Chapter 1112: Arrival of New Allies and Old Wounds

Seeing Xin Yu furrow her brow, Xia Qing knew exactly what she was thinking. “Both the Peng Yuancai and Chonglian Life Sciences Lab scandals set the whole nation on fire. Red City will definitely tighten its oversight, and neither Hui One nor Hui Two will dare run illegal experiments so brazenly again. So this operation was a success.”

The operation Xia Qing referred to was Xin Yu mobilizing people to expose Chonglian Life Sciences Lab for using human embryos in illegal experiments.

Xin Yu’s face softened a bit. “My team got in touch with Lu Yuhui. She was at Chonglian Hospital for a Down’s syndrome screening. The doctors told her there were anomalies in her baby’s data and pushed her to do an amniocentesis. She caught a nurse sneaking a sedative into her IV and realized something was wrong. Pretending she needed the restroom, she used a vent to escape and went into hiding.”

Xia Qing asked, “What does she plan to do next?”

“Now that everything’s out in the open, her group of expectant mothers will get extra protection, so ironically, they’re actually safe. She’s staying at Chonglian for work, but won’t go to the hospital for checkups anymore.” Xin Yu cracked open a chestnut with a slow, steady motion. “A lot of people, especially those with sick loved ones or who can’t fight, have no choice but to accept their circumstances. Lu Yuhui’s a Grade Four Strength Evolver; her situation is already miles ahead of most regular folks.”

During the Calamity Years, many fought with everything they had but still couldn’t survive, forced to leave this harsh world full of regrets and unfinished ties.

Xia Qing grabbed the bamboo basket full of chestnut shells in front of Xin Yu and added her own. Together, she carried them outside and dumped the spiky shells by the wall to dry in the sun.

Heading back inside the insect net, she grinned at Xin Yu. “Lu Yuhui’s sharp and decisive, that’s why she and her child made it out safe. Whatever’s going on at the other bases in Huicheng, our Base Director is solid, and our First Combat Team is as upstanding as they come. Hui Three simply has it better than Hui One or Hui Two.”

Feeling the gentle magnetic field of her friend, seeing her smile and the flock of birds darting behind her rummaging for food among the chestnut shells, Xin Yu’s mood improved too. “As long as Hui Three doesn’t swap out Base Directors and keeps its current policies, our base will soon surpass Hui Two. Give it a few more years and we’ll overtake Hui One too—we’ll become the strongest part of Huicheng.”

Combat teams and officials work closely together, the Hui Three Pharmaceutical is booming, and almost everyone’s health has improved after eating X-2 spinach leaves. Each day, Hui Three’s news reports another group of new evolved fighters.

So even with storms raging all over Blue Star, Hui Three as a whole is headed in a good direction.

Xia Qing picked up her pliers. “Even if someone else ends up as Hui Three’s Base Director, with Third Brother here and our Alliance still united, no one’s touching our land. By the way, the day after tomorrow at noon, Huo Zhun’s four squadmates are retiring and moving into Territory Eleven. They’re throwing a welcome dinner—we’ll go together.”

Xin Yu usually avoids big gatherings, but this time, attendance is a must. Territory Eleven is a formal member of the Alliance, and the four new arrivals are all elite veterans from Hui One’s Jiaolong Special Forces.

If any of them came with malicious intentions, Zhang San—Section One of the North’s pillar—could be at risk. That’s why C-class Magnetic Sense Evolver Xin Yu needs to read these newcomers.

Xin Yu nodded but had one condition. “Keep Tang Huai away from me. His chatter gives me a headache.”

After the third Devastation Rain, Xia Qing had invited Xin Yu, Tang Huai, Hu Zifeng’s Squad, and Chang Li to Section Three for chicken. Tang Huai kept bugging Xin Yu about seeing birds in Territory Eight, talking non-stop until Xin Yu almost pulled out her gun on him.

Xia Qing laughed wickedly. “Alright, you can sit between me and Jiang Ying when the time comes.”

Xin Yu hadn’t expected the group to be so big. “Jiang Ying’s joining too?”

Xia Qing nodded. “Jiang Ying’s a vital member of the Alliance Research Institute, now learning blacksmithing from Uncle Huo. Of course, the Huo family would invite her. She’s calm and doesn’t talk much.”

Not just her looks—Jiang Ying’s temper is a lot like her brother Tiger’s. Both are handy with their fists.

After joining the Alliance Research Institute, Jiang Ying racked up more credits through inventing and improving farming tools than she ever earned working the fields in Territory Fifteen. But that hasn’t changed her—she still gets her hands dirty every day, and everyone in the Alliance speaks highly of her.

Just because someone’s quiet and polite doesn’t mean there’s not a lot going on inside. Xin Yu accepted her friend’s thoughtfulness and, when the day came for Huo Zhun’s squadmates to move into Territory Eleven, sat cold-faced between Xia Qing and Jiang Ying, shutting down Tang Huai’s invitations.

They weren’t just welcoming Huo Zhun’s four teammates, but also four of their family members.

Among the arrivals in Territory Eleven, besides Huo Zhun’s two friends—six-star Speed and Intermediate Brain Evolution user Di Ming, and five-star Speed and seven-star Scent Evolver Wu Lianmin—the other two are Jiaolong Special Forces veterans Zhang Yi and Wang Man.

Zhang Yi, age thirty-three, is a six-star Explosive Power Evolver. He didn’t join Yan Long’s team for the Section Seven mission, so to Xia Qing, he’s the only face she doesn’t recognize. He’s moving into Territory Eleven because his powers are damaged and his combat ability has dropped.

Once he learned Di Ming and Wu Lianmin were joining Huo Zhun, Zhang Yi called up and asked to join too. It isn’t as safe here as it is in the Safe Zone, but Senior Expert Fu Tianfeng is here. Zhang Yi’s hoping the expert can heal him, plus there’s a school for his two kids.

Huo Zhun once told Xia Qing that when he first joined the army, Zhang Yi was his mentor. Without Zhang Yi, he wouldn’t have survived this long.

Wang Man, thirty-five, has a very unique ability—she’s evolved for flexibility and lung capacity. Back in Section Seven, she often showed up with Yan Long, so Xia Qing knows her codename: Man Snake.

Before the Catastrophe, Wang Man joined the Marine Corps thanks to her exceptional agility and diving skills. After Blue Star’s Great Evolution, she tested as a dual-type evolver, the only one in Jiaolong Special Forces who could outlast Yan Long underwater.

You’d think someone so specialized would join a seaside or aquatic Safe Zone after retirement. But Wang Man asked Huo Zhun if she could join Territory Eleven. Because her powers are abnormal, she was constantly dragged off for blood draws and testing—even in the special forces—which left her feeling unsafe. Except for Section One of the North in Hui Three, under Fu Tianfeng’s protection, nowhere else felt safe.

Moving in with Wang Man is her father, Wang Dashan, a regular person. Before the Calamity they farmed. Afterward, thanks to his daughter, Wang Dashan got a job at the army farm. Now, in Territory Eleven, he’s finally back to work he knows.

But Zhang Yi’s wife, Level Five Auditory Evolver Li Ziyan, is the odd one out. She doesn’t farm. Back at Hui One’s Safe Zone, she worked at the Ability Assessment Center, and after joining Territory Eleven, she still refuses to live off the land.

Halfway through dinner, Li Ziyan—who’d been trying to cozy up to Xia Qing all night—finally spoke up. “Director Xia, I heard our Ninth Planting Center expanded and is hiring. I didn’t finish college, but I’m great at general office work. Do you think I qualify for a job at Center Nine?”

“If I could work there, I could take my kids to and from school every day, and leave their dad free to work the land in peace.”