Chapter 362: Fortifying the Territory: Construction and Arrival

“I don’t need the rotary tiller right now, I’ll take it out for you immediately. What parts do you need? Trenching blade, mowing wheel and digging shovel?”

The Chonglian Group’s construction team would be bringing heavy machinery. There was no need for Xia Qing’s little rotary tiller for building the wall.

“All of them, thank you!” Zhao Ze shouted back.

Xia Qing drove the rotary tiller out of the territory, pointed to six bags of quicklime beside the digging shovel in the cart and said to Zhao Ze, “Take these for now, Zhao. You can also drag those thornwoods from the valley to reinforce the south wall.”

Quicklime can burn the roots and reduce the chance that stumps buried in the soil might mutate.

After the last lords’ meeting, Xia Qing already agreed with Zhao Ze’s mother to use iron mesh to seal the valley’s gap. The cost of blocking the valley would be shared equally between their two territories, with Xia Qing fronting the credits and labor for now. So the evolved kalopanax hauled over earlier had no other use for Xia Qing except as firewood.

“Alright, alright! As soon as I stock up on quicklime, I’ll pay you back right away. Xia Qing, thank you so much.” Zhao Ze expressed his gratitude.

After Xia Qing explained how to replace the parts and drive the tiller, Zhao Ze, who used to work in construction, quickly slipped back into his old groove and drove it smoothly back to Section Four.

Xia Qing headed home, brought Alpha back to the sheep shed, covered the corn drying on the roof then hurried off with Guan Tong, the strength-based evolver, to clear the resource drop point.

As soon as Xia Qing left, the red squirrel that had been hiding in the front yard ruins darted into the courtyard. Beating the three birds to it, it snatched up two kernels of corn from the ground and raced back to its treetop nest.

A little over an hour later, a large transport plane and a heavy helicopter arrived right on time, circling the territory from above. The transport plane landed directly in Territory Eight, while the helicopter hovered over Section Three, its rotors thundering.

The red squirrel that stole the two kernels of corn thought Xia Qing had come to catch it, so it curled up in its nest, shaking with fear.

Alpha stood inside the sheep shed, peering out through the crack in the door. His injured sister, Crippled Wolf, bared her teeth and let out a low growl, only her two hind legs able to move. Er Gou and Old Goat lounged at the back chewing on the tasty food Xia Qing brought them.

The helicopter door opened as it hovered above. Two evolvers in protective suits rappelled down by rope and landed in front of Xia Qing, who was waving a red flag.

The woman in front stepped up and asked, “Are you Xia Qing, the lord of Section Three?”

Xia Qing nodded. “That’s me.”

“I’m Deng Yuhui, captain of Team Six, Chonglian Group’s construction wing. Our squad’s handling the fence installation in Section Three. Miss Xia, which side do you want us to start on?” As soon as she introduced herself, Deng Yuhui got down to business. The aircraft was still hovering above, waiting to unload supplies.

Looking at Deng Yuhui, Xia Qing saw a flash of her former self when she led building crews. She answered crisply, “Start with the southern side, then block off the valley in the northeast corner, and after that move on to the other sections.”

Deng Yuhui sent her assistant to direct the helicopter to unload, then continued coordinating with Xia Qing. “In a little while, five engineering trucks will come over from Territory Eight. Miss Xia, please authorize them to enter Section Three.”

Building the iron mesh wall meant digging foundations and pouring concrete for the posts. Once the concrete set, they’d weld iron mesh and barbs onto the frame. Excavators, mixers, and tampers were all needed.

Of course Xia Qing agreed. As she followed Deng Yuhui to inspect the supplies, she realized the iron mesh Xin Yu sold her wasn’t the 1.5-meter wide stuff she ordered — it was two meters wide.

Stacked one above the other, these mesh panels would make a fence 4.3 meters high once they welded on the anti-climb, anti-theft barbs.

As a lord herself, Xin Yu understood perfectly what others needed. This neighbor was definitely someone worth having.

After unloading Xia Qing’s supplies, the helicopter left Section Three and touched down in Territory Eight to continue unloading.

Once Deng Yuhui confirmed the boundary lines with Xia Qing, construction began immediately. Xia Qing stayed nearby to guard the workers — and watched carefully, too.

The crew first cleared the brush outside the boundary, marked the trench outlines with powdered lime, then three excavators started digging.

Seeing them dig standard trenches — 80 centimeters deep and 40 wide — Xia Qing felt a wave of relief. With a gravel base and cement mortar holding it together, the iron mesh fence above would be solid as a fortress.

Two hours later, Hu Zifeng and Liangzi came over to relieve Xia Qing and sent her home to rest.

Back at home, Xia Qing opened the sheep shed’s door. Since the construction team was only at the edges of the territory, it was safe for the wolves and sheep to move around freely. She then pulled the rain cover back over the roof and went on drying corn.

At noon, the construction never paused, only the workers took a break. The constant noise agitated the wolf pack and Old Goat, but to Xia Qing it was a comforting reminder that the place was growing stronger.

Even Tang Huai, the most noise-sensitive resident of Territory Two, didn’t complain. Xia Qing figured he must be swamped with work right now.

By 4 PM, as five large trucks full of refugees rolled through the passage between Territories One to Ten, Deng Yuhui had already led her crew to dig a trench over 600 meters long on the southern side of Section Three. Concrete filling and fence posts were in place.

But the concrete wasn’t set yet, and only about a hundred meters of thornwall had gone up in Section Four. Progress elsewhere was similar.

In other words, the only thing keeping the refugees from the territory’s crops and food was a wall of wild grass that blocked sight, but not much else.

The lords at the construction sites hurried to pick up the pace.

Xia Qing, fully armed, stood under her territory’s signpost. Hu Zifeng and Chen Zheng waited more than a hundred meters away, guarding against any refugees trying to break into Section Three or endanger the workers.

Tang Huai, under Territory Two’s sign, watched the approaching convoy with a face full of irritation.

The first truck was driven by Zhong Tao. In the cab, he wasn’t wearing his protective mask, his beard scruffy and lips cracked, exhaustion plain on his face. The trailer was uncovered, so the crowd of refugees packed inside was visible even from a distance.

Zhong Tao nodded a greeting to Tang Huai, Xia Qing and the others, then drove straight into Territory Eight.

Also looking worn out, Zheng Kui arrived in the third truck and stopped under Territory One’s sign. The last two trucks parked just outside Territory Two. Once the trailers’ gates opened, refugees in ragged protective suits began jumping out.

In the passage, Tan Junjie got on the walkie-talkie to announce, “Refugees have arrived at the territory signs. Territories One, Two, and Eight, please send personnel to select refugees.”

“Territory One, copy,” Luo Pei replied, his voice gentle.

“Territory Two, copy,” Tang Huai answered, clearly unable to hide his annoyance.

“Territory Eight, copy,” Xin Yu’s tone stayed cool as ever. Xia Qing guessed she must be wearing her jet-black, one-way protective mask again today.

That pure black mask always made Xin Yu look mysterious and intimidating, the perfect choice for interviewing refugees. Too bad Territory Eight was south of Territory One, so Xia Qing couldn’t see how Xin Yu would handle a whole truckload of people by herself.