Chapter 490: Plans Amid Devastation Snow

Xia Qing picked up her walkie-talkie to call Chen Cheng, telling him to take a break—she’d clear the road herself with the rotary tiller.

“Okay,” Chen Cheng waved at Xia Qing, then turned to leave, hefting a giant broom over his shoulder.

After clearing the road, Xia Qing drove the rotary tiller over to the fields and started clearing the snow piled up outside the greenhouse. Old Goat and Er Gou, never fond of other humans besides Xia Qing, had already left for the greenhouse.

Chen Cheng jumped out right away. “Sister Qing, go rest inside the greenhouse—let me take over.”

Driving the rotary tiller was one of the most coveted jobs in the territory.

Still dealing with the aftereffects on her body, Xia Qing happily gave up her seat to Chen Cheng and strolled off to check the fields.

At the moment, Devastation Snow of blue grade was falling. The odds of crops evolving from it were pretty low, so one sweep of the fields every hour was enough—no need to watch them constantly. No one was in the rapeseed greenhouse.

Halfway through her rounds, Xia Qing noticed that the Devastation Grass poking through the soil was now outnumbering the rapeseed seedlings.

This plot had only been cleared back in March, now on its third planting. Xia Qing had weeded it time and again, but no matter what, sparse tufts of Devastation Grass kept breaking through.

Grass—there was just no end to it.

When the poison gas zone on the third peak of Hill Fifty was burned off, if people didn’t intervene, Devastation Grass would take over that whole region—including the Hidden Valley the Shi Jiayi family had worked so hard to reclaim.

“Buzz—”

Xia Qing fished out her phone. Qi Fu was calling. He asked if she needed Yuan Yan to swing by Section Three. “Those aggressive evolved rapeseed plants are tough—it’s best to clear them out early.”

Xia Qing knew Qi Fu meant well, but she really didn’t need help. “They are dangerous, yeah, but I’ve got a Vision Evolutionary with me. We can spot and clear any Devastation-evolved rapeseed in time. Qi, how’s your wounded worker doing?”

Qi Fu gave a weary sigh, his voice rough. “The poison in those rapeseed thorns spread too fast. We had to amputate everything below his left elbow. But at least his life’s safe now. What about you over there—did it hit you hard?”

“The rapeseed took the biggest hit—we’ve already lost more than half. We lost a fair bit of Yellow Lantern Wheat, too,” Xia Qing reported.

“Same here. If we’d known it would end up like this, we should’ve waited until the first Devastation Rain next year before planting wheat and rapeseed,” Qi Fu said, clearly aching over the wasted seed. Then he floated an idea, “I heard this all happened because Territory Nine used poison gas bombs, so now the Devastation Snow’s more dangerous here—by at least a level or two compared to other places. Do you think we can get Territory Nine to reimburse us for our lost seeds?”

To a farmer, seeds meant even more than credits. As the leader of the Lords’ Alliance, Xia Qing nodded, “I was thinking the same. Once the Devastation Snow lets up, ask around—if everyone agrees, I’ll go talk to Third Brother and Captain Yang about it.”

“Will do!” Qi Fu promised right away.

“Qi, there’s something else I want your opinion on.” Xia Qing explained the state of Hidden Valley on the third peak of Hill Fifty. “That mountain area is ruined. Odds are, the evolved bears will give up the cave and the peak. If we fill in the rest of the valley with planting soil, we could get two acres out of it. Do you think it’s worth reclaiming?”

“Absolutely! That spot’s got a hot spring and it’s tucked away in a crevice. It won’t get too cold in winter or too hot in summer, and big predators can’t get in. As long as we sterilize and keep out pests, and waterproof during Devastation Rain and Snow, we could grow crops there all year round.”

Qi Fu could barely contain his excitement. “Heck, in winter you could plant Green Lantern chives or yellow chives—low maintenance, and even if we can’t eat them all, selling the extras gets us enough credits for next year’s fertilizer. We can even save some space to raise rice seedlings in spring—bet they’d outgrow the ones in any greenhouse. It’s just…”

Qi Fu paused, then asked, “But that spot’s inside the Evolved Forest—can we even get to it?”

Raising chives, peanuts, and rice seedlings in the Hidden Valley—that had been Xia Qing’s idea all along, since that valley was where Green Lantern and Black Peanut originated.

Xia Qing had checked her collection of farming books. The temperature and humidity inside the Hidden Valley were better than the greenhouse for raising rice seedlings.

Once the seedlings were grown, after the first Devastation Rain next spring, they could be transplanted into the main fields and harvested in June. That way, the rice only had to survive through a single Devastation Rain cycle before maturing, keeping losses at a minimum.

Not enough sunlight? Install some grow lamps!

Worried about safety? Rally her allies—the Section Seven lord and Azure Dragon Squad—and cordon off the area.

Start by using it as a seedling nursery, then when the time comes, bring in Yi Stone and turn it into a low-cost, Devastation-free base for growing seedlings.

Trusting her gut, Xia Qing believed that hot spring, even if not pure, had something special about it. The peanuts in the valley stayed stable for years—it had to have something to do with the spring.

A high-quality water source for farming—she’d make sure that stayed under her control.

Xia Qing had her hands full, so she planned to restore the Hidden Valley with her allies—boosting yields and getting more food for all.

“If you think it’s worth it, that’s all I need to hear. I’ll work out the details with Third Brother. He’s part of the alliance now too, but let’s keep this to ourselves for now.”

Even the normally calm Qi Fu burst out laughing when he heard the news. “I got it—just between us! Ha, ha ha! Xia Qing, this is great, with Third Brother on board we’ll all have so many extra lives!”

After hanging up, Xia Qing squatted by the rapeseed field, thinking hard about how to put her plans in motion, when Hu Zifeng came in from outside, watching her closely. “Holding up alright?”

Xia Qing straightened up slowly. “I’m okay—just thinking about Hill Fifty.”

Hu Zifeng brought her up to speed. “Heard from the second team’s folks just back from shift—most of the Super Evolution Fungus is gone now. It won’t threaten the territory. Burning off the mountain will create plenty of safe ground, so you don’t need to worry.”

This disaster-clearing operation was led by Zhang San and organized by Yang Jin, so Xia Qing could truly relax. “There’s another round of red-grade Devastation Rain after three tonight. I’ll go home to rest for now and head out around two. My body’s much better, and honestly, I can’t sleep at home when I know what’s happening in the fields.”

Hu Zifeng, knowing full well how much Xia Qing cared for her crops, nodded. “Alright, just head over then, and go back if you get tired.”

Xia Qing was never one to put things off. As soon as she got home, she called Yang Jin to ask how to round up people for the mountain burning.

Yang Jin instantly recalled how Xia Qing had once led local civilians to gather Thornwood and build fences on Hill Fifty. He understood why she was asking now.

“After Devastation Snow, a beast horde could break out. The Safe Zone can provide four big excavators to dig the wildfire buffer lines, but ideally we recruit from our own territories.”

“That region’s evolved beasts were wiped out by the poison gas bombs, so the job isn’t too dangerous. Our lords lost a lot in this Devastation Snow—they need credits to recoup. There’ll be Inspection Team escorts for those working on the buffer lines, right? What’s the pay—can regular folks do it?” Xia Qing asked.

“Yes,” Yang Jin confirmed. “Regular people get 15 credits a day, evolved people start at 30. You need to know how to run an excavator or chainsaw—fifty people for ten days. Safety is handled by the Inspection Team and Azure Dragon Squad together.”

Yang Jin added, “It’s not particularly risky, but since the job is still in the Evolved Forest, unless we conscript people, I doubt anyone is eager to sign up.”

Xia Qing was shocked. “That much pay?”

Back when she worked on the Safe Zone’s construction team, she only earned five credits a day.

Yang Jin explained, “That place was wrecked by Fire Phoenix—the disaster cleanup costs are on them now. Fire Phoenix is happy to pay extra, hoping for leniency.”

The moment she heard that, Xia Qing perked right up. “Yang, shouldn’t Fire Phoenix have to pay double compensation for all the crop damage this Devastation Snow caused in our territories?”