Chapter 225: Knocking Down the Mutated Tree

Xia Qing gritted her teeth and swung her knife—clang, clang, clang!

She was strong, and her blade sharp. The tree’s healing couldn’t keep up with Xia Qing’s chopping. The gap widened with every strike, and over by Guan Tong, his side was opening up as well.

But there was no way they’d bring the tree down in three minutes. If it took longer, their strength would start to fade.

This won’t work.

Xia Qing bit down on the straw inside her protective mask and gulped down the spinach juice in one go. Voice serious, she called out to her comrades, “Boss, wild tung grove south of the village! We need backup. If you don’t run here now our home will be gone! Number Two, anyone with an injury to the back or leg, you stay in the sheep shed.”

“Baa!” Boss Sheep answered, bolting out of the house.

But what use could a mutant sheep with no sharp claws or fangs possibly be in a situation like this?

Before Hu Zifeng could ask, Xia Qing started issuing orders while still chopping at the tree. “Guan Tong, go all out! Just keep chopping for three more minutes. Captain Hu, send two people to cover Boss Sheep as he charges in. In two minutes, Boss and I will ram this tree down!”

Ram it down???

“Copy that!”

Guan Tong bellowed and gave it everything he had, hacking at the tree with everything he had left.

This was Territory Three, Xia Qing called the shots. Even if they failed, the worst that would happen is they’d get whipped out by vines—not killed. Hu Zifeng immediately took Liangzi to intercept Boss Sheep.

By the time the two humans and one sheep charged in, over half the trunk was already chopped through, but what remained was still substantial. Xia Qing handed her long knife to Hu Zifeng. “Captain Hu, keep chopping quick!”

Hu Zifeng was fired up by Xia Qing’s energy. Knife in hand, he and Guan Tong hacked away from left and right, while the remaining three team members fended off vine attacks to cover Xia Qing and Boss Sheep as they retreated.

Once she and Boss Sheep had fallen back about six meters, Xia Qing shouted, “Boss, let’s break this tree together!”

“Moo—!” Boss Sheep let out a roar, barreled forward a few steps, then leapt—slamming his spiral horn straight into the thick tree trunk.

“Bang!”

Somehow, the harmony between the woman and sheep just worked. Boss Sheep’s horn and Xia Qing’s double fists hit the mutant tree trunk at the exact same moment. Hu Zifeng, who’d dodged just in time, heard a loud crack—unbelievably, the tree, nearly half a meter thick, really started to tip under their combined force!

Hope flickered in Hu Zifeng’s eyes. Excited, he ordered, “Guan Tong, shift ninety degrees right and keep chopping! Xia Qing, Boss, shift ninety degrees left—keep ramming!”

It’s not that no one wanted to help with the ramming—they just weren’t strong enough. Joining in would only get in the way.

“Boss, go!”

“Moo!”

“Bang!”

“Go!”

“Moo!”

“Cra—ack!”

The two Enhanced Leaders of Territory Three rammed the tree three times in a row and actually forced the mutant trunk—half a meter thick—to topple with sheer strength!

The massive canopy slammed into the ground but the tree refused to stay down, still able to lash out with part of its vines.

Noticing there were still limbs as thick as arms connecting trunk and stump, Xia Qing, Guan Tong, and Boss Sheep joined forces and easily broke the trunk off the stump.

Job done.

Just as everyone cracked a smile, they saw fresh shoots sprouting from the stump—buds poking up faster than the eye could follow, showered by the drumming mutant rain.

Not so done after all—they’d have to deal with the roots too.

Xia Qing used her pack to shield Boss Sheep’s head. “Captain Hu, Boss’ protective mask cracked. I’m taking him home first, so I’ll leave this to you for now.”

Hu Zifeng nodded. “Go quick, we’ll clear the stump.”

Xia Qing shielded Boss Sheep from the rain as they made for home. Along the way, she heard Tang Huai calling out again in the group chat.

“Xia Qing, you done already?”

The gunfire had stopped—that meant the danger here was over. But at Plot Ten, the shooting hadn’t ceased, which meant Junjie’s squad was still fighting.

Xia Qing pressed the communicator. “Tree trunk down in Territory Three, currently clearing roots.”

Nicely done! Yuan Rui clenched his fist, fired up. “Copy that. Report in as soon as it’s all cleared.”

“Will do.”

Yuan Rui’s voice played in the background, and Xia Qing could also hear Shi Du shouting. Was he hacking at trees too?

After greeting the wolves in the sheep shed, Xia Qing led Boss Sheep inside, took off his mask, and injected spinach juice straight into his mouth with a syringe—the juice packed as much energy as premium nutrient solution.

Boss Sheep loved the stuff. Once finished, he didn’t want to let go of the syringe.

Xia Qing let him play and checked the damaged mask under the lamp, hands still trembling from it all.

Unlike the last time, when Boss Sheep cracked the side of the mask with his headbutt during a sonic attack, this time a long gash had formed right down the face plate. She’d have to wait for her gear trade with Yang Jin to get a replacement and fix it.

Xia Qing ran through the rain to the sheep shed, took off her own mask and held it out to the Sick Wolf. “Boss’ mask cracked. Number Two, can you wear mine? See? It’s the same kind as the Wolf with the Spinal Injury, works great and super comfortable.”

Canine protective masks are different from ones made for humans. The human kind covers the whole head, while the canine type only covers part of it. Boss Sheep’s spiral horn could poke through holes built for ears in the dog mask.

When the Sick Wolf didn’t back away, Xia Qing took that as agreement, gave it a piece of dried meat, then quickly swapped out its mask.

Back inside, Xia Qing spoke in a gentle, sincere voice, showering her companion with praise. “Boss, you were amazing. There’s no way we could’ve felled that tree without you today. You’re way stronger than me. You protected our home and this whole territory. Thank you, Boss. Does your head hurt?”

Boss Sheep quit chewing on the syringe, squinted contentedly, then nudged Xia Qing’s ration pocket with his head.

Xia Qing immediately took out all her compressed rations and stuffed them into the side pocket of Boss Sheep’s protective suit. “All yours, Boss. The rations at home are yours too. If you get hungry, I’ll get you more. Rest here while I clear the roots. Once the sun’s up, I’ll make you something tasty.”

She put the mask back on Boss Sheep, made a quick check on the chickens sleeping in the cage in the tool shed, then donned her own silver mask, grabbed both pickaxes, and hurried back toward the wild tung grove.

Did her arms hurt? Sure. But the danger wasn’t over. She couldn’t stop now.

Even though woody plants resisted the mutant rain better than herbaceous ones, no one could guarantee that the roots of the mutant tree wouldn’t tangle up with other trees and spread the mutation through the grove.

So the entire stand of trees had to go, and the sooner the better. Only Enhanced people had the strength for work like this.

By the time Xia Qing arrived, Guan Tong was chopping new shoots sprouting from the stump, Liangzi and Er Yong were digging up the roots while the other two patrolled the grove, clearing away little mutant shoots poking up from the ground.

Guan Tong actually had the easiest job since he had already gone all out during the tree-cutting, and now he was exhausted.

Xia Qing handed him a small packet of nutrient solution. “Premium stuff.”

Pre… Premium? Guan Tong froze for a second, mumbled a quick thanks, then unzipped his mask from his suit and drank it down.

Premium nutrient solution worked fast, refilling strength and healing nicks and bruises. After two minutes, Guan Tong was up again, and together with Xia Qing, they each hugged a thick root and, shouting together, managed to wrench the whole root system straight out of the ground.

Once they’d removed the roots in Territory Three, the gunfire from Plot Ten finally went quiet too.