Chapter 234: Echoes After the Xiang Rain

The latter half of the broadcast was still filled with moving stories from the Xiang Rain. The tales of mutual help between Territories One and Twenty-Eight were featured as well. For the first time, Xia Qing heard her own name mentioned and couldn’t help but crack a wry smile.

After switching off the radio, Xia Qing picked up her walkie-talkie.

When everyone heard how heavy the casualties at the Base were, their feelings were mixed—a bit of discomfort, but more relief. Back before they left their territories, they’d been at the absolute bottom, on the Safe Zone’s outskirts, where neither food nor shelter was guaranteed, and their health was much worse than now. If they hadn’t made it out, they might have been among those tens of thousands who died.

Life was tough and dangerous out in the territories, but at least they were still alive.

Kuang Qingwei was first to speak up. “No wonder Captain Tan called for backup last night, but no one ever showed. Management probably figured we were the last ones who needed help out here.”

Everyone tacitly agreed with Kuang Qingwei’s analysis. Compared with the Safe Zone, where tens of thousands died, or territories with no way to defend themselves, their area—though it faced the threat of a Mutant Tree—was still considered under control.

Shi Chong asked, “Do you think the situation with the gas-releasing Huangbo trees is just happening in our few territories, or is it showing up all over?”

Tang Huai, always in the know, answered, “It’s not just us. More than twenty territories with Huangbo trees have been completely wiped out. Only one person survived in our own Territory Twenty-One.”

Kuang Qingwei quickly asked, “Brother Huai, do you know how many territories in total were cleared out this time?”

Tang Huai replied, “Haven’t heard a number yet. I bet they’re still compiling the stats.”

Shi Chong continued, “You know, we only started planting Huangbo trees here a few decades ago, mostly because they’re pretty when they blossom. Same with those wild tung trees—they aren’t even native to our area. Do you think their aggressive mutant evolution this time might have something to do with that?”

Xia Qing paused mid-lift as Shi Chong finished. She’d never considered it from that angle before but had to admit, it made sense.

The Huangbo trees in their territory were planted by the locals before the calamity. They didn’t grow wild in the undeveloped mountain forests, which is why Mountain 49 had no high-risk mutant Huangbo trees. If it had, their whole area might have been wiped out too.

Wild tung trees only appeared as a new evolved variety after the calamity. Their seeds are spread everywhere by birds, so they’re definitely not native, either.

Only an expert could really answer Shi Chong’s question. Zhang San rarely weighed in on technical matters, so Kuang Qingwei turned to Li Si for advice. “Fourth Sister, are you there? What do you think, does Old Shi have a point?”

Li Si responded steadily, “So far, the most convincing research says this: Since Blue Star’s Great Evolution, native plants with little genetic divergence outperform other species when resisting the Xiang element. As far as I know, there’s not enough data to prove that ‘imported species have a higher risk of dangerous mutant evolution.'”

“Xiang and Yi element concentrations are always changing, and the radiation problem still isn’t solved. Evolution keeps happening among Blue Star’s plants and animals.” After a brief pause, Li Si went on, “Humans have no overwhelming advantage in the Great Evolution. For survival, we must put aside old biases and work together as one.”

Li Si’s words seemed directed at Zhang San, but none of the other territory leaders dared chime in.

After a long silence, it was Tang Huai who finally broke the tension. “Xin Yu, you there? Your territory was the first to show a medium-risk mutant plant. Mind telling us which one it was?”

Just as everyone figured Xin Yu wouldn’t answer, she spoke up. Just two words:

“Rose.”

Everyone fell silent…

Tang Huai asked again, “Was the rose already there, or did you plant it yourself?”

Xin Yu didn’t reply.

Roses are perennial shrubs. Last year, when Xia Qing’s squad came to clear these territories, there weren’t any roses in Plot Eight.

So the roses in Plot Eight must have been cultivated by Xin Yu later. Seriously, what kind of person still has the mood to grow roses ten years after the calamity?

No army trucks had carted away mutant plants from Plot Eight, meaning the medium-risk mutant rose bushes there were probably small enough that a handful of people could carry them out.

Roses are flowering plants, so after mutating they’d be likely to release poisonous gas. That was probably why Xin Yu marked them as medium risk.

If that’s all it is, as long as you’ve got an airtight protective suit and spot the medium-risk mutant roses early, clearing them out shouldn’t be too hard. No wonder Xin Yu, living alone, never called for help.

Zhao Ze asked, “What do you all think—should we just clear out every single tree in our territories?”

Kuang Qingwei answered, “We’ve all got at least a thousand acres of forest each. How would that even be possible? Fourth Sister, is this method even feasible?”

Li Si gave her measured response: “Mature big trees are less likely to mutate into dangerous forms, so there’s no need to clear everything. Besides, removing all woody plants is nearly impossible, since many species rely on wind or animals for seed dispersal.”

Xia Qing agreed. Trees like wild tung have stubborn vitality—you clear them out today, but as long as conditions are right, they’ll sprout again. You just have to keep clearing them regularly. The more open the area, the faster wild tung grows.

The big trees along the west and north edges of Xia Qing’s territory had deep roots. They provided enough shade that even if wild tung seeds sprouted beneath them, the saplings would struggle to get strong.

After all that discussion, no one had come up with a perfect solution. The best approach was still to keep the mutant Xiang Grass in check, get rid of all red light seedlings, and plant as many improved crops as possible. The more Greenlight crops you grow, the safer you’ll be in future Xiang Rains.

But planting on a large scale isn’t feasible either. Unless you’re as wealthy as Zhang San, able to build greenhouses that isolate against the Xiang element, it takes lots of manpower to pull off big plantings.

Honestly, forget scaling up. Xia Qing herself didn’t want to increase her workload. She preferred focusing on technology, boosting the territory’s defenses against the next Xiang Rain.

She already had a Yi Stone, and she had her weapons. Electric saws can’t be used in Xiang Rain, so they have to remove dangerous mutant trees by hand. If only she had an exoskeleton suit—one that could let a Strength Evolver like her show her full power, while shielding her from the recoil.

She wondered what special features Yang Jin’s new protective suit had. If it did what she needed and wasn’t priced ridiculously high in points, she’d have to get one. For now, her top priority was clearing out the Xiang Grass.

The next day, Hu Zifeng’s squad came over to help Xia Qing with the clean-up. Their efficiency more than doubled.

By the third day, Qi Fu brought ten more people over. At last, they managed a full territory sweep before the Xiang Grass went to seed.

Qi Fu, their ally, always knew how to keep a respectful distance. He stationed his people on the southern end of Territory Three, hundreds of meters from Xia Qing’s greenhouses. From so far away, the workers could only get a blurry view of the seven connected greenhouses; no way to see what she was growing or how well the crops were doing.

Even if they could see clearly, none of those workers would dare to get any ideas.

During the third Xiang Rain, they’d witnessed the leader of Territory Three dash into Territory Five faster than the wind, taking down a four-meter-tall mutant tree in a matter of moments. They’d also heard firsthand how Xia Qing hacked and shot hundreds of massive mutant water rats to death, and afterward—after the Xiang Rain ended—everyone saw with their own eyes the black smoke rising as water rat corpses burned in Territory Three.

With a territory leader as formidable as Xia Qing, you’d have to be an idiot to try anything shady.