Chapter 1150: Swallows of Section Three

On the last day of the ninth year of the Cataclysm, during the season of migrating birds, a small group of swallows fled in panic above Section Three, hunted by sparrowhawks. Though Xia Qing had taken care of the sparrowhawks, this tiny flock never managed to rejoin the main migration group, so they wound up spending the winter in Section Three.

After a year of nesting, the flock had grown from twenty-two to forty-three. During their time in Section Three, not only did they devour heaps of insects, they fiercely defended the rooftop and courtyard, guarding Xia Qing’s crops drying in the sun. Loud and messy as these feathery neighbors were, Xia Qing found them quite satisfactory.

Now they’d finally flown away. Xia Qing felt a touch of regret, but she wasn’t surprised. Swallows are migratory by nature—sooner or later, that urge would drive them to flap their wings and follow the flock to warmer lands for winter.

She just hoped they were tough enough to survive and would return next spring, settling once again under her eaves when migration season rolled around.

She left the swallow’s nest there for them, just in case.

If this bunch of swallows never came back next year, Xia Qing figured she’d just catch a few from the town ruins and stick them in the nests beneath her eaves. A little pure spring water and a few Green Lantern Breadworms would probably tempt them to stay and help keep Section Three pest-free.

After replying to Hu Zifeng’s message, Xia Qing checked the update Yan Yue sent from the Ninth Center, then finally opened the Alliance group chat. Seventy percent of the new messages were from Tang Huai, and most of them were pointless chatter.

Before she could even finish reading, a call came in from an unfamiliar number. When she picked up, she heard the Base Director’s voice.

“Xia, it’s Qi Zhongye. There’s a small team coming from the northern Evolved Forest near Hui Five, headed toward Sector Nineteen in our base’s mountains. We don’t know how many there are or what they’re up to. Can you team up with Zhu Zhenming’s crew and go check it out?”

Getting a call from a strange number, using the Base Director’s voice, and being told to join people she didn’t know—especially out at the borderlands of Hui Three, Hui Five, and Hui One—made Xia Qing’s natural caution flare up. Her first instinct was that someone might be faking the Base Director’s voice to lure her into a trap.

Even though the voice sounded spot on, she needed to confirm his identity. “Base Director, when you had that meeting with the Department Head at Agriculture on the morning of September third—he handed you a black pen. Did you like it? And did you return it afterward?”

Qi Zhongye paused for a split second, then caught on immediately and replied warmly, “I’m out of the office right now, so I had to call from my cell. That day, as soon as I left the conference, Vice Director Wang took the pen back. Are you a fan of those pens too, Xia?”

It really was the Base Director. Xia Qing smiled and answered, “That pen was pretty nice—probably not cheap, either!”

“If you go with Zhu Zhenming, and complete this mission, you’ll have enough credits to buy a thousand of those pens,” Qi Zhongye said, explaining why he’d called her. “The top snipers from Hui One and Hui Five haven’t gone out on missions tonight—my guess is they’re mixed into this group. Right now, you’re the nearest and strongest sniper. Luo Pei can’t make it in time.”

Luo had worked hard all day and was probably just finishing dinner back at Territory One. No way could Xia have him make another round trip. So she didn’t turn the job down but asked, “Base Director, can I team up with Tang Zhou’s squad? They’re hunting birds here too.”

The only team Xia Qing trusted in this hunting district was Tang Zhou’s Azure Dragon Squad.

Qi Zhongye realized his oversight. Back when she was in the Safe Zone, Xia Qing worked construction in Outer City. Since leaving, she’d been tending fields in her own territory and hadn’t teamed up with Hui Three’s fighters, so her hesitation made perfect sense. Without that kind of caution, she wouldn’t have survived this long.

“No problem. Meet up with Tang Zhou’s squad. I’ll have Zhu Zhenming bring Shiyue—the senior sniper—with you as well. Stay sharp out there. If you can’t take them alive, don’t get hurt trying. If you can’t get a body, then just come back safely—that’s the top priority. Our new ace sniper is too valuable to risk anything going wrong.”

“Understood! I guarantee the mission will be a success!” Xia Qing replied, the words rolling off her tongue with a soldier’s confidence. After so long working in the Ninth Center, she was used to this army lingo.

Xia Qing didn’t take this mission for the credits. First, the Base Director asked her personally. Second, Sector Nineteen wasn’t far from where Number Four and the Wolf Pack ran their territory. She worried that the incoming team might actually be after them.

After hanging up, Xia Qing dialed up Yue Haiying to check if Zhu Zhenming and Shiyue could be trusted.

She’d heard Shiyue’s voice before, but Zhu Zhenming’s name was new to her.

Xia Qing didn’t say what the task was. Yue Haiying didn’t ask. He just got right to the point: “Shiyue and Zhu Zhenming are both members of our base’s Special Ops Team Two. They’ve each served over ten years—one’s a senior sniper, one’s a spotter. Add in Bloodfang, and when the three of them work together, they’re as good as any ace sniper. You can trust them to have your back.”

With her teammates verified, Xia Qing quickly packed up and left Sniper Point One. When she joined up with Tang Zhou’s team of ten, she found Zhu Zhenming and Shiyue were already there, matching the descriptions Yue Haiying had given.

Tang Zhou greeted her and introduced today’s squad. “Sister Qing, you already know everyone on our team, so I’ll skip the details. This is Zhu Zhenming, a level six vision evolutionary, our spotter. And Shiyue, level seven vision evolutionary and senior sniper. Both are from Special Ops Team Two. Zhu’s in charge this time.”

Xia Qing nodded. “Zhu, I’m Xia Qing—level six strength, level nine vision evolutionary.”

Zhu Zhenming smiled as he spoke. “I know. Shiyue and I have trained with Captain Luo many times. We’re basically under the same tutelage.”

…

From the moment Zhu Zhenming spoke, Xia Qing understood why the Base Director wanted them as a team—Zhu Zhenming was tonight’s sniper team leader for the bird-hunting operation. He just hadn’t said his name on the walkie-talkie earlier, so she never connected the dots.

Zhu Zhenming issued the orders. “The enemy is wearing infrared-resistant gear. Their numbers, weapons, combat strength, and purpose are unknown, but there are fifteen to twenty of them. We need to cross the Evolved Forest as fast as possible and reach the target zone within thirty minutes to set up an ambush. It’ll be fastest if we use climbing ropes to zip through the two big gorges on the way.”

Thirty minutes from Hui Three’s Section Six to Sector Nineteen was close to ten miles, with two gorges and who knew how many mountains in between…

Xia Qing quietly stretched her ankles and thought about calling the wolves for backup.

But it was way too far for that—calling the wolves was out of the question. She downed an X Nutrient Shake and steeled herself.

“Sister Qing, just shout if you get tired, I’ll carry you for a bit,” Tang Zhou offered. He’d trained with her enough to know stamina was her weak point.

“Alright,” Xia Qing answered simply. This was a mission—she couldn’t be the reason for slowing everyone down.

Still, Xia Qing doubted she’d actually need anyone to carry her.

After all, she was only hauling a bit over forty pounds in gear today. Plus, she was wearing a pair of strength-enhancing running shoes she’d traded eighty thousand credits for a few days back. Factor in a year of hard training, and now her speed and endurance were nothing to scoff at.