Chapter 434: Desperate Moves Beneath the Evolving Skies

Xu Pin had spent enough years with the Sufeng Squad that he’d picked up Tang Zhengsu’s foul temper. He snapped, “Cut the crap and stop pretending with me. You think I poisoned Luo, don’t you? Trying to use this chance to push me down? I’ll say it one last time: I had nothing to do with Luo Pei being poisoned.”

“Sure, there’s bad blood between us, but I wouldn’t come for Luo. For one, he’s been my instructor for over two years. And besides, poisoning him would only weaken Hui Three Base, which wouldn’t do me any good. Aren’t you supposed to be smart? You’ve fallen for someone else’s tricks and don’t even realize it.”

“Whether you’re involved or not isn’t up to you anymore. The snake venom found on those two refugees matches exactly to what was used on Luo.” With that, Yang Jin hung up.

Xu Pin’s face flickered through a series of emotions as Yang Jin’s words sank in.

Ever since Blue Star’s great biological evolution, evolutions had taken different routes everywhere. Even Devastation Snakes from the same area didn’t carry identical toxins, and from different regions, the differences were obvious.

If two poisoned victims have exactly the same Devastation Snake venom in their systems, there are only two explanations: either the venom came from the same snake, or from snakes birthed asexually by a single mother snake.

But after the great evolution on Blue Star, animals that breed by splitting are almost all single-celled organisms. No one has ever heard of a snake reproducing like that.

So with identical venom, it’s a safe bet both poisons came from the same Devastation Snake.

Last spring, Xu Pin had caught a Devastation Snake by chance. He used a third of its venom to create synthetic poison and took out Luo Pei. He handed the other two-thirds of the venom to the Blazing Fire Squad, wanting to prove he’d discovered a Devastation Snake territory and cooperate with Blazing Fire for mutual gain.

He never imagined Blazing Fire would use the venom he gave them on an Evolved Bear at Hill Fifty, completely blindsiding Xu Pin.

Fire Phoenix was someone who always kept her word—there was no way she’d approve this. It had to be Dan Ying, acting behind her back!

Dan Ying was obsessed with her research. Whatever her reasons, she’d just sent Xu Pin straight to his doom.

If Yang Jin handed that venom over to Tan Junjie, Xu Pin didn’t know what kind of punishment Blazing Fire and Sufeng would face, but he’d definitely be kicked out of the Sufeng Squad by Tang Zhengsu and become an outcast.

“Move, faster!”

Xu Pin barked an order and immediately grabbed his phone to contact his most loyal team member.

If they couldn’t take Yang Jin out tonight, Xu Pin would have to grab his people and supplies and run, start over at a new base.

It’s already the tenth year since the disaster. Order is slowly recovering, and the bases are in contact again. Disappearing and starting over wasn’t nearly as easy now. So the best way out was still to blow up Yang Jin and wipe out the evidence.

Night crept in. Yang Jin’s team picked up the pace, moving swiftly over Hill Fifty-Two. The Sufeng interception team slipped past the surveillance on Hill Forty-Nine, waiting in ambush along the only path Yang Jin could take out of Hill Fifty-Two.

As the sun set, two collared turtle-doves carrying monitors flew back to Territory Two one after another. A night heron took off from the same territory.

A scout reported, “Captain, Territory Nine just released an eagle-owl. Judging by its speed, that’s definitely an evolved bird.”

The night heron dispatched by Sufeng was headed right into the evolved owl’s hunting grounds. Tang Zhengsu instantly dialed Dan Ying, but got Assistant Xiao Liu from Territory Nine instead.

“Hello, this is Hui Three’s Territory Nine. I’m Assistant Xiao Liu. May I ask who’s calling?”

Tang Zhengsu’s tone was icy. “This is Tang Zhengsu. Put Dan Ying on the phone.”

Assistant Xiao Liu replied in a perfect customer service tone, leaving nothing to pick on but somehow still making it infuriating. “Sorry, Captain Tang. Team Leader Dan is working in the lab and won’t be disturbed. Would you like me to transfer you to Captain Liao or our Territory Lord instead?”

Liao Wendong, deputy of Blazing Fire Squad, was all the way out on Fire Mountain. What good would talking to him do?

Tang Zhengsu kept his frustration in check and picked Li Si. Soon, a cold voice came through the phone. “Captain Tang. Speak.”

Tang Zhengsu asked, “Sister Li, why did Territory Nine send their evolved eagle-owl?”

Li Si replied, “To observe the nighttime habits of animals in the Evolved Forest.”

…

Tang Zhengsu swallowed the curse he wanted to say and tried to negotiate. “We just sent out a night heron to locate Yang Jin. Could you let your eagle-owl help with the search? You know as well as I do—if Yang Jin hands that evidence to the Inspection Team, it won’t do either of us any good.”

“That’s not my department.” Li Si promptly hung up.

“Damn it!” Tang Zhengsu hurled his phone to the ground, where it shattered into pieces.

The factory door of Territory Eight swung open and a truck barreled out, hurrying toward Territory Twenty to make a delivery before dark. The driver kept their foot down, kicking up clouds of dust the whole way.

An evolved eagle-owl, perfectly camouflaged in the dust, dropped from under the truck’s chassis onto the road and darted into the wild grass of the Evolved Forest. A backpack, bulging and the same color as its feathers, was strapped to its back. A small, jet-black head poked out of the bag, scanning its surroundings.

“Boom! Boom-boom!”

Explosions rocked the foot of Hill Fifty-Two. Tang Zhou and Wang Liang leapt between the trees, dodging sniper fire from afar.

The snipers had given away their position when they opened fire. Yang Jin, moving with lightning speed through the smoke, took them out one by one.

“Kwaaa—”

A piercing shriek from the scout night heron echoed through the monitoring room of Territory Two as the live feed suddenly shook wildly.

A scout immediately reported, “Captain, our night heron just got caught!”

The lead scout looked over to Tang Zhengsu, afraid to make a move. That night heron had taken Sufeng Squad ages to train up for nighttime reconnaissance.

Tang Zhengsu, cigarette dangling from his lips and eyes bloodshot, growled, “Detonate!”

“Yes, sir.” The scout pressed the button. With a bang, the monitors went black. No one in the room dared breathe too loud, scared the captain might lash out at them next.

In that moment, everyone missed the brothers Tang Huai and Tang Heng more than ever. If those two were here—especially Tang Huai, who was never shy with his words and didn’t care who he annoyed—he’d have become Tang Zhengsu’s favorite target for venting anger.

Yang Jin was already fighting Xu Pin. Tang Zhengsu didn’t dare risk contacting him by radio or phone, so he had no choice but to wait patiently.

In Section Three, Xia Qing stood atop the loft, straining to hear any commotion coming from the northern Evolved Forest.

Back in Territory Nine, Dan Ying stepped out of the lab. After hearing Xiao Liu’s report, she immediately ordered, “Send the eagle-owl over to check things out.”

“Understood.” The scout from Blazing Fire Squad guided the eagle-owl toward the crash site.