Chapter 1129: The Wild Hunt: Hauling Giants and Earning Trust

“Holy—!”

Flying the helicopter over Hill Fifty-Nine, Huo Zhun and Zhang Hongda looked down at the beast trail in the Evolved Forest, where a wolf pack followed behind a human, carrying a massive python at least ten meters long, and they both blurted out curses.

After eleven years of calamity, they’ve seen it all—or so they thought.

But this… they’d never seen anything like this before.

Still, as Xia Qing and the wolves drew closer, neither let their shock show. Both kept their cool. The Evolved Wolves were sharp to shifts in human emotion, and neither wanted to rile up those blood-soaked beasts.

Once Xia Qing and her wolves headed back out for a second trip for more meat, Zhang Hongda walked up to the giant python, awe washing over him.

Back during the fifth year of the calamity, a brutal insect swarm hit Hui Three Base. With food dangerously scarce, the Base Director ordered the Yue Haiying squad to the lakes north of Hill Sixty to hunt giant pythons, desperate to bolster the Safe Zone’s meat supply.

That mission, their squad took down three pythons—each about twelve meters long. Zhang Hongda had been sure those were the biggest pythons that lake had to offer.

Turns out, there were bigger ones hiding.

Was it that the pythons kept evolving, or had these massive ones just stayed out of sight last time, lurking in the depths? If it’s another round of evolution, that’s downright terrifying…

Zhang Hongda called out, “Huo, have you ever seen a python this size?”

Sitting in the pilot’s seat on guard duty, Huo Zhun nodded. “Yeah, I’ve seen one.”

Zhang Hongda headed back to his post. “What, now we’ve got pythons in the ocean too?”

Not the ocean. They’d been in Xia Qing’s territory. Huo Zhun had even skinned one and chopped up its meat with his own hands.

Still, Huo Zhun didn’t know if Xia Qing had told their allies, so he kept quiet. “Never saw pythons during maritime missions. Only ran into sea snakes—maybe five or six meters long. There are sea creatures much bigger than this python, but most of them aren’t edible.”

With all that nuclear waste people dumped and the influence of the Yi II Element, ocean evolution turned out even wilder and more unpredictable than what happened on land.

Snapping a photo full of envy, Huo Zhun muttered, “There’s got to be plenty of smaller aquatic creatures in that lake for this thing to grow so huge. No way it lives on nothing. Not this year, but when spring hits, we ought to come out here—fish for pythons!”

His three teammates would drool at the chance to tangle with something this big. Too bad he hadn’t gotten Xia Qing’s OK, so he couldn’t share the picture.

No wonder—the guy was a former marine special forces soldier, while Huo Zhun himself was just regular army vet. Those marines always went the extra mile.

Zhang Hongda nodded right away. “Sounds good. Just give me a shout, Huo, and I’ll be here. By the way, our local crocs don’t start hibernating till November, right? Want to head over to Crocodile Lake in the Hill Fifty-Two region and fish for a few? I remember Sister Qing caught a Green Lantern baby crocodile over there.”

Huo Zhun shook his head. “That lake’s off-limits. The wolf pack keeps tight watch. Last time we tried hunting there, the wolves gave us a warning. We could try hunting wild ducks up by Hill Fifty-Five instead—fewer wolves in that area.”

After chatting a bit, they spotted Xia Qing again, marching over with a heavy backpack and another python trailing behind. Huo Zhun had to fight the urge to whip out his phone for another shot.

Zhang Hongda couldn’t help but marvel. “How does Sister Qing get nine evolved wolves to behave and help her haul snakes?”

Hauling isn’t even the main thing. Xia Qing had strapped the pythons to the wolves with harnesses, lined them up in single file, marching obediently behind her.

What human could pull that off?

And are those even normal evolved wolves following her?

And what about the monk-faced monkey tagging along at the back, carrying a snake? Was it just there for show?

How did she manage all this? Since Sister Qing’s wolf pack is part of her battle squad—and so is he!—Huo Zhun’s heart surged with pride. He grinned wide. “You’ll have to ask Sister Qing that one.”

Xia Qing hefted her heavy pack and the mid-sized python onto the chopper, unfastened the giant python from the wolves, let them head back to Hill Sixty, and led Goofball in, shutting the cabin door behind them.

Once everything was secure, Xia Qing took off her protective mask, wiped her sweat, drank some water, then carefully packed up the two small snakes Goofball had brought, sealing them up with five strips of Devastation Snake meat, and handed them to her two teammates. “Deliver all the snakes in these three small pouches straight to Territory Seven, and give them to Third Brother in person. The two live snakes can’t get squeezed—they’re the ones he specifically asked for. As for the two giant pythons and four mid-sized ones, send them all to the Food Depot in Territory One. The two big ones are Yellow Lanterns. One mid-sized is a Yellow Lantern, and three are Red Lanterns. Once our mission’s done, I’ll divvy up the meat.”

Huo Zhun’s eyes lit up. “Sister Qing, can today’s rewards be paid out in Yellow Lantern python meat?”

When Xia Qing first recruited them, she promised a hundred credits each per run. This was their third run today. At city market rates, Yellow Lantern meat goes for fifty credits a pound, so Huo Zhun had six pounds of meat coming.

With a haul of several tons of meat, Xia Qing wasn’t about to be stingy. “Of course. But keep in mind, I haven’t had time to test those snakes for toxins or radiation yet, so they’re not necessarily safe to eat right away.”

Huo Zhun grinned. “Doesn’t matter. Even if it’s not safe, I’ll still take it.”

If it’s not edible, he’d just turn the meat into jerky, carry it around, and feed the wolves—great for bonding.

Zhang Hongda chimed in, but instead of meat, he asked, “Sister Qing, can I trade for some python skin?”

Xia Qing patted the dark green, spotted giant python. “This one has top-grade Hardness Evolution, and I’ll need most of it. Only a small bit left for trade. Any other snake skins, take whatever you want.”

Last time the wolf pack killed a black, top-grade hardness-evolved Green Lantern Python—about the same size as today’s.

They turned that one into six protective suits for wolves and three for humans, plus a vest.

This new giant python? Four protective suits for wolves. The Handsome Huge Wolf’s so big, he needs double the material of a regular evolved wolf.

The leftover python skin, Xia Qing would use for a protective suit for herself, another for Yan Long, and the rest could go to Huo Zhun and Zhang Hongda in exchange.

Top-grade Hardness Evolution? Zhang Hongda’s eyes nearly glowed. “Thank you, Sister Qing! However much python skin you’re willing to share from this one, Huo and I would love to have.”

“Deal.” Xia Qing pulled her protective mask on and led Goofball Monkey out of the chopper. As she watched the meat-laden helicopter lift off, she called Idol to report in.

Hearing Xia Qing had gotten seven more Devastation Snakes, Zhang San’s voice turned instantly gentle. “These white snakes contain Yi Element Level 7—high-level Evolution Element creatures. Inside their bodies, the Yi Element forms natural Synthetic Element 7, which is extremely rare and, at present, can’t be synthesized in a lab.”

Level 7 Yi Element…

Xia Qing sifted through her memory for the effects of Level 7. “Third Brother, Level 7 improves gastrointestinal function, right? I’ll keep two living ones for you, and from the five Devastation Snake meat strips we sent, you keep three for yourself.”

After getting the blood from Zhang Shi and his mother, Zhang San extracted Level 6 Yi Element—that’s the Recovery Factor—and developed an anti-allergy medicine from it. The medicine had helped him a bit, but he was still so skinny Xia Qing always worried he’d fall apart at the slightest bump.

Zhang San’s voice was so kindly it could have dripped with honey. “Level 7 does more than improve digestion. It boosts the body’s defense, with anti-tumor properties, immune system support, anti-aging, and other major health benefits. With meat this good, eating it straight would be a shame. When you’re back, bring the one from your territory, too. I’ll extract the active components and make a medicine for you.”

“Alright, thank you, Third Brother. Really appreciate it.” Xia Qing decided to try a slice from that one in her territory, then bring the rest to Idol—seeing how much her wolf pack enjoyed it, she’d been tempted for ages.

Zhang San asked, “You said there were nine snakes delivered. What about the other two?”

Goofball had brought those for himself as backup snacks, but Xia Qing wasn’t about to admit that. “Just two ordinary little snakes—I’ll leave them with you for now and pick them up when I get back to the territory.”

Ordinary snakes? Little ones? Why’d you bring those back?

Zhang San didn’t ask—he was too happy to risk hearing a bizarre explanation that would kill his good mood.