Chapter 1124: Snow-White Serpents and Shifting Alliances

Xia Qing entered Territory Seven, handed the two wolves over to Zhang Song and his assistant, briefly explained their injuries, and then headed straight for the Idol’s lab.

As the commander of the emergency disaster elimination squad, Zhang San was out of sorts. His deputy, Xia Qing, was away from the territory, and all Chang Li could do in Section Three was pass on messages for Xia Qing—nothing more. Forced to pause his research and focus solely on disaster response, Zhang San grew more irritable by the minute, especially when faced with Xia Qing, who showed up grimy despite having disinfected herself.

What do you do when the Idol looks displeased? Butter him up! Xia Qing quickly pulled two snow-white Yi Snakes sealed in a bag from her backpack.

Zhang San immediately perked up, slipped on gloves, and almost dashed into the lab, eager to test the snake skins. Was their white pigment due to a lack of tyrosinase, a sign of albinism, or from a dominant white gene caused by mutation?

Seeing the Idol’s face light up, Xia Qing felt a surge of satisfaction. “Third Brother, these crawled out of Python Lake. They’re Green Lantern Snakes—capable of releasing an Evolution Element magnetic field. Their scent stirs up excitement and aggression in humans, wolves, and bears alike. You keep one, I keep one. Mind if I store my snake with you for now?”

Hearing it was an evolved Green Lantern creature, Zhang San looked thoroughly animated but still caught the key point in Xia Qing’s words. “Your filter cartridge can’t filter out the scent molecules from this creature?”

Xia Qing’s confidence slipped. “It can. I only took off my mask after I used the hyper-sensitive Air Toxin Detector you gave me to confirm there were no toxins over there.”

“Even if there aren’t toxins in the air, there can still be spores and bacteria. Don’t you know that basic fact?”

Watching Xia Qing look guilty, Zhang San decided he didn’t want a headache and skipped asking why she’d taken off her protective mask. “You’re keeping a snake to eat the meat?”

“Yeah. The fact that the Wolf Pack and Bear Pack fought over these snakes shows their flavor and nutritional value must be great.” Xia Qing handed the bigger snake to the Idol. “Third Brother, don’t just use it for research—try it fresh.”

Creatures rich in Evolutionary Synthetic Element are certainly nutritious, but their medicinal value is even higher. Still, these were Xia Qing’s spoils, so Zhang San had no right to object. He simply grabbed the smaller snake and stuffed it into the fridge, reminding her, “Test the snake for radiation and toxins first. If anything’s high, bring it to me—I’ll extract the safe compounds for medicine.”

Xia Qing nodded, described in detail the battle between the wolf, python, and snake, shared her thoughts, then asked, “Third Brother, do the Devastation Snakes in the lake need intervention?”

Section One of the North is still in disaster response mode as we speak—this really needs to be resolved soon.

“Of the five honey badgers you sent over, four are relying on their own immune systems to fight off Devastation Snake venom. Real-time monitoring shows they’ll wake up in three hours and head back to the Evolved Forest to finish the Devastation Snakes. This means the Northern Evolved Forest’s ecosystem has developed some self-regulation skills.”

Zhang San followed up, “The more complex a region’s species mix, the more stable and functional the system is—and the higher its self-regulation. Are you heading to Hill Sixty next?”

Xia Qing nodded. “I’m catching a few white snakes alive and bringing them to you.”

“Based on your observations, Devastation Snakes in the lake haven’t reached outbreak levels. If other Devastation Snake predators, like the honey badgers, prove that more than half can safely break down the venom, then the Northern Evolved Forest’s ecosystem can self-regulate well enough—for now, let’s avoid interference whenever we can. Devastation Snakes and these white snakes appearing together in the same water must be linked. Until we figure out how, we have to be extra cautious—let’s leave things be if possible.”

Zhang San’s features softened. “Contact Xin Yu. If possible, borrow her Tamed Bird for tracking—take it to Hill Sixty and have it follow whichever animals have eaten Devastation Snakes. Python Lake’s magnetic field is utterly scrambled these days and surveillance doesn’t work.”

An idea struck Xia Qing. “Third Brother, do you think the pythons crawling ashore right now could be related to the magnetic field anomalies?”

Zhang San answered with scientific patience. “Animal navigation, migration, and physiological changes are all tied closely to Blue Star’s magnetic field. So yes, it’s possible a sudden shift is pushing tons of snakes to leave the lake now and seek safer ground for winter hibernation.”

Incredible! Truly incredible! No wonder Third Brother sits at the top of humanity’s pyramid—he really does know everything!

Zhang San saw the look in Xia Qing’s eyes and knew she was up to no good. He started hustling her out. “You don’t need to handle disaster cleanup—I’ve already assembled six snake-hunting squads with Evolved fighters from the territory and Inspection Team. They’re scouring nearby hills for Devastation Snakes. If you’re heading to Hill Sixty, what equipment do you need?”

As expected from someone at the very top—he sees the important stuff straight away!

Overflowing with admiration, Xia Qing rattled off her list. “I need emergency wound medicine, sedatives, fresh filter cartridges for the mask, and a communicator that’s stronger than a phone signal. Sorry for the trouble, Third Brother.”

Zhang San ducked into the inner lab and quickly returned with a backpack of supplies. “Here’s everything you asked for. This bag is for the snakes—it breathes better than the one you’ve used. Get the comms device from Da Ya. These white snakes are rare—try to get both a male and a female if you can.”

From her look, Zhang San could tell Xia Qing had no idea how to tell a male from a female. He pulled the white snakes back out of the freezer for a quick demo. “The two you brought—one’s male, the other’s female. The sex traits are easy to spot…”

Supplied with her gear and a crash course in sexing Yi Snakes, Xia Qing saw that Zhang Song still wasn’t done treating the two wolves, so she decided not to wait and got up to leave.

Zhang San called out one last concern. “By joining the animal food chain battles in the Evolved Forest and catching white snakes, aren’t you worried about angering the Bear Pack or Snake Pack and triggering a beast tide against humans?”

Of course Xia Qing had considered the risk. She answered with certainty. “The Bear Pack sees me as part of the Wolf Pack, and now that things between us have calmed down, there won’t be any open conflict. As for the giant pythons in Python Lake—the biggest of them, the Black Python, came from Hill Fifty-Five. It remembers me and knows I’m a Wolf Pack member.”

Zhang San just stared for a moment.

“Don’t be fooled by the big heads on those pythons—their brain evolution and intelligence can’t match the two wolf leaders in the Northern Wolf Pack. The pythons have already been driven completely out of wolf territory, and they’re over sixty miles from us now. Unless we go to war with the Northern Wolf Pack, the pythons are never crossing wolf land to threaten our safety.”

That set Zhang San’s mind at ease—while also making his head hurt anew. He gave Xia Qing a final warning. “If you take off your mask and get hit with snake venom, then come crying for a medicated bath—I’m charging you twenty times the normal price for the formula.”

Twenty times?

The Idol’s out to rob me blind!

Fresh from soaking in her ninth body repair medicinal bath just days ago, Xia Qing snapped to attention, vowing, “Third Brother, I promise—my mask stays on, not a drop of your precious formula will go to waste!”