Chapter 437: Midnight Intruders on the Territory’s Edge

Even though Hu Zifeng’s squad and the surveillance system hadn’t issued any danger alerts, the two wolves moved in perfect sync. That alone made Xia Qing immediately pay attention.

Fighting through exhaustion and aches all over, she chugged a bottle of premium nutrient shake, then gave one to Old Goat and each of the five wolves. If trouble was brewing, they’d all need every bit of energy.

Pulling herself together, Xia Qing used her phone to check on the territory. The northern and southern gates, the high and low slopes, the fields, and her house—all surveillance cameras showed nothing out of the ordinary. But not every corner was covered, and who knew what could happen somewhere off-camera.

Just then, Crippled Wolf and Er Gou, fresh from their baths, slowly lifted their heads and perked their ears, obviously sensing something was wrong. Only Old Goat and Lame Wolf, fools that they were, kept snoozing after the nutrient shake. Lame Wolf even started snoring.

Xia Qing whispered, “Queen, did you detect an intruder?”

The Alpha flicked his tattered ear, got up, and walked out. The moment he stood, Lame Wolf stopped snoring, lifted his head to look around, realized it had nothing to do with him, and went right back to sleep.

Ignoring the pain, Xia Qing patted her companion. “Hey, Old Goat, wake up.”

Old Goat forced his eyes open, glaring at Xia Qing in annoyance.

She explained, “We’ve got intruders. The Queen and I have to patrol the territory. You bathed first, so you’re in the best shape—this place needs you to stand guard. Old Goat, you’re the finest evolved sheep on Blue Star, the most responsible leader out there. I know you’ll protect our home, our food, and your wolf buddies, right?”

Old Goat straightened up at once, head held high, glancing around with an air of reliability.

“Knew I could count on you. The house is all yours—shout loud if anything happens, and I’ll hear you.” Xia Qing handed him a compressed ration, put on her protective mask, slung her sniper rifle, and grimaced through the pain as she followed the Alpha out.

Stepping outside into the biting midnight chill, Xia Qing felt her mind sharpen and her body ache a little less. She forced herself to keep up with the Alpha, who was somehow unfazed despite having bathed even later than she had. On her walk, she notified the two people closest to her over the walkie-talkie.

“Xiao Jiang, Er Yong. The Alpha heard something strange in the territory. We’re going out to check—come back us up. Meet at the east end of the village.” Xia Qing was half-dead in terms of combat strength, and the Alpha, though he looked fine, was probably feeling awful too. If things went south, neither could handle real trouble alone.

“Copy that,” replied Er Yong from the northern buffer forest.

“Got it,” came from Xiao Jiang near the southern wild grass wall.

Xia Qing’s house was at the northwest corner of this abandoned village. Normally, she’d head right into the fields, but tonight the Alpha went left, following Xia Qing’s repaired road out of the village to meet up with Xiao Jiang and Er Yong.

The Alpha didn’t seem to notice the pair. After leaving the village, he headed straight for the wild grass wall on the east side of the territory. Xia Qing, Xiao Jiang, and Er Yong hurried after him.

There, right at the eastern wall, the Alpha stopped. On the iron mesh wall, there was a hole the size of a basketball—right where there were no cameras.

Xiao Jiang stepped up for a closer look. “The cut’s fresh, must’ve been made with a melting tool!”

Making sure there weren’t any people or large animals nearby, Xia Qing gave the order. “Er Yong, block the hole with rocks for now. Xiao Jiang, wake up Chen Cheng and Chen Zheng, have them track the intruder by scent. Queen, which way did they go?”

With a clear sense of direction, the Alpha led the three humans to the reservoir, staring hard at the water. It was minus six degrees now; ice was forming by the shore but the middle still flowed.

What could an intruder possibly be doing in the water on a night this cold?

Wearing night vision goggles, Xia Qing pushed through the pain, crouched beside the Alpha, and stared silently at the water’s surface.

As the Alpha bared his fangs, Xia Qing spotted a shadow over twenty centimeters long slowly moving through the freezing water. It poked its little head out to breathe a few times, then disappeared below again.

A water rat! And a huge one, too. Since lightning had cleared out the reservoir earlier, this could only be tonight’s intruder.

Soon, another water rat appeared on the far side of the reservoir. On closer inspection, both were carrying something on their backs. These weren’t ordinary water rats—they were trained beasts.

No wonder Er Yong and Xiao Jiang, guarding the east side, hadn’t noticed anything, nor had the cameras. The rats slithered through the grass, now hiding in the water, their movement and scent masked by the flowing stream.

Xia Qing motioned for Er Yong to fetch the fishing net, then had Er Yong and Xiao Jiang each keep an eye on one water rat. Once Xia Qing had both rats in her sights, the Alpha stopped watching the water, turned, and returned to the village to rest.

If you looked closely, you’d see the Queen’s legs trembling ever so slightly. She was hurting too, but as Alpha, duty and pride kept her going.

Water rats are adapted to live near water and can dive but can’t stay submerged for long. Er Yong and Xiao Jiang lay hidden near the shore, waiting for the moment when each rat surfaced to breathe. As soon as they poked their heads up, they attacked—one netted the closer rat, the other took a shot at the one further out, killing it before hauling it in.

“Squeee—squeak squeak—” The massive water rat thrashed in the net, screaming as it fought for its life.

Once they’d checked that the gear the rats wore wouldn’t blow up unexpectedly, Er Yong and Xiao Jiang swiftly separated the equipment from the animals, tossed the gear aside, and tied the screaming rats into special bags designed for transporting small creatures.

Er Yong, patrolling the northern buffer forest, felt guilty. “I didn’t hear a thing—not even the slightest sound.”

“Same here. Glad the Queen was sharp,” Xiao Jiang said, still shaken.

“They planned this, sending tiny animals to infiltrate. Compared to evolved wolves, our hearing and sense of smell are lacking, so it’s normal we missed them.” Xia Qing explained, then heard Chen Zheng report over the walkie-talkie, “Sister Qing, there’s no trace of anything near the breach. They definitely used scent-erasing chemicals. Should we report to the Inspection Team and chase into Territory Four?”

Who else could send trained water rats into her territory in the dead of night but Territory Nine? Reporting to the Inspection Team wouldn’t help now, so she turned to her idol. “No, I’ll contact Territory Seven first.”

With difficulty, Xia Qing used her phone to contact Ji Li and learned that Zhang San was still in the lab. She called her idol directly, explained the situation briefly, then asked, “Third Brother, what do you think we should do next?”

Zhang San, still locked in conflict with Territory Nine, took it seriously. “Secure the scene. I’ll send people right now.”