Chapter 537: A Quiet Exchange in the Breeding Greenhouse

Zhou Qianpeng let out a hearty laugh. “I see, I spoke out of turn since I didn’t know the situation. Have you finished the inspection?”

Chai Shuling replied, “It’s done. Miss Xia, shall we head over to the neighboring greenhouse?”

Xia Qing shook her head. “No need. There’s nothing planted in that greenhouse.”

“Nothing planted?” Zhou Qianpeng asked, curiosity in his voice. “Miss Xia, you built such a nice greenhouse, and you’re letting it sit empty?”

Xia Qing answered calmly, “It’s not empty. I’m raising a few small animals in there.”

Zhou Qianpeng shot a quick glance at Chai Shuling. After seeing her nod he smiled, “What kind of animals do you have? Is it alright if we take a look?”

Lifting the plastic sheet over the clay wall, Xia Qing invited them in. “The animals are pretty skittish, so you can take a look, but don’t get too close.”

Last night she’d already moved the chickens from Territory Seven and the yellow lantern mealworms she traded with Tang Huai back home. Now, the greenhouse held just seven chickens, three rabbits, and several fish swimming in the tank—nothing to hide from anyone.

She just had to keep an eye on Chai Shuling and make sure she didn’t fetch water from the fish tank, because Xia had mixed in some pure spring water.

Zhou Qianpeng and Chai Shuling walked into the breeding greenhouse, gave it a once-over, and quickly lost interest. Li Chang, the youngest among them, loved animals. She pointed at a rabbit in the cage that had its leg bandaged. “Did that rabbit break its leg?”

Xia Qing explained, “I broke its hind leg a while back. That’s how I caught it.”

“You caught it in the Evolved Forest?” Li Chang’s curiosity only grew. “Is it a Green Lantern?”

Xia Qing shook her head, “No, it’s a Red Lantern. Catching a live rabbit isn’t easy, so I plan to feed it Green Lantern plants for a while and see if I can lower its devastation element levels.”

When the others heard she was feeding Green Lantern plants to a Red Lantern rabbit, all three of them looked disapproving.

Li Chang tried to reason with her. “That rabbit’s already grown up. The chance of reducing the devastation element is low. The Green Lantern food you’re spending on it probably won’t pay off.”

The reason she said it might not pay off, instead of saying there’s no return at all, was because even Red Lantern prey can be exchanged for credits. The food processing plant in the Safe Zone will mash up the Red Lantern meat and use different methods to lower the devastation element content to the Yellow Lantern level, then process it into food for sale.

Chai Shuling pointed at a wooden box beside the fish tank. “Are there animals in that box too?”

Xia Qing replied, “There are about a dozen snakes inside, some Green Lantern, some Yellow Lantern.”

The mention of snakes made both Li Chang and Chai Shuling jump back a few steps; they didn’t even dare approach the fish tank.

Once outside the greenhouse, Zhou Qianpeng pointed at the greenhouse terraced into the buffer forest on the lower slope. “Miss Xia, should we inspect that one next?”

Xia Qing answered, “I’ve already had all my crops inspected. That greenhouse is just fermenting fertilizer—there’s nothing to check.”

Chai Shuling glanced at Zhou Qianpeng, who seized the chance to ask, “Are you fermenting with the compost starter that the Territory Seven lord developed? I heard it’s high quality. Can we take a look?”

“Sure.”

Xia Qing’s tone was cool as always, acting reluctant as she led them across the frozen river and into the lower slope greenhouse.

This greenhouse also hadn’t pulled down the rain cover. There were no lights inside, so it was pitch black. Xia Qing rolled up a thirty-centimeter strip of the plastic covering to let in some light, making it easier for the three of them to inspect.

Chai Shuling uncovered the terraced patches under the plastic and confirmed there were only fermenting animal manure and plant stalks inside. She straightened and clapped some rotten leaves from her hands. “The temperature’s still low, so the fertilizer isn’t fully decomposed yet.”

“Low temperatures aren’t an issue. By the time it’s spring planting, this’ll be ready for use. With this fertilizer, crops will grow even better,” Zhou Qianpeng said as he strolled uphill, hands behind his back, praising Xia Qing. “Miss Xia, this greenhouse is well built—nice and sturdy.”

Li Chang’s attention drifted to the stone wall at the top of the lower slope greenhouse. She walked over for a closer look. “Miss Xia, why did you enclose this stone area inside the greenhouse too?”

“The greenhouse supports are attached to the rock, so it’s more stable that way.”

Xia Qing watched Li Chang inch closer to the cave where the pure spring once emerged, her expression unchanging, not even her heartbeat quickening. If Li Chang had come a few days ago, Xia Qing might’ve been tense. Now, it didn’t matter—spring water had dried up for the season.

At this point, the three of them could get as close to the rocks as they wanted. Even if they moved the stones and crawled into the cave to look around, Xia Qing had nothing to worry about.

Devastationweed?

Inside that pitch-dark greenhouse and the hidden cave, two colorless, transparent stalks of grass went completely unnoticed—unless someone crawled in with a flashlight, there was nothing to see. What was there to fear?

Li Chang grabbed and gave a testing shake to the greenhouse support fixed to the rock wall, nodding as she realized it really was more stable this way. Her eyes brightened. “With the rock blocking the wind, will the crops still do well inside?”

Xia Qing explained, “I planted two grapevines here. They’re growing just fine.”

Only now did Li Chang notice the raised row of soil beneath her feet. She stepped back and asked, “You’ve got so much flat farmland lying unused—why go to the trouble of making terraces? Isn’t it a hassle to irrigate crops on a terrace?”

Xia Qing answered quietly, “When I first arrived, these were already terraces and the soil was pretty fertile. So I just cleared them out and used them. Hauling water to irrigate a few terraces isn’t much trouble for me.”

For a moment, Li Chang’s eyes darkened. This woman—who looked only a few years older—was actually a high-level strength-based evolution lord. She asked no more questions.

“Dr. Li, can we go now?” Zhou Qianpeng had no interest in the empty, smelly greenhouse and hurried Li Chang, who had questions for days.

“We can go.” Li Chang quickly packed away her notepad, tightened up the mask on her protective suit.

No point going to the hilltop greenhouse either, since there was nothing planted there. The rain cover had never even been lowered—you could see everything at a glance.

With their job done, Zhou Qianpeng and Chai Shuling didn’t bother with small talk and left without a word.

Li Chang, bringing up the rear, waited for the rest to leave Section Three before pulling off her mask and speaking quietly. “Miss Xia, could I make a trade with you for some Green Lantern vegetables from your territory in the future?”

Li Chang’s request to trade caught Xia Qing by surprise, but she agreed calmly. “Sure.”

While everyone working in research is called a ‘researcher,’ there’s actually a four-tier ranking: intern, assistant, associate, and full researcher, based on their expertise, experience, and achievements.

Li Chang’s badge showed she was an intern researcher at the Hui Three Research Center. In theory, even as the lowest-ranked researcher, she shouldn’t have much trouble getting Green Lantern vegetables from the Planting Center in the Safe Zone.

So why did she want to trade for vegetables grown 120 kilometers away, here in the territory? Freshness would be much better at the Planting Center.

Whatever her reason, Xia Qing saw no reason to refuse. As a territory lord who relied on producing crops and grains to survive, every trade counts.

Li Chang beamed. “Can we exchange phone numbers too? It won’t be long before phone service is up and running here again.”

Xia Qing gave Li Chang the number she used while living in the Safe Zone. As she watched the seven-person team head into Section Four, she noticed four Su Feng Squad members standing outside Territory One.

Looked like Territory One had refused to let Su Feng’s security squad in as well.