Chapter 147: A Squirrel’s Tribute and the Storm’s Aftermath

Though the fruit looked a bit off, Xia Qing still recognized it by its shape.

A chestnut.

It was probably just unripe.

Where did the Evolved Squirrel find chestnuts? Are they even edible? What other treasures does it have stashed in that hole?

Xia Qing narrowed her eyes, raising her gun again and aiming at the tree hollow.

The squirrel, seeing Xia Qing wasn’t leaving, dashed back inside and tossed out another half-ripe chestnut, then peered cautiously at her from the branches.

Raising her gun, Xia Qing called out, “You ate six of my big dates. Two chestnuts aren’t nearly enough.”

The Evolved Squirrel ducked back out of sight the moment Xia Qing aimed. Xia Qing fired another shot with a loud bang.

Rustling came from inside. Before long, the squirrel popped up at the edge and hurled out another item.

Xia Qing had to laugh when she saw what it was.

This time, it was the Redlight tobacco fiber the thief had stolen. So it knew exactly whose it was. Now it was returning it, all trashed like this, acting like nothing had happened.

Xia Qing pointed her gun, her voice full of threat. “I want food.”

The Evolved Squirrel, seeing she still wouldn’t leave, scurried back into the hole again and rustled around, then tossed something else out. Next it jumped from branch to branch, chittering furiously and hopping mad. With every move, it made it clear that if Xia Qing pressed for more, there would be a fight.

Xia Qing stared at its latest offering, completely speechless.

What on earth? A gold watch?

From the way the squirrel was stomping in frustration, this had to be its prized possession.

The squirrel moved with lightning speed. Xia Qing couldn’t hit it, and dragging this out would be pointless.

Now that she’d retrieved her food, Xia Qing decided to let it go. “We’ll call it even this time. But if you dare steal my food again, you’ll pay double.”

She put away her gun and scooped up the dates, the chestnuts, and the gold watch, stuffing them into her pocket as she headed back to her territory. As for the bundle of ruined tobacco fiber, Xia Qing didn’t even bother to pick it up.

Even though Area Three of Mountain 49 technically belonged to her, that was a human rule. The Evolved Squirrel got here first. As long as it didn’t snatch her food, Xia Qing didn’t mind it staying.

If the squirrel had chestnuts, there must be chestnut trees nearby—but the Azure Dragon Unit hadn’t found any edible ones yet. Since it’s a speed evolver, its range must be huge. Tracking down those trees wouldn’t be easy.

The gold watch didn’t make a sound—probably broken ages ago. Now, in these years of disasters, old antiques and paintings weren’t worth as much as even a bunch of fresh vegetables. Still, the watch parts might come in handy.

Whoever owned such a vintage solid gold pocket watch must have been rich before the disaster.

Opening the lid, Xia Qing found a tiny round photo inside. In it, a mother and daughter leaned close, both beautiful, both grinning radiantly.

Clearly, the watch’s value lay in its sentiment, not its worth now. Who knew how the squirrel had gotten it?

She slipped the pocket watch away and grabbed a fresh chestnut, peeling it and tasting the nut to check for Xiang element content. It registered at Yellowlight. She could eat it!

A stream of chestnut recipes flashed through her mind, making her mouth water as she popped the raw nut in her mouth.

In these hard times, good food was the only thing worth living for.

Once she finished up her current chores, she planned to team up and raid the Evolver Forest to look for more chestnuts.

She pocketed her stash and was just about to grab tools to repair the greenhouse battered by hail when she suddenly heard the whir of a helicopter.

She ran back into the courtyard, soothed her two injured wolves, then looked up at the chopper hovering in the sky.

It was coming from the Safe Zone, not heading to Plot One or Territory Two, but flying toward Territory Seven. About twenty minutes later, it took off again and headed back.

Did someone get hit by hail? Was the helicopter dropping off someone at Zhang San’s territory, or taking Zhang San to save a life?

Either way, it had nothing to do with her.

Xia Qing grabbed her tools and set to work, patching up the greenhouses with new supports and replacing the broken insect nets.

The unexpected hailstorm had her scrambling. She resolved to take precautions in the future, figuring out how she could install rainproof tarps faster on her own.

That wouldn’t be easy. Xia Qing turned on the walkie-talkie to see what Qi Fu and the others did to protect their crops during the storm, and to hear about losses elsewhere.

But the moment she turned it on, she heard Qi Fu’s wife, Yuan Yan, pleading for medicine. “Is Third Brother there? Lao Qi’s head got smashed open by hail—I want to swap for the best trauma medicine. I’ll pay with points or green-light food, anything.”

Zhang San didn’t answer. Xia Qing figured he might’ve just left with the helicopter.

Kuang Qingwei replied instead. “Sister-in-law, I’ve got some trauma medicine from the Safe Zone. You want to use it for Qi Ge?”

“Already used it! The bleeding won’t stop.” Xia Qing could hear Yuan Yan’s voice trembling.

If a head wound wouldn’t stop bleeding it had to be serious. In these disaster years, a severe injury might as well be a death sentence. Yuan Yan kept blaming herself. “It’s my fault, we should’ve replaced the protective masks ages ago, but I was too stingy.”

With Zhang San gone, Yuan Yan turned to Luo Pei for help. “Luo Ge, are you there?”

But it wasn’t Luo Pei who replied—it was Chang Li, the squad medic of the Azure Dragon Unit. “Luo Ge isn’t here. I’m Chang Li, I handle trauma for the unit. If you trust me, I can come check on him.”

Yuan Yan was overwhelmed with gratitude. “Of course I trust you, thank you so much—it’s a lifesaver.”

Zhao Ze chimed in too. “Could you look at the injured workers in Territory Four as well? Three of ours got hit.”

Kuang Qingwei added, “We have wounded too, could you check on them as well?”

Chang Li replied, “No problem. I’ll start with Plot Five, then go to Territory Four and Six. Anyone else need help?”

“Territory Nine needs you, too. We can pay with supplies or points for your visit and the medicine.”

When Xia Qing recognized the voice of Assistant Liu from Territory Nine, she was surprised—she thought Liu and Li Si had both been taken to the Safe Zone for questioning. Apparently, Liu was still on the territory.

Did that mean Li Si was back, too?

“Plot Eight also urgently needs a doctor, please help us!” The Lord’s Channel rang with a voice almost no one but Xia Qing recognized.

The Lord of Plot Eight, Xin Yu, had come online to ask for help. This shocked the other lords even more than Territory Nine’s request.

“Assistant Liu, what’s going on in Plot Eight and your place?” Tang Huai wanted to know.

Nobody answered Tang Huai. Chang Li responded to the pleas for help. “I’ll visit each territory in order, you only need to pay for the medicine, not my travel.”

As soon as Chang Li replied, the channel filled with messages of thanks. After all, an open wound during the disaster years meant risking mutant infections or even death over the tiniest scratch.

Just her willingness to come out and help was an act of saving lives. Even Tang Huai praised her, “Guess there are still good people in your Azure Dragon Unit.”

After the medicine issue was settled, Kuang Qingwei stopped to ask about Captain Tan. “Captain Tan, hail smashed my solar panels. Can the base replace them?”

Captain Tan wasn’t on. An Inspection Team member replied, “We’ll report your situation and have already requested medical support. But the hail hit a lot of places, so aid may be delayed. We’ll also report Doctor Chang’s medical support to get her and her squad some bonus points.”

Medical aid wasn’t coming anytime soon, Captain Tan was gone, Luo Pei was gone, and even Zhang San had been dragged away…

It really felt like something big was happening at the base. Xia Qing turned on her radio—if there was a disaster, the broadcast would announce it.

A song was playing on the broadcast. Xia Qing set the radio aside and went back to studying faster ways to set up rainproof tarps for future emergency storms.