Chapter 1100: Wolves and Helicopters: Into the Tiger’s Domain

Turns out, Idol’s heart isn’t all that black.

The sixty thousand credits Xia Qing spent didn’t just buy her one vial of medicine, she got two. One was for injection, the other for oral use.

After finishing the injection, Xia Qing poured every last drop of the miracle medicine down Elder Wolf’s throat. She even filled the soft hose used for the shot with water, shook it hard, then made sure Elder Wolf got that too.

Seriously, that’s thirty thousand credits per vial! She’d never used anything this pricey before. Not a drop could be wasted—not even a residue sticking to the vial wall. Every bit of it had to go in!

Once Elder Wolf got the medicine, Xia Qing fed her chickens and the yellow calf at home, handed off the territory to Da Jiang and Xiao Jiang, and asked them to take care of the fish and bugs. Then she said goodbye to Old Goat, gathered Er and Number Four, and set out for Hill Forty-Nine to meet up with Hu Zifeng, Er Yong, and Huo Zhun.

If she hadn’t needed to soothe Number Four’s nerves, there’s no way she’d have put Er through all this.

After staying in Section Three for over a month, Elder Wolf had memorized Hu Zifeng and Er Yong’s scents and faces, so he held no grudge against them. But as soon as he spotted a stranger on the helicopter, he balked and refused to go further.

“Huo, you sit up front,” Xia Qing said, not in the mood to coddle Number Four, who still owed her sixty thousand credits. She strode straight to the helicopter and barked to Er behind her, “Er, bring Number Four up here.”

Er might never have flown in a helicopter, but it had seen Alpha standing atop this machine howling, and Xia Qing had ridden it plenty of times. So to Er, this loud, flying contraption wasn’t much different from the rotary tiller in Section Three. Before long, Er had dragged a very reluctant Number Four onto the chopper and curled up at the farthest spot from Huo Zhun.

Xia Qing took a seat beside Er. “Er Yong, swing north a bit, then head for that valley on Hill Thirty-Seven where we caught those Scavengers. Captain Hu, Huo, you two are on defense duty.”

“Roger that,” Huo Zhun called back, grinning. “Sister Qing, is this wolf our new teammate?”

When Huo Zhun flashed those teeth—brighter than the eastern sky—Er growled, and Elder Wolf bared his fangs, ready to pounce. Xia Qing raised a hand to calm both wolves. She warned Huo Zhun, “Huo, don’t show your teeth at wolves like that. They’ll think you’re trying to pick a fight.”

Huo Zhun snapped his mouth shut and nodded seriously. “Got it.”

As the helicopter roared skyward, Er and Number Four felt a strange kind of motion—different from the off-roader or rotary tiller. The chopper dipped and swayed every which way. Suddenly, not only was Number Four spooked, but even Er started trembling, claws digging into the hard floor, inching closer to Xia Qing for comfort.

Xia Qing ended up pulling Er into her lap and wrapped an arm around Number Four, who looked ready to smash through the window to escape. She soothed them gently, “Don’t be scared, Er, Number Four. This is a helicopter. I’m right here, you’re safe. It’s faster than any rotary tiller we have—take a look down there…”

A quick glance down, and Xia Qing spotted a brown-grey Evolved Wolf standing on the mountain above Python Pond, staring pensively up at the helicopter. “Er, check that out below. Over there’s Hill Fifty-Five. Broken Back’s up at the summit watching us!”

Hu Zifeng and Er Yong pretended they hadn’t heard a thing or looked back—nothing to rattle the already-nervous wolves on their first helicopter flight.

Huo Zhun kept his ears pricked, doing his best to pick up tips on communicating with his new wolf teammates. Truthfully, though, what he really wanted to do was whip out his phone and snap a team selfie with the trio in back…

With Xia Qing holding him, Er stopped shaking pretty quickly. Even Number Four was soon peering out the window, muscles tense and face set.

On the snowy peak of Hill Forty-Four, two silver-grey enormous wolves dragged a large carcass under the rocks, keeping a wary eye on the sky.

Spotting the raptor’s talon dangling from the prey’s belly, the smaller giant wolf lowered its head and kept eating. The larger wolf stepped out and began howling at the helicopter.

The chopper kept moving forward, but Number Four couldn’t stop staring at the howling Wolf King atop the snow-capped mountain.

As Xia Qing scratched Er’s chin, she continued, “Er, look—Big Wolf’s just caught himself a white prey. Number Four, you recognize the Western Wolf King, don’t you?”

Number Four didn’t budge. Only when the Western Wolf King disappeared from view did he finally turn away, staring fixedly at the Evolved Forest below.

A thought struck Xia Qing and she tried speaking to Number Four. “Number Four, do you know where the territory of that injured Evolved Tiger is? Should we just fly there directly?”

Going straight into a tiger’s domain? Now that would be…

Intense! All three humans on board perked up, listening closely.

Number Four kept watching the dense Evolved Forest below and gave no reaction, even as the copter hovered over the valley on Hill Thirty-Seven.

At the controls, Er Yong checked in. “Sister Qing, are we landing?”

“Take us down,” Xia Qing replied, peering through the window with both wolves at her side, gazing down at the valley below.

Hard to believe it’d only been a few days, but the plants and the surge of Devastation Grass from the storm had nearly scrubbed away all traces of the battle between people, wolves, and tiger. The trap dug by the Scavengers had partially collapsed, merging with the little river in the valley and forming a pond. Two waterbirds bathed in the pond, while a herd of porcupines drank at the water’s edge.

Even seeing the helicopter, the animals didn’t bolt.

After a Devastation Rain, humans would fly helicopters over Hui Three’s Evolved Forest to spray Scourgebane. This made it harder for the new Devastation Grass to go to seed, or if seeds formed, they’d be weaker and less likely to sprout.

This was humanity’s main way to keep Devastation Grass from spreading through the Evolved Forest and swallowing up the habitat of regular plants and animals.

So, the animals in the Evolved Forest had gotten used to the drone of helicopters. But as the chopper dropped below 150 meters and the wind stirred the valley’s plants, the waterbirds and porcupines sensed danger right away and darted into the thick forest. Two Evolved Wolves, who’d followed the copter over, crouched beneath the trees nearby and stared fiercely up at the machine.

Right then, Elder Wolf lifted a paw and pointed to the west side of the valley.

From this height, he could finally make out the lay of the land. That movement told Xia Qing the old wolf was at least as sharp as Broken Back. “Er Yong, don’t land—head west instead. Drop another fifty meters in altitude, and slow down to fifty.”

Moving slower and flying lower would let Elder Wolf get his bearings and save some time.

“Roger.” Er Yong turned west.

“Southwest.”

“Go west.”

With Xia Qing giving constant directions, she waited until Elder Wolf lowered his paw before telling Er Yong to bring them down. “The three of us will go. If any beasts show up, don’t engage—just take off and wait in the air.”

Huo Zhun responded instantly, “Copy. Be careful, Sister Qing.”

Xia Qing strapped on her mask, slung her backpack and weapons over her shoulders, and climbed out of the chopper with Er and Number Four. Number Four’s legs were still unsteady, but once he touched down on solid ground, he sprinted straight into the woods. Xia Qing hurried after him with Er, only to discover the old wolf was having diarrhea…

Yeah…

Idol’s miracle medicine really did work fast…

After Number Four finished, Xia Qing checked his ears to make sure he didn’t have a fever, then let him lead the way straight for the One-eyed Tiger’s domain.

Two aging wolves and a slow-moving human made their way through the thick, dangerous Evolved Forest for half an hour before Elder Wolf stopped and lifted his head.

Before Xia Qing could open her mouth, a roar like thunder crashed through the woods.

The force of it shook the entire forest. Xia Qing felt her muscles tense before she even registered it, her organs seemed to seize up in an invisible grip, and her breath stopped short.

Late September, eleventh year of the Cataclysm. For the first time, human Advanced Evolutionary Xia Qing experienced the power of a tiger’s roar up close.