Chapter 421: Wolves, Pythons, and Promises

Jiang Xiong Squad getting caught actually had a little to do with her—but the dogs had nothing to do with it at all.

Xia Qing explained, “Jiang Xiong Squad thought there were evolved wolves hiding in my territory. They sent two people to sneak in, and the Inspection Team who guards this territory caught them. As for why the others were arrested, I only heard it had to do with illegal drugs.”

Huo Lei nodded in understanding, then asked about the python. “I helped design and make armor for Jiang Xiong Squad’s evolved dogs, basing it off military dog protective suits. How big was the python you got this time, and how many sets do you want made?”

“This python is fifteen meters long and over a meter thick at its widest. Except for the head and lower jaw, the skin’s all intact. I want to make full armor for six evolved dogs and one evolved sheep, plus a snakeskin jacket for myself. Do you think that’s enough?” Xia Qing replied.

Xia Qing already had enough armor, so her plan was to use the python’s skin—which could even stop regular bullets—to make a bulletproof jacket for herself.

“That’s plenty,” Huo Lei agreed, then named his terms. “I’ll still use the best materials for your gear. In return, give me the leftover snakeskin and the python’s spinal bones. That’ll cover the labor and materials costs.”

“Deal,” Xia Qing said easily. Snake bones weren’t much use to her, but in Huo Lei’s hands, they’d definitely get turned into tools, weapons, or handy parts. “If you manage to make something for Strength-Based Evolution users out of those bones, save me one, too.”

Huo Lei lost his cool. “I’m already waiving labor and material costs and you want me to make you a free weapon? Not a chance! When you’ve skinned that snake, hand it off to Huo Zhun and have him soak the hide. Get it to me fast.”

He didn’t sound happy, but after hanging up, Huo Lei still sent Xia Qing a detailed form listing all the measurements needed for evolved dog armor.

After reading it over, Xia Qing pulled a measuring tape from her backpack and called to her teammate. “Er, come here so I can get your measurements for python skin armor.”

Er Gou, the sick wolf, hurried over and stood quietly as Xia Qing wrapped the tape this way and that around his body. Even when she looped it around his neck, he stayed perfectly still.

He trusted Xia Qing completely now; she could do whatever she wanted to him.

Once she’d finished with Er Gou, Xia Qing figured the two Brain-Evolved Wolves in front of her already understood what she was up to. She turned to the Alpha. “Your Majesty, mind if I measure you? The gear needs to fit perfectly, after all.”

The Alpha slowly stretched out lazily before trotting over to Xia Qing.

“Your Majesty’s fur is so thick and warm, you probably don’t even need clothes in winter. I’m envious.” Xia Qing complimented while she measured, hands moving skillfully through the fur, and then she moved on to Broken Back Wolf.

Finally, with a little help from the Alpha and Broken Back Wolf looming nearby, she managed to get the sizes of Black Wolf and Lame Wolf, too.

When she sent the information to Huo Zhun, Xia Qing added a special note: the first evolved dog’s armor needed to be made from the python’s absolute best skin.

The first ‘evolved dog’ was really the Alpha. Xia Qing prided herself on her reputation. She’d taken the commission, so the product was going to be top-notch, just as the client wanted.

You could say she was working the same business as Kuang Qingwei now—the only difference was her clients weren’t just people but evolved wolves. Some were loaded, thanks to having their own Yi Stone mines, so the profit was tremendous.

With the measuring done, the wolf pack caught a wild boar and sat down to chow.

By now, the sun was up. Fog was rolling away from the mountains, the frost on the ground melting bit by bit. It’d be above freezing soon—meaning python skin and meat had to be processed right away.

Xia Qing grabbed the python’s tail, ready to drag the whole thing up the slope and take it home to deal with later.

Wait… this thing’s heavy.

It took both hands for Xia Qing to heave the python up from Wolf Valley to the slope. She called Hu Zifeng. “Captain Hu, is it okay if I leave Hill Forty-Nine Section Three now and head back to Section Three?”

Hu Zifeng replied right away. “Go ahead. The surveillance birds and spies from Territory Two have been cleared out. There are only two people left eavesdropping in the wild grass wall up north, so just keep things quiet.”

“Thanks. You’ve really outdone yourself.”

After thanking him, Xia Qing coiled the giant python into a circle, tied it up tight with rope, and fixed two iron rings on for handles. Power evolvers used these iron handles whenever they lifted heavy stuff. Xia Qing was a pro at it.

Job done, Xia Qing hopped inside the python loop and grabbed the iron rings on either side. She braced her tongue against her upper teeth, tensed up her arms, waist, and legs, and lifted all one ton of python without breaking a sweat.

The python was so thick, once Xia Qing had it up, she could only see through a gap she’d made with a thirty-centimeter iron bar. That space was just enough to watch where she was going.

Lucky for her, she’d walked this path a thousand times. If it was new territory, no way could she have carried it so steadily.

“Holy—!”

Er Yong was standing guard at the Northern Barrier with a rifle. Even after getting a heads-up over the walkie-talkie, he nearly swore out loud when he saw a giant python walk out of the evolved forest—carrying itself on two skinny legs.

He wasn’t the only one. Three other members of Hu Zifeng’s Squad posted at the barrier only stood there with mouths agape. They’d heard the wolf pack had dragged a python into Wolf Valley, but they hadn’t pictured a monster like this.

None of them, even as fighters from the Azure Dragon Squad, had ever seen such a huge snake before.

This python had to weigh over a ton. Even teamed up, all four of them wouldn’t have been able to carry it. Xia Qing really lived up to her reputation as a top-level strength evolver.

Xia Qing’s view was almost completely blocked, so she didn’t see her security squad. She just hauled the python, steady and fast, through the Northern Barrier, stopping outside the northern gate to poke her head out from the giant coil.

The northern gate’s camera recognized Xia Qing and opened the gate.

Xia Qing immediately hoisted up the python loop and went through the gate into Section Three.

Good thing she’d made the gate big enough for hauling supplies through—otherwise, getting a python like this inside would’ve been a nightmare.

If there weren’t still people in Territory Two spying on Section Three, Xia Qing would have dragged it home by the head and called it a day. The skin was so tough, it could take the abuse.

At this point, the trouble stirred up by Territory Two was seriously messing with her life.

Back home, Xia Qing stashed the snake out of the sun under the eaves, covered it with an insect net, then tracked down Old Goat, who was watching fish in the greenhouse. She measured him, filled out the form, and sent it off to Huo Lei.

Meanwhile, in the Safe Zone’s outer city, Huo Family Forge’s backyard, Huo Lei was slurping down a bowl of gritty ration gruel when Xia Qing’s message with the wolf measurements came in. He went silent.

Even the smallest of Xia Qing’s ‘evolved dogs’ was bigger than the toughest evolved dog in Jiang Xiong’s squad. What kind of evolved dogs were these—were they even dogs at all?

Downing the last of his bitter gruel, Huo Lei snatched up his phone, his thick fingers tapping furiously as he sent a quick message to his son.

Over in Territory Seven, Huo Zhun was eating when he glanced down at his phone—and froze.

Was his dad actually telling him to consider quitting and working for Xia Qing instead?

But… what would he even do? Farm work?