Chapter 1138: Shifting Alliances and Silent Maneuvers

Xia Qing had been tied up with disaster control and catching snakes these past few days, leaving her no time to keep up with things at Hui One. This was the perfect chance to find out what’s been going on.

Yang Jin gave a quick rundown. “Peng Yuancai attempted illegal human experiments while on the run—serious crimes stacked one after another, so the death sentence is a sure thing. Chen Dianming is definitely out, but it’s still unclear who’ll take his place. That’s why Fire Phoenix has put their relocation from Fire Mountain on hold—they’re staying put for now. On the surface, Apocalypse and Fire Phoenix have buried the hatchet, but they’re still clashing in secret. Thing is, Apocalypse is almost out of diehard followers. They’ve got maybe a month left before they fizzle out.”

At Hui One Base, Chen Dianming was Fire Phoenix’s main contact. Now that he’s been ousted, if Fire Phoenix returns to the Safe Zone, they’ll basically be caged birds. That’s exactly what Fire Phoenix dreads most—being trapped. She absolutely won’t go back. Xia Qing pressed on, “How much fighting power does Fire Phoenix have left?”

“About half. When Fire Mountain was bombarded, Fire Phoenix fought back using lots of illegal toxic bio-weapons. That can’t be swept under the rug, so for a long while they’ll be under heavy official scrutiny, just like Chonglian. They’ll have to endure frequent spot checks and strict oversight.”

Yang Jin took a sip of tea, clearly in a good mood. “Fire Phoenix has made plenty of enemies these years. It’s not just the authorities; every base in Huicheng City won’t miss this chance to stick the knife in.”

Xia Qing asked, “Which officials exactly are we talking about?”

“Huicheng General Base.” Yang Jin caught Xia Qing’s drift. “Fire Phoenix has insiders over there, but now they can’t afford to keep those leeches fed with enough credits or energy. Things are bound to get interesting soon! This coming year, Fire Phoenix will have its hands full dealing with the authorities and all the combat squads—they won’t dare provoke Third Brother.”

A year is enough. By the time Fire Phoenix tries to make a move again, they’ll find that Section One of the North is now a force they can’t afford to mess with.

Xia Qing replied softly and took a sip of tea. She suddenly remembered Wang Wu, who’d climbed Fire Mountain and tried to contact Third Brother with those tainted soybean seeds. Who knows if he’s even alive.

Honestly, Xia Qing didn’t even know his name. No way to ask about him.

Since Xia Qing brought up Fire Phoenix and Hui One, Yang Jin kept the conversation rolling. “What does Third Brother want in exchange for Zhang Kui and the others?”

Back before Yan Meng lost control, Feng Wen had made it clear to Xia Qing—if she helped take Territory Fourteen, Feng Wen would spill who inside Section One of the North was Fire Phoenix’s mole and who spread those Devastation Grass seeds along the territory’s passageway.

Xia Qing had always wanted the chance to root out these hidden pests from Section One of the North, so she naturally went to Tan Junjie with the news.

After Yan Meng died, Feng Wen could no longer squat in Territory Fourteen and was sent back to the Safe Zone with the patrol truck, only to be taken straight into the Criminal Investigation Squad’s interrogation room.

Just like the last time she and Tang Rui escaped Hui Three and got dragged back by Azure Dragon Squad, Feng Wen claimed she’d been coerced, spilled plenty of dirt that didn’t implicate her, and bargained her way into a no-charge release. She’s now living in Hui Three Safe Zone at a mother-and-child welfare center, waiting to give birth.

Using Feng Wen’s testimony and the evidence already gathered, the Criminal Investigation Squad took Peng Lin of the Inspection Team, Zhang Kui from the Ninth Center, and Yang Pei from Territory Fifteen in for questioning.

Besides those five, the squad also picked up four more from Territories Two and Twelve.

Tang Huai quietly let Xia Qing know—those four had been set up in the Devastation Grass attack by Tang Huai and Tang Heng, aiming, just like Xia Qing, to clear out the troublemakers.

It was only after Peng Lin got nabbed that Xia Qing learned how he’d scattered those Devastation Grass seeds.

If someone really makes up their mind to do something bad, nothing’s off limits.

Peng Lin schemed for more than half a month, making a small, inconspicuous hole in the battered patrol truck’s chassis during routine patrols. During Devastation Rain season he hid the seeds in the soles of his shoes and quietly dropped them through that hole.

Devastation Rain left the passage muddy and wild with Devastation Grass. Those little seeds blended in so well that even Su Ming, who was assigned to watch over Peng Lin as his partner, never noticed a thing.

Peng Lin was small fry, so now it just depended on how far the investigation would go and how many more people they’d drag out with him. Same goes for the forces behind Zhang Kui from Ninth Center.

So what’s the real truth?

In chaotic times like these, ‘the truth’ is just paperwork, a scripted explanation, and a few scapegoats once everyone’s interests are squared away.

The Peng Yuancai case, the brawl between Fire Phoenix and Apocalypse, Chonglian’s illegal experiments—none of them are closed yet because the major players are still at the bargaining table.

Yang Jin was blunt, so Xia Qing was too. “Third Brother’s not interested in dealing. I saw an opportunity to push for more weapons and gear for the Section One Inspection Team and the Ninth Center. The Base Director already agreed to my proposal, but how much we get, that’s still up in the air.”

Chen Dianming was deeply tied with Fire Phoenix. Zhang Kui from Ninth Center worked for Fire Phoenix and fed intel to Hui One authorities. On a small scale, it was personal beef—Fire Phoenix and Chen Dianming against Zhang San and Xia Qing. But looking at the bigger picture, it was Hui One Base and even Huicheng General Base putting their own interests above the national territory policy, willing to wipe out a thousand civilians in Hui Three’s Section One of the North, destroy nearly a thousand acres of farmland, and even wipe out a national treasure science team in Territory Seven.

As for what “the truth” turns out to be—that depends entirely on how Hui Three officials handle negotiations behind the scenes.

“Doesn’t matter how much we get; anything extra is a win.” Yang Jin praised Xia Qing and got ready to steer the conversation back—hoping to earn back the credits he just spent buying snake meat from her.

But before he could, Xia Qing jumped in, “Captain Yang, are you free this afternoon?”

Yang Jin nodded right away. “Yeah. You want to test your sniping skills this afternoon?”

“Sounds good. Two o’clock?”

“Two’s too bright; doesn’t match Luo’s test conditions. Six is better, yeah?” That way he could work with Xia Qing in Section Three, then they could eat together after testing—perfect!

Xia Qing had no objections. “Sure.”

After Xia Qing left, Yang Jin went off to take a nap, completely satisfied.

Leaving the meeting room, Xia Qing couldn’t help cracking a victorious grin—she didn’t give Yang Jin the chance to bargain for a new deal. She was definitely keeping all the credits for that snake meat sale!

By afternoon, Xia Qing brushed off Yang Jin’s offer to help, shooed him out of the territory, then grabbed her bundle and headed for the cotton greenhouse.

Monkey was still on Hill Sixty-One caring for his hurt friend. Until that little guy finished every last bit of food in its mini backpack, Monkey wouldn’t come back. So it was up to Xia Qing to crawl through the cotton field and pick her own cotton.

Neither Old Goat nor the Wolf Pack’s Second could handle work like this.

After picking the cotton, Xia Qing weeded both the Green Lantern fig nursery and the greenhouse flower beds. Once she finished her sniping test, she planned to bring back the Green Lantern Bees to trade.

She’d always meant to fetch the bees right after building the lab, but endless wolf, bear and snake battles kept pushing it off. This time, there was no delay—her honey supplies were almost out.

The skills test went off without a hitch that evening. Xia Qing’s effective range had reached 2,100 meters—making her a top-tier sniper in every way.

She’d earned that result through relentless practice.

Sweating in training was nothing—what actually hurt was all the sniper rounds she’d fired.

Those bullets had cost her over a million credits!

Both pained and pleased, Xia Qing turned down Yang Jin’s dinner invite and went to Territory One’s beekeeping shed to bring a box of bees down the mountain.

That night, just after settling the bees and before she could even start dinner, Xia Qing ran into Yang Jin’s infuriating half-brother—the last person she wanted to see.