Chapter 245: The Chestnut Harvest Operation

After turning off her walkie-talkie Xia Qing contacted the second strength evolver. “Qi Ge, are you free tomorrow? I found a source of edible chestnuts. Could you come with me?”

Qi Fu nearly jumped up in excitement at her words, but then he worried he might just get in the way and cause trouble for her. “Yeah, I’m free. But I’m not grade four and don’t have experience—are you sure I won’t just slow you down?”

To put his mind at ease Xia Qing assured him, “Not at all. We’ll have enough people tomorrow; you’re in charge of cutting, picking up and carrying the chestnuts. All you need is strength. Tomorrow wear the protective suit you used in the third Xiang Rain operation, bring your long-handled shears, a large bag and a six-meter rope.”

Back during the third Xiang Rain, when Xia Qing went to Plot Five to clear out the amur cork trees, she’d noticed that Qi Fu and his wife wore grade-two outdoor protective suits—a level higher than what you could buy in the Safe Zone. They’d have no problem entering the Evolver Forest.

After arranging things with Qi Fu Xia Qing immediately contacted Territory Seven. She’d dialed Ji Li, but to her surprise, Zhang San picked up.

Zhang San sounded drained. “You looking to trade for more of that medicine from yesterday?”

Xia Qing grinned wide. “Yep. San-ge, if you give me fifteen more vials—including the one from last time—I’ll trade you thirty-two jin of Greenlight chestnuts.”

Thirty-two jin was no small sum. Suddenly Zhang San perked up. “You really found a Greenlight chestnut tree? What kind? How’s the taste?”

Xia Qing had already checked the Yi element content of the chestnuts and confirmed it was within normal levels. She answered honestly, “I can’t tell the variety and haven’t tried them, so I don’t know how they taste. How about I send some over first and you check the quality for me?”

Zhang San was pleased with Xia Qing’s answer. “Deal. I’ll have Ji Li come pick them up and bring your medicine along.”

“Thanks, San-ge.” Xia Qing hung up and put several Greenlight chestnuts into vacuum bags, then added five jin of Yellowlight chestnuts and handed them to Ji Li, who was waiting at the North Barrier.

When Ji Li saw Xia Qing’s protective suit in tatters—more like camo gear by now—he could tell how tough this chestnut foraging had been. But since Xia Qing didn’t bring it up, Ji Li didn’t ask.

Next morning at six sharp, the foraging team gathered on the north side of Territory Three’s barrier. Including Xia Qing, there were six members: level-five strength evolver Guan Tong, level-four strength evolver Shi Du, level-three strength evolver Qi Fu, level-five vision evolver Hu Zifeng, and Peng Jian.

Once Xia Qing explained the plan, everyone except for Hu Zifeng—who’d already been briefed—stared in disbelief, jaws dropping.

Still dressed in her makeshift ghillie suit Xia Qing continued, “I’ve already scouted a safe route in and out. We just need to watch for evolved insects along the way. Payment’s a minimum of three jin of Yellowlight chestnuts per person, with a bonus for taking on more work. The chestnut tree’s sap is very sticky, but not corrosive. If it gets on your suit, let it dry—it’ll come off later.”

After the disaster food had become scarce, and nuts even more so. In the Safe Zone Yellowlight chestnuts went for 80 points a jin, while Greenlight chestnuts sold for a whopping 250 points—the high price didn’t even guarantee a purchase.

In other words, Xia Qing’s offer meant everyone would get the equivalent of 240 points in reward, each, for a relatively safe harvesting job. If this were posted on the Safe Zone’s mission board, people would line up begging for a spot. No wonder everyone was grinning.

So what if your suit got sticky or muddy? For survivors facing a food shortage after the calamity, that wasn’t a real concern at all.

Hu Zifeng asked Xia Qing, “You’ve been here before. How about you take the lead this time?”

Xia Qing quickly mapped out their formation and led the way up the hillside to the chestnut grove. This was Qi Fu’s first time in the Evolver Forest, so she placed him right behind her and Peng Jian in front of him.

She warned him, “Qi Ge, stick close to me. Wherever I go, you go. Don’t wander off. If you deviate from the route, you’ll run into aggressive plants. Any evolved animals that jump out from the grass, Peng Jian and I will handle.”

Getting separated in the Evolver Forest was a death sentence. Qi Fu nodded quickly. “Got it.”

The path was nearly three kilometers, already cleared, so they made good time and reached the edge of the chestnut grove in forty minutes.

Even a seasoned squad like Hu Zifeng’s caught their breath at the vast expanse of chestnut trees, excitement making their breathing pick up.

Shi Du couldn’t hold back his excitement and whispered, “Qing-jie, you’ve hit the jackpot!”

Shi Du knew Xia Qing had rented a stretch of Evolver Forest from the Azure Dragon Unit, but hadn’t realized how big it was. But since Xia Qing was leading the team today, it meant these chestnut trees were within her turf.

If this wasn’t a windfall, what was?

Xia Qing laughed. “Hitting the jackpot depends on whether we can bring all these chestnuts back in one piece. When I came yesterday, there weren’t this many open burrs.”

Qi Fu spoke through the earpiece in his protective mask, whispering to Xia Qing, “Once the outer burrs split, the chestnuts drop fast. Lucky you found these when you did.”

“Qing-jie, your Evolved Squirrel’s hiding on the fir tree ten meters south of the chestnut grove,” Peng Jian reminded her. As he spoke, they saw a palm-sized evolved insect get caught on a sticky leaf, thrashing to break free.

A shaking branch knocked a few split burrs, sending two chestnuts tumbling to the ground.

Several squirrels darted out at once, snatching up chestnuts before scattering. The Evolved Squirrel grabbed a big chestnut, crammed it into its mouth and struck a runner’s pose on a fir branch, round eyes locked on the grove ready to make another dash.

Even a little squirrel can look impressive when it goes all out.

“We’ll split into three teams—Hu and Shi Du, Peng Jian and Guan Tong, me and Qi Ge. One covers evolved wasps, one climbs to cut chestnuts. The leaves and burrs are sticky, so dodge them if you can, and grab the Greenlight chestnuts first.” Xia Qing handed each person a vial of medicine. “Spray half at a time—it’ll last three hours. We’ve got six hours to clear the grove and regroup.”

When she sprayed Qi Fu with the medicine, Xia Qing gave clear instructions. “Once it’s on, Qi Ge, you climb up to cut the chestnuts. I’ll handle the evolved wasps.”

“No problem, I’m great at picking fruit.” This was Qi Fu’s first foray into the Evolver Forest, and now he’d be face-to-face with evolved wasps as long as a finger. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t afraid, but he hid it well, swiftly spraying Xia Qing with medicine and following her to the base of the tree.

“Bzzz—”

When the group was still five meters from the grove, evolved wasps buzzed out to confront them, led by more than twenty high-level wasps.

Just seeing those wasps—bigger than a hand—Qi Fu knew these were the high-level evolved wasps Xia Qing had warned about. His heart nearly leaped out of his chest.

But before he could even blink, Xia Qing and Hu Zifeng, with Peng Jian, had already dispatched the evolved wasps. Only then did his heart finally settle.

Surrounded by wasps, the team rushed into the grove and hunted for the four Greenlight chestnut trees. The first round—of course—they went for the best.

Seeing the team clip chestnut clusters, the Evolved Squirrel immediately dashed out and snatched a few before bolting off.

Xia Qing spotted the Evolved Squirrel with the tracker strapped to its back, but she didn’t mind it picking up leftovers. Truth was, she never would’ve found the grove without the little guy’s help.

Qi Fu noticed Xia Qing, even while multi-tasking, was cutting chestnuts with one hand as fast as he could with two. He got nervous, quickly pulled back his shears, and started scraping the gunk off the blades and handle.

But in his hurry he messed up and bent the shears’ telescopic handle, then when trying to fix it, snapped it clean off.