Chapter 487: The Evolution War: Microbes Rule Blue Star

Microbes are the true rulers of Blue Star.

Xia Qing remembered something she’d once heard on the Safe Zone broadcast while hauling bricks: The greatest threat to human survival these days isn’t, and perhaps never was, the wildly evolving plants and animals—it’s the ever-present Devastation Element on Blue Star and the pathogens driven mad by its influence.

The battered allies Xia Qing saw on her way back to her territory were living proof of that broadcast.

The ‘enemy’ is so overwhelmingly powerful that everyone has to do what they can to maintain ecological balance as it is, slowing the enemy’s evolution and buying time for researchers to find a way to fight the evolved pathogens.

Ten years into the calamity, the plants and animals inside the Evolved Forest have faced microbes head-on—without protective suits, pesticides, advanced technology or weapons—sort of nature’s survival of the fittest, again and again.

They aren’t just humanity’s food source. These plants and animals stand as a barrier between people and pathogens. If that barrier ever falls, the environment for humans will become far harsher than it already is.

Xia Qing took a deep breath, then patted the Evolved Sheep beside her. “Old Goat, you really are something else.”

No matter how he managed it, the fact that Old Goat—a herbivore—survived this ruthless Evolved Forest makes him a seriously impressive Evolved Sheep.

Old Goat, chewing his mouthful of leek stems, raised his large, spiral-horned head, the image of unshakable pride.

Still, Xia Qing didn’t think she was lacking, either.

Old Goat and the Wolf Pack were born after the disaster struck. As for most living humans, Xia Qing included—they were all born before the disaster. That makes them, in a way, relics of the previous Blue Star era.

What does that mean?

It means humans, besides living longer, are the most teamwork-oriented creatures on Blue Star—which is the only reason a population of seven billion survived ten years into the disaster.

Xia Qing lifted her chin, her fighting spirit bright. “I’m twenty-five. I’ve survived ten years of disaster. That makes me tougher than you!”

Old Goat paused mid-chew and narrowed his eyes dangerously.

Before he could throw a hoof, Xia Qing stood up, grabbed her hoe and marched toward the planting bed. “Old Goat, how about some fresh greens?”

Weeds always outpace the crops. If I don’t pull them now, all the nutrients from the credits we spent on fertilizer will wind up feeding the weeds instead.

“Baa!” With that adorable yet combative tone, Old Goat instantly bolted to the other side of the bramble fence, eyes sparkling as he glared at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing chuckled without turning around. “All right, all right, I’ll fetch your greens. Oh, by the way—Aunt Zhao sprouted some alfalfa shoots from Greenlight Alfalfa seeds. I popped them in the fridge. We’ll have alfalfa sprouts with lunch.”

“Baa!”

Territory Four has plenty of alfalfa seeds—which is exactly why she could afford to use some for seedling sprouts. She had to learn quick from her neighbors so she could do the same with the freshly gathered toon seeds and make toon sprouts, adding more variety to meals for herself and Old Goat.

“Cluck-cluck, cluck-cluck—”

A proud, piercing call echoed from the next greenhouse—a hen celebrating her latest egg. In bounced Er Gou, squeezing through the small door in the wall between the two greenhouses, tail wagging and letting out a joyful howl just for Xia Qing.

“Heard it loud and clear—hen laid an egg,” Xia Qing grinned, scooping up the pile of weeds she’d just uprooted. She set half by Old Goat for him to pick through, carrying the other half as she followed the excited Er Gou to fetch eggs from the next greenhouse.

Eggs didn’t absolutely need collecting right now, but since Er Gou had come running so cheerfully to tell her, Xia Qing couldn’t say no. Sharing these small joys with Er Gou made everything a little brighter.

First, Xia Qing left half the fresh weeds in the chicken trough. The hens rushed, pecking and squabbling for a taste which gave her time to circle around and check each nest. She found the one with eggs, opened the tiny hatch—just enough to squeeze a hand through—and fished out two warm eggs. She held them out to Er Gou. “Look, Second Brother, the eggs are still warm. Tonight you get a whole one for yourself, how’s that sound?”

Er Gou sniffed eagerly at the eggs, grinned and broke into a happy bark.

“By the way, Second Brother, where did Queen and Broken Back run off to?”

Er Gou just grinned, tongue lolling.

Xia Qing ruffled his head, then after putting the eggs safely aside, checked on the peanuts drying atop the rain cover and went back to weeding. Er Gou followed along, helpfully hauling bundles of pulled weeds next door to feed the chickens, fish and rabbits.

Outside, the Devastation Snow blotted out the sky, yet inside everything felt like spring. Xia Qing kept her lord communicator switched off, soaking in a rare moment of calm in the chaos.

“Bzzz. Bzzz.”

She’d just finished tidying up two planting beds when her phone buzzed in her pocket. Xia Qing checked and saw it was Yan Long calling.

She answered right away. “Sister Yan!”

Except it was Huo Zhun on the line instead. “Xia Qing, it’s me. How you feeling today?”

After some small talk, Huo Zhun got down to business. “While we were chasing down that fugitive yesterday, we seized two sets of personal flight equipment. Yang Jin’s thinking we turn in the old one as evidence and keep the new one—that’ll be our third team’s payment for disaster relief duty. Sound good to you?”

“I agree.”

Absolutely! Xia Qing figured even hesitating a second would be disrespectful to such precious equipment. Yang Jin—he made for a great ally.

Huo Zhun gave a short laugh, then winced from pain before continuing, “There’s two people and three wolves on the third team. You’re team leader, so based on contribution you get two shares. Queen and I count as one and a half each. The other two wolves get one share apiece. Fair?”

The main force chasing the fugitive was the trio of Evolved Wolves—creatures able to track even in the harshest conditions. Xia Qing was the only one able to command the Wolf Pack, so even if she was a bit weakened during the mission, she truly was critical to the third team as their leader.

Huo Zhun carried Xia Qing back and forth, caught the two fugitives found by Alpha and Huge Wolf, and even helped Alpha lure off the helicopter—so he and Alpha did more than the other wolves.

Xia Qing thought that sounded perfectly reasonable and went ahead with her own request. “Works for me, Huo. I’d like to have that set of flight equipment. Can I swap for it with goods or credits?”

As captain, she got first dibs on loot—and personal flight gear like this was too valuable to let slip through her fingers.

She’d dreamed of flying!

Huo Zhun had figured she’d ask for the equipment. He laid out his deal: “This is military gear—not the latest, a bit slow, but tough as nails. Can carry 250 pounds, fly for ten minutes, max range fifteen kilometers and pretty stable, too. On the black market it’d go for 850,000 credits. You can have it for 180,000 credits. Also, do you still have that Green Lantern python meat? Swap me eighty pounds? And throw in whatever else you feel is fair.”

Xia Qing had over five hundred pounds of python meat, but sending off eighty at once still stung.

But this wasn’t a time to haggle. She could only agree. “All right. Same deal as with Third Brother—python meat at five hundred credits a pound. That’s forty thousand for eighty. I’ll transfer another 140,000 credits to you, sound good?”

She might have a lot of supplies, but in these disaster years, materials were far more precious than credits. If possible, Xia Qing would always use credits first.

“Works for me!” Huo Zhun agreed instantly.

Partnering up with Xia Qing for this mission had doubled Huo Zhun’s stash, and he couldn’t hide his delight. “Xia Qing, since forming a team with you, I’ve really felt at home. If another chance comes up, let’s team up again, all right?”

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