Chapter 172: Negotiations and Stand-Offs Over the Pangolin Search
by xennovel“Everyone, the Sufeng Squad has lost two pangolins, one large and one small. Has anyone seen any pangolins in or around your territory these past few days? If you can provide helpful info, the Sufeng Squad will reward you with at least two thousand points.”
“Two thousand points to find pangolins worth two hundred thousand? Sufeng Squad sure is generous.”
Xia Qing wasn’t worried in the slightest. She opened a drawer, pulled out a pearl, and started polishing it, smiling as she listened to the lively chatter.
Kuang Qingwei jumped in right away, asking, “Brother Huai, when and where did you lose the pangolins? How big were they?”
Kuang Qingwei was the most enthusiastic among the territory lords about staying connected. Except for Plot Eight, he had at least some idea of what was going on in most of the other twenty-six territories.
Tang Huai answered immediately, “They’ve been missing for four days, right here in the Evolver Forest near us. The bigger one’s over a meter long with a dark greenish-black back, the smaller one’s forty centimeters, light greenish on the back. Did you see them?”
Kuang Qingwei replied, “I’ve been busy fixing the greenhouse and roof after evolved birds wrecked them—haven’t really paid attention to the news around here. I’ll go ask around right now.”
“Why are you even saying anything if you know nothing? What’s the point of asking around now?”
Tang Huai cursed under his breath and kept asking, “Anyone else spot them?”
Nobody replied.
Kuang Qingwei pressed on, “Even before the disaster, wild pangolins near us were basically wiped out. I haven’t seen one since. Brother Huai, what does the Sufeng Squad even want pangolins for? Treasure hunting?”
Tang Huai ignored Kuang Qingwei and continued, “Pangolins are expert diggers. If they’re tunneling around in your territory, they’ll bring in pests like evolved rats and ruin your crops. The Sufeng Squad wants permission to search your areas so we can eliminate these risks. Please allow us in.”
This time, even Kuang Qingwei fell silent—nobody wanted outsiders on their land. Even if it was The Base’s First Squad, it was still a hard ‘no.’
Tang Huai added, “The squad will only send a six-person team in. Unless we find the pangolins, we promise not to touch anything else—not your land, not your crops. If you allow us in, the Sufeng Squad will give you twenty jin of Yellowlight wheat. If we find pangolins in your territory, you’ll get another one hundred jin—ninety of Yellowlight, ten of Greenlight.”
Xia Qing raised an eyebrow. In years of disaster, the pull of food was overwhelming. Twenty jin of wheat wasn’t just food—it could be seeds for the next harvest.
Seeds measured by weight, not by the grain—anyone would have a hard time saying no to Greenlight seeds.
Of course, Xia Qing wasn’t tempted at all. From Tang Huai’s description, she already knew the wolves had caught Sufeng’s tamed beasts.
No other territory besides hers would turn up pangolins, so nobody was getting Greenlight seeds.
Sure enough, Kuang Qingwei was first to speak, “It’s a good thing for Sufeng Squad to help clear out threats—Territory Six agrees to let you in.”
“Territory Four agrees.”
“Territory Five agrees.”
“Territory Ten agrees.”
Tang Huai kept asking, “Thanks, everyone. Territory Two’s onboard as well. What about the rest of you?”
Territory Two belonged to Tang Lu, daughter of the Sufeng Squad leader. Of course they’d say yes—Tang Huai was just going through the motions.
Xia Qing didn’t jump in right away. She sat under the light admiring the polished black pearl, rolling it between her fingers.
Hu Zifeng was the first to refuse. “Plot One won’t allow it.”
“Territory Seven won’t allow it.”
“Territory Nine won’t allow it.”
“Plot Eight won’t allow it.”
Only then did Xia Qing press the button. “Territory Three won’t allow it.”
Territories One, Seven, and Nine saying no was expected, but Three and Eight joining them was a slap in the face for Tang Huai.
Knowing Xia Qing’s blunt style, Tang Huai tried a softer approach with Plot Eight. “Xin Yu, we’re just sending a few people in to look for pangolins. If we don’t find them, we’ll be out in half an hour tops. Please reconsider.”
“Too much trouble, not happening,” the lord of Plot Eight shot back without hesitation. “Captain Tan, if anyone barges into my territory without permission, is it illegal if I kill them?”
Everyone fell silent…
Tang Huai went quiet too…
Tan Junjie responded seriously, “You should warn and drive them away first. Only if that doesn’t work can you resort to force.”
Xin Yu replied, “Understood. Thank you, Captain Tan.”
Tang Huai switched to a warning, “Xin Yu, you never know when you’ll need someone—don’t burn bridges.”
Xin Yu didn’t budge. “Never planned to cross that bridge anyway.”
Everyone…
Savage!
Tang Huai…
Damn it!
With Plot Eight’s stubbornness, Tang Huai turned to Territory Three. “Xia Qing, why are you saying no?”
Xia Qing replied, “My sheep are very territorial, and it’s just now recovering. I don’t want to stir it up. Anyone barges in, I’ll do exactly what the lord of Plot Eight said.”
Everyone…
A red-tagged sheep she can’t even eat matters more to Xia Qing than hundreds of jin of grain!
Tang Huai… damn it!
“Thank you to the folks from Four, Five, Six, and Ten for cooperating. On top of the twenty jin of wheat, I’ll personally give each of you a portion of fried Greenlight evolved insect pupae. How about we start at 7:30 tomorrow morning?”
Hearing ‘fried bugs,’ Xia Qing’s mouth started to water. She turned off the walkie-talkie and switched to tonight’s physical training.
A little after two in the morning, the wolf pack dragged another python over, hoping to trade it with Xia Qing for more spinach juice.
Xia Qing explained patiently—words and gestures both—to the Alpha Wolf, “Your Majesty, it’s not that I don’t want to trade, I’m just out of medicine. There’s none left.”
She was telling the truth—her spinach was barely a hand high now, she couldn’t harvest anymore.
After Xia Qing refused, the Alpha Wolf just stared at her, unmoving.
Other than Zhang San and Yang Jin, this was her most important trading partner. If Xia Qing wanted to keep bartering with the packs, she had to teach the wolves the rules of trading with humans.
“Sis, I really am out of medicine. How about this? I’ll take your snake for now, and in two weeks, I’ll give it back for use. Sound good?”
The Alpha Wolf bared its fangs slowly, exuding raw dominance.
Xia Qing drew her gun on the Alpha, matching its look with defiance of her own.
In that tense moment, the brain-evolved wolf, fresh from a late-night snack, let out a low whine.
The Alpha Wolf retracted its fangs and returned to the sheep shed, the skinny wolf tagging along behind.
Xia Qing didn’t lower her guard just because the Alpha backed down.
She retreated into the house as fast as she’d ever moved, slammed the heavy security door behind her, darted upstairs to load up on ammo, strapped grenades across her belt, then went down to the living room and peeled back the blackout curtains, glaring daggers at the injured brain-evolved wolf loitering near the sheep shed door.
Why wasn’t she watching the Alpha?
It had gone into the sheep shed; from this angle, Xia Qing couldn’t see it.
In her sternest voice yet, Xia Qing made sure the wolves felt her anger. “This land belongs to me and Boss Sheep. You brought supplies and wounded teammates here asking for help. I agreed to trade and care for your injured, but that doesn’t mean you run the show here!”
Hearing her voice, the Alpha Wolf slowly emerged from the sheep shed.
Xia Qing turned her glare on it, fierce as a devil. “Trading only happens if both sides agree. You offer goods for my medicine—whether or not I make the deal is up to me. Let me be clear one more time: I don’t have any medicine left, so there’s no way to trade. Take your snake back.”
“If you get mad just because I won’t trade, and try to threaten me with violence—ha, you think calling you ‘Your Majesty’ means I’m scared of you?”
She gripped a grenade. “See this? One blast, and you’ll all be blown to bits! You with the torn ear, I know you’re a Speed Evolver—maybe you’d survive, but the rest…”
She jabbed a finger at the brain-evolved wolf and the sheep shed. “Not a single one of you would make it!”
Maybe the wolves didn’t catch every word, but they could absolutely feel Xia Qing’s fury.
The brain-evolved wolf and the limping wolf stood beside the python, not daring to eat, staring right back at her.
The limping wolf bristled with hostility. The brain-evolved wolf seemed lost in thought.
The tension was thick as soup—even Boss Sheep, napping on the tatami mats, picked up on it.
It trotted over and rubbed up against Xia Qing’s leg. She used her free hand—the one not gripping a grenade—to gently scratch Boss Sheep’s head, letting it know not to worry.
Finally, the injured brain-evolved wolf spoke up. “Awooo, wuu, awooo.”
Before Xia Qing could figure out what the wolf meant, Boss Sheep dashed off to open the security door, trying to drag the python inside.
When Xia Qing saw this, her anger exploded!