Chapter 462: Smoke and Claws: The Wolves of Hill Fifty

Gunfire, brutal clashes and cries of pain echoed nonstop from the heart of the warzone.

It was illegal to hunt big beasts without authorization, so the Trapping Team’s guns, like Xia Qing’s, were fitted with suppressors. That made their shots even quieter than the sounds of bodies colliding or desperate wails during a fight.

Following the noise, Xia Qing closed in at a rapid pace.

Of the professional, fully-equipped Fire Phoenix Trapping Team, eight remained. The wolves had dwindled to just three, one of them too ill to fight at full strength. This skirmish was even more dangerous than last May when Alpha had led six evolved wolves against twelve elite members of the Storm Squad.

No matter how clever or ruthless Alpha and Crippled Wolf might be, even with all three wolves suited up in protective gear, powered by premium nutrient shakes and anti-anesthetic drugs, Xia Qing’s nerves were strung tight with worry.

Ten years of surviving disasters had already taught Xia Qing how to face danger head-on.

Using the cover of the ongoing battle, she snuck to the edge of the central warzone, then scrambled up a tall pine tree for a bird’s-eye view.

Three Trapping Team members lay sprawled on the ground. Alpha was locked in a standoff with a high-level Speed Evolver. Alpha had the edge in speed, but his human opponent was armed. Human and wolf—neither dared make the next move.

One Trapping Team member, dressed head-to-toe in camo, sealed inside an airtight protective suit, lay prone out of Alpha’s sight on high ground. He tried to ambush Alpha with a crude-looking weapon Xia Qing didn’t recognize.

But Alpha moved far too quickly. The man couldn’t get a clean shot. From his gear and awkward aim, Xia Qing pegged him as either a low-ranking researcher or perhaps a vet with poor combat skills.

Crippled Wolf and Er Gou both bristled with several tranquilizer darts. The two fought against another evolver, and again, a team member gripping a strange tubed weapon readied to ambush.

But unlike the rookie in the airtight suit going after Alpha, this one was kitted out for field combat.

This was a real threat—an evolver who could fight!

A weakness of Evolved Elasticity species was that they needed a surface to launch themselves from. The moment they tensed to spring was also the instant they paused—vulnerable.

Protected by Crippled Wolf, Er Gou caught a whiff of danger. Someone had a deadly weapon aimed at Crippled Wolf. Er Gou charged to intercept, but before he could get there, a hidden sniper fired a tranquilizer dart straight into him.

The instant Er Gou was hit, the team member fighting Crippled Wolf fired a capture net, trying to ensnare Crippled Wolf.

But this was no ordinary capture net—metal hooks of all sizes bristled from the mesh. Once tangled, escape was impossible!

Crippled Wolf sprang sideways, launching himself off an obstacle and barreled straight at his opponent. At the same time, Er Gou leapt up, blocking any hope of escape for the Trapping Team member.

About to watch his comrade torn apart under wolf claws, the sniper in hiding swapped the rapid tranquilizer gun for a sniper rifle.

“Pfft.”

One shot—Xia Qing put a bullet right through the sniper’s back, killing him instantly.

Fire Phoenix Trapping Team’s protective masks and suits offered some bullet resistance, but Xia Qing’s sniper rifle packed enough punch, especially at this range, to ignore all that protection.

No sooner had she dropped the sniper than Crippled Wolf and Er Gou took down their own opponents.

Xia Qing quickly took aim at the Trapping Team member with the tube weapon who’d been targeting Crippled Wolf and Er Gou. But she was just a beat too slow—the man rolled free, escaping both wolf and sniper, ducking behind a boulder and shouting into a loudhailer, “Signal is down! Use type thr—”

“Bang!”

Before he could finish, a grenade from Xia Qing struck right on target, blasting him away.

“Queen! Get down!” Xia Qing shouted at the top of her lungs.

“Bang!”

……

Before her warning was finished, a massive explosion shattered the hillside. Thick, strange purple-red smoke rolled fast through the pine forest.

Shit! Unknown poison gas bomb!

Cursing, Xia Qing didn’t care if she was exposed anymore. She bellowed, “Queen, fall back to me! Crippled Wolf, protect the Queen! Er, get back here!”

The blast of the poison gas even reached human territory. Over in Territory Twelve, where Tang Huai was still recovering from injuries, he bolted upright and jabbed his walkie-talkie, rasping to his eternal rival, Hu Zifeng.

“What’s going on? Madman, is Azure Dragon Squad running night drills out here? Seriously, can’t you try not to keep me up all night!”

Before Hu Zifeng could get on comms, Zhou Xun, temporary agent of Territory Two, started howling, “Boss, you finally sounded better! When are you heading back to take charge in Territory Two? I’ll bring the boys and come pick you up.”

Tang Huai snapped, “Are you deaf or did an evolved donkey kick you in the head? How many times have I told you? My leg’s not healing for half a year!”

Half a year? He’d be long dead. Zhou Xun started sniffling through the comm from inside Territory Two. “Boss, if you use Third Brother’s miracle medicine, shouldn’t your leg close up in two weeks, right?”

Tang Huai let out a dry hiss. “Lost too much blood. Weak as hell. I need time to recover. Madman, are you listening or not?”

Now Hu Zifeng checked in, chipper as ever. “Which territory’s raising ducks now? I don’t mind the noise if the meat’s good. Want to trade? How many credits per bird? If you don’t need credits, how about a swap for earthworm castings?”

Everyone else was speechless…

Tang Huai, voice hoarse as a duck, snapped, “Hu Fengzi, you trying to get yourself killed?”

Hu Zifeng just chuckled. “Can’t understand duck talk. Send someone who speaks human.”

Everyone paused…

Then Tan Junjie came online, sounding stern. “Hu Zifeng, was that explosion just now on Hill Forty-Nine?”

Hu Zifeng instantly replied, “No, it was on Hill Fifty. Not sure what exactly’s happening, but it sounded like some high-powered bomb going off.”

“Copy that.” Tan Junjie’s announcement followed: “All territories, immediately report anyone who entered the Evolved Forest today and hasn’t come back yet. Provide purpose and current whereabouts.”

Hu Zifeng responded first. “No one from Territory One has entered the Evolved Forest, except on Hill Forty-Nine. Summer Qing from Section Three took an evolved wolf out at dawn to collect medicinal herbs—still missing. She never mentioned where she was headed when she left.”

Xia Qing left the territory? When did that happen? Inside Territory Two, Zhou Xun realized more trouble was coming his way. Head hung low, he answered, “No one out from Territory Two.”

Territories Four through Seven reported in turn—no one missing from any of them.

Deputy Zhou Zhaoping from Territory Eight chimed in: “Territory Eight sent a delivery truck to Territory Thirty-Six. It had to pass through the southern city ruins and hasn’t returned yet, but I just checked in with the driver and the guards—they’re on their way home, no one missing, all’s well.”

The ruined city, swallowed by plants, technically also counted as Evolved Forest.

Assistant Xiao Liu from Territory Nine reported: “A ten-person team from Territory Nine went to Mountain 51 to collect specimens—no word yet, last known location unknown, contact lost.”

Territory Nine didn’t want to admit anyone had left, but entry and exit from both gates was visible to all—no way to hide it.

“No one out from Territory Ten.” Territory Lord Shizhong finished reporting, then pressed anxiously, “Captain Tan, should we send a team to check things out right away?”

Qi Fu sounded worried. “Captain Hu, what herbs did Xia Qing go looking for?”

Zhao Ze’s mother was anxious too. “Should we spend some credits to hire a team of evolvers to search for Xia Qing?”