Chapter 584: Old Scars and New Ambitions

Xu Juan’s face turned grim. “Chen Dongyang must have figured something out. He’s been running to the Inner City almost every day, and Yang Shan’s been acting odd too.”

Xia Qing pressed on. “Do you know where the two Evolution Element nutrient shakes your squad got from Territory Seven are, Sister Juan?”

Xu Juan nodded. “They’ve always been with Chen Dongyang. Why?”

“The Evolved fighter who invaded our territory during the beast tide drank an Evolution Element stim shake from Territory Seven. Huai Three Squad is the only team who ever traded for those stim shakes with Territory Seven.”

Xu Juan froze, her eyes slowly widening.

Xia Qing said nothing more, taking small, careful sips of her tea.

Once Xu Juan gathered herself, she leaned back and brought up the past. “Xia Qing, do you know how I got this scar on my face?”

Two long, diagonal scars cut across the right side of Xu Juan’s face. She had always cared about her looks, so she never went without concealer. During the years of disaster, concealer wasn’t cheap. Xu Juan spent loads of credits on it.

Xia Qing shook her head.

She’d been on good terms with Xu Juan back in the Safe Zone, partly because she’d saved her life once. After that, Xia Qing often joined Xu Juan’s squad on missions, but their relationship never got to the point where they shared everything.

Xu Juan lifted a hand and gently touched her right cheek. “My first boyfriend was my high school classmate. We promised to go to the same university, and though we didn’t quite manage that, at least we got into the same city. So that winter break, I brought him home to meet my parents.”

Before that first winter break after the cataclysm, Blue Star had already seen plenty of huge natural disasters. But people stayed hopeful, sure that things would pass and life would return to normal. They just kept on living, business as usual.

All of that optimism vanished the day the world-ending disaster destroyed Blue Star’s modern civilization.

“We went through earthquakes, tsunamis, a freezing cold snap—lost my mom and dad. It was just the two of us left. But when the insect swarm came, he shoved me toward the sewer where cockroaches and rats kept pouring out, just to save himself. That’s when my face got cut up by a broken mirror.”

Xu Juan softly rubbed her right shoulder. “Here, too—rats and cockroaches chewed off a chunk of flesh. Luckily, there was half a bottle of disinfectant left in the bathroom. It was that half-bottle that helped me escape, but it left another nasty scar.”

That disinfectant could drive off early-stage evolved rats and cockroaches, but using it on a wound? Xia Qing had seen the aftermath plenty of times—thick, ugly scars.

“After I got out, I pushed him into the moat. Compassion?” Xu Juan snorted. “I left that back in law-abiding society. After the disaster, I only bother with people who are useful, who have real skills. You never asked, so I never brought it up.”

Xu Juan looked up at Xia Qing. “Last time I visited your territory with Zhang Yong, Su Feng gave me five thousand credits. I spent them all on a massive chunk of Green Lantern meat, ate it all by myself, hiding in my room.”

Xia Qing calmly replied, “I only saved you that time because on my own I never would’ve gotten out of the Evolved Forest, let alone made it back to the Safe Zone.”

Their eyes met and for a moment, they both smiled.

Xu Juan eased back into her chair, totally relaxed. “Farming suits you. Not only did you grow taller and gain some weight, your mindset’s gotten so much better too. Used to be, people said your face was all stiff from venomous insect bites and that you’d gone dumb, only good for grunt work. Now, I’d say you’re smarter than any of them.”

Xia Qing smiled. “You could always try farming too.”

“Not for me. I don’t have your grit. Can’t take that kind of hardship, and I’m not cut out for the loneliness either.” Xu Juan popped the last piece of pumpkin cake in her mouth, then poured tea for both of them. “If you hadn’t told me all this, I probably would’ve gotten played by Chen Dongyang and Yang Shan this time.”

“You know why I’ve fought with Yang Shan over the same man all these years? It’s because Chen Dongyang has supplies, has power, treats women generously, and gets a kick out of women fighting over him. He’s always made it worth my while. Guess what level my hearing evolution is at now?”

Xu Juan was officially ranked as a level three auditory evolutionary in the Safe Zone. The fact she even brought it up meant she’d broken through that level.

Xia Qing took a guess. “Level five?”

“You sure look up to me,” Xu Juan teased, giving Xia Qing a playful glare, but then grinned, “But almost. I’m at four and a half now.”

Jumping from level three to four and a half really was impressive. If Xia Qing had never left the Safe Zone, relying on construction work and missions, three years wouldn’t have been enough to earn enough credits—or energy from food—to level up her own body that much.

“If Chen Dongyang stays straight this time, I’ll keep running with his squad. But if he tries to set me up, I’m going to drag him through the mud and make sure he never crawls out. Once I’m level five, I’ll find myself a level six man to marry and move to the Inner City for a real life.”

Before the apocalypse, Huaguo already had more men than women. Years of disaster only made the imbalance worse—women died at much higher rates, and evolved fighters are mostly men too. So when Xu Juan hits level five, it really won’t be hard for her to land a high-level, level six evolved man for marriage.

At this, Xu Juan got excited. “Did you hear? Last November, Red City sent a reinforced company to our base to boost our defenses.”

Xia Qing nodded. “Yeah, I heard about it.”

Xia Qing had overheard the Inspection Team and Hu Zifeng’s Squad talking about it, and Yang Jin had told her the truth: the company was borrowed from Red Eleven by the Huai Three Base commander to keep their high-evolution spinach safe until it could mature and set seed.

“Did you know that company has over a dozen advanced evolved fighters? Their captain, Zheng Chen, is a level seven speed and level five vision double-evolved. Plus, he’s pretty easy on the eyes.” Xu Juan grew more animated, “Even Tang Lu’s stopped chasing Yang Jin—now she’s going after Zheng Chen instead!”

Now Xia Qing was interested. “Even if Zheng Chen’s speed is level seven, that’s still a whole step behind Yang Jin.”

“Yeah, his speed is behind, but he’s got two types of evolution! Besides, Tang Lu chased after Yang Jin for five years and used every trick, but it still didn’t work out. She’s given up. Honestly, Zheng Chen is impressive. Oh, I’ve got his photo!” Xu Juan couldn’t hide her excitement as she grabbed her phone and quickly found a picture of Zheng Chen to show Xia Qing.

In the photo, Zheng Chen wore level three camo protective gear. He had thick brows, deep-set eyes, a serious face, and an air of integrity about him. Xia Qing handed the phone back and gave a fair assessment. “Not bad at all.”

There were no big scars on Zheng Chen’s face. His looks were above average, his gaze steady, and the first impression was definitely good.

Still, he was only a loan from Red Eleven and would have to return eventually. He probably wasn’t looking to marry anyone in Huai Three.

“Right?” Xu Juan grinned and took a sip of tea. “Once I’m level five, I’ll give it a shot too. He’s got speed and vision evolution, I’ve got hearing. We’d make a great team.”

Xia Qing set six frozen blocks of snake meat on the table. “This is top-grade, hardness-evolved Green Lantern python meat—sixty catties all together. Eat two catties a day for twenty days, and you might just hit level five.”

Xu Juan, who’d been smiling just a second ago, went stiff. It was a long moment before her lips trembled and she stammered, “Did you… did you just say… what kind of meat is this?”