Chapter 188: Fresh Picks and Hidden Schemes

Xu Juan bit into a tomato and grinned. “Not bad! The last time I had veggies this fresh was when you went back to the Safe Zone for the trade fair.”

That time, Xia Qing had given her a cucumber. Dongyang Squad wasn’t exactly top-tier, and Xu Juan spent most of her points on looking good, so she didn’t splurge on fresh fruits or vegetables.

Aside from a small patch of spinach she traded with Zhang San, everything in this shed was Yellowlight Vegetable. Xia Qing grew this batch to trade with others— what she ate herself came from the terraced plots.

Xia Qing handed Xu Juan a basket. “Since it’s not every day you come by, help yourself. Pick whatever you want.”

“Then I won’t be shy,” Xu Juan replied, though in truth she only picked one or two of each kind, filling the basket just halfway.

As Xia Qing gathered another half basket for Zhang Yong, Xu Juan’s curiosity got the better of her. “Can I see the wolf you’re keeping?”

“If you don’t mind the smell,” Xia Qing said, leading Xu Juan home. As soon as she opened the sheep shed, a wave of stench hit them— the sick wolf clearly had a bout of diarrhea.

You couldn’t blame the wolf for that. Xia Qing had shut the door and it was too weak to open it on its own. Boss Sheep had been sedated and couldn’t help either.

Boss Sheep lay on the other side, glancing at Xia Qing listlessly, then squinting at Xu Juan with a vacant, dazed look.

Even though it was obvious Boss Sheep wasn’t happy, Xia Qing didn’t bother explaining. She never introduced Xu Juan either. After all, she couldn’t let Sufeng’s people find out Boss Sheep had brain-evolved as well as strength evolution.

The stench was overwhelming, and the sight of a wolf and sheep lying side by side was a bit much. Xu Juan took several steps back, trying to reason with Xia Qing. “That wolf’s practically done for. Keeping it around is just wasting points and medicine. You’d be better off getting rid of it before it attracts some super-evolved virus and you end up losing everything.”

“It’s just a parasite infection. The Azure Dragon Unit’s medic thinks there’s still hope.” Xia Qing told Xu Juan to rest inside. She needed to clean up the shed.

Xu Juan stayed in the courtyard. She’d been into the Evolver Forest plenty of times— she’d dealt with worse. The smell was bad, but she held her ground and pressed on. “What happened to the wound on that sheep’s face?”

“During a sonic attack, it rammed into something on its own. I’m treating it.” Xia Qing expertly moved the sick wolf aside, cleared out the dirty straw, and set it on fire.

Only then did Xu Juan bring up why she’d been forced into Territory Three today. “By the way, did you hear about Sufeng Squad losing two pangolins?”

“They searched every inch of their territory.” Xia Qing replied calmly.

Xu Juan sighed. “Sufeng put up a three hundred thousand points bounty in the Mission Hall. Who knows who’ll get that lucky pay day? Our team all sneak peeks around on missions, banging on food bowls just in case.”

“So you came here looking for the pangolins?” Xia Qing asked.

Xu Juan winked at her. “Of course— you’re here, right? Got to check out any chance at a windfall. So, any leads? If you score, we split the points fifty-fifty.”

Xia Qing used her wooden stake to poke toward Mountain 49. “Sufeng Squad found some pangolin scales near the swamp on the north side of that mountain. They’re still searching around there.”

Xu Juan kept probing. “Isn’t Mountain 49 Azure Dragon Unit’s training ground? Could the pangolin thing actually be their fault? You’re close to Hu Zifeng, right? Hasn’t he told you anything?”

Xia Qing stayed silent, just watching her.

Despite bracing herself, Xu Juan felt a chill under Xia Qing’s stare. She shrank back and muttered, “Why are you looking at me like that? I’m just making conversation.”

Right as those words left her lips, a call came in over the Lord’s Channel— it was Tang Huai. “Xia Qing, you there?”

Xia Qing broke eye contact with Xu Juan and answered calmly over the walkie-talkie. “Here.”

“Any equipment issues?”

“No problems.”

Tang Huai replied, “Good, we’re even then. The cargo truck heads back in twenty minutes.”

The second part was for Xu Juan— she’d come by truck, so she’d be riding it back. Xu Juan let out a breath. “I’m off then. I’ll come visit if I get the chance.”

Xia Qing walked her to the Territory Three signpost. When Zhang Yong and the others drove up, Xia Qing handed him the half basket of veggies and watched them leave. She ignored Tang Huai, who was standing nearby, and went straight back to Territory Three.

Tang Huai grumbled, “Never met a woman like her before— even with friends she’s all stiff-faced.”

Zhou Xun muttered, “Boss, you think maybe she got some kind of nerve damage— maybe after being poisoned?”

“Could be.”

Xia Qing shot them a cold look over her shoulder. Both men immediately scurried back behind the wild grass walls of Territory Two.

After returning to Territory Three, Xia Qing greeted Liang and the others, then rushed home to check on Boss Sheep.

Inside the monitoring room in Territory Two, Sufeng’s vice-captain Xu Pin politely consulted Zhang Taining, a brain-evolved specialist from Hui San Base’s research institute. “Professor Zhang, based on Xia Qing’s behavior, do you think the pangolins are in Territory Three?”

Professor Zhang, his head gleaming under the overhead lamp, pushed up his glasses and answered with caution. “Judging from Xia Qing’s actions in both videos, I’d say the pangolins aren’t in Territory Three.”

Xu Pin agreed. He scanned the footage until he found the moment Xu Juan asked Xia Qing about Hu Zifeng and the pangolins. Pausing the video, he pointed it out. “Does Xia Qing’s reaction here suggest the Azure Dragon Unit might be involved in the pangolins going missing?”

Professor Zhang shook his head again. “Based on the background you gave me, Xia Qing is a loner, hot-tempered, and extremely private. I’d say she got defensive because she thought Xu Juan was prying into her friendship with Hu Zifeng— that explains her reaction.”

Xu Pin forced down his displeasure. “If there was nothing useful, why did you make Tang Huai call Xu Juan out?”

Professor Zhang explained, “Because Xu Juan sensed Xia Qing’s hostility and started to panic. If she stayed in Territory Three any longer, Xia Qing might’ve figured out her real intentions.”

That only puzzled Xu Pin more. “Xia Qing’s just some grunt laborer on construction. Even if she suspects something, so what?”

As far as Xu Pin was concerned, Xia Qing had been a nobody back in the Safe Zone. The only reason for her arrogance now was having the Azure Dragon Unit’s Hu Zifeng as backup. Nothing but borrowing another’s influence.

Professor Zhang took off his glasses, gave them a quick wipe, then said nothing more.

After sending Professor Zhang off, Xu Pin called Captain Tang Sufeng to report what he’d found.

Tang Sufeng’s roar was so loud even Tang Huai heard it outside. “I’ve told you all along— the Azure Dragon Unit took those pangolins! You stubborn mule, now look where we are! I want everyone out there searching! If you can’t find them, don’t bother coming back alive!”

Tang Huai couldn’t help but laugh when he heard Xu Pin getting chewed out. But then, hearing that no one gets to go home until the pangolins are found, his mood soured again.

Xu Pin might be Sufeng’s vice-captain, but when Tang Sufeng was angry, he didn’t dare say a word. Soon enough, all Sufeng Squad members who’d been staking out Territories Three, Seven, and Nine were pulled out and sent racing to the swamp where the pangolins had last been spotted.

So the uproar sparked by the wolf smashing the pangolin with a rock was only getting started— yet for now, the crisis in Territory Three was finally over.