Chapter 571: Alliances Forged, Walls Built

Hearing she didn’t have to attend meetings herself, Xin Yu let out a clear sigh of relief. “Alright. I’ll apply to join. For any meetings Territory Eight needs to attend, I’ll send Uncle Ping in my place.”

Xin Yu trusted Xia Qing. Teaming up with her and joining the territory alliance with Xia Qing and Zhang San didn’t mean she trusted all the other lords in the alliance. Unless it was absolutely necessary, she had no desire to deal with more people.

“Welcome aboard.” Xia Qing met Xin Yu’s palm for a high-five again. “To celebrate our alliance and the arrival of a new member to our territory alliance, tonight we’re having Chinese toon shoots scrambled with eggs, garlic shrimp, roasted rabbit, alfalfa salad, and python meatball soup!”

After forming the alliance, the two grew much closer. Xin Yu helped Xia Qing prepare a proper dinner for people then watched as Xia Qing cooked congee for Er Gou and mixed feed for the Evolved Sheep. Xin Yu didn’t take part in those—evolved animals had sharp senses of smell and if they noticed a stranger’s scent in their food, they might refuse to eat.

After delivering dinner to both animals in the greenhouse, Xia Qing returned home. She and Xin Yu enjoyed a hearty feast and then lounged by the fireplace, sipping tea and chatting.

This kind of relaxed, comfortable companionship with someone her own age was something Xin Yu hadn’t experienced in the last eleven years. She hoped she could enjoy moments like this several times a year, for the next hundred years.

So she had to keep her alliance with Xia Qing stable. The territory alliance needed to be strong.

Xin Yu cradled her teacup and asked her new ally, “Is there any home appliance or equipment you want? I can have it brought over by plane.”

Xia Qing returned the question, “Are you sure when the Inspection Team follows the clues to Fire Phoenix, none of their people will sell out Yu Wenchuang to save their own skins?”

“No way,” Xin Yu said with total confidence. “Deng Yufeng’s a shrewd businesswoman. Whether or not this incident leads back to Fire Phoenix, she knows exactly how the penalties would stack up. For Fire Phoenix, dragging Chonglian down with them would lighten the punishment, but losing access to equipment purchased from Chonglian would be a much greater loss.”

Xia Qing understood. She pushed further. “Yu Wenchuang owes you big, doesn’t he?”

Xin Yu gave a cold laugh. “Of course. To everyone else, he’s the cousin who dotes on me even more than on his own sister. My territory was bombed and I suffered huge losses. Naturally, he’ll have to send me all sorts of gifts to calm my nerves.”

Xin Yu said ‘everyone,’ so even her grandfather thought Yu Wenchuang really cared for his cousin? If Xin Yu hadn’t had such a useful Evolution Ability, she’d have been doomed already.

Xia Qing grinned wickedly. “I want a double-door fridge.”

“That’s it?” Xin Yu sounded surprised, as if she thought Xia Qing’s request was way too modest.

Of course, Xia Qing wanted more than just a fridge. She smirked. “The fridge is for me personally. For our territory alliance though, how about having your ‘loving’ cousin build us a sturdy iron mesh wall around our lands and set up security cameras?”

Right now, between Section One and the Evolved Forest, there were only buffer zones, no walls. That left way too many risks. When the beast tide struck, intruders invaded from multiple directions, leaving the limited Inspection Team scrambling.

There was no way Chonglian would ever agree to provide the kind of materials, gear, and manpower needed to build steel-and-concrete fortress walls like the Safe Zone had. But getting them to put up the type of iron mesh fence that surrounded places like Section Three and Territory Eight? That was doable.

The fence would let Cousin Yu Wenchuang show off how much he ‘cared’ about his cousin, while stopping him from sending people over to hurt Xin Yu in the future. It’d be enough to make him grind his teeth in frustration.

Xia Qing was feeling proud of herself for coming up with such a clever plan. She figured she could rival even Yang Jin or Crippled Wolf in wits.

Xin Yu’s eyes lit up. “Great idea. Let’s do it.”

With business settled, Xia Qing asked, “What did the three men you took away actually die from?”

Talking about it gave Xin Yu a constipated look. “They breathed in a ton of ethyl mercaptan and passed out, then froze to death. That gas is nasty. Uncle Ping and the others are still so dizzy and nauseous they can’t even eat, just surviving on nutrient shakes. How long before their poisoning fades?”

Xia Qing could only shake her head.

“If they didn’t come into direct contact with high concentrations, they should be able to eat again in less than a week.”

Yang Jin had once told her that after getting a faceful of yellow weasel toxin, he couldn’t keep food down for an entire week. But Zhou Zhaoping and his team had only indirect exposure, so things should be easier for them.

Hearing it would pass in a few days, Xin Yu relaxed a bit and asked Xia Qing in earnest about how to get rid of the odor. Even her favorite protective suit was contaminated with ethyl mercaptan and now unwearable.

Xia Qing handed her ally a bag of deodorant pesticide and incense, specialties of Territory Seven. “Take these. I tested them myself—they work. But weren’t those three guys all wearing protective masks? How’d the gas knock them out? Did their gear break?”

High-quality protective masks could filter out most poison gases. If their masks hadn’t failed, even taking a direct hit from a yellow weasel, they shouldn’t have been out cold.

“Their masks and suits were damaged by shrapnel from the explosion,” Xin Yu explained, then asked curiously, “That yellow weasel spraying toxin, is it part of the evolved wolf pack too?”

“Yeah, it’s a key member of the pack.” Actually, ever since Crippled Wolf proved to be better at skinning than the weasel, Balding Weasel’s importance seemed to have dropped a bit.

Xin Yu nodded and praised, “That kind of evolution ability can change the whole fight at critical moments. I didn’t expect this wolf pack to include members from across species. They’re even more impressive than I thought.”

Xia Qing didn’t mention she too was considered part of the wolf pack. After telling Xin Yu that the Red One investigation team was arriving soon, she escorted her out of the territory.

Xia Qing figured “soon” meant in two or three days. What she didn’t expect was that the very next day, while she and the alliance members were setting up surveillance cameras and prepping seedlings on Hill Fifty, a huge helicopter thundered across the sky, landing right inside Section One.

“Whoa! I’ve never even seen such a massive helicopter back in the Safe Zone,” Shi Du said, carrying camera equipment. He glanced at Yue Haiying. “Brother Yue, how many people can this thing hold?”

Yue Haiying was just as hyped. “This is a specially outfitted military transport chopper. It can carry over a hundred soldiers at a time.”

“Over a hundred?!” Qi Fu was getting worked up too. “That’s a real crackdown. No way Su Feng or Fire Phoenix will get off the hook this time.”

While everyone chatted excitedly and installed cameras, Xia Qing’s phone rang—Tan Junjie was calling. He told her that a six-person investigation team had been cleared for on-site investigation at the explosion site below the Second Peak on Hill Fifty.

The Inspection Team stationed there had already conducted a sweep and taken away two bags of remains and debris. Still, Red One’s investigation team had every right to inspect the scene themselves.

“I’m down by the Second Peak right now. Send them over,” Xia Qing answered before turning to her alliance. “Red One’s investigators are coming soon. We’ll stick around here finishing up camera installation. Nobody goes into the valley until they’re done and gone.”