had used actives from Devastation-evolved pumpkin vines as a base, then blended in melted plants and added compounds to block airborne transmission or drive off animals with odor. The effect was simply stunning.

Xia Qing even suspected the reason the pesticide was red was Idol’s way of channeling his fury—to intimidate their enemies.

As Xia Qing approached, a Ninth Center employee, currently guarding the passage on loan from the Inspection Team, snapped to attention. “Director.”

She nodded back, “Just switched shifts?”

“Yes, came over after breakfast.” The Ninth Center worker grinned wide. “The cafeteria served big buns with spinach soup this morning.”

During the Devastation Rain, the Ninth Center cafeteria really leveled up the meals—switching to all-natural ingredients. Even if it was just Green Lantern and Yellow Lantern fish paired up, the crew was excited.

This was the sort of meal not even Military cafeterias could hope to manage. The only reason the Ninth Center could manage it was because Xia Qing set aside a special area inside the Ninth Center for this project. All the building materials for the greenhouses and fertilizer for crops weren’t supplied from above—they used what they could gather locally.

The staff at the Ninth Center set up fourteen wooden-frame greenhouses in this area, and everything grown here stayed right in-house. The crops were strictly for the Ninth Center cafeteria, to feed employees and their families.

Those fourteen greenhouses caused plenty of drama. Zhao Baolin, head of Hui Three Planting Division, even stormed the Base Director’s office to complain, but he only got scolded and left it at that.

One employee nearby piped up, “Director, think we can raise chickens next year? We could catch bugs to feed them, just like the Lords do. Chicken manure makes top-notch fertilizer.”

Xia Qing nodded. “Livestock’s already on the plan. We’ll launch it next year. Just keep a sharp eye on the passage. Report anything unusual right away.”

“Got it!” The two—a man and a woman—answered so loud even several grasshoppers sprang into the air.

After getting the okay from Yinjie, Territory One’s agent, and Tang Huai, agent for Territory Two, Xia Qing drove her off-roader through the Northern Barrier into Territory One, then made her way on foot across Territory Two and into the Ninth Center.

During the Devastation Rain, the Ninth Center implemented a leadership rota. Every shift had a leader on duty to handle emergencies. Xia Qing might be director, but with all her other tasks, she didn’t do regular shifts—she only stepped in for emergencies too big for the internal team to handle.

Last night, when the bird swarm hit, the Ninth Center leadership handled it well. All 222 employees pitched in, and out of 200 steel-frame greenhouses and 50 steel-frame sunrooms, only eleven lost their rain covers. Six people were injured, but it could have been worse.

On top of that, the Ninth Center sent out ninety-eight members to help Section One of the North with disaster relief. Without their help, medicine from Territory Seven couldn’t have reached the Lords fast enough, and the casualty count would have at least doubled.

In that crisis, it was the Ninth Center’s retired soldiers, working with Section One’s iron mesh wall and the Inspection Team, who defended the territory.

Once the Devastation Rain ends, Xia Qing plans to discuss expanding the Ninth Center staff with Third Brother. If he agrees, she wants to bring their team from the current 320 up to 500.

Even if the Planting Division refuses to cover their wages, she’ll just use dividends she and Third Brother earn from the Hui Three Pharmaceutical to pay those people herself.

After all, these extra hires wouldn’t just be farmers—they’d double as the backbone of the territory’s—and Third Brother’s—protection during emergencies.

“Xia Qing, done for now?”

After surveying Territory Nine, Xia Qing walked along a path beside the moat and crossed Territory Two. There, waiting at the roadside, Tang Huai approached and greeted her.

Ever since he’d learned last night that the Evolved Wolf Yang Jin rescued had died, Tang Huai hadn’t uttered a word in the Lords’ channel. Now, his face was tight, eyes bloodshot—a sure sign he hadn’t slept.

Xia Qing didn’t know why this hit him so hard. She nodded slightly and kept walking.

Tang Huai followed her in silence for a while before finally asking, “How did it die?”

Xia Qing replied evenly, “Neck injury. Even if it survived, it would’ve been paralyzed.”

Tang Huai paused, then asked after several seconds, “How did its neck get injured? With Yang Jin’s skill, if he wanted to capture it alive, there’s no way he’d damage its throat.”

The Scavengers’ attempt to unleash a beast horde on Hui Three Northern Section One was already under official investigation, so Xia Qing couldn’t share more. She just answered, “It wasn’t Yang Jin.”

Tang Huai let it go, standing silently at the border between Territory One and Two watching as Xia Qing drove away. Last night, the moment he’d dozed off, he dreamt of his two Samoyeds being skinned and eaten by Tang Rui. The nightmare kept him up all night.

Liu Jing, the auditory evolver from Territory Two, sidled over and whispered, “Boss, what’s on your mind? Who got hurt?”

Tang Huai didn’t bother responding to him and turned back.

Liu Jing fell in behind, chattering away. “Boss, should we build a road like Territory One? That way Sister Qing could drive her off-roader here and not slog through the mud…”