Chapter 399: A Perfect Cycle

Air filtration systems going for over two hundred thousand a piece aren’t exactly cheap. But sending a combat squad into the mysterious Shencaojia Forest Zone, right smack in the middle of an evolved monkey territory to hunt for Yi Stones? That cost is even steeper.

Tang Zhengsu might be reckless, but he’s no fool. There’s got to be a reason behind such a risky move.

Tang Huai let out another yawn. “This is all stuff I overheard, just between us, so don’t go spreading it around. I’m dead tired, I’m heading back to bed.”

When Xia Qing walked Tang Huai to the Northern Gate, Tang Huai suddenly remembered something. “You guys barely say anything in the Lords’ channel these days. Did you make a new one without me again? Leaving me out on purpose?”

Xia Qing shook her head. “Nope.”

There wasn’t a new channel. They’d just shifted from chatting online to talking in person now.

Tang Huai grumbled in protest, then shot Xia Qing another heads-up. “Tomorrow, a group from my territory is going up Hill Fifty. No matter what happens, you’d better stay put on your own turf and keep your head down. Don’t get involved.”

“Got it.”

Tang Huai managed to keep those people in line and made sure they didn’t cause trouble on Hill Fifty while Xia Qing was getting her soil. Xia Qing couldn’t be more thankful for that.

Once Tang Huai finished getting dressed, his tone turned thoughtful. “You probably won’t believe me, but these past few days, since the disaster started ten years ago, it’s the first time I’ve actually had direct contact with refugees. I always lived inside the inner city. Everything I saw about them was through a screen—just like watching a movie. Now I get it. The poor are really pitiful, and the wicked ones are truly rotten.”

“If no one helps the desperate, there’s just no way for them to survive. And if the wicked aren’t dealt with, they just keep making things worse…” Tang Huai let out a long sigh, turning to look at Xia Qing.

“You’ve lived all these years outside the Safe Zone, right? How did you even make it this far?”

How did she do it? Xia Qing answered calmly, “Just living, day by day. That’s all.”

Tang Huai nodded. “You’re a woman and you’ve managed to survive on your own like this—I really respect that. But… your taste in men could use some work!”

He got the last word in, not waiting for Xia Qing’s reaction, and dashed off.

Xia Qing wasn’t about to waste time arguing with such a goof. She headed back to her territory, waving her two companions to go home with her.

When Xia Qing saw Old Goat and Er Gou still sour over Tang Huai, she grinned, holding up the tray of insects. “Hey Old Goat, do you like catching bugs?”

Old Goat’s eyes narrowed, but his expression stayed stiff.

“What about you, Er Gou? Like catching bugs?”

Er Gou tipped out his tongue with a cheerful pant, and didn’t look the least annoyed.

“That guy we just met? He raises insects for a living. See this tray? If he just takes one look at the two of you, we’ll get to trade for a whole tray of Green Lantern Insects. Once I raise them and breed even more, Old Goat won’t have to catch bugs every day to feed the chickens and fish, and Er Gou will get to enjoy tastier Green Lantern Eggs. Not a bad deal for us, right?”

Tang Huai kept saying breeding Green Lantern Yellow Lantern Mealworms was hard and cost a fortune, but honestly, Xia Qing didn’t find it difficult at all.

Green Lantern vegetables? She didn’t just have those—she had ones with high Evolution Element content too.

A contamination-free breeding environment? She might not have an air filtration system, but she had a Yi Stone, which did the exact same job.

Perfect temperature and humidity? Her greenhouse was almost ready for that.

Bottom line: once Xia Qing finished building her greenhouse, she just needed to set the insect tray with a Yi Stone inside and toss in some Green Light Spinach leaves from time to time.

A little tray, only forty centimeters wide, didn’t even need a big chunk of Yi Stone.

When she got home, Xia Qing pulled out her treasure box of Yi Stones. She rummaged through the protective shells until she found a piece about the size of a soybean and attached it to the insect tray.

A few minutes later, Xia Qing ran an air test around the tray, checking the Devastation Element level. It was almost zero.

Ventilated, contamination-free breeding—done, just like that!

In such a good mood, even the chirping of the little swallows sounded pleasant to Xia Qing. She lifted the insect tray to show them. “These are premium Green Lantern Insects. Once these hundred breed, you’re in for a real treat.”

Of course, the ones who would benefit the most were her prized Green Lantern Chickens.

Xia Qing set the bugs out on the second-floor balcony so they could soak up the sun alongside the Green Lantern Strawberries and mint. Once the greenhouse was finished, she’d move them all inside where the conditions would be even better.

After that, Xia Qing grabbed her new little woven basket and made her way to the Chicken House to collect eggs.

There were ten hens in their egg-laying prime, nine that were two or three years old, and three roosters in the yard. Every day, Xia Qing could pick up six or seven eggs—definitely enough to warrant using a basket.

To spare her hardworking hens from having to queue up for a nest, Xia Qing added a whole new row of nests inside the Chicken House so there’d be one for every hen. Even so, she noticed that the hens still preferred squeezing together in the old nests and laying eggs in a big group.

At first, Xia Qing was worried the advanced evolved white hen would lay her eggs with the others, making them hard to tell apart. Now, she didn’t stress about it.

Chickens with white feathers lay white eggs, those with reddish-brown lay red or pink ones—and she only had one chicken with white feathers, so it was super easy to tell.

Today, the hens only laid five eggs. With the weather turning colder, she had to get the greenhouse built and the chickens moved inside as soon as possible.

After collecting the eggs, Xia Qing cleaned up the chicken manure in the Chicken House. More chickens meant more poop. Once it was completely fermented, she’d use it to grow top-quality Green Lantern Vegetables. Those, in turn, would feed the chickens, helping them lay even better eggs and hatch even stronger chicks. It was a perfect cycle.

And right at the center of that cycle were the two evolved chickens in the Chicken House—one black, one white.

At this moment, those two were snuggled up in the same clay nest, basking in the sun. Both wore tiny necklaces strung with Yi Stones around their necks, but hidden beneath their thick feathers, you’d never know.

The high-grade evolved chicken she got from Territory Seven was Xia Qing’s treasure, so of course it got a Yi Stone to ensure it didn’t lose its level.

As for the Black-Feathered Rooster? He was only lucky to get a small piece thanks to the white hen. If both of them maintained top quality, the eggs they produced together would be even better.

And the other two roosters?

Ha. Sorry, neither of them were worthy of a Yi Stone. They weren’t as strong as the Black-Feathered Rooster, couldn’t win the right to breed, and pure spring water would have to do.

Once she finished collecting eggs, Xia Qing sent a message to Qi Fu, asking him to let the Alliance members know that refugees from Territory Two would be out and about tomorrow, so they shouldn’t leave their territory.

After that, Xia Qing contacted Hu Zifeng to arrange for the delivery of the secondhand steel pipes she’d traded for with Yang Jin. She was ready to start welding and assembling her greenhouse frame.

Then Guan Tong walked in, carrying a long box. Xia Qing asked, “What’s in there?”

Guan Tong replied, “Parts for installing the greenhouse frame.”

Parts?!

Xia Qing popped open the box and broke out in a delighted grin.