Chapter 260: Harvest Among Beasts

When it comes to dealing with these trees evolved for Hardness Evolution, you really need someone with Strength Evolution. Hu Zifeng agreed. “Don’t push yourself. If you’re tired, we can take turns. Take what you can, leave what you can’t—don’t force it. If you fall, you’re done for.”

Jing Kuan chimed in too. “Yeah, and make sure to leave some for the crossbills.”

When the three started climbing, the evolved crossbills in the tree barely reacted. But once they got five meters up and Xia Qing took out the improved extendable pole and sharp sickle to harvest pine cones, the crossbills lost it, chirping furiously as they swooped down to attack.

Focused on cutting pine cones, Xia Qing managed to slice off several with one swing. Meanwhile, Hu Zifeng and Jing Kuan fired at the oncoming evolved crossbills, keeping them at bay.

A burst of gunfire echoed through the woods. The crossbills tumbled from the air, their rusty-red feathers drifting down on the wind. After that counterattack, a third of the crossbills circling them had vanished. The rest didn’t dare come close, settling on distant branches to shriek insults from afar.

With the first wave of danger behind them, Jing Kuan relaxed enough to chat. “Boss, these birds sound amazing. Should we catch a couple to keep as pets?”

Hu Zifeng shook his head right away. “No way—their claws and beaks are way too sharp. They’d hurt my cat.”

Xia Qing instantly pictured that wobbly little kitten in white boots she saw in Territory Seven, trembling as it learned to walk on its own. Her heart ached. “Captain Hu, why not bring your cat to Section Three sometime so it can play?”

Hu Zifeng looked embarrassed but didn’t hesitate to refuse. “Your territory always reeks of wolves. I’m afraid my little Five will freak out. Come over to Territory One whenever you’re free and visit instead.”

Evolved cats can get stressed out? Xia Qing lost control of her strength for a second, snapping through a branch as thick as her arm. Jing Kuan flinched at the sound.

“Roar!!!”

Before Hu Zifeng could say anything else, a sudden roar from an evolved bear thundered across the neighboring mountain, shaking the forest and making every bird and beast tremble in fear.

The evolved crossbills panicked and scattered. Xia Qing and the other two felt their hearts skip a beat. Hu Zifeng, blessed with evolved sight, quickly took charge. “The bear’s on the next mountain—Xia Qing, keep harvesting pine cones, Jing Kuan, cover her. I’ll keep an eye on the bear.”

“Got it.” Xia Qing sped up, taking advantage of the brief lull with no crossbills interfering.

“Rooaaar—”

The bear roared again from the next peak, so loud that even the crossbills hiding in their nests bolted, abandoning their eggs as they escaped.

Jing Kuan shuddered. “Boss, what’s going on over there?”

Hu Zifeng replied, “Another evolved brown bear just showed up. Looks like a territory fight. While they’re distracted, let’s move faster. Jing Kuan, keep watch—I’m grabbing pine cones too.”

In the evolved forest, getting injured usually means getting weak or dying. That’s why, when two equally matched opponents meet, they show off their strength to scare the other off instead of fighting head-on.

On the next mountain, the two bears snarled at each other—one roared, the other bellowed right back. One snapped a tree, the other shoved a boulder downhill. Each was hell-bent on showing off their power.

While the bears fought, the humans reaped the rewards. Xia Qing’s harvesting speed shot up again. After two hours, only the top three meters of the tree still held pine cones. A thick carpet of cones and pine needles covered the ground below.

The collection team stopped their harvest. Xia Qing, a Tier 9 Vision Evolutionary, stowed her sickle and flexed her aching hands before climbing down. She poked her head around the trunk for a peek at the neighboring peak.

That one glance nearly sent her plummeting from over forty meters up.

The two massive evolved bears roaring at each other didn’t scare her. But the wolf, watching the fight from behind a boulder with a notch in its left ear, did.

Oh, come on, seriously? Queen, what are you doing here?

Sensing something, Alpha glanced back at Xia Qing’s mountain. On that sun-drenched summit, its gold wolf eyes glowed with a frightening light.

Xia Qing immediately ducked her head and hurried down to collect pine cones. That was her actual job. As for why the bears were fighting, or how Alpha was involved, that was none of her business. She definitely didn’t want to get dragged in.

She couldn’t beat Alpha—let alone two evolved bears, both over four meters tall, weighing tons, a single swipe strong enough to shatter rock and snap trees.

Thanks to the two bears showing up, the team finished quicker than expected. They didn’t touch the other tree, just hoisted their pine cone haul and headed back.

Better to leave now while the bears were occupied than risk running into them head-on. If the bears challenged them, a three-person team without heavy weapons was no match.

They dashed straight out of Hill Fifty. Only when they reached Section Three did the three finally take off their protective masks and sweat-soaked headgear, collapsing to the ground to catch their breath.

Chen Cheng, who guarded the base, ran up. “You finally made it back! Didn’t run into any evolved bears, did you?”

“Nope, we were on a different mountain,” Jing Kuan said, slapping the giant sack behind him with a dazzling grin. “Thanks to the bears, we cleaned out a ton of pine cones.”

Chen Cheng’s expression turned instantly flattering. “Brother Jing, how about letting Er Yong make us some Pine Nut Corn? I’ve been craving it for almost a year.”

So the last time they’d had Pine Nut Corn was roughly this time last year. Xia Qing, who’d been yearning for it for nearly a decade and now had both pine nuts and corn, decided she’d learn the recipe from Er Yong for good.

Once she had it down, she could eat as much as she wanted—anytime!

From a single pine tree over forty meters tall, they’d picked seven hundred forty jin of fresh, green pine cones. After a brief break, they started divvying up the spoils.

Unlike their last expedition in Section Three of Hill Forty-Nine, which belonged to Xia Qing, this trip was to the wild, unclaimed evolved forest. So the goods would be split according to each person’s contribution.

All three were lead members, just with different roles. So they’d agreed ahead of time—after setting aside a share for Tiger, and subtracting ammo, tools, and other expenses, the rest of the pine cones would be split evenly. That left two hundred eight jin for each of them.

Normally, ten jin of pine cones yields one jin of pine nuts—which meant each team member would net about twenty jin of nuts.

High risk brings high rewards. Fresh pine nuts are rare, fetching at least three hundred fifty points apiece. For this trip into the evolved woods, each person’s share would be worth at least seven thousand points!

Jing Kuan was grinning so wide he could barely close his mouth.

Hu Zifeng turned to Xia Qing. “So, when do we go after the other pine tree?”

Chen Cheng looked at Xia Qing hopefully, eager to join next time.

Xia Qing answered, “We’ve already startled the birds, so we’d better harvest the other tree soon. But I need a break, plus I have to prep for the migratory birds passing through. Captain Hu, you lead the team this time. I’ll sit this one out.”

High rewards come with high risks.

Xia Qing was keenly aware of her limits—she had no experience dealing with giant evolved beasts. Now that there were two evolved bears in Hill Fifty, the task should go to Hu Zifeng’s experienced and coordinated squad.