Chapter 52: A Mountain’s Secret: Weighing Trust and Survival

Even though it was unlikely, Xia Qing couldn’t shake the worry that the spring water on her land might actually flow down from a mountain spring above. If someone discovered and took control of that mountain source, her own spring could be diminished or dry up altogether.

So Xia Qing planned to wait for Evolver Forest to enter its low-risk winter period, then venture into Mountain 49 to search for an uncontaminated spring. If she found one, she’d find a way to seal it for good.

The idea of buying a mountain? That never even crossed her mind.

Before the great evolution on Blue Star, mountains thick with vegetation were seen as valuable resources. Afterward, they became ticking time bombs.

All it took was a few hours of red Xiang Rain to set that time bomb off.

To keep dangerous evolved beasts from slipping out of the mountains and threatening people in the Safe Zone, the Base had introduced a mountain-lease policy long ago.

Whether a squad or an individual, anyone could lease a mountain or swath of Evolver Forest from the Base by paying enough Points. All resources inside that leased area became theirs—but they were also responsible for clearing out dangerous evolved creatures.

If someone failed to clear their leased woods, or didn’t do it thoroughly enough, and dangerous beasts spilled into other areas and caused serious trouble, the Base would hold the leaseholder fully responsible.

A few years back, those who leased mountains either got wiped out by evolved beasts in a Xiang Rain or suffered financial ruin when creatures escaped. No one was foolish enough to try it anymore. That’s why the government kept tweaking its policies and introduced the territory plan.

As far as Xia Qing knew, the only person who still held rights to an entire mountain—and kept over a hundred people guarding it—was Hui One Base’s top dog, Huo Fenghuang.

She bought her mountain because it had a pure, uncontaminated spring.

So if Xia Qing suddenly tried to buy the rights to Mountain 49, she’d basically be announcing to the world that there was something important up there. Every eye would be drawn to her territory and that mountain.

Asking Azure Dragon Unit to buy the mountain and give it to her? Xia Qing found that even more far-fetched than buying it herself.

Xia Qing spoke up, blunt as ever. “Luo Ge, I’m someone who says what I think—don’t take it the wrong way. Would the Base ever really agree to sell a mountain to Azure Dragon Unit?”

The Tang Family, led by the Base’s number-two, Tang Zhengrong, had always considered Azure Dragon Unit their biggest threat. Whatever the unit wanted to do, the Tang Family would do everything to block it.

Luo Pei patiently explained to Xia Qing, “North of Mountain 49 and for three hundred miles east, it’s all dense Evolver Forest. It’s crawling with dangerous Xiang-evolved beasts and has almost no farmland. That patch isn’t even up for territory development.”

“The lordship system, getting people out of the Safe Zone to farm and expand production—that’s a top-level priority. So our Base is pushing it hard. But even with tons of troops patrolling and garrisoning, any territory near the forest gets hammered during Xiang Rain. The Base is losing sleep over it.”

“If Azure Dragon Unit buys the land right next to our territory—Mountain 49—they’d be responsible for guarding it, stopping evolved beasts from coming down, hurting people, or trashing farmland. So Tang Zhengrong won’t truly object. Even if he suspects Azure Dragon Unit has other motives, at most he’ll think the squad just wants to give a wounded comrade like me a place to retire peacefully. As for the military, their only worry is that if Azure Dragon Unit owns the mountain, it might threaten the troops stationed in the old regiment barracks. But with our squad’s background, earning the military’s trust won’t be an issue.”

Now that it was spelled out, buying the mountain actually seemed doable. Xia Qing spoke her mind. “It’d be great if Azure Dragon Unit set up a training base on Mountain 49. If you do, my territory’s safety instantly goes up a few notches. Luo Ge, it’s fine if the mountain just belongs to you guys—no need to transfer it to me.”

If the mountain belonged to Xia Qing, how would she defend it? Was she supposed to pull it off with just herself—and Boss Sheep?

Should she shell out Points to hire a bunch of guards? Hire who, exactly? Azure Dragon Unit?

If Azure Dragon Unit bought the mountain and handed it off to her, and then she had to spend Points to hire them again to protect it…

Wasn’t that just needlessly roundabout? Xia Qing couldn’t help but question their motives for such a convoluted deal.

Luo Ge might truly have her best interests at heart, but stingy as a stone Yang Jin wouldn’t. Neither would Xie Yu, whose brain had become sharp as a tack since his mental evolution.

Maybe they just wanted to use this deal to get her to hand over all her springs.

Unlike Boss Sheep, Xia Qing wasn’t blindly overconfident. She knew better than to think she could outmaneuver both leaders of Azure Dragon Unit and come out ahead.

Better to let Azure Dragon Unit keep the mountain and guard it. She and the squad were partners, after all—they wouldn’t reveal her spring’s secret and could even throw others off the scent, making them think the secret was on Mountain 49.

Xia Qing decided to hide right under their noses and keep things quiet.

Her only real loss with this plan was that she wouldn’t be able to gather Greenlight plants on Mountain 49.

But if she couldn’t go there, there were other mountains! There were plenty of green hills in sight—why get stubborn about just one?

No more digging up Greenlight bamboo shoots?

That’s fine. She could get some anyway. Once Azure Dragon Unit dug them up, she’d just bring a bucket of spring water to trade for a couple.

Luo Pei understood Xia Qing’s concerns, but still tried to persuade her. “When it comes to important resources, it’s always safest to keep them in your own hands. Sure, you can trust me and work with Azure Dragon Unit now. But after I’m gone, after Yang Jin or Xie Yu move on, who’s to say the next people in charge will be just as trustworthy?”

Honestly, the three Azure Dragon Unit leaders weren’t completely agreed on this themselves. Luo Pei and Xie Yu thought the mountain should stay with the squad, but Yang Jin wanted to give it to Xia Qing.

In the end, Yang Jin convinced both Luo Pei and Xie Yu.

After listening to Luo Pei, Xia Qing couldn’t help but sigh.

If things ever got so bad that all three top fighters in Hui San Base and Azure Dragon Unit died, the whole Base would be doomed. A rookie like her would have no choice but to abandon her territory and flee to another base to survive.

Luo Pei noticed her sigh, blinked his still-reddened eyes and fixed her with a serious look. “Xia Qing, you’re only twenty-five. You’ve got ten years ahead of you to level up all three of your evolver abilities. If you set your mind to it, you’ll surpass the three of us someday—even Huo Fenghuang from Blazing Fire Unit. If she can defend a spring, you sure can too.”

Yang Jin said that one day, Xia Qing would become a powerhouse in Hui San Base or even the whole Hui City Base Group, someone nobody would dare to look down on. Azure Dragon Unit was making a good investment by backing her now—they’d never regret it.

He also said there was no need to choose between an alliance and the spring. If they bought the mountain and gave it to Xia Qing, the squad could have both the benefits of their alliance and still trade for spring water.

Back then, Xie Yu had asked Yang Jin how he could be so sure that a hard-working survivor like Xia Qing would one day rival their own strength.

Yang Jin gave an answer neither of them could dispute:

“Because Xia Qing has a stronger will to survive than anyone I’ve ever met. Someone so determined to make it on her own will always seize every opportunity to get stronger.”

With her deepest secret so openly laid bare, Xia Qing’s eyes snapped wide. In her head, she was debating whether to run right now—or take out Luo Pei first, then make a break for it.

“Heh.” Her reaction made Luo Pei, now a Level-10 Vision Evolver, chuckle. “Kid, after going on so many missions with you, did you really think I’d still be clueless about your abilities?”