Chapter 283: The First Green-Light Egg

Covered head to toe in dirt, Xia Qing ran to the chicken house. Peeking through the tiny glass window on the door, she immediately spotted a pale pink egg nestled on the shelf against the wall.

She burst through the door, scooped up the egg—about the size of a goose egg from before the disaster—and a whirlwind of eighteen different egg recipes flashed through her mind as she quickly settled on one.

“Tomato scrambled eggs!”

Xia Qing carefully carried the precious egg into the house and placed it in the fridge, letting the Yi Stone keep it safe. Then she rushed out to the terraces, picked three plump greenlight tomatoes and pinched off two stalks of greenlight scallion leaves.

When the tomato scrambled eggs landed on the table, Xia Qing suddenly felt like her bowl of yellow-light rice, with a 1.3% trace element content, just didn’t do justice to this green-light dish.

If she kept eating like this for another half a year, by next summer she’d finally get to enjoy yellow-light rice with a 0.6% trace element content!

She couldn’t wait any longer and grabbed a chopstickful of golden egg, bringing it to her mouth.

The taste far surpassed the yellow-light egret egg she’d had a few months ago. Xia Qing felt an urge to run off and share the good news with those two evolved egrets who’d moved away.

“So you think yellow-light eggs are something special, huh? Well guess what—now I’ve got green-light eggs!”

By the time she’d wiped her plate clean with rice, Xia Qing was in a wonderful mood. She looked at Old Goat, who’d finished eating too. “Old Goat, our chicken really came through for us today. Go let the chickens out for a while. I’ll come find you when I’m done with the dishes.”

Old Goat squinted, looking not at all pleased.

Without missing a beat, Xia Qing stuffed a ration bar into the pouch around Old Goat’s neck. “Here’s your dinner for tonight. Nobody’s better than you, Old Goat. On all of Blue Star, you’re the only sheep who can herd chickens. You’re at the very top of the pyramid—a true pride of the evolved sheep!”

Old Goat looked satisfied, opened the door, trotted over to the chicken house, pushed the door open with his hoof, and gave a loud “baa!”

Hearing Old Goat’s call, the Black-Feathered Rooster rallied the flock and led his siblings pouring out of the chicken house, following Old Goat off down the path.

Watching through the kitchen window, Xia Qing genuinely admired Old Goat.

When it comes to evolved animals, no one beats the evolved sheep of Section Three.

After finishing the dishes, Xia Qing put on her protective suit before heading out to find Old Goat. There were still Stingers lurking in the territory—stepping outside without protection was just asking for trouble.

Old Goat had led the chickens to the abandoned village in the southeast corner of the territory. This place had more snakes, scorpions, and mosquitoes than the other two villages. Xia Qing had checked it twice and could never figure out why, so she just sprayed extra pesticide every time she came by.

Even then, insects loved to gather here, so the abandoned village had become Old Goat’s go-to spot for herding chickens.

When Xia Qing arrived, she found Old Goat chewing cud in the shade. The chickens were busy foraging for bugs in the weeds nearby while four young swallows perched on the broken wooden window, chattering noisily.

Careful to make sure there were no crawling animals nearby, Xia Qing moved a rock beside Old Goat, sat down, and flipped through her collection of animal husbandry books.

Once the hottest part of the day had passed, Xia Qing and Old Goat herded the chickens back to the coop and packed up their tools. “Old Goat, I’m heading to Valley One. Captain Hu said there’s a patch of wild ginger there. I’ll check if it’s edible. If it is, I’ll bring some back and you’ll have ginger leaves for dinner tonight.”

Chen Zheng from Hu Zifeng’s squad came to help guard Section Three and shared something about the wolves. “Yesterday morning, the research institute asked about wolf taming. Dong said the wolves got agitated by the howling from the loudspeaker and ran off into the Evolved Forest. Today, Su Feng and Jiang Xiong have teamed up and left the Safe Zone for the northern Evolved Forest on Hill Forty-Nine. They’re definitely after the wolf pack.”

Jiang Xiong Squad ranks fifth at Hui Three Base and keeps over a dozen evolved dogs. After failing to tame wolves a few years back, they’ve spent the last two years trying to breed wolfdogs stronger than evolved dogs.

“Who’s leading Jiang Xiong Squad?” Xia Qing asked.

“Their captain, Blind Jiang,” Chen Zheng said.

It didn’t surprise Xia Qing that Jiang Xiong Squad would send people after learning the Azure Dragon Squad’s wolves had run back into the Evolved Forest. But she hadn’t expected Blind Jiang to appear in person. “How many people did he bring?”

“Two squads from Jiang Xiong with two evolved dogs, and one squad from Su Feng. Judging by their gear, they’ll be searching in the Evolved Forest for a few days.” Chen Zheng sounded worried. “Sister Qing, if the wolf pack runs into them, they’ll be at a serious disadvantage.”

In terms of strength, the pack led by Alpha was a match for Jiang Xiong Squad. But Jiang Xiong’s people knew wolves and dogs well, and specialized in using poison. The wolves didn’t have protective masks, so they were an easy target.

“Which way did they go? How long have they been inside?” Xia Qing probed.

“About half an hour. They entered through the valley between Hill Forty-Nine and Hill Fifty,” Chen Zheng replied.

The wolf pack always entered her territory by that route. If these people kept up the chase, the brain-evolved Alpha and Crippled Wolf would probably be fine, but Er Gou, who was still recovering, might not be so lucky.

If Er Gou fell into Jiang Xiong Squad’s hands, they’d force-feed him drugs, lock him in a cage, and turn him into a breeding machine for wolfdogs. Not even suicide would be an option.

Xia Qing wasted no time and dialed Tan Junjie. “Captain Tan, could you help put me in touch with Lord Xin Yu from Territory Eight? I have a deal I’d like to discuss with her.”

“No problem.”

Not long after, Tan Junjie messaged Xia Qing back. “Xin Yu said to meet her under the bus stop sign in Territory Eight in fifteen minutes.”

“Thanks,” Xia Qing replied, then hurried home to fill a few sealable bags with wolf dung. She cut through the Northern Barrier and Territory One, reaching the bus stop in Territory Eight, where Lord Xin Yu was already waiting.

Xin Yu wore a dual-direction transparent protective mask today; Xia Qing could see her calm, steady eyes.

Xia Qing hurried over, greeted her, and then spoke in a low voice. “Would you be willing to lend me your tame bird to scatter something in the northern Evolved Forest?”

Xin Yu glanced up, brow furrowed. “How did you know I own a tame bird?”

Xia Qing answered honestly. “During migratory season, I was on the high slope of my territory and saw an Evolved Ribbon-Tailed Sea Eagle circling above yours.”

Since Xin Yu didn’t reply, Xia Qing pressed on. “One of the evolved wolves I saved from parasites ran back to the Evolved Forest after being agitated by the howling from the loudspeaker. Now there are squads with evolved dogs searching the northern Evolved Forest. I’m worried he’ll get caught. So I hoped your tame bird could scatter wolf dung up there to confuse the dogs. I can pay in edible chestnuts or pine nuts—though the chestnuts are only for yellow-light trades.”

Besides the Ribbon-Tailed Sea Eagle and the flightless Evolved Hawk, Xin Yu certainly kept other birds, and both nuts were favorites among omnivorous birds.

Xin Yu looked interested and asked. “Which squads, how many people, and how big an area?”

“Su Feng and Jiang Xiong—three squads, more than twenty people, plus two evolved dogs. Just scatter the wolf dung along their direction of travel, and lead them over toward Hill Fifty and Hill Fifty-Two. That should do it.”