Chapter 1135: The Last Chance for the Devastation Snake

Even though the giant pythons had led the snake pack to launch a fresh assault on Territory Sixty-Eight, plenty of smaller snakes still followed the pull of the magnetic field or just relied on memories of last year’s hibernation spots. They swam up from Python Lake into Hill Sixty and Hill Sixty-One, searching for a place to sleep through the winter.

Among them were a handful of Devastation Snakes—a rare catch this year. For Xia Qing, this was probably her final shot.

She had to seize it.

Snagging a Devastation Snake meant fierce competition.

Whenever one popped up in the river, the Wolf Pack and the Bear Pack would charge in fighting, each trying to claim it. The Alpha and Bear King never stopped these brawls, only letting out a few roars if things spiraled too far out of control.

By day’s end, Xia Qing had only managed to get close to a Devastation Snake twice.

The first time, she was just about to catch one when a Black Bear barreled in out of nowhere. The Handsome Huge Wolf threw himself between them, snatched Xia Qing up in his jaws, and flung her straight back to shore.

Once she picked herself up, Xia Qing tried reasoning with the wolf, letting him know she wasn’t in any danger—she just wanted a piece of the action. Two hours later, her luck turned again. The Devastation Snake surfaced just four meters away!

She dashed over at full speed, but the Bear Pack’s annoying number two Speed Evolution Bear beat her to the punch. Not only did it steal the snake, it also splashed her from head to toe with cold river water.

Fuming, Xia Qing was tempted more than once to call Yang Jin over and have him help her snatch a snake!

With Crippled Wolf away, the Handsome Huge Wolf was locked in battle, and neither Black Wolf nor Lame Wolf could figure out Xia Qing wanted a live snake. In the end, even the Alpha got annoyed seeing Xia Qing hopping mad, and finally caught a live snake for her.

But—of course—it was another male!

So after a long, exhausting day, Xia Qing ended up empty-handed. Aside from the one given to her by the Alpha, she couldn’t catch a single Devastation Snake herself. All she could show for her efforts were seven ordinary Devastation Snakes and twenty other Green Lantern snakes.

Her only reason for catching so many edible snakes was that the Wolf Pack had no interest in them. They just let the snakes burrow off into the hills, which meant Xia Qing’s main rivals turned out to be honey badgers, yellow weasels, and the birds.

Even with that, more than half the Green Lantern snakes she got had really been caught by Goofball, its belly round as ever, then stored away for her.

Honestly, when it came to speed and hunting, Xia Qing couldn’t even keep up with Goofball. Across the river, this left the Bear Pack pumped up and howling in high spirits.

The Wolf Pack, though, was already used to Xia Qing’s slowpoke style, so no one paid it much mind. At least she could be thankful Lame Wolf had been sent to watch over the western front today, or she’d get chewed out for sure.

When the sun finally set, the snakes stopped swimming into the valley’s river. Worn out, Xia Qing hauled over seven hundred pounds of snake meat off Hill Sixty, hopped on the helicopter and headed back home. She handed the two live male Devastation Snakes—and five snake meat strips—over to Idol. The live ones for Idol to raise, the rest to be broken down into effective medicine.

That night, six giant pythons slipped via the waterways into Territory Sixty-Eight and vanished. With his belly stuffed, Broken Back Wolf dropped off two Devastation Snake meat strips in his double-door fridge, then told Xia Qing to send the snake meat to Territory Seven at dawn for Zhang San to turn into medicine and return it to him after.

Xia Qing, not having any of it, demanded a half-bag of Green Lantern pecans as a processing fee for Idol’s work.

Broken Back Wolf didn’t care for pecans anyway, and agreed instantly. But he still wouldn’t help Xia Qing catch another live Devastation Snake, claiming he had his own important business to deal with.

The next day, Xia Qing gave up on more frustration at Hill Sixty and instead joined her friends searching the surrounding hills for stray Devastation Snakes coming to overwinter. Naturally, she still held out hope that her magnetic sense might pick up a missed Devastation Snake.

No such luck.

By the third day, the magnetic field of Python Lake was back to normal.

On the fourth day, with no Devastation Snakes found near Section One of the North in 24 hours, the emergency disaster status was lifted. The lords were free to move about their territories and classes would resume at school.

That very morning, Yang Jin flew in from the Safe Zone, hoping to trade with Xia Qing for her stockpile of meat in the Territory One food depot.

He arrived only to learn Xia Qing wasn’t at Section Three or the Ninth Planting Center, but was actually busy helping Ten build a new greenhouse.

The entire Shizhong family had moved to their new territory right next to Territory Fifteen, dismantling the eight emptied greenhouses of their old land after harvesting the mung beans.

According to the original trade agreement, all supplies and greenhouse setup for Ten’s move were handled by the Ninth Planting Center. Xia Qing just happened to be free today, so she took a team to help her friends set up their greenhouses.

Being a Strength Evolution fighter and a seasoned greenhouse-builder, Xia Qing worked fast and well. The Ninth Center staff, inspired by their powerhouse director, pitched in full force, knocking together all eight greenhouse frames, covering them with insect netting and rain covers in less than half a day.

The earthen wall greenhouse the Shi family had built in their old territory couldn’t be moved, so the Ninth Center promised they’d construct a brand new one for them.

Building that earthen wall greenhouse would need yellow clay. Qi Fu, Shizhong, Zhao Ze, and Yue Haiying also wanted yellow clay for brick-firing and house building in their own territories.

So after sorting out the greenhouses, Xia Qing sat down with her allies to schedule when they’d collect the clay and line up the vehicles and people, before finally heading back to her own territory.

She already knew Yang Jin was waiting for her, so as she neared the fields and the meeting room, the smell of home cooking from the little kitchen made her stomach growl.

“All done already?”

Yang Jin, dressed in a short-sleeved T-shirt and an apron, was busy cooking in the little kitchen. He waved his spatula at Xia Qing and grinned. “I’ve made braised Green Lantern rabbit. What do you want with it?”

“Let’s have mantou. There are some in the fridge. Captain Yang, do you know how to cook snake meat?” Xia Qing still had a chunk of Devastation Snake in the fridge. She was going to cook it herself, but seeing how great Yang Jin looked and smelling that delicious rabbit, she changed her mind.

Yang Jin’s smile lit up, knowing Xia Qing had caught edible snakes. He’d learned several snake meat recipes especially for this. “Of course. Since you already had braised dishes for lunch, how about salt and pepper snake meat today?”

Just hearing that made Xia Qing hungry. She nodded. “Perfect. I’ll grab a couple potatoes for a veggie dish.”

Yang Jin cautioned her, “Potatoes don’t mix well with snake meat. Bring over two eggs instead, then pick some fresh greens from the greenhouse. I’ll whip up a hot and sour egg soup and a garlic-stirred greens dish.”

Yang Jin was careful—he hadn’t poked around Xia Qing’s greenhouses or taken any ingredients since he arrived, just some pure spring water for cooking.

Once Xia Qing had left with her perpetually grumpy sheep, Yang Jin quickly lifted the lid on the rabbit pot. Noticing the broth was running low, he immediately poured in some boiling pure spring water, then lined up his snake-meat cooking spices in the order shown on his phone recipe so he wouldn’t mix them up under pressure.

When Xia Qing got home, showered, and changed into something comfy, she brought the ingredients over to the small house by the fields.

Yang Jin was surprised by the snowy white snake meat. “Albino? Did you catch it in the northern part of Hill Sixty’s lake too?”

“It’s not albino—it just lacks tyrosinase.” Xia Qing handed over two pounds of snake meat, explaining why she only brought so little. “This is high-evolution Green Lantern snake.”

Yang Jin’s eyes had just started to light up when Xia Qing calmly added, “It’s rare. Not for trade. Third Brother said not to spread the word around yet.”

“Got it.”

If this leaked, every combat team in the area would rush to Python Lake with nets to dredge the whole lake.

Wolf Pack, Bear Pack? When it comes to top-grade evolution meat, everyone suddenly forgets about the rule against picking fights with Evolved Forest’s beasts.

Premium food always goes to the strong.