Chapter 412: Fire and Fury on the Territory Channel

“I don’t know!” Zhou Xun, thrust into the spotlight by Territory Two, grit his teeth, wishing he could hack at his own legs and crawl to Territory Twelve to find Tang Huai.

Damn it. The Tang family’s inner squabbles, yet somehow I’m the poor sap left holding the bag?

All I wanted was a bite to eat! Who did I ever mess with?!

On the Lords’ channel, someone spoke up in a raspy voice. “I’ve said it twice already.”

The voice was so garbled, everyone wondered if it was even human.

Kuang Qingwei asked, “Did someone just say something? Did anyone catch that?”

Old Goat stopped chewing, opened his eyes, and stared at the walkie-talkie by his side.

Xia Qing saw her friends’ confusion and explained, “It’s Tang Huai. He’s injured.”

Tang Heng answered Kuang Qingwei’s question on the Lords’ channel. “That was my brother Tang Huai speaking. He hurt his vocal cords and can’t talk clearly. Before the refugees left our territory, my brother warned them twice not to provoke Brain-Evolved Bears or Brain-Evolved Wolves in the Evolved Forest during a hunt, to avoid any revenge attacks.”

“Roar—”

“Roar—”

Two more angry bear roars shook the air. Hu Zifeng cursed, “It’s been more than five minutes and the gunfire in the forest still hasn’t stopped. The bears are getting angrier and louder. Tang Heng, are you telling me your squad is full of deaf or just plain stupid people?”

Tang Heng replied with a straight face, “None of the evolvers we sent out fit either description, Captain Hu.”

Tang Heng and Tang Huai couldn’t be more different. Hu Zifeng, used to bickering with Tang Huai, was suddenly speechless facing the other brother.

From Territory Eight, Zhou Zhaoping asked, “Captain Tan, who’s responsible for losses caused by a revenge attack from Brain-Evolved Bears, and how much compensation do they owe?”

Tiger honestly didn’t know how to answer. “Our captain’s busy at the moment, but we’ve already reported the situation. Rest assured, the Inspection Team will always stand at the front lines to protect every Lord and their territory.”

Zhou Xun was once again shoved out by Territory Two to take the blame. “Our reps explained the dangers to the refugees, yet they still ended up fighting the bears. Most likely, they wandered into the bears’ territory by mistake. If they did it on purpose, that’s even scarier. Who sent such suicidal refugees here, secretly hoping they’d get wiped out by the bears? What a menace!”

People from all different territories heard Zhou Xun and shouted as one: “Get lost!”

Turns out it isn’t just Tang Huai who’s hated—anyone acting as Territory Two’s proxy ends up being the target.

Feeling anxious, Zhao Ze turned to his anchor. “Sis Xia Qing, if the Brain-Evolved Bears attack, are we really powerless to stop them?”

Xia Qing said, “If the Brain-Evolved Bear rallies other evolved bears or animals and attacks during Devastation Rain, we can’t guarantee a victory.”

Outside the Devastation Rain window, no matter how fierce a bear horde is, once they leave the Evolved Forest and enter human territory, they’d just get blown to bits by our artillery.

But during Devastation Rain, using heavy firepower, high-voltage, or laser weapons could trigger devastating explosions, which means our fighting strength drops to rock bottom. Honestly, we might not even survive a bear horde led by two Brain-Evolved Bears.

Without sturdy walls, if a bear horde really comes, we’re looking at total destruction.

Zhu Li asked, “But bears have to breathe too, right? They don’t have protective masks. Won’t the Devastation Rain affect them?”

Shi Du answered, “Yeah, it does. When they’re hit, weaker evolved bears might go berserk. Their combat power would jump several levels, and they won’t stop until they’re dead.”

Everyone fell silent.

On the Lords’ channel, Hu Zifeng reported the latest. “On the top of Hill Forty-Nine, we detected bear roars coming from deep inside the Evolved Forest, answering those from the two bears at Hill Fifty.”

“Is it those two Brain-Evolved Bears?” Zhao Ze’s voice trembled. “No, please, not now. I just lost a bunch of weight and my greenhouse is finally built…”

Kuang Qingwei pleaded, “Captain Tan, can we send someone to Hill Fifty right now and stop the hunting party? Don’t let them pick a fight with the bears!”

Even Shizhong couldn’t hold it in. “Captain Tan, please do something. We’ve got crops growing out there…”

Tan Junjie, as skilled as he was, was only the Inspection Team’s squad leader in charge of this area’s safety. What could he possibly do now?

It had been fifteen minutes since the first bear roar. The bears were still in a frenzy. Something about this felt really wrong.

That meant the refugee team wasn’t out to hunt bears—they were deliberately trying to enrage them, forcing the bears to roar and catch the attention of the bear horde at Hill Sixty-One.

Xia Qing could see two reasons why they’d want to do this.

First, to lure the bear horde from Hill Sixty-One over to Hill Fifty, making things easier for Xu Pin, who’s flying out by helicopter to the lake near Hill Sixty-One tomorrow.

Second, the Blazing Fire Squad and Sufeng Squad wanted to put pressure on Zhang San. With this reckless provocation, they’re essentially making him see what happens if he doesn’t work with Blazing Fire.

No matter which reason, it was downright evil. For their own gain, Sufeng just didn’t care about the hundreds of lives or the thousands of acres of farmland in this territory.

Honestly, Xia Qing felt like just lugging out her grenade launcher and blasting that helicopter parked in Territory Two.

If you want to go to that lake near Hill Sixty-One, then walk through the forest and face the bears you rile up!

Dreams are one thing, but Xia Qing knew she couldn’t actually do it. She wasn’t strong enough to declare all-out war on the Sufeng Squad. If she blew up their helicopter, they’d blow her territory to bits right after.

If Xia Qing could figure all this out, then Yang Jin and Third Brother definitely could too. What were they planning…

“Bang!”

“Boom!”

Just as Xia Qing wracked her brain for a solution, a thunderous explosion rocked the area, making her house windows rattle violently.

“Moo!”

Old Goat, startled by the blast and the shaking, sprang up with a roar. Their territory had been attacked, and now Old Goat had to join Xia Qing in defending their home.

“What was that sound?”

“What was that flash—where did it hit?”

“From what I saw, it looked like it hit somewhere between Territory Two or Territory Eleven!”

The Lords’ channel was in chaos. Xia Qing and Old Goat scrambled up to the attic and stared out at the flames and thick smoke rising from Territory Two—then she clapped her hands with glee.

“Yes! Right on target!”

She’d only dreamed of it, but someone in this land had acted first, blasting the helicopter parked in Territory Two!

Tiger asked on the Lords’ channel, “Territory Two, report what’s going on over there. Why did we just hear an explosion?”

But the channel was silent. No one in Territory Two could even hear their walkie-talkies over the chaos.