Chapter 50: Bamboo Shoots and Hidden Alliances

When the agreed time arrived on the second day, two members from Hu Zifeng’s squad entered Territory Three to help Xia Qing watch over her home. Dressed in her protective suit and carrying a backpack, slingshot, and machete, Xia Qing headed to the western barrier to meet up with Hu Zifeng’s squad.

This time Xia Qing left her gun behind—not just because her aim was off and she was handier with a slingshot, but also because Hu Zifeng’s squad was so well-equipped that the risks of digging bamboo shoots in the mountains were manageable.

Why didn’t Hu Zifeng just take both of his own team members directly into the Evolver Forest?

Simple—when the danger stayed within reasonable limits, a high-level Strength Evolver like Xia Qing was more valuable than two regular combat members. After the last mission, Hu Zifeng knew for sure Xia Qing’s carrying capacity was on par with Guan Tong, a level-five Evolver—she was the real deal when it came to heavy lifting.

The gap between level four and five was a true chasm for Evolvers. That jump was three times harder than going from three to four. In other words, a level-five Evolver’s carrying strength was equal to seven ordinary people.

When a squad was small and the risks were under control, bringing along another high-level Strength Evolver was way better than a few extra attackers. It meant they could haul out a mountain of supplies from the Evolver Forest.

When Xia Qing reached the rendezvous point, she found not only Hu Zifeng’s squad but also another team—an eight-person squad inside the barrier. Even with their protective masks on, she recognized them at a glance—the Dongyang Squad.

And today, their leader wasn’t just anyone—it was the Dongyang Squad’s captain, Chen Dongyang, a level-five Speed Evolver. Standing on either side of him were the level-five Endurance Evolver Xue Jinchang and the triple Hearing Evolver Xu Juan. The remaining few were all core members of Dongyang Squad.

All this just to dig some bamboo shoots for Zhang San—Dongyang Squad, ranked eleventh at Hui San Base, had brought out its best.

So what exactly was Zhang San’s ability, or what rare resources did he hold, that made the infamous Tang Huai from the Tang Family and Hu Zifeng from the Azure Dragon Unit treat him so politely—and even order Chen Dongyang around to dig for him?

As everyone looked over, Xia Qing took off her protective mask in a straightforward manner and greeted Xu Juan. “Hey, Juan.”

Xu Juan immediately yanked off her own mask and ran over. Her impressive figure turned a few heads, especially Xue Jinchang, who couldn’t look away.

Staring at Xia Qing, Xu Juan clucked her tongue in surprise. “Xia Qing! I thought I recognized you, but wasn’t sure—I mean, it’s only been a month or so, but you’re practically a new person!”

Xia Qing, cheeks slightly flushed, gave a small smile. “I just changed into a new protective suit.”

Before this, her protective suit was a patchwork of obvious mends, making her look downright impoverished. The new suit matched everyone else’s style and color, so she didn’t stand out like before.

Xu Juan laughed and playfully nudged Xia Qing’s shoulder. “You’re as honest as ever.”

That flirty move and teasing tone caught Chen Dongyang’s eye—he shot Xu Juan a lingering look, clearly smitten. Xia Qing instantly understood: once again, Xu Juan had outshined Yang Shanshan, the squad’s level-four Vision Evolver, and won Chen Dongyang’s affection back.

Xia Qing never saw much point in squabbling over a guy with other women, but she wasn’t one to meddle in someone else’s life. After chatting briefly with Xu Juan, she walked over to Guan Tong and rejoined her own squad.

Once Hu Zifeng and Chen Dongyang had settled the division of labor, Hu Zifeng led his team straight into the Evolver Forest.

Chen Dongyang entered right after and shot Xu Juan a questioning look, silently asking how Xia Qing ended up with Hu Zifeng’s squad.

Both squads were Evolvers, so talking openly wasn’t ideal. Xu Juan just shook her head, signaling she didn’t know either.

Since the path was familiar, both teams reached the bamboo grove in no time. The untouched ninety-acre grove was split in two, with draws deciding which squad got each half. Then they started scanning and digging for shoots.

Hu Zifeng split his eight-person team into two groups. In just four hours, they turned over more than forty acres and discovered two Greenlight Bamboo clumps. Even after dodging forty-some flying bamboo leaf darts, their haul was worth it.

Luck wasn’t on Dongyang Squad’s side. Not only did they fail to find any Greenlight Bamboo, they stumbled into an Evolver snake nest and walked away with just three sacks of Yellowlight bamboo shoots—not nearly enough to hand in for Zhang San’s task.

So, after leaving the Evolver Forest, Chen Dongyang offered Hu Zifeng an exchange—at almost double the point value of Greenlight plants—to try and get thirty pounds of Greenlight bamboo shoots.

With consent from his team and Xia Qing, Hu Zifeng sealed the deal with Chen Dongyang. After parting ways, Hu Zifeng suggested they divvy up the loot right there. Now that Xia Qing had a vacuum packaging machine, she was all for it.

This time, Xia Qing proved just as vital as Guan Tong. Without her, they never could have hauled out so much treasure and made it safely through the perilous forest. She could carry seven hundred pounds at full speed without slowing the squad down.

So Xia Qing got just as big a share as Guan Tong.

On top of the two hundred pounds of Yellowlight shoots she’d dug up herself, Xia Qing received thirty pounds of Greenlight shoots, two Yellowlight Bamboo Rats, and three hundred eight-millimeter steel balls. The steel balls came from Chen Dongyang’s trade for the Greenlight bamboo—Xia Qing took them all since her powerful slingshot was her weapon of choice.

Leaving aside Tang Huai, who was busy eavesdropping from behind a grass wall, let’s talk about the Dongyang Squad lugging their spoils back to Territory Seven to submit their task.

Chen Dongyang pulled off his mask, his face twisted in annoyance. “No one in Hu Zifeng’s squad even uses a slingshot, but he was still willing to swap Greenlight bamboo for steel balls. That just shows Xia Qing holds some real weight in his squad.”

Before Xu Juan could reply, Xue Jinchang jumped in. “Xia Qing kept pace with the level-five Strength Evolver in Hu Zifeng’s squad today—never slowed them down once. She’s definitely leveled up. Actually, she’s not bad looking either, just too skinny and got hit with some toxins. If she could clear out those toxins and eat a bit more, she’d make a real beauty.”

Chen Dongyang didn’t say a word, but Xu Juan, who’d known him for years, could tell he took Xue Jinchang’s words to heart. She frowned and warned the two lecherous men, “Xia Qing’s under the protection of the ‘Lord’s Laws’ now—unless she’s willing, no one can touch her.”

Chen Dongyang thought Xu Juan was jealous and just chuckled. Xue Jinchang snickered, “Then just make her willing, right? Juan, aren’t you pretty close to Xia Qing? She used to run missions with you all the time—don’t you have her number?”

Xu Juan didn’t even bother hiding her annoyance. “There’s no cell signal inside the Territory. Her phone’s no use here.”

Xue Jinchang spat. “I actually forgot about that.”

Another team member joked, “Easy fix—Chang, just give her a satellite phone, then you can call her whenever you want.”

“One satellite phone could get me a year with women prettier than her back in the Safe Zone,” Xue Jinchang shot back, dropping the topic. Then he asked about the trade, “Yang, will thirty pounds of shoots earn us two bottles of Yi solution?”

“Counting the rest of the goods we brought out, it’ll cover one bottle. But as for the other six hundred pounds of Yellowlight shoots—who knows if Zhang San will even want them?”

Zhang San wanted nothing to do with it. After a whole day’s struggle to get just thirty pounds of Greenlight bamboo, he was clearly unimpressed. He waved them away like they were flies. “Go, go, go! From now on, none of you are allowed to take my missions!”

Chen Dongyang, proud as ever, could only bow and scrape before Zhang San. “Please give us another chance. We promise—you won’t be disappointed next time.”