Chapter 1081: A Windfall in the Evolved Forest

What does it mean to strike it rich? This is it!

Xia Qing’s latest mission to Mount Twenty-Six was exhausting and dangerous, but the haul? Absolutely worth it!

Thirty-three fresh roots of evolved white straw grass, fifty-six rounds of homemade firearm ammo, sixty-eight rounds for homemade pistols, two nearly-new homemade pistols, thirty-three points cards, five shards of high-grade Yi Stone, and… fifty-eight full Yi Stones!

“These thirty-six are high-grade Yi Stones, and twenty-two are mid-grade. We hit the jackpot!”

“Broken Back, do you know how to tell the quality of a Yi Stone? Look, these two types of stone are different colors. The high-grade ones from those bad guys have a darker surface, plus a wavy pattern. Once the lab is up, let’s test the surface components. I bet they come from the same mountain area as those high-grade Yi Stones I scored on Hill Thirty-Seven.”

Xia Qing handed Old Goat, who’d sidled up for a treat, a root of white straw grass, grinning from ear to ear. “No wonder you Scavengers can survive in the Evolved Forest. You’re just too good at finding Yi Stones. Thank you, Mother Nature! And look, Broken Back—Scavengers’ Yi Stone chips come in all sizes. These three are as big as the ones the Hill Thirty-Seven squad had, but these two are two sizes smaller. Who knows what rules they use to divvy them up…”

The last time the loot was this good was when Handsome Huge Wolf helped her dig up the Sufeng Squad’s hidden Yi Stone stash. Handsome Huge Wolf scored big again this mission. He’s no ordinary wolf—he’s a lucky money wolf!

Her Majesty the Queen counts as a lucky charm too.

Last time Xia Qing and Alpha went out to Hill Thirty-Seven, they got fourteen pristine high-grade Yi Stones. Later, when Broken Back Wolf wasn’t around, she told Alpha about it as they split up twenty-one prey. Her Majesty the Queen, who’s practically drowning in Yi Stones, just yawned and said, “Got it,” not interested at all. So Xia Qing got to keep it all.

Broken Back Wolf stared at the supplies on the table for a while before stretching out a big paw and sweeping both heaps of Yi Stones over to itself.

Talkative as ever, Xia Qing abruptly clammed up and shot a fierce glare at that miserly, ugly wolf.

Thinking Xia Qing didn’t understand, Broken Back Wolf used its paw to push the grass roots, ammo, points cards and homemade pistols back toward her. These are yours.

Face unreadable, Xia Qing gathered all the loot into one pile, pulled out pen and paper, and started doing the math. “Broken Back, this is all the bounty from today. Let’s make it clear who gets what.”

Broken Back Wolf put on a serious face too, eyes glued to the fresh sheet Xia Qing set out.

“Number Four came to me for help. Then I invited all of you to team up, go to Mount Twenty-Six, and rescue Number Four’s teammate…” This penny-pinching wolf was getting smarter, not much dumber than a typical human. So this time Xia Qing decided not to trick it and stuck to proper human task force rules.

Alpha caught one Scavenger, Broken Back killed another, Xia Qing took down three, plus she led the squad into the cave, protected the Wolf Pack when the giant lizard caused chaos, rescued three evolved wolves and treated their injuries, and even enlisted the Azure Dragon Squad…

Scribbling and gesturing, Xia Qing carefully ran through everyone’s contributions for the mission. Her verdict: “I’m the squad leader. I contributed the most. I should get seventy percent of the loot.”

Broken Back Wolf, looking very serious, lifted its left paw and did its best to spread its toes.

Xia Qing’s face only got more firm. “Sure, you five wolves showed up, I was on my own. But we’re counting by contribution, not by head count…”

“Awoooo!”

“You think it’s unfair to split loot by contribution? Fine, let’s do it another way—this mission could be counted as me hiring you five wolves, and you get a commission.”

There are two ways humans split rewards after a mission. One: dividing by contribution. Two: the leader hires evolved fighters for a fixed price. Depending on risk and likely profit, leaders pick whichever works best.

As mission leader, Xia Qing pulled out her phone and started looking up old records.

She pulled up photos of the three wolves rescued today, then found one of her and the Pack hunting the Giant Raptor, patiently reasoning with Broken Back Wolf. “July 11th, Her Majesty the Queen paid me a Yi Stone to join her in hunting down the Giant Raptor that caught Four-Eyes. Remember that?”

Broken Back Wolf bared its teeth in a smile.

“Great.” Xia Qing slowed her words. “So, when we hunted the Giant Raptor, it was the Queen hiring me. One Yi Stone was my fee. No share of the loot.”

Broken Back Wolf glanced at Xia Qing’s leg.

Xia Qing nodded. “Yeah, the Queen gave me the Giant Raptor’s talons, but that’s only because you wolves don’t eat raptor claws. She attached them to the helicopter—those don’t count as my reward.”

After Xia Qing explained twice, Broken Back Wolf grinned, finally satisfied.

Good. Xia Qing pressed on. “If you don’t want to split loot by contribution—three for me, seven for the Pack—then we’ll count it as me hiring all five of you. I could just give you two Yi Stones. The Queen paid me only one Yi Stone to rescue Four-Eyes, so this is already being generous.”

Broken Back Wolf eyed the two mid-grade Yi Stones before it, each the size of a walnut, then looked over at the other pile, mind clearly racing.

In the living room, only Old Goat’s cud-chewing and the air conditioner’s buzz remained. Xia Qing stayed silent, waiting for the clever wolf to work it out.

If they couldn’t make a deal today, Xia Qing would just take it up with Alpha on Hill Fifty-Five instead.

Last time she did a mission with Alpha at Hill Thirty-Seven, they collected fourteen complete high-grade Yi Stones. While Broken Back was out, she told Alpha about it as they split up twenty-one prey. Her Majesty the Queen, never short on Yi Stones, just yawned and waved it off—so Xia Qing kept the haul.

Compared to penny-pinching Broken Back Wolf, Xia Qing much preferred discussing loot with Her Majesty.

It was a good five minutes before Broken Back finally pushed the two Yi Stones back into the big pile and bared its tiny sharp fangs at Xia Qing.

“Broken Back, are you agreeing to split the loot by contribution?”

“Alright, I’ll take seventy percent, you wolves get thirty.” Xia Qing divided up the supplies, still tallying. “And since all the resources for this mission—nutrient shake, pure spring water, pesticide, sniper rifle, homemade pistols—were mine, we deduct those costs first…”

Broken Back Wolf raised no objections, shoving the ammo bag toward Xia Qing.

“Nope, can’t do. These are three credits a round for homemade firearm ammo, but my sniper rounds are three hundred thirty credits each, and pistol rounds are twenty. That whole bag isn’t enough to buy a single sniper round…”

“Why don’t you want the points cards? You’ll need them for trading with me in the future, after all. Sure, your den’s got Yi Stones, but do you have any points cards?”

“Little Wolf ate one of my eggs today. You owe me one hundred fifty credits for that.”

……

……

……

After an hour and a half of haggling, the loot finally got split in two—Xia Qing’s pile much larger than the wolf pack’s.

Broken Back Wolf ended up with ten high-grade Yi Stones, six mid-grade Yi Stones, six points cards and two white straw grass roots. Just as it was about to ask Xia Qing to help bag its share, she beamed at it, throwing out the next deal:

“Broken Back, want to trade for protective suits for Little Wolf’s little sister and Little Wolf? They’re about to start going on missions and will need gear, right?”